ideaForge’s PAT Declines 54% YoY To INR 18.9 Cr In Q1

Recently listed drone startup ideaForge’s profit after tax (PAT) declined over 54% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 18.9 Cr in the June quarter (Q1) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) on the back of rising expenses and a decline in income.

While the company reported a PAT of INR 41.2 Cr in the year-ago quarter, it has seen a significant improvement on a quarterly basis, coming back in the black from a net loss of INR 5.4 Cr in the March quarter (Q4) of FY23.

Meanwhile, the startup’s operating revenue declined to INR 97.1 Cr in Q1 FY24 from INR 99.3 Cr in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. The metric, however, jumped 151.1% sequentially from INR 38.6 Cr in the March quarter.

“Given the nature and nascent stage of the drone industry in our country, our business performance is not immediately comparable on a quarterly basis,” Ankit Mehta, the CEO of ideaForge, said. 

It is pertinent to note that as per the startup’s red herring prospectus (RHP), ahead of its listing, its PAT declined 27.3% to INR 32 Cr in FY23 from INR 44 Cr reported in FY22. The startup had then attributed the decline in profit to employee stock ownership plans (ESPOs).

In Q1 FY24, ideaForge’s PAT margin also declined to 19.4% from 41.5% a year ago. Its EBITDA margin contracted to 29.4% during the quarter under review from 55.5% last year.

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The company’s total expenses jumped to INR 75.5 Cr in Q1 FY24 from INR 47.2 Cr in the corresponding quarter of last year, while employee benefit expenses stood at INR 15.4 Cr as against INR 11.1 Cr in Q1 FY23.

ideaForge also spent INR 29.8 Cr towards changes in inventories of finished goods and work-in-progress, which stood at INR 5.9 Cr in Q1 FY23.

Mehta said that the company has made “notable strides” in its ability to innovate by introducing products intricately engineered to serve a wide ambit of use cases. 

“The launch of the new Netra V4 Pro UAV as well as initiating the development of UAV logistics platform are a testament to this fact. Aligning with the sectoral opportunities, we are actively pursuing new product development and business models,” Mehta added.

Last month, ideaForge got listed on the bourses at a 94% premium to the issue price of INR 638-INR 672.

Its shares ended Tuesday’s session 1.6% lower at INR 1,077.40 on the BSE. The company released the results after market hours.