The Chatter by Zerodha

The unpredictable nature of SGF (Settlement Guarantee Fund) charges impacts earnings volatility. Management's intent to shift towards a periodic, predictable provisioning model signals a strategy to improve earnings predictability, critical for investor confidence.

SGF (Settlement Guarantee Fund) is a reserve maintained by exchanges to cover settlement defaults

“I would now like to address the reversal of Rs. 109 crores reflected in our P&L statement for the current quarter under contribution to core SGF. As explained in the previous earnings call, BSE set aside a provision of approximately Rs. 200 crores with BSE directly contributing Rs. 53 crores to the SGF and ICCL Rs. 147 crores. Subsequently, ICCL on receiving approval from SEBI utilized surplus funds lying in the currency segment, which led to the reversal of the provision on ICCL's part. For the Quarter 4 FY '25, BSE has contributed an amount of Rs. 37.6 crores towards NSE Clearing Ltd. (NCL) leading to a net reversal of Rs. 109 crores.”
"We provided Rs.200 crores towards SGF earlier... SEBI allowed the use of currency derivatives SGF for normal SGF... We reversed provision on ICCL’s part. Rs.37 crores contributed towards NCL recently... SGF is complex; straight linear projection difficult... we are exploring periodic provisioning to improve predictability."
– Sundararaman R, MD and CEO

Highlights significant maturation in the Indian options market, driven by regulatory changes, implying more sustainable and higher-quality derivatives volumes.

“When I look at the options market, what I am seeing is there is a sort of a consolidation that is happening. From more of an expiry date product, which most of the contracts were trading, because of the multiplicity, and also because of every one day one expiry, the total economic purpose typically which any contract serves, whereby it provides the capability for people to take a directional view ahead of an event, so as to safeguard what is getting lost. With this consolidation more which has been brought in, rightfully by the regulatory process, today makes the options product somewhat getting more mature than what it was. In the case of BSE, we are clearly seeing that it is no longer an expiry day product. It is spread across the weeks. Therefore, people are able to take a view on market not just for the expiry day, but ahead of it next week, next to next week, next month, etc. If this trend continues, if more products on a monthly basis were to be looked at, then I feel the option industry will be growing more towards an alignment with the underlying market and underlying portfolios, which in my opinion could be a healthier development. Also, if you look at it from an infrastructure perspective, if it is every day expiry, every day the infrastructure being stretched to the maximum, in terms of huge and significant number of orders coming in, resulting in not so many trades, but lesser number of trades, in a way hogging the infrastructure, tiring it, increasing the infrastructure cost for no gain economically, probably gets addressed by this rationalization that the regulators have brought in. So, this is the direction I see. I therefore see more meaningful use of options, more meaningful products continuing to grow in the coming future is what I am able to see as a result of all the actions.”
– Sundararaman R, MD and CEO

In response to strategic refocusing efforts, BSE decided to divest its educational subsidiary, BSE Institute, aiming to streamline operations around its primary financial market services.

“As part of our strategic vision to concentrate on our core operations, BSE signed a share purchase agreement to sell its 100% stake in BSE Institute for a consideration of Rs. 16.9 crores to FinX. We are confident that FinX with their strategic long-term vision will complement and enhance the 30-year legacy of BSE Institute”
– Sundararaman R, MD and CEO

The common contract note, if implemented, can meaningfully reduce market-share concentration in the Indian equity market by enabling more balanced order flows between exchanges, significantly benefiting BSE.

"Regulation in India is evolving... consultation basis... we have always advocated about a level playing field... Common contract note proposed by regulators... postponed multiple times... still some participants expressed a need for further testing... we are confident the common contract note will go live soon."
– Sundararaman R, MD and CEO

The management's aggressive expansion in co-location infrastructure indicates confidence in sustained trading growth, especially in algorithmic and high-frequency trading (HFT). This capacity build-out, crucial to attract algorithmic traders, signals a strategic push to deepen liquidity and gain market share in derivatives.

"We started with almost not a great presence in co-location, and then we increased it to some 100 plus racks, and subsequently another 100 and another 100 roughly. Today we are standing at 300 racks approximately. The recent 100 has been a very recent addition... Based on needs, we are adding 200 more racks in two separate tranches... around 500 racks giving an equivalence of around 650 racks is a good number... We will augment this area based on market feedback.”
– Sundararaman R, MD and CEO

Manappuram Finance | Small Cap | Finance - NBFC

Company confident that RBI's new gold loan guidelines won't significantly impact operations:

"I have confidence that the RBI's draft guidelines on gold loans will not disrupt gold loan industry. They're largely aligned with the practices already in place across NBC's... It may introduce additional procedures in the areas such as customer verification and gold appraisals but these are unlikely to present any significant operational evidence."
– BP Nandrakumar, MD & CEO

Pricing adjustments to attract higher-ticket borrowers in certain branches:

"We are analyzing the ind sensitivity and in few branches we are making the adjustments in the yield by offering new products. The aim is to attract the slightly higher ticket borrowers also with a comparable pricing... So five lakh also from 14% level it went up to 16% above five lakh increased to 16 percentage from the earlier level of 14%."
– Bindu Aal, CFOs

Projects 20% growth this year with MFI portfolio reduction to 10%:

"We expect a growth of over 20% during the current year" and "I expect the MFI portfolio to go down to somewhere around 10% towards the end of this year." On maintaining returns despite yield pressure. We expect the yield to come down because more and more competition... We expect the borrowing cost also will go down gradually, We will leverage our capital."
– BP Nandrakumar, MD & CEO

CEO reports microfinance business AUM of ₹727 crore with stricter lending standards reducing approval rates:

"Moving to our microfinance business, the business reported an AUM of ₹727 crore. Although the microfinance sector is currently navigating challenges that may take time to resolve, I believe it is in a phase of recovery. We implemented stringent rules over and above the SRO guidelines, resulting in a lower sourcing-to-sanction rate of 34% in February 2025 from 64% in September 2024."
– BP Nandrakumar, MD & CEO

Multi Commodity Exchange of India | Small cap | Financial services

MCX highlights its status as the world’s biggest commodities options exchange:

“You know, with great pride I can say that MCX, in the year 2024, has been announced as the world's largest commodity options exchange… This is also on the back of MCX crude oil options and MCX natural gas options holding the top position in the FIA ranking, as well as MCX gold options and MCX silver options at second position. So both of this, again, indicates that India, and MCX in India as a venue, is really becoming popular at the global scale as well.“
— Praveena Rai, MD & CEO

MCX thinks there’s scope and demand for an electricity futures product, and it’s ready to bring it out. All that’s pending is regulatory approval:

