Note: This is a preliminary transcript and may contain inaccuracies. It will be updated with a final, fully-reviewed version soon.
Bajaj Electricals Limited (NSE: BAJAJELEC) Q4 2026 Earnings Call dated May. 20, 2026
Corporate Participants:
Unidentified Speaker
Shekhar Bajaj — Chairman
Sanjay Sachdeva — Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
Vishal Chadha — Chief Operating Officer – Consumer Products
Rajesh Naik — Chief Executive Officer, Lighting Solutions
Analysts:
Manan Goyal — Analyst
Unidentified Participant
Manoj Gauri — Analyst
Natasha Jain — Analyst
Presentation:
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Bajaj Electricals Limited Q4FY26 earnings conference call hosted by ICICI Securities Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will remain in the listen only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal the operator by pressing Star then zero on your touchstone telephone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now hand the conference over to Mr.
Manan Goyal from ICICI Securities Ltd. For opening remarks. Thank you. And over to you, Manan.
Manan Goyal — Analyst
Thank you.
Unidentified Speaker
On behalf of ICICI securities, we welcome you all to Q4 and FY26 result conference call of Bajaj Electricals Ltd. Today we have with us senior management represented by Mr. Shekhar Bajaj, Chairman, Mr. Sanjay Sachdeva, MD and CEO Mr. Vishal Chaddha, COO Consumer Products. Mr. Rajesh Nayak, COO Lighting Solutions. Ms. Ashwin Anand, CFO Mr. Suketu Shah, Finance Controller. Now I hand over the call to the management for their initial comments on the quarterly and annual performance. Then we will open the floor for Q and A session.
Thank you. And over to you, sir.
Shekhar Bajaj — Chairman
Thank you. Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I am Shekhar Bajaj here. Thank you for attending our Q4 earnings call. We hope you had the opportunity to review our financial results and earnings presentation which are available on the stock exchanges in the quarter marked by a milder start to the summer season. Geopolitical uncertainties, supply chain disruptions and input cost pressures. We have delivered a modest performance in the last quarter. We highlighted that we have embarked on a journey of cultural and structural change in the way we engage with the channel and to move to a more balanced approach between demand led sail through and volume LED push.
We are progressing well in this journey. While these macroeconomic factors were demand disruptive, the lighting solution vertical still delivered a strong performance. Ebit increased by 28% on a year to year basis. Further, the vertical ended the year with highest ever annual ebit margin of 8.5%. We are confident of continuing this trajectory going forward. The consumer product vertical bore the brunt due to a weaker start to summer. However, we expect the vertical to bounce back in the next financial year.
I would also like to welcome Ashwin Anand, our new CFO in the company. She has over 16 years of diverse experience across finance, strategy and governance and has worked with leading global organization including Eye, Deloitte Mondelez, Colgate, Palmolive and most recently Tata Starbucks. We are confident under her leadership we’ll be able to build Bajaj Electricals to a more resilient and future ready organization. Further, in celebration of 100 years of Bajaj Group, the Board of directors have decided to maintain a dividend rate same as last year and accordingly approved recommended a final dividend of three rupees a share.
That’s 150% of face value of two rupees each on equity shares for the financial year ending 31st March 2026. Before I hand over to Sanjay Sahdeva, our MD and CEO, I would like to highlight that the fundamental strength of our business remains firmly intact. Our brands continue to enjoy strong consumer awareness, our market shares across key categories have remained stable and our distribution reach remains deep. I now hand it over to Sanjay for detailed business and financial highlights. Thank you.
Sanjay Sachdeva — Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
Thank you Chairman Sir. Good evening ladies and gentlemen and thank you for joining our investor call. First of all, sincere apologies for everyone to everyone for canceling the investor call last week. It was because of the circumstances, out of the control, more to do with the technical reasons. Before we start, I would like to welcome Ashwin Anand who is our new CFO into the company. With a rich and diverse experience, I’m extremely confident that she will add immense value to our company. I would also like to thank Suketu Shah who was our acting CFO for his contribution during this transition phase.
