By Dwaipayan Roy
Info Edge (India) Ltd, the parent firm of Naukri.com, witnessed a sharp 5% decline in its share price today after it reported its first quarter business update. The company’s standalone billings for the June quarter grew 11.23% year-on-year to 鈧644.2 crore from 鈧579.4 crore in the same period last year. However, the market reaction was not as positive as expected because of concerns about slower growth in the core job portal business and rising competition, which could affect investor sentiment. Info Edge’s recruitment billings grew by 9%, while its real estate billings saw a 16% increase compared to the same quarter the previous year. The firm’s net profit for the last quarter jumped to 鈧463.3 crore from just 鈧60 crore a year ago, with revenue rising by 14%. However, despite these positive figures, margins slipped slightly and the stock has fallen nearly 20% this year. The market appears to be concerned about a slowdown in Info Edge’s primary job portal business and the emergence of new competitors. This could be a possible reason behind the company’s share price decline, despite its strong financial performance in Q1. The company’s board also recommended a final dividend of 鈧3.6 per equity share for FY25, which may not have been enough to offset investor concerns over future growth prospects. Today, Info Edge stocks declined 5.5% to touch an intraday low of 鈧1,404.1 apiece. The share was down 3.48% at 鈧1,434.40 at 12.35pm. It has gone down by 19.2% this year, so far.