Eternal Q4: Profit Slumps 78% YoY To INR 39 Cr

Deepinder Goyal-led Eternal’s consolidated profit after tax (PAT) plunged 77.8% to INR 39 Cr in Q4 FY25 from INR 175 Cr in the year-ago period, as quick commerce vertical Blinkit continued to see a rise in its loss amid high competition. 

Sequentially, the company’s bottom line shrank 33.9% from INR 59 Cr in the previous quarter.

The company’s profit went down despite a jump in its top line. During the quarter under review, the Zomato parent’s operating revenue zoomed 64% to INR 5,833 Cr from INR 3,562 Cr in the year-ago quarter. This was also an increase of 7.9% from INR 5,405 Cr in the preceding December quarter. 

Including other income of INR 368 Cr, Eternal’s total revenue in the March quarter stood at INR 6,201 Cr. Meanwhile, the company’s total expenses stood at INR 6,104 Cr, marking a near 69% YoY and a 11% sequential increase. 

It is important to note that without the other income, Eternal would have slipped into the red during the quarter. Its loss for the quarter would have been around INR 271 Cr, excluding taxes, without the other income component.

The company’s adjusted EBITDA slumped to INR 165 Cr in Q4, marking a 120% QoQ and 29% YoY decline. 

CEO Goyal cited the investments for expanding Blinkit’s network and stagnation in the food delivery vertical as the reasons for the decline in profit.

“On the profitability front, consolidated adjusted EBITDA declined… largely on account of the accelerated investments in expanding our quick commerce store network, which was partly offset by the improvement in food delivery,” Goyal noted.

For the full fiscal FY25, Eternal’s PAT jumped 50% to INR 527 Cr from INR 351 Cr in FY24.

Meanwhile, its operating revenue for the fiscal zoomed 67% to INR 20,243 Cr from INR 12,114 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Profitability Not On Blinkit’s Mind In The Near Term

Blinkit’s top line surged 122% YoY to INR 1,709 Cr during the quarter, while its gross order value also zoomed 134% YoY to INR 9,421 Cr. However, the adjusted EBITDA loss for the vertical stood at INR 178 Cr in Q4, up 4.8X from INR 37 Cr loss in the year-ago quarter.

Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa said that the increase in loss was in line with the company’s expectations, as it continued its expansion spree in the quarter. In the first three months of 2025, Blinkit added 294 new dark stores to its network, making Q4 the quarter with the highest-ever net store addition. This took its total dark store count to 1,301. 

As a result of the store expansion, Blinkit served the highest number of quarterly orders at 141.7 Mn in Q4. However, net average order value declined 6% sequentially to INR 520.

It is pertinent to point out that Blinkit, which is the market leader in the burgeoning 10-minute delivery category, is facing intense competition from Zepto and Swiggy, as well as new entrants like Flipkart and Amazon. 

Given the intense competition, Eternal’s management said short-term profitability will not be a barrier for market share expansion. “We will aggressively look to grow our market share, especially in the face of heightened competition, and will not let any short-term profitability goals come in the way of that,” Eternal CFO Akshant Goyal said.

Another Sluggish Quarter For Zomato

While Blinkit continued to hit Eternal’s profitability in the quarter, its bread-and-butter food delivery vertical continued to grow its profitability, albeit sluggishly. 

In the quarter, Zomato’s adjusted EBITDA stood at INR 428 Cr, up 56% YoY and 2% sequentially. Adjusted revenue rose 17% YoY and down 0.2% QoQ to INR 2,409 Cr. 

In terms of delivery numbers, average monthly transacting numbers grew to 20.9 Mn during the quarter from 20.5 Mn in the preceding December quarter. Net order value (NOV) growth also remained subdued at 14% YoY, well below the 20% YoY growth guidance.

“Yes, growth does remain below our expectations for now,” the CEO said. 

The key reasons behind the stagnation in Zomato’s business as highlighted by him are: 

• Temporary shortage of delivery partners due to a greater demand of delivery partners in quick commerce. The number of delivery partners on the Zomato platform stood at 444 Mn in Q4 as against 480 Mn in Q3.
• Delisting of about 19,000 restaurants from Zomato‘s platform owing to hygiene concerns, misleading customers and duplicate listings. This impacted 2% of the NOV growth.
• Cannibalisation of food delivery by quick commerce as 10-minute delivery of packaged food also led to a drop in demand for food delivery from restaurants.
• Sluggish demand environment

To turn things around, the company will look to focus on having a wider assortment of options on its platform, improving affordability and lowering its delivery time. Besides, the company also said that it will shut down two verticals — Zomato Everyday and 15-minute delivery vertical Zomato Quick.

Meanwhile, the CEO also answered the question on the leadership of the food delivery vertical, saying he has taken charge of Zomato as ex-food delivery CEO Rakesh Ranjan completed a two-year stint at the helm of this vertical. 

“Getting new people to look at the business has always helped, and we are doing an internal leadership re-shuffle to get fresh perspectives into the business… As of now, I am back in the driver’s seat until we formalise the next set of leaders to take over for the next two years,” Deepinder Goyal said. 

District’s First Full Quarter

Eternal’s ‘Going Out’ vertical’s profitability took a substantial hit in the first full quarter of District’s operation. The vertical clocked an adjusted EBITDA loss of INR 47 Cr, up 327% from INR 11 Cr loss in the year-ago period. 

Meanwhile, its revenue more than doubled on a YoY basis to INR 229 Cr but slipped 12% from previous quarter’s INR 259 Cr. Numbers were similar on the GOV front, which stood at INR 2,184 Cr. 

The District app accounted for about a third of the GOV of the Going Out vertical in the quarter.

The company estimates that it would need two more quarters to completely transition Going Out to District, following which it will remove the dining-out option from its Zomato app. 

“We expect to complete the full transition in the next couple of quarters, post which we will make our going-out offering accessible only on the District app. We will continue with our investments in getting customers to transition to the new app and grow selection on our platform (especially in the live events category),” Goyal said.

Hyperpure Continues To Struggle With Profitability

The company’s lone B2B business vertical posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of INR 22 Cr, down slightly from the INR 23 Cr loss it registered in the year-ago quarter. Sequentially, adjusted EBITDA loss rose 16%.

Hyperpure registered a total revenue of INR 1,840 Cr during the quarter, marking a 93% YoY uptick. Its non-restaurant business continued to grow at a breakneck speed in the quarter, surging 166% YoY to INR 1,142 Cr, while restaurant business’ revenue grew by 34% YoY to INR 698. 

Commenting on the top line growth for the farm-to-fork business, Eternal CFO Goyal said that the non-restaurant business, which comprises B2B sales of mainly fresh food and staples to the sellers on the Blinkit marketplace, has been maintaining its rapid scaling on the back of the growth in the quick commerce business. 

“On the profitability front however, while this business already operates near break-even, we are yet to figure out the true potential for long-term margins here,” Goyal said.

Shares of Eternal ended yesterday’s trading session 0.58% higher at INR 232.50 on the BSE. The stock exchanges were closed today on account of Maharashtra Day.