Carousell records 67% revenue growth in FY22 as expenses climb 57%

Singapore-based Carousell, an online classifieds major with close to 1,000 employees, commanded an almost 67% year-on-year growth in revenue for its 2022 financial year, landing at US$82.5 million.

Revenue from classifieds advertising, which includes subscription fees and business analytics tools, continued to be a major contributor for Carousell, registering almost 53% of the total amount.

“Growth across all our categories and entities has been integral to our ongoing journey toward profitability, and we have been seeing encouraging traction,” a company spokesperson told Tech in Asia.

Sales of goods registered a massive jump to US$24.1 million from just US$475,000 in the prior year. The surge was mainly attributed to its acquisition of Refash, an omnichannel fashion recommerce startup, as well as the Carousell Certified program – through which the company directly sells products to its users.

Carousell operates in eight Asian markets, including Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia. It is also the firm behind marketplaces such as Mudah in Malaysia, Cho Tot in Vietnam, and OneKyat in Myanmar.

On top of general classifieds, the platform also offers car and property listings. Recently, Carousell partnered with Carzuno to launch Carousell Car Subscription in Singapore.

“As part of our new organizational strategy last year, we have been driving a multi-category approach on our top growth categories,” the spokesperson said. These include cars, luxury, mobile, property, and jobs.

In the year ended December 31, 2022, the company’s loss before taxes widened 4% year over year to US$64.1 million as total expenses climbed by 57% to US$149.8 million.

A major contributor to the growth in losses is a jump in changes in inventories of finished goods, which landed at US$22.9 million in FY 2022 compared to just US$467,000 a year prior.

According to the spokesperson, Carousell’s inventories last year include products that the firm bought directly from its users through its Sell to Carousell program for vehicles, fashion, and luxury bags. The company uses the products it buys through this program for Carousell Certified.

Employee benefits expense also shot up 31% year on year to US$64.8 million for FY 2022. These include salaries, contributions, and share-based payments.

It is worth noting that Carousell trimmed about 10% of its total workforce late last year. Its CEO and co-founder Quek Siu Rui said at the time that he had been “too optimistic” about the pace of the firm’s impact compared to its “increase in investments.”