Economy
Business Rebalancing, Promotional Discipline Drive Jumia’s Q4 Growth
By Dipo Olowookere
The decision of the management of Jumia to cut its costs and rebalance its business mix has paid off and the financial results of the company in the fourth quarter of 2020 are the visible evidence to show for it.
In the period, the leading e-commerce platform lowered its fulfilment, sales & advertising and general & administrative expenses (excluding share-based compensation) by 18 per cent, 34 per cent and 36 per cent respectively and as a result, its adjusted EBITDA loss contracted by 47 per cent year-on-year to €28.3 million.
This is making the journey of Jumia towards profitability looking bright as in Q4 2020, it reported a gross profit of €27.9 million, translating to a year-over-year increase of 12 per cent, while the gross profit after fulfilment expense reached a record of €8.4 million.
In the results released on Wednesday, the company, which has been described as Africa’s Amazon, however, said it had an operating loss of €40.0 million in Q4 2020.
But the total payment volume on JumiaPay reached €59.3 million, increasing by 30 per cent year-over-year, while the on-platform TPV penetration increased from 15.6 per cent of GMV in the fourth quarter of 2019 to 25.7 per cent of GMV in the fourth quarter of 2020.
In addition, JumiaPay transactions increased by 10 per cent from 2.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 to 2.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Overall, the report showed that 33.1 per cent of orders placed on the Jumia platform in the fourth quarter of 2020 were paid for using JumiaPay.
Furthermore, Jumia’s annual active consumers reached 6.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, up 12 per cent year-over-year with continued growth in both new and returning customers.
This cascaded to increased sales on the platform, as Jumia’s 2020 Black Friday sales records surpassed that of the previous year. The platform recorded 1.5 billion page views, up 34 per cent when compared to 2019, while video content registered almost 100 million views, 3 times higher compared to the 2019 event.
The financial results showed that more than 41,500 sellers participated in the 2020 event, with the top 20 sellers registering 141 per cent growth in items sold in the 2020 Black Fridays compared to the same period in 2019.
“While 2020 has been a challenging year operationally with COVID-19 related supply and logistics disruption, it has been a transformative one for our economic model, as we firmly put the business on track towards breakeven.
“We continued to make significant strides towards profitability during the fourth quarter of 2020. Gross profit after fulfilment expense reached a record €8.4 million during the quarter.
“In parallel, efficiencies across the full cost structure allowed us to decrease fulfilment, sales & advertising and general & administrative expenses (excluding share-based compensation) by 18 per cent, 34 per cent and 36 per cent respectively, year-over-year.
“As a result, adjusted EBITDA loss contracted by 47 per cent year-over-year, reaching €28.3 million. In addition, we raised approximately €203 million in a primary offering in December 2020,” commented Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonnec, co-CEOs of Jumia.
The brand also recorded impressive figures on platform monetization as the Jumia Logistic service, which was opened to third parties in 2020, shipped almost half a million packages on behalf of more than 270 clients.
According to the report, Jumia is also making meaningful progress in the reduction of the overall rate of cancellations, failed deliveries and returns (CFDR).
“The CFDR rate as a percentage of GMV improved from 30 per cent in 2019 to 25 per cent in 2020. The CFDR rate as a percentage of orders improved from 22 per cent in 2019 to 16 per cent in 2020.
“The CFDR rate is typically lower when expressed as a percentage of orders than GMV as higher average item value orders tend to show higher CFDR rates.
“As a result of the significant improvement in CFDR ratios, the year-over-year trajectory of GMV and orders after CFDR compares favourably versus pre-CFDR.
“GMV was down 19 per cent in 2020 while GMV after CFDR was down 12 per cent and orders increased by 5 per cent while orders after CFDR increased by 14 per cent over the same period,” a statement from the firm said.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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