Prosus writes off stake in Byju’s, logs $493 million loss

Technology investment firm Prosus has written off its 9.6% stake in embattled edtech firm Byju’s on “decrease in value for equity investors,” the investor said in its annual report for fiscal 2024.

“A fair value loss of $493 million was recognized in other comprehensive income in the current year,” the Dutch investment firm said in the report.

The firm had, over the years, invested about $500 million in the edtech firm.

In the report, Prosus said that the group lost significant influence in BYJU’S in September 2022 “as it no longer exerts significant influence over the financial and
operating policies of the entity.”

“The group recognized a gain on loss of significant influence of the associate of $22 million, including a reclassification of the accumulated foreign currency translation losses of $55 million,” Prosus said, adding that the fair value of Byju’s investment subsequent to the loss of significant influence is $578 million.

Last year in March, Prosus had valued Byju’s at about $5.1 billion.

Swiggy FY24 revenue jumps 24%

On Swiggy, in which Prosus is the largest shareholder, the investment firm said the food and grocery delivery firm had grown its revenue by 24% in 2023, but did not elaborate on the numbers.

“In its tenth year of operations, Swiggy’s gross order value grew 26% year-on-year, and its user base hit 104 million at the end of December, supported by a fleet of around 387,000 active delivery partners,” the investment firm said in the report.

Prosus held a 32.65% stake of Swiggy at the end of fiscal 2024.

The gross order value of Swiggy’s core food-delivery business grew in the “double digits on healthy order growth and higher average order value,” Prosus said.

“Operating leverage improved as the business added revenue streams like restaurant advertising and introduced nominal platform fees which supported improved operational profitability,” it added.

The gross order value in the quick-commerce business “grew much ahead of the ecommerce industry, led by geographical penetration (now 487 active dark stores across 26 cities) and stock-keeping unit (SKU) expansion (over 9,500 unique items now listed on the platform),” it added.

Swiggy filed its pre-draft red herring prospectus for an initial share sale with India’s market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board, and the stock exchanges on 26 April.