Bajaj Consumer Q1: consolidated PAT ₹70.7 Cr, up ~85% YoY as margins expand to ~24%

Bajaj Consumer Care delivered a strong Q1 FY27 on a consolidated basis: revenue from operations of ₹341.6 Cr, up ~24.9% YoY off the restated ₹273.4 Cr year-ago base, and profit after tax of ₹70.7 Cr, up ~85% YoY from ₹38.3 Cr and ~11% sequentially, with EPS of ₹5.42. Standalone tracks it almost exactly (revenue ₹335.1 Cr, PAT ₹70.2 Cr), so consolidated and standalone tell the same story — no material divergence for readers to reconcile.

The profit surge ran well ahead of revenue because of a sharp gross-margin normalization: consolidated cost of materials consumed fell to ₹48.0 Cr from ₹93.2 Cr a year earlier, even as purchase of stock-in-trade rose to ₹74.7 Cr (from ₹18.9 Cr) — a mix shift following the VPCL merger. Net profit margin widened to ~20.7% from ~14.0% YoY, and EBITDA margin worked out to ~24.4%, squarely inside the "low-to-mid 20s" band management committed to on the Q4 concall — guidance met. There is no discrete exceptional item; the YoY jump is genuine margin expansion but is flattered by a depressed Q1FY26 base, so the print is best read as a strong-but-low-base quarter rather than a structural doubling of profitability.

The stock went into the print at ₹671.6, up 18.6% over the past month of trading.

For context: this is the highest quarterly PAT in the last 6 quarters on our records; PAT has now risen for 5 consecutive quarters; revenue is at a 6-quarter high.

Margin lift driven by lower cost of materials consumed (₹48.0 Cr vs ₹93.2 Cr YoY) alongside higher traded-goods purchases (₹74.7 Cr vs ₹18.9 Cr) — a post-merger mix shift.

This is the first quarter consolidating Vishal Personal Care Ltd (NCLT-approved Scheme of Arrangement, effective 1 May 2026; comparatives restated to the 15-Mar-2025 appointed date), which lifts both the standalone and consolidated bases. No published Q1FY27 street consensus could be located — the result was released today — though the stock rose ~2% to ₹679 (mcap ~₹8,906 Cr) ahead of the numbers. The +4.6% QoQ revenue is partly seasonal, as Q1 summer demand favours light hair oils, so YoY is the cleaner read. Concurrent board actions this quarter (FY26 BRSR filing, 20th AGM set for 5 Aug 2026, appointment of a new Company Secretary from 24 Jul) are administrative and unrelated to the numbers. Management offered no formal revenue guidance beyond the margin band and its non-ADHO ₹500 Cr three-year aspiration; this quarter confirms the margin discipline it projected.