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BillDesk records Rs 2,678 Cr revenue in FY23; profits fall 5%

Entrackr · 7m

B2B fintech company BillDesk seems to have lost its momentum in the past couple of years as it fell short of securing a double-digit growth in FY23. Moreover, profits also reduced 5.1% in the fiscal year ending March 2023. BillDesk’s revenue from operations grew 9.6% to Rs 2,678 crore during FY23, as per the company’s consolidated financial statements with the Registrar of Companies. BillDesk charges fees for the processing and settlement services of electronic transactions — and collections from these services accounted for more than 70% of the total operating revenue in FY23. It also generated a significant part ~10% of its revenue from loyalty programs for its clients while the remaining part came from the sale of products (PINS and e-top-up subscriptions) and other operating activities during the last fiscal year. Furthermore, it also earned Rs 87.15 crore via interest and gain on financial assets (non-operating income), taking the overall revenue to Rs 2,765 crore in FY23. As per the startup intelligence platform TheKredible, BillDesk spent the most on technical services (bank fees and service charges) which formed 83.8% of the total expenditure. This cost went up 9.3% to Rs 2,146 crore during FY23 from Rs 1,963.6 crore in FY22. Employee benefits expenses increased 35.4% to Rs 245 crore during the last fiscal year from Rs 181 crore in FY22. The company’s burn on data, communication, legal, and information technology catalyzed its total expenses by 11.6% to Rs 2,561 crore in FY23. Head to TheKredible for the complete expense breakdown. Coming to the bottom line of the company, its profits shrank marginally (5.1%) to Rs 141.91 crore in FY23 against Rs 149.6 crore in FY22. Followed by the rising expenses and reconciliation in profits, BillDesk’s operating cash flows turned negative to Rs -121.63 crore in FY23. In FY22, it recorded a positive cash flow of Rs 39.83 crore. On a unit level, BillDesk spent Re 0.96 to earn a rupee of operating revenue during FY23. The company’s EBITDA margin and ROCE also worsened to 9.23% and 7.75% during the same period. FY22-FY23 FY22 FY23 EBITDA Margin 10.21% 9.23% Expense/₹ of Op Revenue ₹0.94 ₹0.96 ROCE 8.81% 7.75% BillDesk competes with Razorpay, Infibeam Avenues, and PayU among other payment gateways. Razorpay saw a 54% growth in scale to Rs 2,279 crore in FY23 along with Rs 7.2 crore profit whereas Infibeam Avenues posted Rs 1,962 crore revenue and Rs 136 crore profit during FY23. In October 2022, PayU called off BillDesk’s acquisition after 14 months of signing the agreement due to the non-fulfillment of certain conditions. It would have been one of the biggest deals in India’s fintech space.