jagran prakashan ltd Management discussions


Forward-looking statements

This report contains forward-looking statements, which may be identified by their use of words like ‘plans?, ‘expects?, ‘will?, ‘anticipates?, ‘believes?, ‘intends?, ‘projects?, ‘estimates? or other words of similar import. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including but not limited to statements about the Company?s strategy for growth, product development, market position, expenditure, and financial results, are forward-looking statements. Forwardlooking statements are based on certain assumptions and expectations of future events. The Company cannot guarantee that these assumptions and expectations are accurate or will be realised. The Company?s actual results, performance or achievements could thus differ materially from those projected in any such forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no responsibility to publicly amend, modify or revise any forward-looking statements, based on any subsequent developments, information or events.

Overview of Indian economy

Indian economy is one of the bright spots offering opportunities across the board. As per world bank report, India is best placed amongst major emerging economies to recover fully from pandemic shock and capitalise on available opportunities.

The financial year began with worsening geo-political conditions causing uncertainties and disruption in supply chain but India successfully managed to contain its impact on economy by controlling inflation and ensuring supplies to its citizens with minimum disruption. While India, on foundation of strong economic fundamentals, has shown remarkable resilience to the disturbances, monetary tightening and all sorts of challenges that emerged and are emerging, there are areas of concern which pose challenge to the desirable growth in economy.

We hail India?s economy becoming 5th largest economy and country?s population surpassing China?s population which is young and therefore suggests that India has huge untapped potential. However, per capita income which is true reflection of economic wellness of citizens continues to be low primarily because job opportunities are either stagnant or are falling while population is increasing.

Despite targeted incentivisation of manufacturing of items of preference and infrastructure spending, unemployment rate remains worrisome and is not falling. In fact, according to certain estimates, even if India attains most optimistic growth of around 7%, unemployment is expected to increase only. Much more focus in the direction of ensuring employment linked growth and a healthy balancing between man driven and capital driven growth is needed. India is different and cannot copy growth model of advanced economies where there are less number of job aspirants and much higher per capita income.

The consistent low income with no sign of higher than inflation increase, job losses and lack of job opportunities have started hurting the consumption at a time when we were expecting first to come out of pandemic effect and then to accelerate growth to level needed for wellbeing of the citizens. Due to uncertainty around consumption, private capex too is not picking up. This does not augur well for sustaining current growth rate, leave alone improving it at least in foreseeable future.

While consumption in general is not growing enough, upper middle income households continue to shop and travel at will opening their wallets to any price for desired goods and services. As a result, demand for luxury goods, services and real estate is comparatively higher than pre pandemic times.

On the back of strong fundamentals and government?s initiatives, India will remain fastest growing economy and its economic growth is expected to be in the range of 6-6.5 per cent in current fiscal.

Indian Media and Entertainment (M&E) Industry

Indian media and entertainment industry (M&E) is one of the fastest growing M&E in the world. As per E&Y-FICCI report, it is likely to grow at a CAGR of 10.5% to reach P2.8 trillion in calendar year 2025. It grew 20% in 2022 to reach P2.1 trillion (US$26.2 billion), 10% above its pre-pandemic levels in 2019. The growth rate continues to be more than the GDP growth rate but its share in total GDP was still much lower than developed large markets like the US, Japan, and China, which are between 0.6% and 1%. This shows high potential linked to increase in per capita income.

India M&E is diverse, blessed with over 30 prominent languages used across the country. The flourishing M&E industry has recorded immense growth since it established itself as a prominent participant in the country?s economy, Television, film, print and radio dominating until a few years ago at the back of reasonably strong growth in economy. Covid-19 led disruption caused significant drop in media consumption especially for contact-based media segments like print, film, out of home advertising, event & activation businesses during the pandemic but provided an impetus to growth to digital media.

After Covid-19 restrictions eased and the mobility returned, all those media platforms which lost started recovering and are on track to recover fully in couple of years provided there is revival of consumption which currently is in stress. Post pandemic, growth in digital media has rationalised from exceptionally robust growth witnessed during pandemic but is expected to be in high teens in near future. The ever- increasing reach, internet literacy in rural areas and regional language offer opportunity for long term sustainable healthy double-digit growth. However, Indian Digital Media has not yet embarked upon a business model which aims at profitable growth and not merely expanding the user base, if it has to realise its potential and meet the expectations. Here, the key is to control personnel cost sooner than later to avoid situation of large scale retrenchments which is being currently faced by tech giants all over the world including India.

Traditional media advertisement revenue grew by 14% over previous year and was above pre-pandemic level, yet its share slipped to 62% of industry?s revenues due to phenomenal rise of digital media revenue which was more than twice of its prepandemic revenues. Digital media surpassed the television and became the largest segment in terms of advertisement revenue, followed by television at second and resurgent print media at third position.

Cost rationalisation without compromising with quality has immensely helped the industry in more than one way which augurs well for future growth and reward to stakeholders. Most significant benefit that accrued to the industry was change in approach of doing business and focus on identification of areas of optimisation of cost and importance of cash and profits. Fast adaption to changed approach was remarkable and enabled some of the operators to report profit even in the middle of pandemic and that too with the reduced revenues.

The current major challenge the industry faces is slowdown in consumption which directly impacts its advertisement revenues. We hope and trust that with inflation trending lower and infrastructure spend increasing, consumption should improve in next 6-9 months.

Print Media Industry

Calendar year (CY) 2022 witnessed continued recovery for the print media recording double digit growth over CY2021 and reached around 85% of pre-pandemic revenues of Rs 296 billion in CY2019 (Source: FICCI-E&Y Report). Exceptionally high newsprint cost, persistent high inflation in general and continued stress on revenue have adversely impacted the profitability for nearly three years now.

Newsprint price has since softened and is expected to be lower by about 25% next fiscal. Additionally, general inflation is also cooling. These savings could be utilised to pursue need based increase in circulation to sustain advertisement revenue as well as improve profits.

While digital news usage has increased, there is no evidence that the people have stopped reading newspapers. Readers looking for credibility of content are now willing to pay increased cover pries and such readers matter to the advertisers much more than those who are price sensitive. If circulation is still a bit lower than FY 2020, there are many reasons for it ranging from stopping dumping of copies and rationalisation of circulation to forego unproductive circulation, to consistent increase in cover prices.

