Brands
Brewing profits Tata Consumer stirs up a strong Q3 FY26 show
MUMBAI: Tata Consumer Products has brewed up a solid third quarter, serving investors a strong blend of volume growth, margin recovery and steady global momentum. The FMCG major reported a 34 per cent year-on-year jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 402.79 crore in Q3 FY26, up from Rs 299.75 crore a year earlier, underlining sustained strength across its portfolio.
Sequentially, profit edged up from Rs 397 crore in Q2 FY26, signalling consistency rather than a one-off spike. Revenue from operations rose a healthy 15 per cent YoY to Rs 5,112 crore in the December quarter, compared with Rs 4,443.56 crore in Q3 FY25. Total income climbed 14.4% to Rs 5,145 crore, according to regulatory filings.
Branded businesses continued to anchor performance, generating Rs 4,602.79 crore in revenue. The India business contributed Rs 3,203.12 crore, while international operations added Rs 1,399.67 crore. Non-branded revenue stood at Rs 546.67 crore during the quarter.
Overseas markets delivered 11 per cent growth, led by a strong showing in coffee in the US. In Canada, Tetley emerged as the fastest-growing brand in the specialty tea segment, reinforcing the company’s international credentials.
“Q3 FY26 marked another quarter of strong, broad-based performance, driven by healthy volume-led growth across core and emerging categories,” said Tata Consumer Products managing director and CEO Sunil D’Souza.
On the home turf, the salt business grew 14 per cent, while the tea portfolio continued to expand, with margins returning to normative levels as lower input costs were passed on to consumers. Premium offerings remained a standout, with Tata Sampann clocking a sharp 45 per cent YoY growth, alongside a robust performance from the Ready-to-Drink portfolio.
The Starbucks India joint venture also stayed on track, reporting 7 per cent YoY revenue growth, with quarter-on-quarter sales rising 10 per cent. The network expanded by 12 net new stores during the quarter, taking the total count to 504 outlets across 81 cities.
With improving margins, disciplined execution and a sharper focus on high-growth categories, Tata Consumer Products appears to be keeping its growth story firmly on the boil.
Brands
UK’s OnlyFans seeks US investor at $3bn valuation after owner’s death
The adult video platform is seeking stability after the death of its billionaire owner
LONDON: OnlyFans is looking for a new partner. The London-based adult video platform is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake of less than 20 per cent to Architect Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, in a deal that would value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).
The move is driven by an urgent need for stability. Leonid Radvinsky, the Ukrainian-American billionaire who owned OnlyFans, died of cancer last month at the age of 43, leaving the future of one of Britain’s most profitable privately held businesses suddenly uncertain.
The choice of Architect Capital is not arbitrary. The firm has deep expertise in financial services, which aligns neatly with OnlyFans’ ambitions to offer banking products to its creators, many of whom have long struggled to access basic financial services because of the nature of their work.
The numbers behind OnlyFans are, by any measure, staggering. The platform posted revenues of $1.4bn in the year to 30th November 2024, with a pre-tax profit of $684m, up four per cent on the prior year. Payments to creators totalled $7.2bn over the same period, a rise of nearly ten per cent. Radvinsky personally collected $701m in dividends from the business in 2024 alone, on top of more than $1bn in such payments he had already received. The platform, run through its parent company Felix International, hosts 4.6m creator accounts, with performers keeping 80 per cent of subscription proceeds and the platform pocketing the remaining 20 per cent. It has 377m fan accounts in total.
The current minority stake talks represent a notable scaling back of ambitions. In January, OnlyFans was reported to be in discussions with Architect about selling a majority stake of 60 per cent. Before that, the company had explored a sale to a consortium led by Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Neither deal materialised.
OnlyFans has built an enormously lucrative business on content that mainstream finance has long refused to touch. Now, with its owner gone and a $3bn valuation on the table, it is looking for the kind of respectable institutional backing that might finally persuade the banks to take its calls.
