Gulf Oil Lubricants India Limited (NSE: GULFOILLUB) Q1 2026 Earnings Call dated Aug. 14, 2025
Corporate Participants:
Unidentified Speaker
Ravi Chawla — Chief Executive Officer
Manish Kumar Gangwal — Chief Financial Officer.
Analysts:
Unidentified Participant
Probal Sen — Analyst
Nikunj Doshi — Analyst
Angad Katdare — Analyst
Dhaval Popat — Analyst
Bharat Gulati — Analyst
Hardik Solanki — Analyst
Presentation:
operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Gulf Oil Lubricants India Limited Q1FY26 earnings conference call hosted by ICICI Securities Limited. 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. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing Star then zero on your touchstone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Prabhul Sen from ICICI Securities Limited. Thank you. And over to you sir.
Probal Sen — Analyst
Thank you officer.
operator
Please go ahead.
Ravi Chawla — Chief Executive Officer
We can’t hear Prabhul.
operator
Sir.
Probal Sen — Analyst
Am I. Am I audible now, sir?
operator
Yes. Yes sir.
Probal Sen — Analyst
Yes. Sorry about that. Hello everyone. I would like to welcome all of you to this Q1 FY26 con call of Gulf Oil. We have with us the senior management of the company, Mr. Ravi Shawla, the Managing Director and Mr. Manish Gangwal, the CFO. Without further ado, I would first hand over to the management for their opening remarks and then we will get into the Q and A. Over to you sir.
Ravi Chawla — Chief Executive Officer
Thank you. Good day, good morning, good afternoon to everybody. This is Ravi Chawla. I’m delighted to welcome all of you to this quarterly earnings call. We are very happy to share with you that this has been the first quarter, the April, May, June quarter for us which is starting of this financial year has been the highest ever quarterly volume revenue and EBITDA as you may have seen in the results. And this is backed by a very strong double digit volume growth which actually very well with the industry growing at about 3, 3.5% we have done three times the growth.
So really a good start to the quarter. Overall I think this is what we had planned and certainly the demand conditions and our initiatives have paid off. This strong note again confirms the market leading performance that Gulf has been doing. And really this 3x growth of industry is also due to a lot of the efforts based on the brand initiative, distribution and our focus segment approach. I think as you know we are into cricket with the IPL and with our brand ambassadors. This is clearly an all round performance driven by gains across segments. So we have seen the all round performance.
Whereas B2C led by motorcycle oil, we had a big campaign, Gulf pride and a lot of activations on the ground in the B2C segment. This led the way in terms of a strong double digit growth in this quarter. We introduced new campaigns, a new pack on ground activations and this pride relaunch is really one of the best specification product has been well received and this supported the momentum while factory fill was slightly flattish due to the new vehicle production. Very happy to share with you that the OEM franchisee workshop business where we have a significant share double digit share as a player in India delivered excellent results with high double digit growth across our commercial vehicle and particularly Agri OEMs.
This season, which is the agri season, saw very good demand and we continue to plan for that so as to equip our OEM dealerships with the stocks and the required products and services. Our B2B industrial segment also recorded double digit growth with continued new customer acquisitions across industries and definitely the metal and infra segments in this area and also few mining customers proved to be the positive demand factors here. Our agility and market responsiveness has always been a strength and this focus continued which helped us get this particular gain. So an all round performance which we are very happy to share.
Also to mention here that our EV charger subsidiary Tyrex continued to perform well though a small business now, but it closed the quarter with over 163% growth and catering to a lot of broad customer basis. This is of course to reflect our commitment, ongoing commitment to strengthen the EV segment. So clearly for us this has been a good start to the quarter. Some other highlights was that our Silvassa plant went in for IGBC certification and very happy to share that we got the platinum which is the highest certification, a significant milestone again underscoring our company’s strong commitment to sustainability.
