Eternal Q1 Profit Jumps 268% To ₹92 Cr As Revenue Surges 182%

Food delivery and quick commerce company Eternal on Wednesday reported a 268% year-on-year (YoY) jump in consolidated net profit to ₹92 crore for the first quarter of FY27, driven by robust growth across its businesses.

The profit attributable to the owners of the parent company stood at ₹92 crore, compared with ₹25 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. However, on a sequential basis, net profit declined 47% from ₹174 crore reported in the March quarter.

Revenue from operations surged 182% YoY to ₹20,211 crore from ₹7,167 crore a year ago. Compared with the previous quarter, revenue rose 17% from ₹17,292 crore, according to the company's regulatory filing.

The company's EBITDA increased more than five-fold to ₹594 crore, compared with ₹115 crore in the year-ago period, while EBITDA margin expanded to 2.9% from 1.6%. The EBITDA performance was ahead of analysts' estimates.

Commenting on the food delivery business, Founder Deepinder Goyal said the company's strategy is centred on simultaneously compounding growth and margins rather than treating them as competing objectives.

He said that when the platform becomes more useful to customers, it drives higher order frequency, greater delivery density and better operating efficiency, creating a self-reinforcing growth cycle.

Goyal also criticised emerging food delivery platforms such as Toing and Ownly, saying they are offering the same restaurant selection with similar or even longer delivery times while relying on lower commissions and delivery fees to fund lower menu prices.

According to him, the customer traction seen on these platforms is largely price-driven and does not create a fundamentally new use case. He said businesses built primarily on pricing without sustainable economics tend to face long-term challenges.

Quick Commerce Expansion

On the quick commerce business, Group CEO Albinder Singh Dhindsa said Eternal remains focused on three long-term growth pillars which are assortment expansion, geographical expansion and demand densification.

He said the company will also expand its premium offerings through the launch of 'gourmet' stores in select locations across the top eight cities. These stores will provide customers access to curated premium brands across multiple categories.

Dhindsa said Eternal's strategy differs from competitors because it is investing simultaneously in product assortment, geographic reach and supply chain infrastructure, while many rivals remain focused primarily on aggressive pricing.

He argued that pricing-led growth requires sustained cash burn and can create structural profitability challenges for quick commerce companies, unlike traditional e-commerce where discounting can gradually be reduced without materially affecting the business.

Customer Retention, Investments Remain Key

Chief Financial Officer Akshant Goyal said the company's most important competitive indicator is customer retention.

He said if customers continue to stay on the platform and increase their spending despite aggressive pricing by competitors, it demonstrates that the business model is working.

Goyal added that Eternal has invested around ₹3,000 crore in capital expenditure over the past four years to build its supply chain network and plans to continue investing as it expands. He described the network as the company's most critical competitive advantage.

Focus On New Businesses

Discussing the company's "Others" segment, Deepinder Goyal said Eternal is focusing on Bistro, describing it as the company's response to the problems that newer food delivery platforms claim to solve.

He said Bistro is redesigning kitchen operations from the ground up by developing customised equipment, workflows and automation specifically for high-volume, limited-menu formats.