Consumer electronics startup boAt has been among India’s top wearables and audio accessories makers in the last few years. Boat plans to announce its first public offering in the near future with a price of more than $1.4 billion. It has made a profit and has crossed Rs. 1,500 crores in revenue during FY21.
The boAt has recorded boAt recorded a 2.2X increase in operating revenue that grew from 700.44 crores in FY20 to 700.44 million in FY20to around 1,511.7 million in FY21. Its FY21 financial report with the MCA exhibits.
Boat sold headphones and earphones worth Rs . 1,120 Cr FY21.
Wireless earphones and headphones comprised the biggest product category regarding sales, making up 62.7 per cent of its operating revenue in FY21. Sales grew 2.5X to 947.4 crore in FY21, up from 375.7 crore in FY20.
The sales of boAt’s wireless speakers increased the most during the fiscal year that ended in December, up 2.6X from 113.2 million in FY20 to 297.4 crores in FY21. With a rate of nearly 20%, the line of wireless speakers was the second biggest contributor to boAt’s revenues during the previous fiscal year.
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The year-on-year increase of wired earphones as well as related accessories (including chargers and cables) was rather modest in FY21, increasing 30.4 per cent and 19.3 per cent, respectively, over FY21.
boAt imported goods of 1316 crores in FY21, mainly from China
The Mumbai-based company produces the products it sells in India; however, its production and assembly take the place of China. The cost of purchasing its stocks for trading is the most significant expense that the firm has to pay and accounts for almost 73% of its annual expenses.
The expenses increased 2.3X from 452.5 million in FY20 to the figure of 1,034.03 billion in FY21. The freight and distribution accounted for 8.1 percent of the annual expenses and increased by 57.6 percent YoY to 115.53 crores in FY21.
The boat has outsourced its warranty claim and after-sales services to third-party contractors. Its warranty claim-related expenses increased by 93% to 52.7 crores in FY21, up from 27.3 crores in FY20.
Plans to shift production to India make use of India’s PLI Scheme.
The company made a profit of the sum of $100 million in an equity round which Warburg Pincus led at the start of Q4 FY21. It also has plans to shift its manufacturing operations to India. The consumer electronics brand hopes to take advantage of the Indian government’s production-linked incentive(PLI) program.
The brand’s seven-year-old age is focused on advertising its products online. Its advertising cost was second in cost centre for the company, accounting for 10.3 percent of boAt’s annual costs. The cost nearly doubled to 147 crores in FY21 from Rs 51 crore during FY20.
The benefits of a lean team include average margins and profits rising 61 percent in FY21.
Major operations functions, like after-sales and production outsourcing, boAt operates with a small staff of employees, and staff expenses occupy only 1 percent of its annual expenses. Employee benefits increased by 125.7% YoY to 14.31 million (including director remuneration, which is around two crores).
The Qualcomm-backed company also enjoyed an option to buy back stock during the period ending in March 2021, which amounted to about 140 crore rupees. Co-founders Aman Gupta, as well as Sameer Mehta were the main winners of this buyback, receiving a bit more than 81 percent (i.e. 113.6 crore or Rs 113.6 million or 56.8 crores per) from the purchase.
Overall, boAt’s total annual spending increased 2.2X from 637.6 million in FY20 to 1,420.1 crores in FY21. At a unit-level, boAt’s expenditure was 0.94 to generate one rupee in revenues in FY21.
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Since its inception, The wearable brand’s annual earnings soared by close to 61%, reaching Rs 78.6 crore in FY21 from 48.8 crores in FY20. However, the company’s EBITDA margins fell to 237 BPS to 8.34 percent in FY21, down from 10.71 percent in FY20.
boAt has had a solid financial performance during FY21 and was the first consumer electronic directly-to-the-consumer (D2C) startup to reach the Rs. 1,500 crore revenue threshold. Despite the spread of the disease, boAt is able to grow rapidly, with an increase of 61% in profits. Contrary to many businesses in the late stage and growth stages boAt was able to generate this level of revenue with minimal cost on salaries of employees as well as other compensation — 14.31 crore.
