Ecom Express records Rs 1,912 Cr revenue in first 9 months of FY25

Ecom Express recently grabbed headlines following its acquisition by listed firm Delhivery for Rs 1,407 crore, which appears to be a distress sale. Looking at the numbers for the first three quarters of FY25, Ecom Express saw a dip in revenue alongside growth in losses.

Ecom Express reported revenue from operations of Rs 1,912 crore during the first three quarters of FY25, according to an internal document reviewed by Entrackr. For context, the company recorded Rs 2,653 crore in revenue for the full fiscal year FY24. Based on the current trajectory, Ecom Express is likely to close FY25 with around Rs 2,500 crore in revenue or perhaps even less, considering the bandwidth that will go into the sale. 

The stagnation in growth over the past three years likely contributed to the modest valuation of the acquisition.

Ecom Express claims to provide logistics services across 2,700 towns and 27,000 pin codes in India, with over 50,000 employees and 3,000 facilities. In the first nine months of FY25, it generated Rs 2,349 crore from courier services and Rs 260 crore from warehousing operations.

According to the document, Ecom Express has delivered 40.5 million shipment orders in the first three quarters (March-December 2024), compared to 51.4 million in FY24.

The decline in revenue and fixed cost led Ecom Express to register a net loss of Rs 398 crore in the 9M FY25, compared to Rs 249 crore during the fiscal year ended March 2024. However, its adjusted EBITDA loss stood at Rs 104 crore in the first nine months of FY25.

Before the acquisition, Ecom Express raised over $290 million in a round. According to its DRHP filed in August last year, Partners Group was the largest stakeholder with 49.76%, followed by Warburg Pincus and BII (British International Investment ), which hold 27.13% and 10.03%, respectively.

The discount sale of Ecom Express underscores the sheer challenge of any large logistics business, with its massive man-management requirements right on top. Unlike, say, food delivery firms that can live with higher attrition, logistics firms do need a relative level of stability to ensure operations run smoothly. The very nature of the business itself also means that founders can be tied up completely in day-to-day operations if they do not build a strong second-tier team. From what we can see, Ecom Express has made significant progress on this, with a strong leadership team in place. However, a maturing industry with more conservative valuations, low promoter stake (two of the original promoters have passed away), and the age of the remaining two founders (Manju Dhawan and K Satyanarayana), both ex-Blue Dart with over 35 years of experience to boot, has probably played a role as well. For them, it is probably still a strong and satisfying end for a brave journey to turn entrepreneurs and marks a significant achievement in just 13 years since founding the firm in 2012.