Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Emami Limited Q3 FY 2026 earnings conference call. As a reminder, all participant lines 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 touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Percy Panthaki from IIFL Capital. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Good afternoon. It's my pleasure to host Emami for their 3Q FY 2026 conference call. Online with me, I have Mr. Mohan Goenka, Whole-Time Director and Vice Chairman, Mr. Vivek Dhir, CEO, International Business, Mr. Gulraj Bhatia, President, Healthcare, Mr. Manish Gupta, President, Sales, and Mr. Giriraj Bagri, Chief Growth Officer, and Mr. Rajesh Sharma, President, Finance and IR. I'll hand over the call to Mr. Mohan Goenka for his initial comments, and then we will open up for Q&A.
Thank you, Percy. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining us today for Emami Limited's Q3 FY 2026 earnings call. I'm delighted to share our results for the quarter and nine months ended 31st December 2025. I must say this has been a quarter of strong, broad-based performance that is fully aligned with our expectations and strategic priorities. We have witnessed a sequential improvement following the Q2 disruptions that continued to affect the early parts of the quarters. The favorable winter season played to our strengths, driving stronger offtake across our winter portfolio and healthcare. On a consolidated level, net sales grew by double digits at 11%, with revenue of INR 1,152 crore, growing by 10% during the quarter. Our domestic business delivered an 11% growth, led by a robust 9% volume growth.
All major brands performed well in Q3, led by BoroPlus, which grew by 16%, Kesh King grew by 10%, Pain Management grew by 8%, and Healthcare range grew by 7%. The Male Grooming range grew by 4%. Navratna and Dermicool grew by 1%. Our strategic subsidiaries, that is The Man Company and Brillare, together delivered a robust growth of 31%. Our strategy of purposeful innovation and premiumization continues to gain traction. During the quarter, we launched several exciting products and variants that addresses evolving needs of new age consumers. Our omni-channel strategy continues to perform well, with quick commerce doubling its sales and now contributing 20% to our e-com business. Overall, organized channels contributed around 32% year-to-date, increasing their contribution by 280 basis points over the previous year.
We have engaged KPMG to drive a future-ready supply chain, transforming across omni-channel operations. On the international front, our sales grew by 9%, with double-digit growth in 7 Oils in One, BoroPlus, Crème 21 and our Pain Management range. We saw steady growth led by SAARC and CIS regions. On the financial front, gross margin expanded to 70.6%, an improvement of 30 basis points, underscoring our rigorous cost discipline, judicious price hikes, and benefits of input price stability. EBITDA for the quarter stood at INR 384 crore, growing by 13%, while EBITDA margins improved to 33.4%, an expansion of 110 basis points. During the quarter, we accounted for INR 10.1 crore towards the impact of changes in the new labor code, which is represented under the exceptional items.
Our profit after tax at INR 319 crore grew by 15%. Our digital spends now account for almost 50% of our overall media spends, in line with evolving consumer media consumption trends, enabling sharper targeting and higher engagement. I'm also delighted to announce that our board of directors have declared a second interim dividend of 600%, amounting to INR 6 per share for FY 2026. The total dividend declared in nine months, FY 2026, amount to INR 10 per share, reflecting our confidence in our business performance and our commitment to reward the shareholders of the company. Further, I would also like to inform you that as per the recent proposed amendments in the Union Budget, our applicable income tax rate for the standalone entity would reduce to around 25% from 35% for FY 2027 onwards.
Looking ahead, we remain optimistic about Q4 and beyond. There's a better consumption momentum building in the environment, and we are positioned to capitalize on it... We remain focused on our core brands, as, as well as new age opportunities. With strengthening demand trends, consistent portfolio actions, and a clear strategic roadmap, we are increasingly confident in our ability to deliver sustained, profitable growth and create long-term value for our stakeholders. With that, I would now like to open the floor for Q&A. Thank you so much for your continued support.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone 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. The first question is from the line of Prakash Kapadia, from Kapadia Financial Services. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. Couple of questions from my end. So post the GST disruption due to, we were confident of growth coming back, so that has, you know, happened during the quarter. So from here on, Mohan ji, how and what, you know, do we build for growth as we move towards FY 2027? What I was trying to understand, you know, given the base we have, most of the products are, you know, under the 5% GST slab now. So, you know, earlier in most of our power brands, new user addition was missing. So, you know, is that going to be a big driver for growth? What categories could benefit? If you could comment on the sales trajectory, that would be helpful.
