Zomato will also invest Rs 100 crore in Zomato Entertainment, its events arm, which specialises in curating and selling tickets for concerts, parties, and festivals….reports Asian Lite News
Online food delivery platform Zomato has invested Rs 300 crore in its quick commerce arm, Blinkit, as this segment is projected to surpass its core food delivery business.
The board of the company has approved the investment of Rs 300 crore in Blinkit Commerce, as per filings with the Registrar of Companies accessed via TheKredible.
Additionally, Zomato will also invest Rs 100 crore in Zomato Entertainment, its events arm, which specialises in curating and selling tickets for concerts, parties, and festivals.
With this investment, Zomato has injected Rs 2,300 crore ($277 million) into Blinkit since acquiring it in August 2022. BlinkIt was bought by the food delivery giant in an all-stock transaction for Rs 4,477 crore ($568 million).
Meanwhile, Zomato has said that Blinkit turned adjusted EBITDA positive in March, as the online food delivery platform clocked Rs 194 crore in adjusted EBITDA for the January-March quarter of FY24.
The consolidated adjusted EBITDA improved by Rs 369 crore as compared to the same quarter last year.
The adjusted revenue was Rs 3,873 crore, a 61 per cent growth (year-on-year) for the quarter, as food gross order delivery (GOV) grew 28 per cent (on-year), the company said in a statement.
Last month, Zomato saw its shares sliding on Friday after global financial services company Macquarie forecasted about a 50 per cent decline in the company’s share price in the next 12 months owing to fierce competition.
Zomato shares fell over 5 per cent, before recovering a bit, and was hovering around Rs 173 a piece.
The global brokerage firm has reiterated its “underperform” rating for Zomato, giving its stock a price target of Rs 96.
According to reports, Macquarie also saw downside to both consensus forecast and margins for Zomato-owned quick e-commerce platform Blinkit.
The report came as Blinkit turned adjusted EBITDA positive in March. Zomato aims to reach 1,000 Blinkit stores by the end of FY25.
Zomato registered a profit of Rs 175 crore in Q4 FY24.
Earlier, brokerage firm Emkay Global had maintained a buy rating on Zomato with a target price of Rs 230 per share.
A Goldman Sachs report also said that Blinkit has become more valuable than Zomato’s core food delivery business.
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