FirstCry spent Rs 482 crore on advertising in FY24

Brainbees Solutions, which operates omnichannel kidswear brand FirstCry, floated its IPO at a $2.9 billion valuation with a share price range of Rs 440-460. According to the red herring prospectus (RHP) filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), FirstCry spent Rs 482.2 Cr towards advertising and promotional expenses in FY24, which increased about 16% YoY.

Moreover, from the net proceeds of the IPO, FirstCry has allocated Rs 200 crore towards sales and marketing initiative expenditures. The date of subscription is scheduled for August 6 and the IPO will close on August 8. The allocation to anchor investors for the Firstcry IPO is scheduled to take place on August 5.

The company reported a revenue of Rs 6,481 crore in FY24, up 15% from Rs 5,633 crore in FY23, as per filings. It narrowed its losses to Rs 321 crore in FY24, down 34% from Rs 486 crore in FY23.

According to the red herring prospectus (RHP) filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), FirstCry’s total expenses rose over 9% to INR 6,896.6 Cr during the year under review from Rs 6,315.7 Cr in FY23. FirstCry spent Rs 482.2 Cr towards advertising and promotional expenses in FY24, which increased about 16% YoY.

The Pune-based company has reduced the size of its fresh issue by around 8% to Rs 1,666 Cr from Rs 1,816 Cr.

According to its RHP, FirstCry will use the net proceeds from the IPO for several key expenditures. The company plans to spend Rs 108.1 crore on setting up new modern stores under the ‘BabyHug’ brand (Rs 93.9 Cr) and establishing a warehouse in India (Rs 14.2 Cr).

Additionally, Rs 93.1 crore will be allocated for lease payments for existing identified modern stores owned and operated by the company in India.

Investment in the subsidiary Digital Age will total Rs 299.6 crore, with Rs 169 crore dedicated to setting up new modern stores under the FirstCry brand and other home brands, and Rs 130.6 crore for lease payments for existing identified modern stores owned and controlled by Digital Age in India.

For overseas expansion, FirstCry will invest Rs 155.6 crore in the subsidiary FirstCry Trading, which includes Rs 72.6 crore for setting up new modern stores and Rs 83 crore for establishing warehouses in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Furthermore, Rs 169 crore will be invested in the subsidiary GlobalBees Brands for acquiring an additional stake in step-down subsidiaries. The company will also allocate Rs 200 crore towards sales and marketing initiatives and Rs 57.6 crore for technology and data science costs, including cloud and server hosting-related expenses.