Bajaj Consumer Care Ltd (NSE: BAJAJCORP) Q4 2025 Earnings Call dated May. 05, 2025
Corporate Participants:
Jaideep Nandi — Managing Director
Analysts:
Dhiraj Mistry — Analyst
Abhijit Kundu — Analyst
Kaushik Poddar — Analyst
Ajay Thakur — Analyst
Dhruv Mudaraddi — Analyst
Presentation:
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Bajaj Consumer Care Q4 and FY ’25 Earning Conference Call. As a reminder all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded.
I now hand the conference over to Mr. Dhiraj Mistry. Thank you and over to you, sir.
Dhiraj Mistry — Analyst
Thank you and good evening, everyone. I would like to thank the management of Bajaj Consumer to give us an opportunity to host this call. From the management, we have with us: Mr. Jaideep Nandi, Managing Director; Dilip Maloo, CFO; and Mr. Richard D’Souza, AVP Finance.
Over to you sir. Thank you.
Jaideep Nandi — Managing Director
Good evening, everyone, and thank you for participating in this Q4 FY ’25 earnings call. So straight away let me take you through our company’s performance for the fourth quarter and 12 months ended March 31, 2025 before we open the floor for questions. The consolidated sales for the company stood at INR247 crores for the fourth quarter and INR950 crores for the 12 months ended FY ’25. Topline of the company grew by 5.4% in Q4 on a year-on-year basis and 7.1% on a sequential basis while registering a low single-digit decline for 12 months ended FY ’25. The gross margin for Q4 on a standalone basis stood at 54.2%, higher by 290 basis points quarter-on-quarter while for 12 months FY ’25, gross margin stood at 53.4%, lower by 80 basis point against last year. Improved saliency of ADHO along with price increases helped improve GM percentage on a sequential basis while on a FY basis, inflation in copra prices coupled with product mix had an adverse effect on the gross margin.
EBITDA on a standalone basis for the quarter stood at INR33.8 crores while for the 12 months EBITDA stood at INR136.3 crores with a margin of 14.1% and 14.7%, respectively. Standalone profit after tax stood at INR31.5 crores for Q4 FY ’25 and INR130.1 crores for 12 months FY ’25. The company registered PAT margins of 13.1% and 14% for Q4 and 12 months FY ’25, respectively. During the quarter, general trade registered a growth of 7% on a sequential basis while on the year-on-year basis it still remained negative. The sequential growth was driven by both growth in the wholesale channel as well as rural. The wholesale channel, which had been an area of concern in the past few quarters, showed signs of recovery with 15% quarter-on-quarter growth in Q4. Sales in retail channel in States where Project Aarohan was implemented has shown improvement supported by expansion of direct reach.
Our retail loyalty program registered a growth of 17% for Q4 ’25 and 31% for 12 months FY ’25. The program outlet contributions stood at 12.5% for the quarter. This will continue to remain a key focus for the company. The RTM revamp Project Aarohan implemented across UP and MP in previous quarters has started showing results. In the states, close to 24,000 new outlets were added and 1,300 new towns were brought under coverage. During the current quarter Phase 2 of Project Aarohan has now been expanded in states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, and Chhattisgarh where reach and representation improvement opportunities have been identified and implementation is expected to be completed by May of 2025. The organized trade continued to do well registering growth of 30% year-on-year in this quarter and 18% in the full year. Saliency of this channel stood at 30%.
Modern trade grew by 22% year-on-year in Q4 driven by strong performances across chains supported by customer activations during the events in January. We recorded highest ever quarter for Dmart registering a 30% growth year-on-year basis. Key packs in both ADHO and Coconut oil posted over a 50% growth in quarter four compared to the previous year. A robust growth of 43% in Q4 year-on-year was registered in Vishal Mega Mart More Retail, which delivered 3x business growth. Reliance Retail saw a slowdown in Q4 on account of store consolidation and registered a decline in the full year. The e-commerce channel grew by 33% year-on-year in Q4 ’25 and 29% for the full year. We saw highest ever market share of 25% for coconut oil in Flipkart under the total hair oil category. City Mall, Swiggy, Zepto, Blinkit, Myntra platforms saw highest ever secondary sales in quarter four. Quick commerce grew by 60% over last year and 21% over Q3.
Saliency of quick commerce was at 12% in Q4 as against 10% in the last quarter. Canteens and institutions also delivered strong performances growing 42% year-on-year in Q4. CPC and CSD canteens while they saw a decline primarily due to high inventory levels, institutional business grew by 5x in quarter four supported by the addition of new customers and successful launch of cross-category promotions. The international business recorded a robust growth of 30% year-on-year in quarter four and 20% for FY ’25. GCC and Africa grew by 25% year-on-year in Q4 and 7% in the full year. Markets like Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Afghanistan, and Mauritius delivered a strong 43% growth in FY ’25 while Saudi Arabia registered a decline. E-commerce sales commenced in Q4 FY ’25 in UAE with major contributions from the hair oil portfolio. Nepal registered a growth of 20% year-on-year and 18% in FY ’25 driven by strong performance in NPD.
