17 October 2017
2QFY18 Results Update | Sector: Media
HT Media
Neutral
BSE SENSEX
32,609
Bloomberg
Equity Shares (m)
M.Cap.(INRb)/(USDb)
52-Week Range (INR)
1, 6, 12 Rel. Per (%)
Avg Val, INRm
Free float (%)
S&P CNX
10,234
HTML IN
233
19.2 / 0.3
Cost optimization measures boost PAT despite weak ad market
109 / 70
n
GST pain visible:
Overall revenue declined 7% YoY on the back of weak ad
4/12/-7
and circulation revenues. Ad revenue fell 8% YoY to INR3.95b (2% miss), led
26
by ~12% volumes decline (muted spends in government, education, FMCG
30.5
CMP: INR102
TP: INR113(+11%)
Sluggish ad market weighs on performance
Financials & Valuations (INR b)
2017 2018E
Y/E Mar
Net Sales
24.5
24.4
EBITDA
3.0
4.2
Adj PAT
1.7
2.4
Adj EPS (INR)
7.4
10.4
Gr. (%)
-1.8
40.3
BV/Sh (INR)
96.8
106.8
RoE (%)
7.9
10.2
RoCE (%)
9.7
10.8
P/E (x)
13.9
9.9
P/BV (x)
1.1
1.0
EV/EBITDA (x)
11.2
7.0
2019E
25.6
n
4.4
2.7
11.9
14.9
118.2
10.6
n
11.1
8.6
0.9
5.7
Estimate change
TP change
Rating change
n
and travel segments). English/Hindi ad revenues declined 8% YoY to
INR2.3b/1.57b. English/Hindi circulation revenue remained sluggish (down
13%/7%) on the back of soft pricing and curtailing of copies.
PAT doubled despite revenue slowdown:
Bucking the revenue trend,
EBITDA doubled to INR1045m in 2QFY18, led by a) restructuring benefits
(hiving off low-yield regions), b) lower cost on account of a decline in
volumes (~12%), c) cut down in discretionary spends and d) GST benefits.
PAT increased 114% YoY to INR662m.
Digital venture to be hived off:
Digital ventures, including content creation
and the news website, will be hived off into a separate listed company, and
HT Media’s shareholders will get shares in the entity. The entity will have
90% revenues from the group companies and will be loss-making, but will
seek business outside the group companies over time. This will reduce HT
Media’s digital business losses.
TP increased to INR113; Maintain Neutral:
Given the improvement in
profitability, we have revised our PAT estimates. We estimate revenue/PAT
CAGR of 3%/23% over FY17-20E, driven by strong cost optimization
measures, of which over 50% would be sustainable. Subsequently, we have
revised our TP to INR113 (11% upside). We maintain our
Neutral
rating.
Aliasgar Shakir – Research analyst
(Aliasgar.Shakir@motilaloswal.com); +91 22 6129 1565
Hafeez Patel – Research analyst
(Hafeez.Patel@motilaloswal.com); +91 22 6129 1568
Motilal Oswal research is available on www.motilaloswal.com/Institutional-Equities, Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, Factset and S&P Capital.
Investors are advised to refer through important disclosures made at the last page of the Research Report.