Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Welspun Limited Q2 FY2026 earning conference call hosted by JM Financial Institutional Securities Limited. As a reminder, all participants will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touchstone phone. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Aniruddh Nagpal from JM Financial. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thanks, operator, and welcome everyone to the call. I will first thank Welspun Living for giving JM Financial the opportunity to host today's call. Without much ado, I'll hand over the call to Mr. Salil Bawa, Head of Investor Relations, Welspun Group, to introduce the management. Over to you, Salil.
Thank you, Aniruddh. Good afternoon to all of you. On behalf of Welspun Living Limited, I welcome all of you to the company's Q2 FY 2026 earnings call. Along with me, I have Ms. Dipali Goenka, Managing Director and CEO, and Mr. Manish Bansal, CFO, Welspun U.S.A. I'm pleased to inform that the board has approved Mr. Manish Bansal's appointment as CFO of Welspun Living Limited with effect from February 1, 2026. I hope you have had a chance to review the investor presentation that we filed with the exchanges today. The same is also available on the company's website. During today's discussion, we may be making references to this presentation. We would request you to take a moment to review the Safe Harbor statement in our presentation. As usual, we start the forum with the opening remarks by our leadership team. Post that, we'll open the floor for your Q&A.
Once the call gets over, should you have any further queries that remain unanswered, please feel free to reach out to any one of us. With that, I would now like to hand over the floor to Ms. Dipali Goenka, Managing Director and CEO. Over to you, ma'am.
Thank you, Salil. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for Welspun Living's quarter 2 FY 2026 earning call. This quarter unfolded against a backdrop of persistent global tariff headwinds and a cautious demand environment, particularly in our key export market. Amid this volatility, our focus has been clear: manage what's within our control, strengthen fundamentals, cost controls, efficiency, and customer trust, and stay future-ready through portfolio and regional diversification, brand-led growth, and operational agility. The 50% tariff on Indian exports to the U.S. has disrupted trade flows and retailer buying patterns across the industry, weighing on near-term volumes. Despite these headwinds, a strong customer relationship and competitive moat as a trusted global partner has enabled us to retain customers and sustain market share in the U.S.
As per OTEXA's January to July 2025, while the overall exports to the U.S. have declined by 44% in towels and 8% in sheets, Welspun continues to strengthen its market share, underscoring our structural edge in scale, reliability, and quality. Our customers are partnering with us to share the tariff burden, though partial absorption of tariffs is weighing on margins. Margins can recover. Customers once lost cannot. We remain hopeful that progress on the Indian-U.S. bilateral trade agreement will bring clarity and gradually restore stability to trade flows. The U.K.-India FTA and the other upcoming trade agreements will provide a strong impetus to diversifying our footprints in other regions where we already have a 40% share of business. On the domestic front, India's macro fundamentals remain resilient. The recent GST rate rationalization and encouraging development is a structural positive for organized players.
We expect this to enhance disposable income, thereby laying a ground for stronger consumption trends. Highlights of the quarter gone by: Amid external turbulence, we delivered consolidated revenue of INR 2,456 crore, down 16.4% year-on-year on a high base last year and up 7.3% sequentially. EBITDA margins stood at 6.8%, reflecting the impact of tariff-led volume pressure, adverse mix, and other factors. Despite this, our balance sheet remained strong, cost discipline intact, and diversification strategy on track. Consumer sentiment in the U.S., our largest market, remains muted heading into the holiday season. According to the Deloitte Holiday Retail Survey, spending on home categories is expected to decline 20%-25% this season, reflecting softer discretionary spending and measured retailer inventory. In this backdrop of slowdown, our core home textile exports business declined 15.4% year-on-year to INR 2,043 crore.
The recent Federal Reserve rate cut is a welcome development and could gradually help revive consumption in the coming quarters. We continue to expand our portfolio with high potential and higher realization categories such as fashion towels, fashion and utility bedding, and pillows. With our Jacquard plant commencing operations in July 2025, we are the leading terry towel manufacturer globally. Our strategic onshore investments in the Ohio pillow facility have reached nearly 50% capacity utilization and will continue to grow with the Nevada expansion underway. We expect our pillow business to nearly double to INR 30 crore million this year. Parallelly, we are deepening our footprint and supply chain capabilities across the U.K., Europe, GCC, and ANZ, and Japan to drive geographic diversification that will fuel long-term growth.
