Reuters: Telegram lost $0.3 per user in 2023

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According to experts from Reuters, in 2023, Telegram lost $0.3 on each user of the messenger, subject to revenue of $342 million.

Reuters divided the service's revenue of $342 million by 850 million monthly active in 2023 and got a value of $0.4. Then the experts subtracted $0.7 from this amount (in March 2024, Telegram founder Pavel Durov told the FT that "the annual cost per monthly active user is less than $0.7") and got a loss of $0.3 per user.

According to Reuters financial experts, Telegram needs to build a larger business model so that it receives most of its revenue from advertising, for example, from advertisers for showing ads to target groups of users. Experts explained that this is "expensive" because the platform administration needs to spend more money on moderation. If the current situation continues, Telegram's losses may increase to $1.13 per user, Reuters experts estimated.

Earlier, subject matter experts analyzed information from the Financial Times on Telegram's financial report for 2023.

Telegram's revenue in 2023 was $342.5 million, and in 2022 the company reported $228 million, which means that this parameter has grown by 50%. At the same time, Telegram is unprofitable. In 2023, the operating loss was $108 million, which is better than 2022, when the operating loss was $201 million.

Most of the expenses in Telegram go to development and user support. And over the year, this amount has not changed much - $394.4 million in 2022 and $397 million in 2023.

How Telegram earns:
• Integrated wallet: $130 million;
• Premium subscriptions: $94 million ($15.5 million in 2022);
• advertising: $70.5 million ($39.2 million in 2022);
• Premium access to the advertising platform: $ 30 million ($ 81.6 million in 2022);
• Sale of collectibles (nicknames, phone numbers, etc.): $17.6 million ($91.7 million in 2022).

According to Financial Times experts, about 40% of Telegram's revenue comes from cryptocurrency. At the same time, you can see that the income from the sale of nicknames has fallen quite significantly. But revenue from subscriptions increased six times. And the revenue from the integrated wallet is how much The Open Network Foundation pays Telegram for the wallet to be integrated into the messenger interface.

And about assets. According to the report, Telegram has assets worth $958 million ($762 million in 2022). It is interesting here that digital assets (tokens, and so on) have increased 4 times - by almost $ 400 million, that is, 42% of the total. But the cash has decreased - $ 170 million ($ 349 million in 2022).

According to the Financial Times, Telegram generated $342 million in revenue for 2023, according to the company's previously unpublished financial statements. Telegram's operating expenses amounted to $108 million, and the total loss was about $173 million after taxes. Durov told the media in March that investors valued the platform at $30 billion before a possible IPO, but the process against him and the messenger in France jeopardizes these plans.

In 2024, Forbes estimated Pavel Durov's fortune at $15.5 billion, and in March, Telegram received a preliminary estimate of $30 billion or more before a potential IPO. This was told in an interview with the Financial Times by the founder and owner of the messenger Durov. He ruled out the possibility of selling the messenger while the option with its IPO is being studied. "We see the IPO as a means to democratize access to Telegram's value," Durov explained.

FT experts explained that Telegram's financial future is under threat due to criminal charges against Pavel Durov. In their opinion, the management of the messenger has already faced a negative trend in accounts or will still receive various problems, including:

• Telegram's hopes for a successful IPO within 2-3 years may collapse;

• Due to the accusations in France, advertisers may start to avoid the platform. "Messenger users will simply remain with crypto scammers and ads for quick weight loss," said one of the FT's interlocutors;

• Recently, Telegram has been increasing its efforts to promote subscriptions and monetization, which helped it gain the necessary financial cushion for the future and maintain its IT infrastructure;

• Three years ago, Telegram issued bonds worth $1 billion In March, Durov said that Telegram had issued bonds worth $330 million.

• The price of Telegram Group's Eurobond on the over-the-counter market fell by 10% to $856.80 after Durov's detention at Paris' Le Bourget airport on August 24. At the end of trading on Friday, August 23, its price was $956.25.

• bondholders will be able to convert them into shares at a discount, but if the company's IPO takes place before March 2026;

• Telegram has sold more than $244 million worth of TON this year;

• After Durov's arrest, the value of TON fell by almost 20%.

"Will investors participate in the IPO if they believe that Telegram is a pariah? I'm not sure. Bond investors will face a similar dilemma," one of the holders of Telegram securities told the Financial Times. According to another bondholder, he did not receive any messages from the company after Durov's detention. Also, it is not yet clear how Durov will manage Telegram further: independently or it will be done by his proxies.

Telegram had almost $400 million in digital assets on its balance sheet, the Financial Times writes, citing the company's report. As of December 31, 2023, the value of tokens significantly exceeded cash and cash equivalents. The documents do not specify what these assets are, but Pavel Durov has repeatedly publicly stated that he holds only bitcoins and Toncoin.

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