We’re also happy to share that we Definitely all our OEMs are recognizing us in the gold category in terms of our service. Shokle and many other Agri OEMs have given us awards and that’s shortened for the team. And I’d like to mention also that the board has approved a capacity expansion to take our capacity from 140 million to 240 million in our Chennai and Silvassa plants. So an outlay of 55 crores has been earmarked for this. So I think all in all a good quarter. And I’ll invite Manish to fill in a few more details and then we’re happy to take your questions.
Thank you so much. Over to you Manish.
Manish Kumar Gangwal — Chief Financial Officer.
Thank you Ravi. Good afternoon everyone. So as Ravi highlighted a very strong start to the year and with clearly double digit volume growth at 11% and our core lubricant volumes for the quarter were 41,000 kl and in addition to that we had 38,000 kl of AdBlue volumes and on a consolidated basis for the first time we crossed our quarterly revenue above 1000 crore. So that was a big milestone for the company and we are very happy and delighted for that Overall on the margin front you will see that you have seen in the result we have improved our gross margin by nearly 140 basis point yoy.
However we have spent more slightly on A and P in this quarter being an IPL driven quarter and we had some campaigns on our motorcycle range as Ravi highlighted. And also we had some of the OEM sales significantly higher and that’s where some of the OEM royalties were higher. So at EBITA level we have delivered still our EBITDA at 12.7% for the quarter which is well within our guided band of 12 to 14%. So overall a very strong quarter. And you know as we have earlier announced and the board had declared a final dividend of 28 rupees which will be now the record that has been declared for 19th of September and that will be paid out after the AGM.
So that’s also the shareholder. All the investors will recall that we had increased our dividend payouts earlier to 65% for the year last year. So overall good cash flow generations continues and we remain net debt free and our overall cash balance continues to be about 1000 crore. So with that note we will hand over for a Q and A to be started.
Ravi Chawla — Chief Executive Officer
Thank you.
Questions and Answers:
operator
Thank you very much. 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 two participants are requested to use handsets for asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Nikunj Doshi from B Capital. Please go ahead.
Nikunj Doshi
Yeah, thank you. Can you hear me?
Manish Kumar Gangwal
Yes, please go ahead.
Nikunj Doshi
Congratulations on good set of numbers. Just one question. This capacity expansion what we are looking for. So is there any shift going to happen in product mix or more or less will be the same kind of product mix that we’ll be having after say when the capacity expansion is complete.
Ravi Chawla
Yeah. So as you know we’ve been growing 2 to 3x the industry. So the capacity enhancement is we make all our products in house except greases and others. So it is in line with what we are doing but projecting that we are growing in various segments. Obviously there will be some flexibility on the product mix in terms of our manufacturing filling lines. So we want to definitely look at how we are going to upgrade some of the products and certain segments will have small packs, large packs. So this is going to be a flexible kind of approach to this and the capacity enhancement will take care if there is any shift in terms of the packaging because brand is more related to packaging rather than the segment.
So I think we are very clear about that and that’s something we have expertise in. So I don’t think we’ll have any challenges product mix, even if it changes segment wise it is small pack, large pack. So that will remain.
Nikunj Doshi
Okay. Thank you. Thank you sir.
operator
Thank you sir. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask please press Star and one now. Participants who wish to ask questions may please press star and one at this time. The next question is from the line of Angad from Samiksha Capital. Please go ahead.
Probal Sen
Thank you for the opportunity sir. My first question, first question is on the T Rex business on Tyrex. How do we read the lumpiness in the EBITDA margin that we’re seeing over the past five, six quarters and how do you guide on the EBITDA margin going forward?
Manish Kumar Gangwal
See, Tyrex is a very, very nascent company. You know, it’s developing various products in the charger segment. They are specialized in DC fast charger manufacturing and now they are starting to manufacture AC chargers as well. It’s a very, very nascent industry. With nearly last year we have reported 80 crore of top line with almost neutral EBITDA. This quarter they have turned EBITDA positive which is a very good sign. And the quarterly turnover as Ravi highlighted has grown 163% to nearly 24 crore. So overall in a positive direction, right direction, but still very small in terms of base.
And we’ll have to really watch out.
