Zomato reports net profit of Rs 176 crore for September quarter

Zomato Ltd on Tuesday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 176 crore for the second quarter ending September 30, 2024. This marks an increase from the Rs 36 crore net profit reported in the same quarter last fiscal year.

The online food delivery giant’s consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 4,799 crore which was at Rs 2,848 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing.

The total expenses for the quarter amounted to Rs 4,783 crore, compared to Rs 3,039 crore in the same period last year.

Additionally, the company's board has approved raising Rs 8,500 crore through a qualified institutional placement of equity shares, the filing added.

Zomato stated that its results for the quarter and half year ending September 30, 2024, are not comparable to other quarters and half-year results due to the acquisition of Orbgen Technologies Private Ltd (OTPL) and Wasteland Entertainment Pvt Ltd (WEPL), which manage the 'movies ticketing' and events businesses, respectively, from One 97 Communications Ltd (Paytm) in August of this year.

As companies come forward to raise funds to expand operations and gain market share, India's online food and grocery delivery space is heating up.

Zomato, in a bid to address increasing competition, added 152 new "dark stores" during the quarter, the highest number it has ever added in a single quarter, bringing the total to 791 stores.

Zomato CFO Akshant Goyal said, "Since new stores and warehouses take a few months to ramp up, they tend to dilute margins in the short term."

However, the contribution margin for Blinkit fell to 3.8 per cent from 4 per cent in the previous quarter, which reflects the revenue generated from each additional order as a percentage of the gross order value.