Shares of CarTrade Tech slid as much as 10.7% on Wednesday to a low of Rs 2,270 on the BSE, even as the online auto classifieds firm posted double-digit revenue growth and a sharp expansion in margins for the December quarter, reflecting investor unease over a deceleration in topline momentum.
The company reported its third-quarter results during the trading session. The decline came despite a 31.5% rise in net profit and a near nine-percentage-point expansion in operating margins, as investors weighed strong profitability gains against a slower pace of revenue growth compared with the prior quarter.
Net profit for the December quarter rose to Rs 56 crore from Rs 42.7 crore a year earlier. Revenue increased 19% to Rs 209.7 crore from Rs 176.2 crore in the year-ago period, marking a moderation from the 25% growth reported in the September quarter.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation climbed 56% year on year to Rs 78 crore, up from Rs 50 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. EBITDA margin expanded to 37.2% from 28.4% a year earlier, with the company noting that margins have improved on a sequential basis as well.
In its post-earnings release, the company said it engaged nearly 85 million average monthly unique visitors during the quarter, with organic traffic accounting for 95% of total traffic. That figure was unchanged from what management had reported at the end of the September quarter.
Live Events
The company’s remarketing business continued to scale, delivering an annualised run-rate of 1.9 million auction listings, which it said cemented its leadership position in the vehicle remarketing segment.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
