Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd — Q4 FY26 earnings call
Summary generated by AI from the official transcript Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd filed with BSE on 03 Jun 2026. Every statement cites a verbatim quote from that document — open any citation to read it. This is a record of what management said, not a recommendation. How we check these summaries
The short read
HT Media Group reported flat consolidated revenue for FY26 while EBITDA and PAT margins expanded, driven by advertising yield improvement in the Print business. The company discontinued its OTTplay digital subscription business and surrendered six loss-making Radio licenses during the year. Management reported a net cash position of over Rs 1,000 crore and detailed segment performance across Print, Radio and Digital businesses.
Numbers mentioned
Total revenue: INR 558 crore (Q4 FY26)
p. 3
“the total revenue came in at INR 558 crore, which is down 2%”
Piyush Gupta, page 3 of the filed PDF · View the filing
EBITDA: INR 131 crore (Q4 FY26)
p. 3
“EBITDA at INR 131 crore, which is up 5%”
Piyush Gupta, page 3 of the filed PDF · View the filing
EBITDA margin: 23% (Q4 FY26)
p. 3
“Margins expanded by 100-basis points to 23%”
Piyush Gupta, page 3 of the filed PDF · View the filing
PAT: INR 96 crore (Q4 FY26)
p. 3
“PAT came at INR 96 crore with a PAT margin at 17%”
Piyush Gupta, page 3 of the filed PDF · View the filing
EBITDA: INR 298 crore (FY26)
p. 3
“it was flat revenue, with EBITDA at INR 298 crore an 8% growth”
Piyush Gupta, page 3 of the filed PDF · View the filing
PAT: INR 153 crore (FY26)
p. 3
“PAT came at INR 153 crore at a margin of 8%”
Piyush Gupta, page 3 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Net cash position: north of INR 1,000 crore (FY26)
p. 3
“our net cash position remains robust, north of INR 1,000 crore”
Piyush Gupta, page 3 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Print advertising revenue: INR 313 crore (Q4 FY26)
p. 3
“advertising revenue growth of 10% at INR 313 crore”
Piyush Gupta, page 3 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Print circulation revenue: INR 51 crore (Q4 FY26)
p. 3
“circulation revenue growth of 4% at INR 51 crore”
Piyush Gupta, page 3 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Print operating EBITDA: INR 97 crore, 23% margin (Q4 FY26)
p. 3
“operating revenue at INR 427 crore and operating EBITDA coming at INR 97 crore with a 23% margin”
Piyush Gupta, page 3 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Print advertising revenue: INR 1,148 crore (FY26)
p. 4
“For the full year, advertising revenue at INR 1,148 crore, which is an 8% growth”
Piyush Gupta, page 4 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Print operating EBITDA: INR 208 crore, 14% margin (FY26)
p. 4
“operating EBITDA came at INR 208 crore with a margin of 14%”
Piyush Gupta, page 4 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Print English advertising revenue: INR 172 crore (Q4 FY26)
p. 4
“advertising revenue for the quarter came in at INR 172 crore, which is a y-o-y growth of 9%”
Piyush Gupta, page 4 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Print Hindi advertising revenue: INR 142 crore (Q4 FY26)
p. 4
“advertising revenue grew by 12% for the quarter at INR 142 crore”
Piyush Gupta, page 4 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Radio operating revenue: INR 43 crore (Q4 FY26)
p. 4
“operating revenue came at INR 43 crore with operating EBITDA at a negative INR 7 crore”
Piyush Gupta, page 4 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Radio operating EBITDA: negative INR 22 crore (FY26)
p. 4
“on a full year basis, the revenue came at INR 140 crore with operating EBITDA of negative INR 22 crore”
Piyush Gupta, page 4 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Digital operating revenue: INR 39 crore (Q4 FY26)
p. 4
“it is a flat operating revenue of INR 39 crore with operating EBITDA at a negative INR 2 crore”
Piyush Gupta, page 4 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Digital operating EBITDA margin: negative 5% (FY26)
p. 4
“operating EBITDA at negative INR 8 crore with a 5% negative margin”
Piyush Gupta, page 4 of the filed PDF · View the filing
What management said it would do
A record of statements made on the call, in the words management used. Parakho does not forecast, endorse or assess them, and their presence here is not a view on whether they will happen.
Exceptional/closure losses — no further exceptional losses from discontinued operations
stated conditionally by Piyush Gupta
p. 11
“Are we going to take any further closure losses on discontinued operations or exceptional losses? The simple answer is no.”
