Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the BLS International Services Limited Q2 and H1 FY 2025 earnings conference call hosted by Nuvama Wealth. 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 touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Nikhil Shetty from Nuvama Wealth. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Del. Good day, everyone. On behalf of Nuvama Wealth, I thank you for joining the Q2 and H1 FY 2025 earnings call of BLS International Services Limited. To discuss the operational and financial performance of the company, we have with us on the call today Mr. Nikhil Gupta, Managing Director, Mr. Shikhar Aggarwal, Joint Managing Director, Mr. Amit Sudhakar, CFO, Mr. Loknath Panda, COO of Digital Business, and Gaurav Chugh, Head of Investor Relations. I now hand over the conference to Gaurav. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Nikhil. Good afternoon, everyone. The company's presentation and press release has already been uploaded on the stock exchanges as well as on the company's website, and we hope that you had an opportunity to go through the same. Let me remind you that this discussion may contain forward-looking statements that may involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors. It may be viewed in conjunction with other businesses that could cause future results, performance, or achievements to differ significantly from what is expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. I would like to hand over the call to Mr. Shikhar Aggarwal for his opening remarks, post which Mr. Amit Sudhakar will discuss the financial performance of the company, and then we will open the floor for an interactive Q&A session. Thank you, and over to you, Shikhar.
Thank you. Thank you, everyone, for joining us on BLS International's Q2 and H1 FY 2025 earnings call today. I'm extremely delighted to announce that we have concluded the second quarter and first half of fiscal year 2025 with highest-ever financial performance. Our second quarter consolidated revenue has seen a strong increase of 21% to INR 495 crores compared to the same period last year. We witnessed highest-ever EBITDA reported by the company at INR 164 crore, which grew remarkably by 89%, and our profit after tax was INR 146 crore, surging 78% year-on-year. The result in our first half is the best period till date, with consolidated revenues climbing 25% to INR 988 crores. EBITDA also grew by 78% to INR 297 crore, and profit after tax increasing 74% year-on-year to INR 267 crore. These results lay a solid foundation for our growth trajectory throughout the remainder of our fiscal.
Our remarkable growth is primarily attributed to the surge in visa applications, a direct result of our strategic expansion in key markets and our targeted approach to securing lucrative contracts, alongside bolstering our existing ones over the last 18 to 24 months. Further, we've expanded our operations by opening up new visa application centers in Colombia and Peru during the quarter. During Q2 FY 2025, the number of visa application processes has increased from INR 7.2 lakh applications in Q2 FY 2024 to INR 10.1 lakh in Q2 FY 2025, which have grown by a robust 41% year-on-year. This includes the application process by iDATA during the quarter. This uptick aligns with our broader growth in the global travel and tourism industry, which has provided an encouraging backdrop for our expansion.
With the completion of the acquisition of iDATA in July 2024, we began including iDATA's financials in our consolidated reports from the second quarter onwards. iDATA has contributed significantly to our financial strength, reporting revenues of INR 60 crore and EBITDA of INR 23 crore. It also represents around INR 1.6 lakh applications during the quarter. Synergies from the acquisition of iDATA and ongoing translation in our business model from partner-run centers to self-run models have resulted in enhanced margin profiles for the company during the period. Our EBITDA margins expanded to 33.1% in Q2 FY 2025, an expansion of 1,186 basis points from 21.3% in the corresponding quarter. Furthermore, our net revenue per application has also increased from INR 1,988 in Q2 FY 2024 to INR 2,288 in Q2 FY 2025.
Additionally, in October 2024, we have also completed the acquisition of Citizenship Invest, a global leader in residency and citizenship programs with presence across more than 15 countries, enhancing BLS capabilities and offering long-term visa solutions. Capitalizing on BLS's expansive reach across 70+ countries, combined with Citizenship Invest's robust reputation and influence among HNI individuals, it's anticipated to significantly enhance overall processing volumes. I'm delighted to report that our digital service segment has expanded its presence to more than 121,000 touchpoints, underscoring our commitment to fostering financial inclusion and empowering digital access. In terms of BC operations, we have seen a remarkable volume of over INR 3.6 crore transactions, with the gross value surpassing INR 20,000 crore during the quarter. Additionally, we have expanded our network by adding more than 2,700 channel service partners, bringing our total to over 29,700 BC as of September 30.
