Layoffs can't quench "near thirst"? GoTo, Indonesia's largest technology company, posted a net loss of $1.27 billion in the fourth quarter.
According to news on the evening of March 20, Beijing time, GoTo, Indonesia's largest technology company, today released its results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2022. Despite a series of cost-cutting measures, GoTo posted a net loss of 40.4 trillion rupiah ($2.6 billion) in 2022, up 56 per cent from a year earlier.
In the fourth quarter, GoTo gross revenue was 6.3 trillion rupiah ($410 million), up 19% from 5.3 trillion rupiah in the same period in 2021. The net loss was 19.5 trillion rupiah ($1.27 billion), compared with 10.2 trillion rupiah in the same period in 2021.
Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was a loss of 3.1 trillion rupiah ($202 million), 52 per cent smaller than a year earlier. GoTo expects the adjusted EBITDA to be positive in the fourth quarter of this year, a year earlier than previously expected. GoTo said the new earnings schedule benefited from a strategic plan of the company, including revenue optimization, cost management and ecosystem product growth.
For the whole of 2022, the GoTo Maoist Camp received 22.9 trillion rupiah ($1.49 billion), an increase of 35 per cent compared with 17 trillion rupiah in 2021. The net loss was 40.4 trillion rupiah ($2.6 billion), up 55.9% from the net loss of 25.9 trillion rupiah in 2021.
GoTo said the higher net loss was due to a number of reasons, including a goodwill impairment of 11 trillion rupiah ($716 million) related to the merger of the Gojek and Tokopedia businesses.
At present, the headwind of the global economy is forcing many ambitious technology companies in Southeast Asia to lay off staff and put profits above growth, and GoTo is no exception. Earlier this month, GoTo announced 600 job cuts. In November last year, the company cut 1300 jobs, or 12% of its workforce.
GoTo's recent layoffs are aimed at creating a leaner organizational structure, according to a statement issued on March 10. GoTo also said it would reform ride-hailing and e-commerce commissions to ensure that its incentive spending is more targeted and develop higher-margin services, including new loan products.