“So we have full readiness from our side, and we are waiting for the right green signal to take this to market. We believe that between our indices and new products such as electricity, we will really look at significant growth in the coming time. There is reasonable volatility, there is interest from market participants, and there is also a need for this—because India is a very large market when it comes to power. In fact, it’s the third-largest market globally, both from a production and consumption standpoint.
The government’s energy security policy, which is looking at more than 500 gigawatts of renewable power getting generated in the country, and the kind of grid lines we have—and the national grid available for a very healthy supply-demand network to operate—are all leading us in the direction of the fact that this is an important area to be addressed. I think everyone is on the same page there. It’s now just a question of getting it done. We believe it’s around the corner.”
— Praveena Rai, MD & CEO

MCX offers an incredibly interesting insight on how periods of volatility — like that sparked by the Trump tariffs — improve the baseline for participation on an exchange in the long-run:

“We do see a fair amount of global volatility in the approach across markets—not only from the US, but across the world—and this will continue to have its impact with reference to how people want to hedge their price risk. But having said that, these will always be events. What we see is that experience with an event creates the exposure and familiarity needed—particularly by the end of an event, participation tends to be higher than at the beginning. So yes, the baseline goes up. The events themselves are spikes, but this year appears to be one that will offer a certain level of natural volatility. With or without that, we do see this impacting the baseline in a positive way.”
— Praveena Rai, MD & CEO

MCX is lining up a series of silver options contracts that will expire on a monthly basis:

“We also have, in the silver category, plans to launch monthly options. We had launched the 1 kg silver options in November, which are doing phenomenally well. On the 1st of April, we launched the 10g gold contract, which is also very popular with retail participants. So, we are now looking at launching micro silver options—the 30 kg, 5 kg, and 1 kg contracts. These are all in play, and they would also be coming in the shorter time frame.”
— Praveena Rai, MD & CEO

Central Depository Services | Small Cap | Financial Services

On strategy on building insurance repository business and how favourable regulations are

Insurance Repository is a centralized digital system authorized by regulators where all your insurance policies from different companies can be stored, managed, and accessed in a consolidated, secure electronic account (Electronic Insurance Account or eIA).

“The insurance repository business is also regulatory driven. The initial 10 to 12 years, we were hoping that the repository as a product would be made mandatory by the respective regulators, and we shall await and are hopeful that in future that guidelines may come in. But yes, since this is not a mandatory subject, we have been limiting our investments on this business.
But last year, there has been a lot of changes, which has happened. Apart from 3 revenue streams from which the business comes, we have now opened up the direct portal for the end policyholders to come and directly open their accounts and there has been some traction. We have not yet started marketing, digital marketing there. But yes, the voluntary growth has started coming in.”
– Latesh Shetty, CEO - Insurance Repository

One 97 Communications (PayTM) | Mid Cap | Financial Services

Paytm is strategically reducing risk exposure in personal lending by shifting operational responsibilities to lenders, a potential response to tightening credit cycles or regulatory scrutiny

“Personal loan wise, we are moving more and more towards a pure distribution model where lenders pick up their own collection obligations…
… the part where we also do collection as an obligation is something that we will bring back on the table once the market or credit cycle turns around …
… We do make the same margins, surprisingly …
… unless something bigger changes, we will not see much larger growth. While we have also started to work towards secure credit, secure based on various other items, and maybe if that grows, we will see some numbers going back…”
– Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO

Clear signal of impending monetization opportunities in UPI

“Obviously, we do not know much, and we will not like to predict how the government is looking at it, but we definitely see talks of MDR coming on UPI. And we do believe that it should show up sooner rather than later. And we do believe that based on what we're seeing in the current financial year, it could show up at any point of time.
And that would bring monetization of QR deployment, acquiring and the consumer app both.”
– Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO

A nuanced shift from aggressive user acquisition toward merchant-focused strategy, prioritizing profitability and sustainability over scale

“Users don't matter, but merchants definitely do. And I do believe that if we don't do anything and simply keep focusing on the product, this improvement has come at a dramatically lower cost than we would have spent a year back. So it is purely product improvement that is bringing it back”
– Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO

On AI replacing jobs

“I don't have a percentage, but I do want to tell you that more and more automation is coming in. Overall at large, more productivity per employee is showing up.
So we are clear about it that we will be not recruiting incrementally if somebody, let's say, goes out. So practically, it may not look like a drop, but it will continue to, as the cost of people decline, I do believe, because more and more productivity is showing up. And it is shocking to know what level of productivity can show up.”
– Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO

What’s better for monetization of UPI – UPI incentives or MDR

“UPI Incentives also have a lot of restrictions on the kind of payment they factor in. For example, they don't factor in utility merchants, this merchant, that kind of merchant. So incentive distribution of transactions and bps per transaction will not be an indication of MDR in my opinion, because MDR is a wider payment piece.”
— Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO
“One critical difference between UPI incentive and MDR is that incentive is only on transactions less than ₹2,000. So just keeping that in mind, and then obviously there will be detailing.”
— Madhur Deora, Founder & CEO

Focussing on core vs adjacencies?

“In India, we have an obligation to focus on the core, because that is what the business model has become: scalable, profitable, identified, learned, and so on and so forth. And the best part I can tell you is that we are able to see that result, as you are seeing.
And as far as adjacency and alternate is concerned, we have tried to find out software, services, software that we can expand to other fintech banks or other people, which we also found out in neighboring geographies also. So that is our alternate additional market or incremental revenue that we found out. It's very simple, no incremental, much cost, and you got more revenue on the bottom line side.”
— Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO

Cholamandalam Finance | Large Cap | Financial Services

This strategic pivot away from Fintech partnerships to proprietary digital lending highlights Chola's adaptability to regulatory shifts and its proactive risk management approach.

“In terms of Consumer and Small Enterprise Loans (CSEL), we've exited Fintech partnership businesses due to rising delinquencies after regulatory changes limiting First Loss Default Guarantees (FLDG). We are pivoting instead towards our in-house digital lending, which independently generates higher returns.
The delinquency rose because the FLDG rule changed... we decided not to pursue that business. Our in-house digital lending book is doing very well, delivering standalone ROA (Return on Assets) of over 6%.”
– Ravindra Kundu, MD & CEO

Ties company performance directly to macroeconomic (monsoon) and market-specific (SCV demand) variables, highlighting risk dependencies investors must track closely.

“Vehicle finance credit costs are highly dependent on monsoon and small commercial vehicle (SCV) utilization rates. If monsoons stay strong, credit costs can reduce notably from current levels.
We're depending heavily on monsoon and reliable performance and capacity utilization of small commercial vehicles for credit cost reduction in vehicle finance.”
– Ravindra Kundu, MD & CEO– Ravindra Kundu, MD & CEO

Management prioritizing profitability over growth, strategically shifting towards higher-margin SME products.