Salience of NPD portfolio stood at 25% of overall revenue led by products like virgin coconut oil, coconut oil, and AD Serum. The marketing efforts included digital activations of ADHO and virgin coconut oil along with festive engagement posts on social media to build consumer connect. Bangladesh continues its growth momentum growing by 32% year-on-year in quarter four and 44% in the full year. Continuous focus on improving feet on street, productivity, consumer promotions delivered growth. The rest of the world markets posted excellent performance with 107% growth year-on-year in Q4 and 49% growth in the full year. This strong trajectory was led by key markets Canada, Malaysia, USA, Tibet, and New Zealand. The first shipment to Amazon USA is also currently in transit further strengthening the international footprint.
Coming to the brand performances. ADHO delivered a growth of 3% in quarter four year-on-year basis and 11% sequentially. The growth was seen across majority packs. The INR10 SKU grew by 16% year-on-year supported by the improved size perception and value proposition. INR1 sachet, however, saw a decline by 10% in quarter four on year-on-year basis on account of consumers upgrading to INR10 and INR20 SKUs. In midpacks, the 45 ml SKUs drove new trials and reversed previous declines with retail and wholesale both seeing good growth. 95 ml SKU grew by 8% year-on-year following the launch of a 20% extra free volume offer. In large packs, the 190 ml SKU grew by 10.5% year-on-year driven by consumer upgrades to PET bottles and the rollout of flip top caps while the 700 ml SKU grew by 32% year-on-year on the back of kitted offers. Combined sales of 650 ml and 750 ml rose by 40% plus supported by exclusive kits and enhanced visibility in organized trade.
Exclusive TV campaigns on ADHO through thematic advertising and 95 ml promo campaign led to 2,800 plus GRPs with increased focus on prime time and top-rated shows. On-ground activations at one of the largest consumer engagement platforms, the Kumbh Mela, lasted for 45 days improving visibility. The digital campaign targeting urban audiences was amplified across YouTube and top OTT platforms reaching 2.2 crore customers and generating 7.4 crores impressions. Under influencer marketing, a strategic mix of macro and micro influencers successfully engaged younger audiences delivering 10 lakh views with a 3.7% engagement rate which is double that of the industry so far. The Almond Drops Hair and Skin Care range continued to deliver strong performance registering at 73% year-on-year growth in Q4 and 46% growth in FY ’25. Within this, the AD shampoo and the conditioner segment delivered significant business from the e-commerce channel.
AD lotion saw a significant uplift online supported by optimized display images, new pack launches, and influencer campaigns. AD soap grew by 114% in OT channel driven by the introduction of the new 125 times 8 pack and price revisions. In the AD serum segment, all channels performed well with the brand growing at 44% year-to-date aided by positive consumer ratings and reviews, which helped drive continued traction. Bajaj 100% Pure Coconut Oil registered significant growth in Q4 FY;25 and for the full year, maintaining consistent monthly revenues of INR10 crores and above throughout FY ’25 with steady market share gains across quarters. In response to copra price increase — two price increases implemented in Q4 FY ’25 though they remained at a lag and hence it was followed by a preteen price increase in April 2025 again. We will further take price increases based on the movement of copra prices.
In Maharashtra, the largest market for coconut oil, market share increased from 1.6% to 2.2% in Q4 ’25 driven by targeted promotions on consumer focused SKUs and enhanced distribution efforts. Market share gains were also seen in Bajaj stronghold markets: Punjab, Rajasthan nearly 10%; Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh nearly 7%. In Q4 Bajaj 100% Pure Coconut Oil’s marketing initiatives included display and banner ads for Amazon and Flipkart to grow visibility. The exclusive 525 ml pack launched in Apollo led to a 25% increase in offtake during Q3 and Q4. The introduction of the tin pack in Q3 for the eastern markets and its subsequent expansion in Q4 across Northeast contributed to 40% of Green CNO sales. In addition to this, the INR20 CNO blue pack was extended to Northeast and Assam. On input cost, LLP prices continued to decline in Q4 driven by weak demand and falling crude oil prices.
Refined mustard oil, however, saw a slight decline due to a favorable mustard harvest in India although global edible oil prices continued to rise. On an overall basis, mustard has gone up over the year. Copra prices increased over the last two quarters primarily due to higher demand for downstream products and supply shortages in markets like Sri Lanka with prices expected to remain bullish in the short term. Multiple initiatives have been implemented including optimization of specifications, development of alternate vendors, sourcing alternate raw materials. These efforts have resulted in nearly INR6 crores savings in FY ’25. Additionally, productivity improvements have been driven through automation on select product lines, smart manufacturing initiatives to reduce non-value-added activities and enhance manpower productivity with improvement of 6% in Guwahati and 17% in Paonta Sahib.