While overall home textile exports to the EU have grown between January 2025- July 2025, Welspun dispatches grew over 2x the market rate, expanding their share in both sheets and towels. Globally, Christie, our luxury heritage brand, showed strong growth momentum of over 40% year-on-year led by U.K. and U.S. performance and healthy gross margins of over 50%. Online segment grew by over 30%, complemented by offline expansion with 12 stores in Bloomingdales and bed category expansion in 17 John Lewis stores in London. Our domestic consumer business recorded INR 153 crore, down 3.7% year-on-year, reflecting short-term channel adjustments for GST rate rationalization. Nearly 30% of our portfolio now benefits from the 5% GST slab, which will enhance affordability and accelerate these shifts towards branded and organized players over time.
India continues to be a bright spot globally, now the fourth-largest economy with rising consumption, world-leading digital payments ecosystem, and expanding real estate activity supporting medium-term optimism. Our brands, Welspun and Spaces, remain strong across affordable and aspirational segments and are well-positioned to lead India's next phase of consumption-led and experience-driven growth. Additionally, India's expanding religious tourism and pilgrimage infrastructure, growing at a CAGR of 18%, is creating incremental demand for institutional linens, bath textiles, and furnishings, providing a new avenue of steady growth for the category. Our domestic flooring business grew 14.3% year-on-year, led by strong traction in hospitality, with a 13% growth over last year. Globally, the scenario was different. Overall, flooring segment clocked a revenue of INR 181 crore, 27% degrowth year-on-year in Q2, as housing activities and projects started to remain subdued, particularly in the U.S., despite the Federal Reserve's easing stance.
Our advanced textile business declined by 19% to INR 120 crore amid lower global offtake. However, we remain focused on value-added categories such as hygiene, healthcare, and filtration, building a strong innovation pipeline to serve global customers as markets stabilize. ESG continues to be a core pillar and key differentiator for Welspun Living. We are progressing towards our 2030 goal by 100% renewable energy and sustainable cotton use. In Q2, our Hyderabad facility achieved 93% green energy use, and in the new fiscal year, Anjar facility will be shifting to the round-the-clock RE power, taking it to RE's adoption to 80%. During the quarter, 97% of our cotton was sustainably sourced. As we move towards the external environment, it remains fluid. Near-term pressures are likely to continue through the second half, impacting both top line and bottom line.
However, with every challenge comes an opportunity, and we are building a foundation not just for today but for the next 100 years. Before I conclude, I'm pleased to share that the board has appointed Mr. Manish Bansal as the new Chief Financial Officer of Welspun Living effective 1st January , 2026. Manish has been with us for over 15 years and has led leadership roles across our Indian retail, U.K., and U.S. businesses. His extensive experience across geographies and deep understanding of operations and financial strategy make him exceptionally well-placed to lead our finance function as we continue to focus on disciplined execution and sustainable growth. We extend our best wishes to Manish as he takes on this new responsibility. With this, I would like to hand over to Manish to take you through the detailed financial performance for the quarter.
Thank you, DIpali. Good evening, everyone. It's a privilege to address all of you today in my first running call at Welspun Living. I will take you through a brief overview of our financial performance for Q2 FY 2026. We reported consolidated quarterly revenue of INR 2,456 crore, down 16.4% year-on-year, while EBITDA margin stood at 6.8%, contracting 748 basis points year-on-year. Our margin compression is primarily driven by tariff-led volume pressure and adverse mix, despite higher realization from Forex at $87.14 versus $84.29 last year. We continue to tighten overheads, optimize sourcing, and improve plant efficiencies to safeguard margins. Profit after tax after minority interest for the quarter is at INR 13 crore, down 93.5% year-on-year. We continue to strengthen our balance sheet. Net debt stood at INR 1,570 crore versus INR 1,603 crore as of 31st March 2025, which is lower by INR 33 crore.
Our cash conversion cycle improved to 88 days, amid tightening controls reflecting better working capital management. Free cash flow has been improved to INR 158 crore versus March 25, INR 112 crore. Capex during this quarter was INR 87 crore, primarily towards efficiency enhancement and ongoing hybrid wind and solar power transmission lines. These investments are aligned with our long-term strategic priorities of operational efficiency and sustainability. As I step into this new role, my focus will be razor-sharp on driving cost realization and improving operational efficiencies through automation and digitalization. We have to focus on market diversification and product strategy along with cost reduction to improve margins. Our goal is to make Welspun Living sharper, more agile, and future-ready. With this, I will now leave the floor open for questions and answers. Thank you.
