FILE PHOTO: Men walk past a screen displaying market results outside the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in Mumbai, India, April 7, 2025. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo
MUMBAI: India’s Colorbar Cosmetics is planning to go public in early 2027, after doubling its revenue this financial year by upgrading its designs, launching new products and opening more stores, the makeup and skincare brand’s top boss told Reuters.
Brands catering to wealthier Indians have weathered a high cost-of-living-led slowdown in consumer spending, as the affluent continue to splurge on comforts and luxuries.
Colorbar expects to double revenue to over 10 billion rupees (US$117mil) in the financial year starting April 1, including by introducing new packaging and store upgrades, its founder and managing director Samir Modi said.
Modi said Colorbar, valued at 25 billion to 35 billion rupees, would go public in early 2027 and use the proceeds to strengthen its skincare and fragrance lines and pursue acquisitions, including overseas brands.
Stocks of beauty brands including Nykaa and Honasa Consumer have taken a beating since listing as brokerages have raised concerns about profit margins due to heightened competition.
Colorbar, which roughly broke even last year, faces competition too, not just from privately owned Indian brands including Sugar Cosmetics and MyGlamm but also from global majors such as Estee Lauder’s Bobbi Brown and MAC.
Founded two decades ago, the cosmetics brand sells a variety of beauty products, including makeup essentials like lipsticks and foundations as well as skin care items such as serums and moisturisers.
Colorbar, which has more than 100 outlets and sells through over 1,200 multi-brand stores including Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle, also plans to open 15 to 20 stores this financial year.
Additionally, Modi said that Colorbar, which brings in the bulk of its revenue from India, expects up to a quarter of its revenue from exports in the next five years by expanding in the United States and the Middle East. — Reuters
