Paytm introspects after Q4 earnings; Why startups have shunned IPL 2024 sponsorships

The most interesting news selected specially for you! 26 May 2024 [View in Browser]( POWERED BY Hello, Now, startups and enterprises can enhance their brand engagement by partnering with YourStory and advertising on our YS Buzz and Weekly Wrap newsletters. [Click here]( to know more. In today's newsletter, we will talk about: - Paytm introspects after Q4 earnings - Why startups have shunned IPL 2024 sponsorships - Inside Young India Philanthropic Pledge - EaseMyTrip’s Q4 earnings - Honasa Consumer’s Q4 FY24 results Here’s your trivia for today: What is the most dense stable element? --------------------------------------------------------------- Ecommerce Paytm introspects after Q4 earnings parent One 97 Communications has had a rough 2024 so far. Due to regulatory sanctions from the RBI, the fintech player had to stop all operations at its subsidiary Paytm Payments Bank, which led to impairment losses of Rs 227 crore. During an extended earnings call, CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said the company has learned from its mistakes and will hire more independent directors and subject experts to bolster governance and compliance. Key takeaways: - Loss for FY24 narrowed by 20% to Rs 1,422 crore from Rs 1,776 crore in FY23, while [Q4 loss soared]( over threefold to Rs 550 crore. - The company announced that Paytm will “pivot” to focus more on a distribution-only credit model (where Paytm is not responsible for collections and, therefore, receives no collection incentive). - It also revealed that it is experimenting with secured loans, including microloans, against property for smaller merchants. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- From the CapTable Startups retreat from IPL 2024 sponsorships; packed cricket season impacts ROIs per event The past few IPL editions each have added sponsorship revenues of roughly Rs 1,000-1,200 crore to the BCCI’s coffers. In 2024, however, there was a likely shortfall of a few hundred crores. The differential, though not very pronounced, brings forth an interesting trend that has played out this year. With three high-profile cricket tournaments—ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, IPL 2024, and ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024—crammed into a 7-8-month window, along with the Lok Sabha Elections thrown into the mix, advertiser budgets were pulled in multiple directions, resulting in low ROIs per event, industry insiders told The CapTable. Several advertisers, including traditional FMCG firms, automobile companies, and a handful of new-age digital firms which were common across all three events were compelled to reassess their IPL spending. “We’ve seen three very high-profile cricket sponsorship vehicles in a short span. If I’m a marketing head who’s been given a Rs 100-crore budget for sponsorships, I’d want to allocate it evenly. Last year, marketing managers didn’t have this challenge. They put everything on the IPL. But this year, companies have cut down their IPL budgets because they have other options and they expect better ROIs from the World Cups,” Santosh N, managing partner at valuation services and consulting firm D & P India Advisory Services, tells The CapTable. Key takeaways: - In 2020-21, about 60% of IPL sponsors were new-age startups. That has come down to ~20% in IPL 2024, with legacy advertisers making a return. - In the absence of free-flowing VC money, cash-strapped startups have stayed away from IPL associations. The likes of Byju’s, CRED, Swiggy, Paytm, Unacademy, which had spent heavily until 2022, are missing from the IPL advertiser roster this year. - The price of a 10-second ad slot has more than doubled in the last 2-3 years compared to pre-COVID editions of the IPL, mostly because of free-spending unicorns. - Several brands such as Angel One and Astral Pipes which are looking to increase their visibility in Tier-2+ towns have amped up their ad budgets and associations with IPL. [Continue Reading]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Education Inside Young India Philanthropic Pledge Leading businessman and philanthropist Nikhil Kamath, along with Amitabh Shah, Founder of Yuva Unstoppable, has played a pivotal role in driving the Young India Philanthropic Pledge, garnering substantial financial commitments to fuel the Karnataka Model School Pathways Programme (KMSPP). The Young India Philanthropic Pledge is a commitment by India’s young change-makers to dedicate a minimum of 25% of their wealth towards global change, starting with India. Key takeaways: - KMSPP aims to transform over 210 schools and co-located anganwadis/preschools across Tumkur, Davangere, Haveri, Yadgir, and Chitradurga by the academic year 2025-26 through the Model Schools Collaborative. - The programme has raised significant resources to impact over 45,000 students, 1,100 teachers, and various education and administrative officials across Karnataka. - The child-first approach of KMSPP has resulted in increased access to libraries and ICT labs, leading to significant improvements in student performance. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Earnings EaseMyTrip’s revenue rises but profit shrinks booking platform EaseMyTrip's revenue from operations in the financial year 2023-24 grew 31.5% YoY to Rs 590 crore while profits declined by 23% YoY to Rs 103 crore as the latest quarter slipped into a loss of Rs 15.7 crore. Key takeaways: - On a quarterly basis, the company posted a 40.7% YoY increase in revenue for the January to April 2024 quarter to Rs 164 crore. - The company attributed the latest quarter's loss to write-offs of amounts that were supposed to be recovered from now-defunct Go Airlines (India) Limited, which operated Go First carrier. - For FY24, the expenses increased by 41.2% YoY to Rs 394 crore. The steepest rise was in service cost of tour packages, which increased nearly 5X to Rs 49.6 crore. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- D2C Honasa Consumer Q4 FY24 results Consumer, the parent company of Mamaearth, reported an annual consolidated profit of Rs 111 crore in FY24, driven by strong demand for beauty and skincare products, particularly from its DermaCo range, facilitated by its multi-brand strategy. The D2C company, which counts brands like Aqualogica, DermaCo, Dr Sheth’s, and BBlunt in its portfolio, recorded nearly 22% growth in revenue from operation in FY24. Highlights: - Mamaearth, which went public in November last year, reported an EBITDA margin of 7.1% in FY24, higher than the 1.5% reported a year ago helped by operational efficiencies. - For Q4 FY24, Honasa logged a sequentially higher consolidated profit of Rs 30.4 crore and a revenue of Rs 471 crore. - To ramp up its R&D efforts, Honasa announced the purchase of Cosmogensis Cosmetics Labs for its scientific expertise, R&D lab, and manufacturing capability for Rs 4 crore. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- News & Updates - [Ad business:]( TikTok is the latest tech company to incorporate Gen AI into its ads business, as the company announced it’s launching a new “TikTok Symphony” AI suite for brands. The tools will help marketers write scripts, produce videos, and enhance current assets. - [Discount:]( Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Baidu have slashed prices of large-language models (LLMs) used to power generative artificial intelligence products, as a price war in the cloud computing sector heats up in China. - [Pixel:]( Google is planning to make its Pixel smartphone in Tamil Nadu and has tied up with Taiwan's Foxconn. “It will be making the latest models of its smartphones in the state... at the existing Foxconn facility (in Tamil Nadu),” one of the sources said. Did you know? What is the most dense stable element? Answer: Osmium. We would love to hear from you! To let us know what you liked and disliked about our newsletter, please mail nslfeedback@yourstory.com. If you don’t already get this newsletter in your inbox, [sign up here](. For past editions of the YourStory Buzz, you can check our [Daily Capsule page here](. [Feedback]( [Unsubscribe]( [Newsletters](