Brands
Monte Carlo slips into loss as sales drop in a seasonally weak quarter
MUMBAI: Winterwear label Monte Carlo just caught a summer chill on its balance sheet. For the quarter ended 30 June 2025, Monte Carlo Fashions Ltd. reported a standalone net loss of Rs 1,632 lakh, slipping deeper into the red compared to a loss of Rs 1,327 lakh in the same quarter last year. Sequentially too, the performance weakened, with the company reporting a wider loss than the Rs 1,028 lakh deficit in the March 2025 quarter.
Total income stood at Rs 13,896 lakh, down sharply from Rs 21,856 lakh in the March quarter, and only a marginal uptick from Rs 13,327 lakh in Q1 FY24. The drop was primarily due to a seasonal decline in revenue from operations, which came in at Rs 13,853 lakh, a notable fall from the Rs 20,593 lakh clocked just a quarter ago.
Operating costs remained high. Purchases of stock-in-trade touched Rs 6,418 lakh, and employee expenses rose to Rs 3,234 lakh. While inventory adjustments offered some relief (with a positive change of Rs 2,724 lakh), it wasn’t enough to offset the drag from expenses like advertising and promotion (Rs 1,039 lakh) and finance costs (Rs 1,105 lakh).
On a consolidated basis, losses remained nearly the same, with a net loss of Rs 1,622 lakh for Q1 FY26. Total consolidated income was Rs 14,897 lakh, again marking a sequential decline.
Despite a strong performance in the previous full year with a standalone profit of Rs 7,980 lakh Monte Carlo is off to a frosty start this fiscal. Seasonal cyclicality, high fixed overheads, and a muted retail environment appear to have squeezed margins this quarter.
The company’s equity base remains stable at Rs 2,073 lakh, with other equity reserves totalling Rs 81,337 lakh. Earnings per share (not annualised) stood at Rs (7.87), compared to Rs 38.49 for the year ended March 2025.
With peak season months still ahead and inventory realignments underway, the Ludhiana-based firm will be banking on stronger demand in the colder quarters to thaw the current chill. Until then, investors may need to layer up for some financial frostbite.
Brands
Hemlata Sharma joins ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer
Former Zee Media distribution head to steer growth, partnerships and strategy
MUMBAI:Â Hemlata Sharma has joined ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer, bringing with her more than three decades of experience across television, telecom and media distribution.
Sharma most recently served as head distribution, research & CRM at Zee Media Corporation Limited, where she worked closely with editorial and senior management while overseeing distribution, consumer research and customer relationships for 14 news channels including Zee News, WION, Zee Hindustan and Zee Business, along with ten regional state channels.
In that role, she led nationwide distribution across platforms such as DTH, Hits, IPTV, cable networks and DD Free Dish. She also drove consumer research and strategic insights on a pan India scale, analysing content performance, anchor impact, programme slots and audience behaviour to guide editorial decisions and programming strategy.
Her portfolio also included managing one of the largest alliances with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited and overseeing the global distribution monitoring of Wion across North America, Mena, Europe, Africa, APAC and Australia.
Earlier, Sharma briefly served as head sales and distribution at Triplecom Media Pvt Ltd, an engagement driven OTT platform bringing together content, gaming, music and advertising for the entertainment distribution ecosystem.
Her earlier career includes a senior vice president stint at Ten Sports Network, where she played a key role in relaunching the sports broadcaster as an independent bouquet comprising Ten Sports, Ten Cricket, Ten Action and Ten Golf following the Zee takeover. During this period, she moved from vp west to head strategy for cable and dth and later national head retail distribution, helping build the network’s retail distribution vertical across India and launching dedicated golf and football channels.
Before that, Sharma spent over six years at Bharti Airtel as general manager operations for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. She initially led marketing and corporate communications before moving into sales leadership, where voice sales grew by 86 per cent and revenues by 96 per cent. She later headed business operations, expanding annual business volumes to Rs 100 crore while significantly reducing operational costs.
Sharma began her long association with the media distribution ecosystem at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited as regional head sales and distribution for central India. During that period, she played a role in the early rollout of pay television channels including Zee Cinema, HBO, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, while also contributing to the launch of Siti Cable in key central Indian cities.
With her new role at ONEOTT Broadband, Sharma is expected to focus on strengthening business strategy, expanding partnerships and driving growth across the company’s broadband and digital distribution ecosystem.
