Gokaldas Exports faces profit squeeze amid U.S. tariff bite and AGOA uncertainty

Gokaldas Exports, Bengaluru-based apparel designer and exporter, on Wednesday (November 12, 2025) reported a 71% fall in consolidated Q2 net profit at ₹8 crore as against ₹28 crore in in the corresponding period a year ago..

The company said it shared “a considerable portion of the U.S. tariff burden’’ with its key customers, however, prudent cost control and productivity gains offset some of these impacts, it added.

In Q2, the company registered a total income of ₹1,003 crore, a growth of 7% on a YoY basis. It’s operations registered a strong growth of 14% YoY against the backdrop of 2% degrowth in Indian apparel exports, while the Africa operations declined by 23% YoY, primarily due to lower volumes resulting from delayed order placements amid uncertainty surrounding AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act, a U.S. law that provides eligible sub-Saharan African countries with preferential access to the U.S. market for their exports) rollover.

Sivaramakrishnan Ganapathi, vice chairman and managing director of Gokaldas Exports in his quarterly performance commenatry said, “Our performance in Q2 was modest, impacted by low volume in our Africa business due to the AGOA rollover uncertainty, while India operations remained robust.’’

The EBITDA margins remained flat due to operating deleverage at the company’s Africa business, U.S. tariff impact, and startup costs owing to the new business/units.

“Despite the tariff overhang, the company sees a strong order book buildup in the quarters ahead for both India and its Africa business, based on a possible reinstatement of AGOA,’’ Mr. Ganapathi added.