Will soon begin audit process for FY23: Byju's CEO Raveendran tells staff

Byju's parent firm Think and Learn reported 2.3 times growth in its core business to reach a total income of Rs 3,569 cr for FY2021-22, and a loss of Rs 2,253 cr y-o-y

Byju Raveendran, founder and group chief executive officer of Think and Learn Private Limited (TLPL), the parent of Byju’s, has told employees that the edtech company would soon start the FY23 audit and complete the exercise in the coming months.

“We will soon begin the audit process for FY23 and complete it in the coming months,” Raveendran said in an internal email to its employees on November 4, 2023, and a copy of which has been reviewed by Business Standard.

In a meeting with investors, Byju’s had earlier agreed to put out its FY23 results by the end of December 2023.

Raveendran sent the email after the company on Saturday revealed that TLPL reported 2.3 times growth in its core business to reach a total income of Rs 3,569 crore for the financial year 2021-22 from Rs 1,552 crore in the previous year. The company said it has closed the audited financial accounts. The Ebitda loss of the core business was down from Rs 2,406 crore to Rs 2,253 crore year-on-year accompanied by margin improvement from -155 per cent to -63 per cent from FY21 to FY22.

“This means that we are becoming more sustainable as we are getting bigger,” said Raveendran. “I am confident that these results will further reinforce our position as a leader in the edtech industry.”

The FY21-22 financials announced by Byju’s are based on an ‘unqualified FY22 audit’ reflecting business financial statements that are transparent and compliant with generally accepted accounting principles. The company would file the financials with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) in the next few weeks, according to the sources.

“I am delighted to inform you that the audit report, submitted by our statutory auditors BDO, is clean and unqualified,” said Raveendran in the email.

Byju’s, once the most valuable edtech company, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. These include due diligence and corporate governance issues, the inability to file financials, legal battles with lenders, challenges in raising fresh capital, and a markdown in its valuation by investors.

“We have faced many challenges recently, but together, we are overcoming them step by step. My confidence comes from our shared determination, resilience, and commitment to our mission,” Raveendran told employees. “Let us continue to push the boundaries of what is possible and deliver transformative education experiences to empower and inspire our learners. Together, there's no obstacle we can't conquer.”

The company plans to lay off approximately 4,000 employees, or over 11 per cent of its workforce. Earlier this year, the Bengaluru-based firm laid off about 1,000 employees as part of an "optimisation" strategy, which was followed by subsequent rounds of layoffs affecting hundreds more. Recently, Byju’s also rolled out a new social media policy prohibiting employees from communicating with the media.