According to the Pitch Madison Advertising Outlook Report 2023, Clothing Fashion Jewellery, HH Durables, Telecom, BFSI, Retail, Real Estate, and new-age companies emerged as the largest contributors to the growth. The share of print in the overall advertising expenditure was 21% as per Adex which is highest in the world. Hindi publications garnered a massive 35% volumes, with English contributing 27%, followed by other regional languages.

As per E&Y-FICCI report, Circulation revenues grew by 5% in calendar year 2022. Revenue growth was contributed by improvement in per copy realisation as well as copies in circulation. Print media companies are consistently focusing on improving their per copy realisation across their major publications, which places them in a position to minimise the impact of high newsprint prices.

Strategic cost optimisation measures by print helped in delivering strong operating profits and cash from operations. Publishers have realised that increase in cover prices is the only way forward to meet pandemic like challenges and exorbitant increase in newsprint prices and reducing its dependence on advertisement revenue which is largely dependent on factors beyond the control of the industry.

Digital news consumption will continue to increase and for credible content consumers will continue to chase print. Credible content has to be provided by print and digital has to deliver/distribute the same. If both recognise their respective role in this content distribution chain, both will benefit.

Radio Industry

With outbreak of the pandemic, the radio industry equipped itself to constantly reinvent and search for new avenues for revenues. Integration of digital in radio offering was one such highly effective innovation. Following the trend of CY 2021 and 2022, radio companies continued to offer more and more ROI led opportunities to their clients resulting in continued addition of new clients to the base. Hyperlocal content, solution- oriented approach and digital integration were key to record high double digit growth in revenue and ad volume. Radio industry has crossed once again revenue of Rs 2,000 Crores in calendar year 2022 registering a robust growth of 29% in revenues and 25% in ad. volumes. However, revenues and yields are still lower by 34% and 20% respectively than those in 2019 but the gap is closing. (Source: FICCI -E&Y Report)

Currently, India has more than 1,200 operational radio stations, including over 300 community radio stations. As per September 2022 TRAI report, there are 388 operational private FM radio channels in 113 cities run by 36 private FM radio operators. Advertisers across Tier II and Tier III markets look at radio as a cost effective medium to deliver their message to the listeners and are embracing the medium. Those who have strong presence in these towns as against those who have multiple frequencies in single large town will benefit. This is nothing unusual and is a global pattern as Radio is globally recognised as local and not national medium given its limited frequency reach.

Besides, Radio Shows and other non-FCT offerings, industry?s use of RJ-led social media is likely to grow exceptionally in times to come. RJ-led influencer marketing is here to stay and become one of the significant contributors to revenue. With radio influencer-brand collaborations, radio?s increasing role in creation of content and communication will help brands exploit their true potential.

Globally, in countries like USA the size of the radio industry is about $13 billion while in India it hovers around $0.3 billion demonstrating the tremendous growth potential available in India for the medium.

Digital media

India has currently more than 700 million active internet users and is recognised worldwide as a Mobile first market. During and post pandemic, traditional media companies also accelerated the digital transformation of their news operations and are therefore now much better prepared to face any disruptive contingent situation. ComScore data show that online news had a reach of 466 million in CY 2022 with the potential of increase by more than 50% by 2025. Majority of the digital news consumption is now in regional languages - as high as 95%. This indicates the potential what regional news portals hold to monetise. We therefore continue to expect that monetisation of digital news which currently is negligible will become meaningful in times to come like any other advance economy country.

In young country like India, habit formation as first step to monetisation seems to have happened and as next step consumers have to learn to pay for the content which is dependent on affordability and willingness to pay. For this to materialise, operators also have to focus on quality and credibility and curbing the practice of supply of content free of charges. In any media business, there has to be a shift in approach to monetise content some time for sustainable growth once critical audience base is achieved.

Two major announcements made by the Finance Minister in the Union Budget 2022 namely, Broadband expansion and 5G auction will accelerate the growth as well as quality of delivery which augurs well for the industry. With 5G roll out, new technologies like ChatGPT, XR, Metaverse, AR/VR and video content can be used and consumed more effectively which will draw additional revenues for the platform.

Digital has emerged as popular transactional tool for not only Work Delivery and Media & Entertainment but also for Grocery, Utilities, Education, Upskilling, Governance, Health and Medical care. Its contribution in meeting the challenge of mass vaccination in a vast country like India is remarkably outstanding and unforgettable.

Social media and online video remain the strongest platforms and are consistently evolving adding offerings of consumers? liking. Consumers are therefore spending more time on these platforms, resulting in the high growth of advertising spends on digital media. As India?s content consumption increased online, advertisers also followed their audiences.

In 2022, FMCG and e-commerce were top 2 advertisers with their respective share of 38% and 30% respectively. Concentration of revenue is not healthy for sustaining high growth in long term and therefore the industry must constantly work to reduce its dependence on a few categories by having increase in share of other categories in total pie. E-commerce sector dependent on fresh capital to keep their business running is in unprecedented stress due to lack of interest of investors in providing more capital without ensuring clear path to profitability and may therefore not remain as aggressive as they have been hitherto while spending on advertisement. Similarly, FMCG sector is not witnessing the expected growth. This is risk to short term high growth in revenues.

According to the E&Y-FICCI report, advertisement spend on digital media grew at 30% in CY 2022 to Rs 499 billion and became the largest media segment in terms of ad revenue pushing television to number 2 position.

Video has highest share followed by Social Media in the total digital revenue pie. This trend is likely to continue.

As per E&Y-FICCI report, the digital media is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15% over the next three years to reach ?862 billion by CY 2025.

On the news and information front, online news audience grew to over 466 million in CY 2022, which is approx. 66% of internet users. News companies have continued to increase their focus on regional languages to target a larger demography and increase engagement. News aggregators contributed to

a high app-based audience, while traditional news companies generated a high web-based audience.

Out-of-home (OOH)

The OOH media industry, being the contact based media segment was badly hit by the pandemic but has recovered strongly after lifting of the pandemic led restrictions. In CY 2022, its revenue was ?37 billion recording a growth of 86% over previous year and reaching around 94% of CY 2019 revenue levels. The revenues generated by untracked unorganised OOH media such as wall paintings, billboards, ambient media, storefronts, proxy advertising, etc. are not included in the aforesaid value which if added will increase its size meaningfully. The top five categories namely real estate and construction, organised retail, FMCG, consumer services and media contributed 64% of OOH spending and 60% of growth.

