Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd, which operates the e-commerce marketplace, recorded a 31% year-on-year jump in its revenues to Rs 10,659 crore for the financial year 2022. The Walmart-owned company, however, saw its net loss widen 51% to Rs 4,362 crore during the fiscal on the back of rising transportation, marketing and legal charges.
Flipkart’s operating revenue soared to Rs 10,477 crore in FY22 against Rs 7,804 crore in FY22, according to the data accessed by business intelligence platform Tofler.
In comparison, Flipkart’s key rival Amazon India posted a 32.5% annual growth in its revenue to Rs 21,462 crore for its marketplace vertical, Amazon Seller Services. The company also narrowed its losses by 23% to Rs 3,649 crore in FY22.
Also, Flipkart Group’s fashion-focused marketplace Myntra saw its operating revenue increase by 45% to Rs 3501.2 crore in FY22. The firm reported a loss of Rs 597.6 crore, widening from Rs 429 crore in the year before.
Flipkart’s revenue is primarily generated from the e-commerce marketplace, advertisement services, collection services and related support services including corporate agent services for insurance companies.
Flipkart earned Rs 3,848.2 crore and Rs 2,083.5 crore from logistics and advertising services, respectively. Collections from the marketplace services remained flat at Rs 2,823 crore against Rs 2,794.6 crore in FY21. In comparison, Amazon made Rs 18,703 crore from its marketplace services.
Revenue from collection services, which includes payment gateway and cash collection charges, stood at Rs 1.178.3 crore, up from Rs 8,360 crore in the previous fiscal.
The total expense of the marketplace arm of Flipkart for the fiscal was reported as Rs 15,020 crore against Rs 10,996 crore in the previous fiscal. The company’s operating loss or Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) loss jumped to Rs 3,925 crore, up from Rs 2,267 crore in FY21.
In FY22, Flipkart forayed into video streaming, distribution and hosting services by developing original content or using the content of other service providers. The company also ran advertising, promotional activities and loyalty programs, which added to the expenses.
Flipkart is currently considering raising $2-3 billion at a valuation of more than $40 billion to expand its product range in India and challenge rivals, Mint reported on Wednesday.
The company last raised around $3.6 billion in July 2021, and has deployed most of the capital, with only $700-800 million left, the report said. A Flipkart spokeswoman, however, said there are no such plans at the moment.
Flipkart’s employee benefits costs accounted for one-fourth of the total expenses in FY22 at Rs 3,735 crore. In FY21, employee benefits expenses stood at Rs 3,163 crore. On the other hand, the company was able to significantly bring down its finance costs to Rs 101 crore in FY22 from Rs 272 crore in FY22.
However, Flipkart’s other expenses ballooned to Rs 10,849 crore in FY22 from Rs 7,178 crore in the previous fiscal. Transportation costs swelled to Rs 5,045 crore from Rs 3,444 crore in FY21. The increase in the expense signals the impact of inflation on the company’s margins.
Flipkart nearly doubled its marketing budget as the company spent Rs 1,946 crore in advertising and promotions in FY22 against Rs 1,073 crore in FY21. Also, the company spent Rs 1,224 crore in FY22 as legal professional charges. In the previous financial year, such charges stood at Rs 837 crore.
