African e-commerce platform Jumia announced an almost 18% drop in revenue in the third quarter, from 49.9 million euros ($ 58.8 million) in 2019 to 32 , 4 million euros ($ 38.3 million) currently.
The firm has refocused its strategy on cheaper items; a reduction in costs which enabled Jumia to reduce its adjusted loss of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the period.
According to figures in the latest quarterly report, Jumia’s gross profit after execution costs reached 6.6 million euros ($ 7.7 million), compared to a loss of 1.7 million euros (2 million dollars) in the third quarter of 2019. The Jumia Pay segment saw total payment volume increase by 50% year over year in the third quarter.
“We are making significant progress on the path to profitability with an adjusted EBITDA loss in the third quarter of 2020 down 50% year-on-year,” commented Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonnec, co-CEOs by Jumia.
Jumia claims to have made many improvements to its logistics and marketing operations, resulting in a decrease in execution and marketing expenses for the third quarter of 2020 by 20% and 55% respectively, on an annual basis. The portfolio optimization completed last year, along with the rationalization of overheads, contributed to a 24% year-over-year decrease in general and administrative expenses, excluding equity compensation, in the third quarter of 2020.
