Zomato Q2 Results: Loss Widens On Investment In Food Delivery Business

Zomato Ltd.'s loss continued to widen for the second straight quarter as it beefed up spending on its food delivery business.

Net loss for the restaurant discovery and food delivery company stood at Rs 430 crore in the quarter ended September, according to its exchange filing. That compares with a loss of Rs 356 crore in the preceding three months.

Highlights (QoQ)

• Revenue rose 21% to Rs 1,024 crore.

• Operating loss at Rs 536 crore compared with Rs 377-crore Ebitda loss in the preceding quarter.

The company said losses went up on account of three reasons:

• Increased spending on branding and marketing for customer acquisition.

• Increased investments and growing share of smaller/emerging geographies, which are less profitable today compared to more mature cities.

• Increased delivery costs of Rs 5 per order owing to unpredictable weather and increase in fuel prices.

“After a hiatus of two years, we have started launching food delivery in new cities again,” Zomato was quoted as saying in a statement.

Meanwhile, the company said the food-delivery industry is bouncing back as overall customer traffic on its platform in India increased to 5.9 crore average monthly active users in the quarter ended September compared with 4.5 crore in the first quarter.