The partners also have generated loan leads of approximately INR 1,400 crores for financial institutions as compared to INR 1,000 crores in the last quarter. The expansion reflects our ongoing efforts to deepen our market penetration. Our subsidiary, BLS E- Services, has also signed a definitive agreement to acquire 57% controlling stakes in Aadifidelis Solutions and its affiliates. It is among the leading leaders in loan distribution processing player in India, boasting a comprehensive pan-India presence. ASPL's network of 8,600+ partners has presence in 17 states and ties up with leading financial institutions in our added advantage. The integration of ASPL will complement our existing suite of BC-driven citizen-focused banking services and unlock numerous cross-selling opportunities, further enhancing our service operations and market reach. We hope to close this transaction quite soon. As we look to the future, our strategy is dual-faceted.
We aim to cultivate organic growth within our visa and consular services and digital service business, while also actively seeking out opportunities for inorganic expansion both domestically and internationally. Our outlook for the current fiscal remains positive, and we are dedicated to driving sustainable growth. In closing, I wish to reiterate our strong confidence in the coming quarters. The BLS team is committed to advancing growth across both of our key business segments. We are convinced that strategic initiatives we have implemented will lay the groundwork for a prosperous future in the coming years. Now, I'll turn over the call to Mr. Amit Sudhakar, our CFO, for further updates on the financial performance. Thank you.
Thank you, Shikhar. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm pleased to present the consolidated financial performance for the second quarter and half-year ended September 30, 2024.
In the Q2 FY 2025, we achieved a revenue of INR 495 crore, marking a robust year-over-year increase of 21% from INR 408 crores reported in Q2 FY 2024. This growth was attributed largely to a strong performance of visa and consular service business. We are witnessing a sustained momentum and remain confident in our prospects for continued expansion in the subsequent quarters. Our EBITDA for the quarter surged to INR 164 crore, up from INR 87 crore in the same period last year, registering a strong growth of 89%. The EBITDA margin for the quarter was 33.1%, expanding by 1,186 basis points year-over-year. This margin expansion was contributed to our cost optimization efforts and transition in self-run models and iDATA acquisition. Profit before tax for the quarter was reported at INR 164 crore, a significant 88% increase from INR 87 crore in the second quarter of the previous financial year.
The profit after tax also showed a strong performance at INR 146 crore compared to INR 82 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, reflecting a growth of 78%. Taxes in Dubai impacted the PAT growth. Earnings per share for the quarter stood at INR 3.40 per share as compared to INR 1.90 per share in Q2 FY 2024. Coming to the half-year performance, the half-year revenue stood at INR 988 crore as compared to INR 791 crore, registering a growth of 25% over the corresponding previous period. The EBITDA for the H1 FY 2025 stood at INR 297 crore versus INR 167 crore in the corresponding half-year of last year, a robust growth of 78%. The EBITDA margin for the H1 FY 2025 stood at 30.1% against 21.1% in H1 FY 2024, as an expansion of 901 basis points. Profit after tax stood at INR 267 crore as compared to INR 153 crore in the previous corresponding half-year, a growth of 74%.
Now, coming to segmental highlights, in Q2 FY 2025, our visa and consular segment saw a strong growth of 30%, generating a revenue of INR 418 crore, an increase from INR 322 crore in Q2 FY 2024. The EBITDA for this segment expanded by 107% to INR 152 crore, with an EBITDA margin of 36.4%. This represents an increase of 1,360 basis points over 22.8% margin recorded in Q2 FY 2024. The quarter also saw a 41% rise in the number of visa applications processed, climbing from INR 7.2 lakh applications in Q2 FY 2024 to INR 10.1 lakh applications in Q2 FY 2025, which includes 160,000 applicant counts from iDATA. Looking at the first half of the year, visa and consular service revenue grew at 33% to INR 832 crore in H1 FY 2025, up from INR 627 crore in H1 FY 2024. EBITDA for the same period experienced a significant year-on-year increase of 89%, reaching to INR 273 crore, with an EBITDA margin of 32.9%.
This margin of 982 basis points compared to a 23% margin in H1 FY 2024, reflecting an ongoing commitment to growth and efficiency. In Q2 FY 2025, our digital business segment reported a revenue of INR 77 crore as compared to INR 86 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year. The EBITDA for the segment stood at INR 12 crore in Q2 FY 2025. The EBITDA margin has remained flat at 15.5%. In H1 FY 2025, the digital revenue stood at INR 156 crore as compared to INR 164 crore in the corresponding period. The EBITDA for the segment stood at INR 24 crore in H1 FY 2025 as compared to INR 22 crore in H1 FY 2024. The EBITDA margin witnessed an expansion of 15.3% in H1 FY 2025 from 13.6% in H1 FY 2024. The company continued to exhibit a healthy balance sheet, with net cash and cash equivalents totaling to INR 902 crore as of September 30, 2024.
