Patrick Grove’s iBuy Group stocks sink to all-time low, but that may not be the full picture

Update (November 6): iBuy’s stocks have reached another new low after our report on October 4 that it has sunk to A$0.19. It’s now at A$0.135, down 29 percent from the previous low.

The stock price of iBuy Group (ASX:IBY), a company listed in the Australian Securities Exchange which runs ecommerce businesses in Southeast Asia, has sunk to an all-time low.

After its debut in the stock market in December 2013, iBuy stocks rose to almost A$0.70 in March before tumbling down to A$0.19 on October 3. This was despite financial results that indicated a fast-growing business.

Founded by famed Malaysian internet entrepreneur Patrick Grove, iBuy raised A$37 million (US$33 million) after its IPO. In April, it bought the Southeast Asian businesses of loss-making daily deals company LivingSocial for US$18.5 million.

IBuy later announced its financial results for the six months ending on 30 June 2014. Yes, it recorded a net loss after tax of A$6.66 million (US$5.77 million) and a revenue of A$25.4 million (US$22 million). But it’s not all bleak considering its annual revenue and EBITDA for 2013 was A$38.5 million (US$33.4 million) and a negative A$739,000 (US$641,000). It’s also seeing year-on-year rises in transactions, subscribers, and average order values.

Kris Marszalek, who took over the iBuy CEO role from Patrick Linden this year, tells Tech in Asia that turnover is in fact the company’s most important metric. On that count, it generated A$71.2 million (US$61.9 million) in the first half of 2014, nearly double of the same period last year.

Further, the first half net loss includes a lot of one-off costs from the acquisition of LivingSocial Southeast Asia, which means it shouldn’t be anything to worry about in the long-run, adds Marszalek.

“We have no way of controlling share price movement in the short term. As management, we are relentlessly focused on building the best e-commerce company in the region. Our job is to deliver excellent numbers, I’m confident that the stock market will catch up with our performance over mid to long term,” he says.

The portfolio companies of Catcha Group (iBuy is one of them), chaired by major shareholder Grove, has come under scrutiny lately for their financial results.

Digital News Asia reports that iCar Asia and iProperty have both suffered widening net losses, although their growing revenues give cause for optimism.

Stock price isn’t always an indicator of a company’s future performance, however. For instance, iProperty sunk to a low of 0.05 cents from a debut of 0.255 cents before reaching its current level of close to A$3.00.

See more: LivingSocial quits Southeast Asia with $18.5 million sale of regional business to iBuy Group

Update on October 6: Added comments from iBuy CEO.