India's Nykaa Posts Near-50% Rise In Q4 Pre-Tax Profit On Higher Margins

New Delhi: India's FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd, parent of cosmetics-to-fashion retailer Nykaa, reported an almost 50% rise in fourth-quarter profit before tax on Wednesday, helped by a sales campaign that convinced customers to buy despite inflationary pressures.

Nykaa's consolidated net profit before tax, attributable to equity shareholders, rose to 86.29 million rupees ($1.06 million) from 58.16 million rupees a year ago. The company's profit after tax, however, fell 71.8%, as it had reported a tax benefit of 17.6 million rupees in the March quarter of fiscal 2022. (Also Read: Facebook Owner Meta Starts Final Round Of Layoffs)

Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITA) margin rose to 5.4% from 4% a year ago, with the average order value rising 5% to 1,803 rupees. (Also Read: ChatGPT Helps Man Find Apartment In Berlin: Here's How)

The lipstick effect - where customers are willing to buy less expensive goods during an economic downturn - was on full display this quarter, with Nykaa's 'Pink Love' sales campaign playing a crucial role in mustering up sales.

Orders rose 22% in the quarter, with merchandise value (GMV) - the monetary value of orders across its platforms - rising 36% to 24.45 billion rupees.

The GMV from its beauty and personal care (BPC) business, which accounts for roughly 67% of total GMV, rose 29%.

Nykaa's shares closed down 2.7% ahead of the results. The stock fell 19.3% in the January-March quarter compared with a 1% rise in the benchmark Nifty 50.