Deutsche bank: Jagran Prakashan: initiating with Buy

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Jagran Prakashan
Reuters: JAGP.BO Bloomberg: JAGP IN Exchange: BSE Ticker: JAGP

The behemoth of the Hindi heartland; initiating with Buy


Delivering Uttar Pradesh to advertisers
Hindi print media leader Jagran Prakashan (JPL) is well positioned to deliver a 25%
CAGR in earnings over FY10-12E as a strong economy drives local (real estate,
education) and national (automotive, consumer durables and telecom) advertising
to the regional leaders. We believe that the company is well placed to tackle
emerging competitive pressures and newsprint costs. An INR2.25bn funding from
Blackstone has put the group in an enviable position to fund its recently acquired
Gujarati and Urdu language operations. Initiating with a Buy (target price: INR185).




Dominance in UP drives disproportionate share of advertising revenue
JPL’s flagship daily Dainik Jagran is the highest read newspaper in the world
(54.3m readers), a leader in India’s biggest province Uttar Pradesh (UP) and a
strong No. 2 in Bihar (India’s second biggest province). Both markets together
account for ~INR11bn of India’s annual print advertising (~11% of India’s print
advertising market). The key strength of JPL is its dominance in readership in UP–
it leads No. 2 ‘Amar Ujala’ by 42% and No. 3 ‘Hindustan’ by 74%. This dominance
drives the company’s relatively disproportionate share of advertising in the market.

Expanding footprint: from the Hindi heartland to Mumbai
The acquisition of Mid-day, an English language compact newspaper, we believe
forms part of JPL’s initiative to identify growth avenues beyond the Hindi
newsprint business. Mid-day owns two language publications, Mid-day Gujarati
and Urdu daily Inquilab. The strategic intent is to expand into new languages via an
established brand rather than build a new brand like the group built its Hindi
newsprint business.

Initiating with a Buy and a target price of INR185
A DCF-based target price of INR185 rests on a cost of equity of 12.7% and 4%
terminal growth. This translates into P/Es of 23.8x FY11E and 20.1x FY12E.
Downside risks include increase in newsprint prices and increase in competition
due to the entry of DB Corp in Uttar Pradesh.


Investment thesis

Outlook
The leader in the Hindi print Jagran Prakashan (JPL) is well placed to deliver 25% CAGR in
earnings over FY10-12E as a strong Indian economy drives local (real estate, education) and
national (automotive, consumer durables and telecom) advertising to the regional leaders. We
believe that the company is well placed to tackle emerging competitive pressures and
newsprint costs. An INR2.25bn funding from Blackstone has put the group in an enviable
position to fund its recently acquired Gujarati and Urdu language operations.
Blackstone India has invested substantially in JPL’s holding company Jagran Media Network
and while the group holding company remains a private company, the mandate from the
private equity player seems to be an open ended one. Jagran Media Network holds a
majority stake in the listed JPL, which houses the newspaper brands.

Valuation
Our DCF-derived target price of INR185 implies 46% upside potential for the share price. We
believe DCF is an appropriate way to value a print media business as cash flows remain
steady and circulation revenues are not dependent on advertising environment. For a
dominant player like JPL, a sizable part of advertising revenues also tends to remain steady.
The key assumptions of our two-stage FCFE (free cash flow to equity) methodology are:
􀂄 Risk-free rate of 6.4%, market risk premium of 7.2% (we apply a standard estimated
risk-free rate and market risk premium to all the Indian companies we cover), and beta of
0.87 (Bloomberg Finance LP data), implying cost of equity of 12.66%.
􀂄 Growth in the stable phase of 4% (which is the long-term growth rate in the number of
households in India). This implies a P/E of 20x FY12E.

Risks
Increase in newsprint prices
Newsprint costs are 70% of the cost of the newspaper. We have assumed an average of
USD674/tonne newsprint cost for FY11E and FY12E, vs USD527/tonne in FY10, a 28%
increase. An increase in newsprint prices is a downside risk for Jagran Prakashan.
DB Corp’s entry into the Uttar Pradesh media space
DB Corp’s entry into Uttar Pradesh, Jagran’s key market, could dent Jagran’s strong
positioning in the state. Also, DB Corp/Hindustan’s buyout of Amar Ujala, the second biggest
player in UP could mean stronger competition for Jagran.


