The Chatter: The Mood in the Room
Edition #14
Welcome to the 14th edition of The Chatter — a weekly newsletter where we dig through what India’s biggest companies are saying and bring you the most interesting bits of insight, whether about the business, its sector, or the wider economy. We read every major Indian earnings call and listen to the interviews so you don’t have to.
In this edition, we have covered the 17 companies across 9 industries:
Engineering & Capital Goods
Organic Recycling Systems
SKF India
Timken India
KEC International
Pharmaceuticals
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals
Aurobindo Pharma
Financial Services
Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC)
Poonawalla Fincorp
Can Fin Homes
Retail
Apex Frozen Foods
Bata India
Thomas Scott
Real Estate
Brigade Enterprises
Auto Ancillaries
Amara Raja Energy & Mobility
Software
Kellton Tech Solutions
Metals
Jindal Saw
Miscellaneous
Bluspring Enterprise
Engineering & Capital Goods
Organic Recycling | Small Cap| Engineering & Capital Goods
Organic Recycling Systems Ltd. (ORGANICREC) is an Indian engineering company specializing in sustainable waste management solutions, primarily operating waste-to-energy plants that convert municipal solid waste into green energy (like biogas and electricity) and other useful byproducts such as compost.
ORS has turned its Solapur plant into a model site that turns waste into fuel and other useful products. This shows the concept works and can be repeated in other cities. It supports clean energy, reduces waste, and creates income all in one place.
“Solapur 2.0 isn’t just an upgrade, it’s a launchpad for India’s green molecule economy. We have integrated co-digestion of municipal solid waste and agricultural residue like Napier grass to produce bio-CNG. The plant is also supplying compost and RDF, enabling a complete circular ecosystem.”
—Sarang Bhand, Managing Director
ORS is working with top Indian and global institutes to invent clean energy solutions. These technologies can be patented and sold later, opening new ways to earn from innovation instead of just building plants.
“Our in-house research center, ORS-RIC, is working with IIT Bombay, IIT Kharagpur, and others on technologies like carbon membranes, CO₂ to methane conversion, and biofuel purification. These innovations are being patented and can be licensed commercially in future.”
—ORS Company Presentation (R&D section)
The company was making losses four years ago. Now it’s profitable and growing fast. This shows that ORS’s business model is working well and is financially sound.
“We’ve grown from ₹125 million in FY21 to ₹438 million in FY25. Our EBITDA margins have improved to 36%, and profit after tax has increased to ₹157 million. This is a complete financial turnaround for us.”
—Sarang Bhand, Managing Director
Instead of using generic machines, ORS uses its own in-house technologies. This makes their work faster, better, and more cost-effective giving them an edge over other companies.
“All our EPC projects are delivered using in-house technologies like DRYAD™, Sanjeevak™, and INV-CO™. This ensures better control, faster delivery, and gives us an edge in quality and price over other contractors.”
—ORS Company Presentation
SKF India Limited | Small Cap | Engineering and Capital Goods
SKF India Limited is a leading manufacturer of bearings, seals, lubrication systems, and services. The company serves automotive and industrial segments and is undergoing a strategic demerger to split automotive and industrial businesses into separate entities.
Capacity constraints driving aggressive expansion with management explicitly admitting shortage "especially on automotive," forcing inventory buildup and doubling of capex to INR 260+ crores over next 2-3 years.
"We do need capacity. We're short of capacity, especially on automotive, so we built up some inventory to satisfy that demand... our current capex is in the range of around INR130 crores. We expect the capex to double at least in the next 2 to 3 years."
– Mukund Vasudevan, Managing Director & Ashish Saraf, CFO
Transfer pricing volatility creates quarterly unpredictability, with significant Q4 margin boost from catch-up adjustments. Management warns future quarterly volatility will continue but be corrected annually.
"A significant chunk of the adjustment on account of transfer pricing was done in this quarter, which led to the uplift in the overall margins for the financial year... in case you see future volatility, it will – from a financial year perspective, corrected as it has been corrected for this financial year."
– Ashish Saraf, CFO
Demerger manufacturing strategy reveals sophisticated operational philosophy: automotive focused on volume efficiency (large batch processing) while industrial targets innovation-driven margins (smaller batches, more innovative products).
"The 2 entities will have different kind of manufacturing philosophy, 1 more batch processing, large batch processing; 1 more shorter cycle times, shorter cycles, smaller batches but more innovative products... So there will actually be a new factory setup for just industrial, next to the current automotive one."
– Mukund Vasudevan, Managing Director
Localization strategy targeting structural margin expansion with industrial business moving from 30% to 70% localization, expected to align margins with global SKF industrial margins over 3-4 years.
"We are currently localized at around 30% plus. At an ISEA level, we are localized 50% plus. And in the long term, we want to be localized close to 70% at an ISEA level... Broadly the margins should align, right? We – our EBITDA is around 16%-17% for the industrial business."
– Ashish Saraf, CFO
Digital transformation through services business expansion into predictive analytics and uptime guarantees, moving from selling products to selling outcomes with higher-margin recurring revenue potential.