As Chairman said, we have delivered modest performance for this quarter. Let me start with Lighting Solutions. Like we mentioned in the past, portfolio expansion remains one of our top priorities. As part of the strategy, we entered Wires category in this quarter. The foray into Wire’s portfolio has witnessed a robust market response with some encouraging demand trends across key markets backed by strength of Bajaj Electrical brand expanding distribution reach and focus execution. We are confident this business will grow in future and will emerge as one of the strong growth drivers for the next few quarters.
This vertical has consistently delivered revenue growth and margin in the last financial year. We delivered 60% revenue growth in quarter four and delivered EBIT margin of 8.7. This has been a successful year for Lighting Solutions Vertical. The annual turnover have expanded by 9 and a half percent. An annual EBIT margin close to 8.5%. We are confident of carrying this momentum into next year. On consumer products vertical, the last quarter was not as good as we wanted it to be. We part of this was intentional.
This is about we wanted to move the business to a more balanced one where we Wanted to balance. We want to balance the demand led sell through with a volume led push. This journey so far is progress well and we are confident the coming quarters and the year will be much better. The performance for the consumer products vertical was mixed across subsegments at one end while the summer cooling products had an impact of delayed onset of the summer season coupled with geopolitical uncertainties, supply chain disruptions and input cost pressures during the last three weeks of the quarter.
The other end, the consumer products, the kitchen appliances did well. Categories like induction cooktops and mixers have delivered double digit growth for the quarter. The vertical reported a loss due to operating deleverage. We are however confident of turning this around as we go forward next quarter. Now let me touch the financial parameters for the company. We continue to generate positive cash flow from operation and are ending the year with 934 crores of cash. We are operating at negative working capital.
This strong liquidity position provides us with adequate financial flexibility to deploy behind growth while maintaining balance sheet strength and capital discipline. Lastly, price increases and war induced demand has been supportive in this quarter. The quarter we are in. However, sentiment concerns arising out of war, continued price hikes and patchy summer remains key headwinds. Importantly, our PNL position gives us confidence and flexibility to continue investing behind brands, distribution and innovations positioning us well to a sustainable growth as we move forward.
While the near term outlook appears constructive, the long term stance remains cautiously optimistic. Overall, we remain confident in delivering steady and profitable growth going forward. With this I would like to open the call for questions. Thank you.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press Star and one on their touchstone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and 2. Participants are requested to use their handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Participants who wish to ask a question please press star and 1. We take the first question from the line of Shivam Patel from PL Capital.
Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, thank you so much for the opportunity. Sir, I just wanted to know a CapEx one for upper 24 and NGA. That’s my first question. And the second question on the revenue growth in plants and appliances in consumer products while on lightning side if you can point out buyers which get an other product and how is performed in this contact. Yeah, so these are the two questions.
Sanjay Sachdeva
The question is clear. Can you repeat the question? Questions are not clear.
Vishal Chadha
Your voice is a Bit muffled. That’s why we are not able to hear your questions correctly.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. Just. Yeah. Is it clear now?
Vishal Chadha
Yes. Yeah,
Unidentified Participant
Yeah. So I just wanted to know your capex plan for FY27 and 28. So that’s my first question. And second question is on the consumer products. How has fans and appliances have performed in this quarter individually while on the lightning side, wires switch, gas and other products have performed individually.
Sanjay Sachdeva
So you mean to say financial year 2627. Capex on 2627. Right?
Unidentified Participant
No, capex for 27 and 28. Your capex plan
Sanjay Sachdeva
Next. Okay, next two years.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, next two years.
Sanjay Sachdeva
Next capex will substantially come down. It will be less than half what we have been doing in the past. So it will be mainly for replacement of molds or in some cases on innovations. We are going to use Capex wherever it is necessary. But the intensity of the Capex investments will come down as we move forward for the next two years. On the fans and kitchen appliances.
Vishal Chadha
So as far as the appliances portfolio is concerned, in kitchen appliances, as was mentioned in the opening remarks, we have delivered a very good almost 30% growth over last year. Same quarter we have had modest growths in water heaters and irons, coolers being a seasonal product and with the onset of, you know, delayed onset of summer has shown a degrowth and a similar trend has been observed in fans also.
