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<ul><li>As a D2C house of brands that’s going public, Honasa is a new IPO theme for investors.</li><li>HUL, Marico etc. are listed peers but it also has a lot in common with new-age companies like high advertisement expenses.</li><li>Honasa’s capex plans to go offline and customer acquisition cost can dent the profitability of the company, which has posted losses in FY23.</li><li>The company is catering to the premium BPC sector which in turn caters to the changing needs of the urban millennials and GenZs. </li></ul>If you are an investor who is tired of the same old consumer companies, there is a new theme in town. A direct-to-consumer or D2C company that houses several brands, Honasa Consumer, has taken the off-beat path of going public. “It can be a new IPO theme. There have been many D2C brands that were acquired by companies like Marico acquiring Plix, Beardo and Emani with The Man Company. This is the only one to go public,” says Preeyam Tolia, senior research analyst of FMCG &amp; Retail at Axis Securities. This ₹1,701 crore IPO, however, is also an acid test for direct to consumer (D2C) companies dreaming to go public. After the mixed reaction that many new-age digital companies like PayTM, Zomato and Nykaa received from the markets, most digital businesses are met with askance. Who are the peers? As a product creator, the company quotes HUL, Marico, Marico etc. as its peers. However, the company which produces its products via contract manufacturing, shares many traits with new-age companies. Honasa is one of the first-movers in the sector, and grew at a breakneck speed of 80% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for the last two years. In the crowded online BPC market, it managed to gain a market share of 5.4%, as per Redseer. It’s also in the most alluring businesses of the times. The BPC sector itself is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10% between 2022-27, the consulting firm says. It’s also establishing exclusive brand outlets (EBOs). But, it’s primarily a digital company that’s true to its nature. “We follow and listen to consumers and use the data to create new products. For example, our onion-based hair care products are based on the advice that most people receive as an antidote for hair fall. But people also pointed out that it’s tough to extract and use. That’s how we created it,” explained Varun Alagh, founder and CEO of Honasa Consumer at the company’s IPO press conference. In addition to its flagship, it has expanded its portfolio by incubating three brands and acquiring two more. It now has The Derma Co, Aqualogica, Ayuga, Dr Sheth’s and BBlunt (salons and products) – all catering to the new-age Indians who love tailor-made products. The ad-burn conundrum Honasa had to spend a lot of money to market the uniqueness of its varied products to the right consumers via online and offline channels. Its ad expenses stood at 34.99% of its revenue from operations as of June end. Experts say that it’s normal for a D2C company like itself. “D2C brands require a lot of advertising and promotional spends. They do need to invest in scaling up brands and they have been able to because of PE funds. But in a listed environment, it’s too early to comment on how they will fare,” comments Tolia. A large chunk of the net proceeds raised from the fresh issue will go towards ad expenses. It intends to spend more towards physical presence like more EBOs and BBlunt salons. That’s good for the brand in terms of customer acquisition cost, but in the long run. “As the brand scales, the company is looking to connect consumers offline. A large part of the revenue decline is concentrated in its D2C website and app, where CAC (customer acquisition cost) is considerably high. As consumers shift to the offline mode, CAC needs will also reduce,” said a report by Emkay. According to a Redseer report, most investors into new-age companies are confused about their business models. They’re unsure of which bucket a company falls into, especially when they go online to offline. They’re positioned online but grow offline. These are different models cost and growth-wise, it said enumerating investor concerns on startup listings. Moreso, the company had taken an impairment hit due to its subsidiary Momspresso in FY23, dragging it into losses to the tune of ₹150.9 crore. It had posted a profit of ₹14.4 crore in FY22. Its high expenses makes it tough to get back to the profit path, say analysts. “The company's focus on product development and innovation R&amp;D may impact short-term profitability due to high advertising expenses and capital expenditure,” says Prashanth Tapse, senior VP of research at Mehta Equities. What’s in it for the investors? The IPO is a combination of fresh issue and offer-for-sale (OFS). But the size of the fresh issue is much smaller than the OFS by promoters and other selling shareholders who will take a lion’s share of the intended fundraise of ₹1,701 crore. “New investors should be cautious as the IPO includes fresh share issuance of ₹365 crore and a low promoter stake of 37.41%. Conservative investors may wait and watch, while risk-takers can consider long-term investment for potential growth. However, the IPO appears to be overvalued in the current market conditions, and historical listings with high valuations have often faced post-listing challenges,” opines Tapse. Emkay too has broken its opinion on the company into three different scenarios — all based on how much of its past growth it can keep up with. If it’s able to double its turnover in three years, it’s an attractive investment. If it can keep up with its 20% revenue CAGR, it can be defined as ‘fair’, but if its revenue grows under 10%, then it’s an expensive investment. It all boils down to how far and clearly investors can gaze into the crystal ball.

Honasa Consumer’s D-Street debut an acid test for D2C companies

<ul><li>QIBs bid aggressively for the issue on the last day, but its retail book was just about fully subscribed.</li><li>Company has raised as much as ₹765 crore from the anchor investors ahead of its IPO.</li><li>It plans to use net proceeds from the IPO towards ad expenses, set-up brand, invest in subsidiaries and more.</li></ul>Mamaearth’s parent company, Honasa Consumer’s initial public offer was subscribed 7.6 times the shares on offer – with good interest from institutional investors. Qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) stepped up on the last day and this portion was subscribed 11 times on Thursday. While the non-institutional investor portion was subscribed four times over, the retail book was just about fully subscribed with 1.3 times over the shares on offer. The ₹1,701 crore issue had allocated only 10% of the offer to retail investors, 15% was for non-institutional investors and 75% to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs). Its price band for the issue has been fixed at ₹308-324. Investors can bid for a minimum of 46 shares in multiples thereof. The company raised as much as ₹765 crore from the anchor investors ahead of its IPO. Some of its investors include Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Goldman Sachs Singapore and more. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Type of investor </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">No of times subscribed </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Qualified Institutional Buyers </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">11.5 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Non-institutional Investors </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4.02 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Retail </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1.35 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Total </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">7.61 </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: BSE An acid test for D2C brands Honasa Consumer is a house of brands in the beauty and personal care space. It has incubated brands like Mamaearth and has also inorganically grown by acquiring BBlunt salons.It has brands like The Derma Co, Dr Sheth’s, Aqualogica and Ayuda in its kitty. The company intends to use net proceeds from the fresh issue towards advertisement expenses, to set-up exclusive brand outlets, investment in its subsidiary, BBlunt, general corporate purposes and unidentified inorganic acquisitions. The company slipped back into losses in FY23, after posting profits in FY22. It was due to an impairment loss it had to take in the last financial year to the tune of ₹154 crore. “This was primarily due to the management decision to scale down the majority of the business verticals of Momspresso, a content platform operating under our subsidiary, Just4Kids Services, and acquired by us in December 2021,” the company said. Its ad expenses stood at 34.99% of its revenue from operations as of June end. Apart from that, it’s in a segment that’s extremely competitive. Some of these competitors are larger and have substantially greater resources than them. That gives them the ability to spend more on advertising and marketing and offer substantial discounts, the company quotes as risk factors in its RHP. “The revenue for the company has grown at a CAGR of 80% over FY21-23 with a volume growth of 102.28%. The company has an adjusted EBITDA of 3.4% as on FY23 with negative working capital on account of asset light model that enables them to invest more on marketing, technology and product innovation,” says a report by Canara Bank Securities that gave it a ‘subscribe for the long-term’ rating.

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