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Informist, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026

By Avishek Rakshit & Nandini Sinha 

KOLKATA – Even as Marico Ltd. bets on strong growth potential in almond oil, cold-pressed edible oil, shampoo, and muesli, the company is prioritising near-term profitability by targeting 20% growth in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation in the current financial year. 

The company's target of generating more than  INR 150 billion in revenue in the current financial year is expected to lay the foundation for its 20% EBITDA growth target. Higher profitability in its core businesses, lower cash burn from digital brands, improving profitability from the foods portfolio, and relatively lower raw material costs are expected to support the goal. 

The company's procurement costs for copra – the key raw material for hair oils – are expected to remain largely range-bound despite mild inflationary pressure in the near term. Any increase in input costs is unlikely to be significant enough to materially affect margins. At the same time, Marico is benefiting from higher sales of hair oils sold under the Parachute brand, which provide scale benefits. Higher sales translate into greater economies of scale supporting profitability. 

Parachute remains Marico's flagship brand, accounting for 35% of its India revenue. Other value-added hair oils under the Hair & Care brand contribute to 18% of domestic revenue. In the June quarter, Parachute sales volumes rose 10% on year, while revenue increased 23%. 

With improving sales, higher volumes and stronger profitability, Marico is also targeting an expansion in its EBITDA margin. "On a full-year basis, we will try for 20% (EBITDA) growth. And if you do the reverse math, and if you see that 15,000 crores (INR 15 billion) is something that we should definitely deliver, then reverse math would suggest that EBITDA margin could expand in the range of about 140 to 150 (basis points) as compared to last year," Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive officer, told sector analysts at a post-earnings call. 

After copra prices eased in the second half of 2025-26 (Apr-Mar), Marico reduced prices of its larger, or "loyalty", packs. This led consumers to shift to larger packs, boosting volume growth. In FY25, Marico had sharply increased prices of Parachute hair oils due to elevated copra costs, weighing on sales. 

Gupta said cold-pressed oils and muesli under the Saffola brand present significant long-term growth opportunities. "I think cold press is a category of the future. And therefore, we are investing in cold-pressed oil, and I believe by the next year, it will be a sizable portion of the Saffola business," he said.

The company is also bullish on its shampoo business under the Parachute brand and aims to generate INR 1 billion in revenue in the first year of its launch in India. The company also expects the Hair & Care hair oil brand to become a INR 1 billion brand by FY28.

"I think we want to obviously play as a mainstream shampoo player. I think we now have the learning. We have a shampoo portfolio in almost all the big international markets, and we have done relatively well. I wish I had launched this 10 years ago, but better late than never," Gupta said. 

Talking about the company's June quarter performance in global operations, where Marico reported 15% top line growth in constant currency terms, Gupta said the company's performance in Bangladesh was muted and it reported a 4% constant currency growth as its business there experienced a transient moderation in growth due to pricing anniversarisation and demand softness due to persistently high inflation in the economy. This got further accentuated with a sharp rise in oil and other energy prices, he said. 

As part of the company's long-term strategy to maintain profitable growth, it intends to reduce the share of commodity-linked businesses and progressively shift its portfolio towards more profitable categories. 

Tuesday, shares of Marico closed 0.7% lower at INR 875.00 on the National Stock Exchange. The company declared its June quarter results after market hours. End

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

Edited by Saji George Titus

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