Network18’s publishing unit posts ‘steady’ revenue

News this week: Indian media group, Network18, parent company of B2B publisher Infomedia18, announced financial results for the quarter ended 30^th June 2011. Group revenues were US$87.8 million, an increase of 35% over the same quarter in 2011. The group reported a net loss of US$16.4 million compared with a loss of US$11.5 million in the same quarter last year.

Mumbai-based Infomedia18, who recently restructured to incorporate its publishing business under new division Network18 Publishing, reported “steady performance” with revenues of US$4.3 million and an operating loss of US$880,000 during the quarter.

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Infomedia18 publishing business restructured

News this week: Indian B2B publisher Infomedia18 announced a restructuring that sees its publishing business, which includes special interest magazines and business directories portfolio, consolidated with Network18 under a new division ‘Network18 Publishing’. The company’s printing press business will continue to remain with Infomedia18.

The new Network18 Publishing will comprise of three sub-divisions:  business to consumer (B2C) magazines, business to business (B2B) magazines and business directories division (BDD). Network18 Publishing will be headed by Sandeep Khosla, former CEO of Magazine Publishing of Infomedia18.

B Sai Kumar, group CEO of Network18, commented, “We believe that the special interest and B2B spaces will be one of the key drivers for publishing in India, both in print and new media. With Network18 Publishing, we’ve aligned our assets to capitalise on this trend both from a community building as well as a commercial perspective.”

This post is excerpted from BSG's weekly e-newsletter which is part of our subscription research service, BSG Tracker. Visit our website to find out more about this service. You can also follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates.

Network18 revenues up, but posts net loss in Q3

News this week: Indian media group, Network18, the controlling shareowner of B2B publisher Infomedia18, announced financial results for the quarter ended 31^st December 2011. Group revenues were US$102 million, an increase of 24% over the same quarter in 2010. Citing increased expenses and the cost of starting new channels, the group reported a net loss of US$17 million compared with profits of US$16 million in Q3 last year.

Mumbai-based Infomedia18 operates a variety of companies covering online, publishing and events. The company recorded revenues of US$9 million and a loss of US$4 million in the quarter. Infomedia18 was also previously the partner of Alibaba.com in India.

This post is excerpted from BSG's weekly e-newsletter which is part of our subscription research service, BSG Tracker. Visit our website to find out more about this service. You can also follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates.

Network18 cuts loss

News this week: Earlier this week, Network18 announced its financial results for the year ended 31^st March 2011. The group’s revenues were US$333 million - an increase of 16% over the previous year. The group recorded a net loss of US$8.3 million which is an improvement over the loss of US$29 million recorded in 2010.

The Group also announced its results for the quarter ended 31^st March. Revenues were US$91 million, up 1.8% over the same quarter last year. Network18 posted a loss of US$9.9 million in the quarter compared with a profit of US$1.6 million in the same quarter last year.

This post is excerpted from BSG's weekly e-newsletter which is part of our subscription research service, BSG Tracker. Visit our website to find out more about this service. You can also follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates.

The action's in Mumbai

A lot of the interesting activity so far this year seems to be happening in India. We are particularly interested in the emergence of Network 18 within six months as a key player. In a December round-up, we noted three interesting moves including a tie-up with Forbes and the acquisition of ICICI's stake in Infomedia.

Today, we read that Infomedia and Alibaba are tying up. That has the makings of something really interesting. Alibaba's CEO David Wei is quoted in the Livemint piece saying "“We believe this alliance media will help us become the dominant online B2B marketplace in India by the end of 2008". We will be interested to see how Indiamart.com (#12 in our Online B2B Top 50) and Tradeindia.com (#11) respond to this serious step forward by the #1. Who wants to play with them?

Network 18 muscles into India business media

I have to confess that, until two weeks ago, I'd never heard of Network 18 or its previous incarnation, TV18. In a very short period, however, the company has muscled its way into the heart of India's business media scene. Three key deals have been announced:

1. The company took a strategic stake in Infomedia, buying up, as a first step, 40% of ICICI Bank's controlling share in the company.
2. It announced a joint venture with Forbes to produce an Indian edition of that magazine.
3. And now, today, I see news of a proposed Hindi business newspaper to be produced in a 50:50 joint venture with Jagran Prakashan.

This looks like a company to watch, having moved from zero presence to a position close to market leadership within a matter of weeks.