African online retailer Jumia's Q4 losses narrow on cost savings

JOHANNESBURG : African e-commerce firm Jumia Technologies said on Thursday that cost savings had helped it reduce fourth quarter losses by 30 per cent from a year earlier, with a further sharp drop expected this year.

Jumia, the first Africa-focused tech start-up to list on the New York Stock Exchange, reported an adjusted loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $49.2 million in the three months ended Dec.31 from $70 million in the same period of 2021.

Chief executive Francis Dufay said in light of the encouraging signs that Jumia's cost cutting initiatives were starting to bear fruit, it expects a sharp reduction in 2023's annual adjusted EBITDA loss to $100-120 million from $207 million in 2022.

The group cut more than 900 jobs in the fourth quarter and also significantly reduced its presence in Dubai, relocating most of its remaining staff to its African offices.

"We expect these headcount reductions to allow us to save over 30 per cent in monthly staff costs starting from March 2023, as compared to the October 2022 staff cost baseline," Jumia said.

It also significantly reduced its sales and advertising expenditure, by 41 per cent year on year.

While group revenue rose by 7.1 per cent to $66.5 million in the quarter, its marketplace active consumers fell by 15 per cent to 3.2 million as rising inflation squeezed consumer spending while affecting sellers' ability to secure supply.