Ravi Chawla
In a longer term. Of course we want them the business to deliver almost similar EBITDA range to what lubricant business is.
Angad Katdare
Okay answer. What was our average base oil prices for the last quarter? And we see it coming down. Looking at the crude oil prices and how do you see it? Sustainability.
Manish Kumar Gangwal
There are various grades of base oil which we have been highlighting in our earlier calls as well that it is very difficult to give you a range of the base oil price because there are various grades of Group 1, Group 2, Group 3 base oils which we buy. Overall we have seen that the base oil has been steady in quarter one. Although crude is showing a range which is below $70. And if it sustains at these levels for a longer period, we will see as base Oil follows crude over a longer period or midterm period.
You should see base oil softening to some extent. But so far in quarter one it has been very steady.
Angad Katdare
Got it. And sir, one question on our main competitor, you know, is also now focusing on would say prioritizing volume growth. Now how are we adopting the strategy considering the we are also growing 2x3x volume growth. Just wanted to understand that all.
Ravi Chawla
Yeah, so see the industry as you know has been growing. If you look at the next last even decade or so, industry growth is about 3%, three and a half. Sometimes we say little less or more, half a percentage here and there. So our focus is on the industry growth obviously competitive scenario. Each competitor has their own action plan and what they do. So ours is more related to what the industry will grow, the segments in which we are playing and of course look at what initiatives we do. Competitiveness of what we do is obviously part of the strategy always.
So we continue to do that and I think we have been very successful in our strategy and we will continue to focus on what we believe is our strength and to be able to go in terms of our own strategies and initiatives.
Angad Katdare
Got it sir, thank you for answering the questions.
Ravi Chawla
Thank you so much.
operator
Thank you sir. Participants who wish to ask questions may please press star and one at this time. The next question is from the line of Dhawal Jains Bhai Pupat from Choice International Ltd. Please go ahead.
Dhaval Popat
Yeah, congratulations on the results. I have actually three questions as far as the CMC penetration in the passenger vehicle is concerned for Marit Suzuki fleets almost forms more than 20% of the volumes. So I wanted to understand if you you already have the product but is there something that you are doing for the tie ups with the passenger vehicles of CNG vehicles as well as I also wanted to understand the drain for CNG as compared to the gasoline or diesel. My second question is around the industrial volumes. How do you see this? I understand about two years ago and you have been focusing on that the industry volumes will catch up post 2026 or from 2027 to autom lubricants.
But I would like to know what is your latest view on that? And see the question is about BS7 wherein it has. It follows the European norms. So in Europe it has been already been introduced. But how do you see the increase in demand for Ad group particularly on the back of pirate 7 when it is launched in about next year or next to next year completely.
Ravi Chawla
So there are a few questions we will try and answer and Manish can also pitch in. So I think you spoke about Maruti right at the beginning. CNG basically. Yeah, cng.
Dhaval Popat
So CNG penetration.
Ravi Chawla
Yeah. So see cng, you’re right in certain pockets in India it is, it is quite a high demand product. We have a part play in it because it’s a very price competitive segment. So we have the range and the range is. And the drain interval is less than gasoline as you know, because it’s used in a different way. So we have the range but we are playing selectively because it’s a very price oriented segment. So we go with our sort of price positioning. So not a very. We don’t want to really take the whole segment because it is to that level less attractive for us.
But we are still present and we have all the products required for that. Even CNG buses, we have very specialized products with very long drain interval. I can get back to you but if I remember it’s the highest train interval. I don’t know if it’s 20,000. I’ll stand corrected because I think it is still. We have developed it with Ashok Leland and we have premier product there in terms of CNG buses. So we are present in CNG normal also but less play because of price attractiveness or whatever. Not attractiveness. And the other is the CNG buses.
So we have products in, in BS7 we are prepared with all the products so whenever it comes we’ll have that. So that’s not a problem. And the other other question you asked.
Dhaval Popat
Is on industrial volumes.
