Key Financial Performance (Q4 FY26)

Consolidated Results:

  • Revenue: ₹2,181 crores, representing high single-digit growth versus last year
  • EBITDA: ₹121 crores at 5.6% margin, declined 33.7% YoY
  • Profit Before Exceptional Items: ₹110 crores at 5.0% margin, declined 29% YoY

Standalone Results (India Business):

  • Revenue growth of 7.4% YoY in Q4 FY26
  • Recovery trajectory: Q1 (-3%), Q2 (-5%), Q3 (+4%), Q4 (+7.4%)
  • Full-year revenue: ₹8,034 crores, growth of 1.4% YoY
  • Full-year EBITDA: ₹481 crores at 6.0% margin, declined 12.6% YoY
  • Full-year PBT (before exceptional items): ₹426 crores at 5.3% margin, declined 12% YoY

Margin Analysis:

  • Gross margins declined to 29.9% for FY26 from 30.6% in FY25
  • Margin pressure primarily due to air conditioner mix impact (lower margins than core business)
  • Core T2 business (refrigerators and washers) margins improved YoY
  • PBT margin of 7.6% in Q4 FY25 would have been higher excluding regulatory impacts

Regulatory Cost Impacts:

  • Energy Regulation Costs: New BEE energy standards effective January 2026 required complete product portfolio upgrade
  • E-waste Provisions: Incremental e-waste provisioning as per new government notification September 2024
  • Management indicated these two items were the primary reasons for profitability decline
  • Without these impacts, profits would have been higher than previous year

Business Segment Performance:

Refrigerators:

  • Industry declined for full year, driven by direct cool segment
  • Company faced market share decline in DC and frost-free refrigerators in Q4
  • Primary factors: regulatory changeover (phase-in/phase-out) and competitive pricing
  • Achieved market leadership in direct cool refrigerators for December 2025-March 2026

Washing Machines:

  • Strong performance across categories
  • Achieved #2 position in top load and semi-automatic categories
  • Front load business grew 60% YoY with triple-digit market share growth
  • New 11kg BloomWash with Quick Sense technology launched

Air Conditioners:

  • Crossed 100,000 units in monthly sales for March 2026 (company record)
  • Q4 volume growth exceeded 50% YoY
  • Full-year growth of 40% despite soft summer season
  • Currently sourced from third-party manufacturers

Elica Business:

  • Q4 revenue growth: 30% YoY
  • Q4 PBT growth: 48% YoY
  • Full-year revenue growth: 12% YoY
  • Full-year profit growth: 15% YoY

Market Share Highlights

  • March 2026: Achieved #2 position in refrigerators and washing machines combined (multi-brand outlet volume share)
  • Direct cool refrigerators: Market leadership for 4 months (Dec 2025-Mar 2026)
  • Top load washers: #2 position in Q4
  • Semi-automatic washers: #2 position in Q4
  • Front load washers: Triple-digit basis points market share growth for 6-7 consecutive quarters

Strategic Initiatives & Product Launches

Product Innovation:

  • Introduced new refrigerator ranges complying with January 2026 energy regulations
  • Launched new three-door Protton NXT series with enhanced capacity and technology
  • Introduced 9kg front load washer with steam option
  • New direct cool auto-defrost premium refrigerators ("No Tension" series)
  • New 11kg BloomWash with Quick Sense technology (30-40 min cycles based on load size)

Portfolio Gaps:

  • Announced entry into large capacity frost free refrigerator segment in Q2 FY27
  • This addresses significant portfolio gap existing for over 2 years

Manufacturing Excellence:

  • World-class manufacturing practices implemented
  • Pune facility: Silver rating; Puducherry and Faridabad: Bronze rating
  • Productivity for Growth (P4G) program delivered 220 basis points gross margin improvement over 3 years

Working Capital Management

  • Refrigerator and washer business operating at negative working capital
  • March 2026 working capital increase due to planned AC business investments
  • AC business requires higher days of inventory and receivables compared to core business
  • Company maintains efficient inventory management with negative working capital in core business

Supply Chain Challenges

  • Middle East conflict impacting supply chain for components and products
  • Concerns about cost inflation and supply availability
  • 20-35% of industry components are imported, creating forex exposure
  • Daily monitoring and supplier engagement to ensure continuity

Capital Allocation & Future Plans

Cash Utilization Strategy:

  • Significant cash balance on balance sheet
  • Priority areas for investment:
  • Product innovation and portfolio gap filling
  • Factory automation for cost savings
  • Backward integration for supply chain stability
  • Adjacent category expansion
  • Potential inorganic opportunities (similar to Elica acquisition)

Capex Plans:

  • Capital work in progress of ₹200 crores for premium refrigerator capacity
  • Evaluating AC manufacturing investment decision based on volume economics
  • No current plans for buyback or special dividends - focus on growth investments

Management Outlook

Near-term Challenges:

  • FY27 expected to be challenging due to:
  • Ongoing energy regulation cost impacts
  • Middle East supply chain issues
  • Competitive pricing pressure
  • E-waste provisioning requirements

Long-term Vision:

  • Aspiration to become #1 player in refrigerators and washing machines
  • Target timeframe: More than 5 years but less than 10 years
  • Growth strategy focused on responsible market share gains with profitability
  • Continue premiumization across all categories

Margin Expectations:

  • Long-term aspiration: High single-digit margins for core business
  • Elica business to maintain double-digit margins with potential reinvestment for growth
  • No specific margin guidance for FY27 due to multiple uncertainties