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<keyword id="19898109" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Paytm" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Paytm" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Paytm">Paytm</keyword>'s parent company, <keyword id="20253123" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="One97-Communications" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="One97 Communications" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="One97 Communications">One97 Communications</keyword>, declared its Q2FY25 results today, announcing a one-time, exceptional profit of Rs 1,345 crore during the quarter, thanks to the sale of its entertainment ticketing business. The company's PAT (profit after tax) stood at Rs 930 crore. Notably, without this windfall gain, Paytm's finances would still be in red, with the company racking up losses worth Rs 415 crore. Paytm was in red in the year-ago period as well, incurring losses worth Rs 290.5 crore. This windfall profit also improved Paytm's EBITDA by Rs 388 crore on a QoQ basis. The company's revenue also saw a slight uptick of 10.5% quarterly to Rs 1,659 crore, as opposed to Rs 1,501 crore in the previous quarter. But on a year-on-year basis, Paytm's revenue dipped significantly by 34%. The company also announced that it has entered into a DLG (<keyword id="23641220" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Default-Loss-Guarantee" source="keywords">default loss guarantee</keyword>) model for its merchant loans of about Rs 225 crore with SMFG India Credit. Under this arrangement, Paytm will be first in line to take a hit in case of a loss that emerges from borrowers defaulting or skipping their payments. "Following the regulatory framework and the emerging market practice, we see increased willingness from lenders to partner and allocate more capital in the default loss. The DLG model will help to increase disbursements with the existing partners and expand partnerships with new lenders for the loan distribution,” said the company in its earnings release today. The company's revenue from its payment business also inched up 9% on a quarterly basis, along with its revenue from <keyword id="19976433" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="financial-services" source="keywords">financial services</keyword>, which also grew by 34% QoQ. At present, Paytm's total merchant subscriptions stand at 1.12 crore, with the company garnering 3 lakh new merchants during the quarter. During the previous quarter, Paytm's <keyword id="20253122" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gross-merchandise-value" source="keywords">gross merchandise value</keyword> (GMV) also inched up by 5% on a sequential basis, which experts anticipate will continue in the coming quarters, just as India braces for the festive season. Per its release, Paytm aims to achieve <keyword id="23641219" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="EBITDA-profitability" source="keywords">EBITDA profitability</keyword> (before ESOPs) by the fourth quarter of this financial year. However, investors remained unimpressed with Paytm's performance, with its share slipping by around 3.96% during the day to trade at Rs 697.20. The stock has a YTD (yield-to-date) of 7.91% during the year.

Paytm declares Q2 results, earns Rs 930 crore as windfall gains by way of sale of ticketing business to Zomato

If you are living in a metropolitan area in India, chances are you regularly order food from <keyword id="19901323" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Zomato" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Zomato" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Zomato">Zomato</keyword>. The company launched in India in 2008 and was earlier just a food delivery service. Overtime, it evolved into a food discovery platform as people can rate restaurants, reserve tables, leave reviews and more. Now, we all know that when we order food via Zomato we end up paying slightly more. There are various charges that the company levies on users including handling charges and delivery fee. In August last year, Zomato started charging a <keyword id="20299300" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="platform-fee" source="keywords">platform fee</keyword> from users. And this has proved to be a successful business move for the platform as during its annual report, the company revealed that it has collected Rs 83 crore till March from levying platform fee. So what exactly is this platform fee that has raked in moolah from the company? Moreover, how does it benefit Zomato and what effect does it have on the end consumer? Read on to find out. <h2>What is Zomato’s platform fee?</h2>Zomato's platform fee is a small additional charge that the company adds to your order. Think of it as a convenience fee for using the app's services, including delivery, customer support, and the seamless experience of browsing through hundreds of restaurant options. Initially, the company used to levy Rs 2 per order as platform fee. But that amount has grown in the last one year and today Zomato charges Rs 6 as platform fee in key areas. It can be located when you load the bill details of your order. <div type="image" title="Zomato levies platform fee" msid="112313825" hostid="261" sizebytes="48995" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Zomato levies platform fee&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> <h2>How it impacts Zomato</h2>The Platform fee might seem like a minor addition to your bill, but when multiplied by millions of orders, it becomes a significant source of revenue for Zomato. Since every order placed incurs this charge, it increases the company’s "take rates" — the profit made per order. This fee serves as a crucial, controllable revenue stream in the supply chain, providing a steady income source that companies can directly manage. Alongside advertising fees and restaurant commissions, the platform fee has become a significant revenue generator for Zomato. In other words, levying a platform fee is basically a clever way for Zomato to boost its revenue without significantly increasing the prices of individual menu items. During its annual report, Zomato identified the platform fee as one of the three main factors driving Zomato's Adjusted Revenue, which saw a 27 percent year-on-year growth, reaching Rs 7,792 crore in FY24. "Adjusted Revenue as a percentage of GOV (gross order value) continued to rise, primarily due to higher restaurant commission take-rates, improved ad monetization, and the introduction of the platform fee from Q2FY24 onwards," the report highlighted. The report also added that all of the above mentioned factors compensated for the reduction in customer delivery charges per order due to the free delivery benefit available on Gold orders. <h2>How are you affected by Zomato’s platform fee?</h2>Zomato’s report also revealed that most late-night orders in the last fiscal year came from Delhi NCR, while Bengaluru led in the number of breakfast orders. Now the question that arises is, how exactly is the end consumer being affected by the platform fee? One of the obvious answers is that it makes your order a bit more expensive. Especially if you order from the food delivery giant on a daily basis. You might not even notice the addition of Rs 6 in your final bill but if you order food from Zomato everyday and start calculating, it will come up to be a noticeable amount. Say you have ordered food from Zomato everyday since the last three months. In this case, you would have ended up paying around Rs 540 as platform fee. Moreover, platform fee tends to be higher during peak hours or weather conditions. Thus, the order ends up being even costlier. Just last month, CEO of Bengaluru-based company <keyword id="22689022" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="capitalmind-deepak-shenoy" source="keywords">Capitalmind Deepak Shenoy</keyword>, was making headlines for saying that he has reduced ordering food from <keyword id="19896956" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="swiggy" source="keywords">Swiggy</keyword> and Zomato because of higher platform fees. “Massively reduced ordering from Swiggy/Zomato, down to just once maybe on a weekend, like today and noticed their 'platform' charge is now ₹6. Happy that I weaned myself off the daily ordering. They also take 30 percent from restaurants, btw,” he wrote in a post on X (earlier called Twitter).

