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Brown Shoe teams with Nickelodeon for new lines of kids’ footwear
MUMBAI:A strategic multi-property licensing agreement has been announced between Brown Shoe company’s Buster Brown & Co. kids’ division and the entertainment brand for kids, Nickelodeon.
The two companies plan to collaborate to create and launch several lines of footwear based on Nickelodeon’s newest television programs.
The first four collections will ship to retail stores in July, just in time for the back-to-school season. The lines include a full assortment of casual shoes, boots, sport fusion athletic shoes and slippers featuring popular Nick Jr. characters from Go, Diego, Go! (for boys) and Backyardigans (girls and boys) for ages 2-6, as well as new girls’ fashion brands based on the Nickelodeon shows Unfabulous and Zoey 101.
Brown Shoe director of marketing and licensing Todd Murray said, “This partnership with Nickelodeon enables us to give kids the Nickelodeon brands they know and love in stylish, fun footwear. Our Nickelodeon footwear will be as dynamic and engaging as the Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. shows.”
Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products manages the third largest licensing business in the world with $4.7 billion in retail sales in 2004, from such properties as SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer. The department handles the merchandising for Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, MTVN International, and Spike TV.
In its 26th year, Nickelodeon is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films.
Brown Shoe is a $2.3 billion footwear company with global operations. The company operates the 900+ store Famous Footwear chain, which sells brand name shoes for the family.
MUMBAI: When margins wobble, liquidity talks and in Q3 FY25-26, cash did most of the talking. Den Networks Limited closed the December quarter with consolidated revenue of Rs.251 crore, marginally higher than the previous quarter but down 4 per cent year-on-year, even as profitability stayed resilient on the back of strong cash reserves and disciplined cost control.
Subscription income softened to Rs.98 crore, slipping 3 per cent sequentially and 14 per cent from last year, while placement and marketing income offered some cheer, rising 15 per cent quarter-on-quarter to Rs.148 crore. Total costs climbed faster than revenue, up 7 per cent QoQ to Rs.238 crore, driven largely by higher content costs and operating expenses. As a result, EBITDA dropped sharply to Rs.13 crore from Rs.19 crore in Q2 and Rs.28 crore a year ago, pulling margins down to 5 per cent.
Yet, the bottom line refused to blink. Profit after tax stood at Rs.40 crore, up 15 per cent sequentially and only marginally lower than last year’s Rs.42 crore. A healthy Rs.57 crore in other income helped cushion operating pressure, keeping profit before tax at Rs.48 crore, broadly stable quarter-on-quarter despite the tougher cost environment.
The real headline-grabber, however, sits on the balance sheet. The company remains debt-free, with cash and cash equivalents swelling to Rs.3,279 crore as of December 31, 2025. Net worth rose to Rs.3,748 crore, while online collections accounted for 97 per cent of total receipts, underscoring strong cash discipline across operations, including subsidiaries.
In short, while Q3 showed signs of operating strain, the financial backbone remains solid. With zero gross debt, steady profits and a formidable cash war chest, the company enters the next quarter with flexibility firmly on its side proving that in uncertain markets, balance sheet strength can be the best growth strategy.