Our financial prudence in future further reflects in our strong return ratios, with the annualized return on equity of 32% and return on capital employed of 27%. With that, I will request the moderator to open the floor for questions. Thank you.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone 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 Dinesh from Finsight. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Can you hear me? Am I audible?
Yes, we can hear you.
Okay. First of all, very congratulations on a really good set of numbers, sir. I mean, obviously, on the margins and the PAT front. My question, sir, we have seen the visa and consular business has shown tremendous growth in terms of applications and revenue on all fronts. But the digital business is definitely not, on a year-on-year basis, showing the numbers what we are looking at. So first of all, what are the challenges here that we are facing? And second, I want to split this business and completely use this cash, the proceeds of this business, for the visa business for further acquisitions. That's my first question.
Nikhil sir, would you like to take it or?
No, I don't mind. Actually, I just wanted to respond by saying that all businesses have different risks and rewards, as you know. So definitely, the visa and consular business has much higher margins because the number of people kind of competing in that space are less, and digital business is a little more competitive. There is no plan right now to completely sell or separate the businesses. As you know, digital business is a subsidiary of BLS International, and we want to find opportunities for growth there because we believe there are opportunities still there in that space.
Okay. So what are the challenges you are facing, sir? Because we are not, I mean, definitely, the numbers are not reflecting that, right? I mean, what is the challenge we are facing?
Competition.
Okay.
I think also I can add one more point. Basically, last year, if you see one of our contracts got completed, and in spite of that contract not having the revenue from that contract, which was in the state of Punjab, we still have the revenues have increased. So definitely, we have seen a growth, but one of the contracts got completed last year. That is the reason you see there is no major growth in terms of revenue, but because the overall revenue reduced from that contract.
Okay. Fair enough, sir.
Dinesh, this IPO money, what we have raised is for the growth. That's what Shikhar has said in his speech also, that we are doing some few acquisitions, and the numbers will start showing from Q3 onward. You'll see the growth coming in this business also.
That sounds good. The last thing from my end. So we have made quite a few acquisitions in the last few months, right, including the iDATA. So how do we see the things are panning out there? And what kind of numbers we should expect when we end this financial year and maybe the next financial? Once we have all the consolidated numbers? Yep.
So see, the consolidation in this quarter, if you see, the iDATA numbers have been added in the current quarter. Therefore, the growth trajectory has been about 20%-30% in the revenue, which we have been doing for the last two quarters, and we think it will continue with our existing business growing as well as with the acquisitions which are coming in.
Okay. So with the kind of numbers we see the next year, I'm asking, let's say, what is the target and guidance for the next year and, yeah, the next financial year?
You want to maintain the numbers that we have achieved in the first few quarters. Momentum will come back. Yeah.
Okay. And the same margins, right? We can expect the margins to maybe expand further.
Yes.
Okay, sir. Thank you very much.
Right now, our objective is to maintain the same margins.
Okay. All the best, and I'll give back to the queue for more questions. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nihal Shah from Prudent Corporate Advisory Services. Please go ahead.
Hello. Thank you for the opportunity and congratulations for the great set of numbers. So if I reduce the applications that we had for iDATA in this quarter, so we are looking at around 18% volume growth in the applications that we have processed. So what was that number for iDATA? And how has iDATA been growing since the last few years? If you can share some light on it and their margins as well.
So iDATA is having a revenue around INR 200 crores-INR 250 crores annually, which is going to be now part of our numbers. That growth, what we anticipate, will be around 10%-15% over that going forward in iDATA business, how we look at it. What was the second question?
So the margins have been around 45%-50% there since the last couple of years. And for this quarter, if you can give specific margins for iDATA.
So as we said, this quarter, they did about INR 60 crore, and INR 23 crore was the EBITDA, about 40%.
Okay, and so are we using their facilities to manage our contracts as well in their existing facilities so that synergies have been set already, or that will happen in the coming quarters?
That will happen over the next couple of quarters.
Okay. So that could improve our margins even more from this level of 33 odd %, right?
That's right. Once those synergies will come in play, we will see an improvement here.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vishal Singh from Finvestors. Please go ahead.