Key investment positives
Expanding footprint: from the Hindi heartland to metro Mumbai
Hindi print media leader Jagran Prakashan (JPL) is well placed to deliver a 25% CAGR in
earnings over FY10-12E as a strong economy drives local (real estate, education) and national
(automotive, consumer durables and telecom) advertising to the regional leaders. We believe
that the company is well able to tackle emerging competitive pressures and newsprint costs.
An INR2.25bn funding from Blackstone has put the group in an enviable position to fund its
recently acquired Gujarati and Urdu language operations.

Jagran delivers Uttar Pradesh to advertisers
JPL’s flagship daily Dainik Jagran is globally the highest read newspaper (54.3m readers), a
leader in India’s biggest state Uttar Pradesh (UP) and a solid No. 2 in Bihar (India’s second
biggest province).
According to The Economist, if Uttar Pradesh were a country in itself it would be the world’s
sixth biggest country by population. Every seventh print media reader in India is from UP.
Every eighth TV viewer in India is from UP. Every 20-second cable and satellite viewer in India
is from UP. Every sixth FM listener in India is from UP. Every 15th cinema goer in India is
from the state of UP. Every fifteenth internet surfer in India is from UP.
Between UP and Bihar, the two states account for 24% of India’s population and are home to
the arguably India’s most politically alert population that also remain key drivers of the
country’s demographic transition. Both the markets put together account for ~INR10b of
India’s annual print advertising (~10% of India’s print advertising market).
The key strength of JPL is its dominance in readership – it leads the No 2 player ‘Amar Ujala’
by 42% and the No 3 player ‘Hindustan’ (part of HT Media, HTML.BO, rated Buy, target price
of INR210) by 74%. This dominance drives JPL’s disproportionate share of advertising from
the market. In terms of revenue market share, JPL stands at 2.5x the size of ‘Hindustan’ in
UP. The shares do get reversed in Bihar though where ‘Hindustan’ is the market leader and
JPL the No. 2 player (both cumulatively account for 85% of the market).






Reinventing the Hindi print space
1991 to 2006 marked a sharp rise in literacy and rural incomes…
The decade and a half from 1991 to 2006 belonged to television and the internet. This was
the period when satellite channels were born and took off. Media moguls like Rupert
Murdoch (via Star TV) and Sumner Redstone (via MTV) hastened to get a toehold in an
emerging economy that was delivering by the mid-90s a growing volume of international
advertising. In 1995 commercial internet came to India, and took hold rapidly enough to
enable a dot-com boom in the late 90s.
Over the same period, a less visible media juggernaut was rolling across a less visible part of
the country. When literacy expanded in India’s Hindi heartland in the last decade of the 20th
century, Hindi newspapers followed, picking up readers in places where there had been
none.


Rajasthan recorded a decadal increase in literacy of 22.5% (between 1991 and 2001) against
an all India increase of 13.2%. Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh between them accounted
for a nearly a fifth of the total decadal decline in illiteracy in India between 1991-2001, while
accounting for less than a tenth of the population increase. Incidentally, Madhya Pradesh and
Rajasthan have continued to remain the biggest gainers in the literacy rate between 2001-06.
Further we believe that development in UP and Bihar over the last five years will show up in
the literacy rate in the 2011 census.
Rising farm incomes and a growing service sector in the rural areas pointed to an emergence
of a rural middle class whose purchasing power had made newspapers affordable. The rural
middle class was then targeted by marketers who underwrote the expansion of newspapers
in these parts. The markets in small town India and rural India started expanding.


