Info Edge posts 13% growth in operating revenue; profit at Rs 317 crore

Info Edge, the parent company of the recruitment site Naukri, reported that its operating revenue for the quarter ended December 31 had increased 13% to Rs 819 crore, driven by growth in its recruitment and non-recruitment businesses.The company’s net profit for the quarter rose 10% to Rs 317 crore, from Rs 288 crore a year earlier.

Revenue from the recruitment solutions business, which includes Naukri.com, grew 12% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 591 crore. The real estate listing portal 99acres also posted a 14% increase in revenues, at Rs 118 crore, while other businesses, including Jeevansaathi.com and Shiksha.com, grew nearly 20% to Rs 109 crore.

“The hiring environment remains uncertain, as evident from our Jobspeak index. Despite this, the business delivered close to 10% year-on-year growth in billings in Q3, similar to the growth seen in Q2. Billing for the technology, IT, and BPM segments combined grew 14% year-on-year, GCCs grew 13%, recruitment consultancy grew 5%, and all the other sectors combined grew 2%,” the company’s managing director and chief executive Hitesh Oberoi told analysts during a post-earnings call. Billings for the non-recruitment portfolio grew 14.1%.


The Noida-based company's total expenses during the quarter increased to Rs 562 crore from Rs 487 crore a year earlier. A significant portion of this was attributed to employee benefit expenses amounting to Rs 342 crore, followed by advertising and promotion costs of Rs 99 crore, and other expenses (Rs 61 crore).

According to Oberoi, the jobs site, which operates primarily on a freemium model and is focussed on select markets, maintains strong platform metrics and continues to grow revenues.

“The secondary (re-sale) business performed well in real estate while the primary segment (sale of new properties) remained relatively slower. We continue to see a higher share of new listings across categories, including residential, resale, and rental, as well as commercial, spanning both the owner and broker segments,” he said.

On the matchmaking segment, Oberoi said that the market continues to be competitive with other players investing in marketing and offering higher than usual discounts.

“The domestic Shiksha business continued to grow in billings, whereas the study abroad business witnessed softness in Q3. The AI-related impact is now very visible in the domestic Shiksha business and has led to a sharp drop in traffic,” he added, while referring to the education vertical.

Info Edge shares closed 0.30% lower at Rs 1,143.75 on the BSE on Friday.