Zomato earned Rs 83 crore from platform fee: What it is, how it benefits the company and how it affects you

When A (name kept anonymous) bought tickets for the 2025 <keyword id="22044624" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Coldplay-concert" source="keywords">Coldplay concert</keyword> in Mumbai from a certain “concert organizer” account on <keyword id="19900288" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="instagram" source="keywords">Instagram</keyword>, they were over the moon. Yes, the tickets were exorbitantly expensive, way above the prices advertised on <keyword id="20215809" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="BookMyShow" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="BookMyShow" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="BookMyShow">BookMyShow</keyword> (BMS), the official ticketing partner. But so what? What mattered was that they could finally attend Coldplay's concert. At 12 noon on September 22, when bookings for Coldplay’s 2025 India leg of “Music of the Sphere” world tour had commenced, A was also in line, having logged in since 11:30 am, from 4 different screens and through 6 cousins. But God, and BMS were in no mood to reward her efforts and patience. The ticket sale lasted for a mere few seconds, before the site crashed and all tickets were sold out. Turns out, even the second time wasn’t the charm for them. The first time, too, A had not been able to get tickets for Diljit’s Dil-luminati India tour, which had gone live earlier last month. They had applied for an HDFC Pixel credit card to access the early-bird offer, but it was as if luck was taunting them “vibe teri meri na mildi aa”. could not get tickets for Diljit’s concert as well, which had also vanished within minutes of going live, much like Coldplay's. That’s why, when they saw that tickets for both Diljit and Coldplay were being sold by various Instagram accounts, despite showing as sold out on <keyword id="20496317" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato-Live" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Zomato Live" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Zomato Live">Zomato Live</keyword> and BookMyShow, it seemed magical to A. And per Coldplay, “If you were to ask me, after all that we've been through. Still believe in magic?”, the only acceptable response is “Yes I do, of course I do!” So, they went ahead, agreed to pay Rs 35,000, and bought Coldplay tickets which would’ve cost them Rs 6,450 via BMS. A steep price to pay, but at least they had their ticket to “an experience of a lifetime!”. As it is, the band had announced its retirement post its 12th album, and the band had just launched its 10th album, "Moon Music". <h2>BookMyShow to “fix” scalpers?</h2>But this morning, BMS startled many people like A by stating that unethically sourced tickets (read: tickets not directly booked via BMS) could be canceled. The platform had already filed an FIR to this effect with the <keyword id="19906039" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mumbai-police" source="keywords">Mumbai police</keyword> on October 2, 2024, against the rampant “ticket scalping and black marketing of tickets for Coldplay's <keyword id="22420646" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Music-of-the-Spheres" source="keywords">Music Of The Spheres</keyword> World Tour 2025 in India”. The ticketing platform added that they had provided details of all resellers that had caught their sight, including independent individuals reselling tickets for Coldplay’s tour across social media platforms such as Instagram (where A had purchased their tickets from) and WhatsApp. Not just these small resellers, but multinational ticket exchange and <keyword id="23273060" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ticket-resale" source="keywords">ticket resale</keyword> platform <keyword id="23278340" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="viagogo" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="viagogo" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="viagogo">Viagogo</keyword>, and its parent company StubHub Holdings have also been served legal notices by Zomato Live and BMS. While Zomato Live has not commented on if the tickets purchased via Viagogo or such scalpers would be canceled or not, it is no secret that hours after the tickets were shown as sold out on these official sites, tickets for both Diljit and Coldplay’s concert were available on Viagogo, albeit at sky-high prices. Even as of today, you can buy tickets for Coldplay’s concert in Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium on January 19th, 2025 on Viagogo. The catch? You should be willing to empty your pockets. Consider this. Tickets for level 2 stand E were priced at Rs 9,000 on BMS. On Viagogo, the tickets for this specific category start at Rs 54,431, and go as high as Rs 1,89,512. The tickets A bought were also originally priced at Rs 6,450. But on Viagogo, the starting range is Rs 31,288, going up to Rs 1,13,207. Talk about earning 5x-6x returns! In comparison, the ticket prices offered by