DeHaat revenue falls 9.8% to Rs 2,715 crore as brand push bites

DeHaat's operating revenue fell 9.8% to Rs 2,715 crore in FY26 from Rs 3,010 crore in FY25, according to its consolidated financial statements reviewed by Entrackr. The decline marks a deliberate bet: the full-stack agritech platform is trading near-term growth for a business built on its own brands.

The strategy is common across Indian agritech. Companies that began as marketplaces for agricultural inputs and outputs now want in-house brands to improve margins, control pricing and cut dependence on third-party products. For DeHaat, that pivot has so far cost revenue and deepened losses.

What does the brand shift cost?

The numbers show the trade-off plainly. DeHaat's net loss widened 11.4% to Rs 224 crore in FY26 from Rs 201 crore in FY25, even as the company continued to invest in its in-house brands. Total expenditure fell 8.3% to Rs 2,972 crore from Rs 3,242 crore, but the revenue decline outpaced the savings.

Notably, the reported loss figure excludes Rs 578 crore of income from the change in fair value of preference shares — a paper gain Entrackr stripped out to present a clearer picture of operating performance. That exclusion matters; without it, the headline numbers would flatter the business.

Where does the money come from?

The revenue mix reveals how far DeHaat has already moved from a pure input-supply model. Sales of agricultural inputs — seeds, fertilisers and other farm products — contributed Rs 517 crore, or roughly 19% of operating revenue. The remaining 81% came from its agricultural output business, which spans staples, chillies and consumer-facing initiatives such as Farm Plus and HonestFarms.

Geography remains heavily concentrated. India contributed 83% of total revenue. The rest came from international markets including the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Thailand and Russia.

How efficient is the operation?

Cost discipline shows in the line items. Procurement of materials, the firm's largest expense at nearly 80% of total spending, declined 11.7% to Rs 2,390 crore as business scale moderated. Employee benefit expenses fell 9.1% to Rs 159 crore.

Unit economics remain unforgiving. DeHaat spent Rs 1.09 to earn every rupee of operating revenue in FY26. Return on capital employed stood at -53.9%. The EBITDA margin was recorded at 6%. The company held current assets of around Rs 1,000 crore at fiscal year-end — a buffer, but not a transformation.

Can own brands fix the margin problem?

The broader context is a sectorwide correction. Since the funding boom of 2021-22, Indian agritech startups have entered a more measured growth phase, prioritising sustainable business models over expansion at any cost. DeHaat's move beyond its original marketplace model fits that pattern.

The promised upside is real but unproven: in-house brands could improve margins, strengthen customer relationships and give the company greater control over its business. What the source data does not show is any of those gains materialising yet — FY26 delivered lower revenue, wider losses and deeply negative returns on capital.

The open question, as Entrackr frames it, is how quickly DeHaat can scale these brands and translate them into a stronger growth and profitability engine. Until then, the company is absorbing a 10% revenue contraction and an 11% deeper loss on the expectation that brand ownership eventually pays. In plain words: the pivot is underway, the payoff is not.