Real-money gaming company WinZO announced on April 30 that its revenue from operations surged 70 percent to Rs 1,055.2 crore for the financial year 2024, from Rs 619.4 crore in FY23. This growth was driven by a significant expansion of its user base bolstered by its global expansion efforts.
The company also saw its adjusted profit after tax more than double to Rs 315 crore for FY24, from Rs 125 crore profit in FY23.
This number, however, excludes the impact of an additional expense of Rs 999 crore on account of fair value treatment of CCPS (Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares) as a liability, instead of equity as mandated by IndAS accounting methodology.
WinZO transitioned its accounting methodology from IGAAP (Indian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) to IndAS (Indian Accounting Standards) in FY23. If the impact is included, the company has incurred a loss of Rs 684 crore for FY24.
This strong financial performance came despite an increased tax burden due to the 28 percent goods and services tax (GST) regime implemented in October 2023. To be sure, FY24 captures only six months of the impact from the increased GST rates. The full-year financial impact of this revised taxation is expected to reflect in FY25 earnings.
The new GST regime has led to a significant rise in the tax outflow of companies, increasing by as much as 350 to 400 percent, industry executives and other stakeholders had earlier told Moneycontrol.
WinZO also saw its total expenses increase by 35.8 percent to Rs 693.4 crore for FY24 from Rs 510.5 crore in FY23. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) jumped over three-fold to Rs 397.2 crore in FY24 from Rs 126.8 crore in FY23.
"WinZO’s personalized technology offers the most affordable entertainment to 250 million Indians while empowering thousands of creators and developers. We’re not just building a gaming company—we’re shaping a globally scalable ecosystem rooted in Indian innovation" said WinZO co-founders Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore in a joint statement.
"Our ambition is bold: to create a tech powerhouse from India that inspires the world with its innovations and scale alike" added the co-founders.
Started by Nanda and Rathore in 2018, WinZO enables developers to host their games on the platform and earn revenue through a microtransaction-based monetisation model ranging from Re 1- Rs 10, instead of the traditional in-app purchases and advertisement-based models.
WinZO claims to have a portfolio of over 50 third-party casual games spanning various genres including Carrom, Ludo, 8 Ball Pool, Car-racing and strategy games such as Chess and Checkers across 16 languages such as Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali and Bhojpuri.
The startup claims to currently have 250 million registered users across India and Brazil. WinZO forayed into Brazil in October 2023 in a bid to diversify their operations. At the time, Nanda had told Moneycontrol that the firm's global expansion was "accelerated on the backdrop of the GST related developments".
WinZO has raised a total of $100 million across multiple financing rounds from investors such as Griffin Gaming Partners, Maker’s Fund, Courtside, and Kalaari Capital until now.
Last month, real money gaming platform Zupee reported a profit after tax of Rs 146 crore in FY24, as compared to a loss of Rs 36 crore in FY23. This was Zupee's first full-year of profitability since its inception in 2018.
The company also saw a 36.5 percent jump in its revenue to Rs 1,123 crore for FY24, from Rs 823 crore in FY23.
Meanwhile, in January, Head Digital Works, the owner of the online rummy platform A23 Rummy and poker site A23 Poker, saw a 31 percent increase in its consolidated gross revenue from operations to Rs 1,378 crore in FY24, from Rs 1,051 crore in FY23. Profit after tax (PAT) was at Rs 72 crore in FY24, a 24% increase from Rs 58 crore in FY23.
In October, M-League - the parent company of Bengaluru-based skill gaming unicorn Mobile Premier League (MPL) - also reported a 22 percent revenue jump in FY24. The firm posted a post-tax loss of $44.9 million in FY24 against $37 million in the previous year.
The startup, however, said that it achieved break even with an adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) of $0.2 million in FY24.
Skill gaming company Gameskraft also reported a 30 percent increase in its operating revenue to Rs 3,475 crore in FY24, from Rs 2,673 crore in FY23. Net profit however dipped 10.8 percent to Rs 947 crore for the year, from Rs 1,062 crore profit in FY23.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