these Instagram reseller accounts, also termed as scalpers, might look benign, even generous. But at the end of the day, scalpers are also looking to rake in profits, which they earn by selling these tickets in bulk i.e. lots of 5-10 tickets at once. After all, who is attending concerts alone? The slim margins on individual tickets are well cushioned by the extra bucks brought in by the higher quantities of tickets sold at once. Consider this: <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Phase/Level (For Diljit’s Concert) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Original Price (As shown on Zomato Live) (In Rs) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Prices offered by an IG account reselling tickets for Delhi (26th October, 2024) (In Rs) </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Silver </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1,499 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2,399-3,999 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Gold Standing (Phase 1,2,3) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;"> 4,999-8,999 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">7,999- 10,000 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Fan Pit (Standing) Phase 1 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">12,999 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">20,000 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Fan Pit (Standing) Phase 2 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">19,999 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">25,000 </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: Zomato Live, IG accounts of resellers/scalpers <h2>Modus Operandi</h2>Most scalpers don't demand the entire money upfront. In A’s case, the scalper demanded a 20% advance for booking confirmation. Others ask for as much as 50% of the booking amount. Once that’s done, the customer would get an e-ticket on their registered email ID, which will mention their seat number and booking ID. Then, once this customer pays the remaining amount, the physical tickets will be dispatched to their registered address. Mind you, these physical tickets are important. Just e-tickets won't make the cut for both Coldplay and Diljit. You would not be able to enter the venue if you don't have this physical ticket or a wearable band. So, if the tickets are not delivered to your place before the concert, you’d be left stranded, even after paying all that money. Also, dont be surprised with a constant, relentless barrage of messages and calls, if you so much as just inquire about the tickets. Most scalpers, in a bid to quickly close on the opportunity, call incessantly, not giving buyers enough headspace to make rational, or for that matter, rationally priced decisions. But even after all the hassle, there is no guarantee of timely, or even delivery. While there were multiple screenshots on each of these pages, showing confirmation from various Instagram users saying that tickets had been delivered, but is that convincing proof enough? Or legal enough? <h2>Its legit, its not legit-No one knows! </h2>Well, it's a gray area, truth be told. But Germaine Pereira, Partner, Solomon &amp; Co. underlines that if the buyer is willing to pay a premium or higher price than the ticket’s original face value, it is valid, and perfectly legal under the Indian Contract Act, 1872 “Ticket resale or scalping, where individuals or entities buy tickets for specific events, and then resell such tickets at a higher price to make a profit, is valid if it meets the essential elements of a contract-offer, acceptance, consideration, and lawful object. Unless there is a clearly established motive of cheating or fraudulent inducement or exorbitant pricing of tickets in the secondary markets, there’s nothing wrong”, continues Pereira. State governments are also largely reluctant to establish regulations in these waters, since a resale would entail double entertainment tax, which only adds to their coffers. Says advocate Siddharth Chandrashekhar, Senior Panel Counsel at Bombay High Court, "Although some state police forces, like in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Punjab, have cracked down on illegal sales, arrests are rare, and the absence of cohesive legislation leaves enforcement inconsistent. Black marketing or reselling of live event tickets at escalated prices constitutes an offense under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 for petty crimes, the Consumer Protection Act 2019 for unfair trade practices, and the Competition Act 2002 for abuse of dominant position”, Chandrashekhar highlights. “While Maharashtra’s Entertainment Duty Act, 1923, attempts to curb resale for some events, most states lack clear laws addressing scalping. Concert ticket scalping in India operates in a regulatory vacuum. With no specific national laws, opportunistic sellers can legally resell tickets for exorbitant sums, with no recourse for buyer”, he signs off.

'Will my tickets get canceled now?' people who purchased tickets from scalpers during the Diljit-Coldplay mania ask

