Thank you very much. We will now begin the question -and-answer session. The first question is from the line of Rajvee from JM Financial. Please go ahead.

Dipali, if you co uld give some color on the order book, demand detailed growth in the US markets. How is our second half of ‘25 shaping out to be? Do we see your sharp recovery in the second-half demand? And what sort of revenue growth is possible in FY ‘25 given your current assessment?

So, I think for us the demand remains good as it is right now as you have seen in Quarter 1. We see a good visibility because you know that United States gets ready for the holiday season, and that’s been the trend. So, we definitely see that demand being at a steady state here, Rajvee. And when we talk about our growth, we have given a commitment of around 12% growth. And we have remained cautiously optimistic about it, and we will top it up as we go forward, as we have done in the Quarter 1 as well.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Biplab Debbarma from Antique Stockbroking.

Sir my first question is on the growth, 15% - 16% year-on-year growth. So, ma’am, which segments contributed to this 15% growth? And is it a high because of volume or price growth, or what is the contribution of volume growth in this? Thank you.

Hi, Biplab. It has primarily been the sales, and it has also been an impact of the exports, primarily. As you have seen that the emerging markets have been a little subdued competitively as well. So, while we see the exports growing at a rate of 17% and that ’s what has actually contributed to it, our emerging businesses actually were little subdued. Also, because if you look at flooring, with the kind of 64% at the factory, it is running at capacity, our you know we could have done better if the resi issues would have been a little not that challenging. So, it has been a mix here. When you talk about the m argins, I think I would say that the exports have contributed to the margins as well, primarily.

So, the growth has nearly come from volumes, as you had asked. The price, there has not been any major change. So, the growth is basically volume growth.

The second question is, I missed that funding part, sir, how you are funding the distribution of that cash outflow for distribution of dividend and buyback?

So, this will be from the internal resources. So, we have earned free cash flows earlier and which is available with the company, and it will be paid out of that.

Sir, since you have that on, it has also this quarter I think has grown a bit. So, I am just wondering, could we not have used the money of that payment or this is how the capital structure you want to be?

So, our capital allocation demands that we pay off to our shareholders as well, some percentage of our profit and hence which we have been doing for year -on-year, so that we have done. Despite that as I was telling you in my speech that we have been reducing our net debt from Rs. 2,300 odd crores to Rs. 1,300 odd crores. And this year, despite all these payments, we would be in the same ballpark range for financially ‘24 net debt. So, net debt is not an issue.

So, as Dipali mentioned, we are cautiously optimistic because we are seeing the Red Sea issues and other economic issues which is gripping the world. However, as we have maintained, we will top the 12% growth that we have already guided to us. A nd we will meet our bottom line guidance of EBITDA at 15% to 15.5% as we have guided.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Anushka Chitnis from Arihant Capital. Please go ahead.

My question is related to the buyback. I wanted to know if the promoter entity would be participating in this.

Yes. As we mentioned in our speech, yes, promoter entity will be participating 100% in this.

Thank you. The next question is line is from the line of Prerna Jhunjhunwala from Elara Capital. Please go ahead.

Congratulations on a strong set of numbers. Ma ’am, I wanted to understand more on flooring, why Red Sea is impacting that segment more than other categories, which are also export driven?

So, it ’s a little different here, Prerna. And when we talk about home textiles, it ’s mainly primarily FOB. Here you have CIF, and you also have the DDP shipments, and hence the challenges were there where we actually got challenged to get the containers for the flooring, Prerna.

And ma’am, how would be the volume versus price growth in this segment in this 1% growth? Because utilization levels have improved, so just wanted to understand whether there is some price correction or is it inventory lying in the system?

Hi, Prerna. So, as I mentioned, more or less this is volume growth. However, ther e have been some mix change as compared to hard and soft breakup. So, hence that small impact might have come. But mainly it is volume growth, and volume though we have manufactured during the quarter at 64% utilization, we have not been able to ship it be cause of the issues that we are facing for blank sailing and containers not being available. You will see those impact in the current quarter when we will ship it. Hence there is no price erosion.

So, what kind of growth can we expect in flooring business in this year given the visibility on demand that we have today?

We had given our guidance of about 20% to 25% growth in flooring for this year and which we will achieve.

Prerna, we will achieve that. And in fact, if you have seen the domestic flooring also, it has grown 15% year-on-year, and we definitely are on that trajectory.

No, not at all.

Ma’am, in HT, the e -commerce segment has seen a significant degrowth. What would be the reason behind it and what is not included? I mean, I am just trying to understand HT ecommerce and HT brands, how do you bifurcate also between the two?

So, I think they are very different. One thing is that when you talk about global one, it is primarily we talk about omni -channel. And omni -channel, it sometimes gets seasonal, but I think we basically are on track because the retai lers buy it and then they sell it. And while we do that, I think I must tell Prerna, you must go on Spaces.in and see, because that ’s our brand.com, christy.co.uk to see our brand.com sites. And you should see because if you look at Christy, they are growing at a rate of around 20%, Spaces is also on that path, and do give us a feedback. Omni-channel is something is the behavior of the customers. And it is a little seasonal, as you know it is summertime, people are far more outside rather than buying online more. And it’s more sort of discretionary needs and experience, so people are basically buying offline and that has been the kind of a thing.

