FirstCry IPO: Opening of 12 new stores and warehouses in Saudi Arabia

Brainbees Solutions currently operates two formats of modern stores – BabyHug and FirstCry. BabyHug's modern stores exclusively sell BabyHug products, while FirstCry's modern stores sell multiple brands, including third-party brands. As of December 31, 2023, the company had a network of 1,018 modern stores in 508 cities across India, including 265 BabyHug stores and 632 low-asset modern stores in the franchise model.

The Company intends to use ₹388.2 crore to invest in its Indian subsidiary Digital Age, which was acquired on May 2, 2022. The fund will be used for setting up new modern stores under the FirstCry brand and other private labels, and for lease payments for the existing modern stores owned and controlled by Digital Age.

Meanwhile, ₹173.59 crore will be invested in the subsidiary Globalbees Brands to acquire additional shares in the subsidiaries. The company will invest an additional ₹150 crore in sales and marketing initiatives; ₹57.6 crore in technology and data science expenses; and the remaining fund will be used to finance inorganic growth through acquisitions and other strategic initiatives and for general corporate purposes.

The FirstCry platform was founded in 2010 by Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha to create a one-stop shop for parenting needs. During FY 2021-2023, FirstCry's consolidated revenue from operations has grown from ₹1,602.85 crore in FY 2021 to ₹2,401 crore in FY 2022 and further to ₹5,632.54 crore in FY 2023. The revenue growth was driven by both organic and inorganic growth (notably the acquisition of Digital Age in May 2022).

However, the company's losses rose more than six-fold to ₹486 crore in FY23 compared to ₹79 crore in FY22 due to higher expenses. Total expenses rose 146% to ₹6,316 crore in FY23 from ₹2,568 crore in the last fiscal. Material procurement costs, which accounted for 62% of total expenses, rose 2.5-fold year-on-year to ₹3,935 crore, while employee benefits and advertising expenses rose 127% and 55% respectively in FY23.

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Sybil Alvarez

"Incurable gamer. Infuriatingly humble coffee specialist. Professional music advocate."

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