A growing hunger for news was fueled by the rise of television…
The rise of television and its penetration into the rural hinterland created a hunger for news.
Across the Hindi belt, TV proved to be good for the newspaper business because it fuelled a
curiosity that made viewers turn to the next day’s newspaper. Also, the advent of the
modem made possible the transmission of entire newspaper pages composed at different
district centers. Expanding telecommunications including the spread of broadband telecom,
made multi-edition newspapers more viable and affordable.
Newspaper circulation climbed across the Hindi-speaking states, one of the few places in
India to see this happen. In Uttar Pradesh, there were 22 readers per copy in 1997, which
was down to seven readers per copy by 2009, implying a falling readership-circulation ratio.
Over a period of six years from 1999 to 2005, readership of Hindi newspapers overtook that
of relative stalwarts of Indian print media such as Malayalam Manorama in Kerala, Eenadu in
Andhra Pradesh, Anandabazar Patrika in West Bengal and The Times of India in English.


The Times of India, claiming to be the world’s largest circulated broadsheet in the English
language ranked at No. 7 by readership in IRS 2009. Hindi newspapers occupied four of the
top five positions put out by the Indian Readership Survey in 2009 and five out of the top 10.
And in 1999, only one Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran had figured in the top five in terms of
readership.


… as well as political reform and the revival of panchayats
In India’s Hindi-speaking states, the entry of print at the rural level was preceded by the
passing of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Indian constitution in 1992. This enabled
the revival of panchayats, the third tier of local self government in rural areas, and the
reservation of 33% of seats in these bodies for women. When nearly half a million people’s
representatives are chosen in a single state, it spells a considerable degree of grassroots
political participation, creating awareness and a hunger for news. Moreover, the state
financed the supply of a newspaper to every panchayat office, which was often the first copy
of a newspaper to reach that area. As they grew into their roles, the village heads began to
subscribe to newspapers at home, to keep themselves aware of state, national and local
news. Together with rising literacy and growth in rural purchasing power, panchayats helped
create a basis for growth in newspaper circulation.

UP-Bihar axis parallel’s Mumbai-Delhi axis
The UP-Bihar axis is as important for Hindi newspapers as the Mumbai-Delhi axis is for the
English newspapers. Delhi and Mumbai are the two biggest English ad revenue markets and
account for 30% of the total print market. The parallel to these in importance for the Hindi
newspapers is the UP-Bihar market which accounts for 10% of the total print ad revenues.


Mid-day acquisition brings three language dailies into Jagran
This, we believe forms part of JPL’s initiative to identify growth avenues beyond the Hindi
newsprint business. JPL acquired Mid-day, an English language compact newspaper (All
India Readership: 458,000 as per IRS 1Q2010) published out of Mumbai, for INR1.73bn).
Equally important, the acquisition gives JPL two language publications: Mid-day Gujarati (AIR
91,000, IRS 1Q2010) and Urdu daily Inquilab (AIR 186,000, IRS 1Q2010).

The strategic intent is to expand into new languages via an established brand rather than
build one from grounds up like the group has built its Hindi newsprint business. We believe
that the company will relaunch Mid-day Gujarati as a broadsheet, first in Mumbai and then in
the state of Gujarat (one of India’s more prosperous states). We also believe that the Urdu
daily Inquilab will drive readership both in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Also, the respective state governments would remain advertisers in language publications.
The acquisition of the Mid-day print media business was executed via a share swap that
values Mid-day’s EBITDA at 9x FY10 earnings. The acquisition will be completed over the
next six weeks following the court approvals.


Key investment risks
Ability to handle emerging competitive pressures
We perceive the key threat to JPL’s growth to be DB Corp (DB IN), a rival Hindi publication
which leads in the adjacent state of Madhya Pradesh (see figure below) and has plans to
enter Bihar over the next 12 months. Historically, DB Corp’s strategy has been first to identify
target markets with a large readership base with most reading the dominant leading
newspaper. Next, a hundred of its staff conduct surveys that make readers come up with
qualities that their current newspaper lacks. A few months later, a truncated version of the
new newspaper designed based on the collective reader feedback is shown to survey
participants who are then asked if they would subscribe to the new newspaper at a
discounted price.
By employing this strategy, DB Corp would, by the time of launch, have enough annual
subscriptions to kick off Day One with a print order that is close to the leader’s print order. By
launching with a circulation equal to the leader, its newspaper would attract advertisements
right off the bat. This has allowed DB Corp to break even in most new markets within three
to four years of launch.
DB Corp has followed this strategy successfully in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan
(1996) Gujarat (2003) and Punjab (2006). The apprehensions regarding JPL are that it will be
forced to first cut cover prices (that are equal to what an English reader pays in Mumbai!) or
cut advertisement rates, similar to what has happened in the neighboring state of Jharkhand.


