Rediff.com reports fiscal 2013 fourth quarter and year-end results

Rediff.com, one of the premier online providers of news, information, communication, entertainment and shopping services to Indians worldwide, has announced results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2013.

Fourth-quarter revenue in the Company's core business, India Advertising, grew 9 percent compared to the third fiscal quarter. This is the third consecutive quarter that this segment has registered revenue growth. Besides the growth in quarterly India Advertising revenue, the Company's other businesses, namely Ecommerce, Subscriptions and Local TV, achieved fourth-quarter revenue growth of 19percent, 2percent and 33percent, respectively, compared to the third fiscal quarter.

However, overall revenues for the fourth fiscal quarter, of 4.18 million dollars, were 10 percent lower as compared to 4.64 million dollars reported in the fourth fiscal quarter of the prior fiscal year, ended March 31, 2012. This was primarily driven by declines in the Company's Newspaper Publishing business and India Advertising, although the latter has shown sequential revenue growth over the most recent three quarters.

The growth in India Advertising business was driven by an increase in spending by clients in the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance industries, as well as in the Telecom, Education, Tourism and Real Estate sectors. While the economic recession has curtailed overall advertising budget dollars, the Company has seen an increase in advertising spend over the past few quarters in these industries and sectors.

"Despite challenging economic conditions in India and abroad, our India Online business has exhibited sequential growth in the last three consecutive quarters, mainly on account of our focused efforts to diversify our revenue stream and lessen our dependence on advertising, and due to the improvements we've made to our existing offerings. Over the past few quarters, our team has worked hard to improve the functionality of our site. We believe this strategy will position us for future growth in the coming years, especially with the expected improvements in broadband infrastructure in India," stated Ajit Balakrishnan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Rediff.com India Ltd.

Mr. Balakrishnan continued, "Over the past year, concurrent with our efforts to enhance our offerings and market position, we have also implemented stringent cost controls throughout the Company and realigned several areas, resulting in over 15percent lower annual operating expenses. We are focused on building sustainable value for our shareholders and ensuring we have the resources needed to implement an aggressive marketing and revenue push, when the time is right.