Is ‘Mathrubhumi’ facing headwinds from shifting dynamics in media?

KOCHI: Is the ongoing tectonic shift in the media industry creating headwinds for Mathrubhumi group, one of Kerala’s oldest and most reputed publishing houses?

The current financial year, 2024-25 (FY25), has started on a challenging note for Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Company Ltd (TMPPCL), as the group’s turnover saw a 10 per cent decline in the first four months compared with that in the previous year.

According to a reliable document accessed by businessbenchmark.news, the slow growth in circulation and advertisement revenue is expected to exert pressure on the revenue growth and profitability of the group in the current financial year.

Talking to this portal, a media expert said most media houses are going through a tough phase with the trends in the industry becoming extremely unpredictable.

“Only groups with sustainable financial backing will be able to weather the current storm, while others are bound to fall, if not today, then tomorrow,” he noted emphatically.

FY24 profit

In fact, Mathrubhumi Group had returned to profitability in 2023-24 (FY24) posting a marginal net profit of Rs4.4 crore after logging a much larger loss of Rs26,7 crore in the previous financial year.

The operating income during FY24 had also increased to Rs618.2 crore from Rs608.8 crore in the previous year, according to the document.

Loss making divisions

According to the report, the group continues to make losses in the digital segment, television segment and overseas FM business in FY2024. There were unconfirmed reports that the group is seriously thinking of downing shutters on Club FM in the UAE.

The group faces stiff competition from digital media resulting in declining readership base and sustained pressure on circulation revenue.

In FY2024, the average circulation copies per issue for Mathrubhumi daily fell by about 10 per cent, according to ICRA.

The agency noted that the circulation revenue moderated by 4 per cent in FY2024, leading to  modest revenue growth of 1.5 per cent in FY2024, despite healthy 6.6 per cent year on year (YoY) growth in advertisement

Debt pinches

Mathrubhumi is said to be facing ongoing financial strain on the debt front mainly because it takes longer time to collect payments from customers, leading to delayed cash inflows.

And as expected, the state government departments/authorities are taking more than three months to settle their payments.

Additionally, the group has more debt than expected due to larger-than-planned investments funded by borrowing (debt-funded capex).

Second in circulation

It’s an indisputable fact that Mathrubhumi daily is the second most widely read Malayalam daily in Kerala and moreover, the group has a diversified presence across media platforms, including print,radio, television broadcasting and digital platforms.

However, in FY2024, the circulation volumes declined by 10 per cent. It’s learnt that the management is putting in efforts on the ground to recall the existing subscribers, who have discontinued subscription due to shift to other newspapers.

While the group has presence in other geographies like New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Dubai, and Doha, etc, the contribution from these still remains low.

Daily is group’s flagship

The group’s flagship and popular Malayalam daily, Mathrubhumi, is among the top 10 dailies in India. It is printed across 16 locations in India (10 in Kerala, four outside Kerala (New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai) and two overseas locations).