Thank you so much, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin with a question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchscreen telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Our first question comes from the line of S J Rau from Shared Trend Research. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon. Good afternoon to all the company introduced. Investors are slightly disappointed about the disappointing results for the second quarter in succession. Is Welspun contemplating any share buyback to offset the negative results?
No, the board will decide on this, actually.
Madam, whether you are thinking of compensating the shareholders by thinking of share buyback as you have done in the last three instances?
This is Manish Bansal here. At the right time, the board will decide the situation, and based on that, the same will be communicated. This is a short-term issue, and over the period, these things will get automatically improved as soon as this tariff situation is sorted, and then we will be able to deliver better numbers.
I think while you are talking about these disappointing numbers, I hope you also understand that 50% tariff is right there and is a reality, sir. The thing is that we haven't lost any customer, and we are continuing to hold on our market share while we continue to diversify and hold on our cost leadership and work on the cost controls.
All right. So Mr. Rau has disconnected the call. We'll move forward to the next participant.
Our next question comes from the line of Shradha Agrawal from Asian Market Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Three or four questions from my side. Firstly, ma'am, is it possible to quantify the impact of?
Brother, can you be a little louder?
Yeah. Possible to give us the quantum of tariff impact that we saw in the quarter? Adjusted for that, how would our margins be?
Sure. I think, Manish, over to you.
Yeah. Tariff impacts are not in terms of direct numbers, but tariff has actually impacted us in terms of volume, and there is very minimal impact in Q2 of tariff directly.
It is the impact of the volume because we actually held on till the customer gave us approval in writing to dispatch goods as well. The lot of impact that we are seeing in this quarter is mainly because of the volume impact. As we go forward, this will continue in the terms of our tariff impact.
Ma'am, ideally, you would have also shared some tariff burden in terms of pricing with the customer.
Yes. Is that impact not?
That is already actually already on the onset. Let me just be very clear on it. This will continue to actually get even sharper in quarter three. Quarter two started showing and reflecting, and even in quarter three, it will reflect. Having said that, we've worked with our customers to share a 50%. They have shared, and we have worked as a partnership there with the customers. We worked on the first sale with one of the Big Fours. Also, working on the U.S. cotton, that will also mitigate a lot of risk of the tariff as well.
Ma'am, some of your peers, not necessarily in home textile but in garmenting, those that declared results today indicated almost a 10%-15% burden sharing with retailers that impacted the revenue. Apart from the volume impact, I was expecting a similar kind of impact from you. Is that a number that we also saw in terms of impact on realization because?
Yes. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. That was the impact on the realizations as well. You can also appreciate that we just do not deal in one category. For us, Welspun, we have a diversified portfolio of bath towels, sheets, bedding, rugs, carpets, flooring, everything, and advanced textiles. For us, it is a very diversified portfolio. Having said that, as the tariff goes, this will be working to our advantage as we go forward.
Right. And ma'am, secondly, on a flooring business, this business has been under stress for some time, and the tariff impact has made it even more difficult. What is our strategy going ahead on this segment? I mean, I think we are seeing a higher impact on our hard flooring business compared to soft flooring. What is the strategy that we are undertaking for flooring as a whole and for soft flooring in particular?
I can tell you that soft flooring is going to continue to grow stronger and will have a growth of around more than 20%. Hard flooring, you are absolutely right. There has been an impact. Having said that, we are actually controlling our fixed costs, working on a very calibrated approach, and you'll also see an upside here also as we go forward. We just want to tell you we capped the cost here. We're capping everything so that there'll be minimal impact on this as well. To your point, you will see kind of a positive impact on flooring as we go forward too.
Ma'am, last question. By when do we expect the Nevada capacity to get operational and the expected potential peak revenue from this business?
Our Nevada capacity will start being operational by 1st of February , end of January, and that's where we are looking at that to be operational. If you're looking at Ohio, we are more than 50% utilized, and we'll continue to grow our capacity utilization quarter on quarter in Ohio as well, and Nevada gets operational end of January, February 1.
Got it. Thank you, ma'am. This is helpful.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchscreen telephone.
Hello?
