Biscuit maker Britannia Industries has sharply cut its capital expenditure for FY26 to around Rs 100 crore, sharply lower by nearly 77 percent compared to Rs 436.89 crore a year ago, stating that the large investments made last year had created sufficient capacity, resulting in focus this year to be on maintenance.
“We had a large capex last year, and we don’t expect too many large outlays this year—it’s going to be a normal capex year, likely around Rs 100 crore,” said Varun Berry, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Britannia Industries, while speaking to analysts after the Q1FY26 earnings. Read More
This is significantly lower than the historical average capital expenditure of Rs 600-650 crore over the past four to five years.
During the Q3FY25 analyst call, the company indicated a capex of about Rs 150–200 crore for FY26, emphasising that with three new manufacturing plants now operational, the capex would be kept as low as possible.
Last year, Britannia had expanded key operations in Tamil Nadu and Bihar and scaled up its Ranjangaon facility. “We added a line in Bihar, some lines in Tamil Nadu, and did significant capex in Ranjangaon; this year, it will be more of a maintenance capex,” said Varun Berry.
In FY24, Britannia had a capex of Rs 500-600 crore, largely directed towards dairy business along with Ranjangaon and Bihar facilities. FY23 saw a capital expenditure of Rs 650-700 crore, in line with FY22, when the company invested in three manufacturing units - one in Uttar Pradesh, along with expansions at Ranjangaon, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu. In FY21, amid the peak of the pandemic, capex was limited to Rs 200 crore.
Q1FY26 Performance
Britannia reported a consolidated revenue of Rs 4,101 crore in the first quarter of FY26, which was slightly higher on YoY and QoQ basis. The net profit for Q1FY26 stood at Rs 457 crore, marginally lower than Rs 457.6 crore a year ago and down from Rs 556 crore in Q4FY25. Read More
The company reported a robust double-digit growth across four focus states and in adjacent bakery categories such as rusk, wafers and croissant.
“Marginal uptick in consumption across both urban and rural markets - underpinned by moderating inflation, helped us go back to double-digit growth after the last few periods,” Berry said.
Despite the sequential dip in PAT, the company believes the environment is improving. Berry said the worst of the impact from inflation and pricing adjustments is now over, and the business is entering a more stable period. Further benefits are expected in the coming quarters due to the full impact of price increases already taken and the continuation of a low-inflation environment.
While the company has not planned any further price increases, it believes margins will grow from here. Britannia is witnessing strong traction in its digital and modern trade business where it has focused on improving presence and distribution.
“We’ve been able to gain market share in our key channels, especially in modern trade and e-commerce. Our focus on expanding our distribution and enhancing our product offerings has started to pay off,” Berry added.
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