As a highly visible medium, OOH media is preferred to reach large mobile audiences. In India, OOH media companies have also been able to leverage advances in digital technology to reach even greater numbers of people. Digital signage can display targeted messages on screens located in busy public spaces, allowing advertisers to tailor their messages to specific audiences.

With the increasing demand from advertisers, OOH media companies are constantly innovating to provide new and more effective solutions to meet the needs of their customers. This includes the use of automated tracking systems, which allows advertisers to monitor the effectiveness of their campaigns in real-time and make such adjustments as necessary. In addition to serving traditional advertisers, OOH media companies in India are also exploring new avenues for growth. For instance, mobile display networks enable advertisers to display ads on private vehicles, allowing them to reach people on the move.

The OOH media sector is poised for growth, with revenues expected to reach ?53 billion by CY 2025. It is estimated that the sector will regain its pre-pandemic revenue run rate in the first half of CY 2023.

Event & Activation

Event and Activation segment was worse hit by the pandemic but started recovering steadily after lifting of the pandemic led restrictions. In CY 2022, it was the fastest growing segment recording a growth of 129% over previous year; albeit on a very low base. The industry is experiencing sustainable growth owing to various factors such as increasing competition in the market, the rise of digital media, and the need for brands to differentiate themselves in a crowded market. Brands are looking to engage with consumers in a more meaningful way and experiential marketing is proving to be an effective tool for achieving this.

Brand activation campaigns are particularly important as they provide one on one interaction with the brand and first-hand experience including look and feel of product. This is unique proposition which no other segment offers and establishes connect with the audiences. It also provides valuable insights into what the audience thinks about the brand which enables brand owner to take corrective action.

Overall, the Indian brand activation industry is poised for continued growth in the coming years driven by the increasing

demand for experiential marketing, the growth of digital media, multiple mediums and multiple choices and the governments focus on promoting entrepreneurship in the country.

The Company, its Subsidiaries and Associates (collectively referred to as Group)

The Group comprises the Company, its two subsidiaries and three associates. Wholly-owned Subsidiary, Midday Infomedia Limited ("MIL" / "Midday") is a publisher of English daily Midday, Gujarati daily Mid-day Gujarati and Indias largest read Urdu daily Inquilab. MIL also publishes Sunday Mid-day and a weekly Urdu tabloid, Taleemi. Its operations are primarily in Mumbai. The other subsidiary Music Broadcast Limited ("MBL" / "Radio City") is listed at National Stock Exchange of India Limited and BSE Limited and operates FM radio in the brand name of Radio City from 39 stations across 12 states. The Company?s Associates viz, X-Pert Publicity Private Limited ("X-Pert") and Leet OOH Media Private Limited ("Leet") are in the outdoor business and are not significant in relation to the Group?s operations. The Company?s another associate, MMI Online Limited ("MMI") is managing and marketing Group?s digital offerings, owns and manages its popular web portal Onlymyhealth.com and fact checking website Vishwas.com. MMI too is not significant in relation to Group?s size of business but its association is significant owing to its key role in our digital business.

The Group performed satisfactorily during the year which continued to be difficult and full of uncertainties. All businesses of the company reported strong growth in revenues with some of the business reporting exceptionally high growth during the year over the previous year. Outdoor, Event and Digital recorded more than pre-pandemic revenues but print and radio businesses are still behind despite recording double digit growth. Profitability of the print business was considerably impaired by abnormally high newsprint price during the year but the price has now started softening and is expected to come down by about 25% in fiscal 2023-24 itself from peak prices in 2022-23. It will help increase profit.

While, as stated above, all businesses have performed satisfactorily, special attention is drawn to Outdoor and Event & Activation businesses which are currently small in size in relation to the Company but they are going to become material in times to come. In continuation of previous year, this year too, the revenues of Outdoor and Event businesses grew by 47% and 100% respectively and operating profit grew by 148% and 197% respectively with improved margins. Both these businesses are constantly increasing their share in total pie and creating value for the stakeholders which is not yet captured in market capitalisation of the Company. Both these business are self-dependent for funds required for meeting increased working capital requirements due to increased scale of operations and for inorganic growth. We are hopeful that they would continue to do so unless there is an opportunity for larger investments.

Circulation revenue increased by 6% over previous year primarily on account of improved per copy realisation for almost all print brands. Circulation as well as circulation revenue were still lower than the pre-pandemic times but it was on expected lines and as per plan drawn basis the market conditions which were not expected to be conducive for growth. Circulation for all brands was stable despite taking increase in cover price and incurring hardly any promotional expense to push the circulation. Dainik Jagran continues to maintain its market position and in certain cases, increased its lead over the closest competitor. It belies the belief that readers do not want to pay for content.

Advertisement revenue (print including digital) registered a growth of 12% from the previous year. Advertisement volumes increased in line with growth in advertisement revenue. However, it was lower than expected due to worse than expected market conditions which are expected to improve in second half of fiscal 2023-24 as inflation, which is responsible for subdued consumption, has started coming down and is expected to remain within acceptable range. Further, prevailing uncertainties may also reduce as the year goes which will boost sentiment and hence consumption.

The Group?s digital presence is strengthening year after year. Radio is leveraging its digital presence nicely. Our digital business is maintaining a strong position and news and current affairs properties of the Company under its arm Jagran New Media continue to be rated amongst the top 10 in news and information category with around 84 million unique users. Like newspaper, regional language is considered a long term growth driver even for Digital Our focus on regional languages places us in an advantageous position owing to our age old understanding of consumer behaviour and needs of users of regional language. Further, data based strategy to identify liking wise segments of audience, provide quality content of liking to each segment and improve user?s experience will remain our core strength and help in capitalising on huge untapped potential Our collaboration with Google, Meta, JIO & Amazon has enhanced our content discovery, distribution and syndication capabilities.

JNM?s monetisation strategy is around advertisement inventory revenue, syndication revenue, production house and subscription revenue. The profits for digital business were lower despite increase in revenue by 16% as the investment in the business continues.

MBL continues to recover its revenue lost in pandemic times. Its revenues grew by 18% over previous year, its operating profit more than doubled to Rs 23 Crores and net profit was above Rs 3 Crores as against loss of about Rs 6 Crores in previous year. Even though radio has not recovered the lost revenue yet, they have turned into profit for the first time since pandemic outbreak. Radio being primarily fixed cost business model not needing any significant additional capital deployment in business for growth, its profits and cash generation will grow higher than the growth in revenues. As per E&Y FICCI Report, radio revenues in India will reach Rs 2600 Crores by calendar year 2025 as against Rs 2000 Crores estimated for calendar year 2022.

