Lenskart's profit more than doubles as Jyothy Labs slumps 88% and plans ₹147 crore buyback

Eyewear retailer Lenskart more than doubled its quarterly profit on Wednesday, while household products maker Jyothy Labs reported a steep fall in earnings and announced a share buyback.

Lenskart posted consolidated profit after tax of ₹232.45 crore for the July to September quarter, up 124.7% from ₹103.45 crore a year earlier. Revenue from operations climbed 35.7% to ₹2,845.03 crore, from ₹2,096.14 crore. Profit before tax more than doubled to ₹304.48 crore.

The company also grew on the previous quarter, when it earned ₹228.43 crore on revenue of ₹2,714.18 crore. For the first half of the year, its profit stood at ₹460.88 crore, against ₹164.62 crore. The board approved the allotment of 4,60,934 shares under its employee stock option scheme, and the company moved its registered office to Delhi’s Aerocity from 4 November.

Jyothy Labs squeezed

Jyothy Labs, the maker of Ujala, had a much harder quarter. Its consolidated net profit fell 87.9% to ₹10.6 crore from ₹87.8 crore, even though revenue rose 3.3% to ₹760 crore. Operating profit (EBITDA) dropped 83.9% to ₹19 crore, and the margin shrank to 2.5% from 16%.

Leaving out its Pril and Fa businesses, revenue grew 12.4% and volumes 8.1%, the company said. It did not explain the fall in profit in its filing.

The board approved a buyback of up to 68.37 lakh shares at ₹215 each, about 1.86% of its equity, through the tender route. The ₹147 crore offer is priced about 15% above the market. Promoters will not take part, and a committee will set the record date.

Jyothy Labs shares closed 0.32% higher at ₹189 on the BSE, well below their 52-week high of ₹319.05.