Rajesh Naik
This is Rajesh. Regarding bifurcation between lighting. If I bifurcate that between two verticals which is professional lighting and consumer lighting. Professional lighting has also grown and consumer lighting in trade has grown two categories. What we recently launched in that wire was like in February. So recent orders were exceeded and as Sanjay mentioned, there is a good traction and response which is coming from the market. But still next two, three quarters will be important for us to track and ensure that whatever growth targets we are taking, we are achieving.
Unidentified Participant
Okay sir, that was very helpful. I will fall back in the queue.
Rajesh Naik
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, a reminder. If you wish to ask a question, please press star and 1, We take the next question from the line of Arun Agarwal from Kotak Securities. Please go ahead.
Manan Goyal
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity, sir. So one is on the lighting solution business. We clogged good margins this quarter this year. In fact you said that this, you know the momentum would likely continue in the lighting solution business going forward in FY27 as well. So could you just help us out? Is there a possibility of further margin expansion or, you know, this is the range that would likely continue over the next One to two years in the lighting solution.
Rajesh Naik
Thanks for the question. As we have been talking about the driving product mix and premium products into the lighting category, which has helped us to bring this additional margin, the size will be there to continue expanding the margins, but we will not be able to tell you the figures where we want to reach from here.
Sanjay Sachdeva
So just to sort of add to that is, look, the margins are good in lighting and there are a lot of opportunities in the lighting business. So while our gross margin movement will be positive, part of that we are planning to use to accelerate growth in lighting.
Manan Goyal
So
Sanjay Sachdeva
At the bit level, it may be close to where we are, but whatever advantage we get in terms of margins or the momentum, will spend that behind to build momentum further.
Manan Goyal
All right, coming on to the consumer, this business has seen significant pressure in recent quarters. Now, now how do you see, because see every quarter what we are seeing, one or the other segment, you know, sometimes, you know, one category performs in, you know, the other categories, you know, sort of in a decline mode. So, so where do you see, you know, maybe, you know, how many quarters would it take for us? You know, we really do see momentum returning back into the consumer product business.
Sanjay Sachdeva
So consumer products business. We had some, you’re actually there. We had some long term issues and we were, we tried to solve most of them or some of them last in the last 12 months,
Operator
Including.
Sanjay Sachdeva
We had to flush out excessive stock in the trade,
Operator
Partly
Sanjay Sachdeva
Driven by sales in the previous few quarters and also because of the season which didn’t go as well as we wanted it to. We are waiting for a good summer because the part of excess still is also the summer products, you know, fans and coolers.
Shekhar Bajaj
Now, most
Sanjay Sachdeva
Of that is out, you know, most of that is out. The stock levels are now reasonable. Therefore we will be selling as per what the tertiaries are now because there will not be any level of correction apart from that. Now when we see tertiaries, we are in good position in most of the categories except for fans. We need to do more work when it comes to fans. So we are clear where we are, what is going well, what will continue to do well, what will turn around where we need to do more work. So except for fan, we’re in good place.
The fans is something we need to work, which we are going to, you know, which the teams are working in the next 12 months should be much better.
Manan Goyal
Okay, so from a margin perspective, sir, just directionally I understand you won’t give us any guidance there, but from a direction, you know, direction, purpose, Is it fair to assume that the EBIT margins and consumer business, what we have done initially used to be what, 6, 7% earlier which has come down to around 3, 3.5% in 24, 25 and last year I think was negative. So is it fair to assume that we would at least reach closer towards the FY24, 25 margins this year or that too seems difficult,
Sanjay Sachdeva
Difficult to say exact margin. And I’ll tell you why, because there is another factor which is affecting the cost of our products is the war related inflation. Not everything will be able to pass on because it’s, you know, we have to see, we are trying all the possibilities of, you know, leveraging a supply chain network or stepping up savings but we are using all the levers to see that, you know, we deliver a good margin. However, we do believe we have to also see we stay competitive in the market and in that context maybe whatever is left, not everything will be able to pass on to consumers.
This is our current hypothesis. But we will see as the year goes. In that case we will not be able to deliver. It’s difficult at this stage to say whether we will be able to deliver 24, 25 margin.
