ShareChat sees growth from subscription revenue in FY26 even as ad revenue falters
The social media company reported an 8% year-on-year decline in revenue from advertising in FY26 due to real-money gaming companies rolling back their ad spend during the period.
Social media company ShareChat said the firm sees subscription revenue leading growth in FY26, even as ad revenue took a hit in the current fiscal year. The firm recorded an 8% decline to Rs 290 crore in revenue from advertising in FY25.
Manohar Singh Charan, Chief Financial Officer at ShareChat & Moj, said that the firm’s ad revenue dipped due to real money gaming companies rolling back their ad spend due to impending GST dues and high taxes levied on these companies.
In August, the government passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, which prohibits real money gaming in the country. Most RMG companies have since pivoted to a free-to-play model and have also opened up alternate revenue streams to stay afloat.
Amidst this, ShareChat said that the repercussions of the ban will bring downward pressure on the company’s ad revenue.
Additionally, the company also noted that there was a softening of digital ad spending in the country during the period. However, this has picked up and is “improving now.”
Meanwhile, the company reported that its live-streaming revenue grew 7.7% to Rs 434 crore in FY25.
With ad revenue declining, the company is now banking on subscription revenue coming in from its newly launched QuickTV. The offering is a subscription-based streaming app for short-form dramas and mini-series that was launched in May this year.
The company is also doubling down on this offering, channelling more than 75% of its growth investment this financial year into growing its micro-dramas vertical. Charan also added that the vertical will become cash positive before the financial year ends and that it aims to start becoming profitable by mid-FY27.
The Google-backed company on Friday reported a 42% decline in loss before taxes to Rs 1,105 crore for the financial year ended March 31 2025, reflecting the firm's measures to reduce expenses.
It reported a marginal 0.7% growth in FY25 revenue to Rs 723.4 crore, compared with Rs 718.1 crore last year. According to the company, the deep reduction in losses acted as a trade-off for revenue growth.
ShareChat is now targeting a 30% rise in revenue growth in FY26 and has already surpassed Rs 1,000 crore in annual recurring revenue due to rising subscription revenues.
Edited by Jyoti Narayan