Valuation report shows Oyo’s annual loss at Rs 23.85 bn, but revenue rises

The losses highlight a period of rapid expansion by Oyo into markets such as China, the United States and the UK, which has made the six-year-old startup one of the world’s biggest hotel chains by room count.

Oyo reported a net loss of Rs 23.85 bn ($332 million) in the year to March 2019, compared with a loss of Rs 3.6 billion a year earlier, according to the report filed with India’s ministry of corporate affairs. Revenue from operations surged to Rs 64.57 billion ($900 million) from about Rs 14.13 billion a year earlier. Oyo said in a statement the report contained only “certain provisional financials” for the year ending March 2019. “These are not the final audited financials and the same will be issued later by the company along with the annual report that we issue every year.”

The report, prepared by a valuer in Gurugram, just south of New Delhi, said the financials for the year to March 2019 were unaudited and all figures were provided by Oyo’s management.

The growing losses at Oyo come as its major investor SoftBank struggles to raise funding for a second investment fund in the wake of the failed listing of office-rental company WeWork and amid questions about the path to profitability of other marquee investments like Uber.

SoftBank, which has invested nearly $1 billion in Oyo through its Vision Fund, this month reported its first quarterly loss in 14 years, dragged down by an $8.9 billion hit at the Vision Fund. Oyo’s operating expenses grew nearly five-fold year-over-year to Rs 61.32 billion, while total expenses hit Rs 90.28 billion, the report showed.