Despite revenue more than doubling, Veranda Learning Solutions Limited, the Chennai-based education services solutions provider, reported a net loss of ₹39 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2024.
It was the same in the same quarter last year. Revenue increased to ₹103 crore (₹48 crore). The net loss was mainly due to higher finance cost.
The financial cost for the quarter includes a non-recurring cash expense of ₹10 crores towards pre-closure charges of existing loans; ₹8 crores (₹15 crores for FY24 ) of non-cash expenses pertaining to unwinding of acquisition related liabilities and ₹7 crores (₹10 crores for FY24 ) due to acceleration of processing charges of the loans prepaid, according to a release.
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Advertising and business promotion expenses for Q4’24 & FY24 stood at ₹13 crores and ₹49 crores respectively.
For FY24, the net loss was ₹76 crore (₹79 crore) while revenue more than doubled to ₹362 crore ₹161 crore).
In the current year, the company has seen an increase in finance and depreciation costs due to accounting adjustments pertaining to the acquisitions completed.
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The depreciation costs include a non-cash expense of ₹36.38 crores arising due to the amortization of intangible assets acquired.
The finance cost includes a non-cash expense of ₹14.63 crores arising due to unwinding of acquisition related liabilities and a non-cash expense of ₹9.92 crores due to acceleration of processing charges of the loans prepaid . The finance cost also includes a non-recurring cost of ₹10.25 crores due to prepayment of existing loans.
The total number of students trained by the Veranda Group for FY24 stood at 6,93,874 with 1,36,194 students trained during this quarter, the release said.
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In FY24, the company not only saw its operating revenues double to surpass ₹360 crores but also achieved a positive EBITDA for the first time.
“This is a testament to our team’s dedication. This has been driven by strategic consolidation of high-quality brands into our portfolio, significantly enhancing our market presence and performance,” he said..
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“As we set our sights on FY25, we anticipate maintaining this momentum to achieve revenues exceeding ₹550 crores with an ambitious EBITDA margin of 25 per cent,” he said.
The company’s share price on the NSE closed at ₹173, down by 1.56 per cent.