Twitter India reports Rs 32 crore loss in FY22

Chennai: The Indian subsidiary of US social media platform Twitter, which is embroiled in controversies over its sales of blue tick and employee lay-offs, has reported 82 per cent growth in revenues while slipping into losses in FY22.

Twitter India's revenue from operations grew 81.5 per cent to Rs 156.75 crore during the financial year ended March 2022 from Rs 86.36 crore in FY21, as per a report filed, based on its standalone annual financial statement, with the Registrar of Companies.

According to Entrackr, which tracks tech startups, Twitter India did not show any revenue from domestic operations and attributed all its operating income for providing support services to its group entities in Ireland and Singapore.
"It's worth noting that this income includes very little of its ad revenue, which has generally accounted for the majority of Twitter's income. The company has not disclosed its domestic revenue and booked all of its operating income for providing support services to its group entities," said Entrackr.

"The subsidiary provides services to the holding company (Twitter International Unlimited Company, Ireland) and a fellow subsidiary (Twitter Asia Pacific Pte Limited, Singapore). Around 58 per cent of the total operating revenue was generated in Ireland which ballooned 2.5x to Rs 90.5 crore in FY22 while the remaining Rs 66.23 crore was from Singapore, which surged 30 per cent during the same period," it noted.

Collection from research & development activities, which accounts for 52 per cent of overall revenues, grew 2.4x. Marketing support services, which formed over 42 per cent of the revenue, grew 30 per cent. User support services provided Rs 8.9 crore.

The total expenses of the company also jumped 2.4x to Rs 182 crore in FY22 as compared to Rs 75.8 crore in FY21. Despite a noticeable growth in revenue, the company slipped into the red and booked a loss of Rs 31.84 crore in FY22 against a profit of Rs 7.76 crore reported in FY21.

Employee benefit cost rose over 3x to Rs 136.8 crore in FY22 from Rs 43.3 crore in the preceding year.

Spends on rent, advertising-cum-promotional expenses, and legal professional fees stood at Rs 10.7 crore, Rs 6.9 crore and Rs 4 crore, respectively. The company also incurred Rs 2.7 crore on outsourced support services.