BENGALURU - Food delivery firm Zomato Ltd on Thursday reported third-quarter revenue that beat analysts' estimates and said its core earnings briefly turned positive in January, helped by an increase in orders due to festivals and the soccer World Cup.

The loss-making company, which went public in 2021, reaffirmed that it expected to report adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in the second quarter of fiscal 2024.

Adjusted EBITDA, excluding the contribution from local grocery delivery service Blinkit, turned positive in January, Zomato said.

Investors in Zomato have been focused on the loss-making company's profits at a time when a pandemic-led boom in online orders begins to fade.

Rival food delivery firm Swiggy last month cut 380 jobs, citing challenging macroeconomic conditions.

Zomato's consolidated revenue from operations rose 75.2% to 19.48 billion Indian rupees ($236.14 million) in the third quarter, compared with estimates of 18.14 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Order volumes at Zomato's mainstay food delivery business rose 14%, while the average order value increased 6%.

Zomato's consolidated net loss widened to 3.47 billion rupees from 632 million rupees a year earlier, as total expenses rose 51.3%.

The company's shares closed marginally higher.

(Reporting by Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)