Facebook India’s profit surges 43% to Rs 505 Cr in FY24

Facebook India did not achieve double-digit growth in its scale year-on-year for the fiscal year ending March 2024. However, the Indian division of the social media giant saw its profit spike by 43%, surpassing the Rs 500 crore profit threshold in the same period.

Facebook India’s revenue from operations grew by 9.3% to Rs 3,034.8 crore in FY24, up from Rs 2,775.7 crore in FY23, as shown in its annual financial statement filed with the Registrar of Companies.

As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Meta Platforms Inc., Facebook India generates revenue from digital advertising and support services offered to its parent company in California. The balance sheet indicates that growth in these two streams primarily drove its revenue wheel. However, the firm’s non-operating income decreased by 25% to Rs 28.95 crore, bringing its total revenue for FY24 to Rs 3,063.7 crore.

While Facebook India didn’t achieve double-digit growth, it effectively managed its overall expenses, which grew by only 2.4% to Rs 2,349.6 crore. The largest expense was recorded under "other expenses," which remained stable at Rs 1435.3 crore. Employee benefit expenses rose to Rs 476.1 crore, reflecting a 7.8% increase from FY23.

Importantly, depreciation and amortization costs fell by 10.8% to Rs 271.3 crore in the last fiscal year, down from Rs 304.2 crore in FY23. Legal charges were up by 52.1% to Rs 166.7 crore in the last fiscal year. Other miscellaneous expenses decreased by 32%, totaling Rs 463.1 crore and making up 19.71% of the overall expenses.

At the end, Facebook India’s profit after tax stood at Rs 504.9 crore in FY24, marking a 43% growth compared to the previous fiscal year.

Management slack, an economics concept that refers to costs that orgs add on during good times which are shed first if the situation changes, is clearly no more an easy option for facebook in India. The firm has a wildly profitable business where more costs apparently simply cannot be padded anymore. Expect some well publicized big ticket initiatives soon on areas like sustainability as even acquisitions if any would be possibly frowned on as an abuse of its dominance. 

The numbers also underline the stranglehold of the Meta plus Alphabet combination in India’s digital ecosystem, defying every effort by local players to get a larger share of the digital spends here, despite borderline terrible servicing. The remaining players remain pygmies in front of these two for now and the foreseeable future unfortunately.