Naukri Owner Info Edge Posts Strong Growth In Q4; Revenue Up 30%, Profit Jumps 48% YoY

Info Edge (India) Ltd, the largest consumer Internet firm in India by market value which runs sites such as Naukri.com and 99acres.com, accelerated its revenue and profit growth during the fourth quarter both sequentially and over last year, showing better demand for digital business in the country.

The company churned out 30 per cent growth in net revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 to Rs 105.8 crore over the same period last year and 15 per cent sequential increase compared to the third quarter ended December 2011. The standalone net profit for the quarter rose much faster at 48 per cent over Q4 FY'11 and 38.5 per cent over Q3 FY'12 To Rs 39.9 crore.

In contrast, during the third quarter, sequential growth of both revenue and profit was much modest at low single digits (more on that here).

Although, the profit growth in Q4 was partly boosted by 'other income', high revenue growth as compared and relatively modest rise in expenses was the main reason for better performance last quarter. In the previous quarters the company has been banking on dividend income from mutual fund investment etc to prop up its bottom-line.

Standalone results of the company include revenues from its primary recruitment business Naukri.com, NaukriGulf.com, Quadrangle, Job Seeker Services and Firstnaukri.com, as well as Jeevansathi.com, 99acres, Shiksha.com and Brijj.com.

Revenues of its seven subsidiaries are not part of standalone results. These include Naukri Internet Services Pvt Ltd and Jeevansathi Internet Services Pvt Ltd (which own Internet domain names of Naukri.com and Jeevansathi.com, respectively, as well as related trademarks, while operations are under the parent company), Allcheckdeals, Info Edge (India) Mauritius Ltd (set up to make overseas investments), Info Edge USA Inc., Applect (Meritnation.com) and Etechaces (Policybazaar.com).

Consolidated Annual Numbers:

Info Edge has not shared consolidated quarter financial numbers but has done so for the full fiscal ended March 31, 2012. At a consolidated level, the company's consolidated net revenues rose 21.3 per cent to Rs 390.3 crore with net profit zooming 63.7 per cent to Rs 103.3 crore.

While revenue growth was relatively lower last financial year compared to the previous fiscal(35 per cent), profit growth jumped( from around 20 per cent). This shows net margin has improved.

Ambarish Raghuvanshi, CFO and director, Info Edge (India) Ltd said, "The quarterly and annual results reflect the strong competitive position of Naukri, robust growth in 99acres and also growth in smaller businesses, strong operating leverage in Naukri and brought forward deferred revenues. The business outlook for the next six months is somewhat muted given the GDP position and the weak business confidence levels."

During the year recruitment solutions grew at 25.4 per cent while the real estate vertical grew by 52.2 per cent.

Info Edge scrip last traded at Rs 755.05 a share, down 0.34 per cent on the BSE in a weak Mumbai market on Thursday. At this price, the company is valued at 40 times in trailing annual net profit.

This sets the right tone for the proposed public issue of local information search firm Just Dial, which is eyeing to float the largest IPO by an Indian Internet services firm (more on that here)

Info Edge also announced its second bonus issue since it went public. It will issue bonus shares to existing shareholders in 1:1 ratio, the same ratio as its previous bonus issue in October 2010.