ZoloStaysm founded by Nikhil Sikri, ended FY25 with stronger revenue growth and improved operating efficiency, even as the company remained in the red.
The co-living and managed accommodation platform reported Rs 342.3 crore in revenue from operations for FY25, up 67% from Rs 204.4 crore in the previous fiscal. Its loss before exceptional items and tax narrowed 38% to Rs 35.2 crore, compared with Rs 56.8 crore in FY24.
The company’s main growth engine was its accommodation and allied services business catering to students, working professionals and organisations. That segment contributed nearly 80% of operating revenue and rose to Rs 273 crore in FY25 from Rs 99.8 crore a year earlier.
The jump suggests that Zolo’s core offering continued to gain traction in a market where demand for managed living formats remains steady.
At the same time, another line of business moved in the opposite direction. Revenue from services provided to colleges and universities for managing residential facilities and related amenities fell 30.7% during the year. That decline indicates that the company’s growth story in FY25 was led overwhelmingly by its mainstream accommodation operations rather than by institution-managed housing.
Including Rs 3.6 crore in interest income, total income for the year stood at Rs 346 crore.
On the expenditure side, property management remained the biggest cost centre by far. This head accounted for 67% of total expenses and rose 83.6% to Rs 254.9 crore in FY25. Employee benefit expenses were broadly stable at Rs 82.4 crore, while depreciation fell 28.2% to Rs 12.5 crore. Overall expenses increased 43.3% to Rs 381.1 crore from Rs 266 crore in FY24.
That cost profile explains why the company, despite robust topline growth, is yet to turn operationally profitable. Still, the efficiency trend improved. EBITDA loss stood at Rs 14 crore in FY25, while EBITDA margin improved to -23.23%. The company also reduced its cost-to-revenue ratio, spending Rs 1.11 to earn every rupee in FY25, compared with Rs 1.30 in the previous year.
ZoloStays is not merely growing; it is also becoming more disciplined in how it grows. The business is still loss-making, but it is losing less on a larger revenue base. For investors and industry watchers, that is often a more useful signal than a one-off profit figure.
The company had reported a profit of Rs 59.53 crore in the previous fiscal, but that was boosted by an exceptional gain of Rs 100.47 crore from the sale of its student housing business to Good Host Spaces. Without that exceptional item, the comparison with FY25 looks very different. The latest year, though still loss-making, appears operationally cleaner and more reflective of the company’s continuing business.
Its balance sheet snapshot also reflects a company still managing cash tightly. Total current assets stood at Rs 137 crore at the end of FY25, while cash and bank balances were at Rs 10.19 crore.
Taken together, the FY25 performance shows a company that has regained momentum in its core business and improved margin discipline, but has not yet crossed the line into sustainable profitability. Revenue growth was strong, losses narrowed, and efficiency metrics improved. Yet the steep rise in property management costs underlines the structural challenge of building a large accommodation business while protecting margins.
For ZoloStays, FY25 was less a year of arrival and more a year of correction. The business looks stronger, sharper and more focused than before. The next question is whether it can convert that progress into durable profits.
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