Under ESOP, Nykaa Allots 1.80 Lakh Equity Shares

Nitin Konde, Varun Bhardwaj

Nov 15, 2024 — 3 min read

Nykaa Allocates 1.80 Lakh Equity Shares Under ESOP Plan

Nykaa, a leading e-commerce company in the beauty and fashion industry, has granted its employees 1.80 lakh equity shares through the Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP). This follows the startup's announcement of a 66.3% increase in its consolidated net profit from INR 7.8 Cr to INR 12.97 Cr in the second quarter of FY25. As stated in a filing, "The equity shares so allotted shall rank pari-passu with the existing equity shares of the Company in all respects."

It hasn't, however, revealed the shift in its paid-up capital. It is relevant to mention that Nykaa incurred employee benefit expenses totalling INR 161.49 Cr in Q2 FY25. Compared to INR 136.32 Cr spent the previous year, this amount represents an 18.5% increase. The broking firm JM Financial has kept its "buy" recommendation for the e-commerce behemoth at INR 250 following the release of its financial results.

Nykaa Scaling Financial Growth

The broking firm claims that the startup has achieved growth despite a "unfavourable demand environment." Nevertheless, broking firm Bernstein kept the startup's "market-perform" rating, pointing to an 8.6% drop in the EBIDTA margin. It established INR 165 as the goal price. In the September quarter of FY25, Nykaa's operating revenue increased 24.4% to INR 1,874.74 Cr from INR 1,746.11 Cr in the second quarter of FY24. Revenue grew 7.2% on a quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) basis from INR 1,753.44 Cr.

BPC Segment Continues to be Highest Revenue Generator

The fashion vertical continues to trail behind, despite the beauty and personal care (BPC) segment showcasing a 24.3% YoY gain in revenue to INR 1,702.89 Cr. In Q2 FY25, however, this segment reported a 21.7% YoY increase in revenue to INR 166.10 Cr. The startup's total costs increased by 7.3% QoQ and 23.7% YoY to INR 1,858.93 Cr. The company's biggest expenditures were on marketing, personnel benefits, and the acquisition of traded goods.

ESOP is Gaining Popularity Among Indian Startups

According to a 2024 survey of 160 companies, 78% of them offered employee stock option plans (ESOPs) to their staff, a considerable increase from 59% in 2021. This indicates that ESOPs are becoming more and more popular among startup owners. More firms are now offering ESOPs to all employees, not only senior management, according to a survey done by Saison Capital, XA Network, and Carta. Compared to one in four in 2021, one in three firms now provide these plans to all employees.

Furthermore, the median ESOP pool size grew from 9% in 2021 to 12.6% in 2024, and 90% of founders now talk about ESOPs with candidates during interviews or job offers, up from 75% in 2021. Additionally, the reasons for providing ESOPs have changed; in 2024, 40% of founders cited cost reductions, up from 28% in 2021. The founders cited the necessity to retain people as the second most important reason for putting these plans into action, behind creating a sense of ownership and company culture.

Even with this increase, fewer than 30% of founders still fully understand the complexity of ESOPs, a percentage that hasn't changed since 2021. Just 14% of founders felt educated about the tax consequences of ESOPs, which is a fairly low level of understanding.