Ola Electric posts bigger Q1 loss with drop in incentives and rise in costs

Ola Electric, India's top e-scooter maker, reported a wider first-quarter loss on Wednesday, hurt by the price cuts it took to boost demand after the government reduced incentives.

The company, which made its trading debut last week, said its loss widened to 3.47 billion rupees ($41.4 million) in the April-June quarter from 2.67 billion rupees in the year-ago quarter. Ola Electric slashed prices of its cheapest range of e-scooters in April after the government halved the subsidy for purchases of electric vehicles.

It accounted for the drop in incentives as a one-time expense of 230 million rupees in the latest quarter. The company, which has three e-scooter models, said revenue rose 32.3 per cent to 16.44 billion rupees in the quarter. Its sales volume increased 57 per cent.

In the fiscal year ended March, Ola Electric's revenue surged 90 per cent as sales volumes more than doubled.

Expenses increased 27 per cent in the latest quarter as depreciation costs nearly tripled. The rise in its overall expenses slowed to 62 per cent last fiscal year from a three-fold jump in the previous year.

Since launching its first model three years ago, Ola Electric has grown to command a 39 per cent share of two-wheeler EV sales in the country in July, per government data.

Its closest rival TVS Motor and a fast-growing Bajaj Auto have already launched or are set to launch new e-scooter models in India's small but growing market.

Ola Electric shares closed 2.3 per cent on the day, before it reported results. ($1 = 83.9190 Indian rupees)

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