Prerna, the difference that you see in Quarter 1 of last year and Quarter 1 of this year is mainly, as Dipali said, is our sales to the omni -channels. And omni -channels, they buy more in some quarter, they buy less in some quarter. But overall, our growth will be there in this sector. But this quarter we have seen a dip because i n the last year same quarter some high purchase was done by the omni-channels together, which will now spread to maybe Quarter 2 or quarter three.

So, it is because of the base effect and nothing to worry about it.

Nothing.

No, nothing at all.

Because you saw Amazon sales, I mean, they are increasing, so I thought what is leading to this ecommerce.

Sale from those omni -channels are happening as it is happening, so th ere is no. It ’s the stock buildup which happens, so there was a smaller stock build up, some stock we could not send because of the Red Sea issues. All these issues in stocking are right now taking place. So, you shouldn’t read so much into it. You should give some time for more quarters to see the real growth coming.

Perfect, sir. No problem. And my last question is on margins, given the correction in raw material price and challenges on maybe freight front, what is the guidance that y ou are giving for home textiles and flooring separately?

So, Prerna, as we said, we are keeping a close watch in this situation. We have contracts with the liners, so we will not allow our cost to go overboard in this. The only challenge coul d be timely sending the delivery of the goods. So, we do not see any impact on the cost side coming in a major way because of this. Might be 0.2, 0.3 here or there, but not much.

That’s not major at all.

Yes.

And last on expansion status, is it on schedule or?

Yes, we had said that we will start both the plants in quarter 3 sometime, end of Quarter 2, end of quarter 3 we will do that.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Biplab Debbarma from Antique Stock Broking. Please go ahead.

I have just one question on the margin side. Sir, we are seeing volume growth contributing to our growth, and assuming that there is no further disruption in supply chain, what kind of EBITDA margin do we expect in FY ‘25?

So, Biplab, we had guided toward a 15% to 15.5% EBITDA during this year for the consolidated business. So, we will stick to that.

So, that means since Quarter 1 is around 14.5%, so we will see margin expansion if everything remains the same, right?

14.5% is without the other income. So, I am talking about with the other income the total EBITDA for the company should be in the range of 15% to 15.5%.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Bhavin Chheda from Enam Holdings. Please go ahead.

Congrats on excellent growth across both the businesses. If I see your presentation, your bath linen utilization almost has reached 94%. So, what would be the optimum utilization or debottlenecking from the existing 90,000 tons? And secondly, I think you all also announced 6,400 tons of Jacquard towel expansion, so how much time that would take to ramp it up to 100% since the demand looks very strong in US market in this category?

I think I just will add up here is that our optimum levels are where we are today. But going forward, having said that, with Jacquard facility coming in, which is right underway by August end and September, we will be up and running on that. That actually will help us to leverage the mix that we have. And it is also very seasonal as well. So, the mixes keep on changing here. So, definitely we will see a mix and we a re absolutely on track on that. With Jacquard, it will help us to leverage our capacity. And also, as we go forward, debottlenecking is something that we definitely look at. And our ancillaries are also there which contribute to substitute when the demand comes in.

Sure. Second on flooring business is ramping up well, both on top line across markets and margins are improving. So, what kind of optimum margins at what capacity utilization you are looking at? You have already reached 9%, I belie ve at optimum level it would be 15%, 16% odd. So, when can we see that kind of operating margin in flooring business?

So, we have a plan of growth of flooring at about 20% plus CAGR over next three, four years, which would take us to a capacity utilization in excess of 80% by Financial Year ‘27. Once we reach 80% plus capacity utilization, we should hope to reach an EBITDA of about 15% to 16%,

At 80% utilization?

Yes, at 80% utilization.

Sure. And on Slide 12 when we are saying annual capacity installed and annual capacity effective, you are calculating utilization on effective capacity, what that means?

So, we have built the plant for uh total capacity of 27 million square meter. While we have fitted the plant with machinery for 18 million square meter, we will need to spend some balancing CAPEX to make it from 18 million square meter to 27 million square meter when required. Unless we reach a capacity utilization of 18 milli on square meter, we will not spend in putting additional capacity.

And last one I missed out on, what what ’s the CAPEX outgo in FY ‘25 and possibly FY ‘26 if some projects are going in into ‘26?

So, we have given a guidance for 2025 for Rs. 860 crores of CAPEX which includes Anjar towel, then pillow in US and then Rs. 75 crores for our transmission line for the renewable energy, plus balance some maintenance CAPEX. For ‘26, we have not yet given the g uidance, but we can expect to see Rs. 300 crores to Rs. 400 crores of CAPEX in next year as well.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Resham Jain from DSP Asset Managers. Please go ahead.

So, just on the demand front, w hen we look at some of the commentary of the retailers in US, the outlook is quite mixed. And in general, we have not seen any material kind of improvement in terms of the retail demand in US. So, from your perspective, how are you looking at US? What will be your strategy, let’s say, in the current situation? If you can just give your thoughts around it, that would be very helpful.

