FirstCry FY26: Growth Holds, Cash Flow Turns Positive, and Profitability Improves Across the Group

Brainbees Solutions Limited, which operates FirstCry, closed FY26 with steady top-line growth and a clearer push toward profitable scale. For the full year ended March 31, 2026, consolidated revenue from operations rose 12 percent year on year to INR 85,479 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased 24 percent to INR 4,860 million, taking the adjusted EBITDA margin to 5.7 percent from 5.1 percent in FY25. Loss after tax narrowed to INR 2,037 million from INR 2,648 million. In Q4FY26, revenue grew 12 percent year on year to INR 21,627 million and adjusted EBITDA rose 18 percent to INR 1,187 million, while loss after tax reduced to INR 482 million from INR 1,115 million.

The year’s most investor-relevant milestone was cash discipline. The company reported free cash flow positive performance for FY26 on a consolidated basis, alongside cash profit after tax of INR 3,119 million, up 49 percent year on year. Management also highlighted that the India multi-channel business remained both PAT and free cash flow positive in FY26, positioning the domestic engine as the stabilizer while international losses narrow and Globalbees scales profitability.

FY26 in one view: scale with tighter cost control

FirstCry’s consolidated GMV for FY26 was INR 116,434 million, up 10 percent year on year. Revenue growth outpaced GMV, supported by a strong mix of categories and expanding home brand penetration in India. Gross profit in FY26 was INR 30,955 million with a gross margin of 36.2 percent, slightly lower than FY25’s 37.4 percent, indicating that competitive intensity and mix shifts mattered. But operating discipline improved. Indirect expense as a percentage of revenue reduced to 6.8 percent in FY26 from 7.4 percent in FY25, and advertising and sales promotion expenses reduced to 8.1 percent from 8.4 percent.

Even in Q4FY26, when the company described heightened competitive intensity in the India business and elevated promotions in international markets, the group’s profitability trend held. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA margin was 5.5 percent in Q4FY26 versus 5.2 percent in Q4FY25. The consolidated loss after tax reduced 57 percent year on year in the quarter, underscoring that earnings quality is improving even when growth is not running at peak.

India multi-channel: growth re-accelerates, but margins feel pressure

India remains the core of FirstCry’s multi-channel model, and FY26 showed a gradual re-acceleration in quarterly growth. India multi-channel revenue from operations rose 9 percent year on year to INR 57,533 million. GMV grew 11 percent to INR 97,833 million, and orders increased 8 percent to 42.8 million. The company also reported annual unique transacting customers at 11 million in the trailing twelve months.

The quarter-by-quarter pattern mattered. India multi-channel year on year quarterly revenue growth improved sequentially through the year from 7.5 percent in Q1FY26 to 11.4 percent in Q4FY26. That is a useful signal because it came while the company called out heightened competitive intensity. The presentation pointed to diapering as the category under the most pressure during the quarter, affecting both growth and margins. But the non-diapering portfolio, contributing about 85 percent of GMV, remained robust.

Profitability in India stayed positive, but margins narrowed. India adjusted EBITDA for FY26 was INR 5,051 million, up 1 percent year on year, while adjusted EBITDA margin reduced to 8.8 percent from 9.5 percent in FY25. In Q4FY26, India adjusted EBITDA fell to INR 1,092 million from INR 1,250 million, with margin at 7.3 percent. This margin compression likely reflects the competitive environment and mix pressures, even as revenue growth improved.

The company’s operational playbook in India is focused on delivery speed, store productivity, and assortment tuning.

RocketBees, the faster delivery initiative, expanded from 22 cities to 62 cities, and the company cited improving turnaround time as a driver of better growth and customer experience. Qwik expanded in select pin codes across five cities. Offline initiatives focused on increasing footfalls and conversions, including a realigned product portfolio that is expected to be completed by H1FY27. The company reported offline GMV year on year growth of 15 percent in Q4FY26.

The breadth of the India platform remains large. As of March 31, 2026, the company offered 2.0 million SKUs from 7,800 plus brands. It operated 1,189 modern stores including FOFO and COCO, with 536 FirstCry and BabyHug COCO stores. Online contributed 78 percent of India GMV and offline contributed 22 percent. A notable behavioral insight was that 36 percent of GMV generated by the top 50 cities came from cross-channel customers who transact both online and offline.

Home brands are also becoming structurally more important. The share of home brands in India multi-channel GMV increased from 37 percent in FY20 to over 58 percent in FY26. That shift matters because the presentation states home brands drive superior margins than third-party brands, and they also allow more control over assortment in a fragmented supply environment.

International business: slower growth, but losses keep shrinking

FirstCry’s international segment, which operates largely as an online platform in UAE and KSA, delivered 10 percent revenue growth in FY26 to INR 9,474 million. The year’s narrative, however, was less about growth and more about margin recovery. The company highlighted elevated promotional activities led by two horizontal ecommerce players that entered these markets in 2024. This kept demand competitive and likely constrained pricing.

Even so, international gross margin improved sharply. Gross margin increased by 250 basis points year on year in FY26, and the segment gross margin percentage reached 25.7 percent from 23.3 percent in FY25. The company linked margin expansion potential to levers such as higher home brand mix in GMV, higher share of kids and babies fashion, better unit economics through scale, and operational efficiencies. This mirrors the long-term trajectory seen in India, where gross margin expanded over time to 35.6 percent in FY26.