We however believe that JPL has already started expanding its Hindi base. It has had a family
dispute which has a prevented an entry into Madhya Pradesh (MP), the bastion of DB Corp.
JPL’s core brand is known in MP and it has to simply relaunch the newspaper in MP. Also,
with two brands INext and City Plus, an entry into MP can be contemplated though we
believe management will wait for the litigation to be resolved before entering with its core
brand.

Increase in newsprint prices
Newsprint accounts for 70% of the cost of a newspaper. We have assumed an average of
USD674/tonne newsprint cost for FY11E and FY12E. An increase in newsprint prices is a
downside risk for Jagran Prakashan (see page 14 for newsprint assumptions).


Tectonic shifts in print
Advertising category shifts – from consumer durables to services
The INR100b print advertising market has witnessed an interesting shift from consumer
durables (primarily home electronics) to services (see chart on top 10 print categories). While
televisions, home theatres, and DVD players continue to remain important, educational
institutions, automobiles, government advertising, retailing, and real estate have become
equally prominent.


This shows up in the top advertiser names as well, with Tata Motors, Maruti and Pantaloon
Retail featuring among the top 10 advertisers. The pecking order within consumer durables
has changed, with LG Electronics and Samsung India emerging as the top consumer durables
companies, replacing Sony, Sanyo BPL and Philips Electronics.


Regional advertising growth outpacing English….
The story about print advertising is also a shift from national to regional/vernacular
advertising. The Hindi advertising market has posted 30% CAGR over FY05-09 with an overall
share of 28%. Overall, English newspapers have lost market share from 39% in 1999 to 32%
in 2009. If one were to include the Hindi market within the regional newspapers, the entire
non-English segment would boast 68% of total print advertising market, a trend mirrored by
magazines as well where English magazine advertising has dropped to 69% from 72%.


GDP driven advertising spend in India: print and TV both benefit
The advertising spend in India is being driven by GDP growth, with advertising growing at
1.5x GDP. Typically, the correlation between GDP and print ad spend is 0.5. TV and print ad
spend also move together as shown by the correlation of 0.95, obviously reflecting that both
sub-sectors are clear beneficiaries of the increase in ad spend.



Financials
Advertising revenues growing at 16.4% CAGR over FY10-12E
Our revenue projections for JPL assume that 70% of total revenue comes from advertising
and 21.3% from circulation. Historically, JPL’s advertisement revenues have been a function
of the environment and the increase in editions. At present, Jagran runs 39 editions and we
continue to base our future ad revenues on the same number of editions. A higher proportion
of circulation revenues are a reflection of higher cover prices (as against English newspapers
that typically run on a 90:10 proportion in favor of advertising).


Advertising revenues in FY11 continue to remain high, driven by the education, telecom and
auto categories. Strong real estate advertising and state elections in Bihar (driving political
advertising) will provide an added impetus during the third quarter (ending December 2010.)
We estimate that JPL will be able to deliver 18% yoy growth in FY11, which is the mainstay
of our 33% earnings growth estimate for FY11.

Newsprint
Newsprint accounts for ~60-70% of the cost of the newspaper and ~95% of its raw material.
Across the industry, print companies import 45-50% of their newsprint requirements. Across
a cycle, the landed cost of newsprint varies between USD450-800 per tonne in India.
JPL typically sources 80% of its newsprint locally and prefers not to store inventory. Over the
past two years, newsprint costs have been at the higher end of the price band. While
demand in US and Europe is on the decline, it has been increasing in China and India.
The reason for the newsprint price decline in US and Europe has been partially led by the
change in international newsprint formats (broadsheet to tabloid and web width reductions)
and reduction in page count (elimination of the daily stock tables). Also, once the pricing
direction gets established, it tends to maintain momentum until it reaches a level where high
cost producers fare better financially by shutting down equipment.


We give below our estimates for JPL’s newsprint costs and have assumed that JPL’s
newsprint costs for FY11 and FY12 are INR27,490 and INR27,700 per tonne respectively.


