India's Zomato reported a smaller-than-expected third-quarter profit on Monday as its margins continue to face pressure from high spending on opening more centres to fulfil orders at its quick commerce platform,

Zomato's aggressive store expansion for its quick commerce business, Blinkit, has inflated losses and dragged its Q3 net profit. While the Street beat Zomato's shares down after Q3 numbers, brokerages continue to show confidence in the company's strong execution record to deliver long-term growth.

Out of the 28 analysts that have coverage on Zomato, 24 of them have a 'Buy' rating on the stock, one of them say 'Hold', while three of them have a 'Sell' rating on the counter.

By Ananta Agarwal and Ashna Teresa Britto (Reuters) -Indian food delivery major Zomato's third-quarter profit more than halved on Monday, as rising competition in the quick commerce space and increased spending on opening more fulfilment centres for its Blinkit platform weighed on margins.

A significant portions of Zomato's expenses came from purchases of stock-in-trade which grew to ₹1,510 crore from ₹783 crore earlier.