CarTrade Q2: Profit Surges 109% To INR 64 Cr

Car reselling platform CarTrade’s consolidated net profit more than doubled to INR 64.1 Cr in the second quarter of the ongoing fiscal year (Q2 FY26) from INR 30.7 Cr in the same quarter last year, led by strong top line growth and improvement in margins. 

Sequentially, profit increased 36.1% from INR 47.1 Cr. 

The auto portal’s revenue from operations grew 25% to INR 193.4 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 154.2 Cr in Q2 FY25. On a quarterly basis, revenue grew nearly 12% from INR 173 Cr. 

Including other income of INR 28 Cr, CarTrade’s total income stood at INR 222 Cr for the quarter under review.

Its EBITDA jumped 94% YoY to INR 63.6 Cr in the September quarter from INR 32.8 Cr a year ago. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, CarTrade’s EBITDA rose 33% from INR 43.5 Cr. 

Total expenses rose 5.3% YoY and 0.4% QoQ to INR 142.2 Cr in Q2 FY26.

Founded in 2006 by Vinay Sanghi, CarTrade runs digital marketplaces that enable buying, selling, marketing, and financing of vehicles, including cars, two-wheelers, and commercial vehicles.

Its platforms, such as CarWale, BikeWale, Adroit Auto, Mobility Outlook, and Shriram Automall, collectively support a wide spectrum of transactions across the automotive sector. 

The company today also announced the appointment of Varun Sanghi as its chief strategy officer (CSO). CarTrade’s board also approved the allotment of 1,87,800 equity shares under ESOP 2011, 2015 and 2021 (I), and granted 60,000 stock options to its eligible shareholders under ESOP 2021 (I).

CarTrade’s Revenue Breakdown

CarTrade earns revenue from three segments — consumer business, remarketing business and classified business. 

Consumer Business: CarTrade’s digital marketplaces like CarWale, BikeWale and CarTrade.com fall under this category. Through this segment, the company enables users with vehicle research, buying and selling of used or new vehicles and offers tools for financing, warranties, value-added services and insights. 

This vertical contributed INR 76 Cr to the top line in Q2 FY26 and posted a profit of INR 31.7 Cr. CarTrade said that the segment’s revenue grew 37% YoY and profit rose 82%.

Remarketing Business: This business segment, which includes Shriram Automall and CarTrade Exchange, facilitates B2B auction and sale of used vehicles. It largely offers institutional and fleet liquidation through physical and digital outlets

The vertical recorded a revenue of INR 62.6 Cr during the quarter under review as against INR 51 Cr in the same quarter last year. As per the company, its remarketing business achieved an annualised run-rate of 1.8 Mn listings for auction. 

Classifieds: The category includes revenue from OLX India. In 2023, CarTrade acquired online classified platform OLX India’s business in a INR 535.5 Cr deal. 

OLX India business posted a revenue of INR 55.5 Cr during the quarter under review, growing 17% from INR 47.6 Cr in the same quarter last year. 

On the expenditure front, CarTrade spent INR 77.5 Cr on employee benefit expenses, which includes salaries, wages and incentives. This expenditure saw nearly 11% increase from INR 70 Cr in Q2 FY25. 

On the operational front, CarTrade said that it attracted 85 Mn average monthly unique visitors during Q2 FY26, with 95% of the traffic being organic.

Shares of the company surged following the announcement of Q2 earnings and were trading 16.5% higher at INR 3,104.75 on the BSE at 13:25 IST.