PEP Brands’ Narrows FY25 Net Loss By 81% To ₹18 Cr

mCaffeine and Hyphen’s parent PEP Brands managed to narrow its FY25 net loss by 81% to ₹17.6 Cr from ₹92.6 Cr in the previous year on the back of improving margins and an uptick in its sales

The brand’s operating revenue for the fiscal rose 23% YoY to ₹237.5 Cr from ₹193 Cr in the previous fiscal

Under the brand, the startup sells products such as face washes, body scrubs and hair care products primarily via its website, online marketplaces and quick commerce platforms

D2C Skincare brands MCaffeine and Hyphen’s parent PEP Brands managed to narrow its FY25 net loss by 81% to ₹17.6 Cr from ₹92.6 Cr in the previous year on the back of improving margins and an uptick in its sales.

The brand’s operating revenue for the fiscal rose 23% YoY to ₹237.5 Cr from ₹193 Cr in the previous fiscal. Including other income of ₹17.5 Cr, the startup’s total income for the period stood at ₹239.2 Cr.

Founded in 2016 by Tarun Sharma, Vaishali Gupta, Vikas Lachhwani, Mohit Jain and Saurabh Singhal, PEP Brands started off its journey in the beauty and personal care (BPC) space with the caffeine-based skincare brand mCaffeine.

Under the brand, the startup sells products such as face washes, body scrubs and hair care products primarily via its website, online marketplaces and quick commerce platforms, while also expanding its offline retail presence.

Notably, the startup also launched skincare label HYPHEN in 2023 with actor Kriti Sanon as a cofounder. HYPHEN has been scaling quickly since launch.

HYPHEN reported revenue of ₹50.4 Cr in FY25, a 6.6X jump from ₹7.6 Cr in FY24. However, its net loss widened 80% to ₹12.9 Cr during the year from ₹7.2 Cr a year earlier as the company ramped up spending on marketing and brand building.

Overall, PEP Brands is targeting a 30-35% growth in FY26, its CEO Sharma told PTI in an interview earlier last year. The startup also aims to go public within the next 3-4 years.

Breaking Down The Expenses

The D2C startup’s total expenses for the fiscal year declined by 13% to ₹251.7 Cr from ₹290.3 Cr in FY24.

Employee Benefit Expenses: Its employee benefit expenses declined 31% to ₹26.6 Cr from ₹38.5 Cr in FY24.

Advertising Expenses: The startup’s expenses under this head declined 14% to ₹95.7 Cr from ₹110.8 Cr.

Warehousing Costs: The startup’s warehousing costs declined slightly 6% to ₹31.5 Cr from ₹33.6 Cr in the year ago period.