Snapdeal posts drop in sales growth: SoftBank

SoftBank, the largest investor in e-commerce player Sanpdeal, said its profits plunged 27 per cent for the FY 2015-16 even as its Indian investments in companies such as Ola, Oyo Rooms and Hike showed traction.

Snapdeal, which is engaged in a pitched battle with rivals Amazon India and Flipkart to retain its market share, posted a much slower growth in its gross sales for the year ended March 2016. According to SoftBank's post-earnings presentation, Snapdeal saw the value of merchandise, which exclude discounts and product returns, sold through its platform increase 90 per cent in 2015-16 from 301% in the year-ago period.

According to Masayoshi Son led Japanese internet and telecom major's post-earnings presentation, ride hailing app Ola has the largest network of customers and cabs in India and the monthly message volume on Hike, a mobile instant messenger, showed 2.4 times year-on-year growth in the same fiscal.

 (with inputs from agencies)