Flipkart India Pvt. Ltd reported a loss of Rs 281.7 crore in the year ended March 2013, up from Rs 109.9 crore loss it reported in the previous year, despite a five fold increase in revenue to more than Rs 1,180 crore from Rs 204.8 crore it reported in the previous year, reports Mint.
The company’s expenses jumped more than five times to Rs.1,366 crore from Rs.265.6 crore last year and its cash balance dropped to Rs.166.2 crore on 31 March from Rs.236 crore a year ago.
The auditors however noted that the internal controls for purchasing of goods needs strengthening in proportion to the size of the company and nature of its business. “In our opinion, this is a continuing failure to correct a major weakness in the internal control system,” the auditor noted.
Earlier this year we had reported that WS Retail, Flipkart’s retail arm had reported a total income of Rs 480.65 crore for the financial year ended 31st March 2012 (FY12), up from around Rs 49 crore for the year ended 31st March 2011 (FY11). The company reported a profit for the year, of Rs 80.92 lakh up from Rs 65 lakh. It also issued 90,000 equity shares worth Rs 10 each during FY-13.
It needs to be noted that Flipkart India sold its technology platform and related intellectual properties to another entity called Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd for an “agreed consideration” effective on 31 December 2012. The value of the sale of business to Flipkart Internet was Rs.94.15 crore, according to the its filings.
In 2012, Flipkart raised $150 million from Naspers and Tiger Global. This year, the company raised $200 million from existing investors like Naspers, Accel Partners, Tiger Global, and ICONIQ Capital in July. It also raised an additional $160 million investment from new investors Dragoneer Investment Group, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Sofina and Vulcan Capital and existing investor Tiger Global in October 2013. Till now, Flipkart has raised a total $541 million from five rounds.