Online trucking platform Blackbuck turned unicorn after a $67 million fundraise in 2021. However, unfortunately for the firm, it has all been downhill since then. Disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out all its revenue. And the company has struggled to find its feet again in the past two fiscal years. This is evident from its Rs 2,235 crore revenue during FY20 which slumped to Rs 704 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2023.
Blackbuck’s revenue from operations decreased 15.5% to Rs 704 crore in FY23 from Rs 833 crore in FY22, its consolidated financial statements sourced from the Registrar of Companies show.
Financial FY23
The eight-year-old firm provides B2B logistics solutions for long-haul trucking and provides intercity logistics services to large companies including medium and small medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Transportation cum logistics services accounted for 71% of the total operating revenue. Income from this vertical declined by 23.5% to Rs 500 crore in FY23 from Rs 654 crore in FY22. Commissions, income from telematic services, subscriptions, and onboarding services are some other sources of collection that took the total revenue to Rs 704 crore in FY23.
See TheKredible for the detailed revenue breakdown.
Blackbuck provides transportation services to its customers and directly compensates truck owners. Its freight cost which encompassed lorry charges formed 49% of the total expenses. This cost was reduced by 27.3% to Rs 495 crore in FY23. Its employee benefits remained flat at Rs 239 crore during the previous fiscal.
Expense Breakdown
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- Employee benefit expense
- Freight cost Lorry hire charges
- Site labour supervision cost contracts
- Advertising promotional expenses
- Information technology expenses
- Others
Its site labour charges, contract cost, advertising cum promotional expenses, information technology, and other overheads catalyzed the overall expenditure to Rs 1,014 crore in FY23 from Rs 1,154 crore in FY22.
Check TheKredible for the complete expense breakup.
Despite the drop in scale, the company managed to cut its cost by 12.1% which led the company to post flat losses in FY23. Blackbuck posted a Rs 290 crore loss in FY23 as compared to Rs 285 crore in FY22. Its ROCE and EBITDA margins stood at -76% and -36% respectively. On a unit level, it spent Rs 1.44 to earn a rupee in FY23.
FY22-FY23
| FY22 | FY23 |
| Expense/Rupee of ops revenue | ₹1.39 | ₹1.44 |
| ROCE | -43% | -76% |
| EBITDA Margin | -28% | -36% |
Even as it has tried to tamp down losses, the firm is on a collision path to becoming totally unviable, unless it conjures a minor miracle. And soon. Intense competition is just one aspect of the challenge it faces, with the added issue of challengers having raised funding later and therefore being in better financial health. The road to recovery, if visible at all, will be long and hard for this once promising firm, that has seemingly suffered the pandemic impact for a far longer period than most others.