Think of this. You have ordered food online and have marked it as cash on delivery. The delivery person arrives and the bill amount is Rs 488. You hand over Rs 500 to the delivery person and there’s that commonly heard phrase, “change nahi hai kya.” Most of us have been in situations like these and now that <keyword id="20030235" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="UPI-payments" source="keywords">UPI payments</keyword> are more common than ever, hardly anyone seems to be carrying change. Food delivery giant <keyword id="19901323" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Zomato" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Zomato" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Zomato">Zomato</keyword> seems to have found a solution to this problem. The company’s CEO <keyword id="19901325" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Deepinder-Goyal" source="keywords">Deepinder Goyal</keyword> announced in a post on X that delivery partners can now add COD orders’ balance amount to a customer’s <keyword id="22710108" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato-Money-account" source="keywords">Zomato Money account</keyword> instantly. That way, nobody has to worry about carrying change. <h2>Zomato CEO has answer to your change problems</h2>In his post on X, Goyal wrote, “For cash on delivery orders, finding exact change can sometimes be inconvenient. Starting today, our customers can pay delivery partners in cash, and ask for the balance amount to be added instantly to their <keyword id="22700688" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zomato-money" source="keywords">Zomato Money</keyword> account. This balance can be used towards future delivery orders or dining out.” Goyal also acknowledged that this idea was inspired by Tata group-owned <keyword id="20041313" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Big-Basket" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Big Basket" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Big Basket">Big Basket</keyword>. “Thank you @bigbasket_com for the inspiration for this solution, and our delivery partners (three of them are working as product managers with us) for insisting that we develop this asap,” he wrote. <h2>Zomato earns crores from platform fee</h2>Zomato was also making headlines earlier this week for raking in a lot of moolah by charging platform fees. The company started charging platform fees in August last year and this has proved to be a successful business move. During its annual report, Zomato revealed that it has collected Rs 83 crore till March from levying platform fee. For the unversed, platform fee is a small additional charge that the company adds to your order. Think of it as a convenience fee for using the app's services, including delivery, customer support, and the seamless experience of browsing through hundreds of restaurant options. Initially, the company used to levy Rs 2 per order as platform fee. But that amount has grown in the last year and today Zomato charges Rs 6 as platform fee in key areas. It can be located when you load the bill details of your order.

Zomato announces new feature for cash on delivery orders and it can help solve a huge problem

<ul><li><keyword id="19901323" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Zomato" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Zomato">Zomato</keyword> and <keyword id="19896956" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swiggy" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Swiggy" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Swiggy">Swiggy</keyword> have increased the <keyword id="20299300" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="platform-fee" source="keywords">platform fee</keyword> charged to users by 20%.</li><li>With this increase, the platform fee has increased from ₹5 to ₹6.</li><li>The platform fee charged is different from GST, delivery charges and restaurant charges applied on the platforms.</li></ul> Your food deliveries will get costlier as Zomato and Swiggy have started increasing the platform fee by 20%. The <keyword id="19922227" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="food-delivery-platforms" source="keywords">food delivery platforms</keyword> will now charge users ₹6 per order. Food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy introduced platform fees in 2023, which began at ₹2 per order. This was then increased to ₹3 and then to ₹5 in April 2024. <h2>Platform fee increases threefold</h2>In yet another increase, the two food delivery platforms have increased the platform fee to ₹6. This means that the platform fee has increased threefold in a year. The platform fee is different from other charges levied on orders such as GST, delivery charges and restaurant charges. Customers are required to pay this charge irrespective of any membership such as<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/swiggy-cracks-down-on-password-sharing-allows-users-to-use-same-account-on-only-two-devices/articleshow/97548345.cms"> Swiggy One</a> or<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/zomato-gold-re-launched-with-free-deliveries-vip-access-up-to-40-discount-on-dining-and-more/articleshow/97273088.cms"> Zomato Gold</a>. The increased platform fee is currently being tested in selected cities such as Delhi and Bengaluru. It is expected to be rolled out in a phased manner across all major cities. While an increase of ₹1 may seem insignificant to most people who place orders online, it adds up to a good source of revenue for Swiggy and Zomato which process lakhs of orders every day. Platforms such as Zomato and Swiggy aim to earn ₹1.25 to ₹1.5 crore per day through platform fees. <h2>Customers not happy</h2>Customers have not reacted positively to this news. Posts on platforms like X have criticised this move, calling for users to directly order from restaurants. <div type="twitter" handle="trippyankit" handlename="trippyankit" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" id="1812756936669921328"></div> The user highlighted that food prices are already comparatively higher on food delivery platforms. The difference in price is due to the commission paid by restaurants to Swiggy and Zomato, which usually ranges between 20 to 30%. <h2> Zomato share price surges</h2>Zomato’s share price increased by 3% to close at ₹229.10 on Monday after the company increased the platform fee. The company’s share price has increased by over 70% in the last six months, helping the company’s chief executive officer (CEO)<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/zomatos-deepinder-goyal-joins-elite-list-of-indian-billionaires/articleshow/111747793.cms"> Deepinder Goyal</a> become a billionaire. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/iqoo-z9-lite-5g-with-90hz-display-5000mah-battery-launched-starting-at-10499/slidelist/111754545.cms">iQOO Z9 Lite 5G with 90Hz display, 5000mAh battery launched starting at ₹10,499</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/global-smartphone-shipments-grow-6-5-in-q2-2024-xiaomi-records-highest-growth/articleshow/111749023.cms">Global smartphone shipments grow 6.5% in Q2 2024, Xiaomi records highest growth</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/ipos-this-week-four-ipos-to-hit-the-street-this-week/articleshow/111745283.cms">IPOs this week – four IPOs to hit the street this week</a>

