Nazara posts Rs 254 Cr revenue from ops in Q1 FY24, profits rise 31%

Gaming and sports media platform Nazara Technologies has recorded 14% growth to Rs 254.4 crore in revenue from operations during the quarter ending June 2023 (Q1 FY24) as compared to Rs 223.1 crore in Q1 of the previous year (FY23), according to the company's unaudited consolidated quarterly report published on the National Stock Exchange.

Nazara offers interactive gaming, e-sports, adtech, and gamified early learning for users across India, Africa, and North America. These offerings include popular titles like World Cricket Championship (WCC) for mobile games, Kiddopia and Wildworks among others.

During the quarter, Nazara generated 41% of its revenues from North America markets, 19% in India while the remaining 41% came from the rest of the world. Significantly, 45% of its total business operations focused on the United States market.

Nazara collected 46.32% of its total operating revenue from the e-sports segment which accounted for Rs 117.84 crore during the quarter, while 43% (Rs 109.52 crore) of the collections came from the gaming segment. The remaining Rs 27.07 crore came through the company’s adtech business.

Besides its operating income, Nazara also earned Rs 11.74 crore worth of non-operating income (interest and gain on financial assets) during Q1 FY24, taking the overall revenue to Rs 266.17 crore.

When compared to the previous quarter (Q4 FY23), Nazara’s revenue from operations slid 12% from Rs 289.3 crore.

Content, event and web server related costs formed 33.54% of the total expenses and stood at Rs 79.8 crore in the first quarter of FY24. Advertising and employee benefit expenses were registered at Rs 45.7 crore and Rs 45.35 crore respectively.

The company also paid commissions of Rs 13.7 crore during the quarter which dragged the total expenditures to Rs 237.9 crore during Q1 of FY24. In comparison to the same quarter of the previous year,its total expenses surged 14.5% from Rs 207.8 crore.

At the end, Nazara’s bottomline also grew in line with the scale. The company’s profits inclined over 31% to Rs 20.86 crore during the quarter (Q1 FY24) against Rs 15.9 crore in Q1 of FY23.

Talking about segment wise results, Nazara’s gaming segment generated most Rs 18.46 crore profits while e-sports and adtech segment posted Rs 6.31 crore profit and Rs 1.61 crore loss respectively during Q1 FY24.

On a unit level, Nazara Technologies spent Re 0.93 to earn a rupee of operating income during the first quarter of FY24.

Taking a look at the company’s quarter-on-quarter growth, its scale has contracted 23.7% to Rs 254.4 crore in the quarter as compared to Rs 314.8 crore in Q3 of the previous fiscal year. Significantly, Q3 was the best quarter in terms of scale during FY23 but Q1 FY24 was the most profitable quarter.

Recently, the Indian government said that it will impose 28% GST on the full face value of online gaming. A few days after the GST Council meeting, Nazara, Winzo, and several other players in the space wrote to the government to protest 28% GST on online skill gaming. Moreover, around 30 investors including Peak XV Partners, Tiger Global, and Alpha Wave, also wrote to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a review of the decision.