Eternal Ltd (formerly Zomato), which operates food delivery platform Zomato and quick commerce firm Blinkit, on May 1 reported a 78 percent year-on-year (YoY) decline in quarterly profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 39 crore in the fourth quarter (Q4) of financial year 2024-25 (FY25), down from Rs 175 crore in the same period a year ago. It had reported a PAT of Rs 59 crore in Q3 FY25.
Profit for the full financial year, however, came in at Rs 527 crore, up 50 percent compared to Rs 351 crore in the previous fiscal.
The company’s consolidated Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) declined 15 percent YoY to Rs 165 crore in Q4FY25, largely on account of the accelerated investments in expanding our quick commerce store network.
Zomato’s revenue from operations rose 64 percent YoY to Rs 5,833 crore in Q4, up from Rs 3,562 crore a year ago. It had reported a revenue of Rs 5,405 crore in the previous quarter.
For the full year, the company reported a consolidated operational revenue of Rs 20,243 crore, up 67 percent from Rs 12,114 crore in FY24.
Total expenses for the Gurugram-based firm increased to Rs 6,104 crore in the quarter ended March, up from Rs 3,636 crore a year ago and Rs 5,533 crore a quarter ago. For the full year, the company’s expenses came in at Rs 20,623 crore, up 63 percent from Rs 12,670 crore in the previous year.
Zomato ended the quarter with a cash balance of Rs 18,824 crore, from from Rs 19,235 crore in the previous quarter.
Food delivery
While adjusted revenue for its food delivery business increased 17.5 percent YoY to Rs 2,409 crore in Q4, up from Rs 2,050 crore in the year ago period, it remained flat on a sequential basis from Rs 2,413 crore a quarter ago, in line with the ongoing slowdown in demand for food delivery.
The gross order value (GOV) for this business, meanwhile, declined 1.3 percent from Rs 9,913 crore in Q3FY25 to Rs 9,778 crore in the March quarter. On a yearly basis, GOV increased from Rs 8,439 crore in Q4FY24.
In parallel, its adjusted EBITDA margin stayed flat sequentially from 4.3 percent to 4.4 percent.
Talking about slowing growth in food delivery, Group CEO Deepinder Goyal, in a letter to shareholders, pointed to a sluggish demand environment, a temporary shortage of delivery partners due high quick commerce demand, and intensifying competition from "quick delivery of packaged food from quick commerce, leading to drop in demand for food delivery from restaurants."
The average monthly transacting customers (MTCs) for Zomato's food delivery vertical increased marginally to 20.9 million from 20.5 million a quarter ago. The platform had 19 million MTCs in the year-ago period.
Blinkit
Zomato’s quick commerce arm Blinkit reported a (EBITDA) loss of Rs 178 crore in Q4FY25, a massive 381 percent increase year-on-year (YoY) from a loss of Rs 37 crore incurred during the same period last year. On a sequential basis, the adjusted EBITDA loss was higher than Rs 103 crore recorded in Q2FY25.
"The increase in losses was expected and in line with our plan to pull-forward expansion of our store network. We added 294 net new stores in Q4FY25, making it our highest-ever net store addition in a single quarter. As a result, ~40 percent of our overall network of 1,301 stores are underutilized stores, opened in the last two quarters alone," said Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa in the letter to shareholders.
The company also increased its investment in marketing to "meaningfully accelerate our pace of new customer acquisition," said Dhindsa.
Blinkit's revenue increased 122 percent YoY to Rs 1,709 crore, up from Rs 769 crore in Q4 FY24. It reported a revenue of Rs 1,399 crore in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, its GOV for the quarter increased to Rs 9,421 crore in the March quarter, compared to Rs 4,027 crore in Q4 FY24 and Rs 7,798 crore in the previous quarter.
Blinkit’s average order value (AOV) declined to Rs 665 in Q4, down from Rs 707 in the previous quarter and Rs 617 in the year-ago period.
Its dark store count increased YoY from 526 last year to 1,301 in Q4 FY25, and average monthly transacting users reached 13.7 million this quarter from 6.4 million in Q4 FY24.
Going out
Revenue for Zomato’s Going Out business jumped 146 percent YoY to Rs 229 crore in Q4, compared to Rs 93 crore in Q4 FY24. However, sequentially, revenues fell from Rs 259 crore in Q3. GOV for the business also declined to Rs 2,184 crore in Q4, from Rs 2,495 crore a quarter ago. The company reported a revenue of Rs 1,069 crore a year ago.
Hyperpure
Zomato’s business-to-business (B2B) supplies vertical, Hyperpure, saw its revenue rise 93 percent YoY to Rs 1,840 crore in Q4, compared to Rs 951 crore in the same period last year. The company reported a revenue of Rs 1,671 crore a quarter ago.
Zomato's shares were settled at Rs 232.5 per share on the BSE, up 0.58 percent.
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