Indonesia's GoTo reports narrower Q1 loss, expects core profit in Q4
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's biggest tech company PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk reported a narrower quarterly loss on Thursday and said it expected to swing to a core profit in the fourth quarter, as revenue grew and cost cutting moves bore fruit.
Like many other tech companies, GoTo has been reducing its spending and laying off staff this year to ride out the global economic uncertainty.
Group CEO Andre Soelistyo said in a statement the company was halfway towards becoming adjusted EBITDA positive in the fourth quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, improved by 67% in the first quarter from a year earlier, on a 14% rise in gross revenue to 6 trillion rupiah.
"Our focus on high-quality, profitable consumers along with a disciplined approach to costs has significantly increased our efficiency," he said.
GoTo, backed by Japanese investment group SoftBank Group Corp, expects its 2023 adjusted EBITDA loss to be in a range of 5.3 trillion rupiah to 4.6 trillion rupiah ($360.5 million-$312.9 million) after a series of cost cutting measures that include the layoff of more than 1,300 workers since last year.
"A lower cost base will provide us with additional flexibility to allocate capital for the acceleration of growth in the future," GoTo Group CFO Jacky Lo said.
GoTo posted a net loss of 3.9 trillion rupiah in the first three months of 2023, versus a loss of 6.6 trillion rupiah a year earlier.
GoTo shares closed up 4.21% at 99 rupiah per share on Thursday before the earnings announcement.
($1 = 14,700.0000 rupiah)
(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