So, Prakash, you are right. Our endeavor is always to get to double-digit growth. Of course, some of our brands are seasonal. A lot depends on that. But nevertheless, every brand has got a lot of opportunity because penetrations are still on the lower side for most of our brands. And because you rightly said that now the GST is at 5%, we are confident that, you know, the brand should get to close to double-digit growth. That is the target that we have given to the brand teams. Depending on the seasonality here and there, you know, the numbers depend mostly on that, but still, our targets are to get to double-digit.
Okay. And any specific categories you want to call out in terms of the power brand? Or, you know, given some of these changes which has happened, we should see, you know, growth momentum across most of our categories. And on the new user addition, because that piece was really missing earlier, is that now a big, big driver for growth?
Sorry, what was missing?
New customer additions, new users-
Yeah.
Yeah. That's it.
Yeah. So each brand, as I said in my con call, that right now, our 50% of our communication is digital, so we are targeting the new consumers, particularly the youth consumers. And also now our contribution from modern trade and e-commerce has reached to almost 30%. So all this growth, whatever you see today, is coming through these new age and young consumers. That has always been a target for us. At the same time, rural, which was not performing, we are seeing some growth coming in from rural areas. And with this reduction in GST rates, we are very hopeful that you know, the rural should get to some momentum going forward. So brands which were growing at 4%-5%, they should get to about 8%-9% growth.
That is the first target that we have.
Understood. Understood.
Yeah.
Uh-
The new age, and the new age brands, that is The Man Company, Brillare, you know, they are anyway firing, and we expect a higher growth coming in from there.
Yeah. Yeah. And lastly, one bookkeeping question. Rajesh, the amortization figure of INR 23 odd crores every quarter, how long should that continue, and what is the balance sheet figure as on date, which is still left for amortization, if you have that ready?
So, so that will continue for another 3 years-4 years, and the rate would come down gradually to INR 80 crores, INR 70 crores, then INR 60 crores, kind of. So gradually it will come down. In next 4 years, it will completely be done.
Okay, fine. I'll join back with you if I have more questions. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Siddhesh Deshmukh from IIFL Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thanks for taking my question. My first question is with regards to Smart And Handsome. So we've made entry into new categories of sunscreen, deodorants, body wash, et cetera. Can you highlight how the initial response has been to these NPD? And also, what is the strategy here? Is this a specific geographic or a channel-specific launch? How do you see this scaling up pan-India?
Yeah. So we have just done a test market that is on specific channels. It's only digital right now. This is the response coming in from there. We will roll it out nationally. There are great learnings from the initial launch, so we are again trying to revamp from there to roll it out nationally. Maybe in the second half of this year, we will roll it out.
Okay, sir. Got it. So my second question is with regards to the demand trend. Can you highlight how the trends are shaping in rural as well as urban? Now that 88% of the portfolio has seen a GST rate cut to 5%, which are the categories which has seen a pickup in demand post the rate cut? Which are the categories which are yet to see an uptick?
... So, the most of the brands, particularly the winter, you know, has shown some signs of growth. And, we are entering into the summer season. We will have to wait and see how the summer season, because as you know, the winter is extended, you know, in most parts of the country. So yet we are yet to see the loading of the summer season for now. But hopefully in the next 15 days, 20 days, we will start loading our winter product, summer products. But, as far as the demand is concerned, I don't see any challenge to get to 8%-9% growth. Because we are-
Got you.
Increasingly focusing on our small SKUs. Next year, our big focus is on the shampoo sachets, plus some other small SKUs, for most of our brands. Even Smart And Handsome, we are increasingly focusing on our small SKUs now. Because we see as,
Got you.
We see a good revival in the rural markets next year. Because, see, we have,
Thank you.
We have mostly, we have mostly addressed the needs of, you know, the modern trade and e-com and. But now the fire has to come from the rural areas, and, the next few quarters, that is our focus.