Interestingly, the correlation between growth in ad revenues and growth in newsprint cost is
0.12 indicating that JPL’s operating leverage during an advertising boom phase would be
higher than its competitors indicating consequently higher yields.


Strong cash-rich balance sheet drives further acquisition
JPL has cash and cash equivalents of INR1.88b and net cash of INR1.30bn in its balance
sheet as at 30 September 2010. Also, the group has raised INR2.25bn from Blackstone,
which sits in the books of its holding company. We believe that this ample war chest has put
JPL in the sweet spot to both drive the expansion of its current acquisitions as well as
explore future potential print language acquisitions. We have factored in a cut in the payout
ratio as we believe that the company will conserve cash for possible future acquisitions, as
and when the opportunity arises. Our assumptions factor in FY11 income from investments
at INR350m, (INR343m in FY10) assuming that the company deploys cash in liquid
investments (that carry relatively lower interest).


For the purpose of a like for like comparison, we stack JPL against HT Media, its closest peer
within the Indian print space. While HT Media’s flagship is an English newspaper, it also
competes with JPL in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with its Hindi newspaper ‘Hindustan’. The key
difference between the two is HT Media’s capital allocation in the internet space.
HT Media has invested a cumulative amount of INR900m on developing its job portal
www.shine.com as well as on building a platform for putting future classifieds on the
platform which includes matrimonial ads, government tenders, real estate classified and auto
classified, apart from an education portal www.htcampus.com. HT plans to invest INR250m
each in FY11 and FY12 in its internet business.

This accounts for the difference between HT Media and JPL’s return on capital. While the
former is expected to report a FY11 return on capital of 20.3%, JPL is expected to report an
ROCE of 31.6%.


Valuation
DCF-derived target price of INR185 (46% upside potential)
The key assumptions of our two-stage FCFE (free cash flow to equity) methodology are:
􀂄 Risk-free rate of 6.4%, market risk premium of 7.2% (we apply a standard estimated riskfree
rate and market risk premium to all the Indian companies we cover), and beta of .87
(Bloomberg Finance LP data), implying cost of equity of 12.66%.
􀂄 Growth in the stable phase of 4% (which is the long-term growth rate in the number of
households in India). This implies a P/E of 20x FY12E.
We believe that the DCF is the most appropriate way of valuing a print business as the cash
flows remain steady and the circulation revenues are not dependent on the advertising
environment. For a dominant player like JPL, a substantial part of the advertising revenues
also tends to remain steady.
Our comparison with its listed peer HT Media (see section on Financials on pg 15) reveals a
higher multiple primarily due to a focused capital allocation from JPL. We believe that HT
Media’s investments in radio and the internet are ahead of time (leading to a relatively lower
return on capital), while JPL has focussed on acquiring print properties.


Historically, JPL has traded within the 14-20x P/E multiple band except for a brief period in
October 2007 when it surpassed 30x. This was primarily due to an extremely buoyant stock
market which re-rated strong cash flow companies. The reverse was true in the period of
October 2008 and March 2009, when the stock de-rated to 8x FY09 earnings. Our target
price implies an earnings multiple of 20.1x FY12 primarily due to 26.6% FCF CAGR between
FY10-12.


Where we are vs. consensus
We are 13.5% higher than consensus in terms of our earnings assumptions in FY11 and 17%
higher than consensus than FY12. Our estimates are primarily driven by the leverage accruing
to a dominant market leader from the 18% and 15% advertising revenue growth in FY11 and
FY12 respectively.


