Questions across 80 calls

Abneesh Roy

Nuvama

Marico Limited

Marico Limited CC-Dec24.pdf · 2025-01-31

Yes, congrats on a good set of numbers. My first question is on Plix and True Elements. If you could tell us in terms of distribution scale up with respect to these two specific products, how much scale up is expected to happen in one year? In True Elements, competitive intensity I think is quite high. There are a lot of similar kind of companies in both legacy and startups as well. Hence, if you could discuss how things are on competitive intensity and in terms of profitability, how are things panning versus internal expectations?

One follow up on Plix regarding achieving 500 crores very soon, will it be in FY26 or 27? And second when you had acquired Plix, it was clearly a very differentiated portfolio and innovative company. Now what are the SKUs or formats which are working and in terms of pricing have you made it more affordable? Because pricing at that time was definitely on the higher side. But with your scale and expansion, and overall ability to price it lower, has the pricing become more affordable for the customer?

Marico Limited CC-Sep24.pdf · 2024-10-29

My first question is on the urban demand, which you mentioned is stable. You did mention that at the lower end, there is a challenge of food inflation and muted sentiment. Now, if I see QSR sector, pizza and burger sector, they have faced seven quarters of slowdown. Now, when I see your numbers, a good set of numbers, foods, 28% growth, premium personal care trending ahead of expectation. So, in your these two segments, which are more index to urban, because they are more catering to mid and premium, would you say that the risk in coming quarters is not something you would be worried on? And second, of course, is in terms of the Plix's performance, et cetera, if you could give more details? Because you did mention that 28% is the food growth. But the Saffola Oats growth is mid teens, which means the other segments have also done well. And last point on urban you said the food inflation and muted sentiment. Now if food inflation cools off, say, in one quarter, would you also discuss the muted sentiments? What is the issue there? Those will be the first question.

My second and last question is on the Saffola edible oil. So, when I see Q2 , we have seen the number one edible oil company Adani Wilmar see double-digit volume growth. So here if I see, Saffola edible oil is clearly a premium part of urban consumption and it is health focused also , which is a very clear theme. So , in the second half, what will be your expectation on Saffola edible oil? Because this time it is flat versus say double-digit for the economy and now the pricing is going up for both. And there is the challenge of overall urban demand. So, if I put all this, where is the issue? Is there some level of now cannibalization, say, from the economy edible oil also having very similar ads to w hat the Saffola has or is it just a transient issue of , say, the pricing et cetera changing past few quarters. So , where is the issue when you see the volume difference between your growth and say Adani Wilmar's growth?

Marico Limited CC-Jun24.pdf · 2024-08-05

My first question is on the foods business. So, very strong growth here. Wanted to understand if there is any one -off this quarter? And between the two new businesses or True Elements and Plix, would you expect FY25 higher growth in Plix? And in True Elements, if you could specify, in a very hyper competitive and a lot of similar kind of brands, how True Elements is now able to differentiate and thereby grow strongly?

My second question is on your international business. You have diversified away from Bangladesh, which is a good strategy in the current context. Another FMCG company said that past few weeks in Bangladesh has been quite challenging, which is understandable. My specific question is, how are your EBITDA margins in Bangladesh versus say the consol margins or say the standalone margins? And second is, how serious is the impact till now? Some color if you could give either in terms of manufacturing or in terms of demand and distribution, how big is the impact till now? I understand these are daily consumption, so this will come back. But till now how is the demand in Bangladesh?

TATA CONSUMER PRODUCTS LIMITED

TATA CONSUMER PRODUCTS LIMITED CC-Dec24.pdf · 2025-01-30

Yes. My first question is a follow -up on tea. So, normally, we see, Sunil, that whenever sharp raw material inflation happens in any commodi ty of 25%, 30%, say, which is very sharp, FMCG sector takes price hike in 2 tranches. So now why would you rule out one more price hike because we are talking about Q4 being soft, it may improve versus Q3 . Q1 also being soft and Q2 almost also getting impacted, so it's almost 3 quarters. So is it fair to rule out one more round of price hike given it's largely a 2 -player market? There are multiple local players, but what is preventing one more round of hike given 2, 3 quarters of pain? Sunil D’Souza: Abneesh, you are absolutely right. So 2, 3 things, I would say, right, a 25%, 30% price hike. The one thing different from the past is this has happened gradually, I think from August to October, November. So the local players have had time to adapt to the new prices, and therefore, not being starved of working capital overnight. So that's number one. And therefore, you've not seen the spikes of market share that you saw during the COVID times, A. B is nothing prevents industry providing every player is ration al and wanting to take up price. Let me just say in markets where we think we can lead with price, we have already led with price, and we'll continue to lead. It's not necessary two – I'm willing to take it 5 times, right? But I am not willing to be go too much ahead and leave a gap, which competitors can exploit.

