Naukri parent Info Edge's revenue up 15.5% in Q4; sinks into loss on write-offs

Info Edge (India) Ltd, which runs Naukri.com, Jeevansathi.com and 99acres.com, posted an increase in standalone revenue for the January-March period but swung to a loss after it wrote down its investment in some startups.

Standalone revenue grew 15.5% to Rs 240.7 crore for the fourth quarter of 2017-18 from 208.4% a year earlier, Info Edge said in a stock-exchange filing.

The company swung to a standalone loss of Rs 13.7 crore for the January-March quarter, as write-offs related to startup investments rose to Rs 70.3 crore from Rs 4 crore a year earlier and Rs 17 crore for the third quarter of 2017-18.

On a standalone basis, the company had posted a net profit of Rs 32.8 crore for the fourth quarter of 2016-17 and Rs 53.3 crore for the third quarter of 2017-18.

Quarterly revenue from recruitment portal Naukri grew to Rs 175 crore from Rs 155.5 crore. Naukri posted a pre-tax profit of Rs 90.8 crore for the January-March quarter, up from Rs 84.4 crore a year earlier.

Property portal 99acres’s revenue increased to Rs 37.2 crore from Rs 27.4 crore, but its loss expanded to Rs 15 crore from Rs 12.4 crore.

Revenue from other smaller internet services grew to Rs 28 crore from Rs 25.4 crore while losses widened to Rs 12 crore from Rs 4.1 crore.

“We have ended the year with a strong year-on-year growth of 36.6% in net cash from operations. It is encouraging to see the rebound of growth in 99acres in the second half of 2017-18. The billings of 99acres in the third and fourth quarters grew 54% and 43%, respectively, year-on-year, with cash breakeven,” said Chintan Thakkar, finance chief at Info Edge.

Info Edge’s quarterly expenses increased to Rs 186.8 crore for the January-March period from Rs 153.6 crore a year earlier, mainly on account of advertising and promotion costs, which went up to Rs 47.8 crore from Rs 25.5 crore.

Full-year profit

On a consolidated basis, Info Edge came out of the red and posted a net profit of Rs 501 crore for the full year compared with a net loss of Rs 42.7 crore in the previous year. The profit was thanks mainly to a gain from selling a stake in its joint venture companies.

Info Edge, one of the India’s earliest internet companies, had informed the stock exchanges in February that it would divest a 6.66% stake in online restaurant finder Zomato to Chinese internet giant Alibaba for $50 million (Rs 320.5 crore).

Alibaba, through its payment arm Alipay, separately invested $150 million in Zomato in a primary transaction. After the fundraising, Info Edge’s stake in Zomato came down to around 31% from 45%.

Info Edge’s net revenue for 2017-18 rose 11.3% to Rs 988.2 crores from Rs 887.6 crore. Total expenses grew 2.2% to Rs 760 crore.

Naukri posted full-year consolidated revenue of Rs 668.7 crore against Rs 595.3 crore in the previous year. It marked a profit of Rs 366 crore. Revenue from the real estate segment under 99acres grew to Rs 135.4 crore from Rs 112.2 crore. 99acres shrank its loss to Rs 36 crore from Rs 64 crore in the previous year.

Revenue from the company’s other internet services increased to Rs 184 crore from Rs 180 crore. These services posted a loss of Rs 72.2 crore.