Audited financial results on Sept 6, Byju’s informs debt investors

The online education firm had scheduled a call with investors earlier this month but had to postpone it citing delay in formal closure of the audited financial reports.

Byju’s is expected to hold its board meeting next week once it receives the final report that will be presented to the directors.

The development comes on the back of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) asking Byju’s parent Think & Learn about the
reasons for the 17-month delay in filing its audited accounts.

ETtech

People aware of the matter said that Bengaluru-based Byju’s has indicated to its debt investors like bondholders that the financials will be without any qualification. This means there are no separate observations on the audited numbers which will be presented by the company.

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“Byju’s has communicated about a call on September 6 with investors recently, but they have highlighted that it is without any observation and has been cleared by the auditor,” a person briefed on the matter said.

Another person said, “Byju’s has still kept a buffer for a couple of days between the board meeting and the investor call.”

The edtech major’s revenue recognition has been the point of contention between the company and Deloitte, as per multiple people in the know.

The company is said to have moved parts of revenue recognised in FY21 to FY22 as per recommendations from the auditor citing Ind AS 115 rules, they said.

In an interview with ET in May, company founder Byju Raveendran had said that delay in filing its financials was on account of multiple acquisitions the firm had closed.

The fully audited financials will be shared with the board of Byju’s and then shared with debt investors and other stakeholders, the company has communicated, according to the people cited above.

Currently, Byju’s is the most valued privately held Indian startup at $22 billion.

ETtech

Raveendran had said the company is aiming to close FY23 with a revenue of around Rs 17,000 crore. It had posted operating revenue of Rs 2,381 crore in FY20, up from Rs 1,306 crore in FY19, according to regulatory filings. Its consolidated loss widened to Rs 262 crore in fiscal 2020 from Rs 8.9 crore a year earlier.

Emails sent to Byju’s and Deloitte India did not elicit a response till press time Sunday.

Byju’s, which spent over $2.5 billion in acquisitions last year, has been raising debt to finance ongoing potential M&A deals. Raveendran, according to the company, has invested $400 million of personal capital arranged through debt from financial investors. This was part of a $800 million funding round, first announced in March, but is yet to be closed. Around $250 million in capital is expected to come by end of the month, according to previous statements by the company. Investors like Oxshott Capital and Sumeru Ventures are yet to invest their capital in the startup. Byju’s raised a $1.2 billion term loan last November.

According to news reports, Raveendran also was close to finalising a $2.4 billion financing from JP Morgan for a potential acquisition of US-based edtech firm 2 U. “We are looking at large multi-billion-dollar acquisitions…that’s why we are accessing all kinds of capital. We are exploring acquisitions in the US,” Raveendran had told ET in May.

On July 4,
the company had issued a statement saying it will publish its financials in the next 10 days.