Ola loses more money as it battles Uber; revenue climbs steadily

Jayadevan PK May 1, 2017

App-based taxi services company Ola had to spend at least three rupees for every rupee it earned in 2016. Ani Technologies Ltd, the company that owns Ola, lost Rs 2313.7 crore in 2016 to earn Rs 758 crore in revenues, according to latest company filings.

Revenue is seven times higher than last year and loss is about three times more than 2015. Employee costs were at Rs 379 crore and advertising and sales cost the company Rs 385.5 crores, according to a report in The Economic Times.

Ankit Bhati and Bhavish Aggarwal, the two cofounders of the company, took home close to Rs 40 lakh each in salary last year, filings accessed by FactorDaily show. Together, the founders own about 11% in the company, which was valued at $5 billion in November 2015 when it raised $500 million. Subsequently, its valuation has been marked down to $3.5 billion by one of its investors.The company, founded in 2010, is engaged in a bruising battle with Uber, its American rival. While there is much scepticism around the Uber model of doing business, most internet companies are built on the premise that once you have a significant user base and you have the supply side sorted, you can work towards profitability. In the case of Indian companies like Ola and Flipkart, this is yet to be proven.

Flipkart, India’s most valuable Internet company, is still making losses with no signs of moving towards profitability. As we reported earlier, Flipkart is acquiring eBay’s operations here in a deal structured as part of a $2 billion capital raising.