Consumer electronics major LG India is eyeing double-digit revenue and margin growth in the second half of FY26 on the back of better market conditions, chief sales officer Sanjay Chitkara told FE.
The company had reported underwhelming numbers in Q2 on Thursday, prompting the stock to fall over 5% intra-day on Friday, which was its steepest drop since listing a month ago. While the net profit declined 27% during the quarter, revenue growth was nearly flat amid GST transition issues, higher costs and deferment of purchases by consumers. Ebitda margins shrank 350 basis points to 8.9% from 12.4% reported last year.
Chitkara said the GST challenges are behind it and that the company is looking to revert back to double-digit growth on topline and bottomline. In the last three years, for instance, LG has delivered around 13% in terms of compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) on topline. Ebitda margins have hovered around 12-13% and profit growth has been about 23%, sector analysts said.
“There was a temporary pause in purchases by consumers from the time of announcement of GST on August 15 to September 22, when implementation finally happened. However, we quickly capitalised on the momentum during Navratri and did manage to cover ground, which is why there is a marginal growth (of 1%) in topline (in Q2). Having said that, we see the scenario improving in the second half, with channel inventories being stable now,” he said.
The onset of winter and the wedding season in Q3 is also expected to help improve demand conditions, aiding sales growth in the second half, he said.
The company is also looking to maintain its momentum on market share after reporting gains in the first nine months of the 2025 calendar year. For instance, LG saw its TV market share improve by 1.4% y-o-y to 27.5% between January and September 2025, while refrigerator market share improved by 1% to 29.9% and AC market share improved by 0.5% to 17.3%, Chitkara said. Washing machine share, on the other hand, was stable at 23.4%, he said.
LG had also passed on the GST rate reduction in terms of price drops on ACs, TVs and dishwashers to consumers, though it had taken marginal price hikes of about 1.5-2% in categories such as washing machines and refrigerators to deal with elevated material costs during the quarter. GST on ACs, TVs and dishwashers was rationalised to 18% from 28% earlier, bringing these categories on par with washing machines and refrigerators, which attract a similar tax rate.
Offtake of premium products, Chitkara said, was better than mass and mid-level products during the quarter, as consumers opted to quickly upgrade once the GST implementation happened. Other boosters included festive season demand, he added.
