Ecom Express Slips Into Red In FY22, Revenue Jumps 30%

Logistics startup Ecom Express reported a loss of INR 91 Cr for the financial year 2021-22 (FY22), off the back of increased expenses over the fiscal year, according to financials accessed via Tofler.

The Gurugram-based logistics player’s revenue from operations increased 30.6% year-on-year (YoY) to reach INR 2,127 Cr from INR 1,629 Cr in FY21. However, Ecom Express saw its expenses rise 40.7% YoY to reach INR 2,269 Cr from INR 1,613 during the year-ago period.

The biggest expense for Ecom Express, according to its financials, was the cost of materials, which increased by 46.1% YoY in FY22 to reach INR 1,157 Cr from INR 792 Cr in FY21. Along with this, the employee benefits expense also jumped by around 19% to reach INR 546 Cr in FY22, accounting for almost a quarter of all expenses of the logistics startup for the last fiscal.

Reportedly, logistics players in India built up capacity thinking that the recent ecommerce ventures by conglomerates Tata (Tata Neu) and Reliance (JioMart) would take off. Since that did not happen, at least at the scale that was expected, the difference between the volume expected and received contributed to the losses of almost all of the logistics players in the country.

For instance, the listed logistics company and Ecom Express’ competitor Delhivery reported a loss of INR 1,011 Cr in FY22. Xpressbees, on the other hand, has not reported for FY22.

Earlier this year, Inc42 exclusively reported that Ecom Express was heading for an initial public offer (IPO) worth INR 4,860 Cr, at a valuation of $1.5-$1.8 Bn. The development came when Delhivery was also preparing for an IPO.

However, while Delhivery got listed in May, Ecom Express delayed its IPO plans in favour of a funding round with existing investors. The funding round came in October when Inc42 exclusively reported that the logistics startup raised $39 Mn in funding from Warburg Pincus, CDC Group and Partners Group.

Further confirmation on Ecom Express’ doomed IPO plans came in October, shortly after the internal funding round, when Inc42 exclusively reported that the logistics startup was looking to raise $167 Mn. 

In an extraordinary general meeting held on September 16, the startup’s board passed a resolution to allot 15,06,028 Series VI compulsory convertible preference shares (CCPS) on a rights issue basis to its equity shareholders.