Our CSR initiatives have positively impacted over 16,000 families across 650 villages focusing on rainwater harvesting and sustainable agriculture practices. As part of our ESG commitments, we are on track to meet the short to medium term targets in all the key resources both from the demand and supply side. The rainwater harvesting initiatives done over the past few quarters will result in replenishment of groundwater to the extent of 500% of our water consumption. During the quarter, the company completed the acquisition of 49% of equity share capital of Vishal Personal Care Private Limited, the company holding the Banjara’s brand. Balance 51% is expected to be completed in Q1 FY ’26. With this, Vishal Personal Care will become a wholly owned subsidy of BCCL.
For post-merger integration, a leading consultant is already engaged to design and integrate the operations. This has already commenced in April 2025. The acquisition aligns well with the overall vision of our company, enhancing our portfolio and market presence. So as the market scenario turns favorable with food inflation easing out and hair oil showing a good comeback in the previous quarter, we are confident that the progress in strengthening capabilities that we have done over the past few years will start yielding strong results for the company in the coming quarters. The strategic initiatives of portfolio diversification resulting in the introduction of coconut oil and others, sustained aggression in Modern trade and e-commerce businesses, building a strong foundation in the international markets; which have been the key focus areas of the company have already started bearing fruit.
With the ongoing expansion and optimization of our distribution network in GT through Project Aarohan, we are all set to enhance both market reach and consumer engagement in key markets across the country. The strategic acquisition of Banjara’s to our portfolio will also help us establish our foothold in the much needed markets of South India. These initiatives coupled with stable commodity prices and a calibrated approach to pricing, rationalization of cost structures places us well to deliver strong topline growth as well as improved EBITDA margin in FY ’26.
With that, I close my opening remarks and open the floor for questions. Thank you.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] The first question is from the line of Abhijit Kundu from Antique Stock Broking. Please go ahead.
Abhijit Kundu
Thanks for the opportunity. Good evening. My first question was on ADHO. ADHO has now — I mean when I look at your revenues, also they have shown some amount of improvement during Q4 as well as ADHO has shown some amount of improvement on a sequential basis.
Jaideep Nandi
Yes, that’s correct. Abhijit. I didn’t get the question. Is Abhijit’s line on?
Operator
Should we move on to the next question?
Jaideep Nandi
Yeah. Maybe we can get Abhijit after that.
Operator
The next question is from the line of Kaushik Poddar from KB Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Kaushik Poddar
I think you have been guiding us for around 10% growth for the future years so which has not happened this year. Can we expect that kind of growth to come back because the market itself is looking up?
Jaideep Nandi
See, now that the market is looking up, I think most of the drivers that you see have been put in place. All of them have been firing except the core issue of general trade and basically Almond Drops Hair Oil. And I think both of them have been function of both in terms of market aggression that you have seen in competitive this thing both in terms of the traditional competitors as well as the digital competitors that have been there. So that has been a little bit of a pushback and overall performance in GT because we are heavily GT focused. In other businesses in modern trade, e-commerce, etc., I think we are pretty well placed. So if you look at just the trends of the last quarter and I think going forward, we are very very clear that we will be having very very strong growth in the coming quarters for sure both in terms of our bottom line as well as in the topline. Most of the — see, main correction that was required was basically in general trade; getting our structure right, improving our retail. We have been always a very wholesale dominated company. We tried to correct the wholesale.
I don’t think it worked very well for us four quarters back. Most of those corrections have happened. As well as having this project Aarohan that we are doing with one of the leading consultants. I mean you just saw the kind of numbers we are looking at in terms of retail expansion. We are looking at more than 100,000 retailers to be added and quite a few towns that we talked about, a few thousand towns being added. So that itself we feel that in general trade that should be giving us good returns. We have also rationalized our advertising because of last year the year itself was not so strong. We have to rationalize a bit of our marketing spend. So we are now clearly going back increasing our marketing spend in ADHO itself and that itself should give further thrust and boost to Almond Drops. With general trade and ADHO corrected and with all the other businesses; modern trade, e-commerce, whether they use the coconut itself or the international business; all of them firing, I think we are looking at good numbers both for profitability as well as sales in the coming quarters.
Kaushik Poddar
On the ADHO, it’s a value-added hair oil. So are we growing at the rate the whole market is growing? I mean how is it compared to the market growth of value-added hair oil?
