Jumia, an online retailer in Africa, revealed a $16.5 million pre-tax loss for the first quarter of 2025. This outcome highlights the company’s continuous efforts to reduce losses.
Although the number is a significant improvement over the previous eight quarters, revenue fell 26 percent year over year to $36.3 million.
Analysts had predicted a more moderate decline in revenue to $37.36 million, but this decline was greater.
When compared to the same period last year, the company blamed the revenue decline on large currency devaluations and a notable decline in corporate sales, especially in its Egyptian market.
Lower first-party corporate sales in Egypt and currency fluctuations also impacted first-party sales revenue, which was $17.8 million, down 21 percent year over year or down nine percent on a constant currency basis.
Jumia’s CEO expresses optimism
“Driven by strong underlying growth in our core consumer business and decisive actions to improve efficiency, we are updating our financial outlook,” said CEO Francis Dufay, who remained optimistic.
“We believe to be on track for the fourth quarter of 2026, targeting full-year profitability on a loss before income tax basis in 2027. These updates reflect positive momentum and our commitment to achieving profitability.” said Dufay
Value of orders decreased to $161.7 million
Although the number of orders increased by 12 percent year over year to 5.1 million, the value of total orders (GMV) decreased to $161.7 million.
Orders from upcountry areas accounted for 58 percent of total orders in the first quarter of 2025, up from 50 percent in the same period the previous year, after adjusting for perimeter effects. Operating losses increased from $8.3 million to $18.7 million during the same time the previous year.
The first quarter of 2025 saw an adjusted EBITDA loss of $15.7 million, while the first quarter of 2024 saw a loss of $4.3 million.
Jumia stated, “Driven by strong underlying growth in our core consumer business (March physical goods GMV increased 16 percent year-over-year, adjusted for perimeter effects) and decisive actions to improve efficiency, we are updating our financial outlook.”
Jumia’s quarterly active users grew to 2.1 million
Jumia brought in 2.1 million customers this quarter, up from 1.9 million in the first quarter of 2024. To retain customers, the company will continue to utilise low-cost acquisition channels, such as radio jingles, SEO, and CRM tactics.
Jumia has a $61.6 million cash balance and a $110.7 million liquidity position in terms of cash efficiency.
According to the company, the liquidity position dropped by $23.2 million in the first quarter of 2025, $19.1 million in the first quarter of 2024, and $30.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Higher inventory levels accumulated to guarantee product availability and assortment ahead of the Jumia Anniversary campaign were the main cause of the $8.0 million negative working capital contribution that drove the increase in net cash used in operating activities to $21.2 million in the first quarter of 2025.
JumiaPay transactions surges by 1% to $2 million
By March 2025, there were $2 million in JumiaPay transactions, a one percent increase from the previous year.
The main driver of the growth was the increased adoption of JumiaPay on delivery in Q1 2025.
Additionally, continuous efforts are being made to improve the user experience in order to boost cashless orders, putting the payment arm in a position to support the business’s e-commerce architecture. Jumia’s share price dropped by 4 percent, indicating a decline in shareholder confidence.
Jumia has raised money through a secondary share offering and exited non-core markets as part of its efforts to enhance its financial performance. However, because of persistent economic uncertainty, attaining profitability continues to be a significant challenge.
Earlier than in 2024, the annual event is scheduled to begin in early May. The business also disclosed capital expenditures of $0.9 million for the first quarter.
On its future outlook, the company noted that it anticipated that the loss before income tax will be between $50 and 55 million for the 2025 full year. For the 2026 projection, a loss before income tax is anticipated at $25–$30 million.
The company believes that it is on track for the fourth quarter of 2026, as it anticipates full-year profitability on a loss before income tax basis in 2027.
“These updates reflect positive momentum and our commitment to achieving profitability,” it stated.