Pet care brand Heads Up For Tails managed to grow at a decent pace in FY23. While the firm’s scale grew 45% and crossed the Rs 300 crore mark, its losses blew 4X in the fiscal year ending March 2023.
Heads Up For Tails’ revenue from operations grew to Rs 312.8 crore in FY23 from Rs 215.6 crore in FY22, according to its combined financial statements filed by the group company Sara Global Pte. Ltd. in Singapore and its master franchisee Earth Paws Private Limited based out of India.
For context, the Rashi Narang-led company achieved 85% year-on-year growth during FY22.
Heads Up For Tails offers 13,000 pet products with over 250 brands on its platform including its own labels. The company claims to have a presence in more than 18 cities with over 90 stores and 65 pet spas.
Expense Breakdown
https://thekredible.com/company/heads-up-for-tails/financials
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https://thekredible.com/company/heads-up-for-tails/financials
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- Procurements of goods
- Employee benefits
- Freight
- Advertising and business promotion
- Professional charges
- Website and software
- Others
The sale of pet products comprised 93% of overall revenue which increased 43% to Rs 293.51 crore in FY23. Advertising, warehousing, and logistics were some other revenue drivers for Heads Up For Tails.
It’s worth mentioning that the combined financial statements represent the group picture including its master franchise Earth Paws Private Limited and subsidiaries Barkyard Private Limited and Precious Pet Services Private Limited.
Coming to the expense side, the cost of procurement accounted for 57.5% of the overall expenditure which increased by 41.8% to Rs 224 crore in FY23.
Heads Up For Tails’ burn on employee benefits, freight, marketing (advertising cum business promotion), professional charges, software, and other overheads took its overall expenditure up by 65.6% to Rs 390.3 crore in FY23 from Rs 235.6 crore in FY22.
The 65.6% surge in the total cost led Heads Up For Tails to bleed heavily and its losses reached Rs 76.7 crore in FY23 compared to Rs 18.7 crore in FY22. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin worsened to -27% and -12.6% respectively. On a unit level, it spent Rs 1.25 to earn a rupee.
FY22-FY23
| FY22 | FY23 |
| EBITDA Margin | -4% | -12.6% |
| Expense/₹ of Op Revenue | ₹1.09 | ₹1.25 |
| ROCE | -8% | -27% |
The company has raised around $40 million including its $37 million Series A round led by Peak XV and Verlinvest in 2o21. It competes with Supertails, Zigly, PetSutra, Wiggles, and most recently perhaps, Drools.
The 2.5x jump in marketing costs is just one indicator of how competitive intensity in the pet care segment has grown.
For Heads Up For Tails, the extra competitive intensity has come a little too early, as another strong year of growth would have placed it much better to take on competition. Now, it faces the unenviable task of getting back to a growth path without burning a hole in the books. There is every chance of investors seeking some consolidation in the otherwise growing segment , and its losses leave Heads Up For Tails vulnerable to just such an approach. Watch this space to see the last tail wagging.
Update: The post and creatives have been updated on April 19 at 4 PM to include revenue and loss figures from HUFT’s master franchisee Earth Paws Private Limited.
