Ratan Tata-backed BlueStone Jewellery and Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd widened its net loss in the last financial year due to a more than twofold increase in the cost of procuring goods as well as advertisements and promotional expenses.
The omnichannel jewellery retailer reported a loss of ₹42.6 crore in FY22, up from ₹31.3 crore in the previous year.
The figure excludes the cost of changing its accounting standard from Indian Gaap to Ind AS.
For FY22, the company reported a non-cash expense of ₹1,209 crore due to an accounting norm related to fair valuation of compulsorily convertible preference shares, as per Ind AS.
Mamaearth’s parent Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd also reported a similar expense in its filings as reported by Mint on 3 November.
BlueStone’s operating revenue surged 89% in FY22 to ₹461.3 crore from ₹244.5 crore in FY21, showed filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). Its sole source of revenue was from the sale of products, which primarily includes gold and diamond jewellery.
Founded in 2011 by Gaurav Singh Kushwaha and Vidya Nataraj as an online retailer to ship jewellery across India and abroad, BlueStone now runs about 70 retail stores in the country. It plans to operate a total of 300 stores by FY24, Kushwaha said in March.
In the last financial year, BlueStone’s total expenses climbed to ₹1738 crore, from ₹284 crore in the previous fiscal. Expenditure on buying goods, which accounted for the bulk of its costs, jumped to ₹380 crore from ₹187 crore.
BlueStone’s advertising and promotional expenses rose to ₹42.3 crore from ₹20.4 crore. The company paid ₹21 crore as commission to selling agents while finance cost stood at ₹18.5 crore in the last fiscal.
BlueStone is also backed by Accel, Kalaari Capital, IIFL, Iron Pillar, IvyCap and Saama Capital, among others.
In March, it raised $30 million at a valuation of $410 million in a funding round led by Sunil Kant Munjal, chairman of Hero Enterprise.
The company opened its jewellery manufacturing unit in Jaipur this year. It also runs two manufacturing units in Mumbai. It claims to have a total work area of 12,000 sq ft.
BlueStone is currently preparing for a public listing and has hired bankers earlier this year to manage the process.
In the jewellery segment, BlueStone competes against brands like Melorra Voylla and Titan Company-owned CaratLane.