Brands
Naukri.com leads the charge as Info Edge clocks 12 per cent Pat jump in Q3
Recruitment business drives growth as company posts higher profits and declares dividend
MUMBAI: If job markets could speak, they might say business at Info Edge is still hiring growth, just not fast enough to keep the market smiling.
The parent of Naukri.com reported a 12 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit for the December quarter, with profit after tax (Pat) attributable to equity holders coming in at Rs 272 crore, up from Rs 243 crore a year earlier. Revenue from operations rose 13 per cent to Rs 819 crore, compared with Rs 722 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
Yet, the quarter wasn’t all upward arrows. Sequentially, Pat fell 14 per cent from Rs 316 crore in Q2, while revenue inched up just 1.7 per cent from Rs 805 crore. Investors responded with caution: Info Edge shares slipped about 4 per cent on Friday to a day’s low of Rs 1,104.20 on the NSE.
The company also announced an interim dividend of Rs 2.40 per share for FY26, with February 20, 2026 set as the record date. The payout is scheduled on or after March 9.
Naukri, Info Edge’s flagship recruitment business, continued to carry the load. The segment reported billings of Rs 548 crore and an operating profit of Rs 341 crore, translating into a robust operating margin of 59.3 per cent for the quarter. Cash flow from operations stood at Rs 373 crore, underscoring the division’s role as the company’s primary earnings engine.
The real estate arm, operating under the 99acres brand, posted billings of Rs 117 crore in Q3FY26, marking a 14.5 per cent year-on-year increase. Operating profit for the segment came in at Rs 20 crore, with cash flow from operations at Rs 10 crore.
Jeevansathi.com, the company’s matrimony platform, recorded 29 per cent revenue growth in the quarter, with revenue reaching Rs 36 crore. The segment reported an operating profit of Rs 2 crore and cash flow from operations of Rs 5 crore, signalling steady traction in a competitive market.
The Shiksha business continued to broaden its digital catalogue, hosting more than 5.5 lakh course listings and serving 1,600 unique clients during the quarter.
Overall, the quarter reflected a familiar Info Edge story: a recruitment powerhouse driving profits, smaller verticals chelling in with growth, and the market keeping a close eye on the pace of expansion. For now, the company seems to have no shortage of job offers, but investors may still be waiting for the next big promotion.
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.
