PhysicsWallah spent Rs 1,426 Cr on salaries in FY25; Offline ARPU stood at Rs 40,405

Edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah has filed draft papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to raise Rs 3,820 crore through initial public offer. Its financial statement shows the company significantly narrowing its losses on the back of strong revenue growth across online, offline, and hybrid channels.

PW’s operating revenue grew nearly 49% to Rs 2,887 crore in FY25 from Rs 1,941 crore in FY24, according to its restated consolidated financial statement shown in DRHP. Income from coaching services remained the largest contributor at Rs 2,498.5 crore, out of which the online segment rose 45.5% to Rs 1,404 crore in FY25 from Rs 965 crore in FY24, while offline coaching grew 45.7% to Rs 1,352 crore from Rs 928 crore.

The Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) in its offline channel has steadily improved from Rs 34,467 in FY23 to Rs 40,405 in FY25 signaling the growing strength of its hybrid and offline presence, which PW entered only in FY23. The offline channel now contributes nearly 47% of the top line.

Revenue from hostel fees and transportation added Rs 88 crore and sale of products jumped 74% to Rs 259 crore in FY25. From a geographical perspective, India remained the core market contributing Rs 2,851 crore or 98.75% of the total operating revenue, while Dubai and the USA collectively accounted for Rs 36 crore or 1.25%.

The company’s workforce also expanded significantly during the year. PhysicsWallah employed 5,096 faculty members in FY25, a 40% increase from 3,654 in FY24. Of these, 4,207 were permanent teachers while 889 were hired on a contractual basis.

On the expense side, to support the larger base of faculty and other staff, the company’s spend on salaries grew nearly 28% to Rs 1,426 crore in FY25, accounting for 44% of its overall expenditure. Marketing expenses stood at Rs 448 crore for FY25. The company also spent Rs 123 crore on materials and Rs 366 crore on depreciation during the last fiscal year.

Overall, PhysicsWallah kept its spending broadly flat at Rs 3,265 crore in FY25 as against Rs 3,279 crore in FY24.

With the help of controlled expenses and growing revenue, PW managed to bring down its burn significantly by 78.5% to Rs 243 core in FY25 from Rs 1,131 crore in FY24. However the company reported a positive EBITDA of Rs 192.5 crore in FY25 with EBITDA margin of 6.33%.

The company’s ROCE stood at -6.37%. On a unit level, the firm spent Rs 1.13 to earn a rupee in FY25, a sharp improvement from Rs 1.69 in FY24. The company reported current assets worth Rs 2,237 crore as of March 2025, including Rs 175 crore in cash and bank balances.

Interestingly, the company disclosed a political contribution of Rs 37 lakh during FY25, including Rs 28.7 lakh to CPI and Rs 5 lakh to BJP.

As per DRHP, co-founders Alakh Pandey and Prateek Boob hold the largest stakes in the company at 40.35% each, followed by WestBridge Capital with 7.8%, while Hornbill Capital, GSV Ventures, and Lightspeed hold 4.42%, 2.85%, and 1.79%, respectively.

PhysicsWallah acquired a 40% stake in UPSC coaching institute Sarrthi IAS. Entrackr exclusively reported the deal on Sep 5.