Shekhar Bajaj
Okay.
Sanjay Sachdeva
We are also very clear that we want to do that level of margin which is sustainable. Which means we are very, very clear that we want to spend money behind innovations and behind brands. So you will see a step up in that in the next 12 months. Our investment behind brands and investment behind innovations.
Manan Goyal
Okay. So it’s correct to assume you I think said that the inventory levels are completely normalized across all the product categories at this point in time. Right.
Sanjay Sachdeva
It’s much lower. There are some, you know, coolers and mainly coolers. There is still correction required but will not be material for us to say that it’s going to impact, you know, majorly to full year performance. Some quarter here and there it can do but not a full year performance.
Manan Goyal
Okay. And so lastly on your, you know, for the past couple of quarters now we are seeing some, you know, exceptional items coming in. So is these kind of exceptional items through or we could expect some more, you know, exceptional items or write offs or provisions going forward.
Unidentified Participant
Hi Suketu, this side. I think so far all that we could trace and whatever we could find certain issues, I think we have taken care of that and we hope that we have a, a good year on next year.
Manan Goyal
Okay, thank you, thank you so much.
Operator
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Akash Faria from yes, securities, please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, thank you very much. So what is the quantum of price increase we have taken in Q4 and any follow up price increase we have taken in Q? In Q1, FY27
Vishal Chadha
We have consumer products. Our price increases have ranged from anywhere from 3% to 10% in quarter four. And we have already taken a price increase in the same range in April. So and in May also we have announced price increases where we are seeing further pressures because of war and commodity inflation.
Unidentified Participant
But despite the say 3 price increases, we have not yet covered the commodity inflation completely. Is that correct? And further price increases will be required.
Vishal Chadha
See, we have covered the commodity inflation to the extent possible. But as Sanjay mentioned that going forward we need to be more calibrated because there is demand uncertainty which might arise. We have to look at it in the overall context. But so far we have covered up to the extent possible the commodity inflation.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, thanks a lot.
Operator
Thank you. Participants, if you wish to ask a question, please press star. And one, we take the next question from the line of Manan Goyal from ICICI securities limited. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Speaker
Hi. Thank you for the opportunity. So sir, my first question is regarding how are we doing in terms of channel inventory? Like is it largely normalized or is it at the elevated level? Second is how are we doing in terms, how are we seeing the demand in terms of the summer season going ahead? Because we have seen like IMD rating has already been mentioned that there has been a good summer season going ahead. So how are we seeing the traction in terms of primary channels as well as secondary channels?
Yeah, these are my two questions.
Vishal Chadha
So on consumer products we have corrected the channel inventory to a large extent but there are still some categories like summer products, coolers specifically where they are still at a slightly elevated level. We are watching the season progress. Quarter four was a delayed summer. In this quarter so far there has been a mixed bag of summers as well as unseasonal rains. In some parts of the country we are seeing good demand coming in because the summer is good there. But in some parts of the country it is not as good.
So it is a mixed bag. In the early part, north did not see summer. But now we are seeing a very good summer coming into north. South was pretty hot and we saw good traction coming over there. So it’s not a consistent weather pattern across the country. It’s a mixed bag and we are being agile enough to fulfill the demand wherever we see an opportunity.
Unidentified Speaker
Understood. Thank you so much sir.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please press star. And one, We take the next question from the line of Manoj Ghori from Aquarius Capital. Please go ahead.
Manoj Gauri
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. In the opening remarks, somewhere in the comments we highlighted that we will continue to innovation and other brand building exercises. Can you throw some light? Because just the backdrop is if we look at probably from last two to three years when Mr. Anuj was also taking care of the business, there were significant investments made behind the product development and other initiatives. And we probably going by the financials, we were not able to see any positive benefits going in.
So going forward, what are these investments for and how should it translate into growth numbers and margin trajectory? Probably keeping aside FY27, but somewhere around FY28 to FY29 level. That’s the only question.