"Services is a new line of business which involves a lot of sensing and analytics and predictive failure analysis... not just the aftermarket sale of bearings but to remote monitoring, remanufacturing, et cetera of bearings; as well as kind of tying it to reliability and uptime to industrial production and customers."
– Mukund Vasudevan, Managing Director
Timken India Limited | Small Cap | Engineering and Capital Goods
Timken India Limited is a leading manufacturer of engineered bearings and mechanical power transmission products, serving rail, mobile, distribution, process, and export markets with a focus on anti-friction bearing solutions.
Company announces strategic diversification into plain bearings composite materials market for the first time, leveraging parent's GGB acquisition to enter automotive EV, industrial, and renewable energy applications.
"We have discussed the GGB, which the Timken Company took over, and we have started the TIL will start investing in the first line for the plain bearings in the composite material, which is alternate material called FRP. So that line will start investing in that... depending on the success of this plain bearing, which is of composite material, one step at a time will lead to further steps."
– Sanjay Koul, Chairman and Managing Director
Management explicitly pessimistic about export markets (18.6% of revenue) due to geopolitical tensions and trade wars, with large markets remaining sluggish while small markets show promise.
"So these geo-politic activities settle down, and the business is ready to invest money. The tariff wars settle down. So all that is there. So export, I'm not buoyant about export. But domestic is pretty much okay, and there are good pockets of real exports happening."
– Sanjay Koul, Chairman and Managing Director
Operating at maximum capacity constraints (6 days, 3 shifts) with only 10-15% incremental output possible before requiring fresh investments, indicating strong demand but potential growth limitations.
"So we are running 6-days, 3 shifts on our rail lines... The current setup, I can – when I'm working six days three shifts, you have to whip it and produce the 10%, 15% more out of those assets is possible. Beyond that, we'll have to invest."
– Sanjay Koul, Chairman and Managing Director
Bharuch plant targeting conservative 45% capacity utilization by end of FY26 with 50-50 domestic-export split, though management actively planning export risk mitigation toward domestic markets.
"I think at the end of this year, we should – at the end of this year, ramp up, PPAPs, all that, we should be able – at the end of this year, we should be able to reach around 45-odd percent of capacity utilization... But overall, our target is going to be both domestic, and this – and there are a lot of domestic applications, which demand these bearing. So we are working pretty much to mitigate if there is an export risk, how to push more domestic, which will be good either ways."
– Sanjay Koul, Chairman and Managing Director
KEC International Limited | Small Cap | Engineering and Capital Goods
KEC International Limited is a global EPC powerhouse operating across eight diverse business units spanning transmission & distribution, civil infrastructure, railways, renewables, and cables across 110 countries with over 275 active projects.
Strategic portfolio rebalancing toward higher-quality orders with management raising hurdle rates for non-T&D businesses while increasing average order size 62% from ₹200 to ₹325 crores.
"Given the better margins and healthier cash flows in T&D, we strategically raised hurdle rates and tightened cash flow criteria for some orders in non-T&D businesses, which led to a calibrated order intake in those segments. Additionally, to strengthen operational control, we have deliberately shifted focus towards securing fewer but larger EPC orders, increasing the average order size from INR200 crores last year to INR325 crores this year."
– Vimal Kejriwal, MD & CEO
Renewable EPC market presents massive opportunity with only one large competitor while 350 GW capacity needs to be built by 2032, as OEMs retreat from EPC to focus on manufacturing.
"Today, there are hardly any EPCs in – except one large EPC in the entire renewables... And I think with the growth in the market, it is going beyond their capability also. And they feel that they can make more money probably manufacturing rather than doing EPC. So I think that's where we are looking at this market saying that there is a large opportunity looking at the balance 350 gigawatt of renewable to be built in the next 6, 7 years."
– Vimal Kejriwal, MD & CEO
Management revised margin guidance from 9% to 8-8.5% for FY26 due to labor shortage and water payment delays, but maintains confidence in 9%+ margins for FY27.
"I think right now, with what is happening in water and labor, etcetera, shortage, etcetera, we are a bit conservative, okay? I don't know whether we'll be able to achieve 9% or not. But I think maybe after a quarter or so, we'll be able to be more clear about the numbers."
– Vimal Kejriwal, MD & CEO
International T&D orders doubled to ₹8,300 crores with Dubai facility providing competitive advantage for Middle East localization requirements.
"On the international T&D front, we continue to strengthen and broaden our global presence, recording order wins exceeding INR8,300 crores, which is more than double the intake compared to last year... With the growing emphasis on localization of supplies in the Middle East, our manufacturing facility in Dubai provides a competitive edge."
– Vimal Kejriwal, MD & CEO
Company claims industry-first HVDC EPC construction capabilities and commissioned world's largest digital substations, demonstrating technology leadership.
"In fact, if I am right, I think we are the first EPC contractor to actually do an HVDC construction. Otherwise, it always had been done by the OEMs who supply the HVDC equipment... In a proud moment, we successfully commissioned two digital substation projects of 765 kV and 400kV/ 220 kV GIS at Navsari, Gujarat, the first of their kind in India and largest in the world."
