IndiaMART InterMESH Ltd Q3 FY23 Earnings Conference Call Insights

Key highlights from IndiaMART InterMESH Ltd (INDIAMART) Q3 FY23 Earnings Concall

Q&A Highlights:

• [00:08:25] Vivekanand from Ambit Capital asked about operating metrics being stagnant for several quarters and if it’s due to muted demand or increased competition. Dinesh Chandra MD answered that traffic has significantly increased from pre-COVID due to shortages during that time, but they have slowly tapered down. Despite this, traffic remains at elevated levels due to other reasons.

• [00:09:30] Vivekanand of Ambit Capital enquired about the confidence in maintaining the current rate of collections growth for 4Q23 and FY24. Dinesh Chandra MD said the recent increase in customer acquisitions has led to a 25% collection growth. As the number of net customer additions trend towards 8,000, the collection growth is expected to reach 20% in the long-term.

• [00:11:57] Vivekanand at Ambit Capital enquired if the export market is currently slow due to global factors and if there’s any potential impact on INDIAMART business. Dinesh Chandra MD replied that the company is mostly a domestic B2B marketplace with minimal international traffic. While historically pessimistic about exports, INDIAMART saw an increase in export activity in FY21, and it’s unclear what the long-term impact will be.

• [00:13:21] Abhishek Bhandari with Nomura Capital asked that consolidated numbers reveal a significantly high other income of nearly INR 100 crores, while cash balance is just about INR2,100 crores. Prateek Chandra CFO replied that the company’s other income for 3Q23 was INR102 crores, comprising of treasury income and gains on strategic investments. INDIAMART had a one-time gain of INR67 crores, with INR50 crores from the sale of investments in ProcMart and INR17 crores from other investments.

• [00:15:39] Abhishek Bhandari with Nomura asked about competitive intensity, if INDIAMART is seeing any rise or threat, particularly on the classified business. Dinesh Chandra MD said the company hasn’t received any feedback from its customers or sales team regarding the B2B issue that occurred over a year ago.

• [00:17:16] Anmol Garg from DAM Capital enquired if more than two-thirds of current monthly customer additions a different mix than one year ago when two-thirds of monthly customer additions were added. Dinesh Chandra MD said that before and during COVID, customer churn mainly occurred in the monthly category. During COVID, limitations prevented many monthly sign-ups, causing customers to either sign up annually or leave. This led to a significant decrease in the monthly customer base by the end of FY21 and mid-FY22. However, the customer base has since been rebuilt, and the mix is now similar to pre-COVID levels.

• [00:33:01] Mukul Garg from Motilal Oswal enquired about employee growth and its impact on operating leverage. Dinesh Chandra MD answered that the company had low staffing levels due to COVID departures. INDIAMART is hiring and expect to be fully staffed in a quarter with a deficit of 100-200 employees. As customers and collections increase, INDIAMART can expect employee numbers to grow. Operating leverage should improve without a salary re-rating. FY21 and ’22 were aberrations, but INDIAMART should catch up in the next 2-3 quarters.

• [00:38:41] Manish Gupta from Solidarity Advisors asked to share the gross addition and attrition numbers for paid suppliers in the first nine months of FY23. Dinesh Chandra MD replied that the company share net addition numbers and a churn guideline without revealing specific figures. Gold and platinum have less than 1% monthly churn. Silver yearly and multi-year plans have higher first-year churn, but lower second and third-year churn averaging around 2% per month, reaching 3%. Silver monthly plans have higher early churn that decreases over time.

• [00:41:27] Manish Gupta from Solidarity Advisors asked about the Busy growth in next 10 years. Dinesh Chandra MD said the accounting industry in India generates INR1,000 to INR2,000 crores in revenue. Accounting software is expected to see double-digit CAGR growth over the next 5-10 years, resulting in a $1 billion plus opportunity due to tax compliance and friendlier GST regulations. Cloud solutions and mobile apps will boost the low average revenue per customer. The success of new customer growth and ARPU improvement will depend on market share and successful execution of plans.