One of Russia’s big three e-commerce companies Ozon reported a strong growth of its gross merchandise value (GMV) and upped its guidance for this year as Russia’s recovery gathers momentum.  

However, the first-quarter IFRS results saw a greater loss on EBITDA than expected, according to BCS GM.  

Ozon’s GMV (including services) grew 2.3x year on year in 1Q21 to RUB74bn ($1bn). This was driven by a 2.6x increase in the number of orders: 77% more active buyers (16mn) and 33% higher order frequency LTM (5.9)

GMV y/y growth somewhat slowed vs 4Q20, which BCS GM believes was due to the tougher comparison base in March 2020, as epidemiological risk started to rise then.

The company’s marketplace accounted for 58% of the GMV (up from 33% in 1Q20) and remained the key growth driver.

Revenue increased 67% y/y to RUB33bn, reflecting the uplift in GMV and lagging it for accounting reasons, while ad revenue was up 132% (at c2% GMV).  

The company’s drive into fintech was also making solid progress with the number of Ozon cards up 73% quarter on quarter to 0.8mn, which is equivalent to 5% of the active buyers.  

The less positive news concerned the earnings. The Adjusted EBITDA loss expanded 8% to RUB4.9bn, though narrowed as a percentage of GMV to 7% (from 14% in 1Q20); contribution profit was a minor negative (RUB0.1bn vs negative RUB1.7bn in 1Q20). Net loss also grew 17% as a result to RUB6.7bn.  

On the back of the improving GMV numbers the management improved the guidance for this year to an 100%increase from 90% previously. The capex guidance was reiterated at RUB20-25bn (up 1.9x-2.6x).