– Vimal Kejriwal, MD & CEO
Pharmaceuticals
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals | Mid Cap | Pharmaceuticals
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited is an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company specializing in generic drugs, branded formulations, and innovation through its subsidiary IGI. The company operates across India, North America, Europe, and emerging markets with a focus on respiratory, dermatology, and cardiac therapeutic areas.
ISB 2001 licensing deal appears imminent with CEO's unusually confident language suggesting transformational near-term catalyst that could eliminate IGI's $70M annual cash burn.
"In parallel, we are in advanced discussions with multiple partners, all big pharma partners. And the discussions are progressing really well, and we anticipate a positive outcome very quickly. We think a deal for 2001 will really be transformational for Glenmark. And it will overshadow anything else that we are doing in the near term. So I think you should see some visibility around a licensing deal pretty quickly."
– Glenn Saldanha, Chairman and Managing Director
U.S. respiratory pipeline inflection expected with generic Flovent 44 MCG approval anticipated by end of Q2, despite acknowledging development difficulty across the industry.
"Flovent is an extremely difficult product, okay? I mean I think a lot – most of the industry has struggled to develop this product. So on the 44 strength, we are expecting approval towards the end of Q2. And there has been some slippage, but that's pretty normal in this environment. On the nasal spray, we expect in the second half, we will launch the product, second half of FY '26."
– Glenn Saldanha, Chairman and Managing Director
Working capital management concerns persist with CFO defensively comparing levels to "global company peers" rather than discussing improvement trajectory, suggesting limited focus on cash flow optimization.
"This very much is in alignment with all our peers, who are like global companies, okay? So like our inventory is about 83 days and peer is about 75 to 80 days. Working our – debt receivable is about 92. Peers are about 85 to 95. So I think all in all, I think these are the levels at which it settles down. So you wouldn't see too much of an uptick from here."
– V.S. Mani, Executive Director and Global CFO
Aggressive FY'26 guidance of 10-12% revenue growth and 19-20% EBITDA margins despite India diabetes weakness and U.S. challenges, heavily dependent on ROW and Europe performance creating geographic concentration risk.
"ROW corrected for currency grew 10-plus percent in this year – in FY '25. And we expect it to accelerate even further in this coming year with some big launches. And particularly RYALTRIS also contributing in markets, the 10, 12 markets where we haven't launched yet. So I think all in all, these 2 geographies will be strong."
– Glenn Saldanha, Chairman and Managing Director
Aurobindo Pharma Limited | Mid Cap | Pharmaceuticals
Aurobindo Pharma Limited is a leading Indian pharmaceutical company focused on generic formulations, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and biosimilars. The company operates across regulated markets including the US, Europe, and emerging markets, with a strong presence in injectables and specialty products.
Company delivered record performance despite absorbing Rs. 105+ crores in one-time costs, revealing exceptional underlying business resilience that investors likely missed.
"These numbers have been achieved despite one-time recurring expenses on account of fuel and power purchase coal adjustments relating to the Andhra Pradesh government electricity board, inventory-related provisions and corporate development costs. In addition to these, PLI facilities contributed a negative of Rs. 30 crores plus at the EBITDA level. The accumulated impact of the above factors was a negative of Rs. 105 crores plus... Notwithstanding these factors, the company still produced record numbers."
– S. Subramanian, CFO
Europe business crossing $1 billion milestone in FY26 with 6 loss-of-exclusivity products launching on risk-based approach, significantly outpacing 4-5% market growth.
"So, in terms of growth, the generic growth in Europe is rather flat or low single digit or maximum 4 to 5%. But we have been consistently clocking a high single digit growth. And I'm confident in this new fiscal as well, we'll be doing close to 8-9% growth... So, obviously, next year we'll be scaling past the billion mark in style. Coming to the LOE products, there are about six products... we are going on a risk-based approach based on the legal opinion we have got, but we are confident we'll be able to successfully launch and clock the annualized revenues in the next fiscal."
– V. Muralidharan, CEO Europe Formulations
PLI facility with Rs. 2,700 crore investment and potential Rs. 1,000+ crore EBITDA remains shut pending regulatory approval, with management unable to provide restart timeline.
"So, Neha, to put it clearly, and if we are to make a profit as contemplated, we need to run the plant full capacity. We don't want to run the plant half of the capacity pending the approval, because it's a big plant. If some minor accident happens or etc., it will have a great impact which we don't want to take that risk... I think when it comes to the government, we cannot give the timelines."
– S. Subramanian, CFO
Management explicitly characterizing FY26 US injectable growth as "muted" while positioning FY27 as "a great year" with multiple settlement-based oncology launches.
["Neha, like FY26 is going to be muted in terms of growth per se, because obviously you said it right, Eugia-3 is yet to be cleared and there's no super star product which is going to come in FY26... But FY27 should be a good year. That is what we believe, that FY26, we will be in a position to clear all the issues with FDA. And FY27, we have significant launches and settlement-based launches that are planned including Pomalidomide, Nintedanib, Sugammadex."
– Yugandhar Puvvala, CEO Eugia Pharma Specialties
Biosimilar business targeting double-digit revenue contribution from FY27, with 2028 as inflection year and $250-400 million revenue potential by 2030-31.
