Fintech SaaS startup Perfios turned profitable in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23), posting a consolidated net profit of INR 7.8 Cr on the back of a significant jump in its service income due to strong performance of its India business.

The startup had reported a net loss of INR 16.8 Cr in FY22 on an operating revenue of INR 136.5 Cr.

In FY23, Perfios’ operating revenue jumped almost 200% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 406.8 Cr.

Founded in 2008 by VR Govindarajan and Debasish Chakraborty, Perfios provides software solutions to financial institutions for credit decisioning, analytics, onboarding automation, due diligence, among others. It earns a majority of its revenue from the sale of services.

At INR 198.5 Cr, income from software support for loan processing had the biggest contribution to its operating revenue and grew almost 90% YoY.

Meanwhile, service income jumped over 28X YoY to INR 166.5 Cr, contributing the second-highest portion to sales revenue.

Perfios also earns revenue from software coding and maintenance services, licence and subscription fees.

On the other hand, if looked at geographically, India continues to be the biggest contributor to the startup’s income.

Perfios posted a 211% surge in its domestic revenue to INR 382 Cr in FY23 from INR 122.6 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Meanwhile, the startup earned INR 24.7 Cr from its international businesses during the reported year, as against INR 13.8 Cr in FY22.

In a recent statement, Perfios said it processes 1.7 Bn transactions a year with $36 Bn of assets under management (AUM).

Zooming Into The Expenses

In line with the rise in its revenue, Perfios’ total expenses more than doubled to INR 386.4 Cr in FY23 from INR 155.9 Cr in the prior year.

Employee Costs The Biggest Expense: Employee benefit expenses accounted for over 55% of the startup’s total spending during the year.

Perfios’ total employee costs surged to INR 213.5 Cr in FY23 from INR 99.7 Cr in the prior fiscal. In that, a majority was spent towards salaries and wages.

The startup also spent INR 7.1 Cr on employee share-based payments (equity settled).

Other Major Expenses: Depreciation, depletion, and amortisation expense increased by over 200% to INR 32 Cr in the reported period.

Perfios’ legal professional charges surged 80% to INR 41.1 Cr in FY23, while miscellaneous expenses also increased to INR 70 Cr from INR 13.5 Cr in FY22.

In the recent past, there have been a number of new developments at the startup. In September, Perfios signed an agreement with Kedaara Capital for an investment of $229 Mn in its Series D funding round.

Recently, it also acquihired Chennai-based open finance platform Fego.ai and announced an ESOP buyback of shares worth INR 154 Cr.

Perfios also appointed Sumit Nigam as the startup’s chief technology officer (CTO) and Anu Mathew as chief people officer (CPO). At that time, the startup also said that it is eyeing an IPO in the next 18-24 months.