So one follow -up here. So would you say that market share gain versus local players is something a bit difficult in the near term, given what you mentioned staggered impact? I'm not mentioning against the number -- the other larger player, because I think both can do well. My question is more on the local players. Is there an opportunity in next 2 quarters to see a real market share? See, let's ignore the Nielsen market share. Is there an opportunity to gain market share in the real term? Sunil D’Souza: No, no. I absolutely think so. Because, Abneesh, I don't think industry has grown 7% volume right? And my price index to local has not c hanged dramatically. But as prices have g one up, I think slowly, slowly the oxygen is getting thinner. So I would definitely say market share will go up.

TATA CONSUMER PRODUCTS LIMITED CC-Sep24.pdf · 2024-10-18

My first question is on your two acquisitions which you have done. So in terms of two quarters, we have now a fair bit of data . So, if you could tell us what are the key wins in both the acquisition of Organic India and Capital Foods? And what are the things which did not pan out and what are the learnings? And in terms of growth metrics, I'm not talking about FY25. This is the f irst year of acquisition and always is a more challenging year. But from FY26 and FY27 in terms of growth expectations for these two, would you like to recalibrate slightly lower versus init ial expectation? Sunil D’Souza: So, number 1, Abneesh, I'll start by answering your last question. I don't think we're calibrating anything lower. In fact, while we started with a lower base than what we thought it was, we remain quite bullish that we will be able to catch up to our business case numbers very quickly. That's number one. Number 2, in terms of learnings, I can write a long book on the learnings . A) we integrated pretty quickly and got going. But through this process, let me give an e xample. I n Organic India, one of the things that we learned were there were about 1,000 outlets across the country, which were the primary volume drivers for the business. And what had happened during the integration, when the team rationalized the discounts, promotions, etcetera, they’d rationalized and there fore suddenly these outlet sales had dropped. But very quickly, the team did an analysis, figured out, okay. So, they've gone back with a revised proposition to the stores and started to enr ol the stores back and guess what they're coming back. So we remai n quite bullish coming up with that. So that's the example for Organic India. In Capital Foods, there is a whole host of things, including the fact that the Capital Foods team was very, very nimble and agile on, for example, the ginger garlic paste recipe. They used to keep modifying it to make sure that they are in line with commodity trends. And typical in a large company, that doesn't happen. So, for the first month, we saw our margi n dip saying why? Because we were not agile enough. So now we've c reated a playbook of 10 different recipes, which we’ve loaded up on SAP, so depending on what the commodity prices are, the team selects the optimal thing, number one. Number two, there are certain geographies where we figured out that there is an issue. So, while we had selected the best distributor in the town among Organic India, Capital Foods and TCPL, in some places we figured that the TCPL distributor was not delivering up to par. And then when we figure d out that in some of the places, for exam ple, the Capital Foods distributors were getting into confectionery wholesalers, and that's where the ir volume was coming from. And my guys were not going there. So now we figured out in many of these towns, we appointed the erstwhile Capital Food distrib utors as sub distributors for certain channel and a portfolio. We figured that some of the suppliers of Capital Foods, especially for the frozen stock, et cetera, were not up to par, but we h ad not proactively scouted around for suppliers. So there was a bi t of a hiccup on that supply front. So the learning is now we proactively keep a list of suppliers and definitely more than one supplier in a category so that we don't land up in this hiccup again. But what was the positive surprise across both the pieces , is the strength of the brands, even where they were not distributed. So for example, when we took Capital Foods to the South, hardly any resistance in terms of distribution and the South h as taken off very, very nicely. Organic India, I was not as bullis h on the organic food range. But now when you see the demand for organic jaggery, organic ghee, organic rock salt, now we're chasing our tails trying to make sure the supply chains are in place.

My last question will be on NourishCo. So three, four quarters, we have seen growth being well below your own expectations. There has been a business head change also, I think, in NourishCo. And you spoke about Gluco+ challenges. Now what is the way forward here? Next one year, how do you see this business given base is very favorable? And you must have thought about the corrective actions. And if you could talk about Campa Cola because that's available at INR10 pet bottle . I know still very early days in terms of market penetration for them. But would you need to go back to the drawing board and because your pricing is also INR10 for Tata Gluco +, but when customers sees a INR10 Campa Cola pet bottle and when he sees your product. What is the design change, what is the pricing change needed to succeed in the broader scheme of things. It may not be like -to-like for the customer, but ultimately, customer, everything is thirst quenching. So if you could comment on that.

