Akash's FY24 earnings were Rs 2,437 crore, while its losses were Rs 2,443 crore

Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) reported largely flat operating revenue of Rs 2,437 crore for the financial year ended March 2024, compared with Rs 2,399 crore in the previous fiscal. However, the coaching centre operator’s losses widened sharply to Rs 2,443 crore in FY24 from Rs 104 crore a year earlier, primarily due to a spike in exceptional items, which rose to Rs 2,720 crore from Rs 293 crore in FY23.

Excluding exceptional items and taxes, the company slipped into a loss of Rs 61 crore in FY24, compared with a profit of Rs 218 crore in the previous fiscal. Total expenses increased to Rs 2,532 crore from Rs 2,225 crore, driven mainly by employee benefit expenses of Rs 1,410 crore. Depreciation, depletion and amortisation stood at Rs 259 crore, while other expenses amounted to Rs 613 crore.

The company operates more than 415 centres and serves over 400,000 students. In the test preparation segment, Aakash competes with players such as Allen Career Institute, PhysicsWallah and Unacademy. The firm is yet to file its financial results for FY25.

On Monday, Aakash announced the appointment of Alka Garg as its new chief financial officer. Former CFO Vipan Joshi resigned in October amid a series of senior-level exits. His departure followed that of managing director and chief executive Deepak Mehrotra, who stepped down last August after a little over a year in the role.

Aakash operates as a subsidiary of Think & Learn, which is currently undergoing insolvency proceedings. Byju's acquired Aakash for $950 million in 2021, but later diluted its majority stake amid a cash crunch following a post-Covid downturn in its business.

In May 2023, Byju’s raised Rs 2,000 crore from US-based Davidson Kempner by issuing non-convertible debentures backed by Aakash’s cash flows. In November 2023, Manipal invested Rs 1,400 crore in Aakash by acquiring all the debentures from Davidson Kempner. In January 2024, Manipal became the largest shareholder with a 40% stake after converting the debentures into equity.

Manipal has since increased its stake by purchasing shares from private equity firm Blackstone and Aakash founder JC Chaudhry, who retained an 11.12% stake following the 2021 acquisition. In November last year, Aakash’s board completed a Rs 100-crore rights issue and allotted shares to the Manipal Group and Beeaar Investco, which invested Rs 58 crore and Rs 16 crore respectively, in line with their shareholding of 58.8% and 16%. Beeaar Investco is owned by Byju Raveendran.

Recently, the Supreme Court of India declined to restrain Aakash from proceeding with its Rs 140 crore rights issue, the second tranche of its proposed Rs 240 crore fundraise. Think & Learn had challenged a February 3 order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal allowing the company to move ahead with the issue.