Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Flair Writing Industries Limited Q3 FY 2026 earnings conference call. As a reminder, all participants' 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 Miss Darshi Jain. Thank you, and over to you.
Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Flair Writing Industries Q3 and 9M FY 2026 earnings conference call. Today on the call, we have Mr. Vimalchand Rathod, Managing Director, Mr. Mohit Rathod, Whole-Time Director, Mr. Sumit Rathod, Whole-Time Director, and Mr. Alpesh Porwal, the Chief Financial Officer. A short disclaimer before we start this call: this call will contain some forward-looking statements which may be based upon our beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the company as of today. These statements are not a guarantee of future performance and will involve unforeseen risks and uncertainties. With that, I would now like to hand over the conference call to Mr. Vimalchand Rathod, the Managing Director, for his opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Good morning and welcome, everyone. Thank you for joining our Q3, 9M FY 2026 earnings call. I hope everyone had the opportunity to go through our investor presentation and press release that has been uploaded on the exchange. We are delighted to present a strong Q3 FY 2026 performance, highlighted by a robust 20.1% year-on-year revenue growth, a 25.7% increase in EBITDA, and a 13.2% increase in PAT. We are forming solid momentum and resilience of our business. Our performance in 9M FY 2026 has been particularly encouraging and with a strong 18.6% increase in revenue year-on-year. Our revenue growth has consistently surpassed our stated guidance of delivering a 15% CAGR, reflecting a sustained momentum across our business and the strength of our underlying growth drivers. Hence, we are confident in surpassing our guidance of 15% for FY 2026.
We are also honored with the Excellence Award 2025 at the PLEXCONCIL Platinum Jubilee celebration, further reinforcing our leadership as a key exporter of writing instruments and stationery from India for over four decades. In line with our strong performance and positive outlook, the Board of Directors has approved an interim dividend of INR 0.50 per share, representing 10% of face value of our equity shares. Going forward, our focus will continue to be on driving innovations, supported by scalable and sustainable operations and a strong brand foundation, enabling us to deliver long-term growth and maintain industry leadership in the years to come. I now hand over the call to Mr. Alpesh Porwal, our CFO, to discuss in detail about our Q3 FY 2026 and 9M FY 2026 financial performance. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Rathod. Let's review the consolidated financial performance for Q3 FY 2026. Revenue from operations for Q3 FY 2026 stood at INR 317.7 crores, an increase of 20.1% year-on-year. The gross profit for the quarter was at INR 161.7 crores, which increased by 17.9% over the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Gross profit margin came in at 50.9%, a decrease of 95 basis points year-on-year. While it is closer to the historical range, it decreased mainly due to a change of product mix. EBITDA for the quarter was at INR 56.9 crores, registering a growth of 25.7% year-on-year. EBITDA margin stood at 17.9%, an increase of 80 basis points year-on-year. As we see the operating leverage kicking in, the incremental growth in translating more directly into EBITDA reinforcing our confidence in the various business transformation initiatives we undertake, from increasing automation to deepening distribution relations for our wide range of innovative products.
Profit after tax for the quarter was at INR 33.1 crores, increasing by 13.2% on a year-on-year basis. PAT margins for the quarter were 10.4%. The PAT grew at a slower pace than EBITDA, primarily because Q3 FY 2025 had a higher other income. In Q3 FY 2025, interest from bank FD, sorry, in Q3 FY 2025, there was an additional income of 3.2 crores due to profit on sale of fixed assets and investments. And also, there was a higher interest on the FD amount. Now, the FD amount was on account of use of IPO proceeds for CapEx and expansion activities. Our pens business grew by 7.3% year-on-year in Q3 FY 2026 and overall by 4.7% in 9M FY 2026. Our pens business continues to maintain its leadership in India and has been a consistent and reliable compounder driven by own brand sales.
