Following allegations that edtech behemoth BYJU, which was last valued at $22 billion, has yet to file its financial statements for FY21 and FY22, the company announced on Wednesday that it had completed the consolidation of operations and would file its financial results this month.
Last year, the edtech unicorn made at least ten acquisitions with a total transaction value of almost $2.5 billion.
According to a report in The Ken, BYJU's auditor Deloitte hasn't yet signed off on its 2021 financials and "its reticence comes from the lending and accounting decisions that Byju's has made".
Byju's spokesperson told IANS that the company made multiple acquisitions in FY21, with each acquisition being accounted for differently and in a different year.
"We have completed the consolidation of businesses and will be filing our financial results this month. We would also like to highlight that securitisation and First Loss Deposit Guarantee (FLDG) are accepted industry practices," the spokesperson said.
According to the report, BYJU's offers a 100 per cent default guarantee called FLDG to some lending partners that make loans to its customers.
If the customer fails to repay, BYJU's has to foot the bill.
The Ken report said that "working with lenders that help consumers finance a course lies at the heart of what allows Byju's to book revenues in advance".
The company replied to IANS that were it not for FLDG, "the majority of consumer parents would not have been able to raise personal loans from banks and financial institutions at affordable rates'.
"Through our innovations and best practices, we continue to bridge the gap in the quality education space and make education accessible for all," said the edtech unicorn.
