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Word of the week: optimism.

Throughout, new-age listed tech companies reported third-quarter results, and it was quite a mixed bag. Paytm set the ball rolling last Friday, surprising everyone by turning profitable at the EBITDA level and narrowing its losses. As a result, parent entity One97 Communications saw its shares rally for four straight sessions. 

Unfortunately, the momentum didn’t last as Paytm shares slumped by nearly 8% on Friday after Alibaba sold its entire stake in the fintech company for Rs 1,360 crore. Despite this, One97’s share prices saw an overall rise of ~19% this week.

Foodtech firm Zomato reported a stellar 75% growth in revenue but saw a widening of losses as well. Earlier in the week, a cryptic tweet by Founder-CEO Deepinder Goyal sent the company’s shares soaring but things are now back in the red after Q3 results. 

Logistics player Delhivery’s revenue dropped and loss widened. On the other hand, Policybazaar parent PB Fintech reported a decline in its losses along with a rise in its revenue.

Then, Info Edge reported a loss of Rs 116 crore, mainly caused by the firm writing off its entire investment of Rs 276 crore in Rahul Yadav’s latest venture 4B Networks. The company said the investment was fully impaired, owing to factors including “excessive cash burn, prevailing liquidity issues and significant uncertainty towards funding options.”

Overseas, Nasdaq-listed SaaS company Freshworks reported a 26% YOY growth in revenue and is now aiming to be profitable by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, equity funding rose this week, thanks to a boost from EV startups, with Indian startups raising $148 million in total. In comparison, last week recorded $49 million in venture funding.

In other news, after an abrupt ban on several digital lenders, MeitY has issued an order to restore access to some of these entities, including PayU-backed LazyPay, Kissht, KreditBee, Indiabulls Home Loans, and Faircent.

Lastly, here are the best travel photographs of 2022.

Spoiler alert: Expect a solid case of wanderlust after this.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Workplace romance: Yay or nay?
• Delhivery’s revenue drops 8% YoY
• PB Fintech’s losses decline sharply

Here’s your trivia for today: Which science-fiction play introduced the word ‘robot’ to the English language?

Leisure

Workplace romance: Yay or nay?

Those conversations by the coffee machine, cross-cubicle smiles, and lunch-hour flirtations have always been an intrinsic part of the workplace. But today, love at work seems to be a no-go in many organisations. YS Life explores why.

[email protected]:

• As people spend a large part of their day interacting with colleagues, it’s only natural that they veer towards those with common interests and feel attracted to them.
• After the #MeToo movement, relationship dynamics have come under strict scrutiny at the workplace, with some companies imposing rules and even reportedly firing people for not adhering to them. 
• In the post-pandemic world, where people crave human interaction, it may not be a great idea to spurn the idea of workplace romance. What’s required is a mature approach to it.  

Logistics

Delhivery’s revenue drops 8% YoY

Delhivery recorded a drop of 8% year-on-year in its revenue for the third quarter ending December—Rs 1,823.8 crore from Rs 1,995 crore. On a quarterly basis, it reported a 1% increase in revenue from services, up from Rs 1,796 crore, and a 23% decline in its losses.

Quarter-mile:

• Delhivery’s net loss rose to Rs 196.5 crore from Rs 126.5 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal. 
• Its total expenses reduced marginally to Rs 2,125.7 crore from Rs 2,155 crore.
• In a separate filing with the NSE, the company reported that former banker Kalpana Morparia has resigned from the board, with effect from February 11. This is less than 1.5 years after she joined in October 2021.

Fintech

PB Fintech’s losses decline sharply

PB Fintech, the parent company of Policybazaar and Paisabazaar, sharply narrowed losses for the third quarter aided by a significant bump up in its insurance and credit operations and expects to swing to profitability in 2023-24.

Cash flow:

• Consolidated loss for the three months ended December narrowed to Rs 87.6 crore from a loss of Rs 298 crore in the same period a year earlier.
• Revenue from operations jumped 66% from Rs 367 crore to Rs 610 crore.
• PB Fintech said insurance premiums increased 70% from a year earlier in the December quarter, while credit disbursals improved by 57%. 

News & updates

• Age of machines: North American companies struggling to hire workers in the tightest labour market in decades brought on more robots last year than ever before, with many earmarked for new electric vehicle and battery factories under construction.
• No easy meat: Chick-fil-A will test its first plant-based entree—a cauliflower sandwich. The new sandwich closely resembles its famous chicken sandwich but uses breaded and pressure-cooked cauliflower in place of meat.
• Capital-efficient: Tiger Global has defended the way it values its $40 billion portfolio of privately held “growth” companies amid investor unease over how much such unlisted investments are worth, outlining its methodology for valuing some of its biggest private holdings.

Which science-fiction play introduced the word ‘robot’ to the English language?

Answer: Czech writer Karel Čapek’s R.U.R., which stands for Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti (Rossum’s Universal Robots in English). 

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