BigBasket’s FY20 losses widen 26% ahead of stake sale
1 min read . Updated: 04 Feb 2021, 11:01 PM IST
PremiumBigBasket competes with Amazon Fresh, Flipkart, Grofers, and Reliance Retail’s JioMart in India's e-grocery space which has heated up in recent months. Food delivery firm Swiggy has also been trying to undertake instant grocery deliveries
BENGALURU : Online grocer BigBasket’s parent company, Supermarket Grocery Supplies Pvt. Ltd, saw its losses widen by 26% to ₹709 crore in 2019-20 from ₹562 crore in the previous fiscal, according to documents sourced from business information platform Tofler.
While total revenue grew to ₹3,818 crore in FY20 from ₹2,802 crore in FY19, expenses jumped 31% to ₹4,411 crore from ₹3,365 crore during the period.
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This comes at a time when the Tata group is in the final stages of buying a majority stake in BigBasket for $1.3 billion, valuing the e-grocer at $1.6 billion, Mint reported last month.
The Tatas may pick the stake from existing shareholders, including Chinese retail giant Alibaba, besides others, and is also looking to infuse fresh capital in BigBasket. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were appointed as bankers to the potential deal.
In an industry event, BigBasket co-founder and chief executive Hari Menon said the company has plans to go public in India. He added that the firm’s business has doubled compared to pre-covid levels.
BigBasket is facing strong competition from Amazon Fresh, Flipkart, Grofers and Reliance Retail’s JioMart, which are upping their ante in the much-contested e-grocery space. Even food delivery platform, Swiggy, has introduced instant grocery deliveries through its offering, Instamart.
India’s online grocery business was pegged at $3 billion by management consultancy firm, Redseer. With the market charting an annual growth rate (CAGR) of 57%, this is expected to reach $18.2 billion by 2024, RedSeer said.