Hello. Audible?
Yeah. We can hear you.
Thank you, sir, for the opportunity to speak. Good afternoon. And congratulations on posting excellent results, sir. My question, although two of the questions have been answered, my question would be, what impact of current geopolitical environment or scenarios which are going on will have on our business?
Shikhar, you would like to take it?
Yeah. So yeah. You see, as you know, we have our company is currently present in 70+ countries. We work with multiple governments, and geopolitical scenarios year on year keep on happening in different pockets of the world, but it does not impact us on an annual basis. Definitely, after COVID, certain countries, for example, Russia, outbound traffic still has not come up. So once probably the situation stabilizes, we will definitely see numbers coming back from there, but other than that, across the world, we have seen an increase in volume from 2019.
Okay. So that means there will be highly an impact. Sir, could you just possibly guide us for the guidance, like 25%-30% on the conservative side, what we are doing currently for this fiscal year?
If you see our last five years, our CAGR growth has been more than 70% in terms of PAT. Even this first two quarters, the number that we have achieved compared to last year has been phenomenally higher. So definitely, as we grow more as a company, as we are bidding for multiple new contracts, billions of dollars of contracts that we've been bidding for, we have won a few contracts in the last couple of months. We've deployed them, acquired a few companies. So definitely, growth can come from multiple areas: existing business growth, new contracts, these acquisition synergies. We're also shifting from some of the operations in certain countries. We are taking over fully where we had some local partners. So you will see definitely that we want to maintain whatever we have achieved first.
So, as for your presentation, as you said, you are moved, and I think you don't have any fear in our country. As we can see that you have posted that it will be like 20% of CAGR growth in air traffic and passengers will be traveling. So, what is your vision on growth trajectory for a longer period, like for 27 or 3 to 5 years?
Whatever we have achieved in the past few years, we want to maintain that. And whatever, obviously, industry growth trajectory of 15%-20%, that is the bare minimum I feel that we can achieve. But definitely, as in the past also, we want to overachieve, then give a high guidance. So definitely, we will be maintaining that.
And thank you, sir. And all the best to BLS family for the upcoming years.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all the participants, please limit your questions to three per participant. The next question is from the line of Shreya Bhartia from JK Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Hello. Can you hear me?
Yes, we can hear you.
Okay. Great. Thank you. Thank you for giving me the opportunity. So my first question is actually about revenue per visitor passport. In the past, it used to be higher than the one that we're seeing right now. Is it because it was actually above 3,000 in the 2015, 2016 years? Have you guys changed the way you calculate it now, or what's the reason for its decrease?
So frankly, I don't have numbers of 2015, 2016, but for the last couple of years, if you see, especially post-COVID, the trend has been going up only on a quarter-to-quarter basis. So I'll have to check 2015, 2016, and then come back to you on that number.
Okay. Great. My second question is on the line of EBITDA margin for the visa and consular business. I see that over the past couple of years, your operational expenses, the percentage of revenue has been going down. Is it because of the new model that you shifted to, the more self-owned model? Is that the major reason for that? And will we see that kind of continue? I understand that a lot of the expansion came because of some of your acquisitions, but will we see this trend as we go forward? This factor contributing significantly to your EBITDA margins increasing?
So there were a couple of reasons for the EBITDA margin. One, as you said, that has been one of the major reasons why we changed our model from partnership to our own. Second, has been the new contracts have been won at a higher application prices, as well as with this acquisition where we have just done the iDATA acquisition. The EBITDA margins were running at a 40%-45% EBITDA margin. So all factors have improved our EBITDA margin over the last couple of quarters, if you see.
Okay. Great. This is my last question, and it's about the bids that are happening right now in the market. How many have you guys applied for? What's the progress? And yeah, just a little bit on that.
No, see, we don't, yeah. Sorry, are you answering?
No, no. I couldn't hear it, so if you can please keep going.
Yeah. Yeah. So basically, as we see in the last couple of years, every couple of years, bids keep on coming globally, and we have also won a lot of new contracts in the last one year. Next few years also, there are multiple contracts going on in Europe and North America and different multiple countries that we are bidding for, and we are in different stages of bidding, and once the result is out, we definitely, as per the guidelines, we announce it with the market, but definitely, there is a big, big, big scope in terms of growth. We've been winning new contracts. Existing governments are coming out with rebids where competitors are incumbent, and also newer governments which are outsourcing for the first time, so there is a growth opportunity in both the trajectories.
