Ola Electric's consolidated loss widens 4X to ₹784.15 cr in FY22

Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Electric reported the financial results for FY22 after a delay of almost a year. In FY22, the company’s consolidated loss widened by four-fold to ₹784.15 crore as against ₹199.23 crore in FY21, according to the data accessed by Tofler.

The electric two-wheeler manufacturer's operating revenue surged from ₹0.86 crore in FY21, to ₹373.42 crore in FY22. Of this, the company's revenue from operations from the scooter sales stood at ₹348 crore.

The company’s total expenses surged by 306.1% to ₹1,240.41 crore in FY22 from ₹305.4 crore in FY21. The company’s total income stood at ₹456.26 crore during the year under review, up 329% as against ₹106.18 crore in FY21. The EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) margin of the Bengaluru-based company stood at -157% in FY22, as against -167.92% in FY21. The electric two-wheeler manufacturer's ROCE (return on capital employed) stood at -18.07% in FY22 as against -10.03% in FY21.

The electric two-wheeler manufacturer's cost of procurement of products stood at ₹625 crore in FY22. The company spent ₹282.48 crore in employee benefits in FY22, as against ₹197.25 crore in FY21. The company’s expenses in advertising products stood at ₹49.42 crore, up 206.25% as against ₹16 crore in FY21.  The company’s research and development expenditure increased by 124% at ₹156.9 crore in FY22 as against ₹69.9 crore in FY21.

The IPO-bound company is yet to announce financial results for FY23.

The Bengaluru-based company currently leads the electric two-wheeler segment. Between January and August 2023, the company sold 1,50,848 units of electric two-wheelers, according to VAHAAN portal.

In June this year, the company hiked the price of its select models by ₹15,000 following the government’s decision to reduce electric two-wheelers subsidies to ₹10,000 per kWh from the existing ₹15,000 per kWh. The cap on incentives for electric two-wheelers now stands at 15% of the ex-factory prices of vehicles against 40% earlier. The electric scooter S1 Pro is now priced at ₹1,39,999, S1 (3KWh) at ₹1,29,999, and S1 Air (3KWh) at ₹1,09,999.

Earlier this year, the government initiated a probe against Ola Electric, Ather Energy, Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motors for overcharging customers and violating the FAME II (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles) subsidy scheme, and withholding more than ₹1,200 crore in funds in relation to the same. An additional ₹400 crore has been stuck for OEMs in the premium end after the government accused OEMs of under-invoicing to bypass the FAME-II norms. The four OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) have been asked to return the amount to the ministry before the resumption of the FAME-II subsidy. Of the four EV manufacturers, Ather Energy, Ola Electric and TVS Motors have concurred in offering refunds to customers.

According to the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles, electric two-wheeler companies have suffered a total loss of more than ₹9,000 crore owing to subsidy cut by the government.