Hyderabad-based media firm Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd (DCHL) on Tuesday announced a net loss of Rs 1,040 crore from operations during the 18-month period ended September 2012. It had earned a net profit of Rs 162 crore for the 12-month period ended March 2011.
Today, it announced the financial results that included the full-year period ended March 2012, and the first half of the current financial year, ended September, 2012, a day before its suspension from trading on the National Stock Exchange was to come into effect on account of non-compliance with the listing provisions.
After its debt woes came to light, DCHL for the first time has admitted sitting on Rs 4,217.6 crore of liabilities, more than six times the Rs 559 crore it claimed to have in March 2011. It has said the liabilities include Rs 3,756 crore in short-term borrowing and Rs 147 crore in long-term borrowing.
It reported a loss of Rs 166 crore in the June quarter and Rs 100 crore in the September quarter, in calendar 2012. It did not give a similar break-up for the 12 months ending March 2012, stating it had restructured operations and the financial statements were recast as on March 31, 2012. "Consequently, the income from operations for the 15 months (including the June quarter) has been reduced by Rs 371 crore and expenditure increased by Rs 572 crore, and the profit is reduced by 943 crore," vice-chairman P K Iyer said.
The decision to furnish the financial statement up to September 2012 complies with the extension of the financial year by six months by the registrar of companies, at the firm’s request in July last year.
According to the financial statement, the results for the September quarter were audited. And, unaudited for the June quarter but the company has mentioned the results for the entire 18 months as audited.
Auditor CB Mouli & Associates, in their limited review report, said in the aftermath of the restructuring of operations and reinstatement of assets and liabilities, non-provision of interest on borrowing and in the absence of sufficient information, the effects on the financials for the quarter ended June 2012 were not quantified.
Their report said it had not performed an audit of the financial accounts of the company and confined itself to a review. However, it has not clarified whether this disclosure pertains to just the June quarter or the entire 18-month period. Efforts to contact Mani Oommen of CB Mouli & Associates, who signed the statement, were not possible. Iyer could not be reached as his mobile telephone was switched off.
Promoters' stake down to 38.4%
In another revelation, the company said the promoters' shareholding had been reduced to 38.40 per cent from the original 73.83 per cent, as the shares offered as collateral security were invoked by some of the lenders and appropriated against the dues payable. It also admitted to not making provisions for the accrued and unpaid interest, as the company was negotiating with banks for restructuring of its liabilities.
The statement showed total assets as equivalent to the total equity. However, in that, the value of fixed assets at Rs 3,870 crore includes intangible assets under development (brand) amounting to Rs 2,905 crore.
For the 18-month period, total income was Rs 843 crore, down a little over 18 per cent as compared with the Rs 1,031 crore it had earned in the 12-month period ending March 2011.
Sequentially, consumption of raw materials, which mainly comprise newsprint and paints, came down to Rs 72 crore in the second quarter of September 2012 from Rs 132 crore in the quarter ended June 2012, giving a glimpse of the impact of the financial problems on the circulation of the newspaper it owns.