Ravi Chawla
Yeah. So you know, industrial for us, as I mentioned to you in my opening remarks, we are an all rounder. We have presence in the chosen segments which is B2C in B2B industrial in B2B we also do infrastructure, mining, fleet and we also have oem. So I would say that as a company we have a very strong presence. As a, I would say as a growing brand. Okay. We are still not there where we want to be but we have been adding share for the last decade and it has been a focus segment. We do double digit growth in these three B2B industrial and IMF.
And we have a business model which I think is one of the good models where we are able to focus to all this and we have also very good customers across these segments. So we will continue kind of growing our customer base being with our customers as they grow. And we are very confident that this segment which all of them actually have except the OEM which is franchisee workshop where we have close to a double digit share we believe the others are less than 5% market share. So IMF which is infrastructure, mining and industrial. So we are going to grow definitely double digit in these segments.
Dhaval Popat
I just have a follow up if I may.
Ravi Chawla
Yes please.
Dhaval Popat
So basically as far as the focus I understand is more towards passenger cars going forward as highlighted in previously. Somewhere where the next lake of course is. But of course one of the focuses. But if you had to choose between industrial lubricant sources, passenger cars, where would you go?
Ravi Chawla
So you know, just to clarify, we have a segment wise approach. So we have close to 10 to 1215 segments which we focus on. In B2C we have got good share in motorcycle and diesel engine oil. Of course these products also go on to OEM and other parts of the segments. And in addition to that we have some segments like passenger car which you mentioned, which we have less than 5% market share. So we see more opportunity. We are not going to defocus on any of our segments which are selected by us. So where we are strong we’d like to grow probably 2x.
Where we have got less than 5% we’ll have to grow at 3x. Plus. So that’s the kind of sort of thumb of rule we use. But of course we also look at opportunities in different parts of the business like OEM industrial B2C. You know, with OEMs we have also got a tie up now with Naira which is a fuel chain and we are increasing our distribution. So with our brand strength we believe we need to increase our distribution which we are also doing by 10 15%.
Dhaval Popat
Yes. Okay, that helps with my question. Thank you so much.
Ravi Chawla
Thank you. Thank you so much.
operator
Thank you sir. The next question is from the line of Anuj Panwar from family office. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, hi, am I audible?
operator
Yes sir, please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. I just have two quick questions. I just wanted to check how much, how much does this EV fluid are now contributing to our overall revenue and are we planning this segment to become to make this like one of our major contributors to our revenue and they coming quarters and coming years maybe so any, any, any visible threat to this threats or any competition to this segment as we further scale up. And my second, second question is the recent narayan tie up. Has it started showing its effect on its volume or is there any, some, is there some time left to reflect it in our numbers?
Manish Kumar Gangwal
So I will take the first one which is the EV and Tyrex revenues. As we mentioned, the quarterly revenue of Tyrex now is close to 25 crore. And last year we ended the year at 80 crore rupees of revenue for Tyrex business which we have started consolidating and you can see that between the standalone and consolidated results, the Delta is because of the Tyrex consolidation. So you will be able to find out. The good thing is that the business is growing at for the quarter has grown 163%. We really want to almost double our turnover every year in that segment.
And there is a lot of customer acquisition which keeps happening in that it’s becoming again competitive industry. There are players who are coming in, there are few players who are already established. But the Tyrex product portfolio is very. Robust and. On the back of that they continue to gain customers in the space. At the same time they have launched an AC range also which also is getting them customers especially in the OEM segment. And they started supplying to some of the OEMs along with the, along with the cars. So that’s our endeavor is that which we earlier highlighted also that we want this business to be a 400, 500 crore business in terms of top line in the next four to five years. So that’s our game plan and at that point obviously it will be a very meaningful pillar to our overall other segments.
And coming to Naira, I guess this is very early stage. They have a large 6,500 plus fuel stations across India and we started you know, capturing and reaching out to the outlets which they have one after another. Currently we are in terms of reach around 1500 outlets but still very early stage in the business and we’ll have to keep nurturing that business for just.
