Zoom’s growth slows further in latest quarter

Zoom is seeing slower growth after its initial pandemic-induced boom, with a year-on-year increase of 8 per cent to just under 1.1 billion dollars in the most recent quarter.

The video conferencing service announced the latest figures for the second fiscal quarter to the end of July after the U.S. stock exchange closed on Monday.

Profit fell to 45.7 million dollars from 316.9 million dollars a year ago.

One reason cited was the significant increase in marketing expenses.

Zoom was originally developed for corporate use but it suddenly became a mass market product during the coronavirus pandemic as stay-at-home orders came into force across the globe.

Companies turned to the software to keep home offices running and consumers used it for other purposes including family communication and yoga classes.

The explosive growth the firm saw began levelling off as coronavirus restrictions were wound down.

Zoom is now seeking new growth by focusing on large enterprise customers and call centre business, as well as leveraging its strong position in video conferencing to offer phone services to corporate customers as well.

The firm said the past quarter was the best yet for Zoom Phone.

A decline of 7-8 per cent is expected for the current fiscal year in Zoom’s online business, which is primarily from consumers and small businesses.

Zoom previously expected revenues to stay consistent.

Zoom lowered its revenue forecast for the fiscal year to just under 4.4 billion dollars to just over 4.5 billion dollars previously.

The stock went down by around 8 per cent in after-hours U.S. trading.