Our performance was further driven by the remarkable growth trajectory of our Creative and steel bottle and houseware businesses. These segments collectively delivered an impressive 78.5% growth year-on-year. The Creative division grew 71.8% year-on-year to INR 211 crore in 9M FY 2026, while the steel bottles and houseware segment rose to 102.2% year-on-year to INR 64 crore. For Q3 FY 2026, the growth of both these segments stood at 68.7% and 116.2%, respectively. Over time, we also do anticipate our revenue mix to shift, with Creatives and steel bottles contributing a progressively larger share to the overall portfolio. Across these categories, our efforts to introduce novel additions and grow the lineup of portfolio have enhanced our shelf visibility, fueling the robust growth. During the quarter, we expanded our portfolio by introducing 28 new products across all range and categories. As on December 31, 2025, we have a total of 240 product offerings and Creatives.
Overall, for the quarter, our total own brand sales grew by 23.3% year-on-year to INR 286 crores, of which the domestic own brand sales grew by 22.5%, and export own brands grew by 29.9%. This quarter's strong performance in the export sales was also supported by growth in OEM exports by 22.4%, bringing the overall export growth to a healthy 26.5%. During the first nine months of FY 2026, we delivered strong growth with revenue of INR 927.2 crores, registering an increase of 18.6% year-on-year, an EBITDA of INR 166.8 crores, showing a 20.9% increase year-on-year, and PAT of INR 104.8 crores, showing an increase of 18.8% year-on-year. This growth came from both domestic and export markets. Domestic own brand sales stood at INR 752.79 crores, reflecting a 21.3% year-on-year growth, while export own brand sales reached INR 88.38 crores, registering an impressive 28.8% growth.
Together, own brand revenues totaled INR 841.18 crores, marking a 22% increase over the previous year. Export OEM sales contributed INR 67.37 crores, with a 22.6% growth. Overall, domestic sales amounted to INR 771.4 crores, up 17.2%, and export sales stood at INR 155.75 crores, up 26.1%. With respect to the domestic OEM business, our earlier OEM relationships have reduced to zero, as indicated in the previous calls. Despite this, we have exceeded our stated growth targets, even though performance was moderated by domestic OEM segment, as highlighted earlier. We are also pleased to report that new customer engagements through our Flomaxe Stationery have added a fresh revenue stream of INR 6 crores under domestic OEM. On CapEx and expansion initiatives, the new Valsad facility is slated to become partially operational in Q4, which will further strengthen our manufacturing capacity in writing instruments and stationery.
At our Flomaxe Surat facility, the total CapEx as of 9M FY 2026 stands at INR 9.6 crores, primarily directed towards plant and machinery, and the subsidiary continues to contribute positively to the Creative segment. In addition, we have invested INR 8.28 crores in the second new building currently under construction, which is expected to be completed by Q1 FY 2027. On the qualitative front for the results, as highlighted by our MD Sir, the overall revenue growth as of 9M FY 2026 has consistently outperformed our stated guidance of 15% CAGR, backed by sustainable and scalable growth delivered by our two diversified business segments, that is, the Creative segment and steel bottles and houseware segment. We have high growth visibility over the next two years, and thus are confident in delivering a higher growth trajectory than our current guidance in the coming two years.
While we still have levers to outperform the stated growth, currently, we would like to exercise prudence but remain open to adjusting our guidance based on our outlook. To ensure that the exceptional growth trajectory in our Creative segment continues well into the future, we are executing a set of strategic initiatives designed to strengthen our foundation and expand our opportunities. Our in-house manufacturing share has risen to 75%, enhancing operating efficiency, quality control, and scalability. We are preparing a series of new product launches that will broaden our portfolio and keep us aligned with evolving customer preferences. Strategic collaborations are also central to our momentum. Our licensing partnership with Disney continues to bring character-based products to market, deepening engagement with younger audiences, while our distribution alliance with Maped France positions us to deliver premium Creative products to domestic and global customers.
In addition, the Flomaxe Stationery JV is expected to commence manufacturing of wooden pencils and also significantly boost capacity and sharpen our focus on polymer pencils, erasers, sharpeners, and allied categories. Together, these initiatives are not only driving current performance but are carefully designed to sustain and accelerate growth in the C reative segment, ensuring that we continue to outperform guidance and deliver long-term value for our shareholders. In steel bottles and houseware segment, we are driving growth through design innovations with in-house lacquering and coloring, a strong General Trade distribution network supported by Modern Trade, Quick Commerce, and e-commerce with a dedicated distribution team, and expanding our portfolio to 50 plus SKUs with continuous new launches to meet all season demands.
