Simplifying India's Auto Journey
We at CarTrade are truly grateful to our 3 crores monthly unique consumers and to all
our dealer and_OEM partners who are part of_our ecosystem. We are building a future
through technology, to provide a seamless_one-click experience to all_our users.
Dear Stakeholders,
As we embark on our journey as a listed public Company, it_is with great joy that I
present to you CarTrade Tech's very first Annual Report, shedding light on our performance
in FY22. This will provide our stakeholders a better insight into the operations and
profitability of the Company, and we look forward to continuing this endeavour each year,
with utmost levels of transparency.
Eleanor Roosevelt had once said,_"The future belongs to those who believe in the
beauty of their dreams". When we kickstarted our journey in 2009, getting listed
seemed like a far-fetched dream. Today, it is a matter of immense pride that we have
become the first automotive digital marketplace to be listed in India. We began with the
aim to create a lasting impact on the automotive_industry. Withfitime, effort, and an
intricate understanding of our domain, we were able to successfully achieve this goal.
Over the years, our_dream has evolved into building a connected automotive ecosystem that
encompasses consumers, manufacturers, dealers, banks, and other stakeholders. While we
have come a long way, we recognise there is still much more exciting work to do to fully
achieve our vision.
We have always believed in attaining profitable growth' while delivering a
fantastic experience to our customers.
This belief has become a reality with our agile business model and the relentless hard
work and commitment of the CarTrade Tech family. The pandemic presented unprecedented
challenges over the last two years. Supply chain disruptions led to a shrinking market
size and significant degrowth. Despite these challenges, we were able to smoothly navigate
towards a robust financial performance, owing to the immense resilience displayed by our
people. I_want to express my deepest gratitude to every member as their contributions have
made it possible for us to consistently improve our customer experience. It is their
passion and energy that keeps me inspired and fuels my purpose.
THE YEAR IN REVIEW
I am pleased to announce that in FY22, we recorded healthy and profitable growth,
achieving our highest ever revenue of Rs358 crores, growing y-o-y at 28%. We also clocked
the highest ever adjusted EBITDA of Rs97 crores, growing y-o-y at 25%. Our adjusted PAT
stood at Rs56 crores.
Our revenue growth was matched by our EBITDA growth, reflecting the success of our
business strategy. During the year, we also incurred a 19% y-o-y increase in our employee
costs. This was mostly owing to salary increments and initiatives taken towards nurturing
our employees.
Our marketing costs for this year were less than 7% of our revenue, a testament to the
high brand affinity of our Company. We concentrated on growing our business across our
consumer platformsCarWale, CarTrade and BikeWalegarnering 3 crores average
unique visitors every month, with over 86% of them being organically generated. Our
commitment to improving our customers' experience has made our brand synonymous with
trust, quality and reliability.
On the remarketing business side, our listings have increased to 12+ lakhs across 120
Automalls and online auctions. Our proprietary technology is built to cater to the large
volumes of phygital auctions across all vehicle types, supply sources and geographies.
We will be committed to our agenda of creating profitable growth, and leveraging our
agile and scalable business model. With an investable surplus of Rs1,000+ crores, we will
continue to remain debt-free. Our profitability and surplus cash allow us to invest in
widening our offerings and thereby serving our customers better.
CAPITALISING ON TRENDS TO CREATE A DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM
The pandemic brought many headwinds to the industry but it also accelerated
digitalisation on a large scale, leading to an evolution in consumer dynamics. The entire
vehicle buying journey has seen a structural shift, with an increasing number of buyers
using digital platforms for pre-purchase research on pricing, comparisons, dealer
discovery, financing options and other value-added services. The_pastfitwo years have also
seen an increase infithe amount of sellers using online platforms for selling their
vehicles via price discovery and identification of potential buyers. We at CarTrade Tech
were well-poised to capitalise on the emerging opportunities brought about by the
evolvingfitrends within the automobile space.
We have made considerable progress on our digital initiativefithat enables our
customers to buy a vehicle through our one-click' experience. To further our value
proposition, we_have partnered with banks and other financial institutions to help our
customers get loan approvals in a convenient manner. During the year, we also launched our
CarWale abSure platform, which offers quality handpicked used cars, thoroughly vetted by
CarWale. The_platform provides 4s promisesSure, Secure, Safe, Smart. Thesefivehicles
are sold on our online platforms, as well as through our 47 outlets across the country. We
plan to expand to 120+_outlets by FY23.
LOOKING AHEAD
Backed by our robust business model, we are looking to expand our operations and
increase our value proposition significantly in the coming years. As a continuously
evolving auto platform, we are committed to meeting the needs of our consumers, dealers,
and OEMs. We made considerable progress in achieving our Company's mission and will
continue on this path in the future.
I am thankful to all our stakeholders who have extended their unwavering support to all
our endeavours. I am truly grateful to our 3 crores monthly unique consumers who have
shown faith in our brand. Their trust has helped us retain our #1 position in search
popularity on Google Trends, much ahead of our key competitors. I also wish to extend my
gratitude to our new vehicle and used vehicle_dealer partners, who will always remain
integral buyers and sellers on our platform. Auto manufacturers, banks, and NBFCs are also
key pillars within our ecosystem, enabling us to provide unique offerings to our
customers. This is just the beginning and there is tremendous passion and belief at
CarTrade Tech. I assure all our stakeholders that we will remain on track and consistently
deliver on our promises, creating shared value for the longfiterm, focused on customer
experience.
Warm Regards, |
Vinay Vinod Sanghi |
Chairman and Managing Director |