Ola had an earning call today. Below is a briefing note generated using NotebookLM:
Briefing Doc: Ola Electric Q2 FY25 Earnings Call and Shareholder Letter
Date: 8 November 2024
Sources:
- Ola Electric Q2 FY25 Shareholder Letter (ola.pdf)
- Ola Electric Q2 FY25 Earnings Conference Call Transcript (olaq2.mp3)
Key Highlights:
- Strong Revenue Growth: Ola Electric’s revenue grew 38.5% year-over-year to ₹1,240 crore, driven by increased deliveries (98,619 units) which were up 73.6% YoY.
- Market Leadership Maintained: Ola holds a 33% market share, solidifying its position as the market leader despite aggressive competitive actions in the quarter.
- EV Penetration at Inflection Point: EV scooter penetration surged from 16.1% in June 2024 to 21.4% in September 2024, signaling a significant acceleration in EV adoption.
- Mass Market Portfolio Success: The mass market portfolio (S1X) grew 15% quarter-on-quarter, contributing to broader EV penetration, while the premium portfolio continues to generate the majority of revenue.
- Gross Margin Improvement: Gross margin in the auto segment remained flat QoQ at 20.6% (a 12.5 pp YoY increase) despite increased competition, attributable to BOM cost reductions from the Gen 2 platform.
- Focus on Distribution Expansion: Ola is aggressively expanding its distribution network, targeting 2,000 company-owned stores by March 2025 (up from 782 currently) and 10,000 network partner stores by the end of 2025.
- Gen 3 Platform Accelerated: The launch of the Gen 3 platform, initially planned for August 2025, has been brought forward to January 2025. It is projected to deliver a 20% BOM cost reduction over the next 12 months.
- Cell Production on Track: Ola remains on schedule to integrate in-house cells into its EV products by Q1 FY26, with trial production showing promising results.
- Operating Leverage Focus: Ola aims to keep operating expenses flat or slightly lower while scaling revenue, improving operating leverage.
- Profitability Path: Ola’s roadmap to profitability relies on:
- Steady-state gross margin above 30% even after incentives expire, driven by Gen 3 and in-house cell production.
- Cost-efficient D2C model and controlled operating expenses leading to strong operating leverage.
- Pricing Strategy: Ola will continue to strategically reinvest margin gains into pricing adjustments to drive market penetration and maintain its leading position.
Key Quotes:
- “We have maintained our market leadership with 33% market share during Q2 FY25 despite aggressive competitive action.” – Shareholder Letter
- “EV penetration in India continues to grow. The EV 2W penetration stood at 7.5% for September 2024 compared to 4.0% in April 2024, with EV scooter penetration at 21.4% in September 2024 as compared to 11.3% in April 2024.” – Shareholder Letter
- “Based on our internal estimates, certain states have very high EV scooter penetration such as Rajasthan at almost 47% EV Scooter penetration, and UP, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh at almost 35% penetration reflecting the potential for other states to also get to similar levels of EV penetration in the near term.” – Shareholder Letter
- “Over the next 2 years, we will be launching 20 products, with at least 1 new product launch every quarter.” – Shareholder Letter
- “Our Gen 2 platform launched in August 2023 has enabled us to improve our BOM cost by 22.5%.” – Shareholder Letter
- “Our in-house technology capability across domains like software, motors, cells and electronics, coupled with our vertically integrated manufacturing gives us significant competitive advantage on performance and cost.” – Shareholder Letter
- “We started trial production of our cells in March 2024 and we are on track to use our in-house cells in our EV products starting Q1 FY26.” – Shareholder Letter
- “We expect to see uh almost every quarter a continuous improvement on gross margins” – Bhavish Aggarwal, Earnings Call
- “Our strategy is to uh continue to gun for uh strong penetration and market leadership.” – Bhavish Aggarwal, Earnings Call
- “We are seeing good improvements in process accuracy, in yields, etc. There is still a journey to go. We’ve been we are being very rigorous in terms of uh testing and process uh quality for the cell.” – Bhavish Aggarwal, Earnings Call
Analyst Concerns and Responses:
- Concerns about the decline in premium scooter sales QoQ and YoY were addressed by emphasizing seasonality, the introduction of the mass market portfolio, and a shift in customer preferences from motorbikes to premium EV scooters.
- Concerns regarding the sustainability of deep discounts given by competitors were met with confidence in Ola’s vertically integrated manufacturing and technology capabilities, enabling cost leadership and aggressive pricing strategies.
- Queries regarding the impact of promotional schemes on margins were addressed by highlighting Ola’s commitment to balancing growth and profitability.
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