Piccadily FY26: Distillery-led growth crosses INR1,000 crore

Piccadily Agro Industries reported a landmark FY26, crossing INR1,000 crore in annual total income while expanding its distillery footprint. For FY26, total income stood at INR1,142.9 crore, up 28.0 percent year on year. EBITDA rose 27.1 percent to INR243.3 crore and PAT increased 33.4 percent to INR139.6 crore.

The quarter also stayed strong. Q4 FY26 total income rose 32.8 percent year on year to INR363.6 crore. EBITDA grew 11.4 percent to INR76.1 crore and PAT increased 13.8 percent to INR45.9 crore. However, Q4 EBITDA margin reduced to 22.6 percent, reflecting mix movement and the seasonal impact of sugar.

Distillery accelerates, sugar weakens

FY26 performance was driven by the distillery vertical. Standalone distillery revenue grew 41.7 percent year on year to INR902.1 crore. Sugar revenue declined 6.6 percent to INR233.0 crore. The presentation highlights that distillery margins improved, while the sugar segment remained structurally volatile.

In the company’s five-year revenue composition table, the business mix has shifted sharply toward branded spirits. IMFL revenue rose to INR502 crore in FY26, and sugar’s share reduced to 20.5 percent.

Premiumisation shows up in margins and mix

The company’s EBITDA margin by business table shows a widening gap between the distillery and sugar segments. FY26 distillery EBITDA margin was 31.5 percent, up 130 bps year on year, while sugar EBITDA margin was -4.6 percent.

The strategic narrative is consistent across the presentation and the earnings call: Piccadily is migrating from bulk and commodity-linked revenues toward a branded, premium portfolio. The IMFL segment recorded 48 percent volume growth in FY26. Management also highlighted multiple product launches across Indri, Cashmir and other labels over the year.

FY27 set up for utilisation-driven growth

A key FY26 milestone was execution on capacity expansion. Management stated the Indri distillery expansion and the new Chhattisgarh greenfield facility were completed within budgeted cost estimates.

The Indri, Haryana expansion increased ENA and ethanol capacity from 78 KLPD to 220 KLPD and malt capacity from 12 KLPD to 30 KLPD. The Mahasamund, Chhattisgarh facility added 200 KLPD capacity for ENA and ethanol. Management expects monetisation benefits to build through FY27 as utilisation increases.

In the conference call, management guided that FY27 could see 60 to 70 percent value growth in the overall alco-bev business. The CFO also quantified expected FY27 revenue contribution from the newly added capacities, citing about INR250 to 300 crore from Indri-linked capacity and about INR300 to 400 crore from Chhattisgarh.

Capex for FY27 was guided at not more than INR25 to 30 crore, largely for barrels, warehousing expansion and some bottling upgrades.

Corporate actions: sugar demerger and balance sheet updates

Management stated it has filed a scheme with SEBI to demerge the sugar business into a new entity, with an expectation to complete the process by FY27, subject to approvals and NCLT process. The stated rationale is to focus capital and management bandwidth on the alco-bev business.

During FY26, the company also strengthened its balance sheet through equity-linked actions. Warrants aggregating INR50 crore were fully subscribed by investors and another INR50 crore by promoters, and CCDs aggregating INR212 crore were converted into equity shares.

The call also discussed working capital. Management attributed higher short-term borrowings to higher receivables driven by IMFL growth and an increase of about INR100 crore in malt inventory.

Takeaways

FY26 confirms the company’s shift toward a distillery and branded spirits-led growth model, with strong revenue expansion and improving distillery profitability. FY27 is positioned as a utilisation-led year with explicit growth guidance and expected monetisation from new capacity. The announced sugar demerger signals a sharper strategic focus, while working capital and segment volatility in sugar remain key operational watchpoints.