Ola Financial Services Turns Profitable In FY22, Posts INR 9 Cr Profit

The financial arm of Bhavish Aggarwal’s Ola – Ola Financial Services, which operates Ola Money, turned profitable in the financial year ended March 31, 2022. The startup posted a standalone net profit of INR 8.68 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) as against a net loss INR 56.2 Cr in the previous financial year.

Operating revenue rose 157% to INR 110 Cr in FY22 from INR 42.8 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Ola Money currently has three products – Ola Money Postpaid, Ola Money Credit Card, and OlaMoney Wallet. It generates revenue mostly through commission income it charges from various merchants on utilisation of Ola Wallet money by their customers towards purchase of goods and services. Besides, Ola Money also generates revenue through insurance commission from sale of insurance products/policies as corporate agents. 

. In FY22, the startup also generated revenue from its BNPL offering. It also earned revenue by advertising on its platform.

It must be noted that Ola Financial Services acquired neobank Avail Finance in FY23 and its performance will be reflected in its financial statements for FY23.

Including other income, Ola Financial Services’ total revenue grew 106% to INR 121.9 Cr in FY22 from INR 59.1 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Meanwhile, total expenses dipped by 2% to INR 113.2 Cr in FY22 from INR 115.4 Cr in the previous year. 

Employee benefit expenses declined 14% to INR 57 Cr during the year under review from INR 66 Cr in FY21. Employee benefit expenses comprise employee salaries, PF contributions, gratuity, among others. 

The startup’s technology cost declined marginally to INR 39.4 Cr in FY22 from INR 40.7 Cr in the previous year. Technology cost comprises payment gateway charges, recruitment and training expenses, among others. 

Ola Financial Services was hived off as a separate entity by ANI Technologies, the parent entity of Ola Cabs, in 2019. 

In 2022, Ola Financial Services acquired Avail Finance, an entity run by Bhavish’s brother Ankush Aggarwal and Tushar Mehndiratta. The acquisition deal was a share swap deal worth $50 Mn. However, nine months after the acquisition, it shut the Avail Finance app in January this year and integrated it into Ola Money. Further, Ola Financial Services has stopped lending to customers via Avail Finance.

It must be noted that Ola shut a number of its verticals in 2022 like infotainment service Ola Play, used cars platform Ola Cars and quick commerce platform Ola Dash.

In FY22, ANI Technologies’ net loss jumped over 1.3X to INR 1,522.3 Cr from INR 1,116.1 Cr in FY21. Operating revenue rose 2X to INR 1,970.4 Cr from INR 1,220.2 Cr in FY21. 

Meanwhile, Bhavish’s EV startup, Ola Electric saw its net loss almost quadruple to INR 784.1 Cr in FY22 from INR 199.2 Cr in FY21. Operating revenue stood at INR 373.4 Cr in FY22. The startup first began selling its EV scooters in FY22.