Bajaj Consumer Care’s Q1 revenue jumps 28%
Bajaj Consumer Care — the maker of Almond Drops hair oil, a staple in Indian households — reported a consolidated June-quarter net sales of ₹341.4 crore, up 28.3% from the same quarter last year, with EBITDA more than doubling to ₹84.4 crore. The takeaway: the company sustained near-peak profitability even as liquid paraffin costs surged, because a sharp drop in copra prices and a favourable mix shift toward its flagship brand and smaller packs more than offset the pressure.
The margin machine — and why it held up
Gross margin of 61.8% was the second-highest in at least two years, trailing only the 63.7% recorded in the March 2026 quarter. The year-ago quarter posted 56.7%. The print sits well above the 52–57% band the company traded in through FY25 and the first half of FY26.
Two opposing forces shaped the number. Light Liquid Paraffin — the base oil in Almond Drops — saw its average purchase price shoot up over 40% from the March quarter, a crude-linked spike the company flagged alongside the Gulf crisis. But copra, a key input for coconut oil, corrected meaningfully: its average price fell over a fifth sequentially. Management noted that copra prices have now flattened out over the last four weeks, while LLP is already showing signs of cooling with further corrections expected in July .
The second, structural driver was mix. The core Almond Drops brand delivered underlying volume growth in the early teens, adjusted for grammage reductions, and the low-unit packs — sachets and price-point packs — grew well ahead of the brand average . These packs carry higher per-unit margins. The growth portfolio, which includes coconut oil and the Banjara’s brand, also posted strong sequential growth despite a deliberate price correction in the coconut portfolio that was meant to close the gap with the market leader.
Where the growth came from
The 28.3% revenue jump was not a one-time blip. It extends a streak that began in the second half of FY26: quarterly revenue has now risen from ₹265 crore in the September 2025 quarter to ₹341 crore in the June 2026 quarter. The Almond Drops brand clocked domestic growth in the thirties, with volume expansion in the early teens after adjusting for grammage changes . General Trade — the network of small shops that still drives the bulk of the business — posted high-twenties growth, with urban and rural now nearly at parity after a long period of rural underperformance.
International business turns a corner
The international business, which had been a drag for several quarters, delivered what management called a “fantastic” quarter off a low base, with a strong comeback after a reset in leadership and distribution partners . The Middle East, Africa, and GCC regions all improved, and the focus markets of Nepal and Bangladesh sustained double-digit revenue growth with improved profitability. The segment is now contributing double-digit EBITDA margins, and the company expressed confidence in scaling it profitably.
What management is watching
In the April earnings call, management had guided for an operating margin band of low-to-mid twenties, and the 24.7% EBITDA margin sits comfortably inside that range. The company expects the current demand momentum to hold for at least two more quarters before overlapping very high bases. The third phase of the Aarohan rural distribution programme is underway, with implementation in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Punjab during the first half of the fiscal year. On raw materials, the key variable is how quickly LLP prices correct — management indicated in April that it had inventory cover to buy time, and that if the spike proved short-lived, the impact on consumer pricing would remain limited.
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