Top investors such as D-Mart founder Radhakishan Damani and SBI Mutual Fund have backed Lenskart just days before its public issue
Lenskart took an assertive stance in its pre-IPO roadshow, showcasing how it has outperformed established retail giants
This included details on its India store payback period, and financial performance
Eyewear brand Lenskart's initial public offering, one of the most-awaited this year amid a raft of new-age issues, has come under fire over the past few weeks on its pricing.
For context, Lenskart turned profitable in FY25 with a profit of ₹297 crore, but its proposed ₹70,000 crore ($7.7 Bn) IPO valuation gives it a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of around 237.
Yet, top investors like D-Mart founder Radhakishan Damani and SBI Mutual Fund backed the company days before the public issue with cheques of Rs 90 crore and Rs 100 crore, respectively.
What convinced them to invest in the eyewear brand ahead of its controversial public market debut?
Lenskart took an assertive stance in its pre-IPO roadshow, showcasing how it has outperformed established retail giants such as Titan, Trent, D-Mart and Vishal Mega Mart across key financial and operational metrics, according to sources.
This included details on its India store payback period, new store additions, financial performance, and estimated India store-level EBITDA. The company also shared a detailed breakdown of its performance, comparing EBITDA margins, gross profits, and FY23–FY25 figures using publicly available data, highlighting its business model and profitability trajectory.
Here are some of the metrics it highlighted to investors its pre-IPO roadshows:
It posted an EBITDA CAGR of 90.7% for FY23–25 — the fastest among its peers. The company's EBITDA margin of 16.9% and store-level EBITDA of ~35% also significantly exceed traditional retail benchmarks, with profitability nearly twice that of Trent and D-Mart, and 1.75 times that of Titan, the company said in its presentation
On a per-square-foot basis, Lenskart stores generate a gross profit of ₹20,198, which is twice that of Titan and four times that of Trent and D-Mart, showing the efficiency of its vertically integrated supply chain and tech-driven retail, the company claimed
Lenskart's store payback period of just 10.4 months is the shortest in the industry — roughly one-third that of Titan, Trent, and D-Mart, where payback typically stretches between 24 and 36 months. This faster capital recovery allows the company to scale its footprint without compromising unit economics, the company said
Its same-store sales growth (SSSG) of 15.7% for FY25 is also the highest among major retail players, supported by a growing base of repeat customers and expanding premium offerings, the company said
Between FY23 and FY25, Lenskart is projected to add over 1,200 new stores, outpacing peers such as Titan (1,134) and Trent (493), the company added
Moreover, the company told investors that the performance reflects its "phygital" approach — blending online scale with in-store experience — and continued investments in technology, AI-led personalisation, and manufacturing.
At the time of publication, Lenskart did not respond to Outlook Business’ query on the matter. Meanwhile, the initial public offering received 2.01 times subscription on the second day of share sale on Monday (November 3).
The ₹7,278-crore IPO received bids for 20,09,53,512 shares, as against 9,97,61,257 shares on offer, as per NSE data. The Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) part fetched 3.33 times subscription, while the non-institutional investor category got subscribed 1.88 times. The portion for Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) received 1.64 times subscription.
The company's IPO will conclude on Tuesday. Whether Lenskart can justify this premium valuation remains to be seen. For now, however, investor enthusiasm is evident in the strong oversubscription figures.
Brokerage firm SBI Securities acknowledges that while Lenskart’s valuation looks stretched and listing gains may be limited, it argues that the company’s strong business model and growth potential in India’s underpenetrated eyewear market make it a solid long-term story.
“Essentially, the issue is discounting about two years of forward performance. Unless the company exceeds expectations, say, delivering ₹1,500–2,000 crore profit by FY28, the upside from current levels could be limited. In short, it’s a long-term story where sustained execution will justify the valuation,” Sunny Aggarwal, Head of Fundamental Equity Research Team, SBI Securities Ltd told Outlook Business earlier.
After reporting losses for two years, Lenskart turned profitable in FY25. The company posted net profit of ₹297.3 crore in FY25 after sustaining losses of ₹64 crore in FY23 and ₹10 crore in FY24.
However, most of this profit did not come from its main eyewear business. It was largely on account of “other income”, which grew by about 96% ( from ₹182 crore in FY24 to ₹357 crore in FY25). Other income refers to the money a company earns from sources outside its regular business operations. For instance, of the other income in FY25, ₹72.6 crore came from the company’s mutual fund investments.