Okay. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Hena Vora from DAM Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello. Hi. Thank you for this opportunity. Just one question from my end. So we have attributed the fact that moving to a self-model has helped us with the margins. But I just wanted to understand, is this also ROCE accretive? If you could just tell me what ROCEs we will be making under the partnership model and under the self-driven model?
Sorry? Sorry. What was the last point?
I was just asking what sort of ROCEs do we make under the partnership model, and what would we be making under the self-run model?
Amit, if you understand, can you answer that? Please, I didn't understand it properly.
See, our CapEx normally is not very high because in both the cases, we don't invest in the property, but we do the infrastructure only. Whereas in the case of partnership model, we don't do that also. The whole infrastructure and the logistics is being handled by the partner. So obviously, the margins are much more when you do it on your own versus doing through the partner.
Okay. So for balance number, would we have or is it other ROCEs similar in both the cases?
So it will depend from country to country and the infrastructure which we need to invest there.
Okay. So it is fair to assume that the partnership model is better in terms of ROCE, or that will not be the case?
I think our own will be a much.
Okay. The ROCE is accretive.
And we do on our own.
Sure. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Preeti from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Hi sir. Congratulations on a good set of numbers. My question was, if we look at the revenue for the existing business, removing the iDATA numbers, I mean, Q1 QoQ, the revenue is slightly lower. So is there a particular reason for that?
So one has been that digital business revenue was lower. And the second, our business is quite seasonal in the sense that Q4 and Q1 are the higher revenues compared to Q2 and Q3. So there is a seasonality in the business also.
Sure. Sure. And the second question was, iDATA EBITDA that got accrued this quarter was around INR 23 crores. Is that what?
Yeah. That's right. That's right. On a INR 60 crores of revenue.
Okay. This wasn't when I went through the presentation. This wasn't for the entire three months. It's from July 9 onwards that you are accreting?
Exactly. Exactly. It is from July 9 onwards.
Sure. And is there some seasonality in that business as well? Because CY23, I think the total EBITDA for that business was around INR 140 odd crores, right?
Yeah. There is a seasonality in that business also because, as you know, during winter, the travel to Europe is much less compared to during the summer. So now this is a lean season which will start when December practically it comes to the lowest level of volumes, and then it starts picking up from January 5th onwards.
Sure. Thank you, sir, for the answer.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Yash from Stallion Asset. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you for the opportunity. So I think in the first half, we've done 24% revenue growth. And given the strong growth in your visa applications as well, it's up 44% one way. In the second half, do you think we can grow more than 25%? And even in FY 2026, do you think we can maintain this 25% run rate in revenues?
See, revenue can go much higher because of the new acquisitions which are in the pipeline and some have been crystallized. So it will have an impact in the Q3 as well as in Q4. So we are anticipating the number revenues to be higher.
Okay. Okay. Got it. And I think you had acquired this one business. I think it's called Aadifidelis. Sorry, I'm not getting the name right of the loan processing business in the first quarter. I just wanted to see how large can this be? I think this business is a part of your digital business of loan processing, and it had about INR 22 crores of EBITDA by FY 2024. And I'm just trying to understand how you can scale this business up, and what would the numbers look like in FY 2025 and FY 2026?
So, this business, we are in the last stage of closing the transaction, hopefully to get closed this month. And once it happens, their last year audited numbers were about INR 600 crores of revenue on which they had INR 22 crores of EBITDA. And we see a big synergy with this business because we ourselves have more than 30,000 CSPs as well as touch points of over INR 1 lakh. And if we can work out a synergy between those touch points and the loan distribution company's expertise, we can scale up this business further. And hopefully, we'll see and work that out over the next couple of quarters and see how we can scale up this business.
Right. And so any sort of new acquisitions similar to iDATA? Because obviously, I think this question is asked that you've got a lot of cash and balance sheets. I mean, if we haven't got any acquisitions similar to iDATA, then any possible dividend to reward the shareholders?
So we just closed another one which is Citizenship Invest, about $31 million acquisition, which got finalized in the first week of October. And that is in Dubai. They provide residency and citizenship to more than 20 countries. So that is where we have invested. Aadifidelis will be the next investment which will happen hopefully in this month. So we have decent, I would say, acquisition pipeline. And as in when they get crystallized, we'll be utilizing our funds.
But I mean, we've also been paying dividend consistently from the years.
Please.