Jaideep Nandi
So if you look at the value-added hair oils, the market is pretty mixed. The growths that have happened if you look at in the last few quarters, leave this quarter alone because this quarter has been very very skewed because of the copra — sharp price increases that happened in copra and you have seen the results of one of the largest competitors where there is this large differential between the value and the volume growths that are there that is basically driven by very very skewed copra price increase. Other than that if you have to look back and look at the last 8 to 12 quarters, yes, Almond Drops has lagged behind overall hair oils. But if you look at within the value-added hair oils itself, you look at the Top 3 players, most of them have not done very well. So whether be the low end sarso that has gone up very highly, but not the main brand or whether be it some of the value-added hair oils of the largest competitor. So these brands have not done very well in the last seven, eight quarters. But now that the market is looking up or now the market is showing signs of recovery, we feel these will come back very strongly.
Kaushik Poddar
Is it a problem the growth in the value-added hair oil market people are shifting to something else or something or why this anemic growth for this value-added hair oil?
Jaideep Nandi
It’s a mix of everything. I think the hair oil market itself has remained muted in the last three, four years as you would have seen. And given the last two years where the food inflation has been so bad and I think you have seen that commentary from all companies coming up — all the consumer companies coming up, there has been an issue of demand itself. Now that the food inflation is slowly becoming better while we don’t have absolute visibility that it will be extremely robust or something. But definitely the market looks to have come out of the woods and moment that happens, the core products will anyway remain strong like let’s say the coconuts and all of the world which are the core products. But the value-added are the ones which suffer the maximum when this kind of a downturn happens. And on the reverse side when the upturn starts happening, the value-added should show a very very strong results. We are seeing signs of recovery as far as Almond Drops is concerned, but I think that commentary should be there across other companies as well and if that happens, we would be one of the major beneficiaries.
Kaushik Poddar
And my last question, how has the month of April been?
Jaideep Nandi
So month of April has been good. It is going on a similar direction as that. I would obviously not be able to give you complete guidance on the month itself. But I would say that it has been more or less similar to what is happening in the quarter in discussion that we are seeing. So it’s been good and I think we are pretty quietly optimistic that we’ll have a good quarter as well as the full year.
Kaushik Poddar
Okay. Thank you. Thanks for answering my queries. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ajay Thakur from Anand Rathi. Please go ahead.
Ajay Thakur
Hello sir. Thanks for taking my question. I want to understand bit on the coconut oils market, how is it growing? For ’25 we have indicated around 19% growth, what would have been the growth rate for the market in the blended oil space and how has the market share trend been on an all-India basis?
Jaideep Nandi
So if you look at the coconut oil market, the market grew by about double digits — a little more than double digits in the quarter and just close to double digit in the full year. But if you look at the volume growth — and this is obviously in value terms, but if you look at in volume terms, the growth was in low single digits and this is mainly because of the kind of copra price increases that we are seeing. If you look at year-to-year, the copra price increase has been about 70%. So one of the things that I think we did a little late, if I can admit, is that we increased our prices a little later which now we have corrected in April itself and we have gone for a midteens price increase. So that was a little late in terms of reacting to the price increases because the way the sharp price increases that were happening, I think we missed a little bit of the boat, but I think we have now corrected that and gone along with that. So this is what is happening as far as the coconut market is concerned. Clearly now we have emerged as a very very strong player across all markets.
I mean clearly now that our product has been on and now we’re seeing at an average of about a 10 cr kind of a number coming up regularly month after month without much of an effort much of this thing, I think is a strong testimony of what the product has been able to establish. Not only in the Hindi speaking belts where we are traditionally strong, but also markets of Maharashtra, West Bengal, and even pockets of South. Obviously South we do not have distribution today. Tomorrow with Vishal Personal Care, we the Banjara’s brand coming in where our distribution is expected to go up by 3x. I personally think coconut has a large potential to be able to get into that. It might take a little bit of a time. We need to get our act together, get our consolidated approach to the market a little stronger, but I think that opens up a large possibility for coconut to do well. So coconut at this stage, the market shares obviously are nothing — huge number to talk about.
But we are now looking at a single digit, no longer fractions but into single digit, good single digit. Low single-digit market share is already coming in and I think going forward, I think there is good story to be coming in. And now that we are also bridging the price gap between the competitor — the largest competitor and us, I think that is where — I have already mentioned that as far as our sourcing capability, I don’t think we are very well off. Yes, obviously we don’t have the kind of scale of sourcing, but fortunately for copra, scale itself doesn’t make too much of a difference because it’s domestically procured. It’s the timing of sourcing rather than the scale of sourcing that makes up a difference like let’s say a product like LLP or so. So we clearly have cracked that code quite a bit. Obviously we don’t have the kind of expertise or 40-year expertise in coconut, but I think we have acquired quite a bit of it and we would really be somewhere able to challenge the top competitor. So I think we are in a good position and this is a product which will be a significant contributor for both our topline and also our bottom line going forward.
