Brands
Bajaj Holdings profit soars to Rs 2,181 crore in Q2
MUMBAI: Bajaj Holdings is cruising in the fast lane of profits. The investment arm of the Bajaj Group reported a standalone profit after tax of Rs 2,180.76 crore for the quarter ended 30 September 2025, driven by robust dividend income and gains from its stake sale in Bajaj Finserv.
The company’s total income jumped to Rs 2,514.07 crore in Q2 FY26, up sharply from Rs 1,142.67 crore in the same quarter last year. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 2,501.15 crore, powered by a whopping Rs 2,204.95 crore in dividend income and Rs 143.95 crore in fair value gains.
A key highlight of the quarter was an exceptional gain of Rs 1,982.99 crore from the sale of equity shares in Bajaj Finserv, which significantly lifted earnings.
Expenses remained modest at Rs 50.38 crore, ensuring a hefty profit before tax of Rs 2,463.69 crore.
For the half year ended September 2025, Bajaj Holdings posted a total income of Rs 2,821.75 crore and a net profit of Rs 4,216.50 crore, compared with Rs 1,117.12 crore in the same period last year.
The company’s earnings per share stood at Rs 195.9 for the quarter, nearly double the Rs 94.4 reported a year ago.
With dividend income flowing strong and strategic investments paying off, Bajaj Holdings seems to be living up to its name, holding firm and cashing in big.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
