IPO-bound digital payments firm MobiKwik reported a 62 percent rise in operating revenue, reaching Rs 875 crore for the fiscal year ending March 2024. In a notable turnaround, the company achieved a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 14.08 crore, a significant improvement from the Rs 83.08 crore loss recorded the previous year.
Despite this, total expenses increased by 36.4 percent to Rs 876 crore, up from Rs 642 crore in FY23, driven by higher costs related to employee benefits, legal fees, advertising, and other overheads.
Co-founder and CFO Upasana Taku attributed the company’s growth to an expanding user base and increased revenue from financial services. “We are thrilled to have transitioned from losses to full-year profitability. We’ve made significant progress in enhancing our products and extending our reach to smaller towns and cities, where digital adoption is rapidly growing,” Taku stated.
In its second attempt to go public, MobiKwik refiled its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI in January, aiming to raise Rs 700 crore through its IPO. The firm had already reported profitability in the first half of FY24, with a PAT of Rs 9.5 crore and operating revenue of Rs 381 crore.
Currently, 55 percent of MobiKwik’s revenue comes from non-payment-related services, particularly the distribution of financial products such as loans. This includes small-ticket consumer loans or buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) options under its MobiKwik Zip product. Loan disbursals in FY23 surged by 204 percent to Rs 4,102 crore, up from Rs 1,348 crore in FY22, with around Rs 2,800 crore disbursed in the first half of the current fiscal year.
With the Reserve Bank of India increasing scrutiny on unsecured lending, MobiKwik has been developing a range of secured and unsecured credit products. “We aim to expand our financial offerings, including credit, investment, and insurance,” Taku said in a July interview.
According to the DRHP, 70 percent of MobiKwik’s loans are small, under Rs 5,000, compared to the industry average of 68 percent for digital disbursals. “We selectively offer loans based on user data, starting with smaller amounts to test creditworthiness before offering long-term credit. This approach is also applied to merchant loans,” Taku explained.
Additionally, MobiKwik has introduced investment options in digital gold, deposits, and direct mutual funds.