Wakefit posts Rs 637 Cr revenue in FY22, losses spike 2.8X

Wakefit was one of the early movers in the sleep solution space with a direct-to-consumer model. The Sequoia Capital-backed mattress, pillow, and furniture brand has grown at a rapid clip since its inception in 2016. Its growth story could also be validated from its scale in the past four fiscal years which grew over 8X to Rs 633 crore in FY22 from Rs 73 crore in FY19.

Continuing its momentum, Wakefit’s operating scale grew 54.8% to Rs 633 crore in FY22, according to the company’s annual financial statements with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). The sale of mattresses, pillows, and accessories formed 97% of the firm’s total operating revenue during the last fiscal year. This income shot up 53.7% to Rs 613.16 crore in FY22.

Revenue from the sale of services and scrap blew 2X each to Rs 9.2 crore and Rs 10.4 crore respectively during FY22.

The six-year-old company manufactures and sells mattresses, pillows, accessories, and furniture majorly via the internet. According to Fintrackr, Wakefit has raised Rs 450 crore to date and was last valued at Rs 2,800 crore.

On the spending front, the cost of materials turned out to be the biggest cost driver which accounted for 51% of the total expenses for the Bengaluru-based firm in FY22. This cost surged 54% to Rs 373.5 crore during the last fiscal year.

Employee benefit expenses was the second biggest cost center which grew 58.6% to Rs 91.59 crore in FY22. Expenditure on advertisement and commission paid to sole agents increased by 42% and 127.6% to Rs 61.21 crore and Rs 40.4 crore respectively.

The company spent Rs 58.12 crore and Rs 41.54 crore respectively towards transportation distribution and contract costs which pushed Wakefit’s total expenditure by 62.6% to Rs 738 crore in FY22.

On the back of increased expenses, the losses of the company soared 2.8X to Rs 102 crore in FY22 from Rs 37 crore in FY21. Cash outflows for the firm were adversely affected and jumped 2.3X to Rs 160 crore in FY22.

On a unit level, Wakefit has spent Rs 1.17 to earn a rupee. Due to a sharp surge in losses, the company’s ROCE and EBITDA ratio deteriorated to -29.38% and -14.36% respectively.

Over the past four fiscal years, Wakefit’s scale has continued to grow and the company emerged as the posterboy in the sleep solution space. However, the company is now betting big on the furniture category from which the firm eyes over two-thirds of its revenue in coming years. To ramp up its play in this category, Wakefit had set up a plant in Hosur (Bengaluru) which has the ability to make 8,000 furniture pieces (sofas, dining tables, and beds) on a daily basis.

On the back of high ticket size purchases in furniture, Wakefit expects to touch the Rs 1,000 crore income mark in the ongoing fiscal year (FY23) but it won’t be an easy ride. According to experts tracking the omnichannel furniture space, it’s an operations heavy category and has significant offline components which are contrary to Wakefit’s model that relied heavily on digital channels.

Apart from Duroflex which posted an operating revenue of Rs 893 crore in FY22, Wakefit competes with SleepyCat and Sleep Company among others. With a larger focus on furniture, it also counts Pepperfry, IKEA, and Woodenstreet as its competitors.