Jumia, a popular e-payment and e-commerce company in Africa, has released its books for the first time after debuting its IPO. It listed on the New York Stock Exchange at the end of Q1 2019. The performance report details its gross profit, fulfillment expenses, and losses incurred before and after the Initial Public Offering.
Jumia listed the IPO with shares trading at $14.50 under ticker symbol JMIA. It encountered several road-blocks that negatively impacted its business books in 2019. Initially, there was an argument of whether or not it was an African startup; then, there was the fraud accusation from Andrew Left.
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The fraud allegation from his company, Citron Research, affected Jumia’s share price. Most recent is the Coronavirus that has become a significant challenge for the electronics supply-chain industry.
Jumia had strategically located business verticals in 11 African countries. According to the report, its 2019 revenue was €160 million, representing a 24% growth over 2018. Its annual active customer base grew by 54% in Q4 2019 to 6.1 million, from 4.0 million in Q4 2018.
Also, Jumia had a 49% increase in orders from 5.5 million in Q4 2018 to 8.3 million in Q4 2019. Its 2019 Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) diminished by 3% to €301 million in the fourth quarter. According to CEO Sacha Poigonnec, this decline is a result of business restrategizing which entailed lesser expenditures on promotions.
Jumia’s losses increased by 34% to €227.9 in 2019, compared to €169.7 million in 2018. At the same time, its negative EBITDA for Q4 increased 5% to €51.2 million from €48.6 in Q4 2018. Although still not profitable, Jumia has a gross profit of €1.0 million after deducting fulfillment expenses for Q4.
The total payment volume on JumiaPay increased 57% year-over-year to €45.6 million in 2019. Finally, Jumia exited several countries as it restrategized its business operation in 2019. Business verticals in Tanzania, Cameroon, and Rwanda were suspended as a result.
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