Office space-sharing company Awfis, which went public last month, reported a net profit of Rs 1.3 crore for the January-March quarter (Q4 FY24), against a loss of Rs 13.8 crore a year ago.
The Peak XV Partners-backed company saw its operating revenue grow by 45% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 232.3 crore for the quarter.
In the March quarter, total expenses rose YoY to Rs 239.7 crore from Rs 178.7 crore. A significant amount of the expenditure was attributed to subcontracting costs and other expenses.
In FY24, Awfis witnessed a significant increase in operating revenue, which jumped by 55.7% to Rs 848.8 crore from Rs 545.2 crore in FY23.
The company also reduced its losses substantially, by 62.4% to Rs 17.5 crore in FY24 compared to Rs 46.6 crore in the previous fiscal year.
Awfis listed on the exchanges on May 30 after concluding a Rs 599-crore initial public offering (IPO), through which it raised Rs 128 crore in fresh capital and saw its investors, Peak XV Partners and ChrysCapital sell 6.6 million and 5.6 million shares, respectively.
The company’s stock listed at Rs 435, a premium of 13.58% over its issue price of Rs 383. It closed on Wednesday up 2.89% at Rs 499.90 on the BSE. The results were declared post-market hours.
The shift in work dynamics following the Covid-19 pandemic has benefited Awfis and other coworking space providers. Indian companies are increasingly encouraging employees to return to offices, thereby reducing remote work.
In an earnings presentation, Awfis said it opened 22 new centres in the January-March period. As of March 31, 2024, it had 160 operational centres, compared to 119 as of March 31, 2023.
ET reported on May 16, that the company intends to expand further into tier-I and tier-II cities. Key tier-II cities in its expansion plan include Guwahati, Vijayawada, and Lucknow, increasing the total number of markets where it operates to 19.
As of March 31, Awfis has operations in 17 cities, hosting 181 centres with 1.1 lakh seats and covering a chargeable area of 5.6 million square feet.
Despite stress in the co-working space globally, companies in India have seen a growth revival here.
On Tuesday, ET reported that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has cleared US-based WeWork Inc’s proposal to sell its entire 27% stake in the local coworking firm unit. Investors comprising the Enam group family office, investment fund A91 Partners, and CaratLane founder Mithun Sacheti are investing in WeWork India as part of the deal, ET first reported on April 22.