“As far as the SME is concerned, we have again taken one decision that supply chain finance will be reduced because the ROA in the supply chain finance is very low. And in that place, we will actually do the small term loan and equipment finance.”
– Ravindra Kundu, MD & CEO– Ravindra Kundu, MD & CEO

FMCG

Marico | Large Cap | FMCG

[Transcript]

Marico has chosen sustainable profitability over aggressive growth in its digital brands:

“There could be two different models of growth in the D2C business, one is explosive growth of 70% to 80% with a significant cash burn. And the second one, which is a calibrated growth of 20% to 30%, but a very high focus on profitability improvement.”
“And latter is what we have adopted as the approach, and we are absolutely comfortable with this, and we will continue to have this approach for the rest of the Digital businesses.”
– Pawan Agrawal, CFO

Marico is managing its digital brands in two distinct groups with different growth and profitability expectations:

“Among the acquired Digital Brands, we now have 2 distinct cohorts at different stages of their growth journey. The first cohort consists of Beardo and Plix, which are profitable at the EBITDA level and are on an accelerated growth path. We expect these two brands to cross ₹1,000 crores in combined ARR this year with a clear focus on driving operating profitability with scale. We will focus on accelerated growth in Beardo and Plix, along with further EBITDA upliftment.”
“On the other hand, Just Herbs and True Elements, though not yet at breakeven, will focus on sustainable 20% to 25% growth and leveraging scale and synergy to achieve breakeven at the earliest over the next 18 to 24 months. On an overall basis, we will also drive synergies in costs and leverage 1P data across our digital business to unlock further efficiencies.”
– Saugata Gupta, MD and CEO

Marico is rapidly expanding its premium personal care portfolio across international markets:

“I think the one big change that has happened is if you look at Bangladesh, 7-8 years ago, Parachute Coconut oil formed 90% of the business, it is now sub 60%. And as I mentioned in my opening remarks, the share of premium has now gained significant critical mass and we are growing, whether it's in shampoo, baby, we have launched shower gel and body lotion in the Middle East.”
“And the other interesting thing was we were not present within Hair Oil category in Egypt in the last couple of years, we are gaining rapid market share there which provides headroom for growth.”
– Saugata Gupta, MD and CEO

Dabur | Mid Cap | FMCG

Mohit Malhotra guides for high single-digit to near double-digit value growth in FY26.

“So, I think sequential recovery is what we are also seeing. And we should also end the year with high single digit, if not double-digit or near double-digit kind of growth for the full year. That's the guidance that we can give by looking at the macroeconomic situation at the moment.”
— Mohit Malhotra, CEO

Dabur is exiting several underperforming and margin-dilutive categories to reallocate capital.

“The categories that we will get out from is the tea category, and our baby diaper category, the sanitizing category, which actually happened and the Vita category. […] So these are the 3-4 categories that we are planning to exit.”
— Mohit Malhotra, CEO

Dabur is shifting into premiumisation after consolidating its leadership in core categories.

“Now that we've done all the gain market shares in Chyawanprash, in Honey, in Amla, in Home Care, and in Skin Care, now it's 2.0 journey to embark upon premiumisation and contemporisation.”
— Mohit Malhotra, CEO

Dabur is exiting several underperforming and margin-dilutive categories to reallocate capital

“So the categories that we will get out from is the tea category, and our baby diaper category, the sanitizing category, which actually happened and the Vita category. So we will get out of these categories and the big bold bets, which we've identified and core portfolio is where we will invest. That is one theme which actually comes out.”
— Mohit Malhotra, CEO

Company sees rural outpacing urban by 4.5 percentage points, aided by MSP hikes and MGNREGA.

“If I go by the macros now, with MSP increases and with the MGNREGA outlay going up by 40% in rural India, rural India already growing around 450 basis points ahead of urban India, food inflation coming down and more money in the hands of the consumer, not taking into account Operation Sindoor. I think everything looks like a green shoot today.”
— Mohit Malhotra, CEO

Britannia Industries | Large Cap | FMCG

[Concall]

Signals confidence in a sustainable but moderate recovery trajectory for the FMCG sector after two years of challenging growth:

“I'm reasonably optimistic on the recovery happening. I don't think it's going to happen as a hockey stick. but I do think that, we have seen gradual recovery and I do think that this trend is going to continue into the next year as well”
– Varun Berry, CEO and MD

Quick commerce is expanding rapidly, but Berry expects it to only double to 8% of sales:

"Quick commerce is now approximately 4% of our sales, quick commerce and e-commerce, but large part of that is quick commerce, it's been growing fast but still reasonably small in the overall contribution. Obviously the convenience of it, the consumers are enjoying that,
“It's growing because there's a three cornered fight between the three big players in that space and I think there are certain categories where it's even become 30% and 35%. But in our case, I see this move from let's say 4 to 8% in the next 3 years but not beyond that."
– Varun Berry, CEO and MD

Adjacent categories will grow faster than the core biscuit business:

“So I would say one is one and a half. So if biscuits go at [X rate], [non-biscuits will grow 1.5X faster].”
– Varun Berry, CEO and MD

Parag Milk Foods | Small Cap | FMCG

Akshali Shah reaffirms Parag’s goal to triple revenue to ₹10,000 crore by FY29, implying ~30% CAGR ahead.

“So we have actually given guidance saying that we will reach Rs. 10,000 crores in the next four years. And yes, that's the guidance that we have given. And if you see our past trends, we have grown by almost 18% to 20% CAGR, hoping the trend should continue.”
– Akshali Shah, Executive Director

Inventory build-up is explained by cheese aging cycles, not perishable inventory mismanagement.

“So we have to convert the milk into the value-added form, and cheese needs an ageing process. So hence typically our inventory is largely in the form of, the major portion of the business is ghee, cheese, paneer, so hence largely the inventory is in form of cheese which needs an aging of 6 to 12 months…”
– Ankit Jain, CSO

Avvatar is broadening from gym-focused to mainstream wellness, with 60% of sales via e-commerce.

“Avvatar, our whey protein brand, has grown by 41% year-on-year and approximately 6 times in the past three years. Almost 60% of our turnover comes from e-commerce. It's not only capturing the sports nutrition segment, but we are also very relevant in everyday health-conscious consumers…”
– Akshali Shah, Executive Director

Retail

Swiggy | Mid Cap | Retail

Swiggy is doubling down on a category that Zomato(Eternal) recently abandoned:

“Bolt has grown at a fast clip and contributes 12% of overall order volumes today. Having said that look this is a category by itself in a way u and I dare say not just in India but globally and it is a less than 6 months vintage so we are building it very purposefully and thoughtfully.”
– Rohit Kapoor, CEO, Food Marketplace

Clear admission that pressure isn’t just from known players — new entrants are increasing.

“We have seen you know competitive pressure you know continuing to you know increase not only from the existing players but also there are a set of new players who are entering the market.”
– Rahul Bothra, CFO

Swiggy shifts its breakeven guide but frames it as flexibility, not failure.

“We are seeking flexibility to you know over two more quarters it could be it would happen in December it could happen in the June quarter of the next you know calendar year.”
– Rahul Bothra, CFO

They're saying retention keeps improving with each cohort and happens without needing ongoing discounts, hinting at habit formation.

