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Food delivery platform Zomato, whose cash balance increased by Rs 254 crore to Rs 12,015 crore in the December quarter, has no plans to reward shareholders yet by the means of any share buyback program or dividend till at least FY25.

“Our business and industry structure are still young and nascent. At this point, we want to keep a strong balance sheet. I would say that it is safe to assume that we may not do any buyback or dividend distribution in FY24 or FY25,” Zomato CFO Akshant Goyal said after announcing the company’s Q3 results.

This was the third consecutive quarter of increase in Zomato’s cash balance as well as quarterly profit. In Q3, its PAT rose nearly 4x (283%) quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to Rs 138 crore to beat Street expectations by a wide margin.

Zomato’s revenue from operations in the third quarter rose 69% year-on-year to Rs 3,288 crore. Company CEO Deepinder Goyal said they now expect the topline to continue growing at more than 50% YoY.

In the food delivery business, Zomato expects both margin expansion and GOV growth to drive further improvement in absolute profits.

Also read | Zomato Q3 Results: Profit skyrockets 283% QoQ to Rs 138 crore, beats estimatesBlinkit’s GOV growth at 103% YoY (28% QoQ) continued unabated in Q3. “Losses continue to decline and we are on track to meet our guidance of Adjusted EBITDA break-even on or before Q1FY25,” Goyal said.Despite the topline growth, the demand environment was muted in the last quarter as food delivery GOV growth (at 6.3% QoQ /27% YoY) was lower than expectations but still higher than some of the other players in the restaurant industry space.

“One of the things driving the growth of our food delivery business is the fact that our platform is still underserved from a supply standpoint. The monthly active restaurant base on our platform has grown by 20%+ YoY in Q3FY24. This growth is driven both by new restaurants opening up and our coverage of existing restaurants increasing,” said Rakesh Ranjan, CEO, Food Delivery, Zomato.

Hyperpure Revenue grew 15% QoQ (104% YoY) driven by growth in both the core restaurant supplies business and the relatively newer quick commerce opportunity.

“To address a growing need of our restaurant partners, we are now setting up a plant for processing value-added food supplies including, sauces, spreads, pre-cut and semi-finished perishable products, among others. Over time, this has the potential to expand margins and drive higher engagement with our restaurant partners,” Goyal said.

Following the announcement of the quarterly results, Zomato shares ended 2.5% higher at Rs 144 on BSE after touching a new peak of Rs 147.45. The stock is up 165% in the last one year.

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