"So, we plan to start our supplies from the 2nd Quarter... Once we iron out our supply chain and stabilize our manufacturing and supplies, I expect the meaningful contributions from the biosimilars business to flow in from the next fiscal year. We expect it to be a double-digit revenue starting the next fiscal... So, Nitin, we expect '28 would be the inflection year for the biosimilar business... I expect by 2030-31, the business would be anywhere between US$ 250 to around US$ 400 million in revenues."
– Dr. Satakarni Makkapati, CEO Biosimilars
Despite claiming "no major impact," management deferred guidance clarity until July 2025 tariff announcements, suggesting material concerns about US market dynamics.
"But having said that, I want to make it clear that we need to wait for the impact on account of the tariff announcement, which is likely to happen in the month of July '25, even though we don't feel there will be a major impact, etc. Nevertheless, we should wait for the announcements... Nothing, we are not suggesting anything. Whatever, we are not making anything, we are not guessing anything. We are just saying there is an announcement likely in the month of July."
– S. Subramanian, CFO
Financial Services
Indian Railway Finance Corporation Limited | Large Cap | Financial Services
Indian Railway Finance Corporation Limited (IRFC) is a government-owned NBFC that has historically financed Indian Railways infrastructure projects. The company recently achieved Navratna status and is undergoing a strategic transformation to diversify beyond its single-client model.
Strategic business model pivot from single-client dependency to railway ecosystem financing, targeting 2-3x margin improvement while accessing a ₹2.5 lakh crore addressable market.
"The exciting thing to talk about is in the last quarter of FY '25, we have changed our business model from one client that is Indian Railway to many who are having linkages with the railway ecosystem... We are becoming lowest in this beating all banks and NBFCs and still making margins of 2x to 3x to what we used to get from Indian Railways."
– Manoj Kumar Dubey, Chairman, MD & CEO
Unprecedented competitive positioning with sub-0.1% operating costs enabling aggressive pricing while maintaining superior margins against all banking competition.
"We have a competitive advantage on many accounts. Rate is definitely one of them and because we have a very low operating cost. You must have seen our operating cost is one of the lowest in the industry, about 0.1 – we don't have 0.1%, even less than 0.1%... we have generated business of INR14,000 crores."
– Shelly Verma, Director, Finance
Rapid execution velocity with ₹14,000 crores already secured since Q4 FY25, including ₹5,000 crores NTPC deal won in April alone, validating the transformation thesis.
"In this calendar year, including the month of April, we have already done more than INR14,000 crores of loans... In the first 4 months of this FY or if you take only this month, April, we have already done INR5,000 crores loan L1 with NTPC... IRFC 2.0 is going to have a risk-free and steep growth in business."
– Manoj Kumar Dubey, Chairman, MD & CEO
Conservative ₹60,000 crore borrowing guidance with management signaling strong upside potential as pipeline execution accelerates ahead of expectations.
"My Board has given me the initial sanction of INR60,000 crores of borrowing for this year. And that is a very conservative number that we have started... But quarter after quarter, as I have spoken in my 2 last con calls, we are walking the talk. What we set for ourselves in Q3 results, we are already crossed many bridges, and we are moving ahead quicker than what we expected to do."
– Manoj Kumar Dubey, Chairman, MD & CEO
Refinancing opportunity provides instant disbursement pathway with IRFC claiming cheapest cost of lending in the country, creating sustainable competitive moat.
"Refinancing is – we are looking forward to very excitedly for the fact that the moment I win a bid for refinancing, the disbursement is done instantly... because our cost of lending is cheapest than anyone else right now in the country, we still believe that by refinancing the projects, we'll be earning much more than what we are earning from the Indian Railways as a margin."
– Manoj Kumar Dubey, Chairman, MD & CEO
Poonawalla Fincorp Limited | Mid Cap | Financial Services
Poonawalla Fincorp Limited is a non-banking financial company (NBFC) engaged in providing diversified financial services including personal loans, business loans, loan against property, used vehicle financing, and newly launched products across gold loans, commercial vehicles, education loans, and consumer durables.
AI-first transformation across 25 projects delivering measurable productivity gains of 35-40% in credit underwriting, positioning technology as core competitive differentiator rather than just operational efficiency.
"We had announced 7 precise AI projects in the last earnings call... We've also done a fair work to identify 18 further incremental projects across departments, Credit, Internal Audit, HR, Admin, Infra, Analytics, IT, Customer service, Operations and other departments. In credit underwriting. We had deployed AI powerful tools to streamline operational aspects of the underwriting process... We have already shared that this is leading to 35%-40% increase in credit managers' efficiency, and we've already launched the first phase of this. In debt management... delivering around 2x to 3x sharper risk assessments."
– Arvind Kapil, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Accelerated product diversification with all 6 new businesses launched 1.5 months ahead of schedule, targeting 400 gold loan branches and 10,000-12,000 consumer durable dealer points within the year.
"Another guidance that we had given was the launch of 6 businesses in the first quarter of this financial year, which would have actually been end of June 2025. I'm happy to share that as a team, we planned well in advance in the last 6 months and have systematically managed to launch all 6 businesses that are already live in the market, as I talk to you... We're looking at 400 branches by end of the financial year... We're looking at 210 locations across 10,000 to 12,000 dealer points by end of the financial year."
