Century Business Media Limited has more related loans than bank debt

Century Business Media Limited reported Rs 7.96 crore of financial indebtedness at March 31, 2026. Unsecured loans in the filing’s directors, promoters and related-entity category totalled Rs 4.06 crore, exceeding the Rs 3.89 crore outstanding on UCO Bank facilities secured by deposits, property and personal guarantees.

What made up Century Business Media debt at March 31, 2026?

Century Business Media debt comprised Rs 4.06 crore of unsecured loans and Rs 3.89 crore of secured UCO Bank borrowings at March 31, 2026. The unsecured balance was Rs 17.35 lakh higher than the bank balance and represented 51.09% of the Rs 7.96 crore total on a simple calculation using the disclosed outstanding amounts.

The UCO Bank component came from two facilities with aggregate sanctioned limits of Rs 5.00 crore. The term loan had a Rs 2.00 crore sanction and Rs 1.67 crore outstanding, while the cash-credit facility had a Rs 3.00 crore sanction and Rs 2.22 crore outstanding. The combined outstanding balance was therefore Rs 1.11 crore below the combined sanctioned amount at March 31, 2026.

How concentrated were Century Business Media's unsecured related-entity loans?

Century Business Media listed four working-capital loans totalling Rs 4.06 crore under its disclosure category for directors, promoters, promoter-group entities, associates, relatives of directors, group companies and other entities. Dagmar Media (P) Ltd. was the largest named lender, with Rs 2.37 crore outstanding, equal to 58.26% of the unsecured total.

Raunak Agri Farm Products Pvt. Ltd. had Rs 88.82 lakh outstanding, while Sangita Dokania had Rs 54.82 lakh and Seema Chaudhary had Rs 26.01 lakh. Dagmar Media (P) Ltd. and Raunak Agri Farm Products Pvt. Ltd. together provided Rs 3.26 crore, or 80.11%, of the Rs 4.06 crore unsecured balance. The disclosed unsecured funding was therefore concentrated in two of four named lenders.

Each of the four loans carried a stated 12.00% annual interest rate, and Century Business Media said the loans were not interest-free. The filing says all were taken without preconditions attached to repayment. It provides a specific repayment description only for Seema Chaudhary’s Rs 26.01 lakh loan, which is repayable after one year on mutually agreed terms; repayment-term fields for the other three loans are blank.

What collateral supports Century Business Media debt from UCO Bank?

Century Business Media’s Rs 3.89 crore UCO Bank balance was supported by stock, company deposits, specified real estate and personal guarantees. The primary security was hypothecation, a charge over stock and related items held in godowns and stores. Both the term loan and the cash-credit facility refer to the same disclosed security note.

The note records a lien on a fixed-deposit receipt, or FDR, in Century Business Media’s name worth Rs 1.68 crore. It also records a 25% cash margin in an FDR of Rs 1.45 crore against a bank guarantee. These two company-deposit amounts totalled Rs 3.13 crore, while the filing separately listed CGTMSE coverage of Rs 2.87 crore without explaining how that coverage affects recovery from deposits, property or other security.

The real-estate package includes an extended registered mortgage over Flats 301, 303, 305 and 306 at Ronak Down Town in Bettiah, in the name of Shashi Kumar Chaudhary. It also includes an extension of mortgage documentation over a Rehman Enclave flat in Patna in the name of Banwari Lal Chaudhary, and an Emarat Firdous office in Patna in the name of Shashi Kumar Chaudhary. The security therefore includes both Century Business Media assets and assets held in individuals’ names.

Who guaranteed Century Business Media's UCO Bank facilities?

Century Business Media named Shashi Kumar Chaudhary, Seema Chaudhary, Sangeeta Dokania and Banwari Lal Chaudhary as personal guarantors for the UCO Bank facilities. A personal guarantee is an individual commitment to meet a borrower’s obligations if required under the facility terms. The four names appear in the security note covering the Rs 3.89 crore UCO Bank outstanding balance.

The filing identifies Shashi Kumar Chaudhary as Century Business Media’s promoter and managing director, and Seema Chaudhary as its whole-time director. It does not state the amount for which each individual is liable, whether liability is shared or separate, or whether UCO Bank had invoked any guarantee by March 31, 2026. It also does not state that any property or deposit security had been enforced.

How does Century Business Media debt compare with its reported financial scale?

Century Business Media’s Rs 7.96 crore outstanding debt equalled about 44% of its reported Rs 18.02 crore net worth for FY 2025-26, based on a simple comparison. The filing defines net worth as equity share capital plus reserves and surplus, including surplus in the statement of profit and loss, less preliminary expenses not written off.

Reported net worth rose from Rs 7.76 crore in FY 2023-24 to Rs 12.47 crore in FY 2024-25 and Rs 18.02 crore in FY 2025-26. Revenue from operations increased over the same periods from Rs 32.03 crore to Rs 36.65 crore and then Rs 46.43 crore. Finance cost was Rs 67.14 lakh in FY 2023-24, Rs 64.67 lakh in FY 2024-25 and Rs 84.15 lakh in FY 2025-26; the filing does not allocate finance cost between bank facilities and unsecured loans.

The disclosed funding structure depends on the UCO Bank facilities remaining available and the four unsecured lenders maintaining their balances or agreeing to repayment terms. The term loan has a 60-month equal-monthly-instalment schedule, whereas the cash-credit facility is repayable on demand. The aggregate debt figure does not establish when Century Business Media will need to repay the unsecured balances because terms are disclosed only for Seema Chaudhary’s loan.

Conclusion

Century Business Media’s March 31, 2026 debt structure relied slightly more on unsecured loans from the filing’s related-entity lender category than on bank borrowing. The Rs 4.06 crore unsecured balance exceeded the Rs 3.89 crore UCO Bank balance, while the bank facilities were supported by stock, Rs 3.13 crore of disclosed company deposits, specified property and four personal guarantees.

The next items to watch are the 60-month instalments on the Rs 1.67 crore UCO Bank term loan, the on-demand status of the Rs 2.22 crore cash-credit facility, and repayment arrangements for the unsecured loans. Century Business Media disclosed a one-year mutually agreed repayment term only for Seema Chaudhary’s Rs 26.01 lakh loan, leaving repayment timing for the other Rs 3.80 crore of unsecured loans unstated.