Ladies and gentlemen, please stay connected. The call will begin shortly. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Radico Khaitan Limited Q3 FY 2026 earnings conference call hosted by DAM Capital Advisors. 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 now being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Sanjay Manyal from DAM Capital Advisors. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. We would like to thank Radico Khaitan's management for providing DAM Capital with the opportunity to host the Q3 FY 2026 earnings call. We have with us a senior leadership team from Radico Khaitan, Mr. Abhishek Khaitan, Managing Director, Mr. Dilip Banthiya, CFO, and Mr. Sanjeev Banga, President of International Business. I hand over the call to Mr. Abhishek Khaitan for his opening remarks. Over to you, sir.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, wishing everyone a very, very happy New Year, and thank you for joining us on Radico Khaitan's Q3 FY 2026 earnings conference call. The third quarter represents a defining phase of exploration for Radico Khaitan, where strategic clarity, portfolio depth, and execution excellence have translated into tangible outcomes. The Indian spirit sector continues to build strong momentum, led by premiumization and evolving consumer aspirations. We have converted these structural tailwinds into our highest-ever quarterly performance, with volumes of 9.75 million cases, net revenue of INR 1,547 crores, and EBITDA of INR 265 crores. These results reflect the strength and quality of our business model. Our performance was led by a premium and luxury-focused portfolio, supported by a benign raw material environment and strong operating leverage.
This translated into meaningful margin expansion and a sharp improvement in return ratios, marking a clear inflection point in the sustainability and predictability of our earnings. On the brand front, our recent launches are seeing strong early traction, validating the depth of our consumer insights and disciplined innovation and approach. The launch of Rampur 1943 Virasat Indian Single Malt marks a defining milestone in our journey of building world-class luxury Indian spirits. The brand carries forward the soul of Rampur Distillery , an institution with legacy since 1943, where tradition and innovation come together to create whiskies of depth, warmth, and character. Rooted in heritage and craftsmanship, and shaped by modern aspiration, it is positioned to set the new benchmarks in the category. Alongside this, our broader premium portfolio continues to scale steadily across key markets, supported by sharper execution and increasing consumer pull.
Royal Ranthambore Whisky delivered an outstanding performance with over 50% growth in Q3, driven by strong demand across both civil and CSD channels. Magic Moments Vodka continued its strong growth trajectory with 18% volume growth during Q3 and crossed INR 1,050 crores of sales in the nine-month period. This performance was led by the recent flavor innovations. After Dark Whisky continued to deliver strong performance, recording 40% growth year-on-year in the quarter, crossing 2.4 million cases volume in the nine months. 8PM Premium Black, where we unveiled the new packaging earlier this year, has started gaining strong momentum. This brand will also be a key driver of our premium volumes going forward. We are seeing broad-based strength across our premium brand, driven by strategic price positioning and sharper execution. This balanced performance across categories is enhancing brand equity while providing greater stability and consistency to our overall portfolio.
The on-trade channel continues to be a strategic priority for us. As consumption increasingly shifts towards experiences and brand-led choices, we are deepening our partnership with key outlets and influencers. Strong brand advocacy in the on-trade is improving visibility, accelerating trials, and strengthening long-term consumer franchise across premium segments. I'm also pleased to share that during the quarter, Rampur Indian Single Malt became the only Indian spirits brand to be served on Air India First and Business Class on international flights. This is a moment of pride for us as an Indian brand carrying Indian craftsmanship, heritage, and excellence to global consumers, and a strong validation of the growing stature of Indian spirits on the world stage.
Looking ahead, our confidence is supported by strong forward visibility, a robust balance sheet, a stable cost environment, improving mix, and a pipeline of brands and extensions that align well with evolving consumer preferences. We remain focused on disciplined growth, capital efficiency, and building brands that endure with a differentiated portfolio and execution-driven organization and a clear premiumization-led strategy. We are well-positioned to sustain momentum and deliver consistent, profitable growth in the next quarter and the year ahead. With that, I would now like to hand over the call to our CFO, Dilip Banthiya, for a detailed review of our financial and operational performance. Thank you. Over to you, Dilip.
