Business-focused payment gateway and neo-banking platform Razorpay has raised $535 million including its $160 million (Series E) and $375 million (Series F) during the last fiscal year. The fundraising backed an expansion in scale which approached the Rs 1,500 crore mark in the fiscal year ending March 2022.
Razorpay’s operating revenue spiked 76.1% to Rs 1,481.2 crore in FY22 from Rs 841.2 crore in FY21, according to its standalone annual report filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).
Payment gateway commission was the major source of collection for the Harshil Mathur-led company. The company also provides software development services and marketing services to its holding company Razorpay Inc. The total collections for the company surged 76.1% to Rs 1,481.2 crore during the last fiscal.
Razorpay claims to power payments for over 8 million businesses including the likes of Facebook, Ola, Zomato, Swiggy, CRED, and others. The company has other income mainly from interest on fixed deposits which increased 28.5% to Rs 4.46 crore in FY22.
When it comes to expenses, the company booked an amount of Rs 826.1 crore as miscellaneous accounting for 55.9% of the overall cost. While the company didn’t disclose details, it appears to be bank, infra, and service charges. This expenditure grew 64.5% in the last fiscal year from Rs 502.3 crore during FY21.
Employee benefit expenses were the next largest cost center forming 25.2% of the total expenditure. This cost surged 75% to Rs 372.5 crore in FY22 from Rs 212.90 crore in FY21. It includes Rs 13.27 crore as ESOP expenses which were settled in cash.
Hosting charges and marketing expenses jumped 2.3X and 3.4X respectively to Rs 72.2 crore and Rs 54.2 crore in FY22. The company added another Rs 50 crore on subscription membership charges which catalyzed its overall expenditure by 76% to Rs 1,476.5 crore in FY22 from Rs 838.90 crore in FY21.
With almost equal growth in scale and cost, the profits of the company grew marginally by 19.2% to Rs 7.38 crore on a small base. On the ratios side, its ROCE and EBITDA margins worsened to 2.45% and 2.49%. On a unit level, the company spent Rs 1.00 to earn a single unit of operating revenue in FY22.
Razorpay has become a ubiquitous part of the payments landscape in India, while operating at what is effectively breakeven levels in a very competitive market. We believe that provides it enough flexibility to find more profits by reducing costs if required, even as it seeks a higher share in a growing market.
While the firm hasn’t provided a breakup between earnings from payment and banking services, the expansion of its banking services would be particularly worth watching for the possibly higher margins they provide. The latter also provides it with a long runway of discovery and growth, which it will hopefully achieve at a lower burn rate than the payment gateway business.