The growth of 18% in the operating revenue of MBL has been driven on the back of an increased focus on integrating radio with digital, credible RJ influencers and content syndication strategies. RJs are growing as influencers on social media as well, with some of them having large followers base. MBL is focussing on capitalising on this opportunity and achieved satisfactory success.

MBL?s focus on smaller markets, besides integration of its digital offerings, non-FCT opportunities and maintaining control over cost have all been instrumental in improving the business growth and the profitability. In terms of advertisement volume, it is near to pre-pandemic volume but the average advertisement rates continue to be low in comparison.

MBL?s Balance Sheet continues to be strong with comfortable liquidity of around Rs 300 Crores with no debt and no material capital commitment.

The Scheme of MBL?s bonus issue of the non-convertible noncumulative redeemable preference shares ("NCRPS") pending for over 2 years has since been implemented with allotment of shares and listing at NSE and BSE. It was first Scheme with unique features designed for the benefit of only minority shareholders which has always been core to heart of Group?s policies. It is noteworthy that promoter JPL was not entitled to any bonus share as per the Scheme.

Another Subsidiary MIL has registered robust growth in revenues catching up fast with its revenues in pre-pandemic times and turned into operating profit as well from significant operating loss. MIL grew its revenues by 41% and recorded operating profit of about Rs 1 Crores as against loss of Rs 9 Crores recorded in the previous year. MIL seems to have sailed successfully through its most difficult phase since its inception on the back of cost control measures and innovative marketing initiatives besides continued focus on digital offerings of content and its monetisation.

In order to overcome its dependence on holding company for liquidity, MIL worked on realisation of blocked capital wherever it was possible without compromising the growth prospects and accordingly sold off its immovable property at which printing press was situated and shifted its printing facility to a rented premise as rental is far lower than the treasury income that can be earned on sale proceeds of the property. The immovable property fetched nearly Rs 46 Crores which resulted in one time exceptional gain of about Rs 39 Crores.

Midday gained market share in advertisement volume as its legacy brands continue to command loyalty of the readers which is evidenced from the fact that despite increase in cover prices, circulation has remained stable.

The digital business of Midday strives to nurture a loyal community of online Readers by providing exclusive premium content which is fact checked. MIL also extends its extensive social media presence by leveraging the power of social media influencers including the ones from our newsrooms to further the reach of our brand and content.

Two associates, X-Pert and Leet are in outdoor business. X-Pert reported growth in operating revenues and profits whereas there was de-growth in case of Leet. Both the companies have positive net worth and sufficient liquidity to manage their operations.

MMI?s performance continues to be in line with the expectations and has reported operating loss of Rs 1 Crores during the year. It has been managing the digital offerings of the Company efficiently in addition to managing its fact checking website www.vishvasnews.com and portal Onlymyhealth.com. MMI conducted an extensive training session on Fact Checking and News verification in the month of January 2023 for the officers of Indian Army, Navy and Air Force at the Indian Institute of

Mass Communication (IIMC), and collaborated with Lec-dem on Use of Social Media in Information Warfare. Another digital property, Onlymyhealth.com offers health information and medical updates on healthy life ideas.

The Group?s balance sheet continues to be strong with strong liquidity of over Rs 1,000 Crores with debt of around Rs 350 Crores despite payment of dividend and buyback of shares aggregating to Rs 450 Crores during the year. CRISIL has reaffirmed its credit rating AA+ Stable for long and medium term, and A1+ for short term in respect of the Company, AA (-)/ stable for long term in respect of MIL and AA Stable for long term and A1+ Stable for short term in respect of MBL.

Awards and Recognitions

The Company is a recipient of awards and recognition by various national and international bodies and is proud to report that recognising Group?s leadership position and commitment in different businesses, various distinguished bodies have bestowed 142 Awards upon the Group during the year.

Brand Award No. of Awards
Dainik Jagran Global Media Awards, INMA 7
Asian Media Awards, WAN IFRA 1
Publisher Abbys, Goafest 4
Dainik Jagran Total 12
Radio City ACEF Awards 25
New York Festivals 2
Media Abbys, Goafest 1
ACEF Global Customer Engagement Forum & Awards 2022 25
E4M Golden Mikes Radio Advertising Awards 2022 21
Finalist certificates at New York Festival - Radio Awards 2022 4
India?s Best Company of the Year 2022 Award by Berkshire Media 1
E4M Golden Mikes 2022 21
India Audio Summit & Awards 2023 2
Radio City Total 102
Dainik Jagran Inext Global Media Awards, INMA 2
Asian Media Awards, WAN IFRA 2
Abbys, Goafest 1
Maddys 1
WAN IFRA Digital Media Awards 2
Dainik Jagran Inext Total 8
Midday Global Media Awards, INMA 1
Talent Track Awards 2022 1
Red Ink Award for Excellence in Indian Journalism 1
Midday Total 3
Jagran New Media IDMA Special Award 2022 1
WAN IFRA Digital Media Awards 1
Jagran New Media Total 2
Brand Award No. of Awards
Jagran Experiential Marketing - 1
Solutions Promotion / Activation of the Year for Sales Volume
Best Product Launch Activation 1
Best Road Show Activation 1
Jagran Solutions Total 3
Jagran Membership of International 1
Production Color Quality Club 2022-2024 by WAN-IFRA.
AIFMP 1
Jagran Production Team Total 2
Nai Dunia Global Media Awards, INMA 1
Nai Dunia Total 1
Jagran IT Team CIO POWER LIST 2022 1
Dataquest Digital Leadership Awards 1
Technology Senate Awards 2022 by Indian Express 1
INSIGHTS CXO AWARDS 2022 1
CIO100 Awards 2022 by Foundry! 1
CIO Hall of Fame 1
Digital Genius Award 2022 "CIO CROWN" 1
TechCircle Business Transformation Award 2022 1
8th Innovative CIO Awards 2023 -- CIO AXIS 1
Jagran IT Team Total 9
JPL Total 142

Additionally, Google India published a Case Study on the IT Infrastructure migration titled ‘Jagran New Media: Leveraging Data to Grow Brand Love and Provide a Seamless News Experience for Readers?. The case study highlighted the migration of the organisation from monolithic applications and multiple On-Demand data centres to Google Cloud. This transition enhanced data infrastructure to ensure scalability of operations to power the digital operations with greater agility.

