Pine Labs nears Rs 1,600 Cr revenue in FY23 with sound economics

Merchant commerce and payments platform Pine Labs has grown over two-fold in terms of operating scale in the last two fiscal years (FY21 to FY23). Significantly, the Peak XV Partners-backed firm also managed to cut down losses by over 12% in the fiscal year ending 2023.

Pine Labs reported Rs 726 crore income during FY21 which spiked to Rs 1,588 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2023, its consolidated financial statements filed by the group company in Singapore show.

Financials FY23

Check detailed 3 year financial comparison on thekredible.com

When it comes to year-on-year growth, the firm’s revenue grew 56.15% in FY23 as compared to FY22. Its revenue stood at Rs 1,017 crore in FY22.

Pine Labs has three business segments: digital payments, issuing and consumer application. Under payments, the firm operates technology platforms such as Pinelabs, Qfix, Mosambee, Benow, and Setu that are available to merchants to enable acceptance of in-store or online digital payments.

This segment covers income from charging subscription and transaction-based fees from merchants and selling PoS devices which spiked by 75.1% to Rs 1,077 crore in FY23 from Rs 615 crore in FY22.

Revenue Breakdown

FY22

Total ₹ 1

FY23

Total ₹ 1

To check complete Revenue Breakdown visit thekredible.comView full data

The issuing segment primarily provides a technology platform to issue, process, and distribute prepaid cards. Income from this vertical grew by 32% to Rs 445 crore in FY23.

Pine Labs provides deal vouchers and smart payment applications for consumers to pay and save under the brand name Fave. Collections from this segment stood at Rs 66 crore during FY23. The firm acquired Malaysia-based Fave in a $45 million cash and stock deal.

India contributed 91% of the total operating income while Singapore generated 4% in FY23. The company also recorded a non-operating income of Rs 166 crore from interest on deposits, gain on mutual funds & investments, and deferred tax credit during FY23.

On the cost side, employee benefit expenses accounted for 45% of the overall expenditure. This cost grew 32% to Rs 895 crore during FY23 from Rs 678 crore in FY22. Its transaction and data center cost added Rs 187 crore to the total expenditure.

Expenses Breakdown

FY22

Total ₹ 1

FY23

Total ₹ 1

• Employee benefit expense

• Cost of goods

• Transaction cost

• Data center cost

• Legal professional fees

• Business promotion

• Depreciation and impairment

• Others

To check complete Expense Breakdown visit thekredible.comView full data

The cost of PoS devices, legal professional, advertising cum promotion, depreciation and impairments, and other overheads took its overall expense by 44.49% to Rs 1,981 crore in FY23 from Rs 1,371 crore in FY22.

Importantly, the company has booked Rs 323 crore against depreciation, amortization, and impairment costs during FY23.

See TheKredible for the detailed expense breakup.

FY22-FY23

	FY22	FY23
EBITDA Margin	-1%	8%
Expense/₹ of Op Revenue	₹1.35	₹1.25
ROCE	-6%	-4%

Despite a rise in its expenses, Pine Labs’ losses declined 12.36% to Rs 227 crore in FY23 compared to Rs 259 crore in FY22. If we exclude the depreciation and impairment costs, the financial picture would be cleaner for Pine Labs. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin stood at -4% and 8%, respectively. On a unit level, it spent Rs 1.25 to earn a rupee in FY23.