Radico Khaitan Limited

Radico Khaitan Limited CC-Dec24.pdf · 2025-01-30

Yes. Thanks. My first question is about the Andhra market. So, you have done well, and you have gained market share. Even the national players have gained market share. So, if you could tell us are the local players now all largely out of the market? And second is in the previous cycle, when a similar regime, similar government was there, then what was your market share? And as a percentage of pan-India, when do you see full normalization and what will be that number in terms of Andhra contribution to your sales?

So, my second and last question is on the demand side. You also sounded positive and pan -India and national side is also positive. So, my question is in terms of the marriage demand, how much is the benefit coming from there? And ex of Andhra, what will be your expectation of growth because Andhra clearly is helping . And would you see Q4 Andhra contribution being a bit lower because first quarter, generally, the inventory pileup is there, which helps in a larger number. So, would you say that Q4, the contribution to sales from Andhra, that could be a bit lower and then it starts going up again?

Allied Blenders and Distillers Limited

Allied Blenders and Distillers Limited CC-Dec24.pdf · 2025-01-30

Yeah, thanks, and congrats on a good set of numbers. My first question is on ARTHAUS and the two M&As you have done. So, obviously, this industry is media dark and we have seen one small listed company do a very commendable job in terms of creating a new brand, which is a rival for you. So, wanted to understand how you would build up given that constraint of media dark and in terms of the addressable market for all these three, if you could tell us what is the addressable market and in terms of product and pricing and positioning, how you would be different? Because you need to be different so that you can get here tract ion. So, if you could talk about that also?

My last question is on Andhra market. So, you said it has doubled YOY. Now the multinational players had almost exited Andhra and now they're coming back and they have seen obviously good numbers on an almost zero base. So, my question is, when you had normal operations in Andhra, what percentage of sales was coming from there? And given multinationals are going to come back very strongly from zero base and now it is free market dynamics, how do you see eventually the market shares settle here because you already had some presence, but now multinationals have also entered Andhra?

AWL Agri Business Limited

AWL Agri Business Limited CC-Dec24.pdf · 2025-01-27

Congrats on the profits. My first question is on the food business. So you have called out strong growth in soya nuggets apart from your other food segment. There, we have seen incremental competition also from Marico Saffola, and they also claim to be doing well. Could you talk about the competitive intensity here, pricing pressure, etcetera? And if you could also talk about Sattu because that clearly seems to be a focus area by customers in terms of more protein specific product. So long term, how do you see the organized market share within Sattu because it's largely unorganized currently?

So from a competition perspective in soya chunks from Saffola, you're not seeing anything disruptive. Right?

Bikaji Foods International Limited

Bikaji Foods International Limited CC-Sep24.pdf · 2024-10-25

Yes, congrats. My first question is on the INR 5 price point. So, we have seen in the past few years, noodles face this issue that at INR 5, the grammage became so low that they had to vacate it and eventually even INR 10 got vacated even in the urban areas. So, I wanted to understand at INR 5, what is the challenge? Are we very close now to saturation point given palm oil is seeing very sharp inflation? If you could talk about, is the customer happy at that INR 5 price point against the grammage which you will now offer post the grammage cut?

Okay. And second question is whenever the new packaging norms come in terms of all the carbs, fat and all those calories etc. being more prominently featured, would you see that as an opportunity given the local players or maybe the customer also will then become more aware? And so maybe he will go towards more branded. But flip side is maybe he will cut down also because on health and all this heart related issue, and the customer awareness is also increasing. So, if you could specifically com ment on the packaging norms whenever they come, how do you see impact on the business?

United Spirits Limited

United Spirits Limited CC-Sep24.pdf · 2024-10-24

Yes, thanks. My first question is on Andhra market. So in India, dry states are there. But for example, in Bihar, last week, 1 petrol tanker was caught full of liquor bottles, so my question is on Andhra market, how much is the real opportunity from a 1 to 2 years perspective? I'm not asking next quarter, even the Q4 or Q1 because things in liquor, when they co me back, it takes some time? Second is, do you have all the clarifications in terms of policy, which are needed already, is it there? And when you compare Andhra liquor policy to a adjoining very, very similar state like Telangana, what are the gaps, what are the positives, if you could elaborate on all this?

Sure. But Telangana is a low -margin business also, right, in terms of the state mix. Is it a low - margin business?