– Arvind Kapil, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Industry-first 24x7 end-to-end digital lending capabilities that large banks haven't achieved, already generating monthly business volumes and positioned to become major competitive advantage.
"We've also launched industry-first 24x7 digital journeys for our external customers... most banks, or for that matter, most of the industry players are not able to pull this off. At Poonawalla Fincorp, we've already managed to walk this road for an external customer... we're already seeing business happening every month on an end-to-end fully digital."
– Arvind Kapil, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Strong execution track record with AUM growth of 42.5% YoY exceeding guidance of 30-35%, driven by distribution franchise strength that enabled growth despite STPL pullback.
"In Q1FY24-25, we had given an AUM guidance of 30%-35% for FY24-25 and 35%-40% thereafter. I'm happy to share with you all that our AUM has grown by 42.5% YoY and 15% QoQ... despite the fact that initially we took the STPL down, we recalibrated, brought it back, and we managed to get our AUM growth, and that's probably a signal of how the respect that this team commands in the distribution world."
– Arvind Kapil, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Can Fin Homes Limited | Small Cap | Housing Finance
Can Fin Homes Limited is a Bangalore-based housing finance company that provides home loans, loan against property, and construction finance. It is a subsidiary of Canara Bank and operates primarily in South and West India.
Karnataka business recovery drives 31% Q4 growth as e-Khata regulatory bottleneck resolves, with monthly disbursements doubling from Rs.150 crores to Rs.300 crores.
"The small issue of e-Khata that we had experienced mainly in Q3 of this year, we have seen some improvement in the disbursement position and some e-Khata release is also happening, as a result of which, our Karnataka disbursements in Q4 have increased by approximately Rs. 200 crores compared to Q3 of the year. So basically in the month of January and February, we could do about Rs.200 crores each, and in the month of March, we have touched Rs.300 crores."
– Suresh Iyer, MD & CEO
Competitive advantage from rate cut cycle as HFCs and private banks haven't reduced incremental lending rates despite 50 bps repo cuts, allowing spread expansion from lower funding costs.
"So far we have not seen the incremental lending rates being changed by any of the HFCs or some of the private sector banks also. So it's only on the existing customers, the banks have and that also PSU banks mainly have reduced their rates for the existing customers. But for the new customers, not much except for a few PSU banks it has not changed."
– Suresh Iyer, MD & CEO
Management targeting 20% disbursement growth for FY26 despite Q3 tech transformation risks, with confidence backed by strong momentum in North (36% growth), West (16% growth), and Tamil Nadu (27% growth) zones.
"We are very positive that we should be able to achieve a 20% growth in disbursements because the three of the zones major zones are already performing well with Karnataka also looking to come back to the old numbers and what we had seen in H1 even Karnataka should be doing around 20%-plus growth."
– Suresh Iyer, MD & CEO
Strategic shift toward SENP customers and northern/western geographies showing gradual progress, with housing mix reducing from 89% to 85% and salaried mix declining from 72% to 70%.
"In terms of the strategy that we have been talking about in terms of a shift to a little more towards SENP category and a little more towards the North and Western regions, the situation is that from a beginning two years back of about 89% of portfolio being housing including CRE, it has come down to 85%. So, there has been a gradual reduction and we would like to in the next three years take it down to around 80%."
– Suresh Iyer, MD & CEO
Tech transformation scheduled for Q3 FY26 presents execution risk but management expresses confidence in minimizing business disruption while maintaining full-year growth guidance.
"And as per the tech transformation, yes, it is expected in Q3. So, we are already working towards minimizing the impact or… I wouldn't say there will be zero impact, but definitely we are trying to work towards minimizing the impact of that transition so that it doesn't affect our Q3 numbers also much."
– Suresh Iyer, MD & CEO
Retail
Bata India Limited | Small Cap | Footwear Retail
Bata India Limited is one of India's largest footwear retailers, operating over 1,400 stores across the country. The company manufactures and sells footwear across multiple brands including Bata, Hush Puppies, Power, and Floatz, serving diverse consumer segments from value to premium.
Strategic shift from premiumization to volume-driven growth as management acknowledges consumer demand for value amid inflation, marking a clear pivot from previous quarters.
"The second theme that's there is that we want, over the next not only 2 years, but also 5 years, to make sure that we – it's a volume-driven growth trajectory overall, right? There might be some quarters up and down, but we want to make sure it's a volume-driven revenue growth trajectory."
– Gunjan Shah, MD & CEO
Zero Base Merchandising transformation achieving remarkable operational efficiency with 146 stores showing 40% reduction in product lines while improving size availability by 300 basis points.
"We are now at about 146 stores. So, it's obviously a very large expansion from less than 40 or so last quarter... the number of lines in the store have dropped by almost 40%. The inventories have dropped by about 25%. What we measure as availability of various size sets and articles has gone up significantly versus net of control by about 300 basis points."
– Gunjan Shah, MD & CEO
Management identifies a clear consumer behavior shift toward value-seeking amid inflation, providing strategic direction for product positioning.