MAJOR RISKS AND CONCERNS:

The management regularly reviews business, operational, functional and reporting risks. It has put in place strategy and controls to mitigate these risks. The risks are identified and handled as an ongoing process. The management continues to work to make optimum use of technology to strengthen controls and minimise or eliminate human intervention in various processes that helps the organisation in mitigating the operational and reporting risks.

As on date, the management identifies following risks:-

Geopolitical disturbances:

As discussed in Section titled Indian Economy, Russia- Ukraine conflict has disrupted supply chain which has started normalising. It has caused elevated inflation which will hurt the economic growth as it will reduce the purchasing power of the consumers who will avoid discretionary spend. It will adversely impact entire M&E industry and the Group may not be able to achieve growth in revenues and profits.

Management Response

The Group is mindful of the prevailing situation and continues to monitor the same closely so that required change in strategy can be made. It continues to exercise control over the cost and do everything else which is in its control. The Group successfully came out of unprecedented COVID crisis due to its agility in adapting to the changes necessitated by the uncertain environment and demonstrated resilience to adversities, thanks to its flexibility, adaptability, committed workforce, legacy of its brands, size of the businesses, business practices and the strategies which gives us confidence that the Group will meet the newly developed challenges, if any.

Please also refer to section Indian Economy?, ‘Media & Entertainment Industry? and ‘Print Industry? of this chapter.

Over dependence on advertisement revenue:

The Group derives about 60% of its total revenue from advertisement (print including digital). Shortfall in expected growth in revenue for any reason will disproportionately reduce the growth in profits or result in lower profits as advertisement revenue has high operating leverage.

Management Response

This risk is applicable to the entire advertisement industry but given our leadership position shortfall if any and its impact on financial health will be relatively less and this is what is clearly visible in numbers reported since outbreak of pandemic. In fact, even during peak of pandemic, the Group reported profits.

Having said that, there is no complacency and the management continues to work with client still more closely and build partnership that has helped and will immensely help in times like these. It was on account of this approach that the Group could get new pool of advertisers and partly compensate the loss of revenues from certain existing advertisers who were forced by the circumstances to cut their advertisement budget. We have seen new categories evolving and becoming a significant contributor to total revenues. This is likely to continue.

The management also keeps evaluating possibility of increasing the cover price as and when possible and more particularly at a time when advertisement revenue is under pressure. In any case, saving cost without compromising quality has become a priority for us and this is duly reflected even in the results for FY23. Further, with reduced cost base, continued control over fixed costs and improved per copy realisation, we are better placed to minimise the impact of shortfall if any, in the expected advertisement revenue.

Newsprint price fluctuation:

Newsprint as the primary raw material represents a significant portion of overall expenses. Any material upward movement in newsprint prices impairs the profitability significantly. Newsprint prices have surged to near USD $1,000 per tonne from USD $450 in 2019 because of spike in fuel and commodity prices as well as scarcity of newsprint.

Management Response

Increase in newsprint prices impacts us the same way as it impacts any commodity dependent industry. Our strategy is threefold to mitigate the impact (i) increasing the cover price of newspaper to pass on burden of increase to consumer without losing our market position ii) adjusting mix of newsprint consumed and (iii) to reduce consumption by optimisation of pages per copy and not increasing the circulation in the areas which do not matter to advertisers and prudently increasing circulation even in those areas that matter to advertisers looking at potential for advertisement revenue.

Having said that, the newsprint price has since started softening and is expected to come down by about 25% next fiscal from peak prices, which will result in significant improvement in profits.

Competition:

India?s print market is highly fragmented. There is stiff competition, which challenges the profit earning capacity of a print company. Similarly, other media platforms especially digital are also posing a threat.

Management Response

The management believes that the print media has its own inherent advantages like credibility, local content, easy and affordable accessibility etc. Circulation of fake news on other platforms has reemphasised the need of the newspaper in every strata of society and demography. There is still very low per capita spend on consumption of media as compared to global standard and therefore we believe that all media platforms have potential to grow, though growth rates will vary depending on the penetration and maturity of a media platform. This was amply demonstrated during as well as post pandemic when all media platforms including those which were believed to have no future, bounced back with vengeance and continue to sustain growth to reach pre pandemic level revenues in a hurry. This phase has cemented our belief that no medium is redundant and consumers need each of them, though all of us have to be more efficient and consumer friendly than ever before.

Dainik Jagran is the largest read newspaper and has been maintaining its market leadership position since 2003 without break. The strong market position, popularity of brand and richness of content enable us to increase our cover price in most of our markets. In fact, pandemic has brought the competitors together in a manner never experienced before. If this collaboration continues in future, every stakeholder will be the gainer.

Digital:

If the Group is unable to maintain its position and scale up its operations, it may not be able to attract planned revenue. Further, it may face fierce competition for revenue from local as well as international giants like Google and Facebook which have lion?s share in digital pie. Further, significant dependence on advertisement revenue from network owned by the global giants and inability to price the content may make the business model unsustainable.

Management Response

The Group?s digital strategy has seen positive momentum year after year and the results obtained (operational as well as financial) are in line with the management?s expectations. The digital impetus provided by the government is helping higher growth in tier-I and tier-II towns and rural India which gives the Group an edge over the competitors and make the Group?s digital offerings relevant for the consumers as well as giants like Google, which buy the content from players like us. Group?s feat on ground and vast network enable it to produce huge amount of original and credible local content which is unique and not available to others including these giants who are steadily but slowly agreeing to pay for content from print industry. Jagran digital properties continue to be amongst top 10 (Source: Comscore AprilRs 23) in the country in the news and information category despite stiff competition. The Group?s endeavour to monetise content continues and it has brought some of its offerings under subscription.

The Group has diversified from news to segments such as health, women, education, entertainment and fact check in all the three formats namely text, audio and video. With content, data and technology being at the core of strategy, we continuously work to improve growth. Our strong partnerships with Google, Meta, JIO & Amazon will further strengthen our content discovery, distribution & syndication arm. We leverage the power of social media influencers including the ones from our newsrooms to further the reach of our brand and content.

We reiterate that we do not believe any media platform is substituting other and we also believe that they will complement each other in countries like India where there is no stagnation or saturation seen or expected in media consumption which is far lower than the consumption in large economies. Whatever was experienced during pandemic or is being experienced post it is exception and not an indicator for future.