Sorry. I think the answer was just being completed.
Okay.
Yeah. I just wanted to also specify about the dividend policy that we've been maintaining.
Yeah. So the dividend we have been paying. So the surplus, we are using it for dividend as well as for the new acquisitions.
Okay. And so just last question. Sorry. Sorry. Just take one more.
Yes. We'll call you back in the queue for further questions. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Anuj Jain from Globe Capital. Please go ahead.
Good evening, everyone.
Congratulations on the wonderful set of numbers. Just want to understand one thing. In this quarter, we have seen significant improvement in the EBITDA margins. Right? So I mean, this is a combination of two things. One is the iDATA as well as the second one is where you are moving from partner model to self-managed model. So can you please help me in understanding what kind of further improvement we can see and how this partner model and self-managed model will help us in increasing the margins going forward?
First of all, just shifting from partner to self-model is not the answer. There are multiple factors. We have increased in service fees also in many of the tenders. Even in value-added services, fees have been increased. The conversions have also improved, so multiple factors have led to increases in EBITDA margins. And definitely, moving from partner and model wherein we had to share some of the revenue and profitability with them, now 100% of this should be captured by us, will definitely have led to an increase in EBITDA margins. And going forward, our objective is to maintain these EBITDA margins first. As you know, we were at 21% last year. Then we grew to 27% in the first quarter. Now we have grown to 23%, so our objective is to maintain the numbers that we've achieved. I think it's a high number that we have done now, 23%.
First objective is just to maintain it. If we see more synergies that can improve the EBITDA margins, then definitely we will add on. Main objective is to deliver consistent EBITDA margins at this level.
Okay. That is from my side. Thank you. All the best.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ravi Kumar Naredi from Naredi Investments. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much. Mr. Nikhilji, Shikharji, and Karan ji, I give my thanks for extraordinary result along with big margin expansion. It is the result of our dedicated employees indeed. Sir, whatever iDATA and other subsidiaries we bought, we took INR 255 crore on borrowing. Despite, we have cash balance of INR 1,000 crore. Any specific reason to borrow?
So, because of the better ROI calculation on the acquisition, the borrowing had been done in Turkey for the acquisition. So, it's a tax-efficient structure. The main reason was that we did the acquisition on a small amount of borrowing.
Okay. Understood. Any new visa application mandate if we won in this quarter? Will you describe it?
See, we are constantly bidding for multiple contracts. In this quarter, we have opened offices in multiple new geographies, like Colombia, Peru. We've also rolled out certain contracts that we won again. For example, in the Poland, in the Philippines. We recently started Portugal and Morocco. I think it was in the quarter before or this quarter. I don't know. So constantly, we are rolling out newer contracts in newer geographies and also opening new offices for our existing contracts. In this quarter also, we have done the same.
Okay, and this investor presentation, you mentioned ongoing transition from partner model to self-managed model. What is the difference?
The difference is that there are still certain countries that we feel that we have the opportunity to transition. So we are evaluating that in certain geographies of the world. So that is what it means.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ankush Agrawal from Surge Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Thank you for taking my question. Firstly, for the visa business, if I remove the iDATA revenue number of INR 60 crores, sequentially, our revenue numbers are lower within the visa business despite the fact that the number of applications processed is similar. In our visa business, the EBITDA margins are primarily higher because EBITDA is similar, while the margins are lower sequentially. Revenues are lower sequentially. So can you explain why this has happened, why the revenues are lower sequentially within visa business, excluding iDATA?
So see, this has been mainly on account of consular numbers being much higher, where the revenue per application is much lower. So those have gone up, where passport renewals and the others were much higher compared to the Q1. So those numbers have come in. Therefore, the mix has been a little different. That's why.
Okay. It doesn't have any patched up accounting change. Because I think in FY 2024, we did this accounting change wherein the embassy fees, which was a pass-through, was directly being passed and was not being booked. Has that also impacted a bit in this quarter, or that hasn't done in FY 2024?
Nothing in this quarter separate from that.
Okay. The second question is around iDATA, so iDATA margins are about 37% this quarter, and the revenue rate of INR 60 crores is similar to the numbers that we shared at the time of acquisition for 2023, so wanted to understand why the revenue has not grown, plus why the margins are lower than, say, 55%-58% that iDATA did in 2023 to now 37% in this quarter?
Nikhil, did you take it, or?
