Other income drives Network18 profit as operating margin trails peers
Consolidated operating profit was limited by the cost base, while a 0.23% tax rate further supported net profit.
Filed 30 Oct 2026, 10:41 IST · Network 18 Media & Investments Ltd (NETWORK18)
Key takeaways
- Consolidated operating margin was only 3.43%, leaving Network18 9.07 percentage points below the 12.5% median for 109 reported sector peers.
- Other income of Rs 122.01 cr exceeded profit before tax of Rs 53.08 cr, making the reported profit heavily dependent on non-operating income.
- Net profit of Rs 52.96 cr was also helped by a 0.23% tax rate, while interest and depreciation absorbed Rs 56.66 cr and Rs 30.96 cr respectively.
Price around the results
Operating profit remained thin
Network18 generated consolidated revenue of Rs 544.67 cr against expenses of Rs 525.98 cr, leaving only Rs 18.69 cr of operating profit. The resulting 3.43% operating margin indicates that most of the revenue was absorbed by operating costs. Interest of Rs 56.66 cr and depreciation of Rs 30.96 cr then further reduced profit before tax.
Reported profit quality was mixed
Other income of Rs 122.01 cr was more than twice the Rs 53.08 cr profit before tax, so non-operating income was central to the quarter's earnings. The Rs 0.12 cr tax charge, equivalent to a 0.23% tax rate, also supported the Rs 52.96 cr net profit. This makes operating profit a more cautious measure of the quarter's underlying performance than net profit alone.
Margin lagged the sector
Network18's 3.43% operating margin was 9.07 percentage points below the 12.5% median among 109 Consumer Discretionary peers that had reported the quarter. It ranked 17th from the bottom, placing its operating profitability near the lower end of the reported peer set. No sequential or year-on-year comparison is available here, so the quarter's margin position is the clearest benchmark.
Q2FY27 at a glance
Consolidated figures as filed with NSE — filed ahead of third-party databases, not yet independently cross-checked.
| Line item | Q2FY27 |
|---|---|
| Revenue | ₹545 cr |
| Other income | ₹122 cr |
| Expenses | ₹526 cr |
| Operating profit | ₹19 cr |
| Operating margin (%) | 3.43% |
| Interest | ₹57 cr |
| Depreciation | ₹31 cr |
| Profit before tax | ₹53 cr |
| Tax | ₹0 cr |
| Net profit | ₹53 cr |
| EPS (₹) | ₹0.34 |
Operating margin of 3.43% compares with a Consumer Discretionary sector median of 12.50% across 109 peers that have reported Q2FY27.
How the stock reacted
| Window | Stock | vs NIFTY |
|---|---|---|
| Results day | -2.20% | -2.70% |
Volume on the results session was 7.20× its 20-day average.
What to watch
- Whether operating margin moves up from 3.43%.
- Whether other income remains a major contributor relative to Rs 53.08 cr of profit before tax.
- Whether the tax rate stays close to 0.23%.