Quikr in FY18: Reports Rs 173.5 Cr revenue with a loss of Rs 233 Cr

India’s aspiring Craigslist, Quikr, which hasn’t been performing up to the mark in past few years, at least with regards to financial health, has finally revealed its figures for FY18.

The consolidated operational revenue of the firm saw a 95.6 per cent increase, making it Rs 173.49 crore in FY18 as compared to Rs 88.67 crore in FY17.

As per the figures reported by ET, taken from the RoC filings of the company with the MCA, the core transactions contributed 56.63 per cent to the revenue at a Rs 98.25 crore figure. It’s a matter of concern how this share of organic business in the revenue has only grown by 1 percent in the past one financial year.

The revenue from other activities such as advertisement and lead generation stood at Rs 75.23 crore.

The losses for the company have reduced by a mere 23 per cent, from Rs 305 crore to Rs 233 crore in a span of 12 months ending March 2018.

In past couple of years, Quikr has changed its business model from a ad based one to a premium listing one. While this may have definitely helped the online classified portal in increasing the revenue, and shrinking the losses a little, the firm still faces immense struggle in reaching profitability.

As per Pranay Chulet, the CEO and Founder of Quikr, the company expects to become profitable by FY19. Looking at the figures in FY18 and a minor controlling of losses, one fails to see the possibility of that actualizing. Especially, when we consider the fact that the losses are still higher than the revenue.

To explain the figures further, the company tells ET that the growth of business across key verticals is powered by 50 per cent plus growth margins and lower customer acquisition costs, while dealing with approximately 30 million unique users every month.

These high-growth verticals reportedly include auto and realty, growing about 115 per cent and 105 percent, respectively in FY18. The company is further also counting on jobs as vertical to grow and lead it to a path of profitability.

Overall, it is difficult to see how a company with a constant 30 million unique users from about past few years, no new fundings, and no major improvement in financial reports, while its competitors like OLX continue to thrive in profitability, will realise its dream of a profitable Indian Craigslist. This age old classified unicorn needs much more than a premium listing model for a turnaround.