Ratan Tata-backed CarDekho's FY22 loss narrows; targets 2024 profitability

Autotech unicorn CarDekho on Monday said its loss for the financial year 2022 has narrowed to Rs 246 crore, on the back of growth across all its business units, including insurance broking, financing for cars/bikes/EVs, and sales of vehicles.

Its total loss for the year was Rs 246 crore, lower than a loss of Rs 341 crore a year ago. The company said it hopes to swing to profit by FY24.

CarDekho had previously said it hoped to achieve EBITDA-level profitability before 2023.

Consolidated revenue from operations grew nearly 2X to Rs 1,598 crore in FY22, from Rs 884 crore the previous year, the company said.

Expenses, which rose 70%, dented its bottom line mostly, but include a one-off cost related to the conversion of a unit into an associate company.

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"The group continues to focus on driving profitable growth coming from the benefits of operating leverage, continuous focus on improving unit economics across all our business lines... The group has a clear path to turn profitable at a consolidated level by FY24," said Mayank Gupta, group chief financial officer at CarDekho.

IPO plans

CarDekho says it is preparing for its listing journey already. As per various media reports, this is likely to happen in the second half of 2022, or early 2023.

"We believe that public listing will be one of the key milestones in our journey and we are definitely evaluating it subject to requisite approvals and conducive market conditions," Mayank said.

A lot of startups including Droom, Oyo, Ola, boAt Lifestyle, and Pharmeasy have deferred or withdrawn their IPOs in the last six months or so given tepid market conditions, weak risk appetite, and just general gloom surrounding an impending recession.

CarDekho says it currently has over 5,000 user card loan agent partners, 50,000-plus insurance partners in 1,300 cities, and more than 3,500 used car dealers as of March 2022. It has helped issue 16 lakh insurance policies, and disbursed more than a lakh auto loans in FY22, it adds.