Flipkart Losses Increased Fivefold, Records 50% Jump in Revenue in FY18

Flipkart, which was acquired by Walmart in August 2018, has reported a 50% growth in its revenue for the year ending March 2018.

According to data intelligence platform Paper.vc which has cited the company’s Singapore-based Flipkart Group’s filings, Flipkart earned INR 30,164 Cr in revenue for FY18. The company also multiplied its losses fivefold reaching INR 46,895 Cr.

The major expense which increased the losses for the year ending March 2018 was finance costs, mostly under “fair value loss on derivative financial instruments”, which increased nearly tenfold to INR 40,937Cr in FY18 from INR 4,309 Cr in FY17.

The finance costs for a company is the cost and interest and other charges involved in the borrowing of money to build or purchase assets. The total expenses associated with securing finance for a project or business arrangement.

The Flipkart Group also increased spending on employee costs, advertising expenses and logistics costs. Here’s a look at the last one year of investments by Flipkart Group in the Indian business:

• March 2018: INR 4,472 Cr ($686 Mn)
• September 2018: INR 3,463 Cr ($486 Mn)
• December 2018:  INR 2,190 Cr ($307.5 Mn)
• January 2019: INR 1,431 Cr ($200.8 Mn)

The group’s performance for the year is an important part of its journey ahead as since March 2018, the company has drastically changed. The founders, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, have moved out, Walmart controls its operations, Kalyan Krishnamurthy has become the new Group CEO.

Moreover the rollout of the FDI ecommerce guidelines in February meant that the company is now overhauling its marketplace model as well as its equation with online sellers on its platform.

Under the FDI policy for ecommerce which was notified on December 26, 2018, it prohibited ecommerce players from selling products from companies in which it owns a stake. Etailers are not allowed to mandate any online seller to sell products exclusively on its platform.

Also, it is to be noted that despite such performance in FY18, Flipkart Group is set to be a loss-factor for Walmart in FY19-20. Walmart said in its recent regulatory filing that it expects the ongoing operations of Flipkart to negatively impact fiscal 2019 and 2020 net income, including additional interest expense due to the long-term debt issuance in the second quarter of fiscal 2019.