Having operationalized the Flomaxe JV in this year and Maped partnership starting to contribute to revenue, we are also exploring opportunities for inorganic acquisition in the fast-growing segments of our business. Looking back on the quarter, we take pride in the solid results achieved and extend our appreciation to our stakeholders for their continued support. With this momentum, we are focused on sustaining progress and driving the next phase of growth. Now, I open the floor for a question-and-answer session.
Thank you. So now we get the question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handset while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles.
The first question comes from the line of Kapil from Carnelian Asset Management . Please go ahead.
Thank you. And first of all, congratulations on a great set of numbers. My first question is, can you give highlights about what would be the primary and secondary sales in the Creative and steel bottle segment?
Yeah. So when we talk about the primary sales in Creative, Q3 we did about INR 77 crores and in nine months in 2026, which is INR 210 crores. That is off
Creative, which is 72% up than last year. And when we talk about the household category and steel bottle category, Q3 number is at INR 25 crores. The primary number is at INR 25 crores in Q3, and nine months number is at INR 64 crores, which is 102% up than what we did last year.
So sir, can we indicate how much the secondary sales would have happened out of this?
So more or less, if you say when we talk about the secondary sales, it's at par with the primary sales because the distributors or the superstockers would keep stock of maximum 45-60 days. They would not invest in a company more than that. So the secondary sales is also at par with the primary numbers.
Sure. My next question is on the Creative segment. Within this segment, which product would be doing the maximum?
In Creative segment, there are almost 18 categories, and most of the products are doing very well.
Okay.
Sorry.
Sorry to interrupt. There is a lot of background disturbance from your end.
Now it's fine?
Okay. You can proceed.
Okay.
So when you talk about the Creative, see, sharing the data would be a little sensitive because of the competition. But at the same time, we can say in Creative, over the years, we have launched 18 categories of products where all the new product launches that are standing out in the market are all to do with the innovative, small, small innovative designs and the packaging what we have initiated. So that's the and the result is the combination of the products and as well as the placement what we are doing in the stores. We are increasing the throughput in each and every outlet, and we are making sure that all the innovative products, whatever we have launched in the last 1.5 years, are placed at the retail level.
Got it. Got it. Got it.
And how much would have been the volume growth in Creative segment for us this quarter?
See, in terms of volume, it is very difficult because Creative products does not go in terms of volume. But yes, just to answer that question in terms of volume in Creative, the volume growth is as big as 141% if you take volume. And because see, in terms of volume, a set of crayons has 12 colors, 24 colors, a set of coloring range in terms of sketch pen they have 12 and 24. So it's very difficult to calculate volume. But yes, for your number, it's about 141% growth.
Got it. Got it. And I guess similar would have been in previous quarter also?
Yeah. In previous quarter also it's similar.
Okay. And within the pen segment, if you can give a breakup of the realization growth and volume growth?
So when we talk about the pen as a category, overall in Q3 we have grown by 7%. In overall nine months, we have grown by 5%. When we talk about the volume, it is about 6% in Q3 and 3% volume in nine months. To give you some more insight, if we talk about our own brand, the volume has increased by 18% of our own brand in three months. When we talk about nine months, the volume of our own brand sales has gone up by 11%.
Good. Good. Thank you for answering all the questions. All the best to you. Thank you.
Thank you.
The next question comes from the line of Aradhana Jain from B&K Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Congratulations to the team on the good set of numbers. Couple of questions from my side.
First, maybe I'll start with the pen segment. So pen witnessed good growth compared to the last couple of quarters that we've seen. However, if you see on a 9-month basis, it's still below our guided number of high single digits. So what is the plan around that for the full year? Where do we see this number? And for, say, FY 2027, what would be our guidance on the pen side? That's my first question.
So Aradhana, just to answer your question on pen, as we mentioned, overall we have grown by 5%, guided by a strong Q3 numbers of 7%. Going forward in Q4 also, we are expecting a similar trend because of the run rate and the momentum going our way in this category.
We have always maintained that going forward also in 2027, 2028, we would be targeting high single-digit number in that because we feel there is a lot of scope in this category going forward.
