Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the LT Foods Q4 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 this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this call is being recorded. I now hand the conference call over to Mr. Meet Jain from Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Thank you, and over to you.
Thank you, Steve. Good afternoon. Thank you, everyone, and a very warm welcome to LT Foods Q4 FY 2026 post-results earnings call hosted by Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited. On the call today, we have the management team being represented by Mr. Ashwani Kumar Arora, MD & CEO, Mr. Sachin Gupta, CFO, Ms. Monika Chawla Jaggia, Chief Corporate Development Officer. We will begin the call with a few thoughts from the management team. Thereafter, we will open the floor for Q&A session. I would now like to request the management to share your perspective on the performance of the company this quarter. Thank you, and over to you, ma'am.
Thank you, Meet, for the introduction. Along with other team members, we have Mr. Ritesh Arora today also on the call. He's the CEO for the India and Far East business. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. On behalf of the management team, I welcome all our investors and valued shareholders to discuss the performance of LT Foods Limited for the fourth quarter and full year ended March 31, 2026. Please note that any statement made or discussed during this call, which reflects our outlook for the future or which could be construed as a forward-looking statement, must be reviewed in conjunction with the risk that the company faces. A detailed disclaimer in this regard has been included in the investor presentation that has been shared on both stock exchanges, that is NSE and BSE.
The result documents are available on our company's website as well as stock exchanges. A transcript of this call will also be made available on the investor section of the company's website. Financial year 2026 has been a year of strong execution, resilient growth, and continued transformation into a global branded FMCG company. Despite the dynamic external environment, we have delivered solid financial performance while continuing to invest aggressively in the brand, innovation and global expansion. I'll just cover industry tailwinds and headwinds in the financial year 2026. Before I drill into our performance in detail, let me briefly touch upon the broader industry context. The global rice and the speciality food industry continues to benefit from structural tailwinds. The Indian FMCG market is expected to grow at 11% CAGR, driven by increasing consumption and improving retail penetration.
The global basmati and specialty rice market is witnessing steady growth of 7%-12% across geographies. We see rising premiumization trends along with increasing global demand for the ethnic cuisine, especially in North America and Europe. We have experienced expansion of South Asian diaspora, which is driving sustained international demand. In addition, consumer preferences are evolving towards health and organic products, convenience-led food categories such as ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook, traceability, sustainability and premium branding. These macro tailwinds strongly align with LT Foods' long-term strategy, but there were a few headwinds as well, such as geopolitical issues, U.S. tariff, increased freight, and increased input costs. Now I'll cover the financial performance of the company. Coming to our financial performance, the revenue including other income grew to INR 11,023 crore, which is up by 26% on year-on-year basis.
Gross profit increased to INR 3,692 crore, the normalized gross profits around 35.3%, excluding U.S. tariff and change in the shipment term. EBITDA rose to INR 1,236 crore. Profit after tax stood at INR 625 crore. It is important to note that the normalized revenue growth was 19% and EBITDA margin moderated to 11.8%, excluding U.S. tariff, reflecting higher brand investments and strategic spending. We continue to strengthen our financial discipline with our working capital days improved to 176 days versus 196 days last year. Net debt remains controlled with net debt EBITDA at 0.66 and net debt equity at 0.16 in financial year 2026. For the fourth quarter, the revenue grew to INR 2,938 crore.
EBITDA stood at INR 300 crore. PAT was around INR 136 crore. The reported margins for FY 2026 and Q4 2026 have been affected because of the U.S. tariff pass-through, brand and marketing investment, LT Foods UK being an investment phase and organic segment under remodeling. Our core business. I'll cover the segment and geography performance. Our core business continues to perform strongly, with basmati and the speciality rice contributed 88% of the revenue, delivered a 29% revenue growth in FY 2026. Normalized growth 21%, excluding the U.S. tariff, with revenue in tune of INR 9,742 crore, reflecting the enduring strength of our strong brand equity and deeply trusted consumer place in our products across the world. The segment maintained a healthy EBITDA margin of 12.3%.
