JustDial Reports Strong Growth In Q1 FY19, But Marginal Y-O-Y Increase

Mumbai-based hyperlocal search engine JustDial reported a net profit of $5.5 Mn (INR 38.5 Cr) in its first fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2018. This is a 1% Y-o-Y increase from Q1 FY18 and down 1.1% from the previous quarter (Q4 FY18).

The company’s total operating revenue stood at $30.2 Mn (INR 211.4 Cr), witnessing a growth of 11.3% YoY and 5.5% QoQ.

JustDial was founded in 1993 by VSS Mani. The official website was launched in 2007. It is a local search firm that provides both B2C and B2B listings of small and medium businesses across 240 cities in India. The search service is available to users across multiple platforms, such as the Internet, over telephone (voice), and text (SMS).

In this quarter, the board of directors has also approved buyback of JustDial shares worth $31.5 Mn (INR 220 Cr).

As mentioned in the company’s BSE filings, “The Board of Directors of the company has approved a proposal for Buyback of Equity Shares of the Company, subject to approval by the shareholders and other statutory approvals, for an aggregate amount not exceeding ₹ 220 Crores at a price not exceeding ₹ 800 per Equity Share from all existing shareholders of the Company on the record date to be fixed for the said purpose, on a proportionate basis through ‘Tender Offer’ route in accordance with the provisions contained in SEBI Buyback Regulations.”

JustDial Q1 FY19 Results: Other Key Highlights

• Traffic (unique visitors): 125.2 Mn, up 24.6% YoY and 12.2% QoQ
• Traffic diversification: 73.7% on mobile platforms, 18.8% on desktop/ PC and 7.5% on voice platform
• Total active listings: 22.7 Mn, up 20.7% YoY and 4.3% QoQ
• New listings: 943,367
• Total ratings and reviews: 85.1 Mn, up 16.3% YoY
• Cumulative app downloads: 20.8 Mn, up 34.9% YoY and 4.7% QoQ. Average 14,351 app downloads per day witnessed during the quarter
• Out of total listings, 11.8 Mn listings were geocoded as on June 30, 2018, up 51.3% YoY. Total images in listings stood at 47.9 Mn, up 34.7% YoY and 6.9% QoQ

JustDial has continuously been showing strong growth in the last few quarters. Earlier, the company reported 53.68% growth in net profit at $5.69 Mn (INR 38.96 Cr) for the quarter ending March 31, 2018, from $3.07 Mn (INR 25.35 Cr) in the same quarter in the previous year.

Also, its total income increased 11.71% to $31.74 Mn (INR 217.09 Cr) during the period under review against $28.41 Mn (INR 194.34 Cr) earlier.

This growth was said to come on the back of its strong advertising revenues as well as increased listings and traffic on the platform. In Q1 FY19, paid campaigns at the end of the quarter stood at 452,900, up 3.9% YoY and up 1.8% QoQ.

Justdial also recorded an unearned revenue (amounts received in advance of providing goods or services) of $53.1 Mn (INR 371 Cr) in Q1 FY19, up 28% YoY and 11.5% QoQ.

The hyperlocal search engine launched its IPO in 2013. Once valued at $1 Bn in 2013, JustDial has been struggling to tackle competition from its rivals UrbanClap, HouseJoy, and LocalOye.

At the same time, even bigger players such as Flipkart (with its one-stop app) and Google (Areo) are stepping ahead to take a bite in the Indian hyperlocal pie.