Brands
Voltas posts Q3 profit as cooling business offsets project pressures
MUMBAI: The heat may have eased, but the numbers are still warm. Voltas Limited reported a mixed but resilient performance for the quarter ended December 31, 2025, navigating seasonal shifts and project pressures while remaining firmly in profit.
For the December quarter, consolidated revenue from operations rose to Rs 3,070.8 crore, up from Rs 2,347.3 crore in the previous quarter, aided by stronger traction in its Unitary Cooling Products business. Total income for the quarter stood at Rs 3,119.6 crore, compared with Rs 2,411.9 crore in Q2 FY26.
Profit before tax came in at Rs 115.8 crore, more than doubling sequentially from Rs 54.1 crore in the September quarter, even as finance costs edged up to Rs 31.1 crore. Net profit attributable to owners of the company stood at Rs 84.9 crore, reversing a loss of Rs 134.3 crore in the previous quarter, when results were weighed down by adverse inventory movements and segment volatility.
For the nine months ended December 31, 2025, Voltas posted revenue from operations of Rs 9,279.5 crore, compared with Rs 10,592.4 crore in the corresponding period last year. Total income for the nine-month period stood at Rs 9,552.2 crore. Net profit for the period came in at Rs 600.4 crore, down from Rs 710.9 crore a year earlier, reflecting pressure in project-led businesses and higher cost intensity.
Segment-wise, the Unitary Cooling Products division remained the star performer, generating Rs 1,924.2 crore in revenue during the quarter and Rs 6,007.2 crore over nine months, benefitting from consumer demand and pricing discipline. The Electro-Mechanical Projects and Services segment delivered quarterly revenue of Rs 974.2 crore, while Engineering Products and Services contributed Rs 156.6 crore, both continuing to face margin and execution challenges.
At the end of December 2025, total consolidated assets stood at Rs 13,005.1 crore, with total liabilities at Rs 6,498.9 crore, underlining a stable balance sheet despite earnings volatility.
With cooling products cushioning the impact of softer project execution, Voltas’ latest numbers underline a familiar story: seasonal businesses may ebb and flow, but disciplined execution continues to keep the Tata Group company in the game even when the temperature drops.
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.
