>DECCAN CHRONICLE (ICICI DIRECT)

Deccan Chronicle is the largest circulated English daily in South India. Last year the company launched its English daily in Bengaluru taking its daily circulation to 13.3 million copies, the
highest among English dailies in the Southern region. The company also owns the winning team of IPL 2009 edition, Deccan Chargers. Deccan Chronicle also has a presence in retail with 46
books and eyewear stores across the country covering a total built up area of more than 2.6 lakh sq ft.

Business model
Deccan Chronicle has grown from being an undistinguished No. 10 in the list of most read English
newspapers in the country to being the largest circulated English daily in the south. It has evolved from being a regional paper to a national player with a presence not only in media channels like print and web but also in retail with Odyssey book stores and sports with the Hyderabad team ‘Deccan Chargers’ in the Indian Premier League. However, print continues to be the major revenue contributor for the company with about 88% of the total topline and ~97% of the total bottomline coming from the traditional segment.

Print
Print is the traditional segment for the company. It has been present in this segment for over 71 years and is now the most circulated English daily in the south. It recently launched its English daily ‘Deccan Chronicle’ in Bengaluru taking the total circulation to over 13.3 million. It has achieved a circulation of 1.5 million in Bengaluru within a year of launch and is expected to go up from here. In addition to this, it has a presence in the international news segment with ‘The Asian Age’ and the business news segment with ‘The Financial Chronicle’.

Print media contributed Rs 852.8 crore representing ~88% of the topline during FY09.

Sports
The company owns Hyderabad ‘Deccan Chargers’, the winning team of IPL Season 2. The IPL has emerged to become one of the most valuable sport properties in the world. Going forward, it would benefit the company both in terms of branding and valuation. This segment contributed about Rs 56.6 crore to the topline in FY09.

Retail
The company has a presence in the retailing segment with Odyssey book and eyewear stores across the country. It has 46 stores entailing a total built up area of over 2.6 lakh sq ft. The stores offer over 1,00,000 titles across genres. In addition to books the Odyssey stores have also diversified to offering toys, gift and home décor, stationery, cards and eyewear. This segment contributed about Rs 55.9 crore to the total topline in FY09.

To see full report: DECCAN CHRONICLE