Google India's gross ad revenue soars 21.36% to Rs 13,886.7 crore in FY21

Tech giant Google India's gross sales from the sale of advertisement space has jumped 21.36% to Rs 13,886.7 crore for the fiscal ended 31st March 2021 as against Rs 11,442.3 crore in the previous fiscal, according to financial data accessed by business intelligence platform, Tofler.

During the fiscal under review, the company paid Rs 12,262.2 crore to Google Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. for purchase of advertisement space as against Rs 10,070.2 crore in the previous fiscal.

Google is a third-party reseller of advertising space of Google Adwords program and other Google advertising products and services in India to advertisers seeking to market their products and services to consumers and business users over the internet. It is also engaged in rendering of Information Technology (IT) Services and IT enabled services (ITES) to its group companies engaged in the internet industry.

Google is the dominant player in the digital advertising market with presence across ad formats like search, display, and video. Its video streaming platform YouTube is the top AVOD platform in the country, with a lion's share of the fast-growing digital video ad pie. Google's Android is the dominant mobile operating system in the country.

The company has invested $4.5 billion in Reliance's Jio Platforms and has partnered with Reliance Jio to jointly launch an entry-level smartphone JioPhone Next to grow the internet penetration in India. It has also committed to invest $10 billion in India over the next 5-7 years.

The company reported revenue from sale of advertising space and enterprise products and associated direct cost of sales on a net basis. The company's revenue from net sale of advertising space increased 18.39% to Rs 1624.5 crore from Rs 1372.1 crore.

Likewise, the gross sales from the sale of enterprise products jumped 33% to Rs 606.6 crore from Rs 457.6 crore. The company paid Rs 540 crore to Google Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. for purchase of services relating to enterprise products, compared to Rs 402.7 crore in the previous fiscal.

The company's revenue from rendering of information technology and enabled services dropped 5.17% to Rs 1652.7 crore from Rs 1743.5 crore. Revenue from rendering of information technology services jumped 32% to Rs 2913.3 crore from Rs 2213.1 crore.

Google India's revenue from operations rose 16.2% to Rs 6257.1 crore as against Rs 5384.7 crore. The company earned 46.56% of its revenue from IT Services, followed by 27.03% from advertising, and 26.41% from IT enabled services.

Total income grew 14% to Rs 6386.2 crore from Rs 5603.3 crore. Expenditure increased 19% to Rs 5297.4 crore from Rs 4465 crore. Total employee benefit expense jumped 54% to Rs 3230.8 crore compared to Rs 2100.6 crore. Advertising promotional expenses shrank 69% to Rs 132.8 crore from Rs 427.7 crore a year ago.

Net profit rose 38% to Rs 808 crore from Rs 586.2 crore. EBITDA climbed 19% to Rs 1,639.60 crore from Rs 1,378.60 crore.

The company's trade receivables rose 7.2% to Rs 3896.8 crore from Rs 3634.8 crore. It noted that trade receivables are non-interest bearing and are generally on terms of 0 to 90 days. As at March 2021, Rs 134.4 crore versus Rs 132.6 crore was recognised as allowance for doubtful debts on trade receivables.

Recently, Google India Digital Services, the company that houses digital payment platform Google Pay, had reported 2% growth in FY21 revenue to Rs 1467 crore compared to Rs 1498 crore in the previous fiscal. The company's net profit jumped 61% to Rs 53 crore from Rs 33 crore.

Google Payment India has reported operating revenue of Rs 14.75 crore for the fiscal ended 31st March 2021 as against Rs 4.69 crore in the previous fiscal. A subsidiary of Google USA, the company is primarily engaged in providing business support services to Google Asia Pacific Pte. Limited (GAP) and Google Ireland Limited (GIL). Its net profit for the fiscal was Rs 1.41 crore, compared to Rs 45.65 lakh.