Got it. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Harit Kapoor from Investec. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, am I audible?
Yeah, Harit, go ahead.
Hi.
Yeah. So now the first thing is, could you just give a sense of grammage increases that would have happened on account in the lower end in the LUPs that you have, because of these GST rate cuts? Is that a sizable number that you would have put in?
So depending on the SKUs, you know, whatever, because it was not possible to reduce the prices in the small SKUs.
Right. Right.
So whatever was, whether it was 10%, 12%, accordingly, we have increased the grammages. Different products-
And what-
Uh.
Sorry, sorry, sorry. And what part of the portfolio would that... How much, what percentage of the portfolio would that be, where you've taken this 10% odd reduction?
Around 20%.
Should that volume fully reflect into quarter four rather than quarter three, where some changes would have still being made? Is that the right way to think about it?
Quarter three, maybe, I don't think the full impact has come in quarter three.
You don't think it's come in quarter three?
No.
Quarter four
Because summer brand... Yeah, Navratna, Navratna is still not factored in.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Perfect. Perfect. And the second thing was on, you know, hair oils. So, you know, Kesh King has done well for you. Obviously, it's a portfolio play now in terms of number of products there. But you've seen 7 Oils in One also where it had an amazing few years and then a slight weakness, and now again growing very fast. But it seems like value added across companies is actually doing quite well. Just could you, you know, your sense of what's driving this, is it a low base? Is it, you know, something else that's kind of driving up this value-added market? Because even the other players here are actually doing quite well. So your prognosis of what's happening here?
Yeah. I'm handing it over to Manish. He'll be able to answer. He's driving all the numbers.
Sure.
So to answer your question, yes, you know, from the previous calls we had mentioned about BCG working with us to refresh and rejuvenate brand KK.
Yeah.
Those results have started. We relaunched it around August, September. It was... There was a bit of a disruption due to the GST and stuff, but October onwards, the relaunch is in full flow, so you are seeing the first impact-
Yeah
in the only quarter already. 7 Oils has a similar story as well, and it's on a good growth path. So we hope the momentum to continue. But there is a long way to go because we did decline for the last few quarters sequentially. So I guess with every passing quarter, we should start climbing back.
Now, Manish, you see this as a market phenomenon because everybody else around is also reporting fairly stellar numbers in, in mid-premium and above hair oil portfolio. So I just wanted to, like, is- do you think it's a base thing also? Because, you know, not only you, but others also would have declined same period last year. Is, is that a factor at play as well?
Let's see. Last... You're right. See, last year was a different story. I'm talking about three things. One is, of course, in the last couple of years, let's say, there was softness in the numbers of both these brands.
Yeah.
Yes, that has played a role. GST or disruption had a role, but the bigger story is what is the organic growth?
Yeah.
The organic part is about relaunching it, redeploying it, putting the new claims, new communication, addressing the consumer concerns which came out. That's the hope for the future. So far, it looks good, and I guess as we get into Q4 and then Q1, we'll be able to build further credentials on it.
Right. Right. And last thing in mind, you know, Mohan, you kind of spoke about rural. Obviously, rural is an important part of the overall strategy. So are you saying that, you know, compared to maybe last year or the last few quarters, the initial sense that you're getting now is that really seeing an incremental kind of pickup. Is that what kind of your teams on ground are hinting at?
Yeah, so, absolutely, and, we have seen some good demand for our sachets in the rural markets. And all the focus for the company was also to build e-com, modern trade, and the new age brands. But because of these GST cuts, our, at least internally, we have said that the next growth driver should come from rural, and our focus would be increasingly going into rural markets. We will, of course, keep our eye on the modern trade, e-commerce, quick commerce, that is always there, but rural also can fire, I think, going forward. And now, as I said, summer, we have to build now the summer portfolio. And rural is a big play in as far as the summer is concerned, both for Talc and Navratna Oil.
Correct. Correct. Great, I'll, I'll come back more if I ... Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Amnish Aggarwal from PL Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, Mohan ji, a couple of questions. First being that given the fact that the GST transition got completed in the month of November only, so is there a probability that next quarter, again, we will have strong momentum with likelihood of, say, close to double-digit kind of a top-line growth?