We observed strong growth across India, North America and Europe. We continued and gained our leadership position as number one brand, basmati brand in North America with a strong share in the U.S. imports and Canada market. Our organic foods and ingredients segment grew by 9% and crossed INR 1,016 crore in the revenue in FY 2026. Building on over 30 years of pioneering Indian organic exports with over 110,000 hectares of certified organic farmland, 80,000 farming family association, and a global partner base spanning 25 countries, this business represents both a significant commercial opportunity and a profound expression of our commitment to responsible sourcing. We're glad to share that we hold 12% share in India's export of organic food.
However, this business segment is under stress, and we have strategically remodeled it for the next phase of the growth in which we have built the capacity, which will take time to get fully utilized and also entered into the CPG business. Further, the EBITDA is also currently under stress due to currency fluctuations and commodity price pressure. Our ready-to-heat and ready-to-cook segment business has grown to 0.5x over the last five years, reaching INR 187 crore in FY 2026 as consumers increasingly seek convenient and healthy meal solutions at home. Innovations like Biryani Kit, Parboiled Rice, Royal Ready-to-Heat range are resonating strongly with time-pressed, flavor-forward consumers in India and internationally. The demand momentum across key markets remains strong. However, certain growth opportunities could not be fully serviced due to capacity constraints in RTH platform.
The enhanced capacities are expected to become operational from quarter two of FY 2027. Our India business continued its strong trajectory, ending the year with 10% value and 12% volume growth, a testament to the resonance continues to build with Indian consumers. What is particularly encouraging is the quality of this growth. Our quick commerce and e-commerce channels grew in excess of 45%, firmly cementing our leadership on the key digital platforms. The premium segment grew at 2x the pace of the overall consumer portfolio, reflecting the power of the premiumization trend that is reshaping India's food space. Premiumization drove a significant increase in gross margin, which was reinvested in the further strengthening of our strong brand equity, enabling us to scale our marketing budget by 2x versus last year.
Our household reach in India rose to INR 64.4 lakhs as per the Kantar, a 22.8% expansion over the last 15 months. Our market share in India stands at 23.7% as per the Nielsen report. Besides, the new innovative offerings like DAAWAT and Organic Range, the limited edition of DAAWAT Saffron Basmati and DAAWAT Thai Green Curry Rice Kit are gaining strong traction with our consumers. Our investment in the new facility in Raichur, Karnataka further strengthens our value chain from farm to fork as we deepen our regional rice play. The North America remains our largest market, contributing 48% of our revenue mix in FY 2026 and delivering 53% growth. 9% is the normalized one, excluding the impact of the U.S. tariff.
Our flagship brand, Royal, commands over 60% market share, and Golden Star continues to be number one Jasmine rice brand in the U.S.A. Europe continued its growth journey, delivering 34% revenue growth in FY 2026 and advancing meaningfully towards our five-year target of GBP 100 million in U.K. revenue. LT Foods Europe was conferred with the New Entrant Award for its expansion to the U.K. market at the 15th Annual Department for Business and Trade's Made in the UK, Sold to the World Awards. separately, DAAWAT Extra Long Basmati Rice recognized as the product of the year. DAAWAT Extra Long Basmati Rice recognized as product of the year in the U.K., an honor driven entirely by the U.K. consumers.
We are building the foundation for a sustainably large European business, and we remain focused on brand building, distribution expansion, and portfolio diversification across the region. In the Middle East, we continue to further strengthen our position.
We would like to highlight that despite the ongoing geopolitical conflict in the Middle East, including the heightened tensions arising from the Iran situation, LT Foods has demonstrated business resilience with no material disruption to our supply chains. During the year, we expanded our presence in Saudi Arabia with INR 53 crore in revenue in FY 2026 and successfully launched Maha Basmati Rice in Saudi Arabia. Apart from this, we are witnessing some near-term pressure arising from U.S. imports tariff-related developments. While the input cost has increased, we have to see how it's going to impact us in the near future. Going ahead, premiumization, category expansion, route to market excellence will continue to be the engines of our growth in India, while brand investments, distribution expansion and innovation will drive our international performance. Our strategy going forward remains very clear and focused.