Our next participant is from the line of Prerna Jhanjunwala from Elara Securities. Please go ahead.
Sure. Hello. Hi, ma'am. Ma'am, just wanted to understand the volume impact that could come in going forward as the full impact of tariff comes in. What kind of decline or uptick that we can expect in the second half of this year? During the tariff continue.
So quarter three, we are seeing a visibility which is looking as okay as quarter two, near around quarter two itself, Prerna. Quarter four, we cannot right now have a visibility that clear because the holiday season is there in the quarter three. I think in the next one month, we see a visibility for quarter four. Quarter three, we continue to see a clarity, and it is as good as the quarter two. I can also tell you that Prerna and U.S. is your biggest market.
While the tariff looms, but as the tariff goes, we'll continue to have that market share, which we are not leaving because of the tariff concerns. We have also diversified our geography. When I look at 60% U.S., 20% is U.K. and Europe, 13% is India, and 7% is the rest of the world. We'll see this kind of mix continue to grow. Also, along with that, our brand portfolio will also grow. I think there's a huge opportunity here, Prerna. This is a minor blip that I will say.
Okay. Ma'am, second question is on this branded business. In your presentation, we see that this branded business is also not done that well. What could have been the reason behind this branded business in overseas market not doing well?
Overseas market, I think, Prerna, I think if you would have seen, our own brand, Christie, has grown. In fact, it has grown by 40%, and our online business of Christie has grown by over 23% with a margin of 50%. We actually opened doors of Bloomingdale's as stores. We actually store in store in Bloomingdale's in more than nine stores. Nordstrom, we are online. That footprint has also started along with what we are doing in the U.K. India has been a challenge. Let me also face that and tell you that because of GST. Because the GST blip this quarter, Diwali shopping also, they were holding on till there was a clarity of GST. That actually got procrastinated till first week of October. That's where we are.
If you are talking about the other brands that we have, that actually happens matter of season and placement. You will see a continuous growth happening on the quarter and quarter, Prerna. I'm not worried about that. You will see as the placement happens, and there are a few placements, strong placements that will happen, and you will see that growth coming in. Just to sum it up, our Christie brand, global own brand, has grown. Spaces and Welspun will grow post this blip of GST. You will see that upside also. Our domestic flooring, our Welspun flooring, has also grown by 14% this quarter.
Okay. Whether there was any volume, whether there was any rush before this relative tariffs were implemented and there has been an incurrence of higher cost, maybe through air or something like that, that has been incurred in this quarter, or is it normalized operations that we see and there was no rush of volume before the implementation of cumulative tariff? Just wanted to get some clarity on this.
No, no. Not at all, Prerna. Because actually, we also did not want to rush anything. We worked with our customers. With their written approvals were the dispatches done. So there was this very clear clarity from our customers and ourselves mutually that let's have a proper understanding, and then only the dispatches were done.
Okay. Do you see any demand cautiousness going forward as the increased impact of tariff-led goods comes into the system in the U.S.?
Prerna, if you have seen the Deloitte report, the Consumer Report of America, they have clearly said that post the holiday and the holiday season also, they are anticipating a little dip. Going forward also, there's the kind of layoffs that have happened and also the concerns that are there, they might see that dip. Having said that, America is an economy that surprises you. Let's wait and watch and be positive about how the tariff goes off and how we look at the positive demand come back.
Last question on U.K. FTA. Now that it's signed but yet to be ratified, what kind of inquiries you are seeing from the U.K., and what is your expectation that this geography could actually bring in when the ratification is already done?
We are actually very well placed in the U.K. and Europe. In the U.K. also, let me tell you that already the conversations with the top retailers are already happening. The business in terms of growth, business in terms of strategic partnerships like we work in America, has already started. Along with that, let me also tell you how we are working with the hospitality partners in America. One of the biggest chains of hospitality in, in fact, Europe, which has around 400,000 properties, we already have started our placement. I can tell you that already we can see that kind of a positive swing there. I mean, one more thing, Prerna, let me just clarify. The U.K. might have a blip in terms of the kind of economy, but Europe, if you look at it, has seen that kind of an upside.
You will see that kind of an opportunity in Europe as well. Having said that, to sum it up for you, U.K., we are continuing to grow. Partnerships are there. Europe, we are continuing to grow. Japan, we will continue to grow along with Australia, which is again showing very, very the green shoots in Australia as well.