Sanjay Sachdeva
So thank you for raising this. So there is a lot of learning we have in the last what has happened in the last few years and we are going to incorporate that as we are building our innovations for the next two to three years. Which means we are bringing innovations which we at the right price point with the right margins and we are also making sure not only that the right price point with the right margin, but also we are bringing innovations, we have adequate margin which is necessary to support those innovations in the market.
So in the end the idea is that with these innovations we don’t want a case that it dilutes our ornp. But at the same time we are making sure these innovations are the one which consumer needs at the price, at the right price and which is different from what is already existing in the market. So their approach is changing now and that should reflect as we move forward with innovations,
Manoj Gauri
Can it be quantified in some form, at least in numbers? If you can give some highlight because that will even give some confidence for modeling purposes.
Sanjay Sachdeva
So tell us more about what numbers you’re talking. For example,
Manoj Gauri
For example, like how should we look at the growth, how much acceleration we can expect during FY28 and FY29 and probably how the margin trajectory should also shape up based on this initiatives.
Sanjay Sachdeva
Sure. Our intent going forward is to grow ahead of the market. That is number one now we believe market will grow close to mid single digit. So therefore our growth rate should be more than that. Our intent is to make industry average at least industry average profit and industry average is between six to eight, nine. That is where it should be. So as I told you, this is our intent and that’s what we are working on. And that’s where the entire, you know, teams are Looking at all the opportunities where we can build this momentum to this level and build it profitably to the level which industry allows.
Does that help you?
Manoj Gauri
Yes. Yes. Thanks a lot sir and wish you all the best.
Operator
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Natasha Jain from Philip Capital please.
Natasha Jain
Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, two questions. First if you could throw some light in terms of your market share in fans. How it has moved say in the last two to three quarters. And the second question is reason for very sharp jumping your ocs. Thank you.
Vishal Chadha
So on the fans market share we have lost a bit of market share. And primarily the reason behind that is that we are still not as good on the BLDC performance as we would like it to be. The industry’s contribution is higher versus ours. So we are working hard towards making sure that that part of the fan’s portfolio gets better.
Unidentified Participant
Hi, I think second question was on the operating cash flow. So we have generated around 400 crores of operating cash flow for the quarter. And that’s primarily driven because of the working capital improvements. Half of it coming from inventories and half of it coming from the trade receivers.
Natasha Jain
And a follow up on the earlier answer. Thanks. So the follow up is that in terms of dldc can you tell us how is the scale up happening at Bajaj and what is the plan in terms of. I believe we’ve launched the next product. So how is the feedback and what is the strategy there going forward? Are we planning to roll out full scale?
Sanjay Sachdeva
So Sanjay, so let me. Let me put it like this. We know we are not competitive in fan. We recognize that. And we are working on various, from various angles to improve the situation. So we have traditional induction fans. We are very good in that in terms of especially the economy and sub economy both in terms of our offerings also in terms of our price points and we make reasonable margins on that. Now the other one which is. But unfortunately that segment is not growing. The segment which is growing is bldc.
And this is where we have gaps. In the next 12 months our plan is to bridge this gap and this is where we believe the acceleration of growth will happen.
Natasha Jain
Understood. Thank you so much sir and all the best.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question please press star and 1. Participants who wish to ask a question please press star and 1. We take the next question from the line of Shivam Patel from PL Capital. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah sir, just wanted to know on working capital side will it be maintained at what FY26 levels or can we see an improvement? Thanks. Hi Suketu here again. So we have been operating at negative working capital for the past two years and we the expectation is to continue on the same line for the next year as well. And we endeavor to achieve that. Okay sir, thank you. Thank you very much.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please press star and 1. Participants who wish to ask a question, please press star and 1. Participants who wish to ask a question, please press star and 1. As there are no further questions from the participants, I now hand the conference over to the management for their closing comments.
Shekhar Bajaj
Thank you very much all the participants for participating in this investors call. And sorry once again that we could not complete it in the earlier period. Really all of us are working very hard. Last year was a very bad year for us for various reasons which has been explained current year, we are hoping it will be a much better year. You will be all much happier compared to what has happened last year. So with all that, wish you all the best and thank you.
Operator
Thank you on behalf of ICICI securities limited that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us and you may now disconnect your lines.