Ola's FY22 loss widens even as revenue nearly doubles

ANI Technologies, the parent company of ride-hailing giant Ola, on Wednesday reported its loss in the financial year ended March 2022 had widened from the previous fiscal year even as revenue nearly doubled.

The company reported a total consolidated loss of Rs 1,522.33 crore in FY22, compared with a loss of Rs 1,116.61 crore a year ago.

Its total income rose 81.5% to Rs 2,119.95 crore. Revenue from Ola’s ride-hailing business—classified as ‘sale of services’—rose 61.3% in FY22, and accounted for a little over 37% of its total operating revenue.

It also earned money from marketing fees, data charges, and subscription income.

But the rise in the company's revenue was not enough to offset the dent caused by the increase in its expenses.

Ola recorded a total expense of Rs 3,362.13 crore—up 67.5% from a year ago, its filing with the Registrar of Companies showed.

Costs related to vehicle operation and promotional advertising—categorised under 'other expenses' in Ola's financial statement—saw an almost two-fold rise compared to the previous year, the company said.

Its 'miscellaneous expenses', which included payment gateway charges, delivery costs, workshop expenses and manpower supply charges, rose 79% to Rs 401.29 crore.

In comparison, Uber's India business showed an improvement in its FY22 net loss. It reported a net loss of Rs 216 crore, compared with Rs 333.9 crore in FY21. Its total revenue of Rs 560.52 crore rose 4% in FY22, with expenses declining a healthy 13.4%.

The blows don't stop for Ola

Last week, Ola had to take a valuation haircut after US investor, Vanguard, devalued its holding in the company by more than 50%.

Vanguard pegged the valuation of its holding in Ola at $25 million, lower than the $51.7 million price tag it had assigned when it bought into the company.

To be fair, a host of unicorn startups, including BYJU'S, Meesho, Pharmeasy, and Swiggy, have seen their valuations downgraded by investors recently.

All may not be lost for Ola though.

One of its biggest shareholders, SoftBank, on Tuesday said it will begin reinvesting again via its Vision Fund, after a prolonged period of inactivity. Softbank Vision Fund's Managing Partner and CFO Navneet Govil told The Economic Times that he's looking forward to offloading some of its shares in Indian unicorns including Swiggy, Lenskart, FirstCry, and OfBusiness, once they go public.

Ola pulled its IPO plans in 2021 following weak macro conditions, coming just out of the COVID-19 economic degrowth. However, its sister entity, Ola Electric, is gearing up for a $10 billion IPO, and has already enlisted several investment banks as its bookrunners.

ANI Technologies has filed its FY 2022 results after a delay of over a year, following in the footsteps of other startup unicorns such as BYJU'S.