Indonesian-listed e-commerce major firm Bukalapak swung to a loss in FY2023 mainly driven by investment losses in digital lender PT Allo Bank Tbk, according to an announcement.
In the period ended Dec 31, 2023, Bukalapak reported a net loss of 1.37 trillion rupiah, compared with a net profit of 1.97 trillion in the same period of 2022, despite a 47% drop in general and administrative expenses.
Its losses in Q4 2023, however, narrowed by 64% to 593 billion rupiah from 1.64 trillion rupiah in Q4 2022, as it managed to further reduce costs. General and administrative expenses in Q4 2023 fell 52% to 324 billion rupiah from 674 billion rupiah in Q4 2022.
“Investing in technology was a key component in driving that cost efficiency. That digitisation has allowed us to continue to improve our user experience and reduce execution times,” the company stated.
The company’s revenue in 2023, meanwhile, rose 23% to 4.43 trillion rupiah from 3.6 trillion rupiah in 2022. Revenue in Q4 2023, however, increased only marginally by 7% to 1.1 trillion rupiah in Q4 2023 from 1.03 trillion rupiah in Q4 2022.
The increase in revenue was driven by a 47% growth recorded by the marketplace division, primarily driven by its continued success in gaming. The online to offline (O2O) division recorded a revenue growth of 11%, riding on an improved product mix and a broader range of service offerings to Mitras.
The O2O business represented 49% of group revenues in 2023, while the rest was contributed by the marketplace division.
In the financial year ended December 2023, Bukalapak’s negative adjusted EBITDA narrowed by 63% to 475 billion rupiah from 1.3 trillion rupiah in FY2022. The company, however, came very close to adjusted EBITDA breakeven in Q4 2023.
“Our record performance in 2023 enabled us to come very close to reaching our quarterly adjusted EBITDA breakeven target in the final three months of 2023. We’re getting ever more confident in delivering our main goal of turning profitable on a quarterly basis imminently, having posted eight sequential quarters of adjusted EBITDA improvement,” said Teddy Oetomo, Bukalapak’s President in a statement last weekend.
The total processing value (TPV) of the company in FY2023 increased by 7% to 164.38 trillion rupiah, compared with 153.74 trillion rupiah in the same period of 2022. The TPV in Q4 2023 was, however, flat at 41.75 trillion rupiah.
Bukalapak also has a strong capital position with 19.3 trillion rupiah of cash, cash equivalents, and liquid investments which include government bonds and mutual funds.
The company expects revenue to improve 15-20% to at least 5.1 trillion rupiah in 2024 along with a positive adjusted EBITDA of over 200 billion rupiah.
