boAt revenue crosses Rs 1,500 Cr in FY21; spent only Rs 14 Cr on salaries

Consumer electronic startup boAt has been one of the leading sellers of wearables and audio accessories in India for the last couple of years. The company, which is also planning to launch its initial public offering at a valuation of over $1.4 billion, has been profitable and crossed Rs 1,500 crore revenue mark in FY21. 

boAt registered a 2.2X surge in operating revenues which grew from Rs 700.44 crore in FY20 to Rs 1,511.7 crore in FY21, its annual financial statement with the MCA shows.   

boAt sold earphones and headphones worth Rs 1,120 Cr in FY21

Wireless earphones and headphones formed the largest product line in terms of sales, accounting for 62.7% of its operating revenue during FY21. These sales grew by 2.5X to Rs 947.4 crore in FY21 from Rs 375.7 crore in FY20.

The sale of boAt’s wireless speakers grew the most during the last fiscal—up 2.6X  from Rs 113.2 crore in FY20 to Rs 297.4 crore during FY21. At nearly 20%, the wireless speaker product line was the second largest contributor to the company’s revenue in the last fiscal year.

Comparatively, the year-on-year growth of wired earphones and other related accessories (including cables and chargers) was relatively timid, growing 30.4% and 19.3% respectively, during FY21.

boAt imports goods worth Rs 1,316 Cr in FY21, mostly from China

The Mumbai-headquartered firm designs its products in India while its manufacturing and assembling take place in China. The expense of procuring its stock in trade is the single largest cost incurred by the company, accounting for nearly 73% of the annual expenditure.

These expenses grew 2.3X from Rs 452.5 crore in FY20 to Rs 1,034.03 crore in FY21. The cost of freight and distribution made up 8.1% of the annual costs and grew by 57.6% YoY to Rs 115.53 crore during FY21.

boAt outsources its warranty claim and after-sale services to third party contractors and its warranty claim related expenses grew by 93% to Rs 52.7 crore in FY21 from Rs 27.3 crore spent in FY20.

Plans to move production to India, leverage GOI’s PLI Scheme

The company had raised $100 million in a round led by Warburg Pincus at the start of Q4 FY21 with plans of shifting its manufacturing to India. The consumer electronics brand is looking to tap into the Indian government's production linked incentive(PLI) scheme.

The seven-year-old brand focuses on marketing its products heavily online and its advertising promotion cost was the second largest cost centre for the company, accounting for 10.3% of boAt’s annual expenses. These costs nearly tripled to Rs 147 crore during FY21 from Rs 51 crore in FY20.

Perks of lean team with mean margins, profits up 61% in FY21

With major operation functions such as production and after-sales outsourced, boAt operates with a lean team of employees with staff expenses accounting for a mere 1% of its annual costs. Employee benefit expenses grew by 125.7% YoY to Rs 14.31 crore (including director remuneration of around Rs 2 crore).

The Qualcomm-backed company also had a stock buyback during the fiscal ending in March 2021 which amounted to Rs 140 crore. Both co-founders Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta were the biggest beneficiaries of this event, pocketing a little over 81% (i.e. Rs 113.6 crore or Rs 56.8 crore each) of the buyback amount.

Overall, the company’s total annual expenditure grew 2.2X from Rs 637.6 crore in FY20 to Rs 1,420.1 crore during FY21. On a unit level, boAt spent Rs 0.94 to earn a single rupee of revenue during FY21.

Profitable since inception, the wearable brand’s annual profits surged nearly 61% to Rs 78.6 crore during FY21 from Rs 48.8 crore during FY20. However, its EBITDA margins actually dropped by 237 BPS to 8.34% during FY21 from the margin of 10.71% in FY20.  

boAt has demonstrated a robust financial performance in FY21 and became the first consumer electronic direct to consumer (D2C) startup to cross the Rs 1,500 crore revenue mark. Despite the pandemic, the company has been able to scale at a rapid clip with a 61% increase in its profit. Unlike most growth and late-stage companies, boAt has achieved this revenue at very little expense on employee’s salaries and other benefits — Rs 14.31 crore.