Ajay Thakur
Understood. Secondly, sir, on the non-ADHO share of the revenue, can you share insights into that? What is the current share of non-ADHO mix in the revenue and how and what are targets for the same going forward?
Jaideep Nandi
Almond Drops is at 80% or so. I mean that is where the saliency is. And now the saliency of the products beyond Almond Drops, all the new products as well as a bit of traditional products that we had is around close to 20%. More than what our target for that, our long-term target as I had mentioned earlier is getting closer to 40%. Our objective now would be to ensure that Almond Drops grows strongly. Now that the market is coming back, our objective focus will be to make sure Almond Drops grows strongly and make sure that the products beyond Almond Drops grow faster than Almond Drops. So that is one of the key focus areas. Now coconut clearly is a good product that we have. It will continue to grow. I think there is enough headroom for that product to grow. The Almond Drops Skin and Hair Care range, that has already shown lots of promise. It requires more investment, but I think they have slowly started garnering continuously on a regular basis, they have been also gaining.
So the pure coconut, the hair and skin range of Almond Drops within Almond Drops, these two are clearly two main drivers of the portfolio beyond Almond Drops. And now we also have this Banjara’s range which we are now exploring as to what can be further scaled up from the Banjara’s range because there are some very interesting products and very interestingly some of the products that Banjara’s have established in the South are actually North based product whether its Multani Mitti and many other Gulab Jal or Aloe Vera, etc., So lot of them we are seeing how we can tactically or even strategically place. This is not going to happen tomorrow, but this is something that we will also explore and see what we can do. So clearly focus will remain on Almond Drops, grow Almond Drops, make it a strong brand back to its past glory now that the market is coming back, and also ensure that NPDs grow strongly.
Ajay Thakur
Quite helpful. Thank you, sir.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Abhijit Kundu from Antique Stockbroking. Please go ahead.
Abhijit Kundu
Yeah. Hi, am I audible?
Jaideep Nandi
Yes, Abhijit, you are.
Abhijit Kundu
Thanks for the opportunity. So my first question was on ADHO, the core brand. You are quite confident that their recovery has just started. When I look at your slide though it has grown in low single digit in this quarter, there is a sequential improvement. Also your overall turnover also has seen a sequential improvement, which is good. But what has to work for Almond Drops now to really see a better rate because the large packs are doing well, e-commerce is doing well. So what are the opportunities that you are seeing and what would really give you the confidence that Almond Drops as a portfolio as a whole have started recovering meaningfully and essentially in your core markets, I mean your core markets have to grow at a better rate?
Jaideep Nandi
Absolutely correctly pointed out. So as you rightly said, the large packs have been doing well; modern trade, e-commerce have been doing well, and general trade is where basically the lag has been and that’s where Almond Drops has actually lagged. Now one of the two things that are getting — I think one is you need to look at the way the market also has panned out. Other than the fact that the market itself has been sluggish. You have also seen very heightened activity, competitive intensity in the mid packs, etc., Not through direct competition, but also through other low-end products, etc., which we have seen in the marketplace and which has slowly eaten into these markets quite a bit to an extent. Now with the market easing out and our focus into ensuring that our direct reach improves as we have been talking about.
We already have done an increase in retail reach of about 24,000 in two states and we are looking at a number of close to about 1.4 lakh total when we do the entire India setup. Already four more states are already in place. So moment you look at this retail reach so that itself and better execution as general trade is concerned. That is the core focus of the Project Aarohan which we have been doing for the last one year. So one of the key things is to ensure that we are able to distribute ADHO much better and execute ADHO much better across general trade. So that has been one of the key focus. As far as the product is concerned, I think in terms of the SKUs which have been under pressure, which is typically the 45 ml, 95 ml, as well as the INR10 pack; all of them we have taken corrective action. INR10 we told you last time that we have been working on it for a very very long time to ensure that the margins don’t suffer and yet we are able to get a better price perception.
So the short 19 ml was converted into the long sleek 24 ml giving a visual perception of a much stronger product. So we did a lot of reengineering of our packaging design, flip tops, etc., to ensure that we are able to cut down on packaging cost to ensure that the 5 ml that we are putting in extra in that and the INR10 does not erode our margins. So that has now got rolled out so you saw good results coming out of that. We feel that INR10 being a very very important SKU because our INR20 is small, our INR10 is a very large pack in the small pack category. So that we see good progress happening. Both the 45 ml and 95 ml have been addressed through consumer offers because we are also looking at price indexation of the product compared to the other two value-added oils and our price indexation has sharply shot up in the last three, four years. So that we had to ensure that we cut down.