In our pen segment, I believe Hauser XO is our best-selling product. Is that right?
Yeah. Yeah.
So would it be possible for you to share that in terms of in the pen segment, which is like 60%, 68% of our overall revenue, how much would Hauser XO be contributing in the pen side?
See, Aradhana, we would not like to share the number on a call, but if you want anything in person, we can give you that. But because keeping competition in mind, it's very difficult to answer this question. But yes, just to answer that, XO does not contribute a major number in the overall pen category.
Understood.
In terms of average realization of pen, have you seen any improvement there vis-à-vis say last year for the pen?
It's stable. It's stable at INR 5.4 per piece.
Okay. And in the export side of things, which are the key geographies for us for pens currently? And are we seeing any impact of US tariffs on us? And from EU FTA perspective, do we see any benefit to flow to us from that perspective on the export side of things?
As far as exports are concerned, we have been doing very good in US, UAE, Switzerland, Japan, Colombia, the South American market. So all these countries have been growing. And to answer your question on the US tariffs, US tariffs, see, we were never dependent on US as an export. Overall, if you look at it, it was only 3% of our total top line.
But it has not impacted us in any way, U.S. tariffs. And when we talk about EU tariff declaration, see, we are already exporting to European countries. And with the new trade deal, we will definitely gain more momentum in our entire range of products to European nations and increase our exports in the near future.
Understood. And in the pen side, have we seen any market share gain in the last, say, 6-9 months period versus what we were at a year back? And what would be our current market share in the pen segment?
Definitely, we have gained our market share in pen because if you look at the overall our growth in our own brands, which I consider as a major business in pen, overall growth is almost 18% volume share we have gained in our own brands, which is very high compared to the competition.
So we are not losing or we are not giving it up to any of the competition, which is coming up. We are fighting in each and every category.
Understood. Just on Creatives, a couple of questions. One, I wanted to understand, we are currently 75% in-house manufacturing, right? So what's the plan going ahead for, say, the next one year? Are we planning to increase that manufacturing capacity further? And how much is the capacity utilization there? And are we seeing any improvement in our margins coming directly because of the in-house manufacturing that we've shifted to?
With the new facility coming in, we'll definitely increase our capacity in Creative. Currently, which is 75%, we tend to bring it to 80%+ in coming quarters.
When we talk about the profitability margins improving, I would say we would be stable at the EBITDA level which we are going currently.
Okay. And from Flomax perspective, if I heard it correct, we've already done close to INR 10 crore of CapEx. How much more CapEx are we planning to do there? And what's the kind of revenue potential that we are expecting from the Flomax facility? And by when can we expect those numbers to start flowing in on our Creative number?
To answer your question, Aradhana, Flomax is already contributing to the revenue of Creative out here. We started manufacturing in this financial year. So far, you're right. We have done this investment of more than INR 9 crore in plant and machinery in this year.
In the pipeline is the new facility which we are coming up with, the additional unit which we want to bring up in at Surat. We expect an additional INR 8.5 crore of additional capitalization in terms of building and plant and machinery.
Okay. In Creatives, have you started exporting, or it's all domestic that we are currently doing?
Export also we have started, but it's very small compared to what we are doing in domestic. It's too early. We are still catering to the domestic demand.
Understood. Just last question from my end on the steel bottle side. So fair to assume that whatever sales we are currently doing in the steel bottles is coming from stainless steel bottles, or there's also some bit which started coming from the vacuum insulated tumblers, which are fairly new compared to the stainless steel bottles?
Which are the major channels where we are selling these? From price point perspective, are we competitive to the other leaders in the market, or we are priced lower or premium to them?
To answer this question, I would say when you talk about the vacuum steel tumblers, it's included in steel bottles only. It is a part of it. We have been always manufacturing from day one steel tumblers and steel flasks, all other part of steel as a category, steel bottle as a category. Other than that, when we talk about the contribution, I would say the overall sales has been contributed mainly by all three divisions, which is General Trade, Modern Trade, and e-com.
In terms of capacity utilization, where are we in the steel bottle side?
And do we plan to also expand in the capacity utilization, capacities in the steel bottles going ahead in the next one year? Any plans on that?
