Rediff.Com reports Fiscal 2014 fourth quarter and year-end results

Rediff.com, one of the premier online providers of news, information, communication, entertainment and shopping services to Indians worldwide, announced results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended on March 31.

For the quarter ended, the Company reported a 10 percent increase in overall revenues in rupee terms. In US Dollar terms, the overall revenues for the fourth fiscal quarter were $4.01 million, a 4% decline compared to $4.18 million reported in the comparable year-ago period.

Much of this growth was driven by strength in the company's fee-based revenues and Online shopping marketplace, offset by declines in its traditional U.S. publishing business and in online advertising revenues.

During the fiscal fourth quarter, the Company registered strong growth in its Online shopping marketplace which grew 103 percent while maintaining a positive product margin of 14 percent, thereby exceeding revenue from the display advertising business for the first time in the Company's history.

This is a result of the relentless efforts to make the online shopping marketplace easy for merchants and customers to participate in, using data analytics and platform improvements to improve delivery metrics. The company also added over 400 merchants during the quarter and increased the number of product listings available on its site to over 450,000.

The company's fee-based Enterprise Class Email Business grew 22 percent and during the past quarter, Rediff continued to add to its roster base, with 85 new corporate clients. Additionally, during the year, Rediff's Enterprise Mail Solution won the coveted CIO Choice Award for 2014 in the Enterprise Email category, a significant recognition which has opened up new avenues for brand recognition and future growth.

The company's client base for its Enterprise Class Email business now stands at over 1,000 for the first time since the solution was first introduced.

"We believe that our Online Shopping Marketplace and Enterprise Class Email Businesses will be the near-term growth drivers for our company, with the bulk of our growth coming from our Online Shopping Marketplace. l feel confident that longer-term, we will see meaningful growth from our Vubites platform to turbo-charge TV advertising using internet technology, which should have a carry-over effect on other aspects of our business," said Ajit Balakrishnan, Chairman and CEO, Rediff.com India Ltd.

For the full fiscal year ended March 31, total revenues increased by 4 percent to $16.25 million, as compared to $15.66 million in the corresponding fiscal year. Driving this increase was growth in the Company's India Online operations, offset by declines in the U.S. Publishing business.

The Company saw a modest increase in its gross profit margin of 1 percent for the comparable fiscal year.

Mr. Balakrishnan further said, "With the national elections behind us, we are optimistic that government and industry investments will intensify and broadband and internet penetration will improve over the coming years. We have been patient, and have worked hard to improve our technology platform and expand our offerings during the economic downturn. We will continue to be mindful of costs, but will also be more opportunistic as we look to further expand our reach and subscriber base. We remain focused on building a long-term sustainable business model and generating returns for our shareholders.