Piyush Gupta, page 11 of the filed PDF · View the filing
OTTplay residual P&L impact — very small number · FY2027
stated firmly by Piyush Gupta
p. 13
“there might be marginal losses, etc., which will basically come into the P&L for FY2027, but that will be a very small number”
Piyush Gupta, page 13 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Investment focus — core Print and Digital businesses
stated as an aspiration by Piyush Gupta
p. 11
“our investments will go a lot into the core business, which you've seen have gone into the circulation and copies in this quarter and some part of the investments will go in our Digital business”
Piyush Gupta, page 11 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Advertising yields/deals — a certain level and above not below
stated as an aspiration by Piyush Gupta
p. 13
“our hope & prayer and even the plan that we have set out for ourselves – though we don't give forward guidance – is to keep our deals at a certain level and above not below”
Piyush Gupta, page 13 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Shareholder returns
stated firmly by Piyush Gupta
p. 15
“there is none so far.”
Piyush Gupta, page 15 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Q&A highlights
Management's answers to analyst questions, in Parakho's words rather than a transcript. Each row names who answered and carries the verbatim quote it was drawn from.
Management said growth was primarily from yield/pricing improvement, with volumes broadly flat across both languages
Answered by Piyush Gupta
Asked by Yash R.: Whether ad revenue growth in English and Hindi came from volumes or pricing
p. 6
“the lever for the growth in revenue is primarily yields, volumes have been by and large flat, which have tracked the industry”
Piyush Gupta, page 6 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Management attributed it to forfeiture of contractual AFE revenue from counterparties that did not fulfill contract terms
Answered by Piyush Gupta
Asked by Yash R.: What drove the near-doubling of other operating income
p. 6
“there is a certain contractual revenue, which has to come in a specified period of time. If that doesn't happen, that amount stands forfeited. So, that is on account of forfeiture.”
Piyush Gupta, page 6 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Management said the OTT space became too challenging despite multiple strategic efforts, leading to the decision to exit
Answered by Piyush Gupta
Asked by Rohan Agarwal: What led to the decision to discontinue OTTplay
p. 8
“the space became increasingly challenging, especially since all the big telcos also have a significant presence”
Piyush Gupta, page 8 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Management confirmed the company actively sells matured AFE assets to maximize value but is not a desperate seller
Answered by Piyush Gupta
Asked by Rohan Agarwal: Company's policy on monetizing AFE assets
p. 8
“We are not holding these assets for the very long term.”
Piyush Gupta, page 8 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Management said no further closure-related exceptional losses are expected, aside from potential statutory items like new labour codes
Answered by Piyush Gupta
Asked by Ranga Prasad: Whether further exceptional losses are expected from Radio or OTTplay closures
p. 11
“if anything of statutory nature does come that obviously will impact the financials”
Piyush Gupta, page 11 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Management attributed the decline to mark-to-market losses on treasury investments amid rising yield curves
Answered by Piyush Gupta
Asked by Ranga Prasad: Reason for the drop in other income
p. 10
“there are quite a few mark-to-market losses that have impacted us as on 31st March”
Piyush Gupta, page 10 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Management said yields are sustainable to an extent but competitive reaction could affect this
Answered by Piyush Gupta
Asked by Raman KV: Whether current advertising yields are sustainable going forward
p. 13
“there's an immediate reaction, which always comes from the competition”
Piyush Gupta, page 13 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Management said only a small residual P&L impact is expected from servicing subscriptions sold before March, alongside some cash impact from exiting contracts
Answered by Piyush Gupta
Asked by Rohan Agarwal: Whether further one-time losses from OTTplay discontinuation will show up in coming quarters
p. 15
“there will be some cash impact to shut down these contracts. But from a P&L perspective, there will be a very marginal impact of some residual subscribers”
Piyush Gupta, page 15 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Risks flagged
Rising newsprint costs amplified by rupee weakness and global supply chain disruptions
p. 3
“rising newsprint costs, amplified by a weakening rupee and the prevailing global environment of supply chain disruptions, trade policy uncertainty and geopolitical volatility, remains a concern that we are managing with cost discipline”
From the transcript, page 3 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Radio business revenue decline due to high prior-year event-led base and industry-wide issues
p. 3
“Business was impacted by a high base from prior year’s event-led revenue, and was compounded by larger industry-wide issues”
From the transcript, page 3 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Radio sector remains under pressure
p. 11
“Radio as a sector is under a lot of pressure, but we will keep on reviewing this on a very close basis”
Piyush Gupta, page 11 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Potential impact from new statutory labour codes
p. 11
“one of the big items which is sitting is consequent to the new labour codes, which are announced by the Government of India”
Piyush Gupta, page 11 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Competitive pressure on advertising yields going forward
p. 13
“there's an immediate reaction, which always comes from the competition”
Piyush Gupta, page 13 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Generated by claude-sonnet-5. Source: the transcript as filed with BSE. We link to the exchange's copy; we do not host transcripts. Parakho is a data and screening tool, not an investment adviser — nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell or hold.