Indonesia’s Bukalapak expects wider loss in 2022

Indonesian tech giant Bukalapak is forecasting a pretax loss of as much as IDR 1.5 trillion (USD 101 million) for 2022, a widening from the previous year, even as it expects revenue to jump 61%.

Bukalapak revealed its own forecast as part of presentation materials submitted to the Indonesia Stock Exchange on Tuesday. It offered no elaboration, which it said would come on Wednesday.

The forecast of a loss of between IDR 1.4 trillion to IDR 1.5 trillion compares with its report last year of a net loss of IDR 1.41 trillion. The projected figures are on an adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) basis. The revenue figure is expected to come in at between IDR 2.7 trillion and IDR 3 trillion, it said.

Founded in 2010, Bukalapak started out as an e-commerce platform but has since branched into other services such the digitalization of the country’s ubiquitous small grocery shops, known as warung, that sell daily necessities.

The company is part of a wave of Indonesian tech unicorns—startups valued at more than USD 1 billion—that have emerged in Southeast Asia’s largest economy in recent years. Others include ride-hailing company Gojek and e-commerce platform Tokopedia, which merged into super app GoTo.

But since its listing in August last year, the company’s shares have continued to underperform. On Tuesday, they closed at IDR 272 apiece, down 74% from its initial public offering. Some other regional tech companies have also seen their share prices languish below their IPOs.

For the first three months this year, Bukalapak had an EBITDA loss of IDR 372 billion. Revenue in the first quarter was IDR 788 billion, which the company said was 28% of the full-year target.

It also expects its total processing value, or transactions made on its platform, to rise 47% to IDR 180 trillion by the end of this year.

The company expressed optimism about its Mitra Bukalapak business, which supports the digitalization of warung. The service enables the shops to carry out one-stop procurement of products on an app and to sell digital goods, including phone credits and data. In the first quarter this year, Mitra’s TPV saw a 78% increase from the previous year, according to the company.

This article first appeared on Nikkei Asia. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with Nikkei.