Internal control systems and their adequacy

Adequate internal control has been put in place in all areas of operations. The role and responsibility of all managerial positions are established, monitored and controlled regularly. All transactions are authorised, timely recorded and reported truly and fairly.

To ensure adherence to the laid-down systems, apart from internal reporting and monitoring, the Company has put in place formal Internal Audit System commensurate with the size and nature of the business. Internal audit is conducted by one of the big four accounting firms who periodically submit their report to the audit committee, besides suggestions to the management for improvements in internal control including IT systems, optimisation of costs and efficiency improvement. They have also been mandated to ensure compliances with the suggestions that are agreed for implementation and report to the audit committee non-compliances if any. They also verify compliances with various applicable provisions of law.

The Group is fully committed to continually work in strengthening the systems and processes wherever possible so as to achieve the highest degree of transparency, efficiency and accuracy in reporting, monitoring and decision making and has done so during the year as well as part of an on-going exercise.

The repeated recognition year after year by the professional bodies of its capabilities in enterprise technology is a testimony to the Company?s focus on embracing and strengthening the technology to strengthen its controls and processes to ensure optimum efficiency and transparency besides being in position to meet unforeseen challenges such as pandemic and resultant work from home culture which in absence of technology managed controls would have become completely unmanageable.

Segment performance

The Company did not have any reportable segment other than print in accordance with the requirements of IndAS-108 - ‘Operating Segment Reporting?, notified under the Companies (Indian Accounting Standard) Rules, 2015.

Financial performance

The figures have been rounded off to nearest lakh of rupees.

(A) The Company (Standalone)

Profit and Loss:

REVENUE ANALYSIS

( in Lakhs- rounded off to nearest Lakhs)

2022-23 Percentage (In relation to Revenue from Operations) 2021-22 Percentage (In relation to Revenue from Operations)
Revenue from Operations 159,390 100.00 140,123 100.00

Revenue from operations:

Advertisement revenue accounted for 72.60% (previous year 71.97%) and Circulation revenue 25.17% (previous year 26.10%%) of the total print and digital revenue, digital being an integral part of the print business. Advertisement revenue had a growth of 11% and circulation revenue grew by 6.2%. Digital, Outdoor and Event businesses reported growth of 16.1%, 68.5% and 100% respectively. Overall growth in operating revenue was 13.8%.

It is satisfying that double digit growth was recorded during the year which continued to be difficult and full of uncertainties by various uncontrollable factors including but not limited to geopolitical disturbances.

Growth in advertisement revenue was volume driven but growth in circulation revenue was primarily due to improved per copy realisation.

For the view on industry and future expectations, please refer to the section ‘Indian Economy?, ‘Indian Media & Entertainment (M&E) Industry?, ‘Print Industry? and Risks and Concerns.

EXPENDITURE AND PROFIT ANALYSIS

(Rs in Lakhs- rounded off to nearest Lakhs)

2022-23 Percentage (In relation to Revenue from Operations) 2021-22 Percentage (In relation to Revenue from Operations)
Cost of Raw Materials consumed* 53,933 33.84% 40,858 29.16%
Employee Benefits 29,785 18.69% 28,816 20.56%
Expenditure towards CSR activities 586 0.37% 581 0.41%
Net impairment losses on financial assets 2,239 1.40% 2,520 1.80%
Other Expenses 42,698 26.79% 31,666 22.60%
Total 129,241 81.08% 104,441 74.54%
Operating Profit 30,149 18.92% 35,682 25.46%
Depreciation and Amortisation 4,908 3.08% 6,016 4.29%
Net Finance Costs (5,176) -3.25% (2,263) -1.62%
Finance Costs 3,327 2.09% 2,761 1.97%
Less: Other Income 8,503 5.33% 5,024 3.59%
Exceptional Item - - (564) -0.40%
Impairment of investment in associates 560 0.35% - -
Profit Before Tax (PBT) 29,857 18.73% 32,493 23.19%
Taxation 6,989 4.38% 7,659 5.47%
Profit After Tax (PAT) 22,868 14.35% 24,834 17.72%

Cost of Raw Materials consumed

Cost of Raw Materials increased by 32%. Raw Material comprises newsprint and ink. Steep increase in this cost was mainly due to higher newsprint prices.

Employee Benefit

Employee cost increased by 3.4% in spite of annual increments granted to employees primarily due to reduction in employee strength in print business as a result of continued exercise to optimise efficiency. Further, Employee Benefits percentage in relation to revenue from operations reduced due to higher increase in operating revenues.

Expenditure towards CSR activities

Expenditure towards CSR activities was same as in previous year because 2% of three years? average profit was unchanged due to lower average profits in last three years. Please refer to the Board Report for the details.

Net impairment losses on financial assets

Provision for government debts was a major contributory in net impairment losses on financial assets as recovery is not yet coming on expected lines .Net impairment losses on financial assets decreased by 11% primarily due to write offs of old receivables as per the Companys policy.

Other Expenses

Other expenses represent production, direct expenses relating to businesses other than print, bad debts and provisions, administrative, selling and marketing expenses. Some of these like, direct expenses relating to other businesses viz. outdoor, event /activation and digital are variable, some like power and fuel and stores are semi variable and remaining expenses like promotion/publicity, freight on newspaper distribution, communication cost and repairs are largely fixed in nature and do not change with the change in scale of operation unless the change in scale is material. Fixed expenses include expenses which are controllable in nature.

Management closely monitors these expenses and constantly endeavours to rationalise and even cut these expenses, if the circumstances warrant. However, while applying austerity measures, care is taken that long term business interest is not compromised. Control over these expenses has played a major role in satisfactory profits despite operating revenues still remaining below prepandemic levels.

Other expenses increased by 35% primarily due to increase in direct expenses of Digital, Outdoor and Event businesses in line with the significant increase in scale of operations, increase in production related expenses like stores and spares was due to increase in volume of printing as well as inflation and increase in other expenses partly due to inflation, partly due to increased level of operations and balance owing to relaxation in certain discretionary spend like promotion and publicity which could not have been help back longer This also included activity expenses which generated gross margin of about 20 - 25%.

Increase in direct expenses of Digital, Outdoor and Event business alone has contributed 21% increase in total increase of 35%.

We will continue to ensure that the cost savings that accrued to us due to control measures adopted during pandemic are not squandered with growth returning and are efficiently used to increase profits.

Operating Profit:

Operating profit was lower due to high newsprint price and as a result of above factors.