That is, that is what we expect, that, hopefully we should get to double digit growth. The only caveat is, winter is extended, and, we have to get to the summer. Navratna and Navratna Talc and Dermicool are big summer brands, and we have to load, these three products, now in the month of February and March. Yeah, and last year, bases were very, very high as far as the summer brands are concerned. But, see, these are just numbers. If it doesn't come in this quarter, it will come in next quarter, because we anyway, for the summer brands, we are at a lower base. But, the momentum is what we will have to capture.
As I said, the momentum looks good as far as the rural is concerned, and our dealers are holding very less stocks, so I don't see any reason that we can't build on the summer portfolio as soon as the season starts.
Okay. So my next question is on the tax rate, because as I think is being indicated, that the MAT Credit changes have happened, and now we will be having, I think, 70, 80, 70, 60, and 40 as MAT Credit. So the effective tax rate, which, which currently is around, say, adjusting for everything around 10%-10.5%. So what should we pencil in as tax rate for the coming 2 years-3 years?
So, Amnish, before this budget announcement, union budget announcement, our tax rate was expected to go to the normal tax rate of 35% from next year. But with this recent announcement, now it is going to be 25% tax rate. So in fact, it has come down with the recent proposed amendments in the union budget. So going ahead, we should be at 25% tax rate and also utilize 25% of our tax liability from MAT Credit, which will continue for 5 years-6 years minimum.
Okay, so it means that we should look at 25.5% kind of a tax rate, and then the MAT credit number, which you have indicated, so that will get deducted from this. Is that understood right?
So, yeah, right. So that will be for standalone entity, and we have some subsidiaries which are still in investment stage. We have international subsidiaries. So overall, tax rate for the consolidated entity would, should be below that level, around 20%, kind of.
Okay. Okay... Thanks a lot.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Naveen Trivedi from Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Yeah, good afternoon, everyone. Sir, is it possible to share our brand-wide performance for the nine months? Since we have seen quarter two impacted by GST, and then this quarter we have seen a restocking benefit also. So is it- it will be fair to say nine months, if you can share that, is the top brands, if we share the [audio distortion] over growth rate?
Naveen, you can get in touch with either Percy or Rajesh to get those details, please.
Sure, sir, sure. And, fourth quarter-
Those are in our investor presentation as a nine-month planning.
Okay.
... You can get it from, Percy or Rajesh.
Sure, sir. And post this quarter three, how should we look at our trade inventories? Are we, have we—because October would have been kind of unfavorable from GST point of view. So can we expect that after, like, completion of quarter three, now our trade inventories are in a similar line?
Sorry, I'm not clear, Naveen, what is your ask?
My ask was that, since we have seen GST restocking, destocking in the last three, four months, have we reached to a level where our trade inventories are now normal? And therefore, I was-
Absolutely, I think,
Sure.
We have no excess inventories as far as the trade is concerned.
Sure, sure. And then that-
We have migrated very well, I think. We have migrated very well.
Fair point. So, because nine months we were kind of flat on revenue side, I just thought maybe the any specific brand where we kind of-
That was primarily, that was primarily because of the summer. You know, this year, summer was extremely poor. It was primarily because of summer; we lost almost 5%-6% of our growth.
Sure, sure. That's what I was looking out for, the brand-wise performance, but I will take it from Rajesh, no issue, sir. Thank you so much, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Abneesh Roy from Nuvama. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks and congrats on good numbers. My first question is on the profitability of each distribution channel. Yesterday, one large FMCG company said that the new age channels, modern trade, e-commerce, quick commerce, those are more profitable than general trade because the distribution layers, intermediaries are not there in the new age channel. Plus, I think more premium packs, large packs, they also sell more on those channels. Could, in your categories also, this be largely true, or there is some kind of aberration here?
No, Abneesh, I have maintained always that in our case it is the reverse. In our case, the GT is more compared to the modern trade. The lowest is the e-commerce.
What is the reason for that? Why different? Because intermediaries will be saving cost, but yeah, the promotions are higher on the-
Yeah.
Is that the reason?