Yeah. So going forward, as we progress more and increase the sales and have a more penetration into the domestic market, we definitely look into adding more facility and also maybe increase the category in this particular segment.
Understood. I'll maybe join back with you for any follow-ups. Thank you so much and all the best.
The next question comes from the line of Sneha Talreja from Nuvama Wealth Management Limited. Please go ahead.
Hi, good afternoon to you, and congratulations on great set of numbers and thanks for the opportunity. I'll be quick with just two questions from my end. Firstly, there have been five consecutive quarters that you have exceeded volumes now, which is over 15% volume growth.
Now, the ask rate is just about 6%. You have already mentioned on the call that you will be delivering 15%+ for the next two years. But is there any specific guidance that you would want to give us for this year as a whole as well as next year?
So I think for future guidance, of course, with the current momentum that we are going, we are quite sure that we'll outperform our current guidance of 15%. And in the near future, also with the new Valsad facility also coming fully commissioning in Q1 of next year, I think we are confident that the momentum should continue and we will definitely outperform our 15% guidance.
So with three numbers there?
No, I think I would just stick to the momentum that we are going on.
As you have seen in the recent parts, I think in the near future, we will try to continue that.
Sure. And it's been two consecutive quarters. We've seen a great run-up in your exports own brand business. Would you highlight what are the differentiated changes that you're doing here? Is it addition of new customers that you're doing, or is it certain specific geography that you've started hitting which is working well? Or is it anything to do with the China rebate coming down wherein we are replacing China in any particular geography?
No, I would say it is, as we discussed earlier also, it is to do with the kind of products which we have launched in a year and a half. These products are gaining momentum not only in India but even in the exports market.
As I mentioned earlier, regarding the export sales, we are doing extremely well in the South American market, the Middle East market, with a stable American business and European business.
Noted. Just one or two bookkeeping questions from Alpesh, sir. What would be the sustainable level of other income? We've seen a significant drop. I know you mentioned the reasons in the opening remarks, but what could be the sustainable number here? And also, what would be your working cap today standing at this point of time? And in case you can give receivables numbers also separately.
All right. Yeah. You heard me right that the PAT if I compare the PAT from Q2 to Q3, there was just one-off items which we saw in Q2 and hence the difference out here.
The other income we don't—I mean, it's just income from my foreign exchange fluctuation and the interest on FD. I expect it to continue in the range of INR 3 crore-INR 4 crore per quarter, not more than that. As far as working capital is concerned, we say the working capital in the third quarter normally is on a rise due to a higher stocking of goods which we have seen, especially from whatever we import from China because of the Chinese New Year holidays. We stock those items in advance. Q4 is the strongest for us, and where we see the momentum on all fronts, right, from the sales point of view to also getting into the consumption or the margins perspective because of the product mix and the larger volume of sales. We expect the working capital cycle to reduce there.
And as I have stated in the earlier calls also, the working capital cycle will bring it down by 10 days at least by end of this year.
Understood. Thanks. Thanks a lot, team, and all the very best.
Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants that you may press star and one to ask questions. The next question comes from the line of Resha Mehta from Green Edge Wealth. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Many congratulations to the team for a very solid set of numbers, especially given the high base. So the first question is basically on the Creatives. So on the export side, right? So you did mention that there is negligible exports on the Creative side, but if you could highlight, are we exporting anything on the bottle side?
So that is also very negligible. Only INR 2 crores we have exported.
But yes, in near future, we will focus on export market as well. We are developing a few products for them. So is it just product development that is holding us back from starting exports in these two new segments? I think we are still focusing on domestic markets and developing products which caters to domestic market initially. And then in the meanwhile, in coming quarters, we will be focusing on export market as well.
Right. And on the bottle side, right, so suddenly our quarterly run rate, which used to be at around INR 12 crore, has gone up to around INR 25 crore since the last two quarters, Q2 and Q3. So anything specific there? Because of the anticipation of BIS, a lot of other competition, they had preloaded inventory imports from China, right? And for a lot of our peers, that inventory probably has gotten extinguished.
So is that one of the reasons why we are seeing a pickup in our bottles quarterly run rate?
