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EPL Limited, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of laminated tubes, is undergoing a significant transformation beyond its traditional toothpaste-tube business. The company delivered record revenue growth of 25.3% year on year in Q1 FY27, while maintaining an underlying EBITDA margin of 19.6% despite volatile commodity prices.
The headline numbers are impressive, but the more important story is happening underneath them. EPL is gradually shifting its business mix toward Beauty & Cosmetics, Personal Care & Beyond, and sustainable packaging, reducing its dependence on traditional oral-care applications.
EPL Delivers Record 25.3% Revenue Growth
For the quarter ended June 30, 2026, EPL reported revenue of ₹13,879 million, representing a 25.3% increase from the same period a year earlier.
The company said this was its highest-ever quarterly top-line growth and marked the fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth. Even after excluding the impact of higher raw-material prices passed through to customers, underlying revenue growth remained strong at 20%.
That distinction is important because it indicates that EPL’s growth was not simply the result of higher selling prices. Volume expansion, customer additions and a changing product mix also contributed to the company’s momentum.
The 19.6% Margin Tells a Bigger Story
EPL’s EBITDA increased 15.2% year on year to ₹2,612 million during Q1 FY27.
Reported EBITDA margin stood at 18.8%, compared with an underlying EBITDA margin of 19.6% after adjusting for the impact of raw-material price pass-through. The company said it was able to recover higher input costs through pricing actions across its markets.
The ability to protect underlying margins while delivering rapid revenue growth is one of the key elements investors are watching.
EPL has also maintained its longer-term commitment to an underlying EBITDA margin of around 20%, while raising its revenue-growth outlook to the high-teens for the coming quarters.
The Hidden Shift: EPL Is Moving Beyond Toothpaste Tubes
The most significant development may not be the 25.3% growth figure itself. It is the changing composition of EPL’s business.
Personal Care & Beyond now accounts for 54% of EPL’s portfolio, compared with 43% in FY19. The category grew 25.1% year on year in Q1 FY27, reaching quarterly revenue of approximately ₹7,004 million.
This shows how EPL is increasingly positioning itself as a broader consumer-packaging company rather than simply a tube manufacturer associated with toothpaste.
The strategy gives the company exposure to categories such as cosmetics, personal care and other consumer products where packaging requirements can be more specialized and potentially offer stronger growth opportunities.
Beauty & Cosmetics Emerges as a Key Growth Engine
Beauty & Cosmetics is becoming increasingly important to EPL’s transformation.
The segment recorded 23.6% year-on-year growth during Q1 FY27, while Oral Care grew 23.9%. The broad-based performance suggests that EPL is benefiting from growth across both its traditional core and newer categories.
The company has also been expanding its customer base in Beauty & Cosmetics. Recent investments in manufacturing capabilities, tooling, innovation centres and value-added processes have supported the company’s efforts to gain new customers and increase wallet share.
This is strategically important because beauty and personal-care packaging can provide opportunities for premiumization, design differentiation and higher-value products.
Growth Is Broad-Based Across Regions
EPL’s growth is not concentrated in a single market.
During Q1 FY27, the East Asia Pacific region grew 34.3%, followed by the Americas at 29.4%, Europe at 20.2%, India at 19.9% and AMESA at 17%. Every region therefore delivered double-digit revenue growth.
This geographic diversification provides EPL with a broader growth base and reduces its reliance on any single market.
For a global packaging manufacturer, such diversification can also help balance variations in consumer demand, currency movements and regional economic conditions.
Sustainable Tubes Become More Important
Another important part of EPL’s transformation is sustainability.
Sustainable tube formats accounted for 44% of total sales during Q1 FY27, highlighting the growing role of environmentally focused packaging solutions in the company’s portfolio.
The shift reflects changing consumer preferences as well as increasing pressure on consumer-goods companies to reduce packaging waste and improve recyclability.
EPL also received an EcoVadis Platinum rating, placing it among the top 1% of companies globally for sustainability performance, according to company-reported information.
Why the 25.3% Growth Matters
EPL’s 25.3% revenue growth becomes more meaningful when viewed alongside its underlying 20% growth and nearly 20% EBITDA margin.
The company has demonstrated that it can pass through significant raw-material cost increases while continuing to expand revenue. That combination is particularly important in a manufacturing business where commodity volatility can quickly pressure profitability.
At the same time, the difference between revenue growth and EBITDA growth shows that cost inflation and pricing dynamics remain important factors to monitor.
The company’s ability to maintain its margin target while continuing to invest in capacity will therefore be crucial in determining whether the current momentum can continue.
Indovida Merger Could Accelerate the Transformation
EPL’s strategic shift could receive another boost from its planned merger with Indovida.
The proposed transaction is expected to create a consumer-packaging entity with approximately $1 billion in revenue and a combined valuation of around $2 billion, subject to the necessary approvals. EPL has already received Competition Commission of India approval and antitrust clearances across several international jurisdictions.
The merger is designed to expand EPL’s capabilities beyond tubes and create a broader consumer-packaging platform in emerging markets.
If completed successfully, the combination could provide additional scale, product capabilities and opportunities for cross-selling.
Profit Growth Remains a Point to Watch
Despite strong operating performance, EPL’s bottom line presented a more mixed picture.
Profit before tax increased 10% year on year, while profit after tax declined 1.4%. The company attributed the PAT decline mainly to an unusually low effective tax rate in the corresponding period of the previous year. Management expects the tax impact to normalize over the full financial year.
Therefore, investors may place greater emphasis on operating performance and underlying profitability rather than interpreting the quarterly PAT decline in isolation.
What Investors Should Watch Next
The key question for EPL is whether it can sustain its rapid growth without sacrificing margins.
Several factors will be important:
- Whether revenue growth remains in the high-teens range.
- Whether underlying EBITDA margins can approach the company’s 20% target.
- How quickly Beauty & Cosmetics and Personal Care & Beyond continue to expand.
- The adoption rate of sustainable tube formats.
- The impact of raw-material price volatility.
- Progress on the Indovida merger.
- Whether strong growth translates into improved cash generation and returns on capital.
The company entered FY27 with significant momentum, but maintaining that performance across multiple quarters will be the real test.
EPL’s 25.3% Q1 FY27 revenue growth and 19.6% underlying EBITDA margin reveal more than a strong quarter—they highlight a fundamental shift in the company’s business model.
The world’s leading laminated tube manufacturer is increasingly positioning itself as a broader consumer-packaging company, with Personal Care & Beyond already representing 54% of its portfolio and sustainable tubes accounting for 44% of sales.
With Beauty & Cosmetics growing rapidly, all regions delivering double-digit growth and the proposed Indovida merger potentially expanding its addressable market, EPL’s next phase could be less about toothpaste tubes and more about becoming a diversified global packaging platform.
The central challenge will be whether EPL can convert its current 25.3% growth momentum into sustainable high-teens growth while protecting its 20% underlying EBITDA margin target.
