Flipkart revives its insurance game; Pine Labs' revenue jumps; losses balloon

Hello,

Some hits and misses this earnings season.

On-demand logistics company Shadowfax is in the green as it pared down losses by 19% in FY23 while increasing its total income by 42.6% to Rs 1,423 crore. Its total expenditure, too, rose by 33.4% on the back of unspecified expenses. 

Also, contract manufacturing company Zetwerk saw its revenue from operations grow nearly 130%, and at the same time, its losses spiked 82%—to Rs 108.7 crore in FY23 from Rs 59.7 crore in the previous fiscal year. Apart from India, Zetwerk also has operations across Singapore, the US, and MEA.

Meanwhile, CueMath couldn’t buck the wider trend in India’s edtech industry as the startup’s net loss widened 8% YoY to Rs 234 crore in FY23 while revenues took a 14% hit to Rs 126 crore from Rs 148 crore in FY22, led by a decline in earnings from teaching.

Elsewhere, all the top-10 most valued firms in Indian bourses suffered a total downfall of Rs 1,93,181.15 crore in market valuation last week, with TCS and HDFC Bank taking the biggest hit. Also, Sensex tanked 1.614.82 points or 2.46%.

And lastly, “Hi, I’m Chandler. I make jokes when I’m uncomfortable,” will never get old.

As all the 90s kids mourn Matthew Perry who played the wisecrack Chandler Bing on the sitcom Friends, here’s a look at some of his best episodes from the unforgettable series.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Flipkart revives its insurance game
• Pine Labs' revenue jumps; losses balloon
• HealthifyMe posts 1.2X jump in revenue

Here’s your trivia for today: Where is the smallest bone in the human body located?

Insurtech

Flipkart takes a stab at insurance again

Flipkart has decided to give a new lease of life to a category it has already dabbled with—insurance—albeit in a brand new avatar. The company has partnered with Mumbai-based insurtech firm Coverfox Insurance to offer a plug-and-play model to its large base of 200 million monthly active users.

"A plug-and-play model makes sense as the insurtech has already done the leg work of tying up with multiple companies, which Flipkart may have struggled with,” a source close to the development tells YourStory. 

Second chance:

• In 2018, Flipkart had bagged a corporate (composite) insurance agent licence from the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority, which allowed it to sell life, three non-life, and three standalone health policies. 
• Flipkart now offers a range of standalone insurance products, including two-wheeler, four-wheeler and health insurance, from multiple insurers via Coverfox. 
• The ecommerce company may face challenges in distributing complex life and health insurance as a significant portion of the population still prefers traditional banks and agents, says Vishal Bhave of Praxis Global Alliance.

Fintech

Pine Labs' revenue jumps; losses balloon

Pine Labs reported a 37% jump in operating revenue to Rs 1,280.5 crore in the financial year ended March 2023. The consolidated revenue was Rs 932 crore in the previous fiscal year.

The losses of the merchant commerce platform ballooned by almost 2.5X—from Rs 22.6 crore to Rs 56 crore in FY23. 

Key points:

• Pine Labs' expenses for the fiscal were up by 35% to Rs 1,402 crore compared with Rs 1,032 crore in the previous year. 
• The PoS machine provider derives its major revenue from digital payments, including transaction processing fees, aggregator services to merchants, PoS installation, and BNPL services.
• The fintech major recently saw a valuation markdown after Fidelity Investments slashed its valuation by about 9.2% to $4.5 billion, per its SEC filing.

Healthtech

HealthifyMe posts 1.2X jump in revenue

HealthifyMe posted a 1.2X jump in its operating revenue while slightly narrowing its losses. HealthifyMe Wellness Pvt Ltd, the Indian entity of the group, clocked a standalone operating revenue of Rs 228.7 crore in FY23 compared to Rs 185 crore last fiscal.

Earnings:

• HealthifyMe's losses dropped by 9% to Rs 142 crore. This is significant as the company saw an 8X increase in losses at Rs 157 crore in FY22.
• The expenses were slightly up by 7% to Rs 371.7 crore compared to Rs 343 crore incurred in the preceding financial year.
• The nutrition and wellness coaching services were the major contributor to the revenue, increasing by 25% from Rs 111.6 crore to Rs 139 crore in FY23.

News & updates

• AI safety: The Group of Seven industrial countries will on Monday agree a code of conduct for companies developing advanced artificial intelligence systems as governments seek to mitigate the risks and potential misuse of the technology.
• Wizz away: China-based Ehang has become the world’s first company to receive airworthiness certification for its fully autonomous, passenger-carrying air taxis. Ehang’s EH216-S air taxis are electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft that can carry up to two passengers or 600 pounds of cargo.
• Stargazer: NASA is set to launch the INFUSE mission to observe the famous Cygnus Loop, or Veil Nebula, to study how supernovae affect galaxy formation. The Cygnus Loop sits about 2,600 light-years away and was formed by the collapse of a star thought to be 20 times the size of our Sun.

What you should watch out for

• Going public: Personal care brand Mamaearth’s parent Honasa Consumer will launch its IPO on October 31 to raise Rs 1,700 crore at a valuation of over $1.2 billion. It intends to raise up to Rs 365 crore in fresh issue of shares and offer for sale (OFS) of about 4.12 crore shares. The company logged a Rs 151 crore loss in FY23 while revenue grew 58%.
• Earnings: Companies including Zomato, Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy, Bharti Airtel, Blue Star, DLF, Marico, Aditya Birla Capital, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Kaya, Reliance Power Thyrocare, Shemaroo, etc will release their second-quarter earnings. 

Where is the smallest bone in the human body located?

Answer: Ear. The stapes bone is located in the middle ear and is responsible for transmitting sound waves to the brain.

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