Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s arrest in France late last month put a crimp in his plans to stage an IPO for the messaging platform within the next two years. Durov had previously claimed that he had received offers for the company valuing it at $30 billion.
But a set of financial statements, filed in the British Virgin Islands, the site of Telegram’s legal HQ, show the company had revenue of only $342 million and saw a net loss of $259 million in 2023.
That would make Telegram unlikely to be worth anywhere near $30 billion. Coins2Day contacted the company for comment but did not hear back by press time.
Highlights from Telegram’s financials, obtained by the Financial Times, include:
- Revenue: $342,481,000, up from $228,122,000.
- A net loss on the bottom line of $259,275,000 after development and operating expenses.
- Of the company’s revenues, sales from Telegram’s “integrated wallet” for crypto were $130,000,000.
- Premium subscriptions delivered $94,093,000.
- Advertising was $70,572,000.
- “Premium access” to Telegram’s ad platform was $30,000,000.
Notably, Telegram’s crypto business is bigger than any of its other lines of revenue. Telegram sells crypto wallets and “collectibles,” like fancy usernames and custom phone numbers, in exchange for Toncoin, the cryptocurrency developed by Telegram.
Here’s what the income statement looks like:
On Telegram’s balance sheet, the company lists as assets:
- Digital assets $399,196,000
- Cash: $170,850,000
Again, the notable fact is that Telegram’s crypto assets are larger than its cash holdings.
The company’s income statement was also unusual because it contained a line item titled “revaluation of digital assets” that added $502,000 in income. Usually, changes in the value of assets get written up onto the balance sheet.
The company also recorded a further gain on its digital assets of $85,996,000 as an item “that will not be reclassified to profit or loss.”
Durov is currently on bail in France after being charged with allowing “illicit transactions” on Telegram as well as allowing “dissemination in an organized group of images of minors in child pornography,” drug trafficking, fraud, and money laundering.
He potentially faces 10 years in prison, according to the AFP.