Snapdeal reports loss of Rs 613 Cr for FY18; total loss of top 4 online marketplaces at Rs 9,847 Cr

India's online marketplaces reported improved financials in FY18 as compared to FY17. While the industry lost Rs 1.10 for every rupee of operating revenue in FY18, it lost Rs 1.88 for every rupee of operating revenue in FY17.

The top four online marketplaces in India - Amazon India, Flipkart, Paytm Mall and Snapdeal - posted a net loss of Rs 9,847 crore on the back of a total operating revenue of Rs 8,898 crore in FY18. In fiscal 2017, the companies reported an operating revenue of Rs 5,920 crore and a loss of Rs 11,131 crore.

If we take the four top online marketplaces as an indicator of the ecommerce business in India, the industry lost an average of Rs 1.88 to earn an operating revenue of Rs 1 in FY17. While in FY18, the industry’s performance improved and it lost Rs 1.10 to earn an operating revenue of Rs 1.

(The ecommerce companies have various arms such as wholesale, logistics and payments. But for the sake of this article, we have taken only their online marketplace financial numbers)

Jasper Infotech that owns and operates Snapdeal, reduced its losses significantly in fiscal 2018, a period that saw the Gurugram-based company undertake a restructuring exercise of its business.

The SoftBank Group and Alibaba backed Snapdeal posted a loss of Rs 613 crore in 2017-18, down by 87 percent from a loss of Rs 4,647.1 crore in the previous fiscal, documents filed by the company with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) revealed.

However, the company's operational revenue for fiscal 2018 stood at Rs 436.1 crore while it was Rs 903.8 crore in FY17.

Amazon India saw its operational revenue grow by 57.5 percent to Rs 4,928 crore in FY18, from Rs 3,128 crore in FY17, documents filed by the company with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) shows. While Flipkart's marketplace posted an operating revenue of Rs 2,790 crore for fiscal 2018, compared to Rs 1,882 crore during the previous financial year, showing a growth of around 48 percent.

Despite an increase in revenue, Amazon India marketplace owned by Amazon Seller Services, posted a loss of Rs 6,287 crore (almost $1 billion) in FY18, compared to Rs $4,830 crore of loss in 2017.

On the other hand, Flipkart’s marketplace Flipkart Internet narrowed its consolidated loss to Rs 1,160 crore for the financial year 2018, compared to a total loss of Rs 1,640 crore in the previous fiscal.

Paytm Mall’s operating income was Rs 744.15 crore in FY18 against Rs 7.16 crore in FY17. Paytm Mall, under Paytm E-Commerce Private Ltd, saw its financial performance deteriorate further with a loss of Rs 1,787.55 crore, compared with a net loss of Rs 13.63 crore in the previous financial year of 2017.