Online classified portal OLX sees 31% rise in profit in FY17

Online classifieds portal OLX India is riding on a high wave this year. The company known for buying and selling goods online has noticed a 58% surge in revenues at Rs 92.5 crore in FY17 while it was Rs 58 crore previous year, according to an ET report.

There was a drastic increase in profits of the firm in FY17 with an increase of 31% to come in at Rs 8 crore as compared to Rs 6.1 crore in FY16. About Rs 75 crore came from business channels outside the country while services to global markets contributed about 82% of the top line.

OLX rival Quickr in India reported a 20% increase in net loss at Rs 534 crore and 66% increase in operating revenue at Rs 41 crore in FY16. Till now, the company has not filed its financials in FY17.

This is happening at a time when OLX India CEO Amarjit Singh Batra has planned to move away from the company.

The large part growth for OLX India has been due to its new OLX app, which was launched in September 2016. It witnessed a growth of 70% in sellers on the platform with about 40-45% transactions done by the repeat customers.

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OLX's CEO in an earlier interaction with ET said that about 70% of the used car market share, auto category has contributed more this year. About 25% of the revenue of the company came from the auto vertical. The company is now focussing on the used-car vertical and looking forward to consolidating it. They are working on their strategy as to how they can create a better market and can get more dealers and sellers online, he further added.

With over 2,50,000 listings for cars alone, OLX claims that about 60-70% of the business for car dealers in India comes from its own platform. In the auto vertical, OLX competes with companies like Cardkho, CarTrade and Quickr Auto.

Recently, the firm saw a tremendous growth. Out of Rs 80 crore, total expenses saw a 60% increase inclusion of the salary expenses for employees and management contributing most to the metric in FY17. In FY17, low tickets categories like fashion and personal goods saw a growth of about 150% while in verticals like cars, bikes and mobiles saw a growth of 55% from 35% since last year.

OLX: Website