Yeah, absolutely. Only because of the promotions that we offer there.
Okay, understood. And in terms of the last point which you mentioned in the answer to previous question, FY 2026, summer categories have seen the brand, so beer, players, software, soft drinks, and carbonated drinks and your categories. So here the specific question is, generally, when we see such aberration, next year generally is favorable because last year, La Niña effect was there. But specific question is, how does trade behave? Do they stock up inventory, because last year they must have burned some fingers there. So is that a pushback? And what is your expectation of whatever you could gather from the weather forecast, is it going to be a bumper summer season for you this time?
Yeah. Let Manish answer this.
I think it's a pretty valid question. So what happens is, in this case, obviously, the sentiment changes because of the recent history. Last to last year, in FY 2025, the summer was really, really bumper. The pipelines go dry, so you have a very great start next summer, which we had last year. So this year, the situation reverses a bit, but thankfully, because of GST and other things, it's not such an insurmountable challenge. Having said that, what happens is, in the beginning, trade becomes a little cautious, and we are cognizant of that. Our pipelines are nice. We are playing accordingly. Over the next 2, 3 weeks, I think once as the weather starts opening up, things will start flowing.
You expect a proper season this time, summer category?
Sorry?
You expect a bumper summer season this time, based on whatever scientific data is available?
My job is to expect a bumper summer every year. I would, I would pray for that, but you know, like, you know, summer and winter is something we've seen recently in the last 4 or 5 years, the whole country is erratic, you know, when both summer and winter can shock you.
Right. Not-
Abneesh, you are right, we are sitting on a small base, and so I think, you know, looking at a three-year CAGR, we are taking aggressive numbers, you know. Why not? At least in the beginning of the season, the fourth quarter, you know, for summer, we have a high base, as Manish explained. Because last year it was very good, so every dealer stocked the product in the fourth quarter. But this year, we have slightly challenges that our winter is extended and, you know, they are being a little cautious. But, you know, this is, this is every year we see this, you know, it doesn't matter to us, but, hopefully, this year should be much better than the last year. There is no doubt in it.
Understood. Last quick question on the macro. So one is on GST benefit to FMCG. Based on the results, at least it seems food companies, noodles and biscuit companies seem to be the big winners based on Q3 numbers, whatever has come out. And hair oil companies also seem to be reasonable beneficiary. If you could comment on your take on GST benefit on FMCG in general and for your categories. That is my first question. And second, on rural consumption, the G-Ram-Ji scheme, MGNREGA scheme, the outlay seems to have reduced sharply, at least headline number. Would you be worried, given it's an on-demand kind of a scheme, plus this time, the central and state government both have a role there?
What would be your take on MGNREGA capital support for this year? Thanks.
Please, honestly, you know, our penetration is not that deep that these schemes matter so much. You know, what really matters is always the seasonality, what we have seen in the past. So I don't see any impact of those schemes going down or up. Our products are available at INR 1, INR 2, INR 5, INR 10 rupee pack. That doesn't have much major impact. Take it now. What, what we will have-
Yes, sir.
Is that overall, as I said, our focus in the last few quarters was very much on MT e-com and quick com. That is still there, but we have deployed good amount of people in the rural for our sachet. If the season is with us, then I don't see any reason why should we not get to close to 8%-10% growth.
GST benefit, where are you seeing maximum in your categories and overall?
Abneesh, all our products have now come to 5%, you know? Other than just the Smart And Handsome portfolio.... So, you know, but we are seeing benefit across. It depends on the product. Again, it is very difficult for me to say, you know, sometimes what fire, sometimes what doesn't fire. It is very difficult to pinpoint.
Understood. Thanks, sir. That's all from my side. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Raman [K.V.] from Sequent Investments. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Congratulations on good set of numbers. I just have one question on the rural aspect. If you can quantify the growth figures which you saw during this quarter, and also, if you can give a ballpark contribution from rural business towards your entire consolidated revenue, that will be helpful.
Could you be a little more specific around it so that I can-
I just want to understand, like, in terms of quantification, can you just quantify the rural growth that you witnessed during this quarter?