“If you look at the shareholder letter point number six as well that specifically speaks about our retention rate over the various quarter of acquisition of the end consumer it has always been essentially you know going up the reason of that is because when the consumers are are actually getting matured they're getting used to the platform organically without any incentive and we see that keep on happening again and again.”

ALSO:

“Retention in fact in our more recent cohorts has been 4 to 6% higher than the same metric for our prior cohorts.”
– Amitesh Jha, CEO of Swiggy Instamart

Relaxo Footwears | Small Cap | Retail

Major strategic shift from wholesale to distribution-led model, focusing on secondary sales and improving distributor quality, causing near-term sales disruption but expected long-term gains.

Historically, Relaxo operated largely through primary sales—meaning sales made from the company directly to large distributors or wholesalers. Now, the management wants to shift toward secondary sales—focusing more on sales from distributors to retailers.

“The work is going on and we are facing good resistance from a lot of distributors because they don't want to become really fully transparent. This Distributor Management System (DMS) what we are implementing, a lot of people we are facing resistance. And then we, from primary mode of selling, we are focusing on secondary mode. And now this kind of effort company is doing, things are happening, happening slowly, but we are in the right direction.
Our foot is down, we are not giving unnecessarily too much credit to bad distributors. Some distributors are closed also. So we are improving the quality of our distributor, quality of credit also given to the distributor. So sale for the year is somewhat affected, but in the years to come, things will be on much better footing because our focus is on improving sale at the distribution, not retailer level. And that is what is going to really change our complexion of the company itself.
We have been a wholesale driven company, but now it has to be distribution led company. We are facing resistance, but we will overcome. Things are happening and by H1, H2, you will see the difference. We are setting right our e-commerce model also, other things also. But because 75% is our distribution, so our focus remains there much more.”
– Ramesh Kumar Dua, Chairman & MD

Confirms volume pressure stems specifically from the mass-market Hawaii segment (lower ASPs), indicating stress among lower-income consumers, while other segments compensated on value terms.

“Regarding volume, you know, our Hawaii segment was under pressure. Our, you know, poorer segment, middle income segment, there has been what we experienced, pressure on demand, maybe the poor people are really struggling more. So as volume gets affected for Hawaii, because there are more pairs and less ASP. We covered the sales from other segment, but you know, volume pressure only because of the Hawaii segment. Last year versus this year, 2% sales of the share was less in our Hawaii segment, which is meant for poorer segment of society.
[Pricing?] No, last year, there were no hike. Last year thing was stable. There were no hike at all.”
– Ramesh Kumar Dua, Chairman & MD

Actively evaluating export opportunities in the UK market, considering both own-brand and private label strategies, potentially opening a new geographic growth avenue.

“We already in touch with few leads in UK. But we need to see how we can explore this opportunity seeing own branded footwear sales or the private label. So we are open with both the ideas and we'll see how the opportunity come and we will surely crack them and capitalize that.
[Current export markets?] African continent and the Far East, South East Asia. This has been our major markets. And some part of Central America as well.”
– Ritesh Dua, EVP Finance

Bajaj Electricals | Small Cap | Consumer Durables

Degrowth in Professional Lighting was specifically due to delays in executing government (urban/rural body) orders, not a broader slowdown, masking growth in other PL areas and strong consumer trade.

“The Lighting Solution business remained flat due to degrowth in professional lighting, which also had an impact on the operating leverage. Please note that even within the professional lighting, there were some delays in order execution of urban rural bodies, that has resulted in the degrowth. Otherwise, all other areas in professional lighting also witnessed a growth. Under our revamp GTM initiative, we have delivered a double-digit value growth in general trade for this quarter. This is close to about 12 odd percent, which is probably the highest in the industry. Professional lighting contracted owing to a drop in outdoor luminaires.”
– EC Prasad, CFO

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) costs are set to double to ~Rs.18 crore next fiscal year, indicating rising compliance costs impacting profitability.

“EPR for this year is about nine and a half crores. And last year also was similar. Going forward next year, it will be a charge of about 18 crores.”
– EC Prasad, CFO

While domestic inflation has eased, providing RBI policy flexibility, global headwinds (US tariffs, policy uncertainty) pose risks to growth, relevant for Bajaj's export ambitions.

“On the macro front, headline inflation eased to 3.6% in February 2025, driven by a sharp decline in food prices. Further, as per RBI bulletin, recent tariff announcements by US administration have heightened policy uncertainty, posing new headwinds for global growth and inflation. While India cannot remain immune to these developments, the progress achieved on the disinflation front gives headroom to monetary policies to focus on balancing the growth-inflation outcome. The two consecutive RBI rate cuts will ensure liquidity for business in a time of uncertainty.”
– Shekhar Bajaj, Chairman

Management states there's minimal profitability difference between the general trade channel and alternate channels (modern retail, e-commerce), suggesting channel mix shifts may not heavily impact margins.

“No Dhruv, generally no. So, as we had mentioned earlier also, we don't differentiate the prices, on the alternate channel vis-a-vis the trade. So we maintain our, pricing. So for us, I mean, even if there is a difference, there is a hard, I mean, very small, element, but otherwise we don't see much difference between trade and alternate channel.”
– EC Prasad, CFO

Metals

Jindal Stainless | Mid Cap | Metals

Jindal Stainless is discussing the possibility of anti-dumping duties on cheap imports with the government. These might soon be in place.

“.. the government is definitely receptive to the fact that, globally, there is a lot of protectionism going on. India as a country is relatively open and growing. So there is definitely threat to injury. And one thing that we discussed and with our data and everything, that safeguard was not the right step to take for stainless steel. It is short-term in nature, and the data was not supporting a safeguard implementation. So now what we are working with the government is actually on anti-dumping duty for stainless steel, where according to them, they are quite confident that this can sail through…
… So hopefully, within end of this month, we should apply.”
— Abhyuday Jindal, Managing Director

Jindal Stainless announces an interesting investment — in M1Xchange, a TReDS platform.

“I'm also happy to share that we have acquired a 9.62% stake in M1Xchange. This is India's leading RBI licensed TReDS [Trade Receivables Discounting System] platform. This investment is expected to create strong synergies by digitizing the supply chain ecosystem and reducing the working capital cycle, paving the way for cheaper credit access for our entire global value chain, including the deep tier channels.”
— Abhyuday Jindal, Managing Director

And later:

“So this is actually a very interesting, and a very good, step taken by us. The basic idea is to reduce our working capital burden by providing more credit to our customers — not directly, but through this platform. So that was the basic idea: to get closer to larger customers, and larger supplier base also — directly to the source of supply, and provide this facility to them so that we get some benefit in terms of pricing. Also, we are able to expand our reach. So we are quite bullish and quite excited about this investment.”
— Abhyuday Jindal, Managing Director

Jindal Stainless is of the view that the Trump tariffs are actually beneficial, as they bring many other countries at par with us — whereas India was previously singled out for a 25% tariff.

