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Informist, Thursday, May 7, 2026

 

By Prateem Rohanekar

 

MUMBAI – Blue Star Ltd. Thursday said that after a delayed start to the summer, the demand for room air conditioners has improved sharply since mid-April. It, however, warned that margin pressures from rising raw material costs, currency volatility, and geopolitical disruptions was likely to persist through 2026-27 (Apr-Mar). 

Speaking to analysts and investors in a call after the company's earnings for the March quarter were detailed, Managing Director B. Thyagarajan said the summer season had effectively commenced only on Apr. 13, after an unusually weak start to the year, but secondary and tertiary sales have since picked up strongly across markets. "The summer season has set in and it has taken off well from Apr 13," Thyagarajan said, adding that the next six weeks would be crucial in determining the extent of inventory liquidation and demand recovery. 

Blue Star posted consolidated revenue from operations of INR 40.72 billion for the March quarter, up 1.3% on year. The company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation margin improved to 8% from 7% a year earlier, aided by advertising spends during the quarter. The net profit rose to INR 2.27 billion from INR 1.94 billion.

The company said it had already implemented around 8% price hikes in room air conditioners against a required increase of roughly 13%, which includes the impact of revised energy labelling norms, higher raw material costs, and exchange-rate fluctuations. The management indicated that additional price increases were expected during May and June.

Thyagarajan said about 5 percentage points of further price increases in the room air conditioner segment still remain to be passed on to consumers. "It is very important for us to pass on the increase. It is not that we operate with huge margins," he said. "Five more percentage of increase will happen as the May, June billings are happening. That is the reality. It may vary from model to model."

 

On the capital expenditure planned for FY27, the management said that it would be anywhere in the region of around INR 2.5 billion-INR 3.5 billion. This includes all types of capex, routine, maintenance, investments in research and development, product development, as well as IT and digital investments. 

 

On Thursday, shares of the company closed at INR 1,748.60 per share on the National Stock Exchange, down 3.2%.  End

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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