Financial Performance Summary

Consolidated Financial Highlights (₹ crore):

| Metric | Q1 FY27 | Q4 FY26 | Q1 FY26 | YoY Change | QoQ Change |

| Operating Revenue | 516 | 616 | 468 | +10.3% | -16.2% |

| Operating Expense | 509 | 585 | 464 | +9.7% | -13.1% |

| Operating EBITDA | 8 | 30 | 4 | +80.3% | -75.3% |

| EBITDA Margin | 1.5% | 4.9% | 0.9% | - | - |

Standalone Financial Performance (Quarter ended June 30, 2026):

  • Revenue from Operations: ₹475.3 crore
  • Total Income: ₹478.3 crore
  • Total Expenses: ₹556.3 crore
  • Loss Before Tax: ₹(77.9) crore
  • Loss for the Period: ₹(77.9) crore
  • Total Comprehensive Income: ₹(49.3) crore

Consolidated Financial Performance (Quarter ended June 30, 2026):

  • Revenue from Operations: ₹516.3 crore
  • Total Income: ₹520.4 crore
  • Total Expenses: ₹596.5 crore
  • Loss Before Share of Profit of Associates: ₹(76.1) crore
  • Share of Profit of Associates and Joint Ventures: ₹37.7 crore
  • Loss Before Tax: ₹(38.4) crore
  • Loss for the Period: ₹(38.4) crore
  • Total Comprehensive Income: ₹(8.2) crore
  • Net Loss attributable to Owners: ₹(38.7) crore

Operational Performance Drivers

Revenue Growth Context:

  • Consolidated operating revenue grew 10.3% YoY to ₹516 crore, primarily driven by strong advertising performance during multiple state elections (West Bengal and Tamil Nadu)
  • Government advertising (Centre, State, political parties, PSUs) rose sharply industry-wide
  • Non-government advertising inventory declined by over 10% YoY industry-wide, but Network18's non-govt inventory consumption grew ~2%
  • Corporate spends were impacted by West Asia conflict and weak monsoon forecast
  • Strong uptick in monetization on Connected TV screens emerging as important revenue stream

Cost Structure:

  • Operating expense growth of 9.7% YoY primarily due to annual increments cycle completed in Q1 FY27 (compared to Q2 last year)
  • Employee costs increased significantly (not present in base period)
  • Other operating costs grew moderately

Business Segment Highlights

Digital Leadership:

  • Network18 maintained #1 digital news/information network position in India with monthly reach of 350mn+ users (76% reach in segment)
  • Portfolio includes Moneycontrol, News18, Firstpost and CNBCTV18 across 13 languages
  • Off-platform reach: Recorded over 6 billion video views on YouTube in June (~2x of nearest competitor)
  • Social footprint: 472 million followers with 32 billion views across platforms (+31% QoQ)
  • Connected TV reach and engagement growing exponentially

Moneycontrol Performance:

  • India's leading financial intelligence platform with comprehensive news coverage and analysis
  • 3x Time-Spent and 2x Page Views compared to nearest competitor
  • Moneycontrol Pro: India's largest digital news subscription platform with >1 million paid subscribers
  • New feature 'Portfolio X Ray' added for in-depth stock portfolio analysis (categorizes stocks by valuation ratings)
  • Super Pro: AI-powered premium subscription service with SEBI-registered Research Analysts showing good subscriber addition and renewal rates
  • Fintech business maintained strong momentum with advanced data modeling improving lead quality, approval rates, and click-through rates
  • Secured lending partner network expanded to include Muthoot Finance, Muthoot Fincorp, Rupeek, and DSP Finance

News18.com Performance:

  • 8% sequential increase in unique users
  • Average session length increased by over 10%
  • Revamped Election Analytics Centre launched with constituency-level insights, live data widgets, and AI-powered multilingual content generation (2.5x engagement time on homepage)
  • Dedicated FIFA World Cup microsite with real-time updates and interactive data
  • Tech2 relaunched with AI-powered experience combining intelligent assistance with editorial expertise
  • Hyperlocal coverage from Local18 contributed nearly 25% of overall traffic

Firstpost Performance:

  • Leading destination for global affairs with Indian perspective
  • Strong YouTube presence with subscriber count nearing 10 million
  • 270 million video views on YouTube during quarter (>50% from outside India)
  • Expanded original content with new shows: The Link (explainer), The Blueprint (explainer), The Champion Code (athlete interviews), The Spend (lifestyle), Sports Explainers

Television Industry Context

Viewership Ratings Suspension:

  • Ministry of Information and Broadcasting directed BARC to pause weekly viewership data for news channels starting March due to West Asia conflict coverage concerns
  • Pause extended multiple times and continues to be in force
  • MIB directed BARC to stop publishing television ratings across news and non-news genres until license renewal under Television Ratings Policy, 2026
  • New policy requirements: expanded sample sizes, enhanced board governance, stricter audit requirements, data protection compliance, greater methodology disclosure

Historical TV Leadership (Pre-suspension):

  • Network18 was India's #1 TV news network with 20 channels (largest portfolio)
  • All-India viewership share: 13.8%
  • Monthly reach: 230 million people (35% higher than nearest competitor)
  • Market leadership positions:
  • CNBC-TV18: #1 Business channel with 63.3%+ share
  • News18 India: #1 Hindi news channel with 12.8% share
  • CNN-News18: #1 English news channel with 36.0% share
  • Regional markets: Marathi (28.0% share), Kannada (22.5% share), West Bengal (21.2% share)

Management Commentary

Mr. Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman: "The quarter gone by was a mixed one, for us as well as the industry. While on one hand, state elections gave a boost to advertising revenue, the ongoing geopolitical conflict and weak monsoon forecast were dampeners for the macroeconomic mood. Government interventions on the viewership ratings have also been negative for the sentiments of the industry. Despite these developments, we are fully focused on making our products better by ensuring that they serve their consumers effectively, so that when the macro environment improves, we are in the right position to benefit from it."

Notes and Adjustments

Labour Code Implementation:

  • Government implemented four new Labour Codes including Code on Wages, 2019 effective November 21, 2025
  • Company recorded additional obligation of ₹11.75 crore (standalone) and ₹12.13 crore (consolidated) as exceptional items in Q4 FY26

Subsidiary Changes:

  • News18 Marathi Private Limited (formerly IBN Lokmat News Private Limited) became wholly owned subsidiary from October 29, 2025
  • Eenadu Television Private Limited ceased to be associate effective July 7, 2025
  • Exceptional item of ₹587.01 crore (standalone) and ₹150.64 crore (consolidated) in Q1 FY25 represents excess of fair value of ETPL investment over carrying value

Investor Communication

Contact: Saurabh Garg (saurabh.garg@nw18.com)

Previous updates available on company website www.nw18.com