“The way we see things, globally, things are settling down. The export market also — we can see, in fact, that now, we are finding ourselves in a better position. With the clarity of the so-called 'Trump tariff' situation, we are finding that, as a country, we are now in a better position.
Earlier, our competing countries — like South Korea, Japan, the EU — they were not having that 25% tariff which India was facing. But now, all of us are having the same tariff, and that is also helping us in increasing our volumes and gaining a better share in the American market. Even in Europe, we see some better action.”
— Tarun Khulbe, CEO

APL Apollo Tubes | Mid Cap | Metals

Sanjay Gupta says they are sharply raising internal ROCE goals — 35% in FY26 and targeting 50% in 2–3 years.

“Our focus is more on ROCE, like this year we are targeting, we take the target of ROCE of 35%. Our target is 35% ROCE, which was around 25% this year. And in next 2-3 years, our target is to increase this ROCE above 50%.”
— Sanjay Gupta, Chairman

APL Apollo expects India-based export margins to jump from ₹2,000–2,500/ton to ₹8,000–9,000/ton starting Q2 FY26.

“From India, right now the margin is not good, maybe Rs. 2,000–Rs. 2,500 per ton. But there is a reason, the local steel prices are high than the import price. So now we are importing some quantity for exporting the material. Then we should think our margin is go to 8 to Rs. 10,000 per ton. Our import, what we are exporting, our import is arrived in the month of July. From the Q2, our margin of export is also from India is going to Rs. 7,000 to Rs. 8,000 per ton or maybe Rs. 8,000–Rs. 9,000 per ton.”
— Sanjay Gupta, Chairman

Super-specialty tube capacity is designed for segments with few domestic players and focused on import substitution.

“This will be specialty products where you will have where the competition is very, very less or there will be only a limited number of players existing in the country and it will be more of import substitution.”
— Anubhav Gupta, CSO

Building Material

Asian Paints | Large Cap | Building Materials

On competitor’s ad campaign in IPL targeting “why continue with legacy brands” and trying to connect with GenZ and the new age customer

“See overall, today when a customer is buying, customer is today relating to a lot of new stuff in terms of what we are doing. For example, we recently launched what is called Chromacosm which is the world's largest colour system, which offers more than 5,300 shades. This is today the world's best colour system what we have launched. Today we offer more than 1000 shops across the country which offers the best colour consultancy, which is what possibly any Gen Z or a millennial customer would really look at from the view of appropriation when they are looking at it today. I think the most important part is the visualization.”
– Amit Syngle, MD & CEO

Does giving higher warranties (20-25 years from earlier 3-4 years) affect business margins?

“When we have looked at seeing our warranties, we have looked at our formulations and the formulations have been done in such a manner that the overall margins which we derive out of the product, we don't have an impact from a cost perspective. So, it's more a chemistry marvel what we have put, looking at innovation which comes in the formulation. That's point one. Second, warranty becomes a de facto correlation to the quality of the product. So, it's not necessary that every customer will look at five years or ten years or fifteen years of repainting. But it becomes definitely a strong correlation with respect to how you perceive the quality of the product. And it gives you an assurance that if this product is going to be talking of this kind of a warranty, it's looking at possibly giving me this kind of durability over a period of time. So, we think the relationship of the customer with the warranty is very strong. And in fact, Asian Paints were the first one to introduce warranties about 20 years back when we started looking at all these warranties coming into picture. That's how we look at - one cost neutrality and second from a point of view of looking at these warranties becoming a very strong signature of your trust on durability and performance.”
– Amit Syngle, MD & CEO

Management openly acknowledges that the industry's weakness isn't solely cyclical but exacerbated by intensified competition, highlighting market share pressure.

"We have not seen demand conditions like this in the paint industry in the last two decades. The decorative sector has negative growth... new construction, repainting, B2B all slowed down. Competition intensified significantly, especially new entrants fighting aggressively for market share."
– Amit Syngle, MD & CEO

On how to defend market share against high competition

“The whole area of Asian Paints, bringing a certain quality, certain kind of loyalty, certain value to the consumer which is very important because we believe if your value proposition is strong, the customer will buy into it. It's not the question of just discounting. It's not a question of offering something very cheap. It's the value which counts. And therefore, we would continuously play on the value proposition very strongly as to what we want to offer, whether it’s economy, whether it’s premium or luxury … I think from a competitive intensity, some of it will continue, but it has to be countered only to an extent possibly that it doesn't go beyond a certain value in what we are able to offer to the consume”
– Amit Syngle, MD & CEO

On FY26 demand outlook

“First, what we are seeing from the last third and the fourth quarter is the government spending is coming back which was disrupted in the first half because of elections or otherwise. And that is a very big source today. I think as Asian Paints, we are looking at any other airport, tunnels, bridges what are happening …
… Second, we also see that the mid-to-luxury housing is going to flare up as we go ahead. We are already seeing second homes coming up in a very big way, this thing which basically gives flip to the premium and the luxury products in a very big way …
… Third T3-T4 is a good indication while looking at some of the rural demand coming back. And given the fact that last year was a good monsoon and we are looking at a predictability of a good monsoon coming further that is another big bright spot which would auger well going ahead.”
– Amit Syngle, MD & CEO

Borosil Renewables | Small Cap | Building Materials

Definitive 5-year anti-dumping duty provides long-term protection and pricing stability, fostering domestic solar glass manufacturing growth.

“The announcement of a provisional anti-dumping duty on 4th December was a breath of oxygen for the company, when the government announced a minimum import price for solar glass imports from China and Vietnam. This growth in sales became possible only because of prices rose by about 22.1% in the fourth quarter of the last year over the preceding quarter …
.. This is indeed a strong indicator of the government's resolve to support the domestic supply chain for solar photovoltaic manufacturing. This decision will be the catalyst for strong growth in this sector driven by fresh investments. The company's domestic selling prices are now close to the level of the reference prices, landed value at port of discharge, of around Rs.135 to Rs.140 per millimeter per square meter.”
– P.K. Kheruka, Executive Chairman

ALMM impact becoming more evident and a key demand driver.

ALMM (Approved List of Models and Manufacturers) is an official registry maintained by India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, listing verified solar module and cell manufacturers eligible for government-supported solar projects.

“The present solar glass capacity in the country is 2,300 tons per day, which is about 15 gigawatts. Another 15 gigawatts of capacity, including 12 gigawatts for captive by a new producer, is getting commissioned by the end of calendar year 2025. With the phenomenal rise in demand in recent times, imports currently occupy about 55 to 60% in the consumption for domestic installations, leaving huge scope for capacity addition and import substitution. Use of locally produced modules has risen sharply after the implementation of ALMM mechanism from April 2024, which is leading to an increased demand for all the components including solar glass.”
– P.K. Kheruka, Executive Chairman

German operations (GMB) faced severe demand issues leading to furnace shutdown and significant inventory write-offs, heavily impacting consolidated financials.

