Times Internet-owned Gaana has continued to lose its sheen as it faced a massive 45.4% erosion in its scale in the fiscal year ending March 2023. The company also faced a downturn in its collection in FY21 and FY22 as well. In the last fiscal, however, it has also managed to cut down losses by over 38%.
The Tencent-backed company’s revenue from operations dwindled to Rs 65 crore in FY23 from Rs 119 crore during FY22, according to its standalone financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).
Financial FY23
Operating Revenue
Total Expense
Profit / Loss
View Full Data
View Full Data
View Full Data
Subscription was the primary source of revenue for Gaana forming 50% of its entire collection in FY23. Income from this source increased 36.7% to Rs 32.8 crore in the preceding fiscal year. Its income from online advertisement, along with service platform fees, and other operating revenue declined significantly.
Check TheKredible to see the detailed revenue breakup.
Being a music and podcast streaming app, its content cost accounted for around 50% of the overall expenditure. This cost decreased by 26.4% to Rs 134 crore in FY23 from Rs 182 crore in FY22.
Its employee benefits, advertisement and promotion, finance costs, legal and professional fees, and other operating overheads catalyzed its total expenditure to Rs 272 crore in FY23 from Rs 444 crore in FY22.
Head to TheKredible for a complete expense breakdown.
Expense Breakdown
https://thekredible.com/company/gaana/financials
View Full Data
https://thekredible.com/company/gaana/financials
View Full Data
- Employee benefit expense
- Finance cost
- Content cost
- Advertising promotional expenses
- Others
As the scale suffered, the company managed to cut down its costs in verticals such as advertising, employee benefits, and content that helped Gaana to reduce its losses by 38.6% to Rs 194 crore in FY23. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin stood at -317% and -212% respectively. On a unit level, it spent Rs 4.18 to earn a unit of operating revenue in FY23.
FY22-FY23
| FY22 | FY23 |
| EBITDA Margin | -228% | -212% |
| Expense/₹ of Op Revenue | ₹3.73 | ₹4.18 |
| ROCE | -132% | -317% |
The company was reportedly in talks with Airtel for a potential acquisition after it failed to raise a new round. However, the talks also did not materialize and the firm switched to a paid subscription model.
Gaana raised its last funding in debt worth $40 million from Tencent in June 2021.
Besides Airtel’s Wynk, its major competitors include Spotify, JioSaavn, Hungama, YouTube Music, Amazon Music and Apple Music.
The writing’s on the wall for Gaana, and there really isn’t much to add for analysts. The firm is in what many would consider a death spiral, unless it discovers an escape quickly. Seeking buyers, cutting costs while shrinking in size and no promising winner in sight are not good signs, and at this stage, the last song could be playing on this app very soon.
