Infomedia Press Ltd - Stock Valuation and Financial Performance

Infomedia 18 is a printing and publishing company with a leading market presence in diverse business areas spanning Business Directories, Magazine Publishing, Printing Services and Publishing Outsourcing. A pan-Indian network covering 25 cities and over 2155 employees gives Infomedia a national footprint. Infomedia has recently forayed into the Publishing Outsourcing segment and is well-placed to consolidate its position in this market with tremendous growth potential.

Infomedia 18 specializes in Designing and Printing of Annual Reports, Magazines, Books, Product brochures, Publicity material, Diaries and Calendars.

Infomedia 18 is a publicly listed company and is listed on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) as well as the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Controlling stake in the company is held by Television 18 India.

Independent estimates peg the size of the rapidly growing publishing vertical in the BPO space in India to be at approximately $250 million. Infomedia 18 has successfully forayed into this segment and is poised to play a unique role going forward. Their carefully drawn up strategy involves consolidation and scale-up of their India operations, building partnerships with key international publishers and taking advantage of operational efficiencies and resultant economies of scale. This will enable them to provide a clear cost advantage for their customers.

They entered this space in December 2005 through the acquisition of Cepha Imaging in Bangalore and Keyword Group in the UK. In April 2006, Infomedia acquired International Typesetting and Composition (ITC), operating through its two legal entities, a front-end called Software Services, LC, a limited liability company based in Florida, USA and back-end operations at American Devices India, based out of Noida, India. American Devices India Private Limited is one of the leading providers of pre-press and publishing services catering primarily to the North American market.

Together, these acquisitions provide Infomedia with an excellent platform for growth. Being the market leader in India’s publishing industry, Infomedia’s competencies blend effectively with the huge potential offered by the Publishing Outsourcing segment. Apart from customer interface in the 2 major markets in the world, the UK and the US, these acquisitions have also provided the company a clientele spanning several of the finest book publishers across the world.

Infomedia's publishing activities are focused at two broad categories - Special Interest Consumer Publishing and Business-to-business (B2B) / Trade publishing. At the moment, Infomedia has stamped its authority, publishing 20 titles spread across 8 Consumer magazines and 12 Trade magazines.

Strategic partnerships:

As part of their endeavour to incorporate international standards as well as globally acclaimed brands into Indian publishing, they have entered into a Joint Venture (JV) with Reed Business International (a part of Reed-Elsevier), arguably the world’s largest B2B publishers. The JV will be launching Indian editions of Reed titles.

Their partnership with Ringier continues to grow with a steady flow of advertising from Chinese publications. The alliance with Ringier also covers conferences.

Their partnership with Future Publishing saw the launch of T3 in India, while they launched Disney Adventures in collaboration with Walt Disney India Private. Chip is published under a license from Vogel Burda, Germany, part of the Vogel Group, one of Germany's largest publishers.

They have also tied up with Google, Nokia and STAR India with a view to transcending media platforms and strengthening their position as a comprehensive directories and publishing solutions provider.

Milestones:

• 1931 The Tatas took over the Commercial Printing Press, and it functioned as an in-house printing unit for the Tata Group.

• 1955 The press was spun off separately and got incorporated as Tata Press Ltd.

• 1984 The Tata Press Limited got listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Over the years, the company leveraged its strengths in printing to expand into value-added segments such as directory services, special interest publishing and direct marketing and ended up becoming the dominant player in each of these categories.

• 1992 The stand-alone Yellow Pages, the Tata Press Yellow Pages were launched in Mumbai. Since then, numerous directories have been added to their portfolio.

• 1995 Tata Press Database Services was conceived as a Direct Marketing Division, which was eventually named as Direct Edge.

• 1997 Better Photography, Special Interest Magazine was launched. The subsequent years have witnessed a gamut of special interest magazines and business publications being launched.

• 2000 The company was renamed Tata Infomedia. 

• 2003 The Tata Group exited Tata Infomedia, in order to focus better on its core businesses, and their share was bought by ICICI Venture, India's leading private equity player. Following this, the company was renamed Infomedia India Limited. 

• 2005 The Company entered into joint venture agreement with Reed Elsevier Overseas B. V., Netherlands, for the incorporation of Reed Infomedia India Private Limited. The Company forayed into the publishing outsourcing segment acquiring a majority stake in Cepha Imaging Private Limited.

• 2006 The Company acquired Keyword Group. The Company acquired Software Services LC and American Devices India. The Company entered into a scheme of arrangement with its equity shareholders for the purchase of the equity shares of the Company from its existing shareholders. 2008 Television Eighteen India acquired control over the board of directors the Company.

• 2009 Scheme of Arrangement for inter-alia merger of I-Ven Interactive with the Company, filed with the High Court of Judicature at Bombay.

Business highlights:

• Turnover: Rs 2.0 billion for 2006-07 (vs Rs. 1.3 billion for 2005-06)• Market leader in the Yellow Pages segment• 20 established special interest titles

Awards and achievements:

• Infomedia 18 Limited is a 1SO 9001:2000 certified for 'Provision of Printing Services'.

• The National Awards for Excellence in Printing proves that Infomedia 18 Limited is among the leading printers in India.

• 7 leading B2C titles: - Overdrive - Chip - Better Photography - Better Interiors - AV Max- T3- Disney Adventures

• 12 landmark titles for B2B verticals: - Search- Photo imaging- Modern Textiles- Modern Plastics and Polymers - Modern Pharmaceuticals - Modern Packaging - Modern Medicare - Modern Machine Tools - Modern Food Processing - Electrical and Electronics - Chemical World - Automonitor

Clients

They print some of India's largest circulated magazines, which include:

• Outlook • Outlook Money • Outlook Traveller • Outlook Business • Forbes India • Go-Getter • Upper Crust • IIMA - ALUMNUS

Leading Indian companies rely on Infomedia 18 Limited to produce and dispatch their annual reports. Here is a list of their prestigious clients:

• Multi-National Corporations: Philips, Glaxo, Siemens, P & G and Ingersol Rand • Banking: State Bank of India, EXIM Bank • Groups: A V Birla Group, Tata Group, M&M Group • Others: ACC, Onward Technology, HCC, Raymonds, Avaya Global, Akruti City, HDFC, ICICI Lombard, Mercator Lines, etc.

Customers:

• McGraw-Hill, • Thomson Learning, • Wolters Kluwer, • Pearson Education, • Taylor and Francis, and • The World Bank