“The drop in revenue for the German subsidiary arose from a sharp decline in sales due to suspension of manufacturing by Germany's leading photovoltaic module manufacturers. This decline was so sharp that it was no longer viable to continue operating the hot end, i.e., the glass melting furnace. As already reported in the last call, the company had been forced to cool down its furnace due to a slow demand, lower level of operations, and a write-off of non-moving inventories of about 16 crores.
The newly constituted Federal Government of Germany has announced strong support for the promotion of domestic manufacturing of solar modules and its components. This looks promising for the domestic manufacturing of solar photovoltaic modules. However, final concrete steps are still awaited. We shall observe the developments over the next weeks and take further steps relating to the possibility of resumption of glass production. In the meantime, we are evaluating resuming production in the cold end by importing annealed glass and processing it at the GMB plant in the near future.”
– P.K. Kheruka, Executive Chairman

Management believes current and planned glass manufacturing facilities are adaptable to upcoming solar cell technologies like HJT, mitigating obsolescence risk.

“In terms of the technology, currently everybody in India is on TopCon technology and HJT is only with one one company which is like say Reliance Industries. And we expect this technology TopCon to survive for next many years. And in case there is any change in future, it it does not matter much for the glass sizes because there is hardly any change in the sizes which which will come in. And our current facility and the new facility which we are targeting will be able to deal with supply to even HJT technology glass sizes. So it's not it's not a worry for us.”
– Ashok Jain, Whole Time Director

Healthcare

Dr Reddy’s | Large Cap | Healthcare

Dr. Reddy's wants to wait for the the right U.S. manufacturing opportunity:

"As for the production footprint in the U.S., I don't think that at this stage the generic industry is having a short-term issue here. As a company, we would love to have a footprint in the United States. It just has to be the right asset and we are always looking for an asset, but we are not going to do at this stage specific activities to build footprint. It is more, if the right opportunity will come to us, we will be more than happy to engage it."
– Erez Israeli, CEO

On how pharmaceutical companies might work through potential trade challenges:

“My sense is nobody wants to absorb the tariff. At least, I did not find any player that said yes, I would love to. I think what will happen is there will be a certain adjustment period in which people will have to work together to see what to do with it. So, it is primarily about working together.”
“What I want to emphasize is that under any scenario, we will not create shortage of supply or supply disruption to the U.S. market. This is very, very important to us. We want to stay in the United States for many years. And that's something that was also clarified in all of our discussions with our customers.”
– Erez Israeli, CEO

The company wants to target Europe for growth through country expansion and biosimilar launches:

"Europe is a growing area for us. We are planning to grow by, first of all, we are expanding to more countries. We are launching more products, primarily leveraging the pipeline for the United States. We are going to launch biosimilars in Europe, both rituximab, bevacizumab…and we are obviously planning to grow the NRT [Nicotine Replacement Therapy] business. So indeed, Europe is going to be an important growth area for us."
– Erez Israeli, CEO

DRL sees strong growth in most brands with specific weaknesses in cardiovascular and GI segments:

“Most of our growth in India will be inorganic. We are licensing products. We are acquiring products. We are introducing innovation to that. So it will not be by stretching necessarily only the big brands…but primarily by introducing products that have better standard-of-care.”
“Having said that, most of our big brands from the past grew actually double digits. There are two areas in which we did not do as well. This is in cardiovascular as well as in GI [Gastrointestinal]. And we have mitigation also, plans for those primarily by adding more marketing resources as well as addressing the product and introduction of life cycle management.”
– Erez Israeli, CEO

Dr. Reddy's confirms its generic semaglutide (GLP) is on track for 2026 launch:

“So we are gearing up to launch it during the calendar 2026 in all the markets that the IP landscape will allow us to launch. So this is still intact, and we are progressing nicely in our preparation for that. As for abatacept, so far, so good. We are close to -- we are deep into Phase 3. And so far, it looks like the timelines did not change.
“We are planning to submit the product somewhere in the end of this calendar year, end of 2025 to be ready to launch the IP immediately after patent expiration. And the same for the subcu [subcutaneous formulation of abatacept], which will become a year later because of patent related issue. So once the IP landscape will allow us to launch it, we will do it. So far, so good.”
– Erez Israeli, CEO

Auto & Auto Ancillary

Ather Energy | Small Cap | Auto & Auto Ancillary

Ather is shifting to cheaper and more stable LFP battery packs, already homologated.

“We've also talked publicly about our transition to LFP battery packs which is underway as we speak and homologation is already achieved for it. So LFP battery packs are obviously generally cheaper than NMC battery packs.”
— Tarun Mehta, CEO

Management believes Ather can turn profitable at a smaller scale due to capital-efficient operations.

“We also believe… profitability could happen at a lower scale than some of the other peers given a more capital-light and capital-efficient approach on business overall.”
— Tarun Mehta, CEO

Ather sees stronger EV adoption in FY26 as industry adjusts to low-subsidy environment.

“I believe EV adoption for this year will be strong… industry is frankly preparing for a post-subsidy world… 3% impact on revenue is something that, given the strong trend of cost reduction, we have a strong ability to absorb.”
— Tarun Mehta, CEO

Ather is betting on Indian cell manufacturing, despite limited near-term cost benefits.

“Ather will work on being one of the earliest adopters of India-produced cells… I believe India-produced cells may not necessarily bring a big cost advantage… but government will make it worth.”
— Tarun Mehta, CEO

Tourism & Hospitality

Chalet Hotels | Small Cap | Tourism & Hospitality

Chalet claims its build costs and opex are structurally lower than peers, allowing higher capital returns even in a competitive hospitality market.

“The other thing that holds us well is our cost to build has been far more efficient than most other people and our operating costs have been tighter than most other people… So between the two the denominators well catered to our operating and asset management capabilities keep the numerator high and therefore we are able to deliver high return on capital which will allow us to invest more going forward…”
— Sanjay Sethi, CEO

Chalet believes most of the recent cancellations from MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) clients may convert later, suggesting deferred—not lost—demand.

