NEW DELHI, July 21 (IANS) — Eternal, the parent company of online food delivery giant Zomato, reported a sharp 90 percent year-on-year decline in consolidated net profit for the first quarter of FY26, posting ₹25 crore compared to ₹253 crore in the same period last year (Q1 FY25).
On a sequential basis, net profit also dropped by 35.89 percent from ₹39 crore in Q4 FY25, according to the company’s filing with the stock exchange.
Despite the steep profit decline, revenue from operations surged to ₹7,167 crore — a nearly 70 percent jump from ₹4,206 crore in Q1 FY25, driven by strong growth in its core food delivery and quick commerce segments.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at ₹172 crore, marking a 42 percent year-on-year decline. The company attributed this drop to continued investments in its quick commerce vertical (Blinkit) and “going-out” businesses, although gains in food delivery margins provided some offset.
“We saw an improvement in our food delivery Adjusted EBITDA margin, which rose to 5.0 percent of Net Order Value (NOV), up from 3.9 percent a year ago,” the company stated in its shareholders’ letter.
In Blinkit, losses narrowed as margins improved from -2.4 percent of NOV in Q4 FY25 to -1.8 percent in Q1 FY26, despite ongoing investments in store expansion and seasonal headwinds. The company added 243 net new Blinkit stores during the quarter, bringing the total to 1,544, and reaffirmed its goal to reach 2,000 stores by December 2025.
The NOV for Eternal’s B2C businesses rose 55 percent year-over-year (16 percent quarter-over-quarter) to ₹20,183 crore in Q1 FY26. Notably, quick commerce NOV surpassed food delivery NOV for the first time in a full quarter.
“On an annualized basis, we’re now approaching $10 billion in NOV across our B2C businesses, with quick commerce becoming our largest segment, contributing nearly half of that total,” the company noted.
Eternal CEO Deepinder Goyal acknowledged the impact of a demand slowdown that began in late 2024 but expressed optimism going forward.
“The year-on-year growth is likely bottoming out now. For FY26, we expect NOV growth to be above 15 percent — potentially trending toward 20 percent in FY27,” Goyal stated.
Looking ahead, Eternal will report only Net Order Value (NOV) and discontinue Gross Order Value (GOV) disclosures, citing NOV as a more accurate indicator of growth in its B2C operations, including food delivery.
Earlier this month, the company appointed Aditya Mangla as CEO of its food ordering and delivery business for a two-year term.
“I’m super excited to see how Aditya shapes the future of Zomato over the next two years, until it’s time to hand over the baton,” Goyal added in the letter to shareholders. (Source: IANS)
