• EBITDA margin guidance: Management aims to keep EBITDA margins within its guided 21% to 24% range, noting that Q2 exceeded this target and Q3 faces cost pressures from raw material inflation.
• Pricing action strategy: Castrol India took a low single-digit price increase in the second quarter to cover input inflation, and it will evaluate further calibrated price increases if raw material costs accelerate.
• Rural expansion focus: The company is expanding its rural distribution to capture two-wheeler demand, where two out of three new two-wheelers are sold, establishing approximately 950 rural service express centers.
• Segment demand drivers: Volume expanded across consumer, institutional, and industrial businesses, driven by urban demand for premium SUVs, rural two-wheeler uptake, and logistics-driven commercial vehicle growth.