Nazara FY21 operating revenue up 84% at Rs. 454.2 crore

Nazara Technologies has reported 84% growth in operating revenues at Rs. 454.2 crore for the fiscal ended 31st March 2021 as against Rs 247.5 crore in the previous fiscal. Total expenses stood at Rs 408.9 crore compared to Rs 253.1 crore.

EBITDA grew by 508% YoY to Rs. 59.6 crore from Rs 9.79 crore. EBITDA margins improved from 3.7% in FY20 to 12.7% in FY21. The company delivered a PAT of Rs. 13.6 crore in FY21 compared to a net loss of Rs 26.7 crore in the previous fiscal.

As of March 31, 2021, Nazara has diverse business segments with revenue generation happening across gamified learning, esports, freemium, real money gaming and telco subscription.

The high growth segments of Gamified Early Learnings and eSports have grown by 819% YoY and 102% YoY to Rs. 175.8 crore and Rs. 170.1 crore, respectively.  The EBITDA from eSports grew four times to Rs 30.48 crore from Rs 7.48 crore. Gamified early learning reported an operating profit of Rs 12.57 crore against an operating loss of Rs 3.46 crore in FY20.

The revenue from the Freemium segment dropped marginally to Rs 19.52 crore from Rs 19.78 crore. The Real money gaming segment revenue nosedived 66% to Rs 13.85 crore from Rs 42.64 crore. Telco subscription income fell 8% to Rs 74.94 crore from Rs 81.8 crore.

The operating profit from the Freemium segment was down 37% at Rs 4.13 crore from Rs 6.6 crore. The real money gaming segment's operating loss narrowed by 83% to Rs 5.75 crore from Rs 34.72 crore. The operating revenue from the telco subscription segment fell 66% to Rs 13.73 crore from Rs 20.58 crore.

Nazara recorded a positive Net Cash Flow from Operations of Rs. 67.4 crore in FY21. Consolidated Cash and Cash Equivalents including liquid investments stood at Rs. 478.4 crore as of 31st March 2021 as compared to Rs. 223.4 crore as of 31st March 2020.

Consolidated Net worth as of 31st March 2021 grew by 37% to Rs. 779 crore as compared to Rs. 570 crore as of 31st March 2020.

Commenting on the performance, Nazara Technologies Group CEO Manish Agarwal said “For FY21, we clocked total operating revenue growth of 84% on YoY bases and profits of Rs.136 Mn. As we operate in the high growth business segments of Gamified early learning, eSports and Freemium, we will continue to prioritize growth over profit maximization, so that we can achieve and maintain market leadership in segments we operate in.

"Prudent financial management is in our DNA. This is clearly evident from Rs. 4,784 Million of cash reserves including liquid investments as well as zero debt on our balance sheet. We will efficiently utilize our cash balance to fund any inorganic growth opportunities- from building capabilities to geographic and demographic expansions in our domain of operation. To conclude, we are in a good position to continue executing our strategy and maintain our market leadership position in the years to come.”

Nazara is an India based, diversified gaming and sports media platform with presence in India and across emerging and developed global markets such as Africa and North America.