One MobiKwik Systems' Q4 loss widens to Rs 56 cr on lower margins from lending biz

New Delhi, May 20 (PTI) Fintech firm One MobiKwik Systems on Tuesday reported widening of consolidated loss to Rs 56 crore in the January-March quarter of 2024-25, hit by lower contribution margins from the lending business.

It had reported a loss of Rs 0.6 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing.

"Profitability is inevitable -- we have demonstrated in six out of the eight last quarters. Last two quarters our EBITDA has been negative due to lower CM (contribution margin) coming from lending business," said Komal Sharan, Head of Finance, Corporate Development & IR at MobiKwik.

" … we continue higher investment for future growth. We do feel we are at a point of time where we are well invested for future growth," said Sharan.

The lower margins came in due to lower disbursement, shift to a new DLG (default loss guarantee) contracts starting in September (where a larger portion of costs are booked upfront, while revenue is deferred), and the fact that revenue is back-ended while costs are front-ended.

"Revenue is back-ended, cost is front-ended, and that is what is causing the overall contribution margin to be lower. We do feel that as that stabilises over the next two or three quarters, the portfolio contribution margin which lending used to get to us of about 40 per cent, should stabilise in the same ballpark," Sharan said.

The company expects growth revival post the second quarter of FY26.

Sharan exuded confidence in seeing an inflection and an inherent operating leverage in the business model playing out hereon.

Revenue from operations rose marginally to Rs 267.7 crore in the March quarter of FY25 from Rs 264.9 crore in the last quarter of FY24.

The Gurugram-headquartered firm's Payments GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) soared 203 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,15,900 crore.

"Payment continues to be the foundation, and is the hero in terms of driving growth for the company, in terms of users, GMV as well as revenue and the cross sell of financial products is sort of the cream on top," MobiKwik Co-Founder and CFO Upasana Taku said.

With the distribution of credit products coming back, MobiKwik is seeing some early signs of strong momentum, she noted.

"We do expect that overall margins for the company will come back, upwards of 30 per cent, and that will allow us to cover our fixed costs, and therefore drive profitability back into the results," Taku said.

For the full fiscal 2024-25, the company incurred a loss of Rs 121.5 crore. In FY24, the company had posted a profit of Rs 14 crore.

Revenue rose by 33.7 per cent to Rs 1,170.1 crore in 2024-25, which the company said was driven by a "strong growth in payments revenue".

Revenue from payments more than doubled to Rs 767.4 crore in FY25 from Rs 317 crore in FY24.

MobiKwik's merchant base saw 0.53 million new additions in FY25, reaching 4.6 million.

Its user base stood at 176.4 million at the end of FY25, with 20.6 million new users added during the year. PTI ANK MR