Again we did a lot of value engineering as far as the packaging material is concerned without touching the RM at all obviously to ensure that we are able to sponsor the corrections that we wanted to do in the 45 ml and the 95 ml. Those have also started showing results. So this is as far as the packs are concerned. So you see distribution, you see pack. The third thing is obviously we are now taking Almond Drops again back on a strong footing as far as ensuring that we have better GRPs put in as far as advertising is concerned. Now that the market is slowly looking back, you will see further enhanced advertising as far as the brand is concerned and we are also taking price increases to ensure that we are able to support this brand. So this is what the overall strategy as far as Almond Drops is concerned and I think we are pretty confident that it should yield results going forward.
Abhijit Kundu
Okay. And on Almond Drops Hair and Skin Care range, you have seen about good amount of growth in serum. So shampoo and conditioner looks to be a bit on the lower side. So essentially of this whole portfolio, how big can this portfolio become? What are the short-term targets or expectations so to say in the next two years? What kind of — the way you said that in case of coconut oil now it is like 10 crore a month so 120 crore run rate can be achieved during FY ’26. Similarly, what kind of revenue?
Jaideep Nandi
FY ’25 is that number or close to that. FY ’26 will be much higher.
Abhijit Kundu
Much higher than it is. Great.
Jaideep Nandi
As far as coconut is concerned. So as far as the Almond Drop Hair and Care range is concerned, we are looking at the overall portfolio because this is still a very e-commerce dominant portfolio. We tried this thing maybe a little prematurely with the moisturizing soap in the general trade channel, which did not work very well for us. So we are basically focusing more on e-commerce and a few on modern trade like lotions, etc., going into the modern trade. We are looking at the latest about INR4 crore to INR5 crore kind of a turnover coming out of this on a monthly basis in the next two years or so and based on how it performs going forward, we will see how further we can scale up. But this is also a function of how much investments we do.
See, while I quote these numbers, you have to understand that the situation will also remain dynamic based on what kind of traction we get and the Banjara’s products that we see, what kind of results we see out of the coconut that we have done, what kind of Almond Drops resilience we see in terms of both the work that we are doing in general trade as well as the product is concerned, and hence the marketing moneys that we’ll have to keep balancing. So while this is the aspiration number, we’ll keep either increasing it or decreasing it and playing it in some other portfolio based on how long it will take. So it will remain dynamic, but yes, this will be a range which is the second range after the coconut oil as we speak today.
Abhijit Kundu
Understood. And in coconut oil post the price action you have taken, are you now in a position that you are profitable? You are reasonably profitable and can scale up reasonably in a profitable manner in coconut oil.
Jaideep Nandi
Absolutely. Coconut was always profitable. It is just that in the mid cycle where we lagged a little behind because the price increases were happening fast and furious, every single consignment it was going up and I think we were not able to keep up pace because of some of the contracts that we had because as you can understand our ability to change prices were not always obviously at the best or even our market intelligence. That I think we have now come over this thing. April, as I said, we took a mid-teens price increase and this is something now we have also told our teams to be very careful of and be reacting much quicker than what we have in the past. So this is something that we will keep up. And coconut was profitable, obviously not in the range of Almond Drops and it will remain profitable going forward. So that’s not an issue obviously not in the kind of money that Almond Drops make.
Abhijit Kundu
Okay. And in terms of profitability, two things. One is that your gross margin going ahead should see an improvement over FY ’25 and overall profitability, can it go back to that 16% odd EBITDA margin? What are the expectations there?
Jaideep Nandi
I think that EBITDA margin of 16% was a very bare basic minimum range. I think we are looking anywhere at a much higher EBITDA margin than that. This year was aberration in many fronts. The correction that we took in the wholesale channel itself did not work very well for us and it took us about three quarters to get a semblance sense back into that. So certain things that we had taken too aggressively hit us quite a bit. But structurally if you look at, the 16% to 18% EBITDA margin was a given, it still remains a given. So 16% to 18% I would think would still remain a basic bare minimum and now with the kind of improvements that we are looking at; looking at price increases, looking at some of the restructuring of costs, etc.; I think we should be looking at a little higher than that going forward. But I would not like to give any future guidance, but that is directionally we would like to take on it.
Abhijit Kundu
So, with Almond Hair Oil doing well, so high single-digit topline growth could be expected. I’m not saying that we give guidance.
Jaideep Nandi
No guidance as such. But I think from the commentary, you should be able to evaluate. Yes, we are pretty bullish as to with the market showing signs of improvement and the kind of activities that we have done over the years that we have built in all the capabilities that we have built in; I think we should be able to look at some of these. Now is the time that it will start fructifying.
Abhijit Kundu
Okay. And in our international business, it has grown very strongly during Q4 though the overall annual growth has been high 7%. So with the traction that you achieved in Q4, what are your expectations there also you could see sort of…?
