Reliance-Backed Netmeds Posts Flat Revenue of Rs 44.7 Crore in FY26, Stays Profitable Despite Slowing Growth
Reliance Industries-backed online pharmacy platform Netmeds reported operating revenue of Rs 44.69 crore in FY26, up just 2% from Rs 43.72 crore a year earlier, a sharp slowdown that stands in stark contrast to its much larger rivals in India's online healthcare market.
Here's the profitability picture. Despite the stalled topline, Netmeds remained in the black, posting a profit of Rs 5.53 crore for the fiscal year ending March 2026, though that was itself a 4-5% decline from Rs 5.77 crore the year before. Revenue from the sale of products grew a healthy 27% to Rs 5.53 crore, but this was offset by a marginal dip in revenue from services, which still makes up the bulk of the company's income at Rs 38.08 crore. Notably, revenue from customer subscription charges collapsed to just Rs 16.17 lakh in FY26 from Rs 89.4 lakh in FY25.
The spending side tells an interesting story too. Advertising and promotional expenditure surged 76% to Rs 2.9 crore, far outpacing the company's 2.3% operating revenue growth, pushing ad spend as a share of revenue up to roughly 6.5% from about 3.8% a year earlier. Employee benefit expenses, Netmeds' largest cost centre, rose a more modest 4% to Rs 13.7 crore.
The real story, though, is scale. Netmeds remains dramatically smaller than its competitors in India's online pharmacy space, Tata 1mg reported Rs 2,936 crore in revenue with a consolidated loss of Rs 287 crore in FY26, while PharmEasy's parent API Holdings posted a massive Rs 6,869 crore in revenue for the same year. Against that backdrop, Netmeds' sub-Rs 50 crore topline looks less like steady, profitable niche positioning and more like a company that has struggled to scale while its much larger rivals, even loss-making ones, pull further ahead.
The reality check here is straightforward: staying profitable is a genuine achievement in India's famously cash-burning online pharmacy sector, but a business spending 76% more on advertising just to generate 2% more revenue is a trajectory worth watching closely, not celebrating outright.
From steady profitability to a widening scale gap, Netmeds' FY26 numbers are a reminder that in online pharmacy, profitable and competitive aren't always the same thing.
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— Sandeep Raiza