Strengthening our core business by expanding our global market share in basmati and the specialty rice and drive premiumization and pricing power. Accelerating new categories by scaling RTH, RTC and other such products. We shall remain focused on margin improvement by focusing on operational efficiencies, cost optimization, and build economies of scale. Improve mix towards premium and the branded offerings. Technology and digital transformation remain at the core of our capability building agenda. As we scale towards our next phase of the growth, we are committed to building a smarter, more agile and future-ready organization that leverages technology as a competitive advantage. We expect for the future, we expect continued double-digit growth supported by global demand and new product launches, distribution expansion. Margins are expected to gradually improve as brand investments normalize, scale benefit come through. RTH, RTC and organic segments will continue to outpace overall growth.
We would like to open the floor for question answers, please.
Thank you, ma'am. 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 withdraw 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 Abhishek Mathur with Systematix. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir. Hi, team. Thank you for the opportunity. Just wanted to check what for FY 2026, what was our volume growth in the U.S., and also for the in the U.S. geography and also for the basmati and speciality rice segment, volume growth for FY 2026. What do you think was the extent of impact on this due to the U.S. tariffs? That's my first question.
Yeah. Also, the volume in the overall basmati and the specialty segment in this year-on-year basis grew by almost 19% this year. As regarding the in the U.S. as such, the U.S. volume increased by if we include the Golden Star revenue, that also increased by 30%-35%.
Sir, what do you think was the impact on this volume growth, if any, from the U.S. tariffs?
You know, this was an opportunity for us, being, you know, the company which has on ground operations. With a better service level, we have been able to acquire a more consumer, more customer by giving them, you know, the service level. The idea was to, in this whole disruption, which was a big disruption for us, the idea was to keep the service level robust, and that has really helped us to grow our customer and consumer base. Although, you know, it has impacted on our margin because partly we have consumed and partly we have passed on. Broadly, you know, acquiring consumer, acquiring customer was a big achievement for us.
Right, sir. Secondly, you have indicated a higher stepped up investment in your U.K. business, where we have a five-year target of scaling up. Just wanted to check today, how much is U.K. salience for Europe as a percentage of revenue? Related, on the domestic side, just wanted to check what is our distribution reach now. I believe it was about 170K in December, but what is that number now?
Sachin can add into this. You know, this year, U.K. is roughly GBP 45 million revenue.
Correct, sir.
The goal is in by 2030, we will scale it to GBP 100 million.
Um, distribution-
Distribution.
India distribution. India distribution is flat at INR 172 crore. Flattish, hasn't grown much in the last quarter. We've seen a improvement in our market share compared to last year's same quarter.
All right, sir. Lastly, just a bookkeeping question, if I may. When I look at our revenue growth for FY 2026 for India and U.S., which are together about 80% of the business, it's at 10% for India and about 8%-9% for the U.S. Our FY 2026 revenue growth for the basmati rice segment, which is about 90% of the business, is at 21%, both normalized. These don't seem to be adding up. Is there something I'm missing here?
You need to There are two kind of accounting treatment that we did this year. One was, if we normalize that, one was the tariff, the custom tariff, and the second was the Golden Star. Because the last year, the Golden Star, we had a JV. This year, we have acquired that 49%. Now it is a fully wholly owned subsidiary. Both the numbers, if we tie it up, because there, in the U.S. one, we had normalized the Golden Star as well as the tariff. Whereas in the basmati segment, the tariff was there. Once you do both the things, it will tie up.
Understood, sir. Thanks. Thanks and all the best.
Thank you. The next question comes from Saurabh Beria with Sameeksha Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. First of all, congratulations for the great set of numbers. I wanted to just have guidance on the margins part. Say, going forward in FY 2027, what are the gross margins should we expect, considering the rise in the input cost and also the effect on margins?
If you talk about the gross margins, the gross margins will be more or less in the lines what we have done in the 2025, 2026, because the gross margins, this movement of CIF to C&I, that will remain in this year as well. That will be there. Yes, somewhat the tariff and other things, because now the tariff has normalized. From 50% it has gone to 10%. We expect the gross margins to be within the range of what was there in the last year.