Yeah. Yeah. I can take that. Two things have happened. One is that there have been some changes in certain countries operating in that way we are operating, where the volumes of transactions have come down because of things like E-Visa. We've compensated some of that with higher volumes and new additional volumes in other countries. And you'll keep seeing this improvement as we've decided that we will do synergies with BLS. When the nine centers were to be done in nine months, we've already completed four of them. And therefore, you'll start seeing improvements coming in in the quarters ahead.
Okay. But do we expect that we will be able to achieve similar margins as we had with the acquisition, like 55% now?
We expect to improve the margins, as I said, and achieve the kind of margins that we were doing earlier.
Okay. The last question is, would it be possible for you to share how much of our visa business is dependent upon the Spain contract? I know it's a large number, but rough ballpark of how much of our revenues and profitability would depend on Spain contract within visa business?
Spain will be around, say, 25%-30%.
Just 25%-30% of overall revenue, you said?
That's right. That's right.
But the applications processed would be much higher, I believe, because of the data that we have shared earlier.
No, the application ratio will be same, similar.
Okay. Got it. I'll get this from the people for the data. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ishika Bajaj from Helios Capital Asset Management. Please go ahead.
Hi. Am I audible?
Yes. We can hear you.
Certain bookkeeping questions. For cost of service in Q2 FY 2025, it's gone down by around INR 63 crores. Is there a particular reason for this, or is it just because of shifting the module from partnership to self?
Yeah. That's been the major reason. If you look at what the commission we were paying to the partner was booked under cost of service directly, which has now not there. And that expenses are being booked under employee cost and the administrative cost.
Okay. And for other expenses, that's also gone up by 50%. What is the reason for that?
Exactly the same reason that it has moved out of the cost of sales, and the expenses are being under other expenses and the employee cost. Because we have done the now all those offices are being maintained by us.
Yes. Understood. Thank you. And one more thing. When this iDATA acquisition was announced, it was said that initially, you're going to pay EUR 50 million and then go on a milestone-based payment structure. So is that still something that you're doing, or you've paid out the entire INR 720 crores?
So we have paid the entire amount, except a small, I think, four million, which is to be paid over the next one year or so.
Okay. Okay. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rucheeta Kadge from iWealth. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Good afternoon. And thank you for taking my question. So my question was on the partnership model. So have we converted all our centers from partnership into self-made, or there are still a few models which are remaining?
Most of them have. There are still a few pending, but depending on the operational requirement, we are analyzing whether it is feasible enough to convert or not. But most of them have been converted.
Okay, so we expect the margin to further increase from now, like the 34%-35% EBITDA margin that we've made during this quarter. We see a further improvement once we convert those models as well?
As we said, we have really grown from 21% margin level to 27% and now 33%. So on an increased revenue that we expect in the coming quarters and years, consolidation with all the companies, our main objective is first to maintain the margins that we've achieved. So as of now, our objective is just to maintain the margins that we have achieved. And if we grow further, that will be a bonus. But our objective right now, the consolidation that we plan to do in the next few years, is to maintain the margins.
This Aadifidelis acquisition, when do we see these numbers coming in our books?
We are planning to see that it gets closed in the coming months, and hopefully, we'll see the numbers reflecting in our Q3 numbers.
What is the kind of growth that we see in this business?
I think once we get into the business, we will have a much better idea how we can grow it further.
Understood. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rahul Jain from Nuvama Wealth. Please go ahead. Rahul, your line has been unmuted. Please go ahead with your question. As there is no response from the current participant, we'll move on to the next question. The next question is from the line of Chandan Mishra from Finvestors. Please go ahead.
Good evening, sir. Am I audible?
Yes. We can hear you.
So thank you for the opportunity. First of all, congratulations on posting good set of numbers. My first question is, if you please quantify the organic business growth in the current and coming years within acquisitions, right?
You can get your question.
Sir, please quantify the organic business growth in the current and coming years?
18%.
18%.
What we have grown organically in the coming quarter.
This is, sir, leaving the acquisitions, sir?
Correct. In terms of volume of applications.
Sir, my next question is, what are the acquisitions plan in near future?
Right now, our aim is to consolidate the acquisitions that we have done and streamline the operations. And then going forward, as you know, we are constantly looking for growth opportunities both organically and non-organically. So if good opportunity arises, then we can definitely look at further acquisitions.
One last question, sir. As it is being asked, but my question is just follow-up to digital businesses. As we have seen some slight dip in digital business year on year, do we expect some improvement in upcoming quarter and year-end?
