MAM
FCB Kinnect elevates Kejal Teckchandani to EVP – Influencer Outreach
Mumbai: FCB Kinnect has announced the elevation of Kejal Teckchandani from senior vice president to executive vice president of influencer Outreach. The agency has also elevated Mala Sharma to AVP – Influencer Outreach.
Kejal has played a pivotal role in building Kinnect Outreach, now India’s largest and most efficient influencer, celebrity and partnerships desk. Under her guidance, the agency has consistently been ranked as the ‘Influencer Marketing Agency of the Year’ at Campaign Asia and has also bagged three consecutive titles at ET BrandEquity.
Kinnect Outreach is also the only influencer desk in the country to have won global accolades such as Cannes Lions, Clios, One Shows, D&ADs, and more for campaigns like Vigil Aunty (HDFC Bank) and Chatpat (SOSCVI).
During Kejal’s seven years at FCB Kinnect, she has established a data-centric team that transcends traditional influencer buying, marrying data and creativity with a brand-building strategy. She’s also added a dedicated creative team that tackles end-to-end influencer briefs to the existing influencer desk of 50+ at FCB Kinnect.
Together they have worked for the top brands in the country like Amazon, Asian Paints, Google, Intel, Lenovo, ITC Foods, SBI, HDFC Bank, Tata EV, and more. This strong portfolio of work and clients makes Kinnect Outreach the strongest influencer service provider in the country, which has also become the preferred partner of choice for Google and Meta.
What sets Kinnect Outreach apart is its ability to match the right brief with the right creator and ensure the perfect brand fit.
With over 13 years of experience in Finance, Kejal possesses a deep understanding of the critical importance of ROI and value addition for clients. In a highly unorganized market, this has helped her build an influencer business model that delivers cost efficiencies to brands through strong relationships with the influencer community, from top-tier celebrities to localised micro-influencers.
To enhance transparency among clients, she developed KinnectFluence, a proprietary tool and live dashboard that oversees the entire lifecycle of influencer marketing campaigns.
Speaking on the elevation, FCB Kinnect and FCB/SIX India CEO Rohan Mehta said, “With India’s influencer marketing sector projected to reach INR 33.75 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 18 per cent, the impact of influencer marketing is undeniable. For every consumer-facing brand, implementing an influencer strategy is essential. Kejal has done a fantastic job in building and growing Kinnect Outreach, shaping her team to think like a creative agency and execute like a media agency. Under her leadership Kinnect Outreach powers influencer marketing capabilities not only for FCB Kinnect but for the entire Group.”
Influencer executive vice president Kejal Teckchandani added, “Building the leading influencer desk in the country and giving our clients a competitive edge has been incredibly gratifying. Although I come from a background in finance, I found my true calling in advertising, and I couldn’t be happier with this transition. Our goal has always been to harness creativity in influencer marketing to drive economic value for brands. It has been a fantastic journey, and we will continue to invest in data, tools, and people to elevate Kinnect Outreach to even greater heights.”
Brands
Jio Financial Services posts Rs 1,560 crore FY26 profit
Revenue rises to Rs 3,513 crore as investments and lending scale up.
MUMBAI: If money makes the world go round, Jio Financial Services Limited is quietly spinning a much bigger wheel. The Reliance-backed financial arm reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,560.9 crore for FY26, slightly lower than Rs 1,612.6 crore in FY25, even as revenue growth gathered pace.
Total revenue from operations rose sharply to Rs 3,513.3 crore in FY26 from Rs 2,042.9 crore a year earlier, driven largely by a surge in interest income, which more than doubled to Rs 1,901.9 crore from Rs 852.5 crore. Fee and commission income also saw a significant jump to Rs 597 crore, compared to Rs 155.2 crore in FY25, reflecting expanding financial services activity.
For the March quarter, profit stood at Rs 272.2 crore, broadly flat compared to Rs 269 crore in the same period last year. Quarterly revenue from operations climbed to Rs 1,018.5 crore, up from Rs 493.2 crore year-on-year, signalling steady momentum in core income streams.
Expenses, however, moved in tandem with growth. Total costs nearly quadrupled to Rs 1,982.9 crore in FY26 from Rs 524.8 crore in FY25, with finance costs alone rising to Rs 745.1 crore from just Rs 7.7 crore a year earlier, reflecting increased borrowing and scale of operations. Employee expenses also grew to Rs 387.3 crore, while other expenses expanded to Rs 755 crore.
Profit before tax stood at Rs 1,911.7 crore for the year, slightly below Rs 1,946.9 crore in FY25. After accounting for a total tax outgo of Rs 350.8 crore, the company reported its final net profit figure.
Beyond the income statement, the balance sheet tells a story of rapid expansion. Total assets surged to Rs 1,63,497 crore as of March 31, 2026, up from Rs 1,33,510 crore a year earlier. Investments alone stood at Rs 1,33,088.7 crore, underscoring the company’s strong focus on treasury and financial asset growth.
However, the year also saw sharp volatility in other comprehensive income, which swung to a loss of Rs 16,028.3 crore, largely driven by fair value changes in equity instruments. This dragged total comprehensive income for FY26 to a negative Rs 15,756.1 crore, compared to a positive Rs 14,870 crore in FY25.
On the capital front, the company’s paid-up equity share capital remained steady at Rs 6,353.1 crore, with other equity rising to Rs 1,27,500.5 crore.
The numbers reflect a business in transition scaling rapidly across lending, investments and fee-based services, but also navigating the volatility that comes with mark-to-market movements in financial assets. In other words, while the top line is accelerating, the fine print still carries a few swings.