Ma'am, anything on flooring that is happening in these geographies because that business is continuously seeing some impact of tariff and not seeing any major improvement over there?
Prerna, very valid point. I'll tell you, in terms of soft flooring, we see a very strong upside in the other geographies, which is like the Middle East, U.K., and even in Australia where there are certain JVs that we are working with in Australia. That could be a very positive impact. In India also, with the kind of commercialization, hospitality, we are seeing a very positive impact. Along with that, our area rugs with very strong innovations are seeing a strong upside. It is only the U.K., U.S., which is because of the tariff, but without that, we will be able to have a great opportunity there as well.
Okay, ma'am. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you, Prerna.
Thank you.
Thank you so much. Next question comes from the line of Deepali Kumari from Arian Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello. How many audibles?
A little louder, Deepali.
Yeah. Thanks for the opportunity. Yeah, I have a few questions. Is Chetan for expectations for working capital cycle improvement, especially in inventory and debtor days where volatility is observed?
Yes. Hi, Deepali. Actually, if you see, our current working capital is one of the best ever. We are currently monitoring and controlling in terms of our inventory levels, our debtors and payables. As of now, if you see, our current working cash conversion cycle is 88 days, which is lowest after 2022. We are very cautious, and that's one of our key priorities to ensure our balance sheet is very healthy and very strict controls are in place to ensure our cash flow and working capital cycle is managed. If you see, even our free cash flow has been improved. We are at INR 152 crore of free cash flow.
Okay. So we can expect like 88 days only. Is there any improvement in by 2026? Can we see that?
Deepali, there is always a scope of improvement, but it is on an ongoing basis. As we progress, we can always work on that. As of now, this is what is looking more positive.
Okay. Also, can you please share some guidance over margin for FY 2026?
We all know that as the tariff goes, a couple of things let me tell you. This is like a 50% tariff, which is on the largest market in the world, which is the United States of America. While we know this is a short-term blip, and as it goes, we will come back to our normal margins that we are going to, that we have already continued to talk about and forecast. That is where we will see, Deepali, our numbers come back to. It is an interim blip. We are definitely working on costs and the other measures so that we make our balance sheet stronger, have a strong free cash flow. All that measures will be taken here, keeping an eye on all this while we maintain our market share in America.
Okay. Yeah. Also, ma'am, at the current annual utilizations, we've seen buckling in bed linen and flooring. What is the optimal target utilization? Is there any operational bottleneck to achieving it?
Deepali, for flooring, I think we are working on a decent optimization of 60%-70% in terms of soft flooring. Hard flooring, we are actually capping our capacity to our fixed costs so that we work it efficiently and also profitably. This is the way we are taking measures on flooring.
Okay. For bed and bathroom?
Can you repeat what you're saying?
For bed linen, is there any more capacity utilization we can expect?
Both our capacities in towels and bed linen are running at a decent utilization of around 75%-80%. This is also a measurement of how our market pans out. Deepali, it will just depend. Quarter three looks closer to what we are now. Quarter four, we will have to see how it pans out.
Okay. Okay. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Deepali.
Thank you so much. The next question comes from the line of Kunal Shah from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you for the opportunity. Just wanted to clarify my understanding of the quarter. This quarter, actually, this revenue decline you see, the volume decline, which will be much smaller than that, the revenue decline is also on account of lower realization since you absorbed some tariff in that initial 10%-25%. Is that understanding correct? Which is why you do not see a margin impact?
Yeah. Yeah, Kunal. There are two things in it. One is also the volume impact. Volume impact is also there because if you look at the numbers in the terms of a drop of around 16% overarchingly. Secondly, yes, partial impact of the tariff also impact has been taken on. Hence, that is where we are seeing that impact. Manish, anything to add?
That's right. There was initial whatever 10% started, then there was again some sharing and then subsequently. There is some impact of that in this number for Q2.
Understood. Understood. The actual amount of shipments at 50% tariff would not be very large this quarter in that sense, right?
That's right.
That will come in from quarter three. Which you will see that happening, Kunal. And yeah.
Understood. That's clear. A second bit is on, let's say, if this 50% were to go away and we were to normalize to, let's say, similar to our competing countries, how fast would you be able to, let's say, revise again your, let's say, renegotiate with your customers to realign our prices for the new tariff rate? Any sense on that? How fast we can see, I mean, how many, let's say, months, quarters does it take for things to normalize after that?