Loss reduction remained the biggest proof point. International adjusted EBITDA loss reduced to INR 907 million in FY26 from INR 1,401 million in FY25, a 35 percent year on year reduction. In Q4FY26, adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed to INR 207 million from INR 307 million, a 33 percent year on year improvement. Adjusted EBITDA margin improved to minus 10 percent in FY26 from minus 16 percent in FY25. The longer trend is also moving in the right direction, with adjusted EBITDA margin improving from minus 25 percent in FY23 to minus 10 percent in FY26.

Volume indicators were stable rather than explosive, which aligns with the company’s stance on sustainable growth. International orders rose 6 percent year on year in FY26 to 2.1 million. GMV increased 5 percent to INR 18,602 million. Annual unique transacting customers reached 0.53 million. The segment’s average order value remained much higher than India’s, at INR 9,067 in FY26 versus INR 2,284 for India multi-channel. The presentation also noted that international AOV was four times India AOV for FY26.

Globalbees: profitable growth shifts from narrative to numbers

Globalbees, the company’s brand aggregation and scaling platform, delivered a step-change in profitability while keeping growth strong. Revenue from operations rose 20 percent year on year in FY26 to INR 18,943 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased to INR 559 million from INR 221 million in FY25, implying 153 percent year on year growth, with adjusted EBITDA margin improving to 3.0 percent from 1.4 percent.

In Q4FY26, Globalbees revenue rose 20 percent year on year to INR 4,600 million. Adjusted EBITDA jumped to INR 265 million from INR 30 million in Q4FY25, with margin at 5.8 percent.

A key structural detail is that Globalbees has been witnessing organic growth since September 2022, when it made its last brand acquisition. That matters for investors because it reduces the risk of acquisition-led growth masking underlying demand, and it also indicates that the operating system and distribution capabilities are delivering.

Globalbees separated its portfolio into core categories and other brands. Core categories delivered 28 percent year on year growth in FY26, with revenue of INR 18,768 million and adjusted EBITDA of INR 919 million post corporate expenses, translating to 4.9 percent margin. The company said it is rationalizing other brands that have relatively lower revenue growth and incur losses, with an intent to complete the rationalization by Q1FY27. If executed well, this could improve consolidated margins and reduce volatility.

Others: preschool partnerships scale steadily

The Others segment, which includes preschool partnerships, remained small but profitable and growing. Revenue increased 11 percent year on year in FY26 to INR 472 million, and adjusted EBITDA increased 21 percent to INR 125 million. The segment’s adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 27 percent in FY26 from 24 percent in FY25.

Operational metrics in preschools continued to rise. Preschools at the end of the period increased to 436 in FY26 from 363 in FY25, spanning 190 plus cities. Students enrolled increased to 23,049 from 18,470.

Operating engine: stores, inventory turns, and working capital improve

Beyond revenue and EBITDA, the operating metrics show active efficiency work. Net working capital days reduced to 57 in FY26 from 71 in FY25. Inventory days reduced to 85 from 102. In a retail-led model, these are meaningful movements because they reduce cash locked in inventory and improve resilience in a competitive pricing environment.

The store network continued to expand. Modern stores increased to 1,190 from 1,156. FOFO stores increased to 653 from 629. FirstCry and other COCO stores increased to 266 from 231, while BabyHug COCO stores reduced to 271 from 296, indicating a mix shift within the company-owned fleet.

Customer behavior also supports the model’s durability. The transaction cohort data for India multi-channel suggests repeat usage strengthens over time, with an average of 8.0 transactions by Year 4 across cohorts from fiscal 2011 to 2026, and an average of 10.5 transactions by Year 8.

What to watch in FY27: structural growth ambitions versus competitive pressure

FirstCry’s FY26 presentation reads like a company trying to balance three priorities at once: defend growth in India against category-specific intensity, improve international unit economics without chasing uneconomic promotions, and keep Globalbees on a profitable scaling path while pruning weaker brands.

Management believes the growth rate for both online and offline channels in India will be structurally much superior in FY27, supported by RocketBees expansion, Qwik pilots, and offline portfolio realignment. That ambition will be tested by how quickly the company can stabilize diapering category pressures and protect gross margin while keeping customer acquisition efficient.

In international markets, the near-term outcome hinges on whether competitive promotions remain elevated. But the trajectory of gross margin improvement and loss reduction is steady, and the segment’s high AOV provides room to fund logistics and customer experience while still improving margin over time.

Globalbees stands out as the segment where profitability improvement is most visible quarter to quarter. The planned rationalization of loss-making other brands by Q1FY27 is an execution checkpoint. If that happens on schedule, consolidated margins could benefit, especially since Globalbees is now generating positive adjusted EBITDA and improving.

Investor takeaways

FY26 was not defined by a single breakout quarter. Instead, it showed compounding operational improvements. Consolidated revenue grew 12 percent, adjusted EBITDA grew 24 percent, and losses narrowed materially, including a 57 percent reduction in Q4 net loss. Most importantly, the company reported free cash flow positive performance for the year, supported by a 49 percent rise in cash profit after tax.

The business mix is also becoming clearer. India remains the profit and cash anchor, international is moving steadily toward smaller losses with better gross margins, and Globalbees is proving it can grow organically while improving profitability. If FY27 delivers on the company’s claim of structurally higher India growth and completes Globalbees portfolio rationalization, the next phase of the story could be about margin durability rather than only loss reduction.