Mainly to do with the new product development, which was due to be launched in Q2 and Q3. We did that, and the traction was good in those new developed products. That is the main reason why we have been able to because earlier we had very few products to cater in domestic market, but now we have developed the entire range. It's an ongoing process which will do it for next few quarters.
Now, since the non-BIS inventory would have probably been exhausted from the system post the festive, would you now say that you all are on an equal footing versus your peers on the bottle side as far as the trade channel acceptability is concerned, or are we still focused on modern trade, e-com as the primary channels for bottles?
See, yes, but it will take more time for us to be in the category of our competition. Our base is very small compared to what they are doing. So I think another couple of years, and then it will be fair for everybody to compare us with the competition.
Right, right, right. And one thing on the pen side, right?
I'm sorry to harp on this again, but 5% revenue growth when we look at it from a nine-month perspective, you did call out that your own brand revenue growth has been higher, right? But when do we see that overall the OEM business also kind of picking up? Because especially if we see the OEM numbers, they have started looking better. And I believe you also completely shut down the business to that one OEM customer who was, in any case, paring down their revenues, right? So in that situation, then when do we see that own brand growth kind of starts reflecting in the overall pen's growth that we deliver?
Yeah. I think in pen as a category, there are so many different verticals we are catering to.
So it's an ongoing process where one category would do well in a couple of quarters, and there would be another category doing just struggling. But I would say overall, if you look at the numbers, if you look at the overall volume growth, we are nowhere losing the market share or giving it up to the competition. Even at the high base where we are, we have been growing at 18% in our own brands in terms of volume. So I would say the OEM used to be a significant part of our top line, but going forward, we are focusing more and more on our own branded sales because OEM business is totally dependent on them, and quarter-on-quarter, they keep on changing their forecast. So we would rather focus on our own brands.
So the OEM business, in any case, so the problematic OEM customer, anyway, for the revenue recorded in this quarter would be 0, right, from them?
In domestic, yes.
Yeah, so this is for the domestic. But in exports, it's still continuing, right?
Yeah, yeah. Export is continuing and it's growing also. So our overall OEM export has grown by 24% in 9 months.
But then do we see this converging somewhere? Our own brands have been doing very well, but the overall pen's category growth, and that was my primary question, that when do we see this kind of converging or at least coming close to the own brand revenue growth number?
So overall, whatever growth we are showing is our own brand growth only. Our own branded sales in pen as a category has gone up by 12%, which is reasonably better than what the competition is showing.
But I would say 12% in our own brand shows the kind of strength what we have in our brands as well as our distribution capabilities. So I would say going forward, this should stabilize, keeping in mind the OEM ups and downs in the business. That's the reason we are always focusing on high single-digit growth.
So just to clarify, nine-month pen revenue growth is 5%. What is the nine-month own brand pen revenue growth? That is the number 12% or 12% is Q3?
12% is a Q3 number. 9% is our own brand sales for nine months.
Okay. And volume growth for nine months?
Volume growth for nine months is 11%, our own brand.
Understood. So okay, so the gap is like 4%.
Resha, sorry to interrupt. You may rejoin the queue.
I'm back. I'm back. Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you.
The next question comes from the line of [Manpreet Arora] from Aurora Wealth Advisors. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. Am I audible?
Yes, you are audible to us.
Yeah. Great. Thank you. So sir, first question is on the Creative side, one on the market in general and then our strategy in particular. So we have subcategories inside Creative like mechanical pencils, markers, drawing instruments, etc. Now, if you can help us understand out of these subcategories, which are the biggest categories? And is our strategy like are we focusing on a few of these big subcategories or we are creating a large basket to be available at all points in these subcategories? And then I will follow up question on the strategy as well.
Yeah.
So basically, we are focusing on three main categories, which is to do with the scholastic range, office supply range, and the gifting kit range. So these three are the broader categories where we are focusing, and our main growth has also come in this as a category. Going forward, we would be in coming future, a few quarters later, we would be focusing on coloring range as well.
All right. Thank you. And sir, in the past, we have mentioned that we just started by rolling out into 68,000 outlets, and then we are monitoring how it goes, and then we will roll out to a bigger so what are those KPIs that we are monitoring here before we decide to expand into the channel? So what are those key things that we are monitoring here?