Ravi Chawla
To add we are in the lubricants and we also started supplying AdBlue through their stations and as Manish mentioned, I think the current penetration level is close to 30, 40% which will definitely go up in the coming months and quarters.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, understood. Thank you, that was helpful.
Ravi Chawla
Thank you Anush.
operator
Thank you. Sir. The next question is from the line of Bharat Gulati from Dalal and Brocha Stockbroking. Please go ahead.
Bharat Gulati
Hi sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Congrats on a good set of numbers. I just wanted to know that the growth that we have witnessed in the B2C segment in our MOC in our more two wheeler segment that was primarily due to the new product additions. If you can throw some light on that.
Ravi Chawla
No, no. So it is the same old brand. We have Gulf Pride, it was repacked in a new packaging and we backed it up with a lot of initiatives above the line, below the line. And we have also launched it at a specification level of apisp, which is the highest grade of specifications. So yes, a new pack launch along with that upgraded product in terms of the specifications and a lot of work goes into the activations. So all around with this, I think the product has received a very good response. So happy to share that it has a double digit growth which really led the way for B2C also to do well in terms of overall growth.
Bharat Gulati
So in the B2C segment we’ll continue to see this growth. In the motorcycle segment, would that be the right understanding?
Ravi Chawla
Yeah. So our endeavor as we tell you, as we always say, is to grow two to three times the market. So in that also this market, MCO market is growing at that rate, maybe maybe around 3%. So we obviously want to grow more and we see a lot of opportunities in some states, in some markets we always have that opportunity to do better. Overall, we think we have a presence not only with the B2C market with our products, we also sell OEM products and we have close to 9%, 8 to 9% share I would say in some of the B2C and other areas.
So we want to continue growing at least 2x the market in the motorcycle range.
Bharat Gulati
Got it. So that’s helpful. And so on our passenger vehicle front on the B2C and B2B both on four wheeler passenger vehicles. So are we witnessing a slowdown and if so then will that, will that start growing at double digit levels because the OEM numbers were flattish as you mentioned.
Ravi Chawla
No, no, no. See OEM factory fill, we do factory fill with some commercial vehicle OEMs and some few other OEMs that was flattish. We don’t have any major supply or we don’t have any supplies with car OEMs for factory fill. What we are referring to car PCMO sales, passenger car motor oil is what we sell in the bazaar which is the market. And also we have some OEMs we do business with. So there we have. Our market share is not very high. So we have a good opportunity. So there we want to grow more. And obviously there we want to.
We have been talking about this for the last couple of years. We want to grow. If we are going 2 to 3x we would at least try to go 4 to 5x in this market. But yes we can. We definitely will announce to you when we are having any significant move up there. But it is still in the, in the growth trajectory. But more effort is being made to see how we can grow here.
Bharat Gulati
Got it. So that’s helpful. And so just the last question on our capex, when would that be? When would that come online and when, when can we see fully ramp up, full ramp up of that? Could you mention that.
Manish Kumar Gangwal
Overall we believe that we will be able to, you know, complete it in 18 months time but it will be in phases. So some our Chennai facility expansion will be much earlier than, you know Silvasa, where we will have to do some civil construction also in Chennai it is all ready. We have to add filling lines and some of the, you know, so I think Chennai will come up faster and then Silvasa in 18 months time. So overall by March 27th we should be, we should be ready with this 240 million capacity.
Bharat Gulati
Got it. So and the revenue for the extra capacity will start coming in. That means from FY28 that would be right to say, you see, we are.
Manish Kumar Gangwal
Running currently at 100% capacity in our both the plants almost. And we continue to grow 2 to. 3 as the market which means near double digit volume growth. And in this quarter actually we had 11% volume growth. We will continue to grow 2 to 3x the market and for that we need capacities. The linkage to capacity and capacity addition and growth in volume is not directly proportional. In our industry we will keep growing at 2 to 3x the industry and for that the capacity expansion was necessary and that will be ready by the time we need those volumes. Currently we are running at third shift for some of our products to manage the overall demand.
But as soon as we have these capacities in place, there will be more flexibility in terms of our product and faster execution and delivery which will help, which Ravi alluded already.