Zomato and Swiggy increase platform fee by 20% – food deliveries to get costlier

<ul><li>Zomato has ceased operations in 225 smaller cities as their performance was ‘not very encouraging’ in the past few quarters.</li><li>Analysts at ICICI Securities said that the exit in these cities “indicates disenchantment with a long tail of sub-scale operations.”</li><li>The management said that although the demand environment remains challenging, they are seeing green shoots of demand coming back in the recent weeks.</li><li>Analysts say that the relaunch of <keyword id="4299597" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zomato-gold" source="Orion">Zomato Gold</keyword> in January will boost business.</li></ul>Food delivery platform Zomato has ceased operations in 225 smaller cities as their performance was ‘not very encouraging’ in the past few quarters. This comes as the company reported a widening of losses in the October-December quarter. These cities contributed 0.3% to Zomato’s gross order value (GOV) in Q3FY23. The company said that, “Performance of these cities was not very encouraging in the past few quarters and we did not feel the payback period on our investments in these cities was acceptable.” Analysts at ICICI Securities said that the exit in these cities “indicates disenchantment with a long tail of sub-scale operations.” While the new-age company disappointed investors with more losses this quarter, the management said that although the demand environment remains challenging, they are seeing green shoots of demand coming back in recent weeks. The company believes that the worst may be behind it. “We believe that the long-term opportunity remains large and exciting. We think that the current slowdown is a result of a few temporary factors – a) macro slowdown for the mid-market segment, b) boom in dining out for the premium-end, and c) boom in travel at the premium-end,” said the company in an exchange filing. Zomato posted a loss of ₹347 crore in Q3 FY23 as compared to ₹63 crore loss in the same quarter last year. However, consolidated revenue from operations for the quarter surged 75% on year to ₹1,948 crore. Adding to it, this was the first quarter with consolidation of the grocery business Blinkit. The company informed exchanges that excluding the Blinkit business, Zomato turned positive at the EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) level in January even as the food delivery business witnessed a slowdown. ‘Relaunch of Zomato Gold to boost growth’ Zomato relaunched its membership programme, Zomato Gold in late January. This programme has been built on the lessons learned from the programme’s previous avatar and after taking in feedback from customers, restaurant partners, as well as investors. Analysts at Nuvama Institutional Equities said that the prospects for Zomato’s business going ahead remain bright while it assigned a ‘Buy’ on the stocks. “We believe that Zomato Gold’s relaunch will be a big boost to growth. Adj. EBITDA of ₹230 million (vs. ₹20 million in Q2FY23) in food delivery, despite flattish QoQ GOV growth is a big plus and we remain confident of the company’s ability to generate cash,” said the brokerage firm in a report. "We expect this programme to drive loyalty and higher frequency of ordering going forward, and in less than a month, the Zomato Gold programme has scaled to 900k+ members," said the company. Most brokerage houses have maintained a ‘Buy’ rating on the company’s stock. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Brokerages </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Rating </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Target price </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Jefferies </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Maintains Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹100 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Morgan Stanley </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Maintains Overweight </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹82 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Goldman Sachs </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Maintains Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹100 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">CLSA </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Maintains Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹70 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Citigroup </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Maintains Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹76 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Nomura </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Maintains Reduce </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹50 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">ICICI Securities </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Upgrade to Hold from Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹54 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Nuvama Institutional Equities </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹74 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Kotak Institutional Equities </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Retains Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹82 </td></tr></tbody></table> Analysts believe Zomato may clock profitability as soon as by the end of the current financial year. “Zomato’s road to profitability has grown even more promising. Zomato (ex-quick commerce) clocked adj. EBITDA level profitability in the month of Jan-23. Depending on execution-related wins, the company (ex of quick commerce) may clock profitability in Q4FY23 itself, two quarters ahead of their guidance,” said a report by Nuvama Institutional Equities. Further, Zomato is planning to remodel the Zomato Instant service to focus on offering customers home-style cooked meals at affordable prices (to be called Zomato Everyday). “We believe that this is a large opportunity in a market like India and is relatively untapped currently. We plan to launch this soon in the next few weeks,” said the company. Shares of the company have dropped nearly 26% in the last three months. The stock price of Zomato was down 2.41% at ₹50.55 on February 14. <div type="image" title="zomato 3 mo" height="900" width="1200" msid="97907107" hostid="261" sizebytes="10362"></div> SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/nykaas-stock-plunges-4-2-after-its-q3-net-profit-slips-70/articleshow/97901748.cms">Nykaa’s stock plunges 4.2% after its Q3 net profit slips 70%</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/gursaurabh-singh-asked-the-sharks-to-give-100-hours-of-their-time-for-0-5-equity/articleshow/97902173.cms">Startup that wants to give an EV twist to regular cycles seeks Sharks' time not money</a>

No long-tail effect: Zomato banks on demand recovery in future, even as it shuts operations in 225 cities on poor performance

