Zomato Reports Net Loss of INR 346.6 Crore In Q3Its revenue from operations rose 75 per cent to INR 1,948.2 crore in quarter under review from INR 1,112 crore in the same quarter of the previous year

Restaurant aggregator Zomato on Thursday reported a consolidated net loss of INR 346.6 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 compared with INR 63 crore in the year-ago period on account of macroeconomic pressures and changes in consumer preference.

Its revenue from operations rose 75 per cent to INR 1,948.2 crore in quarter under review from INR 1,112 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.

"We continue to stay focused on our long-term growth vectors without worrying too much about near-term growth pressures," said Deepinder Goyal, founder and CEO, Zomato.

He added that while the long-term opportunity remains large and exciting, "the current slowdown is a result of a few temporary factors such as macro slowdown for the mid-market segment, boom in dining out for the premium-end, and boom in travel at the premium-end."

Zomato added 23 million new customers in CY22 as compared to 23.6 million in CY21. Customers who ordered over 50 times a year grew by around 50 per cent year-on-year to 2.7 million as compared to 1.8 million in CY21, said the company.

This was the first quarter during which the Gurugram-based company reported quarterly results taking into account the financials of Blinkit, the fast commerce company it acquired. Excluding Blinkit, Zomato's operating loss was INR 38 crore compared with INR 272 crore a year ago.

Talking about the way forward, Goyal listed out a few initiatives undertaken by the company to prioritise such as long-term growth, including membership programme Zomato Gold that gives subscribers priority access to restaurants during peak hours, Zomato Instant service that offers customers home-style cooked food at affordable prices, and attempts to fix the overall "hygiene" (such as the app's curation gaps and the lax speed of engineering systems) of the business.

Zomato, which got listed on the stock exchanges in 2021, has lately witnessed a string of high-profile resignations, including CTO Gunjan Patidar, co-founder Mohit Gupta, head of new initiatives Rahul Ganjoo and vice-president for global growth Sidhharth Jhawar. These exits have reportedly worried restaurant partners. "We are always on the lookout for great talent to join our team," said Goyal on the subject before adding that the company doesn't have the need to fill the recently vacated positions of CTO and head of food delivery.