News Update

Info Edge Q1 2023-2024: Revenue Up 14%, Net Profit Down 50% Amid IT Hiring Challenges

• ByStartupStory     |    August 12, 2023

The founder of Info Edge believes that the current period presents a favorable opportunity to invest in young companies due to reasonable valuations and smaller funding rounds.

In the first quarter of the fiscal year 2023-2024, Info Edge witnessed a 14 percent increase in consolidated revenue to Rs 626 crore. However, the net profit saw a 50 percent decline to Rs 147 crore compared to the same period last year. This dip was attributed to sluggish billings growth on its main recruitment platform Naukri, primarily due to a decrease in job openings in the IT sector.

For the June quarter, billings experienced a minor 0.2 percent year-on-year reduction, reaching Rs 523 crore, according to the company’s filing on August 11.

Hitesh Oberoi, the Managing Director and CEO, noted that while Naukri’s IT sector hiring faced challenges, non-IT hiring remained promising. The real estate business, particularly 99 acres, displayed strong growth, and the freemium strategy in Jeevansathi helped lower marketing expenses.

Revenues from the recruitment business grew by 15.3 percent year on year in the quarter, while real estate business revenues increased by 24.6 percent.

The company achieved a significant 37.2 percent growth in operating profit for the quarter, amounting to Rs 208.9 crore on a standalone basis, compared to Rs 152.3 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Standalone operations generated Rs 144.6 crore in cash operations for the quarter. This recovery followed a net loss of Rs 503 crore in the previous quarter due to challenges in some early-stage startup investments and volatile valuations during a tough funding period.

On a standalone basis, Info Edge’s revenue from operations rose by 15 percent to Rs 584 crore, and net profit increased by 35 percent to Rs 200 crore.

Info Edge’s earnings per share was back in the black in Q1 at Rs 12.25. Chintan Thakkar, CFO and Whole Time Director said, “Despite the challenging environment in IT recruitment, growth in Billings and rationalization of spending in 99acres, Shiksha and Jeevansathi business contributed to generating Rs 145 crore of cash from operations in Q1’24.”

The company’s stock dropped 4.27 percent to Rs 4,452 on the BSE today after opening at Rs 4,650.40 per share.

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