Definitely. As you said, that digital business, we have actually internally seen a growth only because one of the major contracts that we are running was completed last year. So that is why the revenue was not taken from that contract. In spite of that, other business and digital business have grown. So we do expect growth coming in digital business in the coming quarters and years.
That's all from my side, sir. Thank you, sir. And congratulations to BLS on the for future growth.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Malu from Param Financial Services. Please go ahead.
Hello. Congratulations on the good set of numbers. I have one question. I think in the month of August, we had announced for the QIP. So wanted to know your views on those. Where are we in terms of our QIP?
I think we had just announced enabling resolution as a company that what our plan was that every year we do enabling resolution. Depending on the requirement, we will announce a QIP. So right now, there is no requirement. But that was just an enabling resolution. As and when there is a requirement where we have a big acquisition opportunity or requirement of funds, we will be announcing that.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Dinesh from FinSight. Please go ahead. Mr. Dinesh, your line has been unmuted. Please go ahead with your question.
I'm audible now? Hello?
Yes, sir, you are.
Okay. Sir, my question is, I think most of my questions have been already answered, but can you just tell us the cash, which is approximately INR 900 crores, right, all in reserve, where is this cash, sir? Is it in India or is it in our foreign operations?
So basically, it's all over the world, but the major portion is in India. And the second highest amount is there in Dubai because there we consolidate. So most of it is in India.
Okay, India. And so, as you mentioned, we have already done a few acquisitions, and a few are maybe on the pipeline, I'm assuming that. So the cash which we have is after paying all the current acquisitions which we have already done, right? Or are they expecting any drawdowns from this cash for any of the pending acquisitions?
No, we will be using this for the pending acquisitions.
Okay. And how much is that amount? I mean, what is the amount we're expecting that?
See, we are actually, if you see our reserves, we are generating about INR 500 crores-INR 600 crores a year of cash in the company with the current run rate. We have used this money for $31 million we have paid for the Citizenship Invest which we announced in the first week of October. Now we are going to even pay for the Aadifidelis in the next month's time. So those are the ones which are very much there. Others which are the pipelines, once they get crystallized, we will know how much we need to pay them.
Okay. So there are certain pending amounts still we are expecting, right?
That's right. That's right, and we are generating also, so it's both.
Okay. Okay. That's great, sir. Thank you, sir. I think I'm done here. Thank you very much. And all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Yash from Stallion Asset. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thanks again for the opportunity. So, I think last time you had mentioned that you have about $1.5 billion-$2 billion of opportunity, and I wanted to understand how many tenders are now going to be renewed? What is a bidding pipeline for the next two years? Hello. Am I audible?
Yeah. I'm saying out of those, we already announced that we won Slovakia global in the last one year, Hungary, multiple contracts, Italy government, Poland, Portugal. So we have won multiple contracts. And also, we are bidding for newer contracts. And as in when we win more contracts, we definitely announce.
Okay. So I mean, is it possible to quantify what we're in for the pipeline?
The opportunity is much bigger. It's definitely upwards of $1.1 billion-$1.5 billion. And there are multiple countries that are coming in for the return to the cycle in North America also. And we are actively now, as we grow as a company, as we mature as a company, even with this acquisition of iDATA, not only that we've added geographical presence, we've also added some good people who had good presence in different geographies where we were not present. And we have good relationships in those territories. So definitely, we see good opportunities coming. And we are hopeful that we win certain market share as we are performing our existing contracts well, re-winning them as well. And governments are taking notice, and they have good reliance on us. So definitely, we feel that government wants to change the market scenario globally and stop the over-reliance on one monopoly player.
So that is why we see growth coming in our company.
Right. And so second question is that, as you said, that you have about INR 500 crores-INR 600 crores of cash generation. So after the acquisition as well, I mean, is it just to the board as a suggestion? Would it be possible to open for a buyback?
I think we can consider it. We are looking at multiple options right now. Our main focus is to deploy the cash in terms of either acquisitions or dividend to the shareholders that we have been doing. We're also investing in technology and also opening up newer centers, consolidating our operations. We're also spending on business development and getting more quality people on board. Definitely, we have not explored that option, but we can discuss it in our next board meeting.
Okay. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Due to time constraint, that was the last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Thank you, everyone, for joining the Q1, Q2, FY 2025 conference call of BLS International. We look forward to talking to you again next quarter.
Thank you. On behalf of Nuvama Wealth, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line.