“Particularly in the mice segment whilst we have had some cancellations a lot of them have opted for pushing it forward not necessarily can it completely so […] they are not actually fully cancelled they have just been pushed forward…”
— Shwetank Singh, Executive Director

No impact yet from Fairmont’s entry near JW Marriott

“I think in fact it's become complimentary to our business because both the hotels have large banquet halls which allow us to do large events and sometimes we end up sharing the business. We already had I think two events where big events where both hotels were had a common client and so far no impact.”
— Sanjay Sethi, CEO

Real Estate

Sunteck | Small Cap | Real Estate

[Transcript]

Record-breaking performance with confident outlook:

“To start on positive note, we have registered our highest ever pre-sales of Rs. 870 crores for the 4th Quarter of FY25 which led to the highest ever full year pre-sales of over Rs. 2,500 crores for FY25, registering a robust growth of 32% over FY24. With this, we have grown faster in FY25 versus previous year, and we are confident of achieving similar growth in FY26 with higher margins.”
“Sales contribution was from all projects, especially our Uber-Luxury projects in Mumbai. These sales give us better margins as well. The net GDV as of FY25 stands at about Rs. 40,000 crores which has grown nearly three times from FY22. We continue to focus on acquisition with higher EBITDA margins. We have spent more than Rs. 180 crores towards new acquisitions in FY25. I am confident of announcing a few new acquisitions very soon. We have generated a strong net operating cash flow surplus of Rs. 374 crores in FY25.”
— Kamal Khetan (Chairman and MD)

Luxury segment hierarchy drives growth strategy:

“So, we all know that Uber-Luxury is doing better than Premium-Luxury and Premium-Luxury is doing better than Aspirational-Luxury. So, Uber-Luxury will take more lead than Premium-Luxury but nevertheless there are lot of launches which are coming, new launches for us in Premium-Luxury as well so I think both will drive maximum growth, definitely much better than Aspirational-Luxury.”
— Kamal Khetan (Chairman and MD)

Prioritizing sales speed over price hikes while maintaining profit margins through operational efficiencies:

“We are not contemplating any price rise in any segment, and we are hoping that even if the price remains stagnant, we have more focus on the velocity and we will try to see that we can do more velocity than the price rise; because our margins has improved a lot and it will continue to see irrespective of the price rise. We are confident of our margins to remain intact or only going better from here.”
— Kamal Khetan (Chairman and MD)Media & Entertainment

Media & Entertainment

PVR INOX | Small Cap | Media & Entertainment

FY25 saw a 26% drop in Hindi box office due to fewer releases and no major tentpoles.

"The box office in FY25 witnessed an uneven release late across quarters resulting in noticeable gaps in content flow and fluctuations in theatrical performance. Performance of Bollywood and Hollywood films was below expectations leading to a 9% drop in overall gross box office collections of the companies. HIndi box office dropped by 26% this year due to 14% fewer releases. No major superstar films and several postponements. Bollywood collections were down by 28% due to the impact of previous year's strike and weak lineup of the tent poles."
— Ajay Bijli, MD

Hindi-dubbed regional films surged over 150%, even as Bollywood floundered.

"On the other hand, Hindi dubbed collections surged by over 150% with titles like Pushba 2 and Khalki resonating nationwide showing how audience tastes are shifting towards big fan India stories.”
— Ajay Bijli, MD

7.1 million incremental footfalls and ₹124 crore GBOC came from curated re-releases.

“During the year, we transitioned from managing footfalls to proactively manufacturing them. A shift that underscores our commitment to innovation in driving demand and enhancing audience engagement. Our strategic focus on curating re-releases delivered strong results contributing an incremental 7.1 million footfalls and approximately 124 crores in gross ticket collections during the year with an aim to making cinema going more accessible and habitua”
— Ajay Bijli, MD

Over 50% of planned screen additions will follow asset-light or management contract models.

"So in terms of you know a very vague guidance it'll be like a 30 70. So 30% of the screens would not be accounted for in our balance sheet because they will be under the FOCO model and 70% would be the ones which are effectively getting accounted for in our got that got that."
— Ajay Bijli, MD

OTT intensity has faded; platform bids are now box office-driven.

"OTT platforms of course are also very careful now that they would like to see a theatrical performance of a movie before they buy and because they they used they were buying a lot of movies because shootings had stopped in the middle and also they were not being able to create TV shows."
— Ajay Bijli, MD

PVR Inox is cutting costs through self-ticketing kiosks, renewable energy, and tight control across all expense heads.

“There are, you know, all other line items including manpower cost—we will continue to see if there is more automation that we can bring in our cinemas in terms of self-ticketing kiosks and other initiatives that can reduce manpower—as well as, you know, electricity, utility. In some of our cinemas we have deployed solar panels and moved to renewable energy—that has resulted in controlling utility cost. Similarly on other line items. So there is a continuous, you know, regular review on each and every line item in our P&L on the cost side and we are pretty hopeful that we will continue to be disciplined on our… on the cost front going forward as well.”
— Gaurav Sharma, CFO

Fertilizers

Coromandel International | Mid Cap | Fertilizers

Management expects sulfur prices to peak and moderate in coming months:

“I think Sulfur has reached the peak. Our view is that sulfur should moderate from here. based on some spurt in demand from Indonesia for a different industry, and also China imports, it peaked in Q4. Sulfur as a global commodity is in surplus and needs to come down. So, we do expect sulfur to soften in the coming months. Sulfuric acid, again, is a function of demand/supply, and I do expect it to remain static here and soften from here.”
“Globally, commodity prices are not going up, whether it is corn or soya and which can dampen the global fertilizer and food prices as well, as affordability index is coming down for the farmers. So, I do expect the commodity prices to soften in the coming quarters.”
– Sankarasubramanian S. (MD and CEO)

Coromandel says their retail stores are highly profitable with rapid breakeven and negative working capital:

“The retail has been a pretty good growth story for us. In fact, more than 90%, 95% of the retail stores, are in the profit zone now, we have added another 130. Based on our learning curve, now we are able to get the breakeven point in a shorter time frame of six months…So, we are pretty sure that retail is a way to go forward.”
“In terms of investment, as of now, we are only on a rental basis. We do not own the stores. And working capital also, considering the pull it generates, I think we are able to leverage better on the sourcing part.
Currently we are running the business on negative working capital. There may be an initial challenge in absorbing the fixed cost as we ramp up these stores, but I am sure for the next two to three years we are confident that we should be able to increase the footprint to 3 times the numbers what we have.”
– Sankarasubramanian S. (MD and CEO)

The company gives a gist on how the different product mixes have changed:

“During the year, domestic phosphatic industry increased its production by 9% to 15 million tons. There has been a significant shift in the consumption mix, with NPK sales moving up by 28% to 14 million tons and replacing the DAP [Diammonium Phosphate] shortfall, especially in central and northern markets despite the lower MRP of DAP.
“Looking at the whole year number, the share of NPK [Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K)] has moved up to 60% as compared to 51% in the last year. DAP supplies were impacted due to lower supplies from China and also MRP restrictions affecting the viability of imports for the domestic as well as import of DAP.”
– Sankarasubramanian S. (MD and CEO)

The CEO says specialty nutrients business delivers good margins with consistent growth:

“Specialty is a highly profitable business, but involves a lot of concept selling, the volume scale up will be steady. We have been working on it over the period and various products in the product portfolio are developed in-house based on our R&D. EBITDA margin is also quite healthy, between 18% to 20%, and we have been growing consistently in the top line in the last few years at 15% to 20%. And we are sure we will continue to grow that, and that is also a focus area for us.”
– Sankarasubramanian S. (MD and CEO)

Engineering & Capital Goods

Solarium Green Energy | Micro cap | Engineering & Capital Goods

The company is choosing to focus more on executing entire projects rather than just trading or supplying components, as EPC typically offers better margins and greater profitability potential.

