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Third Wave Coffee revenue crosses Rs 240 Cr in FY24, losses up 2X

Entrackr · 2d

Coffee chain Third Wave Coffee seems to be utilizing the VC funds the right way as the company managed to grow its scale at a scorching pace in the past couple of fiscal years: Its revenue from operations surged Rs 241 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2024 from Rs 32 crore in FY22. When it comes to year-on-year growth, Third Wave Coffee’s revenue from operations grew 67% to Rs 241.3 crore in FY24 as compared to Rs 144.4 crore in FY23, the company’s standalone financial statement sourced from the Registrar of Companies shows. The company is in the business of process, producing, packing, preserving, extracting, refining, buying, selling, and dealing in coffee and food products in and outside India. Third Wave Coffee made its entire revenue from sales of these products. Its products include coffee bags, coffee beans, and cold brews. As of October, the company has 114 cafes in India and plans to reach 160 by the end of the ongoing fiscal year (FY25). It is also looking to launch 80 to 100 coffee shops annually from 2025. The company claims that they’re roasting around 10-15k kilograms of beans per week. Other than its core business, the company also earned a non-operating income of Rs 6.61 crore during the year via interest and gains on assets. Overall, it made a revenue of Rs 247.9 crore during the last fiscal year. On the expense side, employee benefits turned out to be the largest cost element forming 27% to the total expenditure. This cost surged 68.8% to Rs 97.26 crore in FY24. The cost of materials doubled to Rs 87.61 crore while the company paid rent worth Rs 81.25 crore during the year. Importantly, the company spent only Rs 11.65 crore on selling and marketing. In the end, the company’s overall expenses went up 78% to Rs 358 crore in FY24 from Rs 201 crore in FY23. Despite the healthy growth in scale, the losses of the firm spiked over 2X to Rs 110 crore in FY24, which can be attributed to the excessive cash burn during the year, especially on employee costs and rent. Meanwhile, its operating cash outflows also rose 33% to Rs 81.57 crore. Its EBITDA margin and ROCE stood at -35.52% and -35.28%, respectively. On a unit level, Third Wave Coffee spent Rs 1.48 to earn a rupee of operating revenue in the last fiscal year. The company’s current assets jumped more than 5X to Rs 223.2 crore during the year while cash and bank balances grew multiple times to Rs 120.4 crore in FY24 from Rs 8.06 crore in FY23. At the end of FY24, Third Wave Coffee’s outstanding losses mounted to Rs 192 crore. As per TheKredible, the Bengaluru-based company has raised around $65 million to date from WestBridge Capital, Creaegis, and Redbrook, among others. It raised $35 million in funding in September 2023 and was valued at around $155 million (post-money). Third Wave Coffee competes with Subko Coffee, Sleepy Owl, Blue Tokai, Rage Coffee, Slay Coffee, and abCoffee among others. While the wave of Coffee sellers has made it a buyers market in some ways, coffee continues to chase the kind of premium buyer whose numbers remain a matter of conjecture in many ways. The low advertising and promotion costs indicate a smart hack, because it clearly hasn’t impacted growth, but the big challenge remains building the kind of loyalty that drives volumes at a steady clip, when aligned with planned expansion of the network. Like all retail businesses in India, the impact of rent remains disproportionate, and offers no relief really in a market that is still overheated, if not as piping hot as some of the coffee Third Wave offers. The path to profitability remains distant for now, even as Third Wave’s regular customers should be reassured that their preferred chain has enough runway to serve them for some time yet. Importantly, the chain seems to have done enough to raise a fresh round if the need arises.