ICICI Direct has given Hold recommendation for DB Corp with a target price of Rs. 120 in its research report issued on Jun 18, 2021
ICICI Direct’s research report on DB Corp
DB Corp’s revenues fell 6.2% YoY to Rs 456.6 crore as prevailing Covid-19 situation continued to impact revenues. Print & digital ad revenue dipped 5.9% YoY to Rs 281.2 crore while radio ad revenue also reported de-growth of 14.7% YoY to Rs 27.8 crore. Circulation revenue fell 8.0% YoY to Rs 110.4 crore mainly due to lower circulation of copies. EBITDA was up 53.3% YoY to Rs 101.1 crore while margins at 22.1% were up 860 bps YoY. Operating performance improved on the back of cost control measures and soft newsprint prices. Consequently, reported PAT was at Rs 61.9 crore, up 157.4% YoY, aided by onetime benefit of Rs 13.2 crore in the radio business, Adjusted PAT was at Rs 48.7 crore.
Outlook
The stock has also run up sharply (~42% since our last update), which, we believe, prices in all positives pertaining to cost savings. We downgrade the stock from BUY to HOLD rating. We now value the stock at 7x FY23E EPS with a target price of Rs 120 (earlier Rs 95).