Kunal, one quarter, it will take for us to normalize because then it's a long process because the POs have come in at a certain price. We'll have to work on that to regularize everything. I think, suppose if it comes in quarter three, by quarter four, we would be able to start seeing the benefits.
Understood. Understood. If you can share some anecdotes or some qualitative insights on, have you seen any change in, let's say, how competition is there in the market or the, I mean, let's say, aggression from their side, given they have this window of opportunity where India is at 50% and probably they are not at 50%? Any?
The only thing that Kunal, that's a very important point. The important thing that let me just tell you one thing. India continues to be the biggest cotton home textile exporter because also of the cotton supply that we have. Country like China has a Xinjiang spread that you can see. The capacities in Pakistan and Bangladesh are not good enough. Vietnam doesn't do anything in the terms of bath towels and sheets. They do fashion bedding only. Turkey's capacity is also very small, Kunal. Just telling you that there are. And China, when you talk about between China and us, we can still we can actually take on the delta. I'm not that worried about it.
Understood. Understood. Very clear. Finally, any change of plans on the India business in the next two years in terms of, let's say, resource allocation or any initiatives which you have taken on that front incrementally would be helpful to know.
We are going to grow our India business. Spaces and Welspun, when you will see that, and GST, it was a small blip that you saw. Ongoing, as you see, our intact INR 1,000 crore is intact in the next two years. You will start seeing some kind of growth that we have anticipated as 20% growth and a kind of a break-even EBITDA in the beginning and then gradually taking it to the next level.
Understood. That's all from my side. Thank you so much for this.
Thank you. Thank you, Kunal.
Thank you so much. A next question comes from the line of Bhavin Chheda from Enam Holdings. Please go ahead, sir.
Yeah. Good afternoon to the team. Decent result despite challenging environment. A few questions. First, I missed out on the sales mix in the quarter, geographical sales mix, if you can give.
Actually, we don't give our sales mix, but I can tell you how do we work. 60% is America, 40% is U.K., Europe, and rest of the world. Out of that, 20% is U.K., Europe, 13% is India, and 7% is rest of the world.
17% rest of the world, 13% India, right?
Yes.
Okay. This quarter also saw, I think, depreciation going up because of the capitalization of the bath lining capacity. Is this the new quarterly run rate INR 100 crore quarter, or was there something else in that?
No. So this year, we have capitalized around INR 300 crore for last quarter, and slowly that whatever new capacity we have installed for Jacquard towels.
Okay. Last one, ma'am, you said that quarter three would be largely a reflection of quarter two. What you meant was on the top-line numbers because I think margin-wise, it will see a further pressure because of the full 50% tariff impact. I think your earlier question replied, you said that the quarter three will largely maintain quarter two numbers. What you meant, it was the top-line numbers.
Yeah. We'll maintain more or less the same, more or less the same with the other top-line numbers. I mean, here or so in the terms of the top line, but the numbers will be more or less the same.
Because historically, December quarter is slightly leaner than the September, 1 . That is the reason I was asking, which means obviously the September was much lower, obviously, due to the affiliated impact. You are saying December will not fall as compared to the September?
It will be maybe 10% lesser here or there. That's it.
Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you so much. A next question comes from the line of Sani Vishe from Axis Securities . Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, Dpali. As you said, I think we understand that this is a temporary blip, and there are factors which are beyond our control that will decide the future direction in the near term. Let us go beyond FY 2026 and rather FY 2027. What are our plans for FY 2028 and beyond? How do you see the growth there?
I mean, we will.
Just assuming everything normalizes better.
No, we will maintain our market share as one of the biggest in home textiles across the globe. In fact, we are now present in more than 65 countries, and we will continue to take that share because of the FTAs that are coming in across. That is a huge opportunity. India will be that huge opportunity in terms of the consumption and with the kind of it has actually with the GST, you will see that kind of upswing happening even in the Indian consumption. Christie will continue to grow globally. Towels will continue to take the market share globally along with in the sleep category, which is your sheets, utility bedding, and fashion towels, fashion bedding. We will continue to grow that category across the globe as well. That is where we will be. As we and soft textiles, soft floorings will continue to grow.
Our textiles will grow in a calibrated way as well. Advanced textiles, we are going to go innovative. This is where we'll maintain what we have said. Maybe the numbers in terms of the numbers that we've given could go one year or two here and there because of the challenges that you see this year.
