HUL-Owned Minimalist Turns Profitable as It Targets 40,000-Store Offline Push
Skincare brand Minimalist posted FY26 net profit of ₹25.9 crore on operating revenue of ₹690.2 crore, up 36.3% year on year. Following HUL’s April 2025 acquisition, the brand plans to expand its offline reach from 3,000 to 40,000 stores using HUL’s distribution, media, manufacturing and procurement capabilities.
What happened
HUL-owned skincare brand Minimalist returned to FY26 profitability, with revenue rising 36.3% to ₹690.2 crore. The brand is expanding offline from 3,000 to
Key facts
- FY26 net profit ₹25.9 Cr versus FY25 net loss ₹270.5 Cr
- FY25 exceptional charge ₹283.8 Cr; adjusted FY25 profit ₹11.9 Cr
- FY26 operating revenue ₹690.2 Cr, up 36.3% from ₹506.5 Cr
- FY26 total income ₹697.4 Cr, up 37%
- FY26 expenses ₹664.9 Cr, up 33.8% from ₹497.1 Cr
- Cost of materials ₹219 Cr, up 43.7% from ₹152.5 Cr
- Employee expenses ₹48.5 Cr, up 32.5% from ₹36.6 Cr
- HUL acquired 90.5% of Uprising Science for ₹2,706.44 Cr in April 2025
- Offline footprint planned to rise from 3,000 to 40,000 stores
Why this matters
HUL’s Minimalist acquisition illustrates how a strategic buyer can turn a digitally native beauty asset into an omni-channel platform by pairing brand equity with distribution, manufacturing, procurement and media scale.
What to watch
- Quarterly offline-store additions, active outlet productivity and reorder rates versus the 40,000-store target.
- Whether offline-led revenue growth outpaces total revenue growth without a material decline in operating margin.
- Growth in trade receivables, inventory days, returns or channel discounts, which would indicate rollout friction or inventory loading.
- Minimalist's placement in HUL distributor portfolios and evidence of preferential shelf space in chemists, supermarkets and beauty chains.
- Competitor launches, retailer-margin increases and promotional intensity in active-ingredient skincare.
- Repeat-purchase indicators, hero-SKU concentration and any shift toward lower-priced packs as the brand broadens beyond urban digital consumers.
- Prioritize chemists, beauty-specialty outlets and modern trade before broad general-trade rollout, using city-level demand data to sequence expansion.
- Build retailer-facing education around active ingredients, skin concerns and regimen usage to reduce substitution at the shelf.
- Use HUL's media scale to connect offline availability with search, creator content and repeat purchases on owned or marketplace channels.
- Introduce channel-specific packs, trial sizes and bundled routines to improve first purchase conversion without broadly discounting core SKUs.
- Tighten demand forecasting, expiry management and distributor incentives as the assortment enters thousands of lower-throughput outlets.
- Leverage HUL procurement and manufacturing to protect gross margin while selectively funding visibility and sampling.