Ravi Chawla
Yeah, so you see, when we have the 240 million we will be able to operate. We have a complicated portfolio. Plus I think two shift basis is always better because third shift, one is the cost element, second is we want to have two shifts because then the plant also has to have some downtime to have their, you know, maintenance work, etc. So this 240 will enable us at a two shift basis to be able to meet the needs much more. I would say when the growth is there, it will be ready for that.
Bharat Gulati
Got it sir. That was helpful. Thank you sir. That’s it.
Ravi Chawla
Thank you.
operator
Thank you sir. The next question is from the line of Nisha Mulchani, an investor. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Hello. Am I audible?
operator
Yes ma’. Am. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Thank you for this opportunity. Sorry I missed the first part of the call, but can I have A volume for the quarter, for loops and for the AS move separately Also can you help me with the battery business turnover please?
Manish Kumar Gangwal
Yes. So we mentioned in the opening remarks Nisha that it is 41,000 kilo core lubricant volume for the quarter and addo is 38,000 kl. And the battery turnover which you always ask is around 16 crore for this quarter.
Ravi Chawla
I think you have been tracking it quite diligently every call.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, I think the AdBlue business is quite growing at a very substantial number and which is very great. So is there any part of the strategies discussion or any part of the intentional thing that we are doing around ad? Because it is almost as equal to the loops business that we are doing as of now?
Ravi Chawla
No, no. We report it separately so that you are aware of both.
Unidentified Participant
Last question. Sir, any update around the data coding products that we have been developing as we were updating into the last call?
Ravi Chawla
No, no. So we have, we have mentioned that it’s a segment which we believe is an important segment but a very small segment. So we are preparing for that. No other announcement on that.
Unidentified Participant
Sure. Thank you sir. Thank you.
operator
Thank you ma’. Am. The next question is from the line of Angad from Samiksha Capital. Please go ahead.
Angad Katdare
One just a follow up on the previous participants question on Admiral volume on yoy basis this quarter AD Blue saw flattish growth. How do you see that going forward?
Manish Kumar Gangwal
Yes, overall we believe that on a full year basis we will continue to grow 10 to 15% in Adloo.
Angad Katdare
And any reason for flattish growth this quarter?
Manish Kumar Gangwal
Last year quarter one we had some special promotion schemes which were not there in this quarter. So that is why it is looking flattish. But overall our trajectory and objective is to keep growing this at 10 15% for the next few years.
Angad Katdare
And sir, what are the total advertisement.
Manish Kumar Gangwal
Spend in single it’s in the range of 3 to 4% which we have been guiding. In a quarter like this where we had a slightly higher anp it is towards the higher band of this range and in a quarter which is a normal quarter we are towards the lower band of this range. But it is in that trajectory of. 3 to 4%.
Angad Katdare
To assume it will stay at the higher end for the rest of the year.
Manish Kumar Gangwal
No, it will be in the band of 3 to 4% only.
Angad Katdare
Okay. Okay. Thank you.
Ravi Chawla
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. Sir, the next question is from the line of Shweta Sharma, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah. Hello. Thank you for the opportunity. So given recent industry moves such as Shell Lubricants acquiring Raj Petro and Dior. Partnering with Bengali Industries to expand in the Indian lubricants market. Are there any acquisition or strategic partnership plans in place for Gulf Oil lubricants India in the near future?
Manish Kumar Gangwal
So we keep evaluating, you know, segments and particularly the niche product categories both within mainly in industrial segment and all. But as of now, nothing on the horizon which we are in a position to announce.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, thank you for the answer. Wish you all the best for the next quarter.
Ravi Chawla
Thank you.
operator
Thank you, ma’. Am. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask a question please press star and one now. Participants who wish to ask questions may please press star and one at this time. The next question is from the line of Hardik Solanki from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Hardik Solanki
Thank you sir for the opportunity. So just want to know, the blended. Realization for this quarter has moved sharply. So just want to know whether there. Was a price hike or it was. Because of the female minimization or product mix change. How is.
