Groww, the country's largest stock broking firm by active investor base, has more than doubled its FY24 revenue to Rs 3,145 crore at a consolidated level, the company said in a statement.
The Bengaluru-based discount broker saw its consolidated operational profit rise 17 percent to Rs 535 crore in the year ended March 2024, compared with Rs 458 crore it had reported a year back. Its consolidated revenue for FY23 stood at Rs 1,435 crore.
The one-time domicile tax of Rs 1,340 crore resulted in Groww posting a Rs 805-crore net loss at the consolidated level. Groww has moved its registered office from Delaware in the US to Bengaluru during the last fiscal.
Early this month, Groww’s standalone revenue from the brokerage business was reported, based on information filed with rating agency ICRA. Last year, Groww ventured into consumer lending, payments, and asset management through subsidiary businesses and the consolidated figures take these into account.
Groww’s rival, Nithin Kamath-led Zerodha reported a revenue of Rs 8,320 crore and a net profit of Rs 4,700 crore. However, it does not include the Rs 1,000 crore of unrealised gains Zerodha has made during the fiscal.
During September, Groww had more than 1.2 crore active investors as per the National Stock Exchange data.
However, broking firms are bracing for higher taxes on trading, lower exchange rebates and restrictions on retail futures and options trading during the current financial year. Most broking firms could see a 30-50 percent hit to the topline during the second half of FY 25.
"Groww's high dependence on capital markets, which are inherently volatile and cyclical. Moreover, a sizeable share of the revenues is from the futures and options (F&O) segment (75-80 percent of the net operating income; NOI). Further, it remains susceptible to regulatory changes as well as technological risks," ICRA said in the note.
According to ICRA, despite Groww foraying into the margin trading facility (MTF) business, which will lead to higher dependence on borrowings, its financial leverage is expected to remain comfortable because of the market leadership in broking.
Late last year, Groww surpassed Zerodha as the largest broking company and this May, the company saw the total number of active traders on the platform grow to over 10 million users.
Started in 2016 as a mutual fund investing platform, Groww has steadily expanded its offerings by introducing stocks in 2020. “Groww is at the forefront of transitioning domestic savings into liquid financial assets. Its customer-centric approach emphasises on a prudent investing culture as the country's financial markets navigate an inflexion point in retail participation,” the company said in a statement.
There are more than 160 million demat accounts in the country, but the number of active investors is around 50 million, according to exchange data.
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