Ecom Express FY18 revenue growth slows, loss shrinks a tad

Delhi-based logistics company Ecom Express Pvt. Ltd, which counts Amazon and Flipkart among its 600-odd clients, recorded an 18% rise in revenue from its core operations and marginally shrank losses for the financial year 2017-18.

Net sales for the year through March 2018 climbed to Rs 566.55 crore from Rs 480.75 crore the previous year, show the company’s filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Net loss shrank to Rs 71.94 crore from Rs 72.29 crore. 

In comparison, revenue had grown 40% during 2016-17 while the loss had shrunk more significantly from Rs 96.75 crore for 2015-16.

The latest filings show also that gross expenditure for 2017-18 rose 15% to Rs 650 crore from Rs 565.49 crore. Cost of services, which included freight and transportation charges, accounted for almost half the total expenditure at Rs 313.34 crore. Employee expenses, at Rs 202.40 crore, and other costs, at Rs 118.81 crore, accounted for the rest.

Ecom finance chief Mayank Gupta told TechCircle over the phone that the company ended the last year with strong growth momentum.

“We continue to see good growth figures by industry standards and expect to see 70-80% growth in revenue at the close of 2018-19,” he said.

In May, CEO TA Krishnan had told The Economic Times that the company clocked 40% growth in revenue. Gupta clarified that the 40% growth in revenue was for the year-end. “We had seen good momentum during the last two quarters [of 2017-18],” he said.

Gupta also said the company expects to turn profitable at an operational level in 2018-19.

Ecom Express, which has raised close to $180 million from private equity and venture capital investors, is one of the most well-funded logistics startups along with Delhivery, Blackbuck and Rivigo. It is backed by Warburg Pincus, Peepul Capital and Oliphans Capital.

The company raised $30 million in its last funding round in late 2017. This was a top-up investment from Warburg Pincus, which had committed $133 million in 2015.

Ecom Express was founded in 2012 by Krishnan, K Satyanarayana, Manju Dhawan and Sanjeev Saxena. It provides logistics services, specifically catering to the e-commerce sector.

It picks up and delivers online orders from partner websites. It also provides business-to-business goods transport, cross-border logistics and reverse logistics services. It has around 16,000 employees and operates in nearly 2,500 cities and towns across India.

*This article has been updated to add comments from Ecom Express finance chief.