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FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd., the Indian beauty and fashion retailer better known as Nykaa, tripled its second-quarter profit as sales of cosmetics and clothing grew faster and its fashion business broke even, lifting the fortunes of founder and billionaire Falguni Nayar.
Consolidated net profit rose 207% to ₹101.19 crore ($10.6 million) in the three months to Sept. 30, from ₹32.98 crore a year earlier, the Mumbai-based company said on Nov. 4. Profit was up 26.8% from the previous quarter. Revenue from operations increased 28% to ₹3,006.04 crore ($315.8 million) from ₹2,345.98 crore, the first time Nykaa's quarterly revenue has topped ₹3,000 crore.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization jumped 65% to ₹263 crore ($27.6 million), and the margin widened to 8.7% from 6.8%. Profit before tax rose 168% to ₹149 crore. Total expenses grew 24.7%, slower than revenue.
"Our performance this quarter reflects the strength of the Nykaa ecosystem, with each of our businesses contributing to growth and productivity gains," Nayar, the company's executive chairperson, founder and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "We continued to improve operational efficiency, particularly across marketing and overheads."
Beauty and fashion both grow
Gross merchandise value, the total value of goods sold on its platforms, rose 30% to ₹6,151 crore ($646 million). Beauty, Nykaa's core business, posted GMV of ₹4,454 crore, up 25%, helped by new customers and repeat buyers. Fashion GMV climbed 42% to ₹1,674 crore ($176 million).
The fashion unit, which had lost money for years, reached a slim operating profit. Its EBITDA margin as a share of net sales improved to 0.2% from minus 3.5% a year earlier, while net sales value rose 47% to ₹509 crore.
Nykaa's own brands, grouped under House of Nykaa, are running at an annualized GMV of ₹4,000 crore. Its business-to-business arm, Superstore by Nykaa, which supplies small retailers, recorded GMV of ₹328 crore, and its network of registered retailers grew 27% to more than 550,000. The company's quick-delivery service, Nykaa Now, operates in 15 cities and is set to expand to more than 25 by the end of the fiscal year in March. Nykaa runs 338 stores after opening 73 in the past year.
The company also agreed to buy an 82% stake in Simply Nam, a personal care brand, for as much as ₹33 crore ($3.5 million). The deal is expected to close by Dec. 31.
Nykaa shares closed 0.3% higher at ₹355.10 in Mumbai on Wednesday, before the results were released, giving the company a market value of about ₹1.01 lakh crore ($10.6 billion).
Nayar's fortune
Nayar, her family and their trusts, who make up Nykaa's promoter group, held 52.07% of the company at the end of September. At Wednesday's closing price, that stake is worth about ₹52,600 crore ($5.5 billion).
Nayar, 63, spent close to two decades at Kotak Mahindra Group, where she rose to managing director of its investment banking arm, Kotak Mahindra Capital Co. She left in 2012 to start Nykaa as an online beauty store. The company went public in November 2021, and its stock market debut made her India's richest self-made woman at the time.
Her net worth stands at $5.6 billion, according to Forbes, which ranks her 51st on its 2026 list of India's richest people.
Figures were converted at ₹95.2 to the dollar.
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