We may buy small biz in areas we are already present: Info Edge

Indian e-commerce/online classified service provider Info Edge reported a net profit growth of Rs 57.1 crore in the March quarter against Rs 21.7 crore in the previous quarter. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Hitesh Oberoi, MD & CEO of the company, said the company is open to acquiring new businesses in areas (recruitment, real estate, matrimony) where Info Edge already has an exposure. The company is sitting on cash of Rs 1,100 crore and this it will use to invest in the internet space (including international) on the back of correcting valuations in private markets, he added.In its jobs vertical, sales for naukri.com grew 18 percent and margins stood stable, he said, adding, Zomato's revenues were at Rs 180 crore for the fourth quarter last fiscal.While demand in the real estate space has been sluggish, EBITDA losses in its 99acres.com business has been cut down to 35 percent in the fourth quarter from 11 percent in Q1, Oberoi added. Below is the verbatim transcript of Hitesh Oberoi\\'s interview with Surabhi Upadhyay and Nigel D\\'Souza on CNBC-TV18.Nigel: Let us focus on the operational performance. Margins at around 30.5 percent or thereabouts, what caused this margin miss?A: We had a good quarter. Naukri sales grew by over 18-19 percent and margins were sort of stable in the recruitment business. In fact we were able to improve our performancde in the 99acres business. In 99acres we have cut down our EBITDA losses which were at Rs 35 crore of rate in Q1 of this year and now we are down to Rs 11 crore. So on the margin front we have done well and our topline is also looking healthier than last year.Surabhi: Are you hoping to turn EBITDA positive as we are looking at this year? Can you give us some sense in terms of by which quarter can we expect positive EBITDA for 99acres particularly?A: A lot will depend on competitive activity. The real estate market has been sluggish for the last six-eight quarters and that has caused a slowdown in our revenue growth. Of course we expect revenue to grow faster. But EBITDA would also depend on competitive activity. Last year we saw massive competition, thanks to some well funded players in the real estate space especially in the first half of last year but for the last four-five months, the situation has become a lot better on the competitive side and the performance has been improving and our burn has been going down but I cannot guarantee that we will be able to turn EBITDA positive next year but yes that will be an attempt.Nigel: Could you give us some numbers about naukri.com, you said that the performance was satisfying, what exactly was the revenue growth there? That is point number one and also what are the margins in that segment?A: For the company as a whole, net sales grew 18 percent from Rs 173 crore to Rs 204 crore and operating profit after tax (PAT) was at Rs 43.7 crore up 18 percent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) and PAT for the company is truly exceptional items was at Rs 57 crore up 8 percent.For the recruitment business, the naukri and the naukrigulf business topline grew by 19 percent to Rs 149 crore for the quarter and EBITDA margins were at about 55 percent.Surabhi: Are you looking at any more strategic investments, any other strategic buys like the portfolio that you currently have be it Zomato and whole number of other sites?A: We are well positioned right now. The valuations are correcting in the private market. We are sitting on loads of cash, we have close to Rs 1,100 crore in the bank. We will continue to invest aggressively in companies outside and we are also open to acquiring companies in the spaces we operate in like jobs, real estate, matrimony and education.We will be opportunistic, we are not eyeing any target right now but there is nothing on the horizon but it is a good situation to be in because private markets are correcting and we are sitting on loads of cash.Surabhi: There has been plenty of talk about whether there can be some kind of a strategic dilution within Zomato. If you could set the record straight on what is happening with Zomato?A: Zomato had a good year. Revenues are up almost Rs 180 crore odd. I don’t have the exact numbers right now and their burn rate has come down considerably. Their burn is down to one-third of what it was maybe a year ago.The company is sitting on about USD 30-35 million of cash right now. I don’t think they will need a lot of money to grow in the markets in which they are already present. But it is an aggressive company, they are in 22 countries, they are leading players in many of them and they have just launched a food delivery business in India. So, if they decide to grow aggressively going forward, they may need to raise more money but for the markets they are operating right now, they have sufficient sort of cash in the bank.Nigel: You were talking about an acquisition, you were talking about utilising some part of that cash that you are sitting on, could you tell us how much of that cash you are looking to utilise for this acquisition and how soon can we hear from that?A: Like I said what I am saying is we are in a good position. We have the cash and private markets are correcting, valuations are going down. So there is an opportunity for us to invest or acquire companies outside but there is nothing on the horizon. So there is no target we are chasing, there are no talks going on, we will be more opportunistic and a lot will depend on what kind of opportunities come to us. So they are very unpredictable.Surabhi: Can you give us a sense of out of cash of Rs 1,100 crore roughly how much are you comfortable deploying in these acquisitions as and when they happen?A: Very hard to say. Our track record in terms of acquisition has been small ticket acquisitions till now. We have acquired three-four companies in the last three-four years, but these have been very small tickets, couple of million dollars each. So when it comes to smaller players is more like USD 1-5 million range. We haven’t done any large acquisitions till date. Who knows, if there are right opportunities, we could be willing to cut a larger check.