Info Edge (India) Ltd, the largest consumer Internet firm in India by market value which runs sites such as Naukri.com and 99acres.com, reported over 20 per cent growth in both revenue and profit in the first quarter over the same period last year, but saw pressure on profits after revenue remained flat over the three-month period ended March 31, 2012.
The company witnessed 22.3 per cent growth in net revenue for the quarter ended June 30, 2012, to Rs 105.9 crore over Q1 of last year and saw standalone net profit rise 24 per cent to Rs 31.78 crore in the same period.
However, the year-on-year growth was partly doused by almost flat net revenue in Q1, compared to the fourth quarter ended in March 2012. Sequential net profit also declined 20.3 per cent as flat topline was accompanied by higher expenses and lower ‘other income’.
In the previous quarters, the company had been getting a boost in the bottomline from the dividend income from mutual fund investments, etc.
Standalone results of the company include revenues from its primary recruitment business Naukri.com, NaukriGulf.com, Quadrangle, Job Seeker Services and Firstnaukri.com, as well as Jeevansathi.com, 99acres, Shiksha.com and Brijj.com.
However, revenues of its seven subsidiaries are not part of the standalone results. These include Naukri Internet Services Pvt Ltd and Jeevansathi Internet Services Pvt Ltd (which own Internet domain names of Naukri.com and Jeevansathi.com, respectively, as well as related trademarks, while operations are under the parent company), Allcheckdeals, Info Edge (India) Mauritius Ltd (set up to make overseas investments), Info Edge USA Inc., Applect (Meritnation.com) and Etechaces (Policybazaar.com).
Ambarish Raghuvanshi, CFO and director of Info Edge (India) Ltd, said in a statement, “On a year-on-year basis, the financial results reflect the strong position in its main market. However, on a sequential quarter, sales are flat since the fourth quarter is usually a strong quarter. Also, we are seeing a deceleration in the economy and recruiting activity, which will translate into slower growth in subsequent quarters.â€
During this quarter, Info Edge’s recruitment solutions grew at 19 per cent while the real estate vertical grew by 47 per cent.
Info Edge also completed its second bonus issue since it went public. Shares were allotted to existing shareholders in 1:1 ratio, the same ratio as its previous bonus issue in October 2010.
(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)