Jaideep Nandi
I think you have got that number not right. The annual growth of international business is about 26% and the quarter growth is 43%. Quarter is higher than the annual growth. International business has been continuously growing and on a quarter-on-quarter basis, i.e. on a sequential basis. Just like the way you have seen modern trade and e-commerce for us grow continuously sequentially, international business has grown and my satisfaction comes from the fact that it is not only from one part of the world that this international business, it’s consistent across all quarters which is what I was telling in my commentary. Whether you look at GCC Africa, whether you look at Bangladesh, whether you look at the rest of the world, which has been one of our focus because export we have been always not that strong. Now the number of countries are increased, the margins obviously are phenomenal, they are better than domestic market. And obviously GCC — obviously Nepal as well, they are a smaller part, but also doing well. So all of them have been doing well and consistently doing well. There are no sporadic inconsistency of growth, its continuous.
Abhijit Kundu
Understood sir. Thanks for the opportunity.
Jaideep Nandi
Welcome. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. [Operator Instructions] The next question is from the line of Dhruv from Fort Capital. Please go ahead.
Dhruv Mudaraddi
Hi sir. I was listening to the call and most of my questions regarding the core business have been cleared and since you’re not giving guidance as such, it is difficult to measure it anyway. But my questions were regarding the acquisition that you’ve done. I’m not asking for a number guidance, but like a quarterly picture that when we’ll be able to see the result of the distribution increasing for our own portfolio and for Banjara’s through our North Indian roots.
Jaideep Nandi
So, Banjara, the products are not — the company is very South India rooted products, the company, but with some of the products which have North Indian roots. That’s what I meant. Anyway coming back to Banjara, the way it is panning out is we should be completing our 100% acquisition with the tranche to buy, my statement was this quarter but ideally we are looking at this month itself. We should have 100% control and make it a 100% subsidiary of the company of BCCL by this quarter itself. Parallelly from April 2025, we have engaged with a leading consultant and there are multiple meetings have happened and we are looking about a three-month kind of or 8 to 12 weeks of project that we have embarked with them.
We are looking at every single thing. How do we consolidate the business, how do we look at distributors, how do we look at structuring of both the teams, etc., And I think within the next three months or so, you should see this up and running. We have very very strong ambition as far as Banjara’s numbers are concerned for this year. Obviously again I will not be able to give you any future guidance, but we have very very strong aspirations of both in terms of both topline as well as bottom line of the Banjara’s numbers themselves as well as with some value-adds of ours. I think we are pretty buoyant and very confident of what Banjara’s should give us over the time. So maybe in the next three to four months, you should see numbers in terms of real sense.
Dhruv Mudaraddi
Okay. So can I assume like a 50% effect like a direct fruit bearing effect in Q1 and the rest of it from Q2 and Q3 onwards?
Jaideep Nandi
Sorry, can you repeat that? I didn’t get that.
Dhruv Mudaraddi
So like how do I measure when the fruits will bear from the distribution efforts? Since can we assume like a 50% benefit from Q1 onwards and then the rest of it in Q2 and Q3 onwards?
Jaideep Nandi
See, I would rather look at the kind of numbers that Banjara’s has delivered last year. It’s about INR53 crores and we are looking at a number which is quite significantly higher than that in the current full year. So whether it will happen in Q1 end itself, how much will Q2; rather than that, I will look at it that it will be more skewed towards Q2, Q3, and Q4. But I think overall if you look at that, that will be a very strong number we are looking at both in terms of topline as well as bottom line. These are Banjara’s standalone their own numbers. I mean what we will do to pull it up. Over and above that, using BCCL’s own products as well that will be something that will get added onto it and overall we are looking at a good number.
I mean we have created an annual operating plan as far as the combined structure is concerned. But as you can understand because we are going through this — I mean the design Phase-I on in terms of designing what we will do in terms of the combined GTM strategy, the operating matter, the sell in, sell out. I mean how the sales harmonization will happen. All that is going on now and when we start implementing over the next another three, four months and execute, I think then you will see the results coming out and maybe at that point of time AOP will also get revised plus/minus based on what we see coming out on the ground.
Dhruv Mudaraddi
Right. Okay, sir, you sound pretty confident and I am going to read it as that. I am excited about the acquisition because of the distribution rise that you’re going to see. Just excited to see the numbers. Thank you for answering the question.
Jaideep Nandi
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Dhiraj from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Dhiraj Mistry
Hi sir. I have two questions. One is when I look at the saliency of modern trade and e-commerce which has been growing very strongly, what would be the saliency of modern trade for the overall company? Now if I double click on that, what would be the saliency for ADHO from modern trade and e-commerce and for Bajaj coconut oil?
