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After Rs 215 Cr profit in FY22, Molbio reports Rs 3 Cr loss in FY23

Entrackr · 5m

Healthcare diagnostics firm Molbio achieved unicorn status after a $85 million funding round led by Temasek in September 2022, but its success was short-lived, lasting only through the pandemic. Molbio’s revenue plummeted 74%, from Rs 1,272 crore in FY21 to Rs 332 crore in FY23. Significantly, the company slipped into losses in FY23 and posted a loss of Rs 3.4 crore in the same period as compared to Rs 215 cr profit in FY22. On a year-on-year basis, the firm, also the first ever Unicorn from Goa saw a 57% decline in its revenue to Rs 332 crore in FY23 from Rs 776 crore in FY22, its annual financial statement sourced from the RoC shows. Truenat, the flagship product of Molbio Diagnostics, provides a real-time IoT-enabled testing kit for over 30 diseases. The sale of Truenat, Micro PCR workstations, reagent kits, and cartridges were some major avenues for the company’s collections. Truenat is mostly relevant for the diagnosis of Tuberculosis. The Goa-based firm also made Rs 5 crore from interest and gain on financial assets tallying its overall revenue to Rs 337 crore in FY23. For the diagnostic firm, the cost procurement of raw materials and medical components accounted for 44% of the overall expenditure. In the line with the scale, this cost decreased by 47.4% to Rs 143 crore in FY23. Molbio’s spending on employee benefits, traveling, legal, advertising cum promotional, freight, and other overheads took the overall cost to Rs 328 crore in FY23 from Rs 486 crore in FY22. The 57% decline in scale and the pressure of fixed costs pushed Molbio into the red and it reported a loss of Rs 3.4 crore in FY23. This is a significant downturn compared to the Rs 215 crore profit posted by the firm in FY22. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin worsened to 2% and 14.5%, respectively. On a unit level, it spent Rs 0.99 to earn a rupee in FY23. The Goa-based company has raised Rs 970 crore to date. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, its promoters through Exxora Trading LLP are the largest stakeholders with 41.7% shares followed by Motilal Oswal which commands 12.96%. Molbio claims that it closed FY24 with Rs 850 crore in revenue and has plans to strengthen its global presence this fiscal, along with launching new products in the Indian market. With these initiatives, it targets a revenue of Rs 1,200 crore and plans to raise around Rs 2,200 crore to Rs 2,400 crore via public listing in the ongoing fiscal year (FY25). FY23-FY24 FY23 FY24 EBITDA Margin 48% 14.5% Expense/₹ of Op Revenue ₹0.63 ₹0.99 ROCE 44% 2% Large fundraising plans along with growth ambitions are par for the course for a firm that has taken the kind of hits Molbio has. It might not find it as simple to convince investors it can execute, especially in a market where both regulations and perceptions towards portable testing kits are changing, even as Truenat itself remains relevant thanks to the wide prevalence of tuberculosis and its variations even today. Cost pressures from other, more low cost options is just one side of the market, even as its own plans to expand to other disease diagnostics need to show real progress fast.