Facebook India FY20 Revenue Up 43% At INR 1,277 Cr, Net Profit Doubles

Social media giant Facebook India’s revenues grew 43% year-on-year to about INR 1,277.3 Cr in 2019-20, while its net profit more than doubled to INR 135.7 Cr, as per regulatory documents.

Its total income was INR 893.4 Cr in the financial year ended March 31, 2019, according to Registrar of Companies filing – shared by market intelligence firm Tofler.

The net profit increased by over 107% to INR 135.7 Cr in FY20 as compared to INR 65.3 Cr in the preceding fiscal, it added.

When contacted, a Facebook spokesperson said India is an important market for the company. 

“We are deeply committed to being an ally in the country’s socio-economic transformation. We will continue to invest in our India operations while working with small and large businesses to help in their economic recovery post the pandemic,” the spokesperson added.

In November, tech giant Google had made a similar filing that showed its revenues from India had grown 34.8% to about INR 5,593.8 Cr in 2019-20 over the previous financial year. Its net profit was higher by about 23.9% at INR 586.2 Cr in FY20.

Facebook India acts as a non-exclusive reseller of advertising inventory to customers in India. It also provides IT/ITeS, marketing, and other support services to the Facebook group.

According to the filing, Facebook’s employee benefits expense grew 63.3% to INR 299.3 Cr in FY20 from INR 183.2 Cr in the preceding fiscal.

The company paid an equalisation levy of INR 369.5 Cr in the fiscal under review as against a payment of INR 118.2 Cr in the fiscal ended March 2019. 

The Indian government charges a 6% equalisation tax on gross payment received by global digital companies from Indian residents for online advertising.

Google India paid an equalisation levy of INR 611.1 Cr in FY20.

India is among the biggest markets for Facebook, which also operates photo-sharing platform Instagram and messaging app WhatsApp. 

Around 2.5 Bn people globally use Facebook’s family of apps daily, while there are over 10 Mn active advertisers across its services.

The social media behemoth has been embroiled in a string of controversies this year. Troubles began when an article by Wall Street Journal on August 14 had alleged that Facebook does not take any action against the hateful comments posted by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators to seek favors from the Indian government.  

A parliamentary panel led by Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Sashi Tharoor had grilled Facebook India’s head Ajit Mohan in September for the social media giant’s alleged political links and bias. The controversy had finally led Facebook India’s policy head Ankhi Das to step down in October.