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How VBL is fighting competition
Mint Chennai
|May 02, 2025
Sweet and sour
Varun Beverages Ltd (VBL) has chosen to fight the war of reach instead of pricing in India's soft drinks market. The PepsiCo bottler clocked a 30% year-on-year consolidated volume growth in the March quarter (Q1CY25), led by 15.5% organic growth in India and a deepening presence in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
"Strong double-digit volume growth in India with margin expansion should allay investor concerns around Reliance's Campa, a key positive in Q1," analysts at Jefferies India said in a report on 30 April, referring to Reliance's disruptive pricing.
"Although Q2CY25 is quite important from a seasonality perspective." India Ebitda margin rose 11 basis points (bps) to 24.9% due to operational efficiencies, aided by volume growth. Its consolidated revenue increased 29% in Q1CY25, encouraging it to guide for a double-digit growth for CY25. This despite rivals splurging on campaigns in the Indian Premier League and sweetening trade margins.
This story is from the May 02, 2025 edition of Mint Chennai.
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