Mamaearth Maker Honasa Sees Sales Growth in the Low Thirties as Offline Push Pays Off

BENGALURU: Honasa Consumer, the company behind the Mamaearth brand, expects its net sales to grow in the low thirties per cent in the July-September quarter, driven by its push into physical stores, it said in a business update on October 6. Its shares rose as much as 8.2 per cent to ₹478.20 on the BSE.

The update covers the second quarter of the 2026-27 financial year. At 10:03 am the stock was trading 6.9 per cent higher at ₹472.35, giving the company a market value of ₹15,368 crore, about $1.6 billion, Inc42 reported.

Younger brands grow faster

Honasa said it expects Mamaearth's net sales value to grow in the high teens year on year. Its younger brands, The Derma Co, Aqualogica, BBlunt, Dr Sheth's, Staze, Lumineve and Reginald Men, are expected to grow in the mid-forties. The company expects an operating margin in the low double digits, with a strong improvement from a year ago. Because Mamaearth's growth, in the high teens, is slower than the company's overall rate, the younger brands are carrying more of the expansion.

Physical stores are driving the growth. Honasa said both general trade, the country's small neighbourhood stores, and modern trade, its supermarket and retail chains, are expected to perform strongly, which it attributed to "deeper direct distribution in general trade and better execution at retail outlets."

From online brand to shelf brand

The update continues a shift that Honasa has described for several quarters. The company now sells through about 3 lakh FMCG retail outlets, Inc42 reported.

In July, it had projected growth of about 30 per cent for the April-June quarter, with Mamaearth in the high teens and the offline business showing "strong growth momentum, with improved in-store execution across both general and modern trade and improved direct distribution reach in general trade", Inc42 reported at the time. "Scaling up operations across channels has also resulted in a double-digit operating margin profile," the company said then. It expected its online channel to deliver "healthy growth" alongside the offline push.

On a reported basis, the company had said growth would be in the mid-twenties because of changes in Flipkart's reporting of fulfilment and logistics costs. In April-June, Honasa's consolidated net profit doubled to ₹90.5 crore from ₹41.3 crore, operating revenue rose 27 per cent to ₹755.9 crore, and EBITDA more than doubled to ₹110 crore from ₹46 crore. Its focus categories grew more than 35 per cent and its younger brands more than 40 per cent. The September-quarter guidance, with growth in the low thirties and younger brands in the mid-forties, is a step up from that quarter's outlook of about 30 per cent and early forties.

For the full year ended March 2026, Honasa reported a profit of ₹200.2 crore on operating revenue of ₹2,391.9 crore. In the March quarter, net profit rose 177.6 per cent to ₹69.4 crore on revenue up 23.1 per cent to ₹657.1 crore.

Widening the portfolio

Alongside the new brands in skincare, haircare and men's grooming, Honasa has moved into nutrition: it acquired a majority stake in nutraceuticals company Fluence Pharma for ₹135 crore, Inc42 reported in July.

Its founders, Varun and Ghazal Alagh, were among the startup founders whose pay was tracked by Inc42 in a report published on the same day. Ghazal Alagh's fixed remuneration rose 60 per cent to ₹2.4 crore in 2025-26, the largest percentage increase among the 16 founders tracked, and Varun Alagh's rose 9.1 per cent to ₹2.4 crore, with a further ₹2.4 crore in incentives.

Honasa has not yet given a date for its full results for the September quarter.