Varun Beverages Ltd. (VBL), PepsiCo’s largest franchise bottler outside the US, delivered a strong second-quarter performance powered by its international business, with overseas sales volumes growing nearly three times faster than its India operations.
International volumes surged 38.4% year-on-year during the June quarter, compared with 14.4% growth in India, lifting consolidated sales volumes by 19.8% to 466.7 million cases. The overseas expansion was supported by the addition of 11.8 million cases from Twizza, the South African beverage company acquired earlier this year.
The strong volume growth and improved realisations in overseas markets helped VBL post a 20.4% increase in consolidated net revenue to ₹8,451.2 crore, while net profit rose 15.1% to ₹1,525.4 crore during the quarter.
Chairman Ravi Jaipuria said the international business continued to gain momentum, with the Twizza acquisition strengthening the company’s manufacturing capacity and route-to-market capabilities in South Africa. He added that VBL has also signed an agreement to acquire the business of Devyani Food Industries (Kenya), providing an established distribution network to expand its carbonated soft drinks and energy drinks portfolio across East Africa.
Despite an uneven summer season that kept April largely subdued, the India business maintained healthy double-digit volume growth of 14.4%, supported by an expanded manufacturing network, wider distribution reach and continued investments in chilling infrastructure.
While consolidated EBITDA margin narrowed by 76 basis points to 27.7% due to the relatively lower-margin Twizza business, gross margin improved by 44 basis points to 55%, reflecting the growing contribution of international operations.
The company also strengthened its long-term strategic position by extending its exclusive PepsiCo bottling agreement in India until 2049, with revised terms providing greater operational flexibility. In addition, VBL entered into a franchise agreement with Japan’s Asahi Group to introduce the CALPIS fermented dairy beverage brand in India, marking its entry into the value-added dairy beverages segment.
The quarter underscores VBL’s accelerating transformation from a predominantly India-focused bottler into a diversified international beverage player, with overseas markets emerging as a key driver of its future growth trajectory.