Chairman and Managing Director Raghupathi Singhania said the capex outlay will help the company increase capacity by about a quarter – signaling a key bet on continued demand in the passenger and commercial vehicle segments. Singhania was speaking on a media call to discuss the quarterly and annual financial results.
JK Tire posted a strong performance for the March quarter and FY26. Net profit rose 94% in the three months ended March to Rs. 199 crores. Consolidated revenue increased by 12% to Rs. 4,233 crores. Ebitda increased by 42% to Rs. 546 crore, the margin expanded to 12.9%.
Net profit for FY26 rose 52% to Rs. 786 crores. Consolidated revenue rose 11% to a record ₹16,384 crore, while Ebitda rose 25% to Rs 2,089 crore and margin to 10.8%.
The latest expansion plan—spanning three phases by December 2029—will be heavily weighted towards Chennai, with around 90% of the investment deployed at the facility there, mainly to expand passenger car radial (PCR) capacity. The rest will go towards expansion of truck-bus radial (TBR) capacity at the Mysore facility.
Live events
“We have planned this expansion because we are looking at future demand… we expect demand generation to be quite healthy,” Singhania said.
JK Tire already has a PCR and TBR capacity of Rs. 1,130 crore expansion, which is set to be commissioned by the December quarter, its plants are running at 95% utilization.
Premium tires – rims 16 inches and above – currently account for 35% of the mix, up from 26%, with a target to cross 50% after expansion.
Meanwhile the company continues to struggle like other tire makers in the country. The conflict in West Asia has increased raw material prices by 15-20% in the current quarter. JK tire prices have increased by 4-5% in the replacement market and are gearing up for another round of hikes of around 6%. “Even then, the Ebitda margin will be affected this quarter as the rise (in raw material prices) is very steep,” Singhania warned.
(You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)