Brands
Britannia bites into growth as profits rise despite incentive crunch
Higher volumes lift Q3 numbers even as tax tweaks trim operating income.
MUMBAI: Biscuits may be everyday fare, but Britannia Industries Limited served up a fairly chunky set of numbers in the December 2025 quarter, proving that steady demand can still outweigh policy crumbs.
For the quarter ended December 31, 2025, Britannia reported total income of Rs 5,029.28 crore, up from Rs 4,655.08 crore a year ago. Revenue from operations came in at Rs 4,969.82 crore, driven largely by sale of goods worth Rs 4,885.23 crore, compared with Rs 4,463.30 crore in the same quarter last year.
Profit before tax rose to Rs 919.03 crore from Rs 778.39 crore a year earlier, while net profit for the quarter climbed to Rs 682.14 crore, up from Rs 582.30 crore in the December 2024 quarter. Earnings per share followed suit, rising to Rs 28.23 from Rs 24.15.
For the nine months ended December 31, 2025, the company posted revenue from operations of Rs 14,432.67 crore, compared with Rs 13,510.48 crore in the corresponding period last year. Net profit for the nine-month period stood at Rs 1,857.33 crore, up from Rs 1,618.73 crore, underlining consistent growth across quarters.
Costs, however, continued to nibble at margins. Total expenses for the December quarter rose to Rs 4,107.59 crore from Rs 3,874.65 crore a year ago, with higher employee benefits expense of Rs 214.73 crore and other expenses of Rs 955.28 crore reflecting inflationary pressures and scale-up costs.
A notable dent came from policy changes. Following a reduction in State Goods and Services Tax rates in September 2025, Britannia’s entitlement to state fiscal incentives fell, reducing other operating revenue by about Rs 65 crore in the December quarter. That said, the impact was partially cushioned by recognition of Rs 45.72 crore as fiscal incentive income relating to the period from April 2024 to September 2025, after receiving approval from a state government.
Other income for the quarter stood at Rs 59.46 crore, including dividends of Rs 34.53 crore received from subsidiaries. Over the nine-month period, dividend income from subsidiaries totalled Rs 93.47 crore, providing an additional buffer to the bottom line.
For context, in the year ended March 31, 2025, Britannia had reported revenue from operations of Rs 17,942.67 crore and net profit of Rs 2,177.86 crore, making the current nine-month performance broadly in line with its longer-term growth trajectory.
All told, while fiscal incentives may be shrinking, Britannia’s core business continues to rise to the occasion, showing that in the FMCG game, volume, brand loyalty and scale can still help a company keep its balance even when the policy recipe changes.
Brands
Dunkin’ Donuts to exit India as Jubilant FoodWorks ends 15-year franchise deal
The quick service restaurant giant is ending a 15-year franchise partnership with the American doughnut chain, even as it renews its Domino’s agreement for another 15 years
NOIDA: Dunkin’ is done in India. Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, the country’s leading quick service restaurant operator, has decided not to renew its franchise agreement with the American coffee and doughnut chain, and will wind down its Indian stores in a phased manner before December 31, 2026, bringing a 15-year partnership to a quiet, loss-laden close.
The decision, approved by JFL’s board on March 30, 2026, ends a relationship that began with a Multiple Unit Development Franchise Agreement signed on February 24, 2011. JFL will now evaluate and undertake what it described in a regulatory filing as the “rationalisation and/or cessation of certain operations and/or sale, transfer or disposal of assets and/or assignment or transfer of franchise rights,” all in consultation with Dunkin’s brand owners and strictly within the terms of the original agreement.
The numbers tell the story bluntly. In the financial year 2024-25, Dunkin’ India posted a revenue of Rs 37 crore against a loss of Rs 19 crore — a haemorrhage that was always going to test the patience of a parent company recording revenues of Rs 6,104 crore and a profit of Rs 194 crore in the same period. Doughnuts, it turns out, were never going to move the needle.
The contrast with JFL’s handling of its other marquee franchise could hardly be sharper. Even as it walks away from Dunkin’, the company has just doubled down on Domino’s, signing a fresh Master Franchise Agreement on March 31, 2026, granting it exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino’s Pizza stores in India for 15 years, with an option to renew for a further 10.
JFL, incorporated in 1995 and promoted by the Bharatia family, operates a network of more than 3,500 stores across six markets — India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Its portfolio includes Domino’s and Popeyes on the global side, and two home-grown brands: Hong’s Kitchen and COFFY, a café brand in Turkey.
For Dunkin’, India was always a stretch. The brand never quite cracked the cultural code in a market where filter coffee and chai command fierce loyalty and where the doughnut remains, at best, an occasional indulgence rather than a daily habit. Fifteen years, mounting losses and a parent with better things to spend its capital on was always going to be a difficult equation to solve.
The doughnut has had its last day. The pizza, however, is staying.
