Brands
ITC to acquire J&J’s Savlon, Shower To Shower; expand FMCG portfolio
KOLKATA: Kolkata-headquartered cigarettes-to-hotels conglomerate ITC has entered into an agreement with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to acquire Savlon and Shower To Shower trademarks and other intellectual property (IP) primarily for use in India in order to expand its FMCG portfolio.
Savlon is an antiseptic brand while Shower To Shower is a personal care product brand.
It should be noted that this acquisition, which will be ITC’s first purchase in the personal care segment, is in line with the company’s growing focus on its non-cigarette FMCG business.
“The company has entered into asset purchase agreements with Johnson & Johnson, India & Johnson & Johnson, Singapore on 12 February for purchase of Savlon and Shower To Shower trademarks and other intellectual property, respectively, primarily for use in India,” ITC said in a BSE filing.
These agreements are subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory permissions as may be necessary, the filing further reveals.
A senior official on the condition of anonymity said that the company has used inorganic route to expand and strengthen its business earlier. “We acquired juice brand B Natural for our entry into fruit beverages market,” he said.
When being asked to comment on the revenues ITC is looking at, he said that the current acquisition is in line with ITC’s aim for a revenue of approximately Rs 1,00,000 crore from the new FMCG businesses alone by the end of year 2030.
ITC had acquired Bangalore-based Balan Natural Food’s B Natural brand last year to strengthen its portfolio.
When asked to comment, ITC declined to divulge the size of the deal for purchasing the two brands from Johnson & Johnson.
However when some analysts tracking FMCG firms were contacted to comment on the probabilities of the deal, they assume that the size of the current acquisition would be small compared to ITC’s total size of the business.
After this acquisition, the company’s topline in FMCG segment may go up by a small amount of about one per cent, said a Kolkata based analyst.
ITC’s non-cigarette FMCG revenue stood at around Rs 8,122 crore during the financial year 2013-14.
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.