Jaideep Nandi
See, I mean if you look at with a 30% saliency that you are getting, now this is divided in modern trade both B2B as well as B2C; both put together it is close to — it’s a little more than double digit, e-commerce is just a little less than double digit, and the balance comes from the CSD-CPC channels. So that is how the overall this thing is concerned. In fact if you look at this particular quarter, modern trade was actually in high teens and e-commerce was also very very strong. Sorry, not high teens; low teens, pardon me for that. And e-commerce was also in double digit. So between modern trade and e-commerce if you look at the 30% breakup about roughly split equally between modern trade and e-commerce, it is about 25%-ish and the balance 5%-ish comes from your CSD-CPC institution. That is the rough construction of that. In terms of Almond Drops, modern trade obviously has a large contribution of Almond Drops as well as a decent contribution of coconut. While if you look at e-commerce, e-commerce has nearly about a 40% contribution coming from products beyond Almond Drops while 60% comes from Almond Drops. So that is how it is split. So Almond Drops remains so still a very strong as far as modern trade is concerned while e-commerce obviously because of the nature of the customer, it’s more varied and all the extensions, etc., that you see they are more focused on e-commerce.
Dhiraj Mistry
And how that would be for coconut oil?
Jaideep Nandi
As you can see, if you look at our beyond Almond Drops, most of our sales come from coconut. I mean Almond Drops, that hair and skin care range is still smaller than how coconut has grown. So large part of it comes from coconut. So whatever numbers I am talking about beyond Almond Drops, you can assume that 70% would be coming out of coconut, about 30% from the rest.
Dhiraj Mistry
Okay. Got it. And related to that only whether there would be like margin differential between general trade and e-commerce and modern trade would be materially different than what company average has been?
Jaideep Nandi
So not between general trade and modern trade. Obviously modern trade is a little lower, but still equal pegging with general trade. Little bit depends upon the times of the year and the aggression in the marketplace that we want, etc., Modern trade does take a bit of a dip, but not real. It doesn’t take a huge departure from general trade. E-commerce on the other hand, there is departure mainly because not so much because of Almond Drops, but because of all the other ranges that we need to support. Because a lot of investments happen as far as this product on platform investments also happen. There are requirements in some of the larger players. So e-commerce has a little lesser, it’s a little dilutive. While in terms of general trade and modern trade, they come close to each other.
Dhiraj Mistry
Got it. And sir, second question is related to the EBITDA margin. Like we have seen continuous drop and partly it is because of mix as well as raw material price headwind. Assuming that if the raw material price stagnates at current level, when can we see that the margin trajectory improving from here on or whether we can see the amount of price hike which we had to take with the current inflation, whether we have taken completely of that or there will be some impact going forward as well because of the inflation?
Jaideep Nandi
See, it’s also if you look at the trend in the last few years, at points of time we have had to lag behind the price increase of raw material. In terms of taking price increases with the consumer, we had to lag behind because of the demand situation. Now the situation is reversing where the demand situation is becoming favorable, we will do exactly the reverse and we will take price increases in spite of may not be that much of increases as far as the RM price is concerned, just to get back the gross margins, which also you might want to plow back into our marketing efforts, etc. So EBITDA margins have already started improving. They will continue to improve. The aberration that you saw, I mean don’t go by the aberration that you saw in the last two, three quarters. They were aberrations, they happened for a cause and some of it were maybe self-inflicted to an extent. All that has now been past us. As I said, the wholesale channel, etc., correction have happened. I think going forward you can only see improvement happening both in gross margin profile as well as EBITDA profile.
Dhiraj Mistry
Okay, I think that’s it from my side.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as there are no further questions from the participants, I now hand the conference over to Mr. Dhiraj Mistry for closing comments.
Dhiraj Mistry
Thank you everyone for participating and thank you management from Bajaj Consumer. Over to you, sir, for closing remark.
Jaideep Nandi
Thank you, Dhiraj. And I think as I said, over so many years that we have been trying to change the profile of the company, having investment in so much of capability building exercises, etc.; I think unfortunately the headwinds that we saw in the marketplace in terms of just consumer demand and in terms of competitive activity, we could not get the kind of results that we anticipated we would get. So yes, I mean a lot of areas we got excellent results. But general trade Almond Drops, which was our core business profile itself, we did not. Now that the headwinds are gone and we are seeing signs of tailwinds coming in and now that we have started investing in some of these areas where investments were also required, I think we are in a phase where we can see some good progress that happens because of the building of capability. Now we are a multifaceted organization with multiple products, multiple channels, multiple geographies. And I think that is something that now we are in a good position to exploit and make this a strong company. May not be still rubbing shoulders with the best in trade, but clearly going one notch higher or even two notches higher. So we are very buoyant that as a company, we will be very successful going forward. So with that, I thank you all for joining this call and I wish you the very best. Thank you.
Operator
[Operator Closing Remarks]