GoTo’s Q1 loss soars to 6.5 trillion rupiah as marketing expenses rise

INDONESIAN tech giant GoTo Group posted a 6.5 trillion rupiah (S$609.8 million) net loss for Q1 ended March, more than triple the 1.8 trillion rupiah loss from a year ago. 

This is despite Q1 net revenue rising 65.5 per cent year on year to 1.5 trillion rupiah. Gross revenue for the quarter, which includes customer promotions, was up 53 per cent to 5.2 trillion rupiah, the ride hailing and e-commerce company noted in its first earnings release since its April listing. 

The company’s bottomline was however weighed down by heavier expenses, especially sales and marketing costs, which rose over 7 times from the previous year to 3.3 trillion rupiah in Q1.