Comments
PB Fintech, the parent of online insurance and credit comparison platforms Policybazaar and Paisabazaar, has reported a consolidated net loss of ₹219.61 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2022, despite a doubling revenue from operations for the quarter under review. The net loss is wider than the net loss of ₹64.4 crore recorded in the same quarter last fiscal. Revenue from operations increased to ₹540.3 crore from ₹270.76 crore in same quarter last fiscal.
It may be recalled that PB Fintech — billed as one of the new-age tech companies — had raised ₹5,710 crore in an initial public offer (IPO) in November 2021.
PB Fintech’s insurance premium for the fourth quarter surged 70 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to ₹2,176 crore, while its credit disbursal came in at ₹2,189 crore, up 72 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
Core business Adjusted EBITDA was ₹10 crore positive for the quarter (absorbing an ₹18 crore loss by the non-insurance business). This core insurance business had an adjusted EBITDA of ₹28 crore for the quarter. PB Fintech said that its core business is now adjusted EBITDA positive and it expects that to improve further.
“Within this, insurance core business delivered ₹28 crore adjusted EBITDA in Q4. Credit core business is decidedly moving towards profitability. Both these businesses will grow profitably as category leaders. Going forward, investment in new initiatives will likely be covered by interest income,” the company said.
Loss widens in FY22
For the entire fiscal 2021-22, PB Fintech’s net loss widened to ₹832.91 crore as compared to ₹150.24 crore in the previous fiscal, the company said in a late evening filing to the stock exchanges on Friday. However, revenue from operations saw a robust growth of 60.7 per cent to ₹ 1424.89 crore from ₹ 886.66 crore in previous fiscal.
“Our focus continues towards increasing insurance coverage for families across India. To reflect that commitment, we have changed our tagline to ‘Har Family Hogi Insured!’ We are seeing a steady shift in business mix towards smaller towns and cities; currently, 59 per cent of our insurance business is from non-Tier 1 cities up from 28 per cent in FY17,” the company said.
Shares of PB Fintech were up 2.45 per cent at ₹687 apiece at the close on the BSE on Friday. The issue price at the time of IPO was ₹980 per share.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.