Margins To Normalise Soon, FY26 Outlook Remains Positive, Says Havells India CMD
Havells India's overall performance in the October-December quarter remained 'satisfactory', according to CMD Anil Rai Gupta.
Havells India Ltd. expects its margins to normalise "very soon", with the challenges faced in the October-December period unlikely to recur in the upcoming quarters, according to the company’s Chairman and Managing Director Anil Rai Gupta.
Havells India reported a contraction in its Ebitda margins to 8.8% from 9.8% in the quarter that ended Dec. 31, 2024, as compared to the same quarter last year. This was triggered by a dip in margin contribution from switchgears and electrical consumer durables.
Speaking to NDTV Profit, Gupta said that the overall performance in the December 2024 quarter has been “satisfactory”.
“There were certain one-offs which led to a certain depletion in the margin. But I think, both switchgear and ECD, where the margins were a bit lower, should be coming back to normalised levels soon,” he said.
While the margin for the switchgear segment declined to 36% in the third quarter from 39.7% in the same quarter of the previous fiscal, the margin for electronic control device segment contracted to 22.1% from 24% in the corresponding quarter last year.
The top executive explained that switchgear margins declined “due to factory relocation and some orders” related issues.
ECD margins were impacted by product mix, particularly in small domestic appliances, the company said in its investor presentation for the third quarter.
Gupta predicted the ECD margins to normalise soon, given that the March and June quarters are “appliance-heavy” periods with more sales of fans.
Talking about the outlook for the next financial year, the Havells CMD said that fiscal 2026 is expected to be positive for the company, both in terms of sales and margins.
“There is some sort of positive sentiment we are seeing," he said, adding that demand in the industrial infrastructure segment continues to be positive.
Shares of Havells India on Friday closed 1.3% higher at Rs 1,578 apiece on the BSE, compared to a 0.55% decline in the benchmark Sensex.