"However, within that, what we see is that our ability to do 2, 3 things, right? One is provide the right kind of portfolio to consumers, which we are looking for, and many of them are what we see very clearly are looking for some kind of a relief from the overall inflation that they've seen and, therefore, value for money."
– Gunjan Shah, MD & CEO
Aggressive inventory optimization delivers 16% reduction over 5 consecutive quarters with aged inventory down 30-35%, demonstrating systematic working capital management.
"The inventory is a significant drop at 16%. This is over a continuing drop over the last almost now 5 quarters that we have managed to do... We still see some more meat going forward on this entire piece, not only in total quantity, but also on the quality of inventory, which is what you see in the aged inventory that's about 30% to 35% lower."
– Gunjan Shah, MD & CEO
Floatz brand success story with potential to double from INR100+ crores to INR200 crores, demonstrating innovation capability in creating new growth categories.
"At the run rate, in fact, it costs out by a handsome margin. I'm assuming $1 billion is INR100 crores, right? So, it plotted by a handsome margin last year. And this year, my sense is if this continues momentum, right, we should be in the range of about INR200 crores."
– Gunjan Shah, MD & CEO
Technology-intensive manufacturing strategy focusing on automated, IPR-driven operations while outsourcing labor-intensive production to create asset-light growth model.
"These are all in line with what we feel is the right strategy for manufacturing, which is automated capex, technology intensive, and IPR driven is what we want to own, while we use contract packers for the manual labour-intensive pieces, fashion driven."
– Gunjan Shah, MD & CEO
Apex Frozen Foods | Small Cap | FMCG
Apex Frozen Foods is an integrated Indian producer, processor, and exporter of shelf-stable quality aquaculture products, primarily various types of frozen shrimp, to global markets like the USA and Europe.
Apex Frozen Foods is strategically reducing its reliance on the U.S. market by significantly boosting sales in the EU, creating a more stable and diverse global export business less vulnerable to U.S. trade issues.
“The EU market's contribution to overall sales mix increased to 36% in Q4 FY25… our long-term vision aims to restrict even our number one market to 50% or lesser than 50%.”
—Chri Karuturi, Managing Director
Apex expects imminent EU approval for its premium Ready-To-Eat (RTE) shrimp, unlocking higher margins and a new 10,000 MT/year revenue stream.
“We are just awaiting [approval] anytime soon… this will allow us to grow our ready-to-eat business in the EU with at least 10–15% better realization.”
—Chri Karuturi, Managing Director
Despite facing U.S. import tariffs, Apex Frozen Foods is successfully passing these costs onto its buyers, indicating strong demand and customer loyalty that allows them to maintain resilient volumes and prices.
“Those tariffs are all being taken care of by the customers… the customers are continuing to buy at this, considering the tariff rates.”
—Chri Karuturi, Managing Director
With old debts cleared and no major new spending, Apex Frozen Foods is now financially leaner, focusing on efficiency to boost future profits.
“We are done with all those old problems… no plans for additional investment except to reduce energy costs and improve efficiency.”
—Chri Karuturi, Managing Director
Thomas Scott | Small Cap | Retail
Thomas Scott (India) Ltd. is an Indian company primarily engaged in the manufacturing and retail of men's formal and casual textile products under various brands like Hammersmith, Bang & Scott, and Thomas Scott, distributed through its retail outlets, large format stores, and e-commerce platforms.
Thomas Scott has moved beyond just stitching garments. Today, it designs, markets, and delivers fashion directly to customers using data and tech. This shift gives it full control, better margins, and the ability to scale fast.
“TSIL has evolved from a traditional apparel manufacturer into a vertically integrated, tech-enabled online fashion retailer. Over the past two years, the company has built a centralized, data-driven back-end that powers operations, design, cataloguing, brand management, and merchandising for multiple brands.”
—Chirag Nagda, Executive Director
The company makes small batches of new designs first and scales up only if they sell well. This approach saves money, avoids unsold stock, and gets products to market faster.
“We follow a test-and-repeat model. Initially, we manufacture around 120 pieces per design. If the response is good, we ramp it up quickly. This helps in reducing dead inventory and improves efficiency across the board.”
—Chirag Nagda, Executive Director
The company’s own fashion brand is now a major revenue driver, with online presence and five offline stores already launched.
“The brand Thomas Scott is now available on all leading online platforms. We have also launched 5 exclusive brand outlets in Bengaluru and are planning more in the coming year.”
—Chirag Nagda, Executive Director
In just a few years, profits have grown significantly thanks to better margins from in-house and licensed brand sales.
“Our revenue grew from ₹21 crore in FY22 to ₹161 crore in FY25. PAT also grew from ₹60 lakh to ₹12.8 crore. This has been made possible by building our own brand and scaling licensed brands smartly.”
—Chirag Nagda, Executive Director
Real Estate
Brigade Enterprises Limited | Small Cap | Real Estate
Brigade Enterprises Limited is a Bangalore-based real estate developer with operations across residential, commercial, retail, and hospitality segments. The company has completed 100 million square feet of development since inception and maintains a strong presence in Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad.
Aggressive Chennai expansion with 40% price premiums at ₹20,000 per sq ft, targeting ultra-premium segments with properties adjacent to Phoenix Marketcity and luxury hotels.