Depreciation and Amortisation:

Depreciation is provided as per Company?s policies as detailed in the financial statements. On most of the assets, depreciation is provided as per the written down value method, as against the straight line method adopted by the peers as the company believes this method represents a realistic pattern of consumption of these assets over their useful life. As a result, the depreciation charge to profit and loss remains significantly higher in the initial years but goes down with the passage of time and helps in difficult times such as these.

There is decrease of 18.4% in the current year which is partly due to WDV method of depreciation and partly because there was hardly any addition to fixed assets.

Income tax expenses decreased by 8.7% as compared to the previous year as a result of decrease in profit before tax by 8.1%.

Finance Cost has increased by 20.5% mainly due to increase in interest and finance charges on lease liabilities. This cost mainly includes the interest expense incurred on borrowings of NCDs of Rs 250 Crores which were issued in April 2020 to create liquidity buffer to meet any contingent fund requirement emerging from pandemic. Out of Rs 250 Crores, amount of Rs 175 Crores has since been repaid which will reduce interest in fiscal 2023-24.

Other Income:

Other income increased by 69.2%. This primarily comprises treasury income, miscellaneous income and profit on sale of assets. The substantial increase in other income was due to profit on sale of surplus property of Rs 29 Crores, additional investments made out of surplus funds and improved returns achieved through change in investment strategy from investing in mutual funds alone to fixed income bonds/ FDRs.

Exceptional Item:

This represents reversal of provision for expected shortfall in recovery of our fire claim which has since been fully received.

Profit after Tax

Profit after Tax decreased by 7.9% as a result of above factors.

(ii) Balance Sheet

(Rs in Lakhs)

2022-23 2021-22
Total Equity 136,146 166,198
Total Non-current Liabilities 22,899 39,819
Total Current Liabilities 62,809 31,693
Total Equity and Liabilities: 221,854 237,710
Total Non-current Assets 126,770 165,996
Total Current Assets 95,084 71,714
Total Assets: 221,854 237,710

In order to improve return on capital, the Group?s endeavour is twofold. Not only it strives to improve profits even amidst adversities, it also simultaneously strives to reduce capital employed and return the surplus to the shareholders. As a result, capital employed was reduced by nearly Rs 160 Crores or by nearly 7% despite increased scale of operations.

Total Equity comprises of Equity Capital, Reserves, Retained earnings and Equity component i.e. the contribution from the promoter company in form of interest rate concession on the non-convertible debentures subscribed by it in the past. The Equity Capital and Reserves have undergone change due to buyback of 4.4 Crores equity shares at an average price of Rs 75 per share and Retained Earnings have changed due to the profit for the year.

Total Non-Current Liabilities represent long term borrowings, leave encashment obligations, gratuity, lease liabilities and deferred tax liabilities. Lease liabilities represent future rent payable in respect of long term rented properties occupied for offices etc. Lease liability marginally decreased. It changed due to renewal of lease on expiry of existing lease and taking new premises on lease. Liability for employees benefit obligations as well as deferred tax liabilities were more or less same as last year.

These liabilities decreased mainly due to reclassification in borrowing on account of shifting of repayment of NCDs of Rs 175 Crores from non-current to current liabilities, being amount due within a year.

Total Current Liabilities represent short term borrowings, trade payables, other current liabilities including current tax liability, employee benefit obligations and financial liabilities. Trade payables and other liabilities mainly represent the liability for material, unpaid expenses, interest accrued, but not due and security deposits from newspaper agents and statutory liabilities, such as deduction of provident fund from the employees and TDS. The Company has been regular in depositing statutory dues as well as paying its other liabilities on due dates.

These liabilities have increased primarily due to reclassification of borrowing of Rs 175 Crores from noncurrent to current on account of repayments falling due in next one year. Higher other financial liabilities and trade payables are due to higher scale of operations and provisions for tax on buyback of shares.

Total Non-Current Assets comprise fixed assets, Goodwill, right of use assets, investments with maturity exceeding one year, investment in subsidiaries and associates, investment properties, security deposits, unbilled revenue and other current assets realisable / expected to be realised after one year. In the current year, there was no significant addition to fixed assets and investment properties of significant value were disposed of. Non-current investments were redeemed to fund buyback.

‘Right-of-use assets? represents the present value of rented properties accounted for in accordance with IndAS 116 applicable with effect from 1st April 2020. The present value is discounted value of rent payable till expiry of lease taking into consideration the interim increases if any. Please refer to the discussions on lease liabilities as well.

Total Current Assets represent investments with maturity of less than one year, trade receivables, financial assets including insurance claim receivable, and inventories besides short term advances, current assets and cash and bank balances. Total value of these assets has increased primarily on account of increase in value of current investment, bonds maturity within one year and inventories. Increase in current investment was mainly due to higher short term investments utilising the profits earned from business and increase in trade receivable is due to higher scale of business.

Increased efforts and focus on recovery helped recover significant amount of old debts resulting in lower provisions for bad and doubtful debts and trade receivables even though the scale of operations was higher. Payments from government especially state governments and their departments continue to be delayed.

Inventory was more or less same in spite of increase in price of newsprint, due to better inventory management.

(B) CONSOLIDATED (i) Profit and Loss:

(Rs in Lakhs- rounded off to nearest Lakhs)

2022-23 Percentage (In relation to Revenue from Operations) 2021-22 Percentage (In relation to Revenue from Operations)
Revenue from Operations 185,617 100.00% 161,595 100.00%
Operating Cost 152,929 82.39% 125,632 77.74%
Operating Profit 32,688 17.61% 35,963 22.26%
Less: Depreciation and Amortisation 10,675 5.75% 11,862 7.34%
Net Finance Costs (6,732) -3.63% (3,523) -2.18%
Finance Costs 3,859 2.08% 3,149 1.95%
Less: Other Income 10,591 5.71% 6,673 4.13%
Add: Share of net profit of associates accounted for using the equity method 2 0.00% 32 0.02%
Exceptional Item (3,868) -2.08% (564) -0.35%
Impairment of goodwill and investment in associates 7,296 3.93%
Profit Before Tax 25,319 13.64% 28,221 17.46%
Taxation 5,640 3.04% 6,533 4.04%
Profit After Tax (PAT) 19,679 10.60% 21,688 13.42%
Less/(Add): Share of Minority Interests in Profits / (Losses) (298) -0.16% (573) -0.35%
Add: Other comprehensive income (396) -0.21% 408 0.25%
Total Comprehensive Income to Owners 19,581 10.55% 22,668 14.03%

