Ola posts first-ever operating profit of Rs 90 cr in FY21 amid pandemic

This, even as revenues declined 65% to Rs 690 cr amid Covid-19 lockdowns

Ride-hailing firm Ola has reported its first operating profit of Rs 89.82 crore for 2020-21, even as its revenue declined 65 per cent to Rs 689.61 crore amid Covid-19 induced lockdowns.

ANI Technologies, the parent company of Ola, had reported standalone operating profit (profit before finance cost, depreciation, amortisation and tax or EBITDA) of Rs 89.82 crore in FY21 on a standalone basis, while it had registered a loss of Rs 610.18 crore in the previous fiscal year, according to the regulatory documents sourced from business intelligence platform Tofler.

Ride hailing accounted for a majority share of the consolidated revenue for the firm which is planning to go for an initial public offering (IPO). Ola is reportedly looking at raising over $1 billion via an IPO in the next few months.

ANI Technologies, also has food delivery and financial services offerings. It saw its operational loss narrowing to Rs 429.20 crore in FY21, while revenue declined 63 per cent to Rs 983.15 crore on a consolidated basis.

The gross merchandise value (GMV) of SoftBank-backed Ola crossed the pre-pandemic levels in the week to August 31, Ola chief executive officer (CEO) Bhavish Aggarwal said in September this year. He said the recovery from the second wave of Covid-19 infections has been three times faster as compared with the first wave last year.

“India is moving again. Our Ola cabs GMV crossed pre-covid levels last week. Recovery from the second wave is 3 times faster. Clearly, India is up and about,” Aggarwal, the founder of the IPO-bound firm, had tweeted. Aggarwal had said that 10 ion people used Ola for the first in FY21. He said as people move, they want to feel safe so they’re switching to personal or shared mobility instead of public transport. “Many are moving to autos taking our auto business to almost 150 per cent of pre-covid levels,” Aggarwal had said.

Ola had said that the company is ensuring Ola rides are safe. It had said that it will have 100 per cent of its drivers vaccinated. The firm was onboarding more driver-partners, entering new cities and building new products to better serve all your mobility needs post covid.

Last year in May, Ola announced laying off 1,400 employees, or over 33 per cent of its workforce, as Covid-19 continued to pound the transportation industry. The firm had said it had to take this step because the situation was not expected to improve anytime soon. That time, the rival company Uber had also said it was slashing 3,000 jobs and closing dozens of offices globally.