Cosmo First’s Q1 revenue grew 46%, but sales volumes grew only 9%. Most of the gap is higher raw-material prices passed on to customers, which inflates revenue without adding profit.
Measured per kilogram, though, profitability did improve, and the company says its ₹1,200 cr capex cycle is now done. Below are our notes on what’s structural, what’s one-time, and what to check when Q2 results come out., but before that:
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Revenue up 46%, volumes up 9%. What actually grew at Cosmo First
Q1 FY27 in numbers (consolidated)
The margin fell, but that’s mainly arithmetic. When raw-material costs rise and are passed through, revenue grows faster than profit, so the margin percentage shrinks even if profit per unit sold is unchanged.
Management’s preferred measure is EBITDA per kg. EBITDA grew 26% on 9% more volume, which works out to about 15% more EBITDA per kg. Other income also fell to about ₹11 cr from ₹25 cr a year ago, so the operating improvement is better than the PAT growth suggests.
Film margins: what’s structural and what isn’t
- Base BOPP’s jump to ₹30 includes an inventory gain. When raw-material prices rise, stock bought earlier at lower prices gets sold at the new, higher prices. Management called this non-repetitive but didn’t say how much of the ₹30 it accounts for. Excluding it, they said BOPP margins were “largely flat.”
- Specialty is the stable core. Specialty margins have held above ₹60/kg for five straight quarters. Specialty and semi-specialty films reached 61% of volume, the highest in five quarters, and specialty volume grew 12%. The target is 70%.
- BOPET margins halved quarter-on-quarter. The segment is small (30,000 tonnes of capacity versus 277,000 tonnes of BOPP), and management expects the recently imposed anti-dumping duty to help
Why volumes grew only 9%
- Port congestion: Exports are about half of revenue. Export sales are booked only when the bill of lading is issued, and congestion left an unusually large volume in transit. Export volume fell 13% in the quarter.
- Maintenance: One line was down for a couple of thousand tonnes.
- Tough base: The new BOPP line started mid-Q1 last year, which flatters the year-ago comparison less than it might seem
Management expects some of the in-transit volume to show up in Q2. Film plants ran at 85% utilization, and the 15% headroom is expected to fill over the next two quarters.
Debt: the ratio is improving faster than the debt itself
- Net debt was ₹1,166 cr at end-June, flat versus March even though working capital absorbed ₹85 cr.
- Net debt-to-EBITDA improved to 2.3x from 2.9x a year ago. Most of that came from higher EBITDA. In absolute terms, net debt is slightly higher than June 2025 (₹1,140 cr).
- Targets: below 2x within 12 months (call) or 12–18 months (deck), and a ₹400–500 cr debt reduction over two years as capex stays limited
What management guided
- FY27 revenue: growth of about 20%, with profit growing in line. The four newer businesses are expected to grow about 60%.
- ROCE: from 11% in FY26 to 15–20% within 12–24 months.
- US business: growth of 25–30% after US tariffs on Indian imports were rolled back. The US subsidiary received a refund of about $7 million in July, which hasn’t been booked yet because part of it may be owed to customers.
- Renewable power: ₹25 cr of annual savings, none of it in Q1 yet. One project starts in Q3, the other in Q1 FY28.
- Long term: each of the five businesses could reach ₹500–1,000 cr of revenue in 5–6 years.
We track companies with solid balance sheets, low-key execution, before they show up on everyone’s radar — and break down the numbers that actually matter in our research.
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Ekansh Mittal
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