Last when I checked, your FY 2026 gross margins remains different from FY 2025. On a absolute basis, if you can give me a number of the range, that would be more helpful.
If you look at my gross margins in 2024, 2025, it was almost 24.6%. It reduced on the 100 basis points, and this reduction in the 100 basis points was mainly because of the U.S. tariff and the movement from CA, CIF, to C&I. This margin range of 33.5% or 33% will remain in the next financial year as well.
Okay, perfect. Okay. The EBITDA margins?
EBITDA margins because this year we were The tariff was there and there were certain passing of the timing and other things were there. The tariff had an effect on my EBITDA margins. Likewise, there was the organic range, one-off, the organic inventory built up and the other the spends were there. If these things, because if there are certain kind of dynamic environment and dynamic situations that might these situations relatively are not there and things remain such, we will surely improve on the EBITDA margins by almost on that levels. We were at 12% in the previous year, we are eyeing that levels.
Perfect.
Whatever, you know, the, whatever the disruption has come, we have accounted for till time. As Sachin said, you know, we are confident that, you know, we will be in the range of 12%. You know, as we are living in a very disrupting world, so, we are confident that, we will be in this range.
Perfect. That helps. Another question lies around the growth guidance. If you can guide a number for different geography-wise and your overall Basmati segment-wise. Also market share for, say, going forward, if the Basmati industry grows by, say, 8%, what of your total geography, what percentage of market share does LT seize of the global-
That we have tried and to put all the information on the presentation. If you go through the presentation, you will find these numbers. The guidance for the growth that we maintain that the guidance for the growth, so we are eyeing at a 10%-12% of growth on the long-term basis that we are eyeing, and we remain to that growth levels. Organically, we should grow in that levels.
Okay, perfect. No, no, thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one. The next question comes from Pooja Sanghvi with InCred. Please go ahead.
Congratulations on a good set of results. I want to ask that, what is current status your inventory by age, and, how much of your inventory today is aged like 12 months or more versus the relatively fresh one?
Inventory aging also, it depends upon the different different products which we sell and all my premium products, if you talk about premium and certain other range that we have. My average inventory levels, if you talk about the average inventory is around 190 days to 200 days of inventory which we hold. There are certain premium where we age more than 18 months and two years of inventory aging that is required. There are on these on the various products we age accordingly.
Right, sir. I just wanted some clarity on how much of your volume is aging beyond two years, if you can tell me that.
Yeah. Pooja, can you know, be specific on your question? May not be we have the answer right now, but you can mail it to, you know, the investor relation.
Sure. Sure, I'll definitely do that.
We will definitely reply.
Thank you.
Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Krish Lulla, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you for the opportunity. My question is on payable days. I'm seeing from FY 2021, we had payable days at 45 days. Now it is touching almost around 100 days. I wanted to know what's the reason for it, is the 100 trade payable days now the normal payable days for the future, or is it going to reduce like it reduced to 101 in FY 2026?
These payable days of 100 days, which is there in the financial numbers, so these will remain as such. We have made certain arrangements, because our practice of buying is, 60%-70% we buy in the season and 30%-40% we buy, apart on the other seasons. The payment days in when we buy in 30%-40% in the other part of the season that defers. The, having said so, this favorable days, of 100 days will remain in the future as well.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from Amit Doshi with Care PMS. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you. Sir, within the ready-to-eat, health and convenience segment, so while of course, DAAWAT Sehat discontinuation has impacted the sales growth, but overall looking at the number, the size, our growth number, do you think it's fairly low, or what is our internal target? That's one. Second, on the same RTH and RTC segment, our gross margins are in the line of 32%-33%, which is similar to basmati and specialty rice. Considering that it's a convenient segment, you know, should it have a higher gross margin? Or if you if there's anything on that, if you can add.