What I'm trying to gauge is, I mean, based on the fact that we are declining this year, there will be a low base that we will have, and rather there will be more growth avenues that will be coming in. It seems that we can actually exceed the historical growth rate. If not in FY 2027, then definitely in FY 2028. Similarly, in the margin terms, I think EBITDA margins used to be around 18% level before 2023, FY 2023, etc. Do you think those kind of margins are achievable in longer terms, I think?
We will maintain to be our market leader in the globe. I'm very clear on that. Let me just be very clear. When you talk about the EBITDA margins, let me also tell you the cotton prices from INR 44,000 crore have come to INR 53,000 crore and INR 55,000 crore. Automatically, there's an upswing that you're seeing in the general trend of cotton prices, right? Yes, that could be the impact that we'll see. Home textiles will maintain the 15%-16% EBITDA that we are continuing to maintain.
Okay. Okay. Understood. Okay. I think fair enough. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchscreen telephone. A next question comes from the line of Shradha Agrawa from Asian Market Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Thanks for the follow-up. Ma'am, in your opening commentary, you indicated that exports to the U.S. have declined by 44% in towels and 8% in sheets. I just wanted to check why is such a huge variance between towels and sheets demand?
No, because that is a matter of kind of the dispatches that happen from the country-wise. That could change in the next quarter. Let me just tell you that. Whereas Welspun continues to grow its market there. I just wanted to give you that kind of anecdote sharing there that according to the OTEXA data, we actually maintained our market share while actually, in general, the towel and the sheet categories were degrowing.
In general, on the demand side, do you see any divergence in demand for both these categories in a material way? Or is it similar, the kind of sentiment that we are seeing for both these categories?
I can just tell you one thing. See, the 50% tariff, it will depend on how the consumption grows because it's a discretionary spend in home textiles. It will depend on what the consumer buying will be. Actually, this quarter two was the time where the holiday shipments were happening. Quarter three is the holiday season in the United States of America. We will actually see how that United States pan out in the terms of the holiday season. Deloitte's numbers are not looking that good compared to what they are projecting. They are saying that there might be a blip in the terms of consumption. Yes, let's wait and see. America is an economy that surprises you.
Right. I was also referring to this question because if I look at what your other peer has reported, the other big home textile players, I mean, the tariff situation is same for both the companies, but their performance seems to be a little more resilient than ours. Is it more to do with the fact that we have a higher?
Can I say something here? I think Welspun does diverse categories. When you talk about us, our volumes are 2,400 and over, right? The largest capacity in the world and in India as well, if I may say so. It is not just linen and sheets. It is towels, rugs, bedding, flooring, and everything, etc. also. I hope you understand the relevance of this.
No, that's true, ma'am, but it is coming in the context that towel shipments have seen a higher decline compared to bed sheets.
No, ours hasn't declined. Ours hasn't declined. I'm talking about America's decline. When I talked about 44% decline, that is the America decline. 8% decline is America's decline. But Welspun has maintained the market share, Sharda, if I may clarify that.
That's right, ma'am. Sure. Just one question, bookkeeping question. What was the revenue we clocked in our Ohio facility this quarter? Are we on track to do the $30 million number that we had indicated for 2026?
We are maintaining and on track of $30 million as we have committed, and that will happen for sure.
Okay. Any number for this quarter, how much did we clock this quarter from Ohio?
We cannot say anything on that. We have actually given an annual number, and that will be achieved.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, as there are no further questions from the participants, I hand the conference over to the management for the closing comments. Thank you, and over to you, ma'am.
As we close the first half of FY 2026, uncertainty in the external environment persists. Our resilience, customer trust, and diversified model continue to anchor us. We are retaining market share, maintaining long-term partnerships, investing in category expansion, and regional diversification. On the domestic front, post-GST stabilization, we expect consumption to pick up, supported by strong macro fundamentals. With Manish Bansal at the helm of finance, we will sharpen our focus on cost control, capital efficiency, and margin recovery. For us at Welspun Living, the current headwinds are not just a test. They are a catalyst. Our strategy is built on three pillars: diversify smartly, operate efficiently, and lead responsibly. Thank you for your continued confidence in Welspun Living. We look forward to engaging with you again next quarter. Thank you.
Thank you so much, ma'am. On behalf of JM Financial Institutional Securities Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.