Oh, so we'll have to wait a little bit because the Nielsen results will come out only in a while. See, what we do is, right now we have the primary input numbers. The rural offtake numbers will take a bit of a while, but usually, I mean, this would be obviously a better quarter than the previous one.
If you can, can you provide, was it a low single digit or a high single digit or mid double digit, like, that kind of?
No, so it's a double-digit number, of course, right?
Okay.
I mean, considering that the overall numbers are in that space, and the middle and the rural part will be better than the upper India, let's say, or the top India.
Understood, sir. And sir, from the entire portfolio, our portfolio, what percentage is contributed by rural demand?
About, it's about 48-52 split in favor of rural, from an offtake perspective.
Okay, understood, sir. Thank you.
Yeah.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nitin Gupta from Emkay Global. Please go ahead.
Yes, thanks a lot for taking my question. My first question pertains to digital brands. Last year we roped in Mr. Zairus Master. Just wanted to check on the areas he has worked on and how are we placed now with the digital brand growth?
Yeah. So, Giriraj, if you can answer.
Yeah. So as we've been speaking over the last couple of quarters, I think quarter-on-quarter, sequentially, we have been seeing growth strengthening. If you look at this quarter as reported in the results, we have had a very strong, robust 31% growth as far as our digital brands are concerned. And we see this growth remaining-
Giriraj, Giriraj, your voice is... Sorry, I'm sorry to interfere, Giriraj. Your voice is not clear to me or to everyone? I'm not very sure. You're not very clear to me.
Am I clear now, Mohan ji?
Slightly better. Slightly better.
Okay. No, as I was... Just to repeat my answer, what I was saying is that quarter-on-quarter, we've seen growth strengthen in the digital brands, and this quarter we've seen a very robust 31% growth over last year. And this growth in the coming quarters, we expect to sustain this robust growth. Have I answered your question?
Yeah. Yeah, so can you—I was basically looking to, in terms of action we have taken in the portfolio, would you like to highlight any specific action which sort of have helped us sort of revive the growth in the digital brand portfolio?
Yeah. Given the very nature of the brands, which are digital in nature, we are seeing very strong growth coming through quick commerce and through our D2C websites, in a broad basis, and some marketplaces on a selective basis. We are also seeing significant growth coming from some of our new innovations, which is, you know, very short, some functions that we are seeing strong growth under The Man Company. And we have done a lot of renovation work as far as our grooming category is concerned, which is just about hit the market towards, you know, end of December, and you will see some more additional benefits accruing in the coming quarters.
Okay, got it. Thank you. My second and last question pertains to this Ayurvedic portfolio. What is the Ayurvedic export share in our healthcare business? So government has announced to take some steps around improving the outlook for the Ayurvedic offering. So do you see this as a potential driver of business for us?
Yeah. Giriraj?
Thank you for the question. As of now, the Ayurvedic portfolio for exports is very, very low, predominantly because of registration issues in most of the countries where we could probably see potential. I know the government through the business, the, the AYUSHEXCIL, you know, organization is working towards getting registration sorted out, but it's still a long process. So it will take some time for Ayurvedic medicines to be scaled up. It will take a few years, in my view. There may be short-term opportunities or medium-term opportunities coming in from certain countries through the supplements route, where certain products are allowed to be registered as health supplements.... but then that market again needs to be developed and invested upon, for the local, you know, people.
Where there are Indians, there is an opportunity for products like Chyavanprash, et cetera, and there is a market for products like Ashwagandha in the U.S. But beyond that, it's, it needs a lot of investments to grow that market. So it's not a short-term or a medium-term game, it's a long-term game to be played.
Sure, sir, this is really helpful. Thanks a lot, and all the very best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ajay Thakur from Anand Rathi Securities. Please go ahead.
Hello. Hello.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, Ajay.
Yeah. Yeah, thanks for taking my question. So, I had two questions. One was, more on the growth in the male grooming segment. It's at around 4%. It looks slightly subdued, despite the fact that we have revamped this, like, last maybe, you know, last year itself. So I just wanted to get a sense on, you know, what is kind of, you know, the issues or what are the, you know, the major, you know, factors which is kind of impacting the growth over here?