Basically, RTH segment is led by our U.S. geography, which is very big in this category. The rest of like India is very small for ready-to-eat and, you know, bigger in ready-to-cook, where we are, you know, putting all our efforts, which is DAAWAT Biryani and you know. That's we are getting good response. As far as RTH is concerned, you know, our plant got delayed and that's how, you know, the growth is little disruptive. We are confident that by July the production will start. We will be back on the track of growth. As far as margins are concerned, you are right, we are in the range of 35%.
I think that too, you know, that too is basically on basis of accounting treatment because you know, the initial period, you do the more of sampling and sales promotion. There is more, more spend on that, and that needs to be netted off and you need to have the net sales. If you remove that, our overall GP margins in this segment, on the basis of what we are making the sales, it is almost 40% plus in this segment, if you remove the sales promotion and other sampling expenditure.
Oh, okay. Okay.
The filter is whichever the filter is, whichever, you know, RTH or RTC segment we should get into, the filter is it depends on the size of opportunity. It will be in the range of 30%-40%.
Okay. Okay. What's our internal, I mean, you know, growth target of this segment and, you know, when, what, when do we have a break-even target?
So as far as you know, the internal aspiration we have set for this business, RTH is very big in USA and this year, you know, we have done INR 15 million. Another plant has been set up, which is late. In the next two years we will be INR 30 million, which is INR 300 crore. On the ready-to-cook, which is India, that, you know, on the size of we are expecting by 2030, we have set up 100 and Ashwani, you add.
INR 120 crore of revenue by 2030. In India, we are already the category leaders when it comes to biryani kit. We have more than 60%-65% market share on different platforms. Over here the investments are going on for category creation. We are therefore very bullish on building this category up.
Okay. Okay. Any break-even target that you would want to add?
Sachin, can you add?
It will be in next two years. As Ashwani's told, in the whole of the category our break-even target, that remains the same. Achieving INR 400 crore in this segment will make us break even in this segment. That's our target. Yes, one year because of the capacity constraint our target has moved, but otherwise we are online with achieving that target.
Okay. Okay. Okay. Sachin, overall our inventory days are down, have we purchased less this year, as far as our inventory is concerned?
Not really. Not really. We have not reduced our inventory. Yes, as we compare with the inventory days, it has reduced by 28 days. Somewhat, it represents the tariff aspect. Because the tariff impact and the other things that were there. Overall the inventory, we have maintained that inventory levels of almost 250 days of inventory, which I'm sitting at as on March 31st.
Okay. Okay. Okay. Any general comment on El Niño and outlook of basmati rice production for the upcoming season? Anything on that, you know, paddy prices for next year? Anything, any comment on that would be helpful.
Yeah. As far as, you know, farmers economics point of view, last year the paddy price were very high. We expect that, you know, the farmers will grow more. As far as, you know, the impact of El Niño, you know, let's say, you know, we are watching. Historically, you know, basmati is mainly grown in the region where, you know, there is other way of irrigation also. In the last 40, 50 years, we have not seen any impact of the rainfall shortage on the basmati. Rather, you know, farmers prefer them to grow basmati because it consumes lesser water, and we are positive that the production of basmati will grow this year. I think we will be more clearer in one and half month.
Okay. Okay, okay. On the Middle East front, while of course Saudi has contributed around INR 50 crore revenue this year, new market. Other than that, our Middle East is not growing. Is that correct understanding?
No, that's correct, you know. You know, that's a very tough market, very strong entry barriers. We have chosen our route to market, where, you know, we should not lose money. I will say not invest money much on that. We are finding other ways of growing Middle East. Hopefully, you know, that should work.
Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, and wish you all the best.
Thank you, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Unnikrishnan with Geojit Investment Ltd.
Hi, am I audible?
Yes, sir. Certainly, yes.
Hi, sir. I would like to know about what is the revenue contribution of Golden Star specifically and their margins?
As regarding the revenue contribution, it is almost contributing my 10% of the overall revenue in this segment. Currently, we are not tracking its EBITDA margins as such because it is being merged with my financials. The margins of this year is as compared is relatively 1% or 2% lower than that of the last year.
