Five sets of results, one pattern: revenue is growing fast and margin is paying for it. Here is Thursday.
1. HUL grew sales 15%, profit stayed flat
Hindustan Unilever’s September quarter: turnover of Rs 18,071 crore on 15% underlying sales growth, its fastest in fourteen quarters, with 7% volume growth. Net profit was Rs 2,796 crore against Rs 2,791 crore a year ago. EBITDA grew only 8% to Rs 4,089 crore, so margin fell 140 basis points to 22.6%. Purchases of stock-in-trade rose to Rs 3,654 crore from Rs 2,257 crore. Home Care revenue rose 21.4% and Home Care profit rose 2.6%. On these numbers the read is that detergents carried the top line on price and promotion, and bought-in goods took the difference. (Goodreturns, Business Standard)
2. Meesho cut its quarterly loss to Rs 132 crore
Revenue of Rs 4,131.6 crore, up 34%, against a net loss of Rs 132.5 crore, down from Rs 411.4 crore. Expenses grew 24%, slower than revenue, and contribution margin reached 6% of net merchandise value. The finance chief credited cheaper logistics and said the figure should not be assumed for next quarter, which is the most useful sentence in the filing. Marketing rose almost 50% over the previous quarter on festive television, and server costs rose on a GPU shortage. The loss reduction is therefore part structural, part a good quarter for freight. (MediaNama, Inc42)
3. Pidilite grew 21% and lost 350 basis points of margin
Consolidated revenue of Rs 4,298 crore, up 20.9%, with net profit of Rs 615 crore, up 6.2%. EBITDA grew 3.2% and margin fell to 20.4% from 23.9%. Volume growth was 10.7%, so roughly half the revenue growth came from price. Businessworld’s channel checks count a fourth Fevicol price move this year: Rs 10 a kg in May and June, Rs 26 in July, a Rs 10 discount in August, Rs 5 in October, against a reported 40% to 50% rise in input costs. The read is that Pidilite is protecting volume and paying for it in margin. (Businessworld)
4. Astrotalk earned Rs 222 crore on Rs 823 crore of advertising
FY26 revenue of Rs 1,823 crore, up 55%, with net profit of Rs 222 crore, more than ten times the year before. Expenses grew 38%, which is how the profit appeared. Advertising alone was Rs 823 crore, more than double FY25 and 52.2% of all costs. Consultations are still 91% of revenue at Rs 1,657 crore. The real shift is geographic: overseas revenue went from 20% of the total to 34%, at Rs 621 crore. A company spending half its cost base on ads to grow 55% is buying growth rather than compounding it, and the test comes in a year when marketing does not double. (Indian Retailer)
5. Sky Gold grew 61% and approved a Rs 1,800 crore raise
Second-quarter revenue of Rs 2,390.65 crore, up 61%, with net profit of Rs 129.35 crore, up 93.1%, and EBITDA margin up to 7.9% from 6.7%. The board cleared raising up to Rs 1,800 crore by qualified institutions placement or another permitted route, with a shareholder meeting on 18 November. The quarter already absorbs a Rs 7.35 crore exceptional loss from an alleged fraud at a subsidiary. A raise that size against a Rs 2,390 crore quarter likely says the binding constraint is working capital, since a jewellery manufacturer funds gold before it sells any of it, rather than demand. (Multibagg, NSE filing)
The full edition has the deeper read on each of these, plus LT Foods’ half year and three quick briefs: https://theinsightlabs.in/daily/2026-10-29
If you want one of these pulled apart in more detail, reply to this email. I read every one.
— Satyam · The Insight Labs