Africa’s leading e-commerce platform, Jumia recently announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 with the report showing significant progress on the path to profitability.
In the highlight of the report, Jumia recorded improvement with increase in gross profit and decrease in operating loss compared to previous year.
As contained in the report, gross profit increased by 38% to €23.3 million in the second quarter of 2020, from €16.8 million in the second quarter of 2019, while Operating loss reduced to €37.6 million in the second quarter of 2020, decreasing 44% on a year-over-year basis.
The increase in profit according to the company, was a result of the increase in marketplace revenue, which reached €23.6 million in the second quarter of 2020, up 38% compared to the second quarter of 2019.
During the second quarter of 2020, Gross profit after fulfillment expense reached a record €6.0 million compared to a loss of €0.7 million in the second quarter of 2019, demonstrating continued unit economics improvement as we grow usage on our platform.
“We have made significant progress on our path to profitability in the second quarter of 2020, with Operating loss decreasing 44% year-over-year to €37.6 million. This was achieved thanks to an all-time high Gross Profit after Fulfillment expense of €6.0 million and record levels of marketing efficiency with Sales & Advertising expense decreasing by 51% year-over-year.
“We are navigating these uncertain times of COVID-19 pandemic with strong financial discipline and operational agility which positions us to emerge from this crisis stronger and even more relevant to our consumers, sellers and communities,” commented Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonnec, Co-Chief Executive Officers of Jumia.
The company also made progress in usage growth as, number of active customers, orders placed and Gross Merchandise Value showed significant increase for the quarter. The report showed that annual active consumers reached 6.8 million, a year-over-year increase of 40%, while orders one the platform grossed 6.8 million, a year-over-year increase of 8%. GMV was €228 million, a year-over-year decrease of 13% compared to GMV in the second quarter of 2019.
The company’s payment service, JumiaPay also recorded impressive improvement figures, as Total Payment Value surged by 106% from €26.0 million in the second quarter of 2019 to an all-time high of €53.6 million in the second quarter of 2020, surpassing the record set during the fourth quarter of 2019 of €45.6 million.
Likewise, on-platform penetration of JumiaPay as a percentage of GMV increased to 23.5% in the second quarter of 2020, more than twice the level of penetration in the second quarter of 2019 of 9.9%. Transactions on JumiaPay reached 2.4 million, a year-over-year increase of 36%, representing 35.6% on-platform penetration in terms of Orders.
Sales and advertising expenses decreased by 51% from €14.9 million in the second quarter of 2019 to €7.2 million in the second quarter of 2020, its lowest level in more than 3 years. Adjusted EBITDA loss stood at €32.9 million in the second quarter of 2020, decreasing 26% on a year-over year basis.
