Greater Than gin maker Nao Spirits’ losses double in FY25

NAO Spirits, the maker of Greater Than and Hapusa gins, saw its momentum reverse in FY25. After posting 2.45X revenue growth in FY24, its revenue dipped by over 25% in FY25, while its losses also doubled during the year.

Nao Spirits' gross revenue declined by 25.6% to Rs 60.46 crore in FY25 from Rs 81.26 crore in FY24, its consolidated annual financial statements sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) shows.

Founded in 2015 by Anand Virmani, Abhinav Rajput, Aparajita Ninan, and Vaibhav Singh, Nao Spirits is an India-based craft distillery known for its premium gin brands Greater Than and Hapusa. The sale of these gins remained the company’s sole source of revenue.

While most of Nao Spirits’ revenue comes from the Indian market, its export earnings stood at Rs 1.13 crore in FY25.

With revenue falling more than 25 percent in FY25, Nao Spirits also saw a proportional reduction in its largest cost centre, which is excise duty. The duty expense declined 22.6 percent to Rs 33 crore from Rs 42.9 crore in FY24, although it still accounted for 36 percent of total costs and more than half of the company’s revenue.

Nao Spirits’ cost of procurement fell 13 percent year-on-year to Rs 14.91 crore in FY25. The company also spent Rs 13.42 crore on advertising and business promotion, which declined 24 percent during the year. These two cost heads accounted for 16.2 percent and 14.6 percent of the company’s total expenses, respectively.

Employee benefit expenses rose 30 percent to Rs 10.73 crore. Legal, travel, rent, and other overheads brought the company’s total expenses to Rs 92 crore in FY25, remaining largely unchanged compared to FY24.

The drop in sales for the Goa-based company in FY25 doubled its losses to Rs 30.25 crore compared to Rs 14.6 crore in FY24. Its EBITDA margin weakened to -38.07%, with an EBITDA loss of Rs 23 crore.

The expense-to-revenue ratio stood at 1.52. As of March 2025, the company reported total current assets of Rs 23.7 crore, which included a cash and bank balance of Rs 1.13 crore.

In June 2025, Diageo India (United Spirits Ltd) acquired Nao Spirits for Rs 130 crore ($15 million). Prior to the acquisition, Nao Spirits had raised a total of Rs 54 crore ($6.5 million) across five funding rounds, according to TheKredible.

So far the deal has followed a standard template of rising losses and slowing topline, linked to balance sheet cleanups. Besides, the acquirer firm ends up disrupting processes while seeking better cohesion within its systems for the acquired during integration But the drop in topline here is worrying for Nao spirits, and beyond the parent firm, points to the volatile nature of the  market in India, which, while maintaining a secular growth rate, is seeing significant underlying changes. From consumer tastes, to state policies to rising competition from other local craft brands. Gin as a category remains under 2% of the overall market, with a concentration in urban markets. There is always the risk of getting lost in the priorities of a large seller like Diageo, which will always focus on its larger profit and volume drivers. Thus, beyond the obvious benefit of greater distribution reach, it remains to be seen if Nao spirits recovers its growth momentum as a stylish Gin for its consumers.