Bharat Nidhi Limited distributes Newspapers and Magazines in India. It is also involved in investment and financing activities. The company was incorporated in 1942 and is based in New Delhi, India. They have a contract of distribution of Newspapers and magazines of Bennett Coleman and Company Limited, commonly known as The Times Group. Under the contract,

(i) BCCL shall arrange to deliver their newspapers and periodicals to Bharat Nidhi Limited (BNL) at their own cost, as per the indents of BNL at the addresses specified by BNL within such territory, as agreed.

(ii) BCCL shall send a statement of supplies for each day to BNL, which shall be returned by BNL duly signed together with remittance towards the cost of purchase from BCCL in the following manner.

a> Daily publications will be paid on the same day as the date appearing in the issue. If the day on which the payment falls due is a Sunday or a holiday, the payment will be paid on the following working day.

b> Each issue of weeklies and fortnightlies will be paid within three days of delivery of the publication. c. Each issue of monthly, annual, and other publications will be paid within seven days of delivery of the publication. The company is also registered as NBFC with RBI. However, on 29th October 2014, the Company had voluntarily made an application to the RBI for the surrender of its Certificate of Registration (CoR) as NBFC. During the current year(2017-18), as a follow up to the said application for voluntary surrender of the CoR by the Company, RBI has asked the Company to reduce its Financial Assets below 50% of its Total Assets in order to initiate the cancellation of the CoR. The Company is reviewing the same and appropriate action will be taken by the Company.

Subsidiary/Joint Ventures/Associate Companies

Opportunities and Threats:

Though digital media platforms have witnessed exponential growth in the last few years, digital news platforms have not been able to substitute newspaper readership in India, like they have done elsewhere in the world. Even as print media is declining rapidly in the developed economies and digital media users and television media viewership have surpassed print in many markets, newspapers continue to command a lion’s share of the advertising pie in India. As per the latest report from Zenith, the ROI agency of Publicis Group, newspapers will continue to be the most dominant media segment in the foreseeable future. Print media is projected to continue its growth, largely on the back of continued readership growth in vernacular markets and advertisers’ confidence in the medium, especially in tier-II and tier-III cities. Spurt in literacy levels, hyper-localization rising disposable income, perceived credibility of written words, selective cover price increase, increase in print advertising, better distribution systems, improved quality of printing and logistics and attractive margins for vendors is likely to drive the future expansion of circulation of newspapers and readership across India. However, rising digital content consumption is perceived to be a long-term risk to the industry.

Financial Performance:

(a) During the Financial Year 2017-18, the Company’s Total Revenue on a standalone basis was Rs. 69.88 Crores as compared to Rs. 66.65 Crores in the previous year and the Total Expenditure was Rs. 56.66 Crores as compared to Rs. 58.48 Crores in the previous year on a standalone basis.

(b) During the Financial Year 2017-18, the Company has earned Profit after tax of Rs. 13.13 crores as compared to a profit of Rs. 8.16 crores in the previous year on a standalone basis.