 "Zomato")
Zomato | Photo: Bloomberg
Food aggregator platform Zomato’s first quarter FY25 net profit grew multifold to Rs 253 crore, from Rs 2 crore in Q1 FY24. On a sequential basis, the firm’s net profit grew by 44.5 per cent from Rs 175 crore in the preceding quarter.
Zomato’s revenue from operations rose 74 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 4,206 crore in Q1. It had reported a revenue of Rs 3,562 crore in the previous quarter, up 19.2 per cent.
Total expenses for the Gurugram-based food delivery firm increased to Rs 4,203 crore in the quarter ended June, up from Rs 3,636 crore a quarter ago and Rs 2,612 crore a year ago.
As in the past few quarters, growth was driven by Zomato’s quick commerce business, Blinkit. The quick commerce vertical’s gross order value (GOV) and revenue grew by over 22 per cent quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) versus food delivery, which grew by over 10 per cent across both metrics.
The company witnessed a GOV growth of 53 per cent Y-o-Y across its business-to-consumer (B2C) verticals – food delivery, quick commerce, and Going-out – to Rs 15,455 crore.
“On the profitability front, consolidated adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) increased by Rs 287 crore Y-o-Y to Rs 299 crore in Q1 FY25, driven by margin expansion in all four businesses,” said Akshant Goyal, chief financial officer (CFO), Zomato, in a letter to shareholders.
Since turning Ebitda positive last year, the company is now at an annualised profit of roughly Rs 1,200 crore.
Food Delivery
Adjusted revenue for its food delivery business increased by over 10 per cent Q-o-Q to Rs 2,256 crore in Q1, up from Rs 2,050 crore a quarter ago, and Rs 1,742 crore in the year-ago period.
The GOV for this business increased from Rs 8,439 crore in Q4 FY24 to Rs 9,264 crore in the current quarter. On a yearly basis, GOV increased from Rs 7,318 crore in Q1 FY24.
“Between FY20 (pre-Covid) and FY24, food delivery GOV has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30 per cent. Given the expected structural demand growth and robust supply-side dynamics in India, I don’t see any reason for the industry not to compound at the same rate over the next five years,” said Rakesh Ranjan, chief executive officer (CEO) of Zomato’s food ordering and delivery business.
Average monthly transacting customers for its food delivery vertical stood at 20.3 million, compared to 19 million a quarter ago.
“Contribution margin reduced slightly Q-o-Q, from 7.5 per cent to 7.3 per cent, and we expect such minor fluctuations to continue going forward as well, driven by seasonality and multiple other factors. Having said that, we remain on track to getting to a 4-5 per cent adjusted Ebitda margin,” Ranjan added.
Going Out
Adjusted revenue for Zomato’s Going Out business reached Rs 95 crore, compared to Rs 93 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 42 crore in the year-ago period.
The company’s dining-out business, which helps customers discover restaurants when they want to dine out, is now operating at a run-rate of over $500 million in annualised GOV, and is already profitable.
“We believe that there is an opportunity to further expand our going-out offering, building on top of our dining-out business. Additional use cases for customers in the going out space include movies, sports ticketing, live performances, shopping, staycations, etc., some of which we have already launched or are building as we speak,” said Deepinder Goyal, founder and CEO, Zomato.
To do this, the company is launching a “one-stop destination app for going out” called District (by Zomato). Goyal had, on Wednesday, teased the launch of the new initiative through a cryptic post on LinkedIn.
“If we execute this well, we see going out becoming the third large B2C business emerging out of Zomato,” he said.
Blinkit
The firm’s quick commerce arm Blinkit sustained its adjusted Ebitda break-even milestone, which it achieved in March 2024, despite new store openings.
Its revenue increased over 22 per cent sequentially to Rs 942 crore, up from Rs 769 crore a quarter ago, while its GOV for the quarter was reported to be Rs 4,923 crore, compared to Rs 4,027 crore a quarter ago.
“Our average GOV per store has grown from about Rs 6 lakh per day per store when we were at 383 stores exactly a year ago, to about Rs 10 lakh today when we are at 639 stores. For our top 50 stores today, this number is Rs 18 lakh per day per store, and growing,” said Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa.
Blinkit’s average order value (AOV) stood at Rs 625 in Q1, up from Rs 617 in the previous quarter. Its dark store count increased Q-o-Q from 526 to 639, and average monthly transacting users went from 6.4 million in Q4 FY24 to 7.6 million in Q1 FY25.
“As of now, we see a line of sight of getting to about 2,000 stores for our current business. Most of these stores would be in the top 10 cities in India,” Dhindsa added.
Hyperpure
Zomato’s business-to-business (B2B) supplies vertical, Hyperpure, saw its revenue rise 27 per cent Q-o-Q to Rs 1,216 crore, compared to Rs 951 crore in the previous quarter. The company reported a revenue of Rs 617 crore a year ago.
First Published: Aug 01 2024 | 4:08 PM IST