Company background and
management
Company background
Jagran Prakashan publishes India’s largest read Hindi daily newspaper Dainik Jagran with a
readership of 54.2m readers (source IRS 2Q2010 ). It also publishes two other newspapers Inext
(a bilingual newspaper) and Cityplus (a weekly English paper). The newspapers are
published from 73 locations, and the company has 200 sub-editions and 30 printing facilities.
The company has acquired with effect from April 1, 2010 the Mumbai-based afternoon
compact daily Mid-day, along with its Gujarati language edition and the largest Urdu language
daily ‘Inquilab’. The cumulative readership of Mid-day is 2.4m (source IRS 2Q2010).
Jagran Prakashan is a family run enterprise promoted by the Gupta family and has interests in
magazines, outdoor advertising, promotional marketing, event management


A chronology of some key events in the history of the Company is set forth below:
􀂄 1975 Incorporation of the Company
􀂄 1979 Launched the Lucknow edition of Dainik Jagran.
􀂄 1986 Launched the Agra edition of Dainik Jagran.
􀂄 1997 Launched the website www.jagran.com.
􀂄 2000 Launched the Hisar and Patna editions of Dainik Jagran.
􀂄 2001 Launched the Aligarh edition of Dainik Jagran.
􀂄 2002 Declared India’s largest read daily newspaper (Source: IRS 2002)
􀂄 2003 Launched the Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Panipat and Bhagalpur editions of
Dainik Jagran.
􀂄 2004 Launched the Ludhiana and Haldwani editions of Dainik Jagran.
􀂄 2005 Became the first Indian newspaper to cross readership beyond 20 million as per
NRS survey. Launched the Muzaffarpur, Jammu and Dharamshala editions of Dainik
Jagran.


Management details

Mr. Mahendra Mohan Gupta is the Chairman and Managing Director of the Company. He
also holds the position of Managing Editor of Dainik Jagran. He holds a bachelor's degree in
commerce. Mr. Gupta has more than 48 years of experience in the print media industry. Mr.
Gupta has held various key positions in the industry including being the Chairman of United
News of India ("UNI"), President of The Indian Newspaper Society (“INS”), President of Indian
Languages Newspaper Association ("ILNA"), Council Member of Audit Bureau of Circulations,
Member of Press Council of India and Member of Film Censor Board of India, Member of the
Board of Press Trust of India (PTI) besides holding senior honorary positions in various social
and cultural organizations. Mr. Gupta is also a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and
presently a Member on the Board of PTI, INS and Merchants' Chambers of Uttar Pradesh. He
has been a Director of the Company since its inception and is a nominee of the Promoters.

Mr. Sanjay Gupta is a whole-time Director, CEO and also the Editor of Dainik Jagran. He
holds a bachelor’s degree in science. Mr. Gupta has more than 26 years of experience in the
print media industry. Mr. Gupta is also a Director of the Motilal Nehru Institute of Technology,
Allahabad. Mr. Gupta has been a Director of the Company since 1993 and is a nominee of the
Promoters.

Mr. Dhirendra Mohan Gupta is a whole-time Director. He holds a bachelor’s degree in arts.
Mr. Gupta has more than 43 years of experience in the print media industry. He is the
Director-in-charge of the operations in the western regions of Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal.
Mr. Gupta has been a Director of the Company since inception and is a nominee of the
Promoters.

Mr. Sunil Gupta is a whole-time Director. He holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in
commerce. Mr. Gupta has more than 26 years of experience in the print media industry. He is
in charge of the operations in Bihar, Jharkhand and parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Gupta
has been a Director of the Company since 1993 and is a nominee of the Promoters.

Mr. Shailesh Gupta is a whole-time Director of the Company. He holds a bachelor's degree
in commerce. Mr. Gupta has more than 19 years of experience in the print media industry.
He is a Member of Council of the Audit Bureau of Circulations, The Indian Newspaper Society
and heads the advertisement and marketing department. Mr. Gupta has been a Director of
the Company since 1994 and is a nominee of the Promoters.

Mr. Bharat Ji Agrawal is an independent Director. He holds a bachelor’s degree in science
and a bachelor’s degree in law. Mr. Agrawal has been practicing as an advocate for about 46
years. Mr. Agrawal has been designated as Senior Advocate by the High Court, Allahabad in
1997 and has been appointed as the Senior Standing Counsel of the Income Tax Department
in the High Court at Allahabad. He has been the Chairman and the Vice Chairman of U.P. Bar
Council and has been nominated as National President of All India Federation of Tax
Practitioners. Mr. Agrawal joined the Board in 2005.