"Yesterday's acquisition included that. That's an excellent parcel. It's right next to Phoenix Marketcity Chennai mall and Palladium Mall and The Westin Hotel as well. So it's a fantastically located parcel, and I think the pricing there is fair."
– Pavitra Shankar, Managing Director
Sophisticated capital allocation philosophy prioritizing margin preservation over growth-at-any-cost, with disciplined approach to both land acquisition and sales execution.
"There is no hard and fast rule that I need to sell everything upfront. But there is no hard and fast rule that I need to sell everything upfront. And that's why I think around 50% to 60% from new launch is what we'll continue to look at."
– Pavitra Shankar, Managing Director
Net debt-to-equity ratio dramatically improved from 0.62 to 0.14 in one year, with zero residential debt maintained while achieving record ₹7,847 crore presales.
"We continue to have zero residential debt, driven by higher sales, real estate and collections. Almost 82% of the debt pertains to the commercial portion, which is backed by rental income. Net Debt equity ratio stood at 0.14 as of March '25 as compared to 0.62 in March '24."
– Jayant Manmadkar, CFO
Customer base evolution from traditional IT services to higher-value GCCs and tech roles, potentially reducing cyclical risk despite 60-65% tech sector exposure.
"Over the last 10 years, the profile of what is considered as IT as a job has really gone up the value chain. So previously, we all looked at Infosys, Wipro and so on as like your potential companies from where you get your customers. Now, because of the way the economy has also grown and the kind of jobs that are there and the growth of GCCs, we're seeing a lot of people in GCCs or companies where they have tech roles or digital roles."
– Pavitra Shankar, Managing Director
Auto Ancillaries
Amara Raja Energy & Mobility Limited | Small Cap | Auto Ancillaries
Amara Raja Energy & Mobility Limited (formerly Amara Raja Batteries Limited) is an Indian energy storage solutions company specializing in lead acid batteries for automotive and industrial applications, with expanding operations in lithium-ion cells, battery packs, and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Digital transformation unlocking significant capacity expansion without capital investment - company added 6 million battery capacity above existing levels without major capex through Industry 4.0 initiatives.
"We are almost able to add 6 million battery capacity over and above our existing capacities without adding much of a capex. So all this should give us more help in the coming period, we'll be able to meet higher demand requirements without much of a capex getting invested in some of these areas."
– Y. Delli Babu, CFO
Chinese pricing aggression forcing strategic recalibration of New Energy expansion plans, with management openly acknowledging investment decisions now "much hinged" on ability to compete with Chinese cell pricing.
"Obviously, our investment decisions will also be much hinged – further investment decisions are much hinged on our confidence in being able to meet these prices. We believe that we're going to definitely be paying anywhere from 15%, 20% penalty to make cells in India on day 1."
– Vikramadithya Gourineni, Executive Director - New Energy Business
Export vulnerability emerging as trade policy uncertainty puts 12-13% annual growth driver at risk, with management admitting to "wait-and-watch" mode on key revenue segment.
"But at this point of time, it is still a bit of a flux situation today, maybe one month or maybe two months down the line, how based on these trade agreement discussions, how they pan out might give us an idea which way this is going."
– Y. Delli Babu, CFO
High trading revenue dependency (15% of total revenue) masking organic growth quality and margin improvement potential, with management indicating continued reliance even after tubular plant restart.
"Going forward, obviously, once we start our manufacturing activity, the amount of trading that we do will come down, but we will still need some batteries through the vendors because our requirement will be higher than what the capacity that we have put up."
– Y. Delli Babu, CFO
New Energy expansion entirely dependent on Lead Acid cash generation with ₹2,000-2,500 crore Phase 1 funding requirement, creating strategic vulnerability if core business margins deteriorate.
"From our cash flow management point of view, we believe the first phase would require in the New Energy Business close to INR2,000 crores to INR2,500 crores, which we believe we can easily meet with our existing lead acid business cash flow generation."
– Y. Delli Babu, CFO
Software
Kellton Tech Solutions | Small Cap | Software Services
Kellton Tech Solutions is a small-cap Indian software services company that offers digital transformation, ERP, and IT consulting services globally across various industries.Kellton Tech Solutions is a small-cap Indian software services company providing digital transformation, ERP, and IT consulting services globally.
Kellton Tech has made AI the center of its strategy. It wants to be known not just as a digital transformation firm, but as one that leads with AI, competing on capability rather than size.
“We want to be known as a global service provider for the AI-enabled digital transformation of all solutions that are possible… just like you said we are the digital transformation company, we would like to be the AI-first digital transformation company… From a technical capability point of view, our capability is much better than any of these big boys that you named.”
—Niranjan Chintam, Chairman and Karanjit Singh, CEO
The company grew over 11% for the year and nearly 16% this quarter. Management says this is the beginning of faster growth and improved profit going forward.
“For the financial year FY25, we had a total revenue of close to ₹1,100 crores, about 11.7% growth year on year. For the quarter, ₹287 crores, about 15.7% growth YoY. We have just passed the inflection point—you can see the efficiencies coming into the system which will lead to increased profitability and growth.”
