Dainik Bhaskar-owner DB Corp's Q3 profit slumps 44% on high newsprint costs

India's DB Corp reported a 44.2% fall in quarterly profit as the owner of India's largest Hindi daily was hit by high newsprint prices, sending shares down as much as 9.5%.

DB Corp, which publishes Dainik Bhaskar, reported a consolidated net profit of 482.8 million rupees ($5.9 million) for the quarter ended Dec. 31, from 865.2 million rupees a year earlier.

Its revenue from operations rose 3.7% to 5.66 billion rupees.

However, total expenses surged 17.1%, predominantly driven by a 42.4% jump in input costs.

The company also flagged a foreign exchange loss of 21 million rupees for the quarter.

The media group's print and digital advertisement revenue rose 2.6% year-on-year, while radio advertising revenue dropped 3.7%.

DB Corp shares, which rose nearly 33% in 2022, was last down 5.5% at 112.50 rupees as of 13:25 p.m. IST.

($1 = 81.9200 Indian rupees)