Ola Electric sees losses widen 2X as cost-cut measures fail to take off
The Bhavish Aggarwal-led company saw its revenue fall to Rs 611 crore in Q4 FY24, as market share decline and lower demand for Ola Electric's vehicles weighed on its top-line results.
Ola Electric on Thursday reported widening losses for the three months ended March 31, as steps taken to curb ballooning expenses at the electric vehicle manufacturer refused to take pressure off the company’s bottom line.
The company reported a quarterly loss of Rs 870 crore compared to Rs 416 crore in the year-ago period. During Q4 FY25, the company resorted to laying off around 1,000 employees—its second round of layoffs—after it let go of 500 employees in November last year, as well as shutting down all its regional warehouses.
Ola Electric, which used to be the biggest electric two-wheeler manufacturer, has seen its market share slip over the past few months, falling behind legacy players like Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors.
This weighed down on the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company’s top-line numbers. Revenue from operations during the period fell by 62% to Rs 611 crore compared to Rs 1,598 crore in the year-ago period.
According to Vahan data, the company sold 16,703 units of its electric two-wheelers, as of May 29. This is lower than both Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors, which sold 18,840 and 21,390 units, respectively.
On a full-year basis, the company reported Rs 4,514 crore in revenue from operations compared to Rs 5,010 crore, while its losses widened to Rs 2,276 crore compared to Rs 1,584 crore in the year-ago period.
Lacklustre quarterly results have added to the Bengaluru-based company’s growing worries, including regulatory troubles and plunging share price.
Ola Electric, which was listed on public bourses in August last year, had received queries from the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of India (MORTH) over discrepancies in monthly sales data for February and non-compliance with trade requirement certificates.
The company has also seen its share price decline by 39% as of Monday’s close. Shares of the company closed up marginally at Rs 53.24 apiece on Thursday.
Earlier this month, rival Ather Energy reported a 29% year-on-year rise in quarterly revenue to Rs 676.1 crore, higher than Ola Electric. It managed to reel in its losses to Rs 237.3 crore in Q4 FY25 compared to Rs 283.9 crore in FY24.
(Disclaimer: Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO of YourStory, is an independent director in Ola Electric)
Edited by Suman Singh