—Niranjan Chintam, Chairman
Kellton added nine new clients and delivered major projects like AI survey platforms, real-time monitoring, and SAP go-lives, proving its ability to handle large, modern tech rollouts.
“We had nine customer wins this quarter… an AI-driven survey management platform, SAP consultants delivering AI capabilities, modernization for an HR tech firm… IoT and cloud analytics across 15 oil plant sites, and a zero-downtime migration for 33 million users to a cloud-native OTT platform.”
—Karanjit Singh, CEO
Quarterly margins dipped due to annual raises and AI retooling. But management expects efficiency and higher billing from new AI services to lift margins in coming quarters.
“Our EBITDA hasn’t fallen. If you look at the full year, we improved by 1%. This quarter had higher AI retooling investments and the January appraisal cycle. But over the next few quarters, you’ll start seeing this improve as our industry-specific AI capabilities start yielding results.”
—Niranjan Chintam, Chairman
Metals
Jindal Saw | Small Cap | Metals
Jindal Saw Limited is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of iron and steel pipe products and pellets, primarily used in sectors like oil & gas, water transportation, power generation, and other industrial applications, with manufacturing facilities in India, USA, Europe, and UAE.
Jindal Saw is building local factories in the fast-growing GCC(Gulf Cooperation Council) region to capitalize on government policies that favor local production.
“The company is planning for the next phase of growth... the results were kind of plateauing a little bit... The GCC region offers a highly conducive business environment.”
—Neer Kumar, Group CEO and Whole Director
Jindal Saw is borrowing money in local currencies where it operates to avoid losing money when exchange rates change, showing smart financial management for its big international projects.
“All the debt component our attempt would be to get a project finance in those specific companies from the local market so that we don't get exposed to any foreign exchange risk”
—Neer Kumar, Group CEO and Whole Director
Jindal Saw's local production in the GCC is permanently cheaper and preferred over imports because of ongoing government policies that favor local goods, giving them a lasting competitive edge.
“In Abu Dhabi there they have introduced a concept called local value add so based on the local value add government gives you a lot of incentives to make you cost competitive and also based on the local value add they give preference to the local produce visa v import. The subsidy that you get in Abu Dhabi so far you will just continue to get year on year as long as your local value ad remains the same likewise the price preference that you get in Saudi Arabia remains the same as long as your structure everything remains the same you will get on keep on getting year on year. So there is it's not like a tax incentive that we used to have which is for 5 years or 10 years or whatever. No these subsidies are where they subsidize the land cost the electricity cost utility cost and all of those or they give you incentive in terms of price preference reduction in import duty so those they are open-ended as long as you are there in the same formation they will continue."
—Neer Kumar, Group CEO and Whole Director
Jindal Saw is considering multiple partners for its Abu Dhabi pipe project's specialized threading, preferring Hunting but also looking at others, to ensure they have reliable access to technology and aren't reliant on just one supplier from the start in this new market.
“Obviously, Hunting would be our first preference, but we are speaking to others also… we’re keeping our minds open.”
—Neer Kumar, Group CEO and Whole Director
Miscellaneous
Bluspring Enterprise | Small Cap | Miscellaneous
Blusprint Enterprises Limited, is an Indian infrastructure management company that provides integrated facility management, food services, security services, and telecom network planning across diverse sectors.
Bluspring completed its corporate restructuring ahead of schedule and got listed on Indian stock exchanges on June 11, 2025. This signals strong execution and sets the company up for independent growth.
“We successfully completed the demerger well ahead of the timeline. Listed on the Indian exchanges effective 11th June 2025.”
—Kamal Pal Hoda, Executive Director & CEO
Despite a reported headline loss from recurring costs, Bluspring Enterprises demonstrated underlying strength with an adjusted net profit of ₹53 crore in FY25.
“FY2025 Adjusted PAT at ₹53 crore. Adjusted PAT excludes one-time exceptional items attributable towards goodwill impairment and one-time demerger expenses.”
—Prapul Sridhar, CFO
Bluspring's largest segment is Facility & Food Services, contributing ₹1,816 crore in FY25. However, margins declined due to upfront investments in sales and leadership post-demerger, indicating near-term sacrifice for future growth.
“Facility and Food saw a decline in EBITDA due to re-baselining of ECL post demerger and investments in sales and leadership.”
—Nitin Trikha, Head – IFM & Food Services
Bluspring is maintaining strong relationships with existing clients and winning new ones across manufacturing, healthcare, IT, and infrastructure, showing that its services remain in demand despite sectoral shifts.
“Despite the macro environment, we maintained renewal rates of 85%+ and added new wins across manufacturing, healthcare, technology, infra and BFSI.”
—Kamal Pal Hoda, Executive Director & CEO
That’s it for now! Your feedback will really help shape how The Chatter evolves. Drop it down in the comments below!
Quotes in this newsletter were curated by Mridula & Apoorv.
Disclaimer: We’ve used AI tools in filtering and cleaning up these quotes so there maybe some mistakes. Now, if you are thinking why we are using AI, please remember that we are just a small team of 5 people running everything you see on Zerodha Markets 😬 So, all the good stuff is human and mistakes are AI.
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