So the key number, what you're monitoring here is the value per outlet.
Number 2 is the number of products or the SKUs which goes in each and every outlet. So these are the 2 main numbers we are focusing on unless we have the basic targets we achieve there, and then we would like to expand.
All right. Thank you. And sir, earlier in the call, you mentioned that for the Flomaxe, we have one six-crore contract with an OEM. Did I hear that right?
So we have done overall six-crore business in Flomaxe in OEM.
I see. So sir, what is the strategy there? I mean, we are doing our own brand as well as OEM on the Flomaxe side?
So Flomaxe was formed in a way to help us grow in our Creative scholastic range. And at the same time, earlier also, they were doing few OEM business. So they are continuing with that.
Okay. Thank you.
Sir, my second question is on the working capital side. Now, in the past, you've mentioned that especially our inventory days will be higher because we are launching a lot of new products, and we want to keep inventory, at least in the stage when we are right now growing in the Creative segment. If we look at our receivable days and payables also, sir, over the last three years, our receivable days have also increased every year the last three years, and our payables have come down over the last three years. If we compare it with our listed peers in a similar space, especially on the receivable days, we are way above them. Any color on is there a difference in our business model or the channel strategy on why these numbers have increased over the last three years?
I'm not talking about inventory because that's how I understand, but more on the receivable, why the days have increased and why the payables have come down, and also how our current strategy is is our current strategy responsible for this or anything that has changed in the business environment which help us?
Hi, Manpreet. So what you see as working capital cycle out here, it's a conscious decision. It's not something that is not under our control. Traditionally, we have been giving higher credit, and we have always seen if you would see the past balance sheets also, you will see a higher number of days against debtors derived from operations. This is because of the mass and premium product range which we deal in.
And like I reiterate that we have been kind of looking into our numbers, and as we launch new segments and new products where we see the opportunity to kind of reduce the receivables, we will go for it. But by the end of this year, we look at at least a 10-day improvement in the entire working capital cycle. As far as inventory is concerned, you are right because as we launch new products, and there's a range of products, a lot of products which we are launching in different segments, including Creative and steel bottles, pens we are aware of because we have been in the industry for more than five decades, and we are so much kind of we know of how the new, say, for example, a new product is being launched and how it will be accepted or not accepted.
In Creative and steel bottle, they are fairly new in terms of the new product launches where we also have a newer relationship with our distribution channel and our sales partners. And hence, we have to maintain a little higher inventory over here. However, this is a continuous process, but not to say that we are not going to come down on the inventory levels as well as the receivables levels.
So sir, as we scale up, let's say next year when Creatives become a little more mature as a part of our portfolio and we get more insights into the market and how we are doing, will you see some of these things coming down and gradually improving over the next two years?
We see that thing also, but Manpreet, there's one point which we need to see is that we need to notice that we have maintained our margins and profitability in spite of these higher things. Now, this is a strategy which we adopt, which might be different from what the competition adopts. So if you were to compare the bottom lines or EBITDAs of our competitors and the kind of number of days of working capital cycle, it will be quite varied out here.
But yes, it's not. It's also impact for return on capital impact. Yeah.
Mr. Manpreet, you may rejoin the queue for the follow-up questions.
Sure. Thank you .
The next question comes from the line of Nirmam Mehta from Unique Asset Management. Please go ahead. Please go ahead with your question. As there is no response, we'll move ahead. We have Aradhana. We have Aradhana.
B&K Securities , please proceed with your questions.
Hi. Thank you for the follow-up. Couple of questions. One, I wanted to know in terms of guidance for the FY 2027. Is it fair to assume that in pen we will maintain our guidance of high single digit or is there any change there? And in terms of Creative and steel bottles, we still expect like a 40%-50% ROI growth in FY 2027. And in terms of EBITDA margins, fair to assume from the current 18% levels to improve slightly there given that now we'll be further increasing our in-house manufacturing capacity in the Creatives and given that the raw materials are also not, I would say, benign. So do we expect the EBITDA margins also to improve from the current levels? So yeah, that's my first question on the guidance side. How do we see FY 2027?