Online food delivery platform <keyword id="19901323" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zomato" source="keywords">Zomato</keyword> on Thursday announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary <keyword id="20332565" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zomato-payments-private-limited" source="keywords">Zomato Payments Private Limited</keyword> (<keyword id="20332941" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zppl" source="keywords">ZPPL</keyword>) has been granted a certificate of authorisation from the <keyword id="19899810" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india" source="keywords">Reserve Bank of India</keyword> (<keyword id="19899808" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rbi" source="keywords">RBI</keyword>) to operate as an '<keyword id="20332942" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-payment-aggregator" source="keywords">Online Payment Aggregator</keyword>'. The authorisation came into effect from January 24. "We wish to inform that ZPPL has been granted a certificate of authorisation dated January 24, 2024, from the RBI to operate as an 'Online Payment Aggregator' in India with effect from January 24, 2024, as per the guidelines issued by the RBI," Zomato said in an exchange filing. With this, Zomato Payments has expanded its role beyond food delivery and restaurant discovery into the realm of digital payments. Apart from this recent development, Zomato had partnered with ICICI Bank last year to introduce its own unified payments interface (<keyword id="19900911" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="upi" source="keywords">UPI</keyword>), Zomato UPI. Earlier this month, Zomato introduced a new feature called "daily payouts" to support emerging restaurant partners. Currently, the feature will be available for restaurant partners who receive 100 or fewer orders a month, according to the company. "Our discussions with various restaurant partners highlighted the financial challenges smaller eateries face, using the traditional weekly payout system. This feature is designed to address this critical need for more frequent access to earnings," Zomato said in a blogpost. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/oneplus-12-vs-oneplus-12r-heres-whats-different-between-the-two-devices/slidelist/107138750.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/oneplus-12-vs-oneplus-12r-heres-whats-different-between-the-two-devices/slidelist/107138750.cms" target="_blank">OnePlus 12 vs OnePlus 12R – What distinguishes the two new smartphones</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/revolt-rv400-brz-an-electric-bike-for-the-city-with-150-km-range-hits-indian-roads/slidelist/107142891.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/revolt-rv400-brz-an-electric-bike-for-the-city-with-150-km-range-hits-indian-roads/slidelist/107142891.cms" target="_blank">Revolt RV400 BRZ – An electric bike for the city with 150 km range hits Indian roads</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/rolls-royce-spectre-rolls-out-as-indias-most-expensive-electric-car/articleshow/107051636.cms">Rolls Royce Spectre rolls out as India’s most expensive electric car</a>

Zomato gets RBI approval to operate as 'online payment aggregator'

