HT Media's digital business revenue up 39% to Rs 23Cr in Q1; Shine.com grows 41%

Media and publishing group HT Media Ltd has said its digital business revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 grew 39 per cent to Rs 23.7 crore from Rs 17.1 crore in the same period the previous year. HT Media's digital businesses include the job portal Shine.com (which competes with the likes of Naukri.com), HT Mobile and HTCampus.com, among others.

Revenues from HT Mobile, which offers value-added services, digital content distribution and digital marketing on mobile, rose 54 per cent, while the Shine.com revenues grew 41 per cent.

Operating loss from the digital business declined from Rs 17.04 crore to Rs 12.19 crore in the same period.

"Our diversification strategy continues to work well and digital businesses continue to gain traction and our radio business continues to outperform," said Shobhana Bhartia, chairperson and editorial director, HT Media.

HT Media, which publishes the English daily Hindustan Times and the business daily Mint, among other publications, reported a marginal increase in its net revenues in Q1 of FY15 which grew to Rs 546.41 crore from Rs 540.93 crore last year. However, its net income was down by almost a third to Rs 32.7 crore from 47.5 crore in Q1 last year.

Last July, HT Mobile Solutions had acquired the digital marketing agency Webitude for an undisclosed sum.