Flipkart India losses widen to Rs 2,063.8 crore in FY18

New Delhi: Flipkart India, the B2B arm of the e-commerce major Flipkart, has registered a manifold jump in losses at Rs 2,063.8 crore during 2017-18 compared to the previous fiscal as the Walmart-backed company fights a bruising battle against rival Amazon.

The company's total loss stood at Rs 245.04 crore in 2016-17.

Its revenue from operations, however, saw a 40.4 per cent jump to Rs 21,438.65 crore in FY2017-18 from Rs 15,264.42 crore in the previous fiscal, as per regulatory documents filed with the corporate affairs ministry.

Flipkart India's employee benefit expenses grew to Rs 331.54 crore in the said fiscal from Rs 166.66 crore in 2016-17, the documents provided by business intelligence platform Tofler showed.

Flipkart's e-commerce business Flipkart Internet also posted a consolidate loss of Rs 1,160.6 crore for the financial year ended March 2018. While this was lower than the previous year's Rs 1,640.2 crore.

The combined loss of the two Flipkart entities -- Flipkart India and Flipkart Internet -- was well over Rs 3,200 crore in FY2017-18.

Flipkart's holding company is registered in Singapore. It operates different entities for various functions, and provides e-commerce and support services through Flipkart Internet. The revenue of Flipkart Internet is mainly generated from services like collection, marketplace, storage and logistics.

Flipkart and its rival Amazon have been pumping in millions of dollars towards promotions, building infrastructure and logistics as they woo customers to shop online.

Amazon, on its part, has also been aggressively investing in the Indian market across its e-commerce, payment and logistics operations. It had committed USD 5 billion to the Indian operations and a large part of that has already been pumped in.

Earlier in the year, Flipkart inked a blockbuster deal with Walmart under which the American retailer picked up about 77 per cent stake for about USD 16 billion. The deal gave handsome return to investors like SoftBank which sold their complete shareholding.

The deal with Flipkart will also have a bearing on Walmart's financials. Earlier this month, the US retail giant had said its investment in Flipkart will hit its operating income as well as earnings per share.

The transaction with Flipkart, which was completed in August this year, will not only help Walmart strengthen its e-commerce play but also cash in on the burgeoning e-tailing market in India that is poised to touch USD 200 billion in the next few years.