(i) Profit and Loss:

( in Lakhs- rounded off to nearest Lakhs)

2022-23 2021-22
Total Equity 193,047 235,175
Total Non-current Liabilities 33,910 44,931
Total Current Liabilities 68,832 37,384
Total Equity and Liabilities: 295,789 317,490
Total Non-current Assets 181,151 227,925
Total Current Assets 114,638 89,565
Total Assets: 295,789 317,490

(iii) Consolidated cash flow statement

The summary of cash flows is as follows:

(Ras in Lakhs- rounded off to nearest Lakhs)

2022-23 ( in Lakhs rounded off to nearest Lakhs) 2021-22 ( in Lakhs rounded off to nearest Lakhs)
(A) Net Cash Surplus/(Deficit) from operating activities 27,150 32,204
(B) Net Cash Surplus / (Deficit) from investing activities 24,911 (20,427)
(C) Net Cash Surplus/(Deficit) from financing activities (51,693) (12,282)
(D) Net Surplus/(Deficit) (other than surplus generated from operating activities) (B) + (C) (26,782) (32,709)
(E) Net Increase/(Decrease) in cash and cash equivalent (A) + (D) 368 (505)

Net cash surplus from operating activities was lower than the previous year by 15.7%. Group realised Rs 16,017 Lakhs from sale of property, plant and equipment and investment properties. Company has utilized Rs 45,321 Lakhs in buyback of equity shares and dividend payment to the shareholders. Cash profits were also deployed in working capital primarily due to increase in scale of operations.

Please refer to the section titled as "the Company, its Subsidiaries and Associates" of this Chapter that lists out the entities that have been considered while compiling the consolidated financial statements and define the relationship of each entity with the Company.

In this Section, percentages have been rounded off to nearest number Consolidated Profit and Loss

1) The contribution of subsidiaries Music Broadcast Limited and Midday Infomedia Limited in revenue, operating profit, profit before tax and profit after tax of the Group was as follows: -

( in Lakhs- rounded off to nearest Lakhs)

Music Broadcast Ltd. (%) Midday Infomedia Ltd. (%)
2022-23 2021-22 2022-23 2021-22
(i) Revenue 11 11 4 3
(ii) Operating profit 7 3 0.2 -3
(iii) Profit before tax 2 -3 -1 -5
(iv) Profit after tax 2 -3 15 -5

Note: The above figures are without eliminating intra group transaction which is insignificant and will not materially change the same.

2) Please refer to section titled "the Company, its Subsidiaries and Associates" for the discussions on performance of subsidiaries and associates.

Consolidated Balance Sheet

1. Total Equity have primarily decrease on account of buy back of equity shares and payment of dividend to the shareholders during the year by the Company in line with the Group?s policy of rewarding the shareholders.

2. Total Non-current Liabilities have decreased primarily due to transfer of borrowing to current liability as the same are payable within the next financial year. Decrease are lower as the same is compensated by the increase in borrowing in one of our subsidiary on account of issue of bonus preference shares.

3. Total Current Liabilities have increased primarily on account of transfer of borrowing from non current to current as discussed above, regrouping of refund liability and recognition of liability on account of tax payable on buyback of shares.

4. Total Non-current Assets have decreased primarily on account of sale of investment property, impairment of goodwill arised on consolidation of Radio business and transfer of non current investment to current investments.

Total Non-current Assets also include goodwill of Rs 27,126.63 Lakhs which has arisen mainly on consolidation and relates to the acquisition of Naidunia print business in the year 201112 and radio business in the year 2015-16. The goodwill is tested for impairment at the end of every financial year. During the current year, impairment charge of Rs 6,681.96 was recognised in the Radio CGU, considering the current market conditions and industry outlook. In addition to goodwill, there are other intangible assets as well. These intangible assets are computer software, brand, migration fees relating to radio business and part of consideration paid for acquisition of radio business that has been allocated to radio licences while consolidating the accounts. These intangible assets are being amortised on the basis of their useful lives.

5. Total Current Assets have increased primarily due to transfer of investment from non current investment to current investment.

Consolidated Cash Flow Statement

In continuation of the previous year, there was healthy cash generation from operations in spite of lower profits primarily due to continued efforts to bring in efficiency in working capital management. The Group has liquidity of over Rs 1,000 Crores including unutilised working capital limit as at 31st March 2023 which is sufficient to pursue organic and inorganic growth opportunities and meet contingency, if any.

Calculation of Ratios of Standalone financials for the year ending March 31, 2023 Standalone:

S. Ratios no. March 31, 2023 March 31, 2022 Reason for variation of more than 25%
Ratio Ratio
1 Debtors turnover ratio 4.56 4.14 -
2 Inventory turnover 6.77 6.45 -
3 Interest coverage ratio 9.06 13.13 Current year ratio are lower due to higher interest and lower EBIDITA
4 Current ratio 1.51 2.26 Current year ratio are lower due to increase in current liabilities
5 Debt-Equity ratio 0.21 0.17 -
6 Operating Profit Margin% 18.92 25.46 Current year margin are lower due to increase in newsprint cost in comparison to previous year
7 Net Profit Margin % 13.62 17.11 -
8 Return on net worth % 16.80 14.94 -

Calculation of Ratios of Consolidated financials for the year ending March 31, 2023 Consolidated:

S. Ratios no. March 31, 2023 March 31, 2022 Reason for variation of more than 25%
Ratio Ratio
1 Debtors turnover ratio 4.19 3.74 -
2 Inventory turnover 6.56 6.38 -
3 Interest coverage ratio 9.47 11.61 Current year ratio are lower as the interest are higher in comparison to previous year
4 Current ratio 1.67 2.40 Current year ratio are lower due to increase in liability during the year
5 Debt-Equity ratio 0.20 0.13 Current year ratio are higher due to increase in borrowing and decrease in net worth
6 Operating Profit Margin % 19.70 22.28 Current year ratio are lower due to lower margins
7 Net Profit Margin % 10.03 12.89 -
8 Return on net worth % 10.19 9.22

Material development in Human Resources

Relationship with employees was cordial. Their contribution and commitment is commendable.

The Group continuously works to provide work environment that encourages free expression of opinion, decision making and responsible execution of the task and is committed to do so even in future.

There were 4,786 permanent employees in the Company as on March 31, 2023 as against 4,865 as on March 31, 2022.