Jabong reports further loss in Q1, may reshuffle top execs

Rocket Internet-backed online fashion platform Jabong's loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation widened to Rs 113.9 crores in the quarter from Rs 69.4 crores a year earlier. Its net revenue grew nearly 36 percent to Rs 199.2 crores along with GMV increasing 54 percent to Rs 355 crores. Buzz is that Rocket Internet is now contemplating replacing Jabong’s CEO Arun Chandra Mohan and Managing Director Praveen Sinha. Both Mohan and Sinha are expected to take up new roles within Rocket Internet Group in the coming months.

Jabong’s gross profit was Rs 19.9 crores, almost Rs 70 lakh lesser than the Rs 20.6 crores it achieved in the same quarter for last year. Share of gross profits of the total revenue also declined to 10 percent against 14 percent for the same quarter last year. The figures show that gross profits worth Rs 159.5 crores reported for the financial year ending 2014 are out of the company’s reach this fiscal. After adjusted calculations, Jabong’s EBITDA too stood at 57 percent compared to 47 percent in the previous year’s quarter indicating that the e-tailer lost about 57 paisa for every rupee earned for this quarter compared to 47 paisa loss for every rupee earned in the same quarter last year.

Jabong has not been able to match steps with its peers and proved to be the worst performing in terms of EBITDA and net revenues, with Jabong contributing just over 15 percent to the overall revenues for Rocket Internet’s Global Fashion Group.