Russian e-commerce giant reports huge revenue jump

Ozon sees soaring profits on the back of strong sales

Russian online retailer Ozon has reported impressive revenue growth for 2022, despite sanctions and a devastating fire which destroyed a packing warehouse.

Total revenue leapt 55% year-on-year to 277.1 billion rubles ($3.4 billion), the company said in a statement published on Thursday, citing unaudited financial results.

The surge is attributed to strong service revenue, which saw 147% year-on-year growth last year. Ozon’s gross merchandise value (GMV), the total value of goods and services sold by the e-commerce giant, soared 86% to 832.2 billion rubles ($10.3 billion).

The number of orders placed on the marketplace more than doubled to 465 million during the year, Russia’s second-largest online retailer behind Wildberries said.

Meanwhile, losses rose 2% to 58.2 billion rubles ($700 million). The company sustained “a one-off operating expense” of 10.2 billion rubles ($123 million) stemming from a fire at a warehouse based in Moscow Region in August 2022.

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For the final quarter of last year, Ozon’s GMV grew by 67% to 296 billion rubles ($3.6 billion) as losses dropped 46% to 11.2 billion rubles ($135 million) versus the same period of the previous year. Revenue was up by an annual 41% during the three months to 93.6 billion rubles ($1.1 billion).

According to the statement, the company’s adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were positive in the fourth quarter at 3.9 billion rubles ($47 million), compared to minus 15.9 billion rubles ($192 million) for the final three months of 2021.

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