Pressman becomes first publicly-listed ad agency in India

Pressman Advertising Limited has become the first publicly-listed advertising agency in the country. It is listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange.

The company used a reverse-merger with Nucent Finance, in which the Pressman promoters are the majority shareholders, and changed the merged entity's name  to Pressman Advertising, Dr Niren Suchanti, chairman and managing director, Pressman Advertising, told VC Circle.

Pressman's Rs2 share opened at Rs12 on the BSE on 22nd August 2013 (listing date) touching a high of Rs12.60 on that day. It is currently trading at Rs16.13 on the BSE and Rs16.60 on the NSE, giving the agency a market capitalisation of around Rs38 crore

An independent full service agency, Pressman Advertising was founded by late H C Suchanti in the mid '60s in Kolkata.

Though best known in the industry for its pioneering role in corporate and financial communications, the agency also operates in non-financial advertising, public relations, graphic design and digital communications.

On the decision to get itself listed, Navin Suchanti, director, Pressman Advertising, told domain-b, ''Over the years, Pressman has been a trendsetter amongst the advertising agencies in the country and the decision to list is another pioneering initiative of the agency.''

He said the decision to list was guided by its practice of "high standards of transparency and corporate governance" and the listing of its equity shares in the two major stock exchanges of the country reflected this.

''Moreover, over 50 per cent of our staff hold shares in the company and the listing will not only enable correct price discovery of shares but also offer [them] liquidity,'' he adds

Suchanti says the listing will give the agency a stronger brand equity and corporate houses, banks and mutual funds as well as public sector and government companies who form the nucleus of Pressman's client base will have a greater sense of confidence in the agency.

"It will give Pressman an entirely new identity as the only listed advertising agency in the country."

''But the most important reason for listing is to open up new opportunities for strategic alliances as well as acquisitions, as Pressman gears up to enter the next level of growth,'' Suchanti says.

 The promoter group holds around 75 per cent of the agency's equity while the remaining 25 per cent is spread over 22,000 shareholders.

Pressman is an ISO 9001:2008 certified full service agency with headquarters in Kolkata and offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur, Siliguri, Guwahati and Patna.

Pressman is a debt-free agency with strong fundamentals.  As on 31st March, 2013, its seserves and surplus stood at Rs.13.74 crore on an equity share capital of Rs.4.69 crore.  For the year ended 31st March 2013, Pressman posted a net profit of Rs6.28 crore and paid a dividend of 40 per cent.  In the first quarter ended 30th June 2013, the company reported a net profit of Rs.2.2 crore.