MUMBAI: DB Corp?s net profit for the first first quarter ending 30 June fell to Rs 437 million, from Rs 611 million a year ago.

Expenditure rose to Rs 3.14 billion, from Rs 2.65 billion.

The company, which publishes popular Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar, reported consolidated revenues of Rs 3.78 billion, representing an increase of 7 per cent.

Revenues from advertising clocked a marginal one per cent rise to Rs 2.86 billion from Rs 2.84 billion.

Advertising revenues from the company?s print business saw minor dip from Rs 2.71 billion to Rs 2.70 billion in the current quarter. Circulation revenue grew to Rs 656 million, enjoying a 16 per cent growth over the same quarter of corresponding fiscal.

Commenting on the result, D B Corp MD Sudhir Agarwal said, "A challenging economic environment driven by weak GDP numbers continues to plague growth across key industries which in turn has impacted overall media spend. In this quarter, we focussed our strategy of on maintaining our positions in all markets. We studied the environment well and adopted a two-pronged strategy to be aggressive on retaining our readership base and maintaining a very prudent approach towards expenditure control and and cost rationalisation across all operations and in non-core markets. Further, our progress in key regions like Aurangabad and Nashik in Maharashtra and in Jharkhand showed very encouraging results, proven by strong subscription renewal of copies after one year completion of launch of edition."DB Corp?s radio business net revenue increased to Rs 140 million, from Rs 125 million, due to improved advertising revenues.

Net profit from print business stood at Rs 455 million while that of radio business at Rs 4 million.

The company?s Ebitda margin came down from Rs 1 billion Q1 FY?12 to Rs 849 million in current quarter due to forex loss.Print business Ebitda stood at 23.2 per cent at Rs 840 million due to expenses incurred in marketing and launch related expenses.

MUMBAI: DB Corp, the publisher of Dainik Bhaskar, has posted a consolidated net profit (after minority interest) of Rs 454.06 million for the last quarter of the fiscal ended 31 March 2012.

The company?s net profit has stayed almost flat compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal (449.97 mn).

During the quarter, the company?s total income from operations grew by 13.63 per cent to Rs 3.61 billion, from Rs 3.17 billion a year ago.

Revenues from advertising grew by 5.4 per cent to Rs 2.63 billion, from Rs 2.49 billion in the earlier year. Circulation revenues grew 16 per cent to Rs 620 million from Rs 534 million.

The company?s expenditure jumped 19.68 per cent to Rs 2.98 billion in the fourth quarter of FY?12 as against Rs 2.49 billion in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

DB Corp MD Sudhir Agarwal said, ?On an overall basis, this final quarter has been in step with the momentum we set off at the start of this fiscal - focus on strategic expansions and consolidation. Over the year, DBCL accomplished roll out in major markets of Maharashtra by launching 5 new editions from Aurangabad, Nashik, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar and most recently in 04 ? launch of Sholapur edition.

?With all new region expansions and launches under way, our strategic focus now is to enhance monetisation and to fully capitalise on our leadership in all markets. Innovation, market development and relentless focus on execution ? have been three important pillars of our growth strategy that have enabled us to deliver one of the most consistent and strong financial performances across the Indian print media space, in spite of 2012 being a challenging year for the industry.?

From the print business, the company?s net profit stood at Rs 448 million with Ebidta margins at 21.2 per cent with Rs 726 million.

The company?s radio business, which runs My FM, turned positive on the PAT level with a net profit of Rs 25.5 million. The Ebitda stood at Rs 52.4 million, while advertising revenues grew 10 per cent to Rs 146.4 million, from Rs 133.1 million a year ago.