Uber-funded mobility startup Everest Fleet has reached the desired milestone in its growth trajectory, with over two-fold growth in revenue with equally impressive profit margins in FY23-24 ending March 2024. This places it among the few players in the mobility space with double digit profits consecutively in FY23 and FY24.
PC: The Economic Times
In its consolidated statement of affairs filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), revenue from operation surged 120.7% to ₹1,029.44 crore during FY24 from ₹466.53 crore in FY23. This company is mainly into fleet management and passenger transportation, earning revenue based on services provided on account of a customer’s trip and agreement. It also generates revenue through B2B services, including food delivery to corporate clients and car rentals for marketing activities.
Everest Fleet has reported interest and gains on financial assets earnings at ₹27.71 crore in FY24, pushing its total revenue to around ₹1,057 crore. The company offers services in India’s shared mobility space and collaborates with ride-hailing companies like Uber and Ola. It claims to be the largest professionally managed fleet supplier to Uber India. With a claimed fleet size of over 18,500 vehicles, it operates across seven large cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru.
Despite higher revenue growth, the functional cost for Everest Fleet increased manifold. This includes staff cost, which is the highest among the above mentioned groups as it reached ₹68.28 crore against ₹33.42 crore in FY23 compared to a 104% increase in FY24. Finance costs increased more than 150% to ₹33.80 crore and the depreciation cost rose to ₹53.85 crore compared to ₹19.16 crore. This increased cost resulted in expenditure of ₹1,007 crore for FY24 compared to ₹414.36 crore in FY23.
Everest Fleet managed to continue being profitable even though its net profit declined by 8% to ₹37.94 crore for the previous fiscal year compared to ₹41.23 crore in FY23. It did, however, manage to show good growth in operating cash flows that increased by 80.1% to ₹41.09 crore for the same period. As per figures from TheKredible, the company’s EBITDA margin and return on capital employed stood at 13.04% and 13.29%, respectively, which reveals its operational efficiency. On a unit level, Everest Fleet expended ₹0.98 to earn every rupee of operating revenue for FY24.
Everst Fleet just raised $30 million from Uber. In total, it has raised approximately $63 million to date, led by investment groups such as Paragon Partners, Rockstud Capital, and Incred Capital. In June 2023, the company gave early backer Artha Venture a partial exit. Founder Siddharth Ladsaria retains more than 50%.
August would also see the Everest Fleet committing to $20 million funding by the International Finance Corporation. The Bengaluru-based company plans to scale up its operations and expand its fleet with clean-energy vehicles – CNG and electric vehicles (EVs).
Therefore, with robust revenue growth and emphasis on profitability despite cost escalations, Everest Fleet enjoys an extremely dominant position in the mobility segment. With continuous investment and strategic focus on sustainable transportation solutions, the company will be well-equipped to ride through all the shifts in shared mobility that India is going to experience in the years ahead.
