It is reported that goto, the largest technology company in Indonesia, made its first financial report after listing today. In the first quarter up to the end of March, goto's gross revenue increased by 53%, faster than that in 2021, highlighting the rapid expansion of Indonesia's technology and online industries.
According to the financial report, goto's gross revenue in the first quarter was IDR 5.2 trillion (about US $357million), an increase of 53% compared with IDR 3.4 trillion in the same period last year. However, the adjusted loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization expanded to IDR 5.4 trillion (approximately USD 371million).
Andre soelistyo, CEO of goto group, said that after the introduction of a series of incentives, the number of annual users trading on gojek and tokopedia increased by 37% year-on-year in 2021.
"With the further opening of the market, it will become particularly important to continuously improve and integrate our core products to ensure that we meet the needs of a growing customer base in on-demand services, e-commerce and financial technology services," solisto said
Goto was founded in May last year by the merger of gojek, an Indonesian online car hailing and delivery service giant, and tokopedia, a local e-commerce leader. Prior to this, gojek and tokopedia were the two most famous Unicorn companies in Indonesia, with a valuation of more than US $1billion. Last month, goto shares were listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX), raising US $1.1 billion, with a market value of about idr440trillion (about US $30billion).
Currently, goto is trying to convince investors of its growth prospects, although the global technology industry is under pressure from the international turmoil, soaring inflation and rising interest rates. Analysts said that avoiding increasingly fierce competition and improving and developing its business fundamentals (the most important thing is to achieve profitability) are one of the key challenges for goto to continue to attract open market investors. Other elements include the effective integration of its diversified businesses, especially digital financial services.
For goto, the long-term stock performance is still an outstanding issue, especially when the company has accumulated huge losses and faces fierce competition. Although goto has invested a lot of money in future growth, improving profitability is a key challenge because there is no guarantee that local investors will tolerate losses in the longer term.
Sachin Mittal, an analyst at DBS Group Holdings, said: "the real challenge will come from gojek, not tokopedia's e-commerce business. If you increase the Commission, consumers may reduce the use of takeout."
In addition, Mittal also pointed out that Singapore's grab is still a strong competitor in online car Hailing. "Goto needs to significantly reduce its losses before the next round of financing," Mittal said
Kapronasia, a financial research firm, said in a report: "in the long run, goto's prospects may depend on its ability to flourish in the field of digital financial services and whether it can smoothly integrate these services into its e-commerce services."