A few industry executives contacted us after the Info Edge results, wondering about how it is that the companys net sales are down only 9.95% quarter on quarter, despite the job market having tanked. The answer lies in the way Info Edge accounts their sales - money from clients who pay for a 12 month package is split and added month on month, and hence sales revenues are deferred. This means that while one is unlikely to see a significant dip in sales, quarter on quarter, one is also unlikely to see a sharp increase. In Naukri, Info Edge accounts sales only on collection, and has debtors only for Quadrangle and All Check Deals. At the end of the October-December quarter (Q309), the deferred sales revenue for Info Edge was Rs. 48 crores, and, according to Sanjeev Bikhchandani on the earnings call, this was coming down. Clients are now paying Info Edge for shorter time-frames now, opting for 6 month packages, and so collections may be deferred over 6 months instead of 12 months. Note that the 9.95% decline in net sales is a consolidated amount, which also includes verticals other than Jobs (Naukri and Quadrangle) - Jeevansathi (Matrimonial) and 99Acres. Some inputs about the downturn in the job market come by way of key performance indicators for the recruitment segment for the company: The contribution of the recruitment business (Naukri and Quadrangle) to the top-line is down to 84% from 86% last quarter and 89% in Q3 last fiscal. The number of…
