The Hindu Business Line : Next Gen to enhance BPO operations

Next Gen Publishing is planning to step up its BPO operations to gather additional revenues for its publishing business. Having set up its call centre brand — Next BPO, the publishing company has targeted 10 per cent of its turnover revenues from its BPO business.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Hoshang Billimoria, CEO, Next Gen Publishing, said, "We intend taking on new businesses in our BPO operations and these could be companies from any industry." Currently, Next BPO handles Bharti's Airtel account for its front-end functions. Taking advantage of its existing database for its yellow pages, the publishing major had set up its BPO operations to service Airtel customers with its business phone directory.

Meanwhile, the existing revenue streams of advertising and subscription are also expected to register revenue growth. "We are expecting 20 per cent growth in ad revenue, while subscription revenues are expected to remain the same," added Mr Billimoria.

Specialist magazines

Having launched its sixth magazine in the past 18 months, Next Gen, a joint venture between the Forbes Group and HDFC, is expected to launch three more titles. "There is a future for specialist magazines and we are expecting to grow at 50 per cent every year," he said. With titles such as Smart Photography, Computer Active, Car India and Bike India, and its latest offering — The Ideal Home and Garden, the publishing company intends taking some of these titles to the overseas markets. "We have already spread our operations in West Asia; as and when there are opportunities, we will look for suitable markets," said Mr Billimoria. Besides, there are plans to enhance the Internet offering of its yellow pages too. "The print version of the yellow pages is nearly dying out, and the Net and phone services are more popular," he added. Next Gen has upgraded the services of its yellow pages on the Net by introducing a search engine apart from having other services such as advertiser alerts.

Continuing with its sole trade-oriented magazine, Commercial Vehicle (targeting the heavy automotive and truck industry), its future titles would get targeted at the retail level. "These are all going to be niche specialist magazines with no overlaps with the already existing magazines in the market," said Mr Billimoria, without specifying the genre of his impending publications. With intentions of beefing up its distribution channels, the publishing company is also in talks with modern trade retailers. With intentions of breaking even within the next two years, the Rs 25-crore Next Gen Publishing expects to grow at 50 per cent on a yearly basis.

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