[What The Financials] FirstCry Revenue Surge Helps Cut Losses By 83% In FY20

Kids and infants-focussed ecommerce unicorn FirstCry saw its revenue increase by 68%, from INR 535 Cr in the fiscal year 2018-19 (FY19) to INR 897 Cr in FY20.

During the same period, the company saw its expenses fall by 26%, from INR 1,468 Cr in FY19 to INR 1,088 Cr in FY20. As a result, FirstCry has witnessed its net loss come down 83% from INR 933 Cr to INR 191 Cr.  

The company’s filings with the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) revealed it suffered a significant impact on its business from the Covid-19 pandemic, starting March this year. The filings note that the impact of the pandemic and the resultant countrywide lockdown, starting late-March, hasn’t been accurately reflected in the filings for FY20, which were for the period ending March 31, 2020. 

Ecommerce operations were severely impacted for several companies in India, as deliveries of non-essentials were barred for over two months, from late-March till late-May. 

FirstCry’s filings mention that its outlets had to be closed down for a certain period of time. The impact of that temporary closure of business would be reflected in the filings for FY21. 

As for the breakup of the company’s expenses, there was a 54% increase in FirstCry’s spending on the purchase of stock or goods that are in trade to INR 765.92 Cr; an 83% increase in employee benefits expense to INR 118.15 Cr; a 2,344% increase in finance costs from INR 0.16 Cr to INR 3.91 Cr; and, a 107% increase in depreciation, depletion and amortisation expense to INR 37.57 Cr.

However, during the same period, other expenses, which includes the company’s spending on rent, fuel, legal services, transportation and other miscellaneous costs, declined from INR 991 Cr to INR 267 Cr. 

It is worth noting that FirstCry’s performance in FY20 marks a significant improvement from the previous fiscal year when its losses grew from INR 54.55 Cr in FY18 to INR 933 Cr in FY19, an increase of 1,610%. 

In February this year, FirstCry received $296 Mn from the SoftBank Vision Fund, at a valuation of $1.2 Bn, making it one of 11 unicorns this year. 

Founded in 2010 by Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha, Firstcry offers different categories of baby and kids products from clothing to school essentials. The company has expanded its user base to over 4 Mn and has a retail footprint of over 300 stores spread across 125 cities. It claims to offer 2 Lakh baby and kids products across 2,000 brands.

To date, the company has raised $428.4 Mn in eight funding rounds, from investors such as SoftBank Vision Fund, Vertex Ventures and Valiant Capital Partners. 

In the online baby care segment, FirstCry competes with Hopscotch and Kids Stop Press. However, companies operating private labels such as MamaEarth are seen as being more successful in the segment.