Hi, Resham. I will just give you a perspective here. Walmart, if you look at their commentary, they are giving a positive outlook there. And even Target, they have actually changed their perspective on it. The Clubs continue to do well if you look at their results as well. And departmental stores were the challenges that we saw. But if you look at a few, they are t urning around as well. The discounters continue to be strong, so I can just say that while we have been hearing about mixed perspective. But I think with America we are very, very positive about the growth that we see coming in, because I think America pre pares for the holiday season by quarter three. So, we are good right now as we see the demand.

And the second question is with respect to all the three verticals within the home textile. Can you share your outlook, not numbers, but which segment between bed sheet, towels, and carpets and rugs will grow faster than the other one? If you can just give your thoughts.

So, I think it’s a mixed bag. Right now, if you saw like the Terry Towels, the growth was 10%, sheets was around 40% this quarter. And the rugs also continued to grow at a steady state. And it’s a mix actually, Resham. So, we will not be able to tell you where it is, but I think we will have a steady mix of whatever we have committed as a top line and the growth.

Understood. And last question is from the Indian manufacturers ’ perspective, how do you see the competitive landscape emerging again over the last three, four years? There h as been a lot of shifts which has, not shift but the dynamics have a little bit changed and hence if I look at your, let’s say, three years back guidance, it used to be 20% to 22% kind of range used to be the normalized margin. Which has come down obviousl y now in the current dynamics. But generally, from the manufacturing landscape perspective within India, how do you see the situation?

So, we have discussed about it in earlier forums. When we are talking about 20% to 22% margin, we are also talking about cotton rates which were at Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 45,000. Now, since cotton rate has now come to a new normal of Rs. 60,000 to Rs. 65,000, you cannot have the same level of margin because end consumer doesn’t want to pay price above a certain limit. And hence the normal average margins have come down to 15% - 16% level. But still in export business as we had mentioned, we are getting a 17% to 18% margin which is healthy margin for us. As our emerging businesses of flooring, advanced textile, domestic business starts to gain momentum, not only in sales but also in profits, we should see a range of 16% to 18% EBITDA for the company as a whole in the next couple of years.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Shraddha from Asian Market Securities. Please go ahead.

Congrats on a good quarter. A couple of questions. First is, why did the utilization of the bed linen come down from 79% to 69%? Sorry, I logged in late to the call, so I am not sure if you have answered this.

Yes, it is actually a matter of just operations. But as we saw that the sheets are around 40%, and when we talk about it’s a mix of fashion bedding and the others. So, you would have seen this. But as we go forward, I mean, I think we will be at around 84%.

And on the Jacquard and Terry towel, so how should the realization differ for both these product mixes? So, what should the realization be for Jacquard towels, just a broad ballpark range?

Generally it would be slightly higher, because Jacquard towels, the cost is higher in making it, so 10% to 15% difference is there in the Jacquard towels would be better than the normal towels.

1:1.

And sir, secondly, how should we look at the power cost given the kind of initiatives we are taking on the new incremental green energy side? So, how should the power cost come down as a percentage of revenue?

Yes. So, slowly and slowly as we build up our renewable energy capacity, we should get towards the power cost coming to half of what we have.

Yes. It will be the most competitive power cost that we will have because of this.

So, we should see it coming from the year ‘26, ‘27 fully.

So, that itself should give us good leeway on the margins front, so we can look at the margin improvement of 200 bps plus over the next two years?

As I said, yes we can look at that.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today’s conference call. I now hand the conference over to the management for the closing comments.

So, a stellar performance in all our businesses, core as well as emerging. We have been able to grow at 17% Y -on-Y in Q1, and confidence to achieve our guidance for FY ‘25, as shared earlier. The exceptional growth we have achieved across our businesses and FY ‘24 is a testament to unwavering commitment to provide to our customers unparalleled innovative and patented products, actionable insights and solutions driven by investments in technology and digitization, which truly positions us as the FMCG of textiles. We continue to have greater focus on the India market, which is shining star in the current global economic scenario with deeper penetration and retail segment through increased EBOs, MBOs, and higher brand visibility, and hence reinstating Har Ghar se Har Dil Tak Welspun. Domestic flooring is reaching newer height. And overall flooring businesses have continued its profitable growth during the quarter. Simultaneously, ESG remains a cornerstone at Welspun and a commitment to sustainable and responsible business practices continues unabated through increasing investments in green energy initiatives. We are committed towards our future growth targets for all our businesses, and with sustained growth profitability we would continue to achieve higher ROCE and ROE, thereby creating substantial value for investors and stakeholders. Thank you for your continued interest in Welspun Living. For any further queries, please feel free to connect with Salil and Sanjay.

On behalf of JM Financial, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. And you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.

Note

1. This is a transcription and may contain transcription errors. The Company takes no responsibility of such errors, although an effort has been made to ensure high level of accuracy. Some minor editing may have been done for better readability. 2. Any of the statements made h erein may be construed as opinions only and as of the date. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release any update or revision to any of the views contained herein to reflect any changes in our expectations with regard to any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any of these opinions might have been based upon