Quikr's Net Loss More Than Halves In FY22 Despite 19% Decline In Operating Revenue

SUMMARY

The online classifieds marketplace’s consolidated operating revenue declined 19.2% to INR 49.1 Cr in FY22 from INR 60.7 Cr in the previous year

A sharp decline in expenses helped Quikr post a net loss of INR 21 Cr in FY22 as against INR 55.5 Cr in the previous fiscal year

Total expenses declined 47% to INR 84 Cr in FY22 from INR 123.9 Cr in FY21

Bengaluru-based online classifieds marketplace Quikr

reported a 19.2% decline in consolidated operating revenue to INR 49.1 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) from INR 60.7 Cr in the previous fiscal as its income from sale of services saw a significant slump during the period.

While revenue from advertising fell to INR 21.7 Cr in FY22 from INR 26 Cr in FY21, income from lead referral fee declined to INR 24.5 Cr in the year under review from INR 27.2 Cr in the previous year.

The classifieds unicorn’s revenue from commission also fell to INR 1.3 Cr in FY22 from INR 4.1 Cr prior fiscal.

However, despite a battered top line, Quikr managed to more than halve its net loss to INR 21 Cr in the year under review from INR 55.5 Cr in FY21 by sharply slashing its expenses.

Quikr’s total expenses fell 47% to INR 84 Cr in FY22 from INR 123.9 Cr in the prior fiscal year.

Employee benefit expenses, which constituted the single largest portion of the total expenditure, declined to INR 50.1 Cr during the year from INR 60.8 Cr in FY21.

Quickr's Operating Revenue Slumps In FY22, Loss Narrows With Cost Control

It must be noted that in December 2019, Inc42 reported about Quikr laying off 2,000 employees across verticals. The startup discontinued its AtHomeDiva beauty service then and clarified that around 30% of its 3,000 employees were impacted by the layoff exercise.

In FY22, the unicorn’s spending on salaries and wages declined almost 14% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 47.2 Cr.

Total employee share based payment also fell to INR 1.6 Cr from INR 2.8 Cr in FY21.

Besides, Quikr managed to lower most of its other expenses. Finance costs more than halved to INR 3.5 Cr in FY23 from INR 12.9 Cr in the previous year.

Advertising promotional expenses also fell over 50% YoY to INR 1.4 Cr in FY23 while IT expenses were down 24% YoY to INR 2.3 Cr.

Founded in 2008 by Pranay Chulet, Quikr is one of the major classifieds websites in the country. It competes with OLX, Clickindia, among others. It has a presence in verticals like jobs, cars and bikes, and real estate.

Amid tightening macroeconomic conditions since 2022, Quikr’s rival OLX laid off around 15% of its global workforce, which impacted about 1,500 employees, earlier this year. Recently, CarTrade acquired OLX’s India business for INR 535.54 Cr.

Quikr’s cash and cash equivalents stood at INR 7.7 Cr at the end of March 31, 2022 as against INR 19.3 Cr a year ago.