Pidilite Industries Limited

Pidilite Industries Limited CC-Sep24.pdf · 2024-10-24

So, my first question is on the demand side. So, we have seen FMCG companies this quarter call out urban slowdown. In your case, also, Q1, there was an impact of elections and heatwave, and it was 8% volume growth in C&B. This quarter, the volume growth is 6%. I wanted to understand how much of the impact of the rains in your portfolio in paints. It's a bit easy to understand because exterior paint, there's a clear impact. In your case, given the industries are quite diversified, and you have got different kind of products also. So, if you could tell us in the non-rain impacted portfolio, is the demand still more like double digits? And next 2 quarters, your base is on the double- digit side. So, it is on the higher side. So, do you expect that the double-digit kind of volume growth in C&B could come back?

Sure. That's useful. One follow-up question on the urban demand. So Sudhanshu, you are a veteran of FMCG, having worked in marquee companies. So would you say that the urban slowdown in general, which I think a lot of categories are facing not just in FMCG. If you see even in cars, 4-wheelers, there is a significant slowdown versus, say, 1 quarter, 2 quarter back. What will be your thoughts on this? Why I'm asking this is until now last 3-4 years, real estate homes have done really well, new homes. And you do have an indexation towards that. So that does slow down at some stage, still robust. But if that does slow down, that obviously will have ramifications. So, any initial thoughts on the slowdown related largely to the food inflation. If food inflation cools off, say, in the next few months, would you expect this slowdown in the border consumption to reverse?

Pidilite Industries Limited CC-Jun24.pdf · 2024-08-08

Congrats on a good set of numbers. My first question is on the Kerala market. One of the paint companies said that they and all the paint players saw very muted demand, in fact, dip in volume in Kerala, a significant slow demand. Would you have also seen a slow demand in Kerala or any of the states in Q1, because your overall volume growth is quite healthy? I wanted to check if there is any issue in Kerala or any of the markets?

And any logic you are able to put there because the paint companies are saying they don't have any specific reason for this. Because why I'm asking this, this could go to other markets also. Because generally, in India, we don't see a slowdown being there for a long time in any of the markets. So, any reasons you are able to pick up?

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited CC-Sep24.pdf · 2024-10-18

Yes, thanks and c ongrats on good margin improvement. My first question is on the content and there are two, three sub-questions to that. One is now your financial position margins are improving. So, in terms of content sourcing are you now in a better position versus say one year back when things were more challenging for you? Second is, we have seen in the movie production for other players, I am not talking about Zee, I'm talking about say Dharma productions one week it comes Saregama is acquiring, second week, it comes Reliance is acquiring. We had seen Vashu Bhagnani bankruptcy-related news flow. So, my question here is what are your thoughts on the consolidation of the movie production, especially in Hindi? And where do you see Zee in that from a 2 -3 years’ perspective would you like to become a more serious player there given the very high risk which is there and that's why we are seeing the legacy players also looking to kind of sell out. So, what are your thoughts on why this i s happening? What is the issue and what will be your plans on movie production from 1 -2 years' perspective? That is the first question?

So, my question will be on your last point of music. So, we have seen the two listed music companies’ stocks also do well and business also do well. Zee Music used to be quite a serious player a few years back. So, what will be your thoughts there because music is much lesse r risk versus movie production a nd now at some stage the consumers are turning pay. What will be your thoughts there, lower risk, improving metrics in the next 2-3 years' perspective in music?

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited CC-Jun24.pdf · 2024-07-31

My first question is on the fundraise. So , a fundraise by TV broadcasting companies is quite rare, so I wanted to understand the deployment, where do you see, and what are the timelines? And what is the thought process behind this in terms of doing it now?

And last question will be on overall competitive intensity , if you can comment . And given consolidation is happening between the two large players, and currently regulatory approvals etc. are happening. So, my question is, one year down the line when all approvals come, and most of the current properties go to the joint entity, how do you see costing pressure? How do you see pricing pressure? That would be one. And second is , because of so much cost -cutting within the Company, if you could comment on the talent pool, how it is, plus how is the morale of the team ? Because so many things have happened in the Company in the last one year, the merger got called off, then cost -cutting, now margins are recovering, which is a good thing. Overall, if you could address the HR aspects, that would be useful.

Grasim Industries Limited

Grasim Industries Limited CC-Jun24.pdf · 2024-08-09

My first question is on your initial remarks on paints business. So this question is to the Birla Opus team, you mentioned that there is a CWIP component. So my specific question is, given you will have 3 more factories which will keep coming up, til the Q4, will the CWIP component continue to be there in Q2, Q3, Q4, that is the first clarification I wanted? Second is your factories are world -class, extremely large, extremely modern. So when you mentioned that the full breadth for the products haven't reached some of the dealers, what do you mean by that? Because paints logistics is fairly quick, and your demand is much lower than the current capacity. So why the products have not reached fully to the dealers. Could you explain these two?