“We strategically shifted our business model towards a higher EPC share, aiming to strengthen margins and long-term profitability. This move is aligned with our focus on delivering more accretive value-driven solar solutions while continuing to build our own distribution network.”
– Ankit Garg, Chairman & MD

Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) is causing a supply-demand gap.

DCR (Domestic Content Requirement) refers to regulations mandating the use of domestically manufactured solar cells and panels in certain government-supported solar projects.

“So, ma'am, what has happened that the adoption of residential solar has increased drastically. And in the PM Surya Ghar Yojana, we have to use domestically manufactured panels with domestically manufactured solar cells. So, that kind of growth no one has foreseen resulting into this supply-demand gap.
But in the last only one year, around 9 lakh homes have installed solar at theirs. So whatever numbers we have achieved in the last 10, 11 years has been in the last one year only. So the growth and the adoption is significant. And government is working very hard to create awareness among the consumers. Multiple states have come up with additional subsidy schemes and additional benefits for the consumers to increase the adoption with some adding 13,000 extra subsidy, some waiving discom charges e.t.c.
Apart from that, another demand of DCR panels generated from the PM-KUSUM Yojana. So, that resulted into a supply-demand gap, particularly to the DCR panels.”
– Ankit Garg, Chairman & MD

On maintaining margins in the solar rooftop EPC segment

“If you talk about purely only about residential rooftops, there is a journey each state is taking in terms of residential rooftop adoption.
So, you are right, we started our journey from Gujarat where at the early stage of the business in Gujarat, we were making high margins. But as the state or the adoption gets matured, the margin starts dropping. But good part for us is that we already started going to the other part of the country which is UP, which is Delhi, which is Maharashtra, which is Madhya Pradesh, where the adoption rate is very, very low at this point in time. And we are able to make much higher margins in those states.
So, it is almost good amount of margins we are making for those states. So, with the geographical expansion across various parts of India, we are being able to maintain our margins. So, at the same point in time, the execution learnings which we have been able to make out of Gujarat, it is more of a replication for us.”
– Himanshu Garg, CFO

On subsidies by government and its delays

“You said that the subsidy gets delayed. The answer to that is it is not something which is in our control but largely, as far as if we go back in terms of say couple of years back, subsidies used to take almost 9 months time that has been reduced to less than 3 months now.
Currently, there is a total transition of portal which is happening from the MNRE perspective. So, they are transitioning the portal from 1.0 to 2.0 that is also kind of resulting in terms of delay in subsidy but still the subsidy is getting credited to the consumer account within 45 days at max. In general, the government's target to transfer the subsidy is less than 15 days but even if it gets delayed, it moves to about 45 days.”
– Himanshu Garg, CFO

Chemicals

Fine Organic Industries | Small Cap | Chemicals

Formal announcement of intent to incorporate US entity and build manufacturing facility

“We also intend to incorporate a new entity in the United States. This marks a significant step in our global expansion strategy.
The entity will house a full-fledged manufacturing facility, enabling us to strengthen our local presence in the US market. This move positions us to better serve existing clients, capture new growth opportunities, and reinforce our long-term commitment to the region. By producing locally, we aim to reduce lead times, minimize logistic costs, and enhance supply chain agility. The intended facility will also allow us to comply more efficiently with US regulatory standards, improve sustainability performance, and respond swiftly to evolving customer needs.”
– Mukesh Shah, Chairman

Raw material inflation significantly impacted recent margins; management expects stabilization, suggesting potential margin recovery if realized.

“During FY24, we encountered several cost-related headwinds. Raw material prices showed a notable upward trend starting from Q2 FY24 and continuing through Q4 FY24. This trend was primarily fueled by global supply chain imbalances and elevated input costs.
While these pressures impacted our margins, we hope raw material prices will remain stabilized in the coming quarters as global supply conditions improve. Logistics costs, which were significantly elevated in the first half of the year due to the global shipping bottlenecks and supply chain disruptions, began to normalize in the second half. This improvement was supported by easing freight rates.”
– Mukesh Shah, Chairman

Explicitly links US plant necessity to capturing larger wallet share from major US customers preferring local manufacturing.

“Naturally, there is going to be the benefit by putting up the plant in US because all our major customers in US, they want the locally, local production there. Today they are buying from me but they cannot buy the major share from me because my manufacturing is from India and it takes at least two to three months to reach the product over there. This cannot continue forever, you know. I am keeping the stock over there and all that, but still the manufacturing has to be there if you want to really have a big share in the US market.
So it is absolute necessity to have the plant there according to me. So that is why we have to go there.”
– Mukesh Shah, Chairman

Software Services

Happiest Minds Technologies | Small Cap | Software Services

GCCs are now a strategic focus area, with solutions tailored to both new and mature centers.

"We also see a strong potential in the expanding global capability center GCC segment. We will tailor our offerings based on GCC maturity — from strategy and compliance support for new GCCs to innovation, modernization and data-driven value creation for established centers."
— Joseph Anantharaju, CEO

Diversified

Birla Corporation | Small Cap | Diversified

[Concall]

Strategic management overhaul for their Jute business:

"We have had a revamp in the management structure of the Jute business. We are approaching it in a much more integrated manner, not treating it at an arms length as a different business,which is handled differently. We have now integrated it increasingly integrating it into our main operations so that it gets that kind of management focus from our E team and the central management."
- Sandip Ghose (MD and CEO)

Despite upcoming expansion-driven debt increases, the company expects strong financial health:

“The debt in absolute terms if you see, definitely there'll be some increase in the debt but as we have always maintained, you should look at our debt in terms of debt to EBITDA metrics and while we have always maintained that as a policy, we would always like to remain below 3, for the current financial year the debt to EBITDA ratio we're expecting to be well below 2.”

– Aditya Sarogi (Group CFO)

Staggered launch of their coal mining operations:

"In terms of coal mines, we're expecting Vikram coal mines to start maybe 2-3 this year. we are expecting to start that coal mine but meaningful production will start from next year only. And as for the other coal mine which is that we expect to start only in 26"
– Aditya Sarogi (Group CFO)

Global

Bayer AG | Large Cap | Healthcare and agriculture

Management is executing a major strategic pivot in their manufacturing strategy, transitioning from generic commodity production to exclusively high-value innovative products.

"Regarding further site closures, what I can say is that we don't have any plans for further site closures at this point. We have this sort of economic reality of, you know, we're producing generic crop protection products today in Germany, and unfortunately, because of the buildup of capacity, and in fact, quite a lot of overcapacity in Asia now, The prices of these generic products have really crashed in the world markets over the last few years, and it just means that with our costs in Germany, things like electricity and gas, which are two to three times higher than our Asian competitors, We're just not competitive in the generic products. So what we're doing is we're actually focusing our efforts on our innovative products, both from production and R&D standpoint, and we hope that can strengthen our German presence so that we're much better set up for the future."
— Bill Anderson, CEO

Piaggio Group | Large Cap | Automobiles