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Stock-broking platform Zerodha reported a nearly 86% growth in profit to Rs 2,094 crore for the financial year 2021-22, riding an 82% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 4,964 crore, according to reports. 

The company said recently it was on track to earn as much revenue and profit in FY 2022-23 compared to the previous year, and warned that it would likely be in for tough times from the next financial year.

Employee benefit expenditure in FY22 surged 45.3% to Rs 459 crore, including Rs 77.5 crore in share-based payments to employees, online media outlet Entrackr reported.

Reportedly, Zerodha was contemplating a Rs 200-crore share buyback plan for its employees during 2022, valuing the bootstrapped company at $2 billion.

While Zerodha’s collections from user onboarding, sale of premium tech products, and exchange transaction charges grew 83.3% to Rs 4,129 crore in FY22 from Rs 2,252.5 crore in the year-earlier period, the momentum is unlikely to continue. 

In December, CEO Nithin Kamath said that Zerodha had seen almost a 50% fall in monthly new account openings since January 2022, and it would translate into a dip in revenue and profitability in the coming financial year (FY 2023-24).

“While we are on track to do as much revenue and profits as last year, even this year, we think we will be unable to match the current revenues and profitability from the next financial year for a few more years,” said Nithin Kamath in his blog post.

“This is not just because we see a dip in new account openings and a drop in the bull market momentum, but also because we think we have temporarily hit a plateau in terms of the target market, customers who have sufficient savings to invest in the markets, and an ability to generate revenue for the brokerage firm,” Nithin Kamath wrote.

As on December 12, 2022, Zerodha continued to remain the top broker with a market share of 18.3% in terms of active clients, according to a report by Motilal Oswal. The company competes closely with Groww, Angel One, and Upstox, among others.