So, Ajay, you are right. The male grooming, particularly the Smart And Handsome range, has not been growing for some time, despite of the best effort. Now, we are significantly at a lower base. The total contribution is hardly now at around 4%-5% of our total business. So, it needs a different strategy, you know, to get to double-digit growth. I don't have an answer right now.
Okay, understood. Sir, second question was on the Bangladesh market. You know, how has the performance been in that market? Given the turmoil we have seen, has that had any implication on our sales or any impact on our business over there?
Yeah. The CEO of International is here, Vivek.
Yeah, hello. Bangladesh, per se, in market sales, we have registered a good double-digit growth, but somehow we were correcting certain pipelines. But in the primary sales, we will reflect a very low single-digit growth. But the market performance has been pretty impressive, and we have seen a very good revival in Bangladesh in last quarter, and something similar is continuing in this quarter as well.
Okay.
But we are going to witness the elections on around twelfth of February this year, and then Bangladesh is getting into long holidays in March due to Ramadan and Eid vacations. So let us see. Let's hope for the best. But otherwise, our demand is showing very robust growth in the marketplace.
Understood. Secondly, if I were to look at it in terms of the international business, the overall growth at 9%, and versus, you know, the headline growth in most of the markets, like be it SAARC, be it MENA, have shown a very decent growth. So what is the segment or what is the market which is kind of pulling it down?
So we have faced certain pressures in, what we call as other MENA markets, like Iraq, and some lukewarm, response in, certain North African markets. So that is where we have, been little lukewarm. But most of the other markets, even our business, stands in Southeast Asia, SAARC, Russia, CIS, parts of Africa, have all shown very good double-digit growth.
Okay.
Certain markets have not been able to perform, and in fact, Iraq has declined. So that is the reason to have an overall growth of around 9% only.
Understood. Understood. Okay, quite helpful. Thank you. Thanks.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Prashant, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hello. Thanks for the opportunity. Am I audible?
Yeah.
Yeah. So my first question is: How many retail touchpoints did we have as of December 31? What is our target for March 31 and FY 2027 exit?
This is Manish here, so I'll speak for the India numbers. We roughly reach about 450,000+ stores directly via our sales force. Indirectly, we are present in over 5 million stores, and Navratna being the deepest penetrated brand for us. And other brands could be in the range of anything from 5 lakh to 30 lakh, depending on the brand. As far as March is concerned, I mean, we have no special right now any initiatives to expand this coverage. I mean, if you've been following our calls over the last few quarters, we want to consolidate and grow more lines in the stores, grow more assortment, grow more depth, and develop the mart stores and other stuff. So the idea is to focus and chew well what we have.
Okay. The reason is, I mean, in one of the earlier questions, I, I heard that, I mean, quite a few of our products in the, you know, the smaller price range, I mean, like INR 1-INR 5 pouches. So, aligned to the numbers you gave out, I mean, are we seeing a traction for these, smaller I mean, smaller-sized products in the e-commerce also, or those are largely flowing through the traditional route?
Yeah, it's mostly traditional. I mean, most of the LUPs on the small packs below INR 100 are not e-com and MT friendly for viability reasons. In fact, they actually seek products above 150 to 100, usually, especially in the personal care side.
In light of that also, I mean, you would like to keep the retail footprint at this level and consolidate?
No, no, see, this, this is a very good reach. This is a damn good reach for a company of our size and stuff, and the brand pulls in. We, like, for most FMCG companies, anything from 50%-60% sales comes in through the wholesale channels, which India is very well developed on. And through the multilayer wholesale, the brand reaches more than 5 million stores. So there's no dearth of pull on our brand equity.
Okay.
I mean, our network is present in over 8,000 towns, so in terms of-
Mm.
ability to reach, hinterland of India, we have no problems.
Okay, fair enough. My second question was, in terms of, you know, hair oil, I mean, some of your competitors have, like, one North Chyavanprash, a famous company, another almond oil company, they moved into coconut oil. Your-- any plans from your side to move into that category?
Prashant, right now we don't have plans.
Any particular reason or that's not a viable...? Because it's not viable or if anything specific you can-
That, I can't be very specific, Prashant, but right now we don't have plans.
