Zomato reports net profit of US$20.9B, misses Q1 profit estimates 

INDIA- Indian food delivery platform Zomato has reported a consolidated net profit of US$20.9 billion for Q1 2024, falling below analyst expectations of US$22.6 billion according to data released by LSEG. 

The company’s share prices dropped by 2% the day the performance was announced. 

The company reported an operational revenue of US$427 million compared to US$246 million in the same quarter last year. 

The company also attributes its performance to Blinkit, its quick commerce platform that turned profitable before currency adjustment.  

The company’s food ordering and delivery wing also reported a significant increase in operational revenue, reaching US$208 million in the reported quarter. 

Blinkit’s revenues doubled year-on-year, reaching US$59.1 million in 2023.  

The quick commerce platform is expected to contribute more than US$300 million to Zomato’s revenues which demonstrates the company’s substantial growth over the years. It is the company’s biggest revenue contributor.  

The company reported a consolidated loss of US$22.5 billion in 2023. 

The company plans on expanding its presence beyond the 26 present locations in India.  

The company unveiled plans of opening 75 new stores by the end of 2024, increasing total stores to 526. 

The company targets 1,000 total stores by the end of 2025 in a move expected to expand its hold in the market. 

Zomato’s CEO, Deepinder Goyal said, “Expansion beyond the top eight cities is more experimental in nature to test the depth of the market and so far most of our stores in these smaller cities are doing well.  

We plan to continue opening more stores in a measured way in the smaller cities.” 

However, the company’s e-commerce wing still faces stiff competition from competitors like Nykaa, Flipkart, Meesho, Snapdeal among others who are rapidly gaining market share. 

The company also recently unveiled its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) pool, an opportunity for employees to have capital ownership in the company.  

The ESOP pool will amount to 2% of the company’s share capital. 

Goyal also said, “We will continue to follow our earlier format of ESOPs with face value as the strike price; vesting will be linked to time and performance conditions.  

This new ESOP pool should be sufficient for us for at least the next five years.” 

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