Okay. Like in Q4, what will be the revenue of, like what, for Golden Star?
It's a very, you know, proportionately divided, so INR 25 million, which is INR 250 crore.
Okay, okay. One more question, sir. Like, what is the current situation of raw material prices?
For the coming crop?
Yeah. Yes, yes.
It's very early, because in one and a half month we will be clear, you know, what is the kind of production being forecasted and, what will be the, you know, impact on this disruption which is happening in the Middle East. I think one and a half month we will be more clear. Broadly, if you ask me, the prices will not come down much.
Okay, sir. For Q4, what was the situation?
In terms of prices?
Yes. Yes, yes.
The prices have gone up very high. You know, from the base level, if I talk about, whatever was the opening price, roughly 25%- 30% prices have gone up.
Okay. Okay. Okay, sir. Okay, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Damodaran with AccuraCap Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. Just one question from my side. On CapEx, I see that you have spent around INR 350 crore. Can you just give me a breakup of this CapEx? Yeah, that's from my side.
I mean, the CapEx spent in the last year is almost INR 350 crore. In that, in that the major CapEx that has went is basically in the lines of the U.S. We have purchased the land, and we have invested in the RTH facility, so in the U.S. That's the major CapEx that has went up where in the last year.
Land we are building, you know, big warehouse in Houston.
Okay. The INR 350 crore is entirely for that?
A major one is, it is in that. Rest is in the U.K. one, the packaging facility. Because we are in the growth phase, and we are installing that additional packaging facility in that. Rest are certainly in India. India, we have purchased certain portion of land and to build new warehouses in the Indian region. That has gone in that CapEx.
Okay. What's the outlook-
It's a mix of-
Sorry.
Mix of all territory. Major is which is such is explained on the Houston land, which is an RTH.
Sure. Got it. Thank you. What's your outlook for FY 2027 of the CapEx spend that's gonna come through?
Will be in the similar lines. We are investing to create certain more capacity in India. The land has been purchased and warehousing and some asset we are building in Europe on packaging and all this. Major is in India and U.S.
Sure. Okay. Just one question on that green acquisition which kind of fell through. Will we be relooking at it now considering the changes and circumstances?
As a strategy, we always look for opportunity which has a, you know, a strategic in nature as far as LT Foods framework is concerned. We keep on looking that kind of opportunity.
Okay. Sure. Just one question on the consumption side, specifically on U.S. Are you seeing any impact in terms of consumption at the retail level or of the war and inflation, anything like that?
As far as demand side is concerned, we have not seen any impact. Historically also because being the food, and U.S., you know, whatever the income is, that's the last thing to get impacted.
Sure. That's heartening to know. Thanks. Thanks and all the best.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question to the management, you may press star and one. The next question comes from the line of Eklavya, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hi, guys. Congratulations for the good set of numbers. My question is that in the particular top-end growth, budget top-end growth for this year in USA as well as the sales growth for this year?
Eklavya, sorry. You know, can you repeat your question, please?
I just wanted to understand the sales growth in U.S. for this year, financial year 2026, and as well as the volume growth in the U.S.
Otherwise it is stated in my investors deck, uploaded one. The U.S. in the value terms is grown by almost 53%, but that includes the tariff as well as the Golden Star in this. In the volume terms, as I stated, it is a 38% growth in the U.S. That was there in the volume. If I reduce the Golden Star, there is a growth of volume terms 8%.
Okay. There's a discrepancy in the volume and the sales growth. Does the sales growth also include the forex gains, as we have seen that the dollar appreciated a lot in the last one year? Does the sales then include that also, or the contract used to take place at the very initiation of the year? How do you take this?
No, no. Yeah. Yes, it has a U.S. dollar impact, U.S. dollar depreciating because we are reporting in the Indian Rupees, and Indian Rupees has almost appreciated last year. It has an impact in the Indian Rupees terms.
Okay. You're importing in the U.S., in the Indian Rupees, not in the U.S.?
Yes. We are reporting in the rupee terms in India. It is a different-
No, no. The contract needs to take place in the U.S., right? In the U.S. dollar, whatever you are selling the U.S.