<ul><li>Fintech companies like Paytm and PB Fintech have not only reported better than expected earnings but also narrowed their losses significantly.</li><li>While Zomato and Nykaa did not deliver overall improvement in financials, analysts still have high hopes for them.</li><li>Shares of Paytm rose nearly 22% from February 3 when it reported its quarterly earnings.</li><li>Analysts say the long-term growth potential of these companies is huge in spite of the short-term challenges.</li></ul>There’s no end to the woes of new age technology companies. They are in the spotlight yet again, after their mixed performance during the December quarter. Fintech companies like Paytm and PB Fintech have not only reported better than expected earnings but also narrowed their losses significantly. Zomato and Nykaa did not deliver overall improvement in financials, but analysts remain optimistic. Another new age company among talks is hyperlocal delivery startup Dunzo with elevated losses and massive valuation. Billionaire and chairperson of RPG Group highlighted the financials of the company <a href="https://twitter.com/hvgoenka/status/1625843597626183680">in a tweet </a>on February 15. “New age digital stocks are not doing great primarily because the market is not doing great. India is underperforming this year with a negative 2.34 % return YTD while markets like China, HongKong and South Korea are doing very well. When India’s underperformance changes, new age digital companies also will start performing. Some results from this segment are very good like Paytm. Zomato also has done reasonably well, but Nykaa’s results came below expectations,” said Dr V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services. New age technology companies have been under the scanner because of the massive underperformance in their share prices due to elevated valuation. However, analysts believe that the long term bet on these companies is worth it despite several roadblocks. “The long-term growth potential of these companies is huge and, therefore, in spite of the short-term challenges, these stocks have buyers particularly after the sharp correction from their listing peak prices,” added Vijayakumar. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">New age companies </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Q3 FY23 Profit/Loss </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Q3 FY22 Profit/Loss </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Paytm </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-₹392 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-₹779 crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Zomato </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-₹347 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-₹63 crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">PB Fintech (Policybazaar) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-₹87 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-₹298 crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Nykaa </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹8.2 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹27.9 crore </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> Paytm’s first ever quarterly operating profit impresses, builds hope The fintech company’s December quarter performance was a big surprise for many as it posted its first ever quarterly operating profit as it narrowed down losses. The growth was driven by pick up in merchant subscription revenues and loan distribution. “Biggest surprise is distribution business, control of cashbacks, opex,” said Macquarie in a report. Shares of the company rose nearly 22% from February 3 when it reported its quarterly earnings. Macquarie has upgraded rating on the company’s stock to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Underperform’ with a target price of ₹800. “PayTM has positively surprised on the distribution of financial services revenue by a wide margin and has also managed to control overall expenses and charges. At the time of listing, profit and free cash flow were not even a part of management’s discussion. However, we see a very visible change in approach of management to deliver profit, evidenced, we believe, by the core EBIDTA profitability that was reported recently,” said Macquarie in a report. Zomato: A promising road to profitability Zomato reported better than expected Q3 FY23 revenues, and analysts believe it may reach profitability by the end of the current financial year. “Depending on execution-related wins, the company (ex of quick commerce) may clock profitability in Q4FY23 itself, two quarters ahead of their guidance,” said analysts at Nuvama Institutional Equities. “Zomato’s road to profitability has grown even more promising. Zomato (ex-quick commerce) clocked adj. EBITDA level profitability in the month of Jan-23. Depending on execution-related wins, the company (ex of quick commerce) may clock profitability in Q4FY23 itself, two quarters ahead of their guidance,” added the report. Analysts say Zomato’s relaunch of its Gold membership plan should bring growth back. Most brokerage houses have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/no-long-tail-effect-zomato-banks-on-demand-recovery-in-future-even-as-it-shuts-operations-in-225-cities-on-poor-performance/articleshow/97907071.cms">maintained a ‘Buy’ rating </a>on the company’s stock. “The fact that most of these companies have put forth their strategy to cut down losses and become profitable in the near future builds hope for investors. For example, Zomato’s decision to cut operations in 225 smaller cities. Moreover, since most of these <keyword id="10951575" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="new-age-tech-companies" source="Orion">new age tech companies</keyword> are direct consumer based there are expectations of inflation cooling down and boosting consumer spend.” Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research (retail) at Kotak Securities told Business Insider India. Nykaa: Premium valuation reflects solid outlook, say analysts Nykaa, reported a 70% on year decline in net profit in Q3 <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/nykaas-stock-plunges-4-2-after-its-q3-net-profit-slips-70/articleshow/97901748.cms">missing analysts expectations</a>. Despite this, brokerages believe the best is yet to come for the company. During a post-earnings conference call Falguni Nayar, executive chairperson, MD and CEO of Nykaa said that although inflationary pressures were present, it wasn’t that big of an issue for many of Nykaa’s customers. Q3 is considered to be a seasonal quarter for the company because of the festive season and despite macro challenges Nykaa’s growth was applauded by analysts. “In a quarter rampaged by a tougher macroeconomic environment, Nykaa reported substantial growth in Q3FY23 numbers,” said a report by JM Financial. The brokerage firm has assigned a ‘Buy’ rating on the stock. “We continue to see increased strength of the dominant positioning in beauty and personal care (BPC) vertical while the newcomer, fashion vertical, has gained market share at the cost of a sharp dip in contribution margin,” added the report. Nykaa’s EBITDA margins came under pressure and fell to 5.3% in Q3, as against 6.3% in the same period last year. “While we expect Nykaa’s GMV growth, at 35% in FY23E-25E, to be the highest within our global ecommerce coverage, we believe Nykaa’s valuation premium (FY24 EV/GMV of 3.1x vs 0.5x median for peers) already reflects this solid growth outlook and Nykaa’s stronger margin profile,” said a report by Goldman Sachs. The investment banker has assigned a ‘Neutral’ rating on the stock. PB Fintech on course to profitability soon The December quarter performance of PB Fintech, the parent company of Policybazaar and Paisabazaar, was another surprise for investors as the company narrowed its losses significantly. Its insurance premiums jumped 70.3% on year to ₹30.3 billion driven by a strong showing across segments. “Given its market share of 90%-plus in online insurance sales and a growing offline presence, PB is poised to post strong sales,” said analysts at Nuvama Institutional Equities. Further, the management expects revenue and margins to improve further as agent productivity rises and benefits of appointments channel are realised. They hinted at a sharp profitability uptick in Q4, say analysts. “This growth becomes even more impressive considering the seasonally weak Q3 for insurance, where new business premiums for life and general insurance declined QoQ by 19% and 12%, respectively,” said a report by JM Financial. New-age internet based businesses, like their unlisted peers, have been chalking out strategies that lead them towards profitability and are already on a growth path aided by their unique business propositions — allaying investor and analyst concerns. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/google-india-layoffs-nearly-500-people-fired/articleshow/98001522.cms">Google layoffs reach Indian shores, nearly 500 employees sacked late Thursday</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/neal-mohan-indian-american-guy-journey-to-becoming-youtube-ceo/slidelist/98001073.cms">From Lucknow to USA: Indian-American Neal Mohan’s journey to becoming YouTube CEO</a>

