Flipkart’s B2B Arm’s FY23 Loss Surges 42% To INR 4,846 Cr

Flipkart India, the B2B arm of Walmart-owned Indian ecommerce giant Flipkart, saw its standalone net loss balloon over 42% to INR 4,845.7 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 3,404.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year as income remained muted while expenses increased.

The company’s B2B arm, which sells goods to online sellers for them to sell the products through Flipkart’s online marketplace Flipkart Internet, saw its operating revenue increase a mere 9.7% to INR 55,923.9 Cr.

In FY22, Flipkart India’s operating revenue stood at INR 50,992.5 Cr, growing 18.7% year-on-year (YoY).

The entity earns a majority of its revenue from sales of traded goods. It also earned some revenue from transaction fees paid by vendors and its logistics services.

It earned INR 55,310 Cr from sales of products and INR 513.9 Cr from sales of services during the year under review. 

Including interest income and other non-operating income, Flipkart India’s total revenue stood at INR 56,012.8 Cr in FY23 as against INR 51,175.7 Cr in the previous year.

What’s Driving Up The Expenses?

At 11.5%, the rise in Flipkart India’s expenses outpaced the growth in its top line. The company’s total expenditure stood at INR 60,858.5 Cr in FY23 as against INR 54,580 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

The company spent the highest amount on purchases of stock-in-trade, which jumped 1.1X YoY to INR 59,816.6 Cr during the year under review.

Besides, employee benefit expenses increased slightly to INR 639.2 Cr in FY23 from INR 627.4 Cr in the prior year.

The company also spent INR 279.6 Cr towards employee share-based payments in FY23 as against INR 264.5 Cr in FY22. 

Meanwhile, inventories of finished goods, work-in-progress and stock-in-trade declined during the period.

Flipkart India continued to receive capital from Flipkart Private Limited in FY23. Despite the rise in loss, Flipkart India’s cash and cash equivalents at the end of FY23 jumped to INR 599.9 Cr as against INR 3.9 Cr a year ago. 

In FY22, Flipkart’s marketplace arm, Flipkart Internet, reported a 1.5X YoY surge in its net loss to INR 4,361 Cr.

Meanwhile, Walmart continued to up its stake in Flipkart. During the six months ended July 31, 2023, the US-based retail gainst spent $3.5 Bn to acquire Flipkart shares from non-controlling stakeholders.

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