All's not well with Flipkart, reports a loss of Rs 2,000 crore

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Online e-commerce company Flipkart posted a loss of over Rs 2,000 crore in the year ended March 2015 as against Rs 715 crore the previous year, as per a report in the Economic Times.

Also read: Flipkart Lite: Now shop on company's mobile website

Combined sales of two main entities controlled by the online giant – Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd and Flipkart India Pvt. Ltd trebled to Rs.10,390 crore last fiscal year, the ET further said.

"Flipkart Internet, which runs the consumer-facing portal, registered a net loss of Rs 1,096.4 crore, while that of Flipkart India, the wholesale arm, was Rs 836.5 crore", ET said, citing Registrar of Companies filing.

Also read: Amazon beats Flipkart, Snapdeal as most visited e-commerce site

Most e-commerce companies are operating at a loss because of the heavy investments being made to build the back-end and delivery infrastructure. Since these companies are privately held, they do not disclose their financial results.

With the onset of the festive season, Flipkart started pouring huge discounts to woo shoppers with best deals and grab market share.

Also read: Flipkart sets out to be more mobile-centric in next 2 years

The company has invested heavily on bringing the best deals for customers across categories like apparel, electronics and household items as well as on logistics.

Investors have also pumped in millions of dollars to build the infrastructure and grow the ecosystem. While the number of transactions and sales through such platforms have zoomed, industry experts have also criticized the huge discounts offered and expressed concerns of inflated valuations.

Also read: Flipkart hires Google executive to head consumer experience

It may be recalled that last month, co-founder Binny Bansal has said that he is hopeful that Flipkart will become profitable in the next 2-3 years and expecting to launch its IPO in 2-5 years.

Also read: Flipkart expects to be in profit zone in 2-3 years; hints at IPO

Flipkart, itself, has raised closed $2 billion from investors like Tiger Global, Naspers and GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund. The company is valued at over $10 billion currently.

Also read: Flipkart to invest over $2.5 bn on logistics, warehouses

Flipkart has 45 million registered users clocking 10 million daily visits and delivers about eight million shipments per month.

With Agency Inputs