Swiggy's losses widened 80 percent in FY23: Prosus

Bengaluru-based Swiggy

Food and grocery delivery platform Swiggy’s losses jumped by 80 percent in financial year (FY) 2023, Prosus' annual report showed on June 27.

Losses widened in a year where the company's chief, Sriharsha Majety, said the food delivery business had slowed globally, and that Swiggy was no exception.

Prosus, which owns 33 percent in the Bengaluru-based company, said its share of Swiggy's trading loss increased to $180 million in FY23, up from $100 million in FY22, because of investments in Instamart, its quick-commerce arm. Swiggy, however, had said that the peak of its investments in Instamart was now largely behind it.

A simple calculation showed that Swiggy's losses for the whole of FY23 totaled to about $545 million, up 80 percent from around $300 million in FY22.

Similarly, Netherlands-based Prosus, which is one of the world's largest investor in consumer tech startups, said its share of revenue in the company grew 40 percent to $297 million in FY23, which would peg Swiggy's full year FY23 revenue at around $900 million.

"In the last two reporting periods, Swiggy has concentrated on reactivating users, increasing monthly frequency and improving user conversion. The benefits are reflected in its results for FY23," Prosus said in its FY23 annual report.

"Our share of Swiggy’s trading loss increased to $180m (FY22: $100m), driven by investment in Instamart, which peaked in the year," it added.

While Zomato's revenues were roughly similar to Swiggy's topline in the FY23, the former's losses were much lower at around $126 million, compared with Swiggy's $545 million.

Swiggy's increase in losses also comes at a time when Majety said the company's core business, food delivery, had turned profitable in March 2023, excluding ESOP costs and was on path to turn profitable.

"Swiggy has become one of the very few global food delivery platforms to achieve profitability in less than nine years since its inception," Majety had said then.

GMV grows marginally

Swiggy's gross merchandise value (GMV) grew only to $2.6 billion in FY23, up from $2.3 billion in FY22, registering a small increase of just around 13 percent, Prosus' filings further showed.

Swiggy's growth in GMV was largely due to a higher restaurant base. The company said it now has over 2.72 lakh enabled restaurants on its platform, up from about 1.97 lakh in FY22.

Hurt by the minimal growth rate, Swiggy's GMV was sharply below its closest competitor, Zomato.

Gurugram-based Zomato, in it filings, had said its GMV was at about $3.2 billion in FY23, an increase from around $2.7 billion in FY22.