News Broadcasting
Yaari.com brings mobile social networking to India
MUMBAI: Yaari.com, a social networking site for Indian youth, has released Yaari Mobile, India’s platform for mobile social networking.
Co-founder and CEO Prerna Gupta said, “The benefit of integrating a social networking site with mobile phones is that it keeps users connected to their network of friends from anywhere, which is especially relevant in India where people do not always have continuous Internet access.”
The product release includes two primary features: Ywords and Ychat. Ywords allows users to browse the network and interact with other individuals on the site using simple Sms functionality. For example, if a Yaari member sends an Sms command ‘Y profile prerna gupta’ to Yaari, she will receive Prerna’s profile information in the form of an Sms on her phone. She could then go on to browse Prerna’s friends in the same manner, and also send them ‘pinches’, a unique way of interacting with other Yaars.
The other feature, Ychat, uses Sms to enable group chatting on the go. Users log in to Yaari.com in order to create their Ychat groups and invite their friends to join. Once the group is in place, members can join group discussions via their mobiles and can broadcast messages to every person in the group with a single Sms. They can also reply to messages sent by other members, both from their mobiles and online.
Yaari.com also plans to introduce non-Sms based mobile features, such as photo and video upload, in the near future, added the release.
“There are 25 million active Internet users in India. While this figure is large and growing rapidly, it is just the tip of the iceberg. With over 100 million mobile phone users, more than half of which are youth, India is ripe for a mobile social network,” added Prerna.
News Broadcasting
Network18 Q4 revenue grows 9.7 per cent, EBITDA at Rs 30 crore
PAT improves to Rs 306.6 crore, margins steady amid cost pressures.
MUMBAI: Not all news is breaking, some of it is quietly improving. Network18 Media & Investments Limited appears to be doing just that, tightening losses and stabilising margins even as costs continue to weigh on the business. For FY26, the company reported revenue from operations of Rs 1,955.1 crore, up from Rs 1,896.2 crore in FY25, signalling modest top-line growth in a challenging media environment. Total income stood at Rs 1,978.2 crore, compared to Rs 1,913 crore a year earlier.
Profit after tax came in at Rs 306.6 crore for the year, a sharp turnaround from Rs 3,225.4 crore in FY25, largely reflecting the absence of large exceptional items that had inflated the previous year’s numbers. On a more comparable basis, the company’s operating performance showed signs of gradual stabilisation.
However, the quarterly picture remained under pressure. For the March quarter, Network18 reported a loss of Rs 53.1 crore, narrower than the Rs 98.1 crore loss in the same period last year, but still indicative of ongoing cost challenges.
Expenses continued to track high. Total expenses for FY26 stood at Rs 2,235.7 crore, up from Rs 2,197.8 crore in FY25. Key cost heads included operational expenses of Rs 765.9 crore, employee benefits of Rs 475.9 crore, and marketing, distribution and promotional spends of Rs 427.1 crore, underlining the continued investment required to sustain reach and engagement.
At an operating level, margins remained under strain. Operating margin stood at 2.33 per cent for FY26, marginally higher than 1.77 per cent in FY25, while net profit margin remained negative at -13.02 per cent, though improved from -14.89 per cent.
On the balance sheet, total assets rose to Rs 8,957.6 crore as of 31 March 2026, from Rs 8,317.5 crore a year earlier. Equity strengthened to Rs 4,958.7 crore, while borrowings increased to Rs 3,112.8 crore, reflecting a higher reliance on debt to support operations.
Cash flows told a mixed story. While financing activities generated Rs 83.9 crore, operating cash flow remained negative at Rs -24 crore, highlighting ongoing pressure on core cash generation. Cash and cash equivalents, however, improved to Rs 33.9 crore from Rs 1.8 crore.
The numbers point to a company in transition growing revenues, trimming losses, but still grappling with structural cost pressures. In a sector where scale often comes at a price, Network18 seems to be inching towards balance, one quarter at a time.
