Online food delivery firm Zomato Ltd reported a consolidated net profit of INR 175 crore in the March quarter on the back of higher revenue.

The company had posted a consolidated net loss of INR 188 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, Zomato Ltd said in a regulatory filing.

Consolidated revenue from operations stood at INR 3,562 crore. It was INR 2,056 crore in the year-ago period, it added.

Total expenses were at INR 3,636 crore. The company posted its total expenses at INR 2,431 crore in the corresponding period a year ago, it said.

For the fiscal ended on March 31, 2024, the consolidated net profit was INR 351 crore. The company had posted a consolidated net loss of INR 971 crore in the previous fiscal ended on March 31, 2023, the filing said.

In FY24, consolidated revenue from operations stood at INR 12,114 crore. It was at INR 7,079 crore.

Zomato holds a cash balance of INR 12,240 crore. Additionally, the company proposed the creation of a new ESOP pool, amounting to 2% of the diluted share capital, to drive better performance from employees.

Zomato's EBITDA margin for Q4 came in at 2.4%, falling short of estimates. However, the contribution margin for food delivery increased to 7.5% and the contribution margin for Blinkit rose to 3.9%.

The results for the year ended March 31, 2024, are not comparable with the year ended March 31, 2023, due to the acquisition of Blink Commerce Pvt Ltd (formerly known as Grofers India Pvt Ltd) in June 2022, the filing said.

Shares Dropped

Shares of Zomato dropped by 6% in early trading on Tuesday following the announcement of its fourth-quarter (Q4) financial results for FY24. The decline brought Zomato's shares down to INR 182.10 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Zomato shares were trading 2.26% lower at INR 189.90 apiece on the BSE as of 10:26 AM, indicating ongoing market sentiment towards the company's performance post-announcement.

The company's costs on account of its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) are expected to rise in the near future.

Costs incurred under the ESOPs are non-cash expenses, and are likely to increase in the ongoing fiscal “on account of grant of ESOPs to the Blinkit leadership team and senior employees”, Zomato management said in a post-earnings call on Monday.

ESOPs are important to help build a culture of long-term thinking and innovation and create a ‘founder mindset’ amongst senior employees, which ultimately drives the right outcomes for long-term shareholder value creation, Zomato management said.

Article Source – PTI, Zomato, MoneyControl