Zomato Shuts Down South African Subsidiary

Indian Food delivery aggregator, Zomato has completed the closure of its South African operation effective from this month, said the regulatory filing on the BSE.

“Zomato South Africa Proprietary (Pty) Ltd. (“Zomato SA”), step down subsidiary of the Company has been deregistered effective from January 3, 2022, vide disclosure certificate dated January 13, 2022, issued by the Commissioner of Companies & Intellectual Property Commission (“CIPC”)”, said the company filing.

The closure is to strengthen its India focus by closing all the non-profitable/non-active divisions in its kitty. It is to be noted here that, so far, the Gurugram-based entity has closed all its international business operations including the US, Singapore and the UK, except its UAE operation — which is still operational as per its website.

In October last year, Zomato India had shuttered Zomato Ireland Limited (Lebanon Branch). According to its BSE filings, the Ireland business was to stop its operations from December 12, 2021.

The move came shortly after the foodtech company was listed on the Indian stock exchange in July 2021. Following its listing, Zomato had shut down three of its international subsidiaries — Zomato UK Limited (ZUL), Zomato Media Private Limited (ZMPL) and Zomato US — formerly known as UrbanSpoon.

In August last year, the company also shut down its US’ table reservation business — NexTable, which had a turnover of INR 6.6 Cr and a net worth of INR 1.5 Cr (as of March 2021). 

It also pulled a plug on its online grocery business post the acquisition of Grofers, and simultaneously shut down its health and fitness products — Nutraceuticals.

For the quarter ended September, last year, it doubled its consolidated net loss to INR 434.9 Cr. During the same period last financial year (FY21), the foodtech giant had reported a net loss of INR 229.8 Cr.

The increase in losses came on the back of a 174% rise in its expenses to INR 1,601.5 Cr during the period under review, from INR 584.9  Cr in the same period last fiscal.

On its intra day trading today, Zomato’s share price started with INR 133. 45 and it closed at INR 134.05.