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Bose-funded Noise revenue declines 24% to Rs 1,048 Cr in FY25

Entrackr · 3d ago

Medial

Following a flat scale in the fiscal year ended March 2024, gadget and wearables brand Noise saw its operating scale decline by 24% in FY25. However, the company’s bottom line turned positive during the period, supported by a deferred tax gain of Rs 47 crore. Noise’s revenue from operations declined 24% to Rs 1,048 crore in FY5 from Rs 1,384 crore in FY24, its annual financial statements accessed from the Registrar of Companies show. Founded in 2014 by Amit and Gaurav Khatri, Noise offers smartwatches, wireless earphones, and speakers via e-comm platforms as well as its own website. It also commands a significant share of the smartwatch market. Income from the sale of wearables was the sole source of operating revenue for the firm in the last fiscal year. The company earned Rs 17 crore from non operating sources, including interest on current investments, which pushed its total income to Rs 1,066 crore. For the gadget and wearables brand, the cost of material procurement was the largest cost centre, which accounted for 68% of overall expenditure. This cost stood at Rs 725 crore in FY25 and declined 23% year on year in line with the operating scale. The firm’s employee benefit expenses fell 12% to Rs 71 crore in FY25, including Rs 6.5 crore towards ESOP costs. Noise also cut marketing and advertising spend by 37% to Rs 180 crore. Warranty, freight, legal, and other overheads took the company’s total expenditure to Rs 1,067 crore in FY25, a 25% decline from Rs 1,417 crore in FY24. As operations scaled down in FY25, with both revenue and expenses declining by nearly 25%, and aided by a Rs 47 crore deferred tax gain, Noise reported a profit of Rs 3.2 crore. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin stood at 7.31% and 1.67%, respectively. However, the Bose-backed company remained EBITDA positive (Rs 18 crore). On a unit level, the Gurugram-based firm spent Rs 1.02 to earn every rupee in FY25. At the end of March 2025, Noise reported total current assets of Rs 467 crore, including Rs 81 crore in cash and bank balances. In April last year, global audio major Bose doubled down on its investment in Gurugram-based Noise and infused $20 million at a valuation of $470 million. This followed its initial $10 million investment in December 2023. Prior to this, Noise had remained a bootstrapped company. Noise’s competitor boAt reported operating revenue of Rs 3,073 crore in FY25 and returned to profitability with a net profit of Rs 60 crore during the period. The company is also gearing up for its public listing as it filed its updated DRHP to raise Rs 1,500 crore via initial public offering (IPO). The challenge of sustaining growth rates in the electronic wearables market is underlined by the sluggish period booth Noise and boAt have experienced in the past year. Brand building has failed to deliver the kind of premiums they hoped for, and competition from new offerings is always snapping at their heels. Outside of a few brands, the categories remain heavily commoditised as far as the mass markets go. Making it all the more worse is the varying degrees of dependence these brands have on ecommerce platforms, which, while they allow them to scale fast, are making it increasingly hard to gain market share. An IPO from the firms looks like a tough challenge in this situation, especially in terms of the valuations they are likely to get vis a vis expectations in say, 2022-23.