New age technology companies back in the spotlight after Q3 performance

<ul><li><keyword id="830092" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zomato" source="Orion">Zomato</keyword>’s promise to turn net profit positive in a year has cheered investors. </li><li>Margins in its core food delivery business has hit a multi-quarter high. </li><li>The worry? Monthly transacting users and gross order value has declined versus the previous reported quarter. </li><li>Nomura believes Zomato will find it difficult to achieve double-digit contributory margin with high growth in the long term </li></ul>Two years after it listed on the bourses, Zomato is on a recovery path. The stock which hit a high of over ₹150 per share fell sharply subsequently to below ₹50 a piece. However, the last quarter (Q1FY24) has seen a recovery from that level and it has now surpassed its listing price of ₹76. The stock has been rising steadily in the last three weeks, after its Q4 earnings report where it turned EBITDA positive in its core business, without including Blinkit, its quick commerce business. EBITDA is net income (earnings) with interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation. Moreover, the management also promised to turn positive not just at the consolidated adjusted EBITDA level but also at the profit after tax level in a year. Financial services company, JM Financial says this commitment is the ‘cherry on the cake’. “Tough macro posed growth headwinds but management showed urgency on profitability and that was despite the Gold programme launch,” said Jefferies. Zomato Gold is a subscription plan that offers free deliveries within a 10-kilometre radius for orders above ₹199. During the quarter, as many as 30% of the gross order value, from 1.8 million customers, came from Gold. The Gold plan could hurt its contributory margins (CM) because of its inability to charge every order. Yet, as of Q4, its CM in core food delivery business are comfortable after hitting a multi-quarter high. Contributory margins represent the incremental money generated for each unit sold after deducting the variable portion of the costs. “The core business milestone was achieved mainly on the back of solid expansion in the food delivery contribution margin to 5.8% in Q4 vs 5.1% in Q3. This was because profitability levers such as improvement in restaurant commissions and ad income, and lower discounts/variable cost offset the adverse impact of Gold launch,” said JM Financial. Ordering effects After the post-pandemic boom effects faded away, a lot of consumption patterns have changed, also evident in consumer spending on fast food — impacting growth in quick service restaurants. These headwinds have been impacting Zomato as well. The growth in Zomato’s food delivery business seems to have flatlined. Food gross order value declined 2% quarter-on-quarter, even as it grew 12% year-on-year. Moreover, its monthly transacting users (MTU) declined by 5% QoQ to 16.6 million, while growing at 6% YoY. Apart from the one-time impact of its decision to exit from 225 cities, the company attributes MTU decline to optimised marketing spend and withdrawal of the human support interface for abusive customer cohorts. “Also because of Zomato Gold, the MTUs have come down and not gone up because we do see an impact of clubbing some orders in the same households, which might have just a single membership,” Akshant Goyal, chief financial officer of Zomato said in an earnings concall. The management, however, remains confident about food delivery ordering going up in the first quarter of FY24. Analysts, on the other hand, are not too confident about their ability to sustain growth beyond the first quarter as summer holiday and IPL impact during April/May are one-off events. Its other businesses, however, continue to display good growth. Blinkit’s gross order value grew 17% QoQ, while order volume grew 24%. Revenues of Hyperpure, its business to supply ingredients to restaurants, grew 13.5% QoQ. Offsetting margins with growth While it’s on a path to profitability, Zomato is also caught between a rock and a hard place — of growth versus margins. To boost growth, it will have to go in for discounts – the lack of aggressive discounting by all players is already visible in the moderation in food ordered during the IPL season, generally a big occasion for online food platforms. This year, the IPL spike in food ordering was at a modest 7% for the industry as compared to the 2020 IPL when it was over 50%, as per Redseer. This time, there were no high <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/ipl-2023-sees-tier-2-cities-order-more-on-swiggy-zomato/articleshow/100673879.cms">decibel ads along with deep discounts.</a> Like other players in the business, the company will also find it tough to keep up with the high margin trajectory, while also chasing growth. “Overall, we lower our growth assumptions for its food delivery’s gross order value growth, from around 20% to around 17%, but raise our FY24F contributory margin estimate from 5.8% to 6.5%. We continue to believe Zomato will find it difficult to achieve double-digit contributory margin, with high growth in the long term,” said Nomura. Restaurant commissions grow but may hit an ONDC wall In the last two years, the company was also able to improve take rates or the commissions it charges restaurants consistently. Its take rates are now close to 18%. “Broadly, with our take rates, the mission is to be competitive, and we are lower than what the competition is charging. So, as we continue to add more value to restaurant businesses, we expect some improvement in commission revenue going forward,” said Goyal. But competition is heating up in the sector. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has breached the territory that was hitherto dominated by Zomato along with Swiggy. On the face of it, it might seem like restaurants might be offered better terms on ONDC. While Zomato will be able to compete with ONDC on efficiency and also even overall costs – as third party deliveries might be costlier– HSBC Global Research believes that it might flatten growth. “Estimates for food delivery revenue in the long term remain largely unchanged. Our short-term estimates change slightly as we build in a marginally slower increase in take rate,” the research firm said. In spite of short-term and long-term challenges ahead, Zomato seems to have settled into its listed company status to deliver value to investors by chasing topline growth instead of customers, with discounts.

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