So Aradhana, the EBITDA margin will gradually go up as economies of scale kick in and once new units are fully operationalized. Plus, this is going to be a continuous process, and we would like to maintain the we would be maintaining the momentum as we see today. And on the working capital side, fair to assume that the inflated working capital will still continue. There won't be like we'd earlier guided that we'll try to reduce our working capital cycle by, say, 7, 8 days per year. We don't stand by that, right? We do stand by this strategy. Absolutely, Aradhana, you're right out here. We are aware of, and it's a conscious decision to, and it's a strategy again. It's a strategy specific to us that we have adopted of higher credit period and things.
Inventory on the other side is because of the large number of products which we have been launching in an entire universe of our product range. So we see the inventory levels and the receivables coming down, and the multiple manufacturing facilities also add to the inventory, just to add to that. But yes, 10 days is what we stick to it, and we shall achieve that by the end of the y ear.
Understood. And lastly, on the CapEx, so this year we'll be doing around INR 80 crore-INR 90 crore of CapEx. We are already through with around INR 60 crore-INR 65 crore. For next year, what is the plan? The Valsad facility is expected to come online by, say, fourth quarter. Suppose that are we still planning to keep doing this kind of CapEx, or it will be more like a maintenance CapEx going ahead for some time be?
So with the commissioning of the Valsad unit, our IPO proceeds commitment would be over by then, and then we'll look towards only the maintenance CapEx and the investment in the molds for launching new products. So there won't be any major manufacturing facility being added until these are fully utilized.
Understood. This was really helpful. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Reshya Mehta from GreenEdge Wealth. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the follow-up. So just on the pen's part, right, so value growth has been 9% while volume growth has been 11%. And when I look at this in conjunction with that, the realizations have been stable at around INR 5. Perhaps the premiumization in our pen's portfolio is not happening. Would that be the right conclusion?
So more or less, if you look at the numbers, see, when we talk about premiumization, of course, we have a big share of premium product range and mid-premium product range. But yes, the volumes in mass category is increasing at a rapid speed, which when we look at the overall numbers, it looks at the overall realization is same.
And this has happened since the last two years, right, that the mass segment has again made a comeback?
Yeah.
Right. Right. Right. And just lastly, on the, what's the timeline to pare down the promoter stake to 75%?
Well, we have, by the guidelines, we have time till November end of this financial year or this calendar year.
Got it. All right. Thank you so much and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Nilesh from Prospero Wealth Private Limited.
Please go ahead.
Hello. Am I audible, sir?
Yes, sir. You are audible to us.
Good morning, Moderator. Sir, my question is related to ROE, return on equity. See, the company is generating around 11%-12% of ROE. So what is the expected ROE company is likely to generate in coming years? Because now the Flair is not only a pen producing company, but a multi-product company, and particularly the Creative segment and steel bottle segment is the higher growth area, higher growth segment, and generating the higher GP margin. So what the investor can expect the ROE company will generate in a coming future?
So we maintain our PAT margins and improve gradually. In the coming period, where we see the ROE is slated to kind of increase as we move forward, as our products also stabilize and our segments are fully explored, you will absolutely see a higher ROE.
It will improve.
Currently, it is around 12% or 11%-12%. One of the, we can say, the competitor in the listed frame is generating the 20%-22% of ROE. Now we have added the high growth, high margin business, the Creative segment, and we may reach to INR 300 crore of top line in the current year, current financial year. Can we expect around the 15% of ROE to be generated in the next financial year?
Mr.
Nilesh, I would not say give a number out here, but surely, as you see what we have you see over here, the new segments of Creative and steel bottles in the last three quarters of the performance, and you said it right, and I would appreciate that you noted that, that these are actually going to contribute in a large way in our bottom line and ROE, in fact. So once the economies of scale kicks in, we would see the ROE numbers going up, all the bottom line going up.
So in other words, can we expect that the capacity will be utilized once the expansion is over, which will generate the higher revenue as well as the higher profit, and thereby our ROE can be improved?
Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, sir. All the best.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to management for closing remarks.
We would like to thank you all for taking our time for this call. For any further queries and questions, you can reach out to our MUFG Intime, our IR advisors. Thank you.
On behalf of MUFG Intime Private Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and now you may disconnect your lines.