The growing divide in how local and foreign analysts assess GoTo’s financials

The Indonesian tech giant isn’t outperforming peers on profitability. Yet some investors are gung-ho about its prospects

IDX-listed GoTo released its second-quarter results on 30 August. While its gross revenue increased to IDR 5.5 trillion (US$370 million), its losses widened to IDR 7.2 trillion (US$484 million)

It’s a story similar to GoTo’s Southeast Asian peers—US-listed Sea Ltd and Grab—as most tech firms struggle to achieve profitability

However, while GoTo’s share price took a hit after the results came out, it is likely to recover. It has generally performed better than its peers

One of the differences is in how foreign and local analysts assess GoTo’s prospects. Will Indonesia eventually level up with the rest of the world?

Andre Soelistyo, chief executive (CEO) of Indonesian tech firm PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk (GoTo), called attention to a revenue hike on the company’s earnings call on 30 August.

Despite widening losses in the quarter ended June, gross revenue was up 5.4% from the previous quarter and 45% from a year ago.

It’s an all too familiar tale: emphasising topline growth is standard in the tech industry.

“For GoTo Group, the June quarter was all about efficiency… As a result, we saw strong gross transaction value (GTV) and gross revenue growth on a year-on-year basis.”

Andre Soelistyo, GoTo Group’s CEO

But the winds have changed globally, with investors asking companies to show a clear path to profitability.

AUTHOR

Yunindita Prasidya

Based in Indonesia, Dita is passionate about tracking the country’s growing digital economy. Her coverage is sector-agnostic—she has written about e-commerce, edtech, fintech, venture capital, and publicly-listed companies, as well as stories on careers and workplaces. She was previously a business journalist covering banking and the stock market at The Jakarta Post, Indonesia’s leading English daily.

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