CarTrade Tech shares slide 11% as investors look past Q3 revenue growth, margin expansion

Shares of CarTrade Tech slid as much as 10.7% on Wednesday to a low of Rs 2,270 on the BSE, even as the online auto classifieds firm posted double-digit revenue growth and a sharp expansion in margins for the December quarter, reflecting investor unease over a deceleration in topline momentum.

The company reported its third-quarter results during the trading session. The decline came despite a 31.5% rise in net profit and a near nine-percentage-point expansion in operating margins, as investors weighed strong profitability gains against a slower pace of revenue growth compared with the prior quarter.

Net profit for the December quarter rose to Rs 56 crore from Rs 42.7 crore a year earlier. Revenue increased 19% to Rs 209.7 crore from Rs 176.2 crore in the year-ago period, marking a moderation from the 25% growth reported in the September quarter.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation climbed 56% year on year to Rs 78 crore, up from Rs 50 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. EBITDA margin expanded to 37.2% from 28.4% a year earlier, with the company noting that margins have improved on a sequential basis as well.

In its post-earnings release, the company said it engaged nearly 85 million average monthly unique visitors during the quarter, with organic traffic accounting for 95% of total traffic. That figure was unchanged from what management had reported at the end of the September quarter.

The company’s remarketing business continued to scale, delivering an annualised run-rate of 1.9 million auction listings, which it said cemented its leadership position in the vehicle remarketing segment.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)