D B Corp Ltd Q4 FY2026 Concall Summary

Key Takeaways

• Print advertising grew ~6% YoY in Q4, driven by broad-based advertiser sentiment across education, real estate, healthcare and auto, with volumes rather than yield doing the work.
• Newsprint costs are rising and will rise further: Q4 rates hit INR49,000/ton, and management expects another 6–8% increase in Q1 FY27, a headwind that will persist for the next couple of quarters.
• Circulation is a managed decline, not a crisis: copies slipped ~2% YoY to 39 lakhs, but management frames this as market-share gain in a structurally challenged delivery-boy market and calls maintaining engagement "a decent achievement."
• Digital is still a build story, not a monetization story: 2 crore MAUs with Uttar Pradesh as the next growth lever, a new digital head just onboarded, and monetization deferred until user experience is enhanced.
• What to watch next quarter: whether the 6–8% newsprint cost increase materializes and compresses margins, whether April's double-digit ad growth sustains, and any early signals from the new digital leadership.

Print Advertising: The Growth Engine

• Broad-based volume growth: Q4 print advertising grew ~6% YoY, with education posting big growth, real estate/jewelry/healthcare each growing double digits, auto growing single digits, and FMCG flat. Government advertising was not a meaningful contributor.
• Yield stayed flat: growth came almost entirely from volumes, with only minor percentage-point yield improvement.
• FY26 ex-election performance: stripping out the prior year's election bump, print advertising grew 6.3% YoY and EBITDA grew 7.1% with 66 bps of margin expansion to 28%.
• April momentum: April 2026 opened with very good double-digit growth, and management is confident growth should continue off a strong single-digit number for the full year.
• Sector detail withheld: management declined to provide exact sector-wise growth rates or contribution splits, citing competitive reasons.

Girish Agarwal: "Print as a medium continues to perform consistently for us and continues to demonstrate resilience despite the perception in some sections that print is declining medium."

Newsprint: The Margin Headwind

• Q4 cost step-up: average newsprint rates rose to INR49,000/ton from INR48,000/ton, driven by raw material cost pressure, global supply dynamics, logistics costs and demand-supply imbalances. Imported newsprint prices increased on freight costs, and Indian manufacturers follow import-parity pricing.
• Dollar depreciation amplified the pain: the rupee's 8–10% depreciation against the dollar pushed imported newsprint prices higher in local-currency terms.
• Q1 FY27 will be worse: management expects newsprint rates to rise another 6–8% in Q1 itself, with forward orders already reflecting a 7–8% increase. The upward trend is seen as temporary but likely to persist for the next couple of quarters.
• Offset from waste sales: other operating income rose ~INR10 crore on higher newsprint wastage sale values, a partial and mechanical hedge against rising input costs.
• Margin commitment: despite the cost pressure, management believes maintaining a 24% EBITDA margin (last year's level) is achievable.

Circulation: Managed Decline, Market-Share Gain

• Copies down ~2% YoY: circulation dropped from 40 lakhs to 39 lakhs. Management attributes the structural challenge to a shortage of delivery boys, who distribute newspapers between 4am and 6:30am and can earn better compensation in daytime jobs.
• Market-share narrative: management claims competitors are losing more copies, so DB Corp is gaining share even as the overall market shrinks. Some markets are shrinking while others maintain or show small growth.
• Engagement held steady: on-ground activity, brand awareness initiatives, distribution network enhancement and editorial quality are the levers being pulled to maintain or grow circulation, or "lose the least."

Girish Agarwal: "I think what is happening in most of the places, we believe that with all our efforts, we are able to maintain this number. We are able to maintain the engagement of the readers... I think I would call it a decent achievement actually to maintain the circulation numbers."

Digital: Building Before Monetizing

• Scale today: 2 crore MAUs, with the Uttar Pradesh market recently opened and delivering good early results. Management expects the UP opportunity (23 crore population) to drive substantial MAU growth.
• Product investment underway: multiple efforts on product quality, editorial content, video and personalized content formats to enhance user experience, with monetization explicitly deferred until that experience is ready.
• New leadership: Piyush Thakur joined from an organization with a healthy CPM track record, made his first Board presentation this quarter, and begins rollout this month. Management expects at least a couple of months before results become visible.
• MAU question sidestepped: when asked about MAUs declining from ~2.2 crore in May 2025 to ~2 crore, management attributed monthly fluctuations to local events and asserted "constant growth," without directly addressing the decline.
• War-driven app traction: the geopolitical situation gave a slight bump to app users, but management noted Indians are more concerned with local events than global ones.

Girish Agarwal: "And we are very optimistic about Uttar Pradesh because -- population market in state 23 crores population. So, we expect this 2 crore should go up substantially in terms of maus. And there are multiple efforts in terms of product quality, editorial content and the videos so that the user experience really enhanced and gives the delight to the reader, so that in future, whenever we want to monetize it, we are able to do that."

Radio: Small but Profitably Expanding

• Network now at 37 cities: 7 new stations added during the year, all of which became EBITDA positive within 3 months at very high margins. In those 7 cities, DB Corp is the only radio station; in another 7, it shares the market with one other player.
• Revenue constrained by inventory: top-line growth is not double-digit every year due to inventory limitations, but costs are controlled to a very large extent. Management believes the medium still has relevance and will keep investing to maintain audience engagement.

Capital Allocation: Cash, Property and Promoter Buying

• Property buyout program: INR120 crore capex planned for buying out currently rented properties (printing presses, offices) across Bhopal, Jaipur, Kota, Aurangabad, Nasik, Jalgaon and other locations. The rationale combines rental savings with land and property appreciation.
• Cash utilization under review: the Board is evaluating the most tax-efficient manner to use cash. No dividend was declared this year versus a 60% payout last year, but management stated there is no change in dividend policy. No buyback commitment was given.
• Promoter buying shares: one promoter has been consistently buying from the open market over the last 6–12 months, with a stated plan to cap at 75%. Management did not address what happens if the 75% threshold is reached or whether an open offer would be triggered.
• No M&A appetite: management explicitly ruled out plans to acquire any other media business.

Girish Agarwal: "Two purpose, the land appreciation and the property appreciation in these places are really decent. So, if I add the rental and the appreciation, I'm better off than keeping the money."

Guidance & Commitments

Key Metrics