Relaxo vs Bata — which is fundamentally better?

Relaxo's Q1 FY27 was encouraging: revenue increased 7.7% to ₹705 crore, EBITDA rose 8.8% to ₹108 crore, and PAT increased 12.4% to ₹54.9 crore. EBITDA margin improved to 15.4%. The company is also modernising manufacturing facilities and targeting further expansion of its exclusive-brand-store network. A key positive for Relaxo is that profit is growing faster than revenue, indicating better operating leverage/product mix. Its portfolio is also diversified across mass and mid-market footwear through Sparx, Flite and Relaxo. However, production capacity has temporarily been recalibrated from about 10.5 lakh to 9.1 lakh pairs/day during manufacturing modernisation, while raw-material prices remain a risk.