We do a yearly transfer pricing with U.S.A. As a policy, we hedge ourself by 50%- 60%, you know, every time. There is a little bit gain, which was, you know, unhedged, and we have, you know, we have the gain in this of forex.
Okay. Just the follow-up question. If that appreciation dollar hasn't been happened that much, what could be the impact in the sales volume growth as well as the sales specifically the sales value?
Normally what happen, you know, as a strategy, international strategy, we cover the raw material also roughly 70%-80%. What we have seen, you know, if rupee depreciate, then the local cost also, you know, goes up. Inflation also cover that. More or less, you know, if you see, you know, and, if your question is around that, you know, if this rupee has not depreciated then the profit remain the same. The answer is then inflation in the commodity also have not come.
Okay. Fair enough. Thank you for answering.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Yogesh, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for giving me the opportunity. I was trying to find a mention about the freight cost, the recent impact in the last quarter. My question specifically is, by how much percentage has the price increased for the freight from Q4 FY 2025 to Q4 FY 2026? Has there been any disruptions in shipping through the conflict zone?
The, mainly the disruption, such as you can add into, Europe has been the most disrupted. The prices have gone up. In U.S. and other market, at the moment, you know, there's not much disruption in freight as compared to last year. Middle East, which is not our big business, the prices have gone by 10, 15 times.
10, 15 times.
You know, Dubai was $ 200, now $ 2,200. Jeddah was $ 700, $800, now $ 2,600. It depends, you know. There is a big disruption in the delivery also in the Middle East.
Understood, sir. Another question if I may please.
Yeah, sure.
In percentage terms, how much is the change in the realization per kilogram of our main brand, DAAWAT, in India, and then the Royal brand separately in the U.S.? I am asking this in context of pricing power.
Sir, Ritesh can tell that, you know, what is the quantitative growth and what is the value growth.
In last year, both the quantitative and the value growth is almost at par. We've seen a improvement in our product mix. Our premium, our most premium SKU saw 2x growth compared to, you know, the whole consumer pack business. From that perspective, we are working on improving our product mix, which drives better gross margins.
Okay. Thank you. That's all from my side, and my good wishes and very best luck to the company.
Thank you. A reminder to all participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question comes from the line of Anubhav Mukherjee with Prescient Capital . Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. Sorry, I was slightly late in joining the call, and this might have been discussed. Sir, can you share what is the trend of, like sizing or realization in the international markets? Like, is there a, like, price increase we are seeing for Basmati?
As far as, you know, domestic price are concerned, that has gone high from season 20%-25%. As far as international price is concerned, that the deal is all are done 80%-85% in the season only. Whatever the 10%-15% left, you know, trading is left, that has seen, you know, 15%-20% higher prices than the season price. I hope that answer your question.
Yes, sir. Very much. Sir, the domestic price, like you mentioned, has seen a significant increase, 25%. Will that be like, will that only suffice to like take the like hit from maybe higher procurement price this year, or will we be able to like improve our gross margin because of that?
Sachin, if I understood correctly, prices of paddy has gone up, that's the question?
Yes.
Okay.
The cost has gone up. There will be a further improvement in the gross margins in the coming years.
In absolute terms.
In absolute term, the gross margin will be more, yeah.
Okay. Okay. Thanks. That's all.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Yogesh, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hi everyone again. I re-queued myself to ask another question which I forgot earlier. Regarding the insurance case that was going on, in simple terms, because I'm an individual investor, I don't understand the nuances of the legal terms. In simple terms, if INR 100 was expected to be received, including the interest over the years for the Bhopal case, how much is it already on the books and how much more is expected and likely when?
Okay, I will, sir, tell you. The lower court and as well as High Court and Supreme Court has asked insurance company to give us money against bank guarantee. That we have got, we have given the bank guarantee. In accounting, you know, no accounting has been done. Whatever the gain is, you know, like our books, INR 136 is outstanding with the insurance company. We have got INR 250. We can't do the accounting till, you know, the final verdict will happen, which is in the June. I hope that you understand, sir.
