ideaForge Q1: PAT Nosedives 94% YoY To INR 1.2 Cr, Revenue Slips 11.2%

Drone manufacturer IdeaForge reported an almost 94% decline in its profit after tax (PAT) to INR 1.2 Cr in the March quarter (Q1) of the financial year 2024-25 (FY25) from INR 18.9 Cr in the previous year’s quarter, hurt by lower revenue and surging in spending towards cost of materials.

On a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, the startup’s PAT declined almost 87% from INR 10.3 Cr in the preceding quarter – Q4 FY24.

ideaForge’s operating revenue fell 11.2% to INR 86.2 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 97.1 Cr in Q1 FY24. On a QoQ basis, it declined 15.7%.

The drone startup’s EBITDA stood at INR 8.5 Cr in Q1 FY25 as against INR 32 Cr in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Despite the degrowth in the bottom line and top line, ideaForge CEO Ankit Mehta said, “We witnessed the fructification of many of our initiatives in the first quarter of the year. We made significant progress on our diversification initiatives. The paid PoC (proof of concept) agreements with prominent enterprise customers for Drone as a Service (DaaS) are a validation of our efforts and vision for the future of this technology. We are confident that in times to come DaaS will drive technology adoption and will prove to be instrumental in demand generation.”

In its Q1 FY25 presentation to the investors, ideaForge said that prototyping for fog penetration radar with spacetech startup GalaxEye is currently underway. It is pertinent to note that it recently made an equity investment in the GalaxEye.

Besides, ideaForge has developed next-gen payloads with onboard AI computing capabilities while also successfully carrying out high-altitude trials of its drones in the Himalayas, the company said.

“The successful completion of the Early Adopter Program (EAP) with various customers in the US and their positive feedback are indications towards confirmed orders from that geography. This will also provide momentum to our endeavour of capturing the market share globally,” said Mehta.

Meanwhile, ideaForge was granted five new patents in Q1 FY25, it said. It also achieved AS9100:D and ISO 27001:2022 certifications during the period.

Where Did ideaForge Spend?

In line with its business development initiatives, the startup’s total expenses increased 20% to INR 90.6 Cr in Q1 FY25 from INR 75.5 Cr in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

Cost of Materials Consumed: The drone manufacturer spent the highest amount under this head. Its spending towards cost of materials surged 321% YoY to INR 56.1 Cr in Q1 FY25.

Employee Cost: The startup managed to cut its employee benefit expenses by 24.3% YoY to INR 11.7 Cr in the reported quarter.

During the quarter ended June 30, 2024, ideaForge also granted 1.45 Lakh new stock options to eligible employees under its employee stock option scheme. 

ideaForge also said that its product development team augmentation continues through campus and lateral hiring to meet the requirements of the product and technology roadmap.

Ahead of its earnings announcement today, shares of ideaForge ended Monday’s (July 29) training session 3.5% higher at INR 857.7 on the BSE.