Okay, fair enough. That's all from my side. Wish you all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sameer Gupta from IIFL Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening, sir, and congratulations on good set of numbers, and thanks for taking my question. Sir, firstly, just wanted to understand, how do we read this performance? So 2Q was impacted by channel destocking, and this quarter we would have restocked the channel, and that benefit is there. Now, if I look at 2Q plus 3Q, which basically offsets for this destocking and restocking, it is a flat performance. 1Q, I understand, was impacted by a poor summer, but 2Q plus 3Q, adjusted for this phenomena, is also flat. So are secondaries and tertiaries growing in line with primaries? How do we read this performance?
Hi, again, Manish here. I'll speak for the domestic India business. So you're right. I mean, from a secondary perspective, excluding Talc, we are in mid-single high digit side. Talc is what the issue was in Q1 and Q2. But, otherwise, from a tertiary, secondary perspective, the pipeline is very nice. We are very clean. No issues on that front.
So mid to high single digit for the nine months, excluding Talc, that's what you're saying?
Correct.
Not this quarter. This quarter would have been higher.
No, but this quarter, the Talc wasn't there, so this is... This quarter is like, practically, Talc is almost nil, so the entire thing is without Talc.
But this quarter you would have seen an upstocking benefit in primary, so what would be the secondary-
No, no, no, no.
Growth for this quarter?
No, no, there is no upstocking in this quarter. There's no upstocking. That's what I said. See, the secondaries for us in a nine-month period are ahead of primaries. There is no upstocking in the nine-month period or in this quarter.
Manish, if 2Q had got impacted because of destocking, because of GST cuts and channel was basically not buying, waiting for the new GST cut, GST rates to be applicable, it is natural for, you know, them to upstock to a normal level of inventory in the third quarter?
No, no, no. No, but channel didn't buy, but we also couldn't sell, no? We also suffered losses, as you've seen in the quarter two results.
Okay, maybe I'll take this offline. No worries.
Okay.
Second question is on winter. So there has been a mixed feedback across, you know, companies on, on how the winters have been. So some companies have called out a harsher winter this time. Some companies have called it harsher, but the onset was very delayed in northern and western part, you know, there was virtually no winter till the second week of December. So what has been your feedback? Just trying to understand that.
It's very simple. In hindsight, it's very simple. The winter-summer cycles are getting erratic. For us, for this year, October, November were damn good. The winter set in very early. November was superb. December first half got warm. December second half was again very good. January first half, especially in the NDJ heartland, got warm. January second fortnight was very good. Right now, it's on the colder side, so it's like, Yeah, but
Okay. And the disparities geography-wise, like north, south, east, west, would be similar or there are varied, you know, varied differences there also?
Most of it is dominated by the north, of course, but overall, from a number perspective, I think we had a pretty good, winter brand outcomes, and that's what matters.
Got it. Got it. That's helpful, sir. Thanks, sir. Thanks a lot. The last one, if I may squeeze in. So blended price decrease for Emami-
So Sameer, to also answer on Manish's question, you are right. So, you know, the winter was very harsh, you know? But in winter, some portfolios have done exceedingly well, like, BoroPlus Lotion, you know, has done exceedingly well compared to the BoroPlus Antiseptic Cream. Okay, so it is. Again, it is not like just because the winter was very harsh, so all the brands of winter's failed. There is also a difference in the-
Got-
portfolio's growth. Okay? Mm.
Got it, Mohan ji.
Yeah.
That's, that's very helpful. Last question, if I may squeeze in. What would be the blended price decrease for Emami at a portfolio level for the consumer? So there is a GST cut for 80%-90% of your portfolio, different buckets of GST cuts for different products. But at a consumer, at a portfolio level, what would be the price decrease effective post the GST cut from twenty-third September?
Yeah. Roughly about 8%.
That's all from me, sir. Thanks a lot, and all the best.
Thank you, Sameer. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Thank you, Sameer. Thank you, IIFL, and thank you all the participants for joining us today for our Q3 results conference call. Thank you. Have a good day.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
Thank you. On behalf of-
Thank you
... IIFL Capital Services Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line. Thank you.