EV startup Ather Energy registers a 411.9 pc revenue growth for FY22

Bengaluru-based EV startup Ather Energy on Wednesday reported Rs 408.5 crore in revenue for FY21-22, up 411.9 percent compared to Rs 79.8 crore reported in the previous year.

However, in line with the revenue, the electric two-wheeler maker's costs also increased for the year. Ather Energy's loss widened to Rs 344.1 crore from Rs 233.3 crore in FY21 due to the high cost of EV parts and raw materials, and employee benefit expenses, among others.

The company's cost material expenses rose to Rs 377.3 crore, up 269.2 percent from Rs 102.20 in FY21. Its employee benefits expenses—the second-highest expense after the cost of materials—rose 74.7 percent to Rs 114.8 crore from Rs 65.7 crore.

According to the ROC filings, the company sold 23,408 units of its two-wheeler electric scooters in FY22—Ather 450X model (~81 percent) and Ather 450 Plus model (~19 percent)—compared to 5,523 units sold in the previous year. 

The revenue also includes revenue from the sale of services, which grew by 81.3 percent to Rs 2.9 crore from Rs 1.6 crore. 

Last year, Ather Energy expanded to 34 retail experience centres in 28 cities from nine stores in nine cities.

Nearly 51 percent of its retail network is in south India, followed by the west (21 percent), north (20 percent) and east India (9 percent). These cities have a healthy mix of Tier I, II, and III cities, with an extremely encouraging response from smaller towns, the company said.  

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On the manufacturing side, Ather is working towards increasing its production capacity at its Hosur factory from 1.20 lakh vehicles to four lakh vehicles per annum by setting up another manufacturing facility in the vicinity. 

With this expansion, the facility would serve as the company’s national manufacturing hub, catering to demand from across India. Besides EV manufacturing, the facility would also focus on lithium-ion battery manufacturing. 

Moreover, the EV startup also launched its second generation of fast-charging systems, which will increase the charging speed by 50 percent compared to the first generation. Ather Energy has set up 203 fast-charging stations in FY22, taking the total number of charging installations to 351 across 28 cities.

"The penetration of EV scooters in the overall scooter industry reached 11 percent in Q4 FY22 with March 2022 touching 12.5 percent penetration. This is faster than any of the industry predictions. However, the outlook on the supply side continues to be challenging with several unpredictable factors. Shortage of battery cells and chips are two of the major factors that continue to be a concern for the near future," the company said.

Nonetheless, the company expects to achieve breakout growth in FY23 given the positive momentum in the industry and a healthy and stable cost structure. 

According to the Vahaan portal, the company registered 3,824 vehicles in June, its highest for H1 2022.

In May 2022, Ather Energy had raised $128 million in a Series E funding round led by the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIFL), existing investor Hero MotoCorp, and others. It also entered a strategic partnership with Magenta ChargeGrid to accelerate the expansion of its public charging network and adoption of EVs in India.