Emami buys more online-first brands as takeovers top 26 % of sales

Acquisitions now deliver over a quarter of India revenue

Vice Chairman and Managing Director Harsha Vardhan Agarwal told investors Emami is still on the lookout for more premium, digital-first consumer brands. Brands that sell mainly online now bring in over a quarter of the company’s India revenue—up sharply after January’s ₹200 crore purchase of Axiom Ayurveda and this year’s ₹321 crore deal for IncNut.

36 % revenue jump, 2 % profit dip

Emami’s September quarter numbers show the trade-off. Revenue leapt 36 % year-on-year to ₹1,088 crore, lifted by a 49 % jump in domestic sales and a 43 % increase in volumes. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 25 % to ₹222 crore, but rising input costs—partly blamed on the West Asia conflict—shrank profit after tax 2 % to ₹145.5 crore. The stock closed 1.8 % higher on Thursday, trailing the Nifty 50’s 2.4 % gain.

D2C brands eye ₹800 crore revenue by FY27

Nuvama Institutional Equities expects Emami’s direct-to-consumer brands to book about ₹800 crore in revenue by the end of the financial year and keep growing at 60–70 % year-on-year. Agarwal says the group is shooting for a three-year compound annual growth rate of 25 % in the segment, excluding any new takeovers. That target keeps the dual focus: keep legacy franchises like BoroPlus and Navratna growing while the newer online brands scale.

Marico and HUL push into the same space

Emami is not alone. Marico’s digital-first and premium personal-care brands passed a ₹1,150 crore annualised run rate in the September quarter; its food portfolio breached ₹1,500 crore on the back of deals for Plix, Cosmix and 4700 BC. Hindustan Unilever, meanwhile, posted double-digit growth for its premium skincare acquisition Minimalist in the first half of FY27. The pattern is clear: large FMCG players are using takeovers to win over younger, online-first buyers before the startups can grow into full competitors.

What this means

Lazyfounder analysis — our interpretation, not reported fact.

Emami is shifting capital from legacy FMCG lines to digital-first brands, putting pressure on every D2C founder in grooming, ayurveda and skincare to decide: take the bird in hand now or risk a lower exit later if Emami’s pricing discipline spreads across the sector.

Key takeaways

• Emami’s newest acquisitions now generate more than one rupee in four of its India revenue—a faster ramp than its 50-year-old brands.
• Revenue is up 36 % but profit is down 2 %, a gap that signals margin pain from both raw-material costs and acquisition integration.
• Marico and HUL are chasing the same playbook, so any startup in the segment now faces three deep-pocketed bidders.
• Emami’s refusal to overpay could reset valuation benchmarks for the entire D2C sector in India.

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