New Delhi, Jan 23 : Indian food delivery major Zomato on Tuesday reported a 57% year-on-year (YoY) decline in net profit after tax (PAT) to Rs 59 crore for the third quarter (Q3) of financial year 2024-25, down from Rs 138 crore in the same period last year. Sequentially, PAT fell from Rs 176 crore in the second quarter (Q2) of FY25.
Revenue from operations, however, surged 64% YoY to Rs 5,404 crore, compared to Rs 3,288 crore in Q3 FY24. The company attributed the revenue growth to improvements in its food delivery vertical and other business segments.
Profitability and Margins
Consolidated adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 128% YoY to Rs 285 crore in Q3 FY25. However, sequentially, adjusted EBITDA declined by 14%, or approximately Rs 45 crore, due to increased investments in the company’s quick commerce arm, Blinkit. The EBITDA margin improved sequentially from 3.5% to 4.3%.
Rakesh Ranjan, CEO of Zomato’s food delivery business, said: “We saw margin improvement driven by increase in platform fee for customers and other cost efficiencies and optimizations. We believe the margin should not only sustain, but continue increasing from here to stabilise around 5 percent in the next few quarters.”
Expenses and Demand Slowdown
Zomato’s total expenses rose to Rs 5,533 crore in Q3 FY25, up from Rs 3,383 crore a year ago and Rs 4,783 crore a quarter ago. Gross order value (GOV) for the food delivery business grew marginally from Rs 9,690 crore in Q2 FY25 to Rs 9,913 crore in Q3. YoY, GOV increased from Rs 8,486 crore in Q3 FY24.
Commenting on the slowdown in demand, Ranjan added, “Currently we are going through a broad-based slowdown in demand which started during the second half of November. Notwithstanding the current slowdown, we are positive about a recovery soon and remain confident of the long-term outlook of over 20 percent yearly GOV growth in the business given the strong fundamentals.”
Food Delivery Metrics
The platform’s average monthly transacting customers (MTCs) for food delivery declined slightly to 20.5 million in Q3 FY25 from 20.7 million in Q2. However, MTCs showed YoY growth from 18.8 million in Q3 FY24.
Blinkit Performance
Zomato’s quick commerce arm, Blinkit, reported an EBITDA loss of Rs 103 crore in Q3 FY25, a 16% YoY increase from Rs 89 crore in Q3 FY24. The loss widened significantly from Rs 8 crore in Q2 FY25. Revenue for Blinkit surged 117% YoY to Rs 1,399 crore in Q3 FY25, up from Rs 644 crore a year earlier and Rs 1,156 crore in the previous quarter.
Blinkit’s GOV rose to Rs 7,798 crore in Q3, compared to Rs 3,542 crore in Q3 FY24 and Rs 6,132 crore in Q2 FY25. Average order value (AOV) increased to Rs 707, from Rs 660 in the previous quarter and Rs 635 a year ago. Blinkit’s dark store count also increased YoY, from 451 in Q3 FY24 to 1,007 in Q3 FY25.
Deepinder Goyal, Zomato’s co-founder and group CEO, said, “The losses in our quick commerce business this quarter are largely on account of pulling forward the growth investments in the business that we would have otherwise made in a staggered manner over the next few quarters.” He added, “As of now, it seems like we will get to our target of 2,000 stores by Dec 2025, much earlier than our previous guidance of Dec 2026.”
Going Out Vertical
Zomato’s “Going Out” business witnessed strong growth, with revenue jumping 254% YoY to Rs 259 crore in Q3 FY25, up from Rs 73 crore in Q3 FY24. Sequentially, revenue rose from Rs 154 crore in Q2 FY25. GOV for this segment reached Rs 2,495 crore in Q3, compared to Rs 1,849 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 858 crore a year ago.
District, Zomato’s live events and ticketing app launched in November 2024, has crossed 6.5 million downloads. Rahul Ganjoo, a Zomato executive, noted, “We are likely to operate in losses for the next year or so but we don’t expect them to be meaningful in the overall context of Zomato.” He added, “If we execute well, we don’t see why this business cannot grow at over 40 percent YoY at least for the next couple of years.”
Hyperpure Growth
Zomato’s business-to-business (B2B) vertical, Hyperpure, recorded a 95% YoY increase in revenue to Rs 1,671 crore in Q3 FY25, compared to Rs 859 crore in Q3 FY24. Sequentially, Hyperpure’s revenue rose from Rs 1,473 crore in Q2 FY25.
Outlook
While Zomato continues to face challenges such as a demand slowdown and losses in its quick commerce segment, management remains optimistic about long-term growth prospects across its verticals.