Manish Kumar Gangwal
Is also mainly because of the product mix and segment mix. Plus since the core lubricant volume has grown much higher than AdBlue. AdBlue was flattish and core lubricant grew by 11%. Partly reflection of that.
Hardik Solanki
But no price hike was taken during the quarter, right?
Manish Kumar Gangwal
No specific price size was taken during the quarter.
Hardik Solanki
Okay, thanks.
operator
Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask a question please press star and one now. Participants who wish to ask questions may please press star and one at this time. The next question is from the line of Prabhul Singh from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Probal Sen
Yeah, thank you sir. I’ll take the opportunity to ask a few questions. For more questions. The first question was with respect to. The tie up with Nayara and just wanted to understand this whole controversy around the refinery actually getting sanctioned by EU as part of the sanction from Russia on the ground. Do you see that impacting their India operations at all and thereby our partnership in any way or is it too. I mean it really does just impact their short market and therefore the domestic business remains unexpected. Just your views on that?
Manish Kumar Gangwal
See Mr. Prabal, currently it’s a very, very small portion of our overall, you know, overall volumes and impact on us. We are closely in the situation so we’ll. We’ll be closely watching the situation on development.
Probal Sen
That the battery business will be thought to be built up and you know, more of attention will be.
Manish Kumar Gangwal
Can’t hear you properly, Prabhas. There’s a lot of background noise.
Probal Sen
Is this better, sir?
Manish Kumar Gangwal
Yes. Yes.
Probal Sen
Yeah. Sir, I was Talking about the battery business, Ravi sir had earlier mentioned about the strategic thrust on creating a manufacturing ecosystem to grow this business mode. Just wanted to hear your thoughts if anything is moved on that front or you know what we are thinking about it.
Ravi Chawla
So this, this, you are importing this battery? We still are importing but we have toll manufacturing which we are getting the battery paid locally. So that is also, that is already being part of the supplies that we get from the toll manufacturer. So that is on. So we are localizing it because that gives us a better security in terms of our product and our cost. Hello?
Probal Sen
Yeah, understood sir. And the last question I had was, you know, I think this was asked in some way earlier as well that some of the private competitors have also started to sort of focus on their volumes and the OMCs anyways have been speaking about unlocking value by listing the lubricant business. So in view of your competitive landscape, do we see that our ad spends and our SGNA expenses will probably continue to rise a little bit to sort of keep up with maybe higher competition or increased penetration of other players as well? Again, I’m just asking because the run rate this quarter as you rightly mentioned has gone up.
But whether we should assume this run rate again or it normalizing back over the next few quarters. Just your thoughts on this.
Ravi Chawla
You see if you take our investments in our brand, if you take a decade ago or little earlier, it was 6 to 7% of our revenue. Now because our revenue has gone up. And also the brand metrics, if you, we know we study those have gone up quite well. So we are among the top three brands we believe in the, in the industry close. You know, we have got the investments over last 15, 20 years and therefore we will have to calibrate what we want to do. And currently the ANP is at about 3 to 4% which we have been seeing because our revenue is also going up.
So it’s not that we don’t spend more, but it’s a percentage of our revenue and we calibrated based on what our plans are and also what we feel we want to do in terms of both the consumer influencer, the other btl, ETL and other things. So this is a very planned approach which we have taken for many years consistently and we will continue doing that. The competition is going to have a different spend level. Obviously our brand has already reached a position so we’ll have to weigh and see the factors as to how we want to move that up or keep it in the position it is so that’s a call which you normally businesses take based on what is the competitive scenario and objectives.
Probal Sen
Understood sir. All the best and congratulations on a good set of markets.
Ravi Chawla
Thank you. Thank you.
operator
Thank you sir. The next question is from the line of Shweta Sharma, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Yes, so my follow up question is on the recently the PM E drive scheme was extended up to March 31, 2028. So how do we look to capital on this opportunity?