Thank you, Abhishek. Thank you, everyone, for joining us on this call today. Quarter three of FY 2026 was a strong quarter, encouraging operating performance, translating into higher profitability and improved return ratios. The results reflect the combined impact of premiumization, scale benefits, input cost stability, and disciplined financial management. During the quarter, we delivered a strong all-round performance with the highest-ever total IMFL volume of 9.75 million cases, reflecting 16.7% year-on-year growth. Prestige and Above category, excluding the royalty brand, continued its steady upward trajectory, recording 26% volume growth and 29% value growth, with realization improving by 2.8% on a year-on-year basis. Our regular category volume grew by 33% in the quarter. The change in route to the market in Andhra Pradesh was a key driver of this robust, supported by agile execution, strengthened brand availability.
Our performance in Andhra Pradesh has been encouraging with our market share, increasing over 15% in Q3 of last year to 26% in the year quarter gone by, making us the leading player in the state. On profitability front, gross margin during the quarter was 46.9%, representing a 350 basis point expansion on a year-on-year basis, 290 basis point expansion on quarter-on-quarter basis. Gross margin improved on YOY basis due to improved raw material scenario, coupled with ongoing premiumization. Raw material accounted for 225 basis point of gross margin expansion during the quarter as compared to last year's Q3. We remain optimistic that ENA and grain prices will stay stable to favorable in near-term, providing continued margin support. Our A&P investment were at 6.9% of IMFL revenue, compared to 5.5% in Q3 of FY 2025.
While quarterly variation is expected due to the campaign timing, we continue to guide for A&P spending in the range of 6%-8% to sustain strong brand visibility and growth. EBITDA margin expanded by 300 basis points on a year-on-year basis to 17.2%. Turning to the balance sheet, net debt reduced by INR 2.09 billion since March 2025, driven by improved profitability. Our balance sheet remains strong, and we are on track to become debt-free by FY 2027. The Board of Directors has approved setting up 100% holding on subsidiary of the company in Scotland. This is in line with our strategy of investing in our malt capabilities. Radico Khaitan is one of the largest importers of blended malt spirit, and this step is towards securing access to the matured malt supply chain for distillation and maturation in a cost-effective manner. Capital allocation continues to be prudent and selective.
Our ongoing CapEx is largely directed toward maintenance CapEx and essential capacity optimization. Looking ahead, while we remain mindful of external volatility, the current cost environment, operating leverage benefits, and financial discipline provide comfort on margin sustainability and cash flow generation. Our focus remains on improving profitability, strengthening the balance sheet, and enhancing returns. With this, now we open the line for Q&A. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We will now begin with 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 Abneesh Roy from Nuvama. Please go ahead.
Congrats on the great performance. My first question is on, apart from Andhra market, where you highlighted market share gains and very strong absolute performance. My question is, which other markets either you have grown faster than the company average, which other states, and you have gained market share? So either of these, where you think you have gained market share or clearly the growth is faster than the company average?
I think our growth has come from basically everywhere except Maharashtra, but more than that, the major states where we have grown would be Andhra, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, then Rajasthan, MP, Haryana. These would be the markets where we've grown faster.
On the two specific states which you mentioned, in UP, if you could comment if in the country liquor, is there any increase in competition? And second, in Telangana, some of the other companies have mentioned that in Q3 there was some adverse impact of route-to-market change. So have you also seen in these two markets? So both are different questions. So one in UP, if any competition increase, and Telangana, if any route-to-market change.
As far as UP, the country liquor segment goes, actually, there's competition everywhere, but Radico, we have got the highest volume and highest market share as far as the country liquor segment goes. And to the second question about Telangana, there was a lottery which was done in the month of December. So October-November, the sales were slow, but December, it was a bumper sale for everyone. It was a big launch in United Spirits in December.
Entire quarter, how was it in Telangana?
Entire quarter would be.
It was in high single digit.
It was high single-digit growth, about 5%-6%.
Understood. Now, last question. We are seeing most of the liquor companies see good expansion in gross margins, which is a good development. But in the past, if we see such good periods of gