Good news for newspapers

The newspaper trade is growing after five years. How publishers use this bounty will determine its future

- VANITA KOHLI-KHANDEKAR

The big surprise in the annual Federation of Indian Chambers of and Industry (FICCI)-EY report released this week is not the growth of digital. It is the 4 per cent revenue growth in print (largely newspapers) in 2023 over 2022. The report expects print to continue to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 3.4 per cent till 2026.

This is the first time in five years that newspapers have grown both advertising and pay revenues. That should not be so surprising. There are reams of full-page ads across India. TAM Adex data shows that advertising volumes and value have risen over their pre-pandemic levels (see charts).

On the ground, too, some of the largest newspaper publishers are having a good year. DB Corp has just had its 10th straight quarter of growth in revenues and profits. The publishers of Dainik Bhaskar (Hindi), Divya Bhaskar (Gujarati) and Divya Marathi among other brands made a net profit of ₹169 crore in the financial year (FY) ending March 2023. In the first nine months of FY24, DB Corp had already crossed this figure to hit ₹303 crore in net profit. It should finish the financial year at twice the FY23 number, say analysts. The Malayala Manorama Company more than doubled its net profit to ₹81 crore. Other publishers are set for a nice growth in net profits in the year ending March 2024.

The reasons? "Newsprint prices have fallen to $500 a tonne (in the last quarter) and cover prices (across newspapers) have increased,"says Girish Agarwal, non-executive director, DB Corp. Newsprint forms 45-50 per cent of the total cost of publishing a paper.