Fintech Giant BillDesk’s FY22 Profit Dips 39% YoY, Revenue Crosses INR 2,500 Cr Mark

Mumbai-based B2B fintech giant BillDesk’s consolidated net profit narrowed 39% to INR 149.6 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) from INR 245.5 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Revenue from operations jumped 1.1X to INR 2,442.8 Cr from INR 2,124.2 Cr in FY21. 

The two-decade old company earns revenue by processing electronic payments on its unified platform, sales of PINS, e-top subscriptions, and loyalty rewards programs. 

BillDesk earned a revenue of INR 2,114.6 Cr from electronic transaction processing fees, sales of PINS and e-top subscriptions in FY22 as against INR 1,841.6 Cr in FY21. Including other income, total revenue grew 13.4% to INR 2,513.8 Cr from INR 2,216.1 Cr in FY21. 

However, the rise in business also resulted in an increase in expenses. Total expenditure rose 22% to INR 2,294.9 Cr in FY22 from INR 1,879.9 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Technical service costs accounted for the biggest share of expenses. 

Technical service costs, which comprise bank fees, services charges, data and communication expenses, server hosting charges, verification expenses and subcontracting expenses, stood at INR 1,991.1 Cr, an increase of 21% from INR 1,642.7 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Apart from this, BillDesk spent INR 181.2 Cr on employee benefit expenses in FY22, a jump of 19% from INR 152.5 Cr in FY21. Employee benefit expenses mostly comprise employee salaries, PF contributions, gratuity, among others. An increase in employee benefit expenses is a clear indication that the company has increased its employee headcount. 

BillDesk’s EBITDA Margin contracted to 10.5% in FY22 from 17.5% in FY21.

BillDesk was founded in 2000 by three former Arthur Andersen executives — M N Srinivasu, Ajay Kaushal and Karthik Ganapathy. It offers payment gateway solutions. The company claims to have processed a total payment volume of $90 Bn in FY21 and have over 100 Mn API calls per day. It competes against the likes of Razorpay and Citrus Pay. 

Bengaluru-based fintech unicorn Razorpay’s standalone net profit widened 20% to INR 7.3 Cr in FY22 from INR 6.1 Cr in FY21 due to a strong growth in its business. The Harshil Mathur-led startup’s revenue from operations stood at INR 1,481 Cr, a 76% jump from INR 841.2 Cr in FY21.

In 2021, Prosus, a global consumer internet group that operates fintech company PayU, announced that PayU would be acquiring BillDesk for $4.7 Bn. However, Prosus announced the termination of the acquisition agreement last year due to non-fulfilment of certain conditions, despite the deal receiving regulatory approvals. 

It was believed that the global market downturn, Paytm IPO debacle, and all-cash component of the deal led to its cancellation. 

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