http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124878263966786643.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
JULY 28, 2009, 8:12 A.M. ET HT Media: Mint Likely to Turn Profitable by Fourth Quarter By R JAI KRISHNA NEW DELHI -- HT Media Ltd. said Tuesday it expects its business newspaper - Mint - to turn profitable in the fourth quarter of this fiscal year, even as the company copes with a fall in advertising revenue. "Our investment in Mint has started paying off well... Our objective is that by the last quarter (ending March 31, 2010) we should start making money," HT Media Chief Executive Rajiv Verma said in an analysts' call. HT Media publishes Mint from five Indian cities, and the newspaper now has a circulation of about 125,000 copies. The newspaper was launched in February 2007, and has an agreement with Dow Jones Newswires to publish news and information from The Wall Street Journal in India. Dow Jones - publisher of this newswires and The Wall Street Journal - is owned by News Corp. Indian companies - under pressure to reduce costs in the economic slowdown - have cut spending on advertising, hurting revenue growth for the media industry. But, HT Media saw advertisement revenue at Mint grow 24% on year in the quarter ended June 30, Mr. Verma said. He, however, expects continued losses at the newly-launched editions of Mint in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata and the southern city of Chennai - where about 8,000 copies are sold in total. HT Media also owns The Hindustan Times, an English daily, and the Hindi-language newspaper, Hindustan. Monday, the company said its first quarter net profit fell almost 14% to 324 million rupees ($6.72 million) on revenue of 3.28 billion rupees, hurt mainly by a decline in advertising revenue. Mr. Verma said apart from the low advertisement spending by companies, the government also restrained its advertising spend during the federal elections in April and May. This lead to an on-year drop of 12% in advertising revenue for the company's English publications, he said. India's electoral laws restrain the government and its related organizations from advertising during elections. However, advertising revenue for its Hindi newspaper grew by 32%, the company said, without citing any reasons. Mr. Verma said the company expects some pickup in advertising in coming quarters from high-spending sectors such as real estate and travel on the back of a reviving economy. "There is confidence coming back in brands, especially in real estate, and travel... but there is still a little bit of laggard in finance (sector)... This lag effect has taken a toll on the media," he added. Write to R Jai Krishna at [email protected]
