Ather's FY22 loss widens even as revenue jumps 5.1X

Electric scooter maker Ather Energy on Friday reported that its loss for the financial year 2021-22 had widened as expenses outpaced revenue growth.

Its loss of Rs 344.1 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2022, was higher than a loss of Rs 233.3 crore incurred in FY21.

The electric two-wheeler maker generated a total income of Rs 413.9 crore, compared with Rs 83.3 crore in FY21, with expenses rising 2.4X to Rs 718.2 crore in the fiscal year 2021-22.

Cost of materials consumed—expenses associated with raw materials and components used in production—was the biggest cost centre for Ather in FY22.

Despite facing supply constraints on essential components that had affected the electric vehicle sector from 2020 to 2022, Ather managed to achieve a significant increase in sales. However, the Bengaluru-based startup said it could only fulfil 50% of the total orders it received during the year.

Interestingly, Ather revealed that it has shifted its approach from directly owning its experience centres to adopting a dealership model as a cost-saving measure as well as to help it expand more quickly. This is a departure from the direct-to-consumer (D2C) model that both the company and Ola Electric operated on until now. Thirty-one of Ather's 34 experience centres are now managed by dealers, it said.

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For FY23, Ather forecasts positive momentum.

"The last quarter of FY22 and the month of April 2022 give early signs of the positive momentum for the Company. With a healthy and stable cost structure and the above strengths of the brand, [Ather] is well poised to achieve breakout growth in FY23," the company said.

On the supply side though, it expects some headwinds in the areas of battery cell and chips.

The startup's biggest rival, Ola Electric, also earlier posted a wider loss of Rs 784.15 crore for FY22 on the back of an annual revenue of Rs 456.26 crore.

Neither Ather nor Ola Electric have reported their FY23 results yet.

Earlier this week, Ather Energy announced a Rs 900 crore fundraise via a rights issue from its existing shareholders—Hero MotoCorp and Singapore's state investor, GIC.