Indonesia's Bukalapak posts sales jump in first report since record IPO

Singapore

INDONESIAN e-commerce operator PT Bukalapak.com posted a 35 per cent increase in first-half revenue and narrowing losses in the debut report since its initial public offering (IPO), driven by surging demand for online shopping as the coronavirus raged.

Revenue rose to 864 billion rupiah (S$81.5 million) as transactions processed reached almost US$4 billion, the Jakarta-based company said in a statement. Net loss shrank to 766 billion rupiah from 1.03 trillion rupiah a year earlier as the company reduced expenses.

Bukalapak went public in August after raising US$1.5 billion in Indonesia's biggest-ever IPO. The share price has fluctuated since as investors gauged the company's prospects in South-east Asia's rapidly expanding but competitive e-commerce market.

The stock surged 25 per cent on the first trading day, though it has pared gains since and was little changed at 940 rupiah in early Wednesday trading, leaving it 11 per cent above the 850 rupiah IPO price.

The company operates two key business units: Bukalapak Marketplace connects buyers and sellers, while Mitra Bukalapak serves mom-and-pop kiosks known as Warungs.

This year's total processing value is set to reach about US$9 billion, president Teddy Oetomo said during a conference call on Tuesday evening from Jakarta. "Indonesia offers a strong growth momentum," he noted, adding he thinks the company's valuation is "still at an attractive level".

Analysts are bullish too, with all nine tracked by Bloomberg recommending buying Bukalapak shares.

Using the Mitra Bukalapak app, shop owners can order instant noodles and other goods when their inventory gets low, all delivered to their doorsteps. The Mitra platform also allows them to help customers without access to Internet and banking services to pay electricity bills and send money digitally.

Second-quarter revenue rose 37 per cent to 440 billion rupiah, while loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation narrowed by about a third to 407 billion rupiah.

Mitra Bukalapak's contribution to the company's revenue increased to 33 per cent in Q2 from 12 per cent a year earlier.

H1 revenue from Mitra Bukalapak more than quadrupled to 290 billion rupiah.

H1 total processing value at Mitra Bukalapak more than tripled to 23.9 trillion rupiah. BLOOMBERG