Info Edge’s Naukri, 99acres Begin Recovery From Covid-19 Slowdown; Shiksha Sailed Through

Noida-based Info Edge (India) Ltd, the parent company of Naukri, Jeevansaathi, Shiksha and 99acres, has announced its financial performance for Q4 FY20 and the annual performance, taking into account the hit caused by Covid-19.

The company posted over 63% fall in consolidated net profit at INR 119 Cr for Q4 FY20, as against a net profit of INR 325.2 Cr in Q4 FY19.  Its consolidated income from operations increased 7.8% to INR 327.5 Cr in Q4 FY20 from INR 303.8 Cr in Q4 FY19. 

Addressing the analysts on the earnings call, Hitesh Oberoi, co-promoter, MD, CEO and Director, Info Edge (India) Limited said that billings in Q4 were INR 331.9 Cr, down 8% Y-o-Y while revenue in Q4 was INR 322.8 cr, up 10.3% Y-o-Y with operating expenses, excluding depreciation, were INR 226.3 Cr, up 12.4% Y-o-Y. On an annual basis, FY20 billings stood at INR 1,268.7 Cr, up 7.8% Y-o-Y and FY20 revenue stood at INR 1,272.7 Cr, up 15.9% Y-o-Y with expenses of INR 870 Cr, up 14.9% Y-o-Y.

Naukri: Impact From Covid-19

In Q4 Naukri closed at INR 244 Cr, on account of lockdowns in the last of the fortnight of March 2020. This is a fall of 6% Y-o-Y while revenues were INR 230.6 Cr, growth of 11.2% Y-o-Y.

On the annual basis, Naukri billings grew 8% to INR 915.6 Cr, while revenue grew from 15.4% to INR 906.8 Cr. “We booked a 14% Y-o-Y growth in our billing numbers until Feb 2020. But due to the lockdown, the growth of billing in the last seven days was to the extent of minus 43% Y-o-Y, resulting in a de-growth of 6% Y-o-Y in Q4 FY20. The billing for Q1 2021 up to May 2020 was also short by INR 69 Cr Y-o-Y,” Oberoi added.

Recognising the impact from Covid-19 across sectors, Oberoi said that in Naukri business the company is speeding up product investments in the recruiter management system, as automation and technology will play a critical role in work from home, remote collaboration and high productivity expectations post-Covid19.

Oberoi informed that the company saw its traffic dip by almost 80% in the month of April in 99acres and 60%-70% dip in Naukri. “Traffic has since then started recovering. We are back to -20%, -15% levels in both Naukri and 99acres,” he added.

99acres: Real Estate Revenue Down

As for 99acres, the company noted that the real estate segment has been impacted by the long period of lockdown.  As a result, in Q4, billings fell by 24% Y-o-Y to INR 50.7 Cr, down from INR 66.7 Cr and the revenue for the quarter grew 3.6% Y-o-Y to INR 56.4 Cr. Q4 EBITDA stood at INR 2.2 Cr against a loss of INR 2.9 Cr last year.

On an annual basis, billing and revenue grew by 3.5% and 18.8% to INR 213.9 Cr and INR 228 Cr, respectively. EBITDA for FY20 stood at INR 8.4 Cr against a loss of INR 22 Cr last year. Oberoi noted, “In FY ’20, resale and rental businesses grew slightly faster than the new homes business in the year. The number of broker clients grew at a healthy rate, 15% Y-o-Y.”

He noted that traffic growth slowed to single digits in Q4 due to the lockdown in the month of March compared to mid-teens growth in Jan and Feb. Oberoi further said that the extended lockdown worsened the sentiment in the industry, which was already reeling under the liquidity issues prior to March, and said that buyer demand is likely to remain muted in both the new home and resale segments for the next three to six months. 

He said that billing for Q1 FY21, up to May has declined by INR 20 Cr Y-o-Y. Oberoi noted that traffic is also slowly bouncing back in places like Bengaluru while markets like Mumbai, Pune and Delhi continue to be impacted because of the lockdown and increasing Covid-19 cases in these cities. 

“We continue to invest aggressively on improving our core platform experience in this downturn in all our business verticals to come out stronger post the downturn. We are also looking to take appropriate measures to reduce the operating cost of the business without impacting our platform experience or client experiences given the slowdown,” Oberoi added.

Lockdown Weddings: JeevanSaathi Deals With Pandemic

For the Jeevansathi business, the company reported INR 23.8 Cr billings for Q4 FY20, with a 20.4% Y-o-Y growth. Losses in Q4 FY20 stood at INR 18.8 Cr compared to a loss of INR 5.9 Cr in Q4 FY19. 

In a yearly basis, FY20 billings grew by 18.4% Y-o-Y to INR 87 Cr and revenue grew to INR 84.7 Cr, an increase of 17% Y-o-Y. The company said that aggressive marketing spends during the quarter, along with improved realizations helped higher sales growth during the year. The company plans to spend considerably more on marketing across all core markets in FY20 – FY21 to strengthen its brand presence and increase its profile acquisition rates.

Aggressive marketing spends during the year alone led to an operating EBITDA loss of INR 63.2 Cr for FY20. The operating loss adjusted stood at INR 65 Cr.

Edtech’s Moment: Shiksha Gains

Oberoi said that the company made significant traffic share gains during the quarter in Shiksha.  In Q4 FY20, billings fell by 8.5% Y-o-Y to INR 13.4 Cr from INR 14.6 Cr reported in Q4 FY19, while revenue grew 2.8%Y-o-Y and reached INR 13.2 Cr. In Q4, the company recorded an operating loss of INR 1.5 Cr against a profit of INR 60 Lakh in Q4FY19.

On yearly basis, FY20 billings and revenue grew 5.8% and 10.8%, respectively, and stood at INR 52.1 Cr and INR 53.3 Cr. FY20 operating profit for Shiksha stood at INR 1.2 Cr, from INR 90 Lakh in FY19.

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