Meta expects growth in India though profits fall globally

In the first quarter of 2022, Facebook’s parent company, Meta, recorded a profit of $7.5 billion, down 21% from the previous quarter. It also saw its weakest sales growth in a decade, owing to global obstacles such as the Ukraine conflict and a changing regulatory environment, among other things.

While its growth slowed in most countries in the first quarter of this year, Meta said it is seeing strong supply upswings in India in terms of ad impression growth. Meta stated in May of last year that it was trying to comply with the Indian government’s IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

In the first quarter, Meta’s overall ad revenue was $27 billion, up 6% year over year, because of strong growth in APAC and the rest of the World, but a more difficult situation in North America and Europe. “In APAC, relative strength was pretty broad-based, but I’d call out particular strength in India, and that’s benefiting from good supply tailwinds in terms of impression growth,” said David Wehner, Chief Financial Officer of Meta

Meta also highlighted that the regulatory environment remained a significant barrier for the sector as a whole. Chinese video sharing platform TikTok is also posing a growing competitive threat to Meta’s Facebook and Instagram social media platforms. However, the company stated that it was working closely with regulators and developing new technology, such as privacy-enhancing technologies, to do more with less data.

TikTok reached one billion subscribers in 2021, only four years after its global launch., which is half the time taken by Facebook and Instagram. “In the near-term, we’re working closely with advertisers to help them navigate the new landscape, while we evolve and improve our ad solutions,” said Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer, Meta.

Last month, Meta added Sequoia India to its VC Brand Incubator Initiative. Meta’s VC Brand Incubator Project was initiated in 2019 as a first-of-its-kind initiative to help firms flourish. Sequoia India is participating in Meta’s VC Brand Incubator Initiative for the second time. Commenting on the development, Archana Vohra, Director, Small and Medium Businesses India at Meta, “Meta and Sequoia India are both working towards the common goal of unlocking more growth opportunities for small businesses in India.”

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