Nykaa Allots 3.08 Lakh Equity Shares Under ESOP Plans

In the run up to its quarterly financial disclosures, beauty and fashion ecommerce major Nykaa said it has allotted 3.08 Lakh equity shares to its employees under its employee stock option plan (ESOP) schemes.

In an exchange filing, Nykaa said that the allotted shares will rank “pari-passu” with the existing equity shares of the company in all respects. For the uninitiated, pari passu means “ranking equally and without preference”. 

The allotted ESOPs amount to a total of around INR 5.92 Cr based on the stock’s last closing price of INR 192.15. 

It is pertinent to note that Nykaa undertook a similar exercise in the run up to its financial disclosures for the last quarter of the previous fiscal year (Q4 FY24). It has undertaken a number of ESOP-related actions this year.

In September, it allotted 7.65 Lakh equity shares to its employees under various ESOP schemes. Prior to that, Nykaa allotted 1.73 Lakh equity shares in July. It offered 4.73 Lakh equity shares to eligible employees in June. In May this year, the beauty and personal care (BPC) major granted 4.05 Lakh stock options to its employees. 

In its quarterly update for the quarter ended September 30, Nykaa said it was expecting a healthy growth in its revenue for the quarter. It said that its consolidated net revenue grew in “mid-twenties” in the second quarter (Q2) of the ongoing financial year 2024-25 (FY25). 

“Strong overall performance was seen across omnichannel retail business, owned brands as well as eB2B distribution business, ahead of the festive season. Dot & Key, a new age skincare brand, continues to experience rapid growth, with Nykaa expanding ownership to 90% at the beginning of this financial year,” the company said. 

Nykaa’s consolidated net profit jumped 152% to INR 13.6 Cr in Q1 FY25 from INR 5.4 Cr in the same quarter last fiscal. Operating revenue increased 22.8% to INR 1,746.1 Cr in the reported quarter from INR 1,421.8 Cr in Q1 FY24.

The ESOP allotment comes at a time when listed and unlisted startups alike are increasing their allotment of company shares to their employees. Just today, listed dronetech startup ideaForge allotted 3,936 equity shares under its ESOP 2018 plan. 

Other companies that have undertaken ESOP-related exercises this month include the likes of Delhivery, Tracxn, WinZo, Zaggle and Zomato, among others.