OnMobile exits incubatee Ver Se with 14x returns; Q3 revenues up 4.3%, PAT up 15.7%

Bangalore-based VAS company OnMobile Global Ltd's consolidated revenues for the quarter ended Dec 31 increased by a modest 4.3 per cent to Rs 176.6 crore, compared to Q3 FY12, while net profit rose 15.7 per cent to Rs 20.64 crore over the year-ago period.

This was partly boosted by higher other income due to one-time gain from the sale of investment in Ver Se Innovation Pvt Ltd although EBITDA also rose nearly 13 per cent to Rs 44 crore.

On a sequential basis, revenues declined marginally over the quarter ended September 30 but profit after tax rose almost threefold due to lower tax outgo and higher other income besides lower expenses, compared to the second quarter ended Sept 30.

In another development, Mouli Raman, co-founder of OnMobile who was appointed the managing director of the firm last August, has also been made the CEO. The firm was earlier looking to hire a separate person as the chief executive.

The company also disclosed that besides Ver Se, it also exited its investment in Kabuza Marketing Pvt Ltd for Rs 18 lakh in the last quarter.

Ver Se Ver Se is a Bangalore-based mobile VAS firm incubated by OnMobile. Ver Se launched mobile classifieds solutions for telcos, such as Jobs On Mobile, which was offered by Airtel. It then launched other products related to m-commerce, web, telecom, data commerce and e-commerce.

OnMobile disclosed it had sold its remaining stake in Ver Se for Rs 5.5 crore (a little over $1 million). The company held around 5 per cent in Ver Se as of March 31, 2012.

OnMobile initially invested around Rs 2.2 crore in the firm to acquire 51 per cent stake in 2007 and put in another Rs 3.3 crore in the following year to maintain its holding in further rounds of capitalisation. Its total investment in Ver Se, through further rounds, added up to Rs 6.9 crore ($1.3 million).

Interestingly, OnMobile has been making part-exits over the past three years and has sold shares worth Rs 97 crore ($18.3 million) in total.

Ver Se is also backed by Matrix Partners, Omidyar Network and Darby Overseas Investments "the private equity arm of Franklin Templeton Investments.

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)