boAt IPO

Strengths · 8

• 01The company returned to profit in FY2025 with Rs 61.08 crore, against losses of Rs 79.68 crore in FY2024 and Rs 129.45 crore in FY2023, and followed it with a profit of Rs 21.35 crore in the three months ended 30 June 2025.
• 02EBITDA rose to Rs 142.52 crore in FY2025 from Rs 7.70 crore in FY2024, taking the EBITDA margin to 4.64% from 0.25%.
• 03Total borrowings were cut to Rs 564.88 crore as on 31 March 2025 from Rs 1,236.11 crore as on 31 March 2023.
• 04Cash flow from operations was Rs 441.58 crore in FY2025 and Rs 393.41 crore in FY2024.
• 05The audio business keeps growing while the rest shrank. Audio revenue rose to Rs 2,586.04 crore in FY2025 from Rs 2,350.83 crore in FY2023, with an audio segment result of Rs 171.46 crore at a 6.63% margin.
• 06The working capital requirement was brought down to Rs 300.01 crore as on 31 March 2025 from Rs 984.59 crore as on 31 March 2023.
• 07The offline network reached more than 12,000 retailers across 25 states and five union territories through 112 distributors as of 30 June 2025, and gave 29.45% of FY2025 product revenue.
• 08Manufacturing has moved to India, with 71.00% of units made locally in FY2025 against 39.65% in FY2023, including 39.22% through the Dixon Technologies joint venture Califonix.

Risks · 10

• 01Revenue from operations has fallen for two straight years, from Rs 3,376.79 crore in FY2023 to Rs 3,117.67 crore in FY2024 and Rs 3,073.28 crore in FY2025.
• 02The wearables business shrank from Rs 901.56 crore in FY2023 to Rs 550.30 crore in FY2024 and Rs 330.41 crore in FY2025, falls of 38.96% and 39.96%, and the company says industry-wide demand and average selling prices have declined.
• 03Audio gave 84.23% of FY2025 revenue from the sale of products, so one category decides the result.
• 04The top two online marketplaces gave 55.29% of FY2025 product revenue and 62.71% in FY2024, and those arrangements are non-exclusive, with commission and placement terms reviewed periodically.
• 05Cash flow from operations was a negative Rs 103.10 crore in the three months ended 30 June 2025 and a negative Rs 18.16 crore in FY2023, and the working capital requirement rose again to Rs 425.78 crore as at 30 June 2025 from Rs 300.01 crore in March 2025.
• 06The company owns no factory. The ten most used third-party suppliers were 51.35% of stock-in-trade purchases in the three months ended 30 June 2025, and the Califonix joint venture made 37.46% of total units in that quarter.
• 07Goodwill of Rs 203.45 crore as at 30 June 2025 is 46.16% of non-current assets of Rs 440.74 crore and 11.83% of total assets of Rs 1,720.53 crore, and it came from the FY2022 purchase of KaHa Pte. Ltd., whose business sits in the shrinking wearables segment.
• 08Tax exposure is open. Indirect tax contingent liabilities were Rs 240.84 crore as at 30 June 2025 against Rs 73.12 crore a year earlier, and there are 10 tax claims, 1 regulatory proceeding and 2 material civil matters against the company involving Rs 245.84 crore.
• 09The offer for sale is Rs 1,000.00 crore against a fresh issue of Rs 500.00 crore, and the two individual promoters are selling at a weighted average cost of acquisition of Rs 0.01 per share.
• 10None of the fresh money goes to capacity. Rs 225.00 crore is for working capital and Rs 150.00 crore for brand and marketing spending, with the rest for general corporate purposes.

Imagine Marketing Limited operates in consumer electronics mainly under the boAt brand, which it launched in 2015. The company was incorporated as Imagine Marketing Private Limited in Mumbai on 1 November 2013 and became a public limited company in January 2022. Its registered and corporate office is at Corporate Avenue, Andheri Ghatkopar Link Road, Mumbai. It sells lifestyle-oriented and technology-focused products at accessible price points to young, digitally native Indian customers, and also runs the premium sub-brand Nirvana.

The product range began in audio, covering personal audio and large audio, and has since widened into wearables, which include smartwatches and smart rings, and charging solutions, which include cables, chargers and power banks. Audio gave Rs 2,586.04 crore or 84.23% of revenue from the sale of products in FY2025, wearables Rs 330.41 crore or 10.76% and other categories Rs 153.93 crore or 5.01%. In the three months ended 30 June 2025 audio was 79.10% of product revenue and other categories had risen to 8.22%.

Sales run through three routes. Online marketplaces and the company's own direct-to-consumer website gave Rs 2,166.07 crore or 70.55% of FY2025 product revenue, and offline retailers and distributors gave Rs 904.32 crore or 29.45%. As of 30 June 2025 the offline network reached more than 12,000 retailers across 25 states and five union territories through 112 general trade and modern trade distributors. The two largest online marketplaces alone gave 55.29% of FY2025 product revenue and 52.90% in the three months ended 30 June 2025. The credit period given to those two marketplaces is 30 to 45 days and the return window for unsold or damaged stock is 60 days.

The company does not own its factories. It buys from contract manufacturers and component suppliers, and in FY2022 it set up a joint venture with Dixon Technologies (India) Limited called Califonix Tech and Manufacturing Private Limited, which supplies products to it exclusively. In FY2025, 24,923,840 units or 71.00% of total units were made in India, of which 13,766,234 units or 39.22% came through the joint venture. In the three months ended 30 June 2025 the joint venture made 37.46% of total units. The ten most used third-party suppliers accounted for 45.46% of stock-in-trade purchases in FY2025 and 51.35% in the three months ended 30 June 2025.

The promoters are Sameer Ashok Mehta, Aman Gupta and South Lake Investment Ltd, who together hold 88.86% of the pre-offer share capital on a fully diluted basis. Vivek Gambhir is Chairman and Non-Executive Director, Sameer Ashok Mehta is an Executive Director and Aman Gupta is a Non-Executive Director. Rakesh Thakur is Group Chief Financial Officer. The balance sheet carries goodwill of Rs 203.45 crore as at 30 June 2025, which arose from the FY2022 acquisition of KaHa Pte. Ltd. and its subsidiaries and is tied to the software and innovation capability behind the wearables business.

The industry

Imagine Marketing operates in the consumer devices market, which covers audio devices, wearables, charging solutions and emerging categories such as mobile and gaming accessories and personal care appliances, and excludes mobile phones, large appliances, laptops and cameras. That market was estimated at Rs 1,115 billion, or about US$13 billion, in FY2025 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10% to 13% to reach Rs 1,782 billion to Rs 2,038 billion by FY2030, as per the Redseer Report quoted in the document. The report ties this to India's consumption base: nominal GDP of Rs 332 trillion in FY2025 projected to reach Rs 523 trillion by FY2030, middle-income households rising from about 145 million in FY2020 to about 176 million in FY2025, high-income households rising from 29 million to 42 million over the same period, and over 32 million new nuclear households formed between FY2020 and FY2025, with another 49 million to 59 million projected by FY2030.

Customer concentration: The top two online marketplaces gave Rs 1,697.76 crore or 55.29% of FY2025 revenue from the sale of products, down from 62.71% in FY2024, and 52.90% in the three months ended 30 June 2025. On the supply side, the ten most used third-party suppliers and contract manufacturers were 45.46% of stock-in-trade purchases in FY2025 and 51.35% in the three months ended 30 June 2025.