Devendra Mohan Gupta is a non-executive Director. He holds a bachelor’s degree in
Engineering (Mechanical). Mr. Gupta has more than 14 years of experience in handling
Product Design, Research & Development, Production, Purchase & ales (Domestic &
Overseas). Mr. Gupta had been appointed as the Director of the company in 2008 and is a
nominee of the Promoters.

Mr. Gavin K. O’Reilly is a non-executive Director. He holds a bachelor’s degree in science
from Georgetown University Business School, Washington D.C. He has been a Director of
Independent News & Media Plc. since 1997 and is now the Chief Executive Officer of
Independent News & Media Plc. Mr. O’Reilly is the President of the World Association of
Newspapers and Chairman of the National Newspapers of Ireland. Mr. Gavin O’ Reilly joined
the Board in 2005 as a nominee of Independent News & Media Investments Limited.


Mr. Kishore Biyani is an independent Director. He holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce
and a post graduate degree in marketing. Mr. Biyani is the Group CEO of Future Group and is
the Founder and Managing Director of Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited. Pantaloon Retail
(India) Limited is India’s leading retail company that operates chains like Pantaloons, Big
Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Central, among other formats. Mr. Biyani joined the Board in 2005.

Mr. Naresh Mohan is an independent Director. He holds a bachelor’s degree in arts. Mr.
Naresh Mohan has more than 45 years of work experience in the print media industry. Prior
to retirement in 1998, he worked with The Hindustan Times Limited as Executive President.
Subsequently, Mr. Naresh Mohan is engaged in media consultancy. Mr. Naresh Mohan has
held various key positions in the print media industry including being the President of Indian
Newspaper Society, Chairman of United News of India, Chairman of Audit Bureau of
Circulations and Member of Press Council of India. Mr. Mohan joined the Board in 2005.

Mr. R.K. Jhunjhunwala is an Independent Director. He holds a bachelor’s degree in
commerce. He has been managing the working of the Sugar Mill, Vanaspati Plant and Steel
Foundry from the year 1964 in the group company of Motilal Padampat Udyog Limited. Mr.
R.K. Jhunjhunwala had been appointed as the Director of the company in 2008.

Mr. Rashid Mirza is an independent Director. He holds a diploma in leather technology from
Leather Sellers College, London and served with various leather companies in the U.K. Upon
his return to India, he joined his family business. In 1979, he along with his father promoted
Mirza International Limited. He has a vast experience of more than 33 years in the leather
industry. Mr. Mirza joined the Board in 2005.

Mr. Shailendra Mohan Gupta is a non-executive Director. He holds a bachelor’s degree in
science. He has over 30 years of experience in administration, sales and marketing fields in
Sugar and Electronics industry. Mr. Shailendra Mohan Gupta has been appointed as the
Director of the company since 2008 and is a nominee of the Promoters.

Mr. Shashidhar Narain Sinha is an Independent Director. He is the CEO of Lodestar
Universal India. A veteran of 26 years experience in media management and development, he
has overseen his agency’s recognition as a national “Agency of the Year” twice and “Runner
Up” twice in the past five years. He is actively involved and drives key industry bodies like
the Advertising Standards Council of India, AAAI’s – Indian Broadcasting Federation joint
body on industry practices, Audit Bureau of Circulation and the Joint Industry Body set up to
monitor TV measurement. Mr. Shashidhar Sinha had been appointed as the Director of the
company in 2008.

Mr. Vijay Tandon is an independent Director. He graduated from the University of Delhi. Mr.
Tandon is a chartered accountant and fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of
India. As a chartered accountant and financial management consultant, with over 32 years of
professional experience in various capacities, Mr. Tandon has been associated with number
of private and public sector companies and banks in the capacity of auditor. Also, as a
management consultant, Mr. Tandon has been associated with a number of consulting
services in diverse sectors of economy, industry and public utilities in India as well as South
& Central Asia. Mr. Tandon joined the Board in 2005.

Mr. Vikram Bakshi is an independent Director. He holds a bachelor’s degree in science. Mr.
Bakshi has extensive experience spanning 27 years in real estate, hospitality and retail. As the
Managing Director, Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt. Ltd. & JV Partner of McDonald’s India.
Mr. Bakshi joined the Board in 2005.