Yes, sir.
Huh?
It greatly does answer my question. You mean to say that, sir, is the amount in an escrow account?
It is, we in fact, not in an escrow account. We have that money. It is the court that has asked for the bank guarantee against that amount. We have that amount. Because the bank guarantee was to be given, we have deposited a FD amount equivalent to the bank guarantee amount. That is basically a FD account. That is it.
Very well understood, sir. Yeah, very well understood. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Saurabh Beria with Sameeksha Capital.
Thanks for the opportunity again. I just wanted to have some guidance on the going forward CapEx. If you can guide me, net asset turn figure or say CapEx as a percentage of sales figure. As we keep on growing at a rate of, say, 14%-15%, we'll have to have more CapEx, right? Going forward, can you give me a CapEx guidance?
Like, yeah, this year we have spent INR 330 odd crore, next year also will be in the same range. This is the broader guidance from the CapEx. We don't calculate on the percentage of the revenue. We calculate on the, you know, the production tonnage.
Sir, if you can guide me on net asset ton or gross asset ton number.
Basically, what we are telling, this year, this year or the coming forward year, because there was certain one-off buildup of the spend. On a year-on-year basis, you can't tie up with that number because my CapEx for this year might service for the next two, three years. That way, it goes like that. On a, on a conservative or a basis, you can tie up with the amount of depreciation, what we have, that will be invested in the CapEx. Almost, on a, on a long-term trajectory itself, INR 250 crore of CapEx each year that will be done. This year, this year or the previous year we invested because we are building a capacity for next two, five, three, four years. That will be there.
Okay, perfect. Thank you.
[Non-English content] you know, just every year we grow by 60,000 tons. There is a formula that INR 3 crore per ton [Non-English content ].
Oh, what did you say? I apologize, please.
Every year we grow 50,000-60,000 tons of rice. If we build paddy rice capacity. The thumb rule is, you know, it's a INR 3 crore per ton [Non-English content ] .
Okay. Currently, what is the total capacity ton-wise which we have?
Okay. We have, in terms of milling, paddy to rice, we have INR 8 lakh ton [Non-English content ]
Okay.
[Non-English content ] roughly again 8-9.
Okay. Okay. Thank you. That helps.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from Abhishek Mathur with Systematix. Please go ahead.
Yes, hi sir. Thank you for the follow-up opportunity. Just wanted to check in the domestic market, this regional rice is an opportunity that we have talked about in the past. Can you give an update on that? You know, what is now the sales level that we have from this segment? How is it growing? That would be helpful. Thanks.
It continues to grow in the last financial year at a higher double-digit growth. It's approximately now around INR 170 odd crore in revenue, which comes out of our regional rice portfolio. It will continue to remain our focus and we'll continue to grow this in the future as well.
All right. Lastly, just a clarification. The normalized margins that you have presented for the full year, they have, they don't incorporate the impact of your higher spending on A&P brand building or the higher level of U.K. investments, right? They are only adjusting for the U.S. tariffs and the accounting adjustment. Is that correct?
That's correct. Correct. You are absolutely right. That accounts for only for the tariff and the tariff.
Sir, therefore, the slight 40 basis point reduction in the operating margin that we see from FY 2025 to FY 2026, that would be on account of the higher A&P and the U.K. investment?
Partly because of the tariff as well. The tariff, if I talk about the passing of tariff to the end consumers and building up of the inventory and U.K. and organic. That is the reasons for lower margins. Reduced or 40 basis change in the margins.
Got it, sir. Thanks and all the best.
Thank you. As there are no further questions, I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
On behalf of the management, thank you. On behalf of the management of LT Foods Limited, we sincerely appreciate your participation in our post-earnings call. We hope we have been able to address most of your queries and provide clarity on the performance and outlook. For any further questions or follow-ups, please feel free to reach out to me or our investor relations partner, Ernst & Young. The team will be happy to connect with you offline and assist with you any additional information that you may require. Now you may please close the call. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of Motilal Oswal Financial Services and LT Foods, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.