Manish Kumar Gangwal
You see it will help definitely the EV penetration and as we have seen in certain segments in EV it was already starting to flattening and hopefully with this extension and those, you know, the growth levels in the EV will be continuing and that should help our charger business per se. Direct benefit in the PME drive on charger segment is mainly on the CPU side and not on the manufacturing side as we understand today. But having said that, the indirect benefit will definitely be there. At the same time we believe and we continue to emphasize that in spite of EV growing at certain pace, the lubricant business will continue to grow at 3 to 4% in India for at least more than 15, 20 years.
So we don’t see any challenge on the lubricant side. But ev, PME drive or any other incentive schemes are helpful for our charger business.
Unidentified Participant
And when could we expect the EBITDA margin to rise above the current levels?
Manish Kumar Gangwal
You are talking of the lubricant business or EV business?
Unidentified Participant
EV business, sir.
Manish Kumar Gangwal
EV is a very small nascent business right now. So there are a lot of cost and we keep, you know, putting a lot of efforts and investments in brand R and D manpower and service network to be created. So there is lot of cost sitting in that. But if we keep growing our revenues like what we have done in this quarter at 163% and still maintaining an EBITDA positive level, we are quite hopeful that with the increase in revenues we will be able to achieve the similar EBITDA percentage as lubricant in next three to four years.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, that’s it from my side, sir. Thank you.
Ravi Chawla
Thank you.
operator
Thank you ma’. Am. The next question is from the line of Heena Parekh, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Hello. Hi sir, I just had one question. So on the rural markets, the rural markets have been showing promise with companies expanding into these markets, witnessing good offline growth. So how much of the rural markets have been penetrated by us?
Ravi Chawla
So we have automotive distributors and below that for many years we’ve been having Gulf rural stockists. So we are growing in these areas also in terms of our distribution and rural has always been part of our focused efforts to increase distribution and we have seen always a double digit kind of growth in this segment and it continues in quarter one. So you we are obviously present in all kinds of metros, tier one, tier two and rural and we see also great opportunity there. So that’s where again our brand is there, our activities are there and we are seeing agri and motorcycle which is used quite a lot in these segments gaining a lot of traction.
So definitely that’s an area of growth for us and we are one of the companies who are very organized approach to this segment.
Unidentified Participant
Correct sir, thank you so much.
Ravi Chawla
Thank you ma’. Am.
operator
Thank you ma’. Am. As there are no further questions from the participants, I now hand the conference over to management for closing comments.
Ravi Chawla
Thank you everyone for being part of the call. I hope you’ve been able to answer your questions well just as an outlook definitely would like to just say that this has been a record quarter again and we also now looking at a capacity expansion. Our mobility business is going well. We’ve been the first quarter has a strong momentum, July, August, September is a monsoon quarter so slightly low in terms of demand overall but I think the momentum is present. We will continue our going to the next level. Definitely our teams are confident, passionate and shared purpose has always been one of our drivers and commitment has always been a key aspect of our business.
2 to 3x industry volumes growth and the margin band of 12 to 14% is always been our mantra and we are trying to premiumize, accelerate, transform our business. So we are focusing on that and as we have told you we are been trying to lead the market growth, gain market share, improve our mix, continue our marketing initiatives, focus on margin management, profitable and sustainable growth across all our segments. As I mentioned all rounder segments and certainly we have a good presence in diesel engine oil and mco but we are looking at higher aggressive growth from segments all the other segments where our market share is less than 5% like industrial passenger cars.
So I think the focus is there and the focus is also there on increasing distribution. But both in urban and rural we see a huge scope to grow our presence in distribution and also market shares and we’ll continue our investment in customer centric branding and we are advancing strategically, continue to remain focused on consumer and influencer engagements, enhancing our product portfolio, people development, building capabilities. Of course sustainability is a big agenda and continue our growth in Core and EV segments and AdBlue. So we are happy to tell you that the growth momentum is very good.
And we hope that next quarter we can share with you the continued momentum. Thank you so much.
operator
Thank you, sir. On behalf of ICICI Securities Limited, that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us. And you may now disconnect your lines.