No, it doesn't. So does it mean that Q3, Q4 and Q2 will have the impact. I understood you said 3 to 4 months before the launch, there is the testing of the products. But could you clarify that all 3 quarters will have this issue?

Britannia Industries Limited

Britannia Industries Limited CC-Jun24.pdf · 2024-08-05

Yes, thanks, and congrats on the volume growth. My first question is on the cheese business. So I noticed that you have mentioned on profitable growth. My specific question is, do you need to work further on the pricing aspect? Because I remember few quart ers back you had said the pricing premium is high for Britannia in cheese and you would like to reduce that. Where are we in terms of that? Second is, would you have a market share in cheese, because really that opportunity is very high given the kind of technology you bring to the table, the huge facility you have now, any numbers you can share with us directionally, how you see market share next year in cheese?

Market share on cheese?

Emami Limited

Emami Limited CC-Jun24.pdf · 2024-08-01

Congrats on the good set of numbers. My first question is on healthcare and Zanducare. So good 11% growth in healthcare overall with La Nina effect this time, which means generally harsh winter. Would you be extra aggressive in terms of the inventory buildup? And in terms of Zandu care, if you could tell us what is the right to win here? You have done well. It seems a good double -digit growth in Q1 in Zandu care. Those five products which are being launched, for example, in the digital first, what is the competition here? How is your pricing versus the other lar ge players? And what is the right to win here? Because digitally, many companies are launching. But ultimately, how do you get a good market share here? Will it be more of pricing-led only? If you could elaborate on that setting?

And which one...

Avenue Supermarts Limited

Avenue Supermarts Limited CC-Jun24.pdf · 2024-07-30

Yeah, thanks. My first question is on the product mix you have given. So, I see that foods is the only segment which has gained as a percentage of the mix, while rest of the two have seen a slight dip. Wanted to understand is it purely because of the food inflation and in FY '25? Because FMCG companies in the HPC space will take a hike. The non -foods FMCG should regain some of the lost share. What will be your comment on that? You are focusing more on general merchandise and apparel. So, wanted to understand why it's not visible in terms of numbers. There was a dip of around 33 bps. When do you see this reversing?

Sure. My second and last question will be on the DMart Ready. So, we have seen a year of consolidation and only one city getting added. So, what were the learnings from there? And we have seen quick commerce, for example. Now, they are seeing more consolidation, more on service rather than discounting. So, rain fee, delivery fee, loyalty fee, a lot of fees are coming in and that's good from an overall business sustainability perspective. I wanted to understand are you also thinking at some stage about quick commerce and also start charging for some of these because ultimately now it’s more of convenience rather than pure discounting. Plus, what is your take, is the worst behind on discounting? Because Zepto has raised huge funding very recently, while the other two players seem to be focusing more on service rather than just discounting.

United Breweries Limited

United Breweries Limited CC-Jun24.pdf · 2024-07-26

Congrats on good set of margins coming back. My first question is on the Heineken in Karnataka. So if you could tell us in the states where you're already present, say, Maharashtra and Goa, what kind of a success or size Heineken has been able to create because that could be a template for Karnataka? Plus I think there could be other competing brands or other companies already being in Karnataka, so what kind of market size are you looking at longer term here? Plus you said that in base, Heineken was present, so was it only because of the elections you did not bring it from Maharashtra or because the factory was almost ready and permission was almost coming, so that's why from Maharashtra, you did not ship it to Karnataka in this quarter?

Sure. Good to hear on the 40% growth in Maharashtra, Goa, et cetera. So 1 follow -up question on Heineken only. So I know, Vivek, currently, you have too many priorities and focus of increasing manufacturing in few states because capacity constraint is ther e. But in North India, would you need a Heineken at some stage because now Maharashtra, Karnataka are adjacent states, big markets, but North India is also a very attractive market. Would you need there or the tax laws are okay for importing from Maharashtra?

LT Foods Limited

Analysts/Institutional Investor Meet/Con. Call Updates LT Foods Limited has informed the Exchange about Transcript · 2024-07-25

My first question is on the market share in India. Are you seeing any movement there given the number 3 player had acquired company in the Basmati. So any impact of that going ahead you see? And how is the market share versus the other large players in India?

Okay. And in terms of your international business, how do you see growth this year. You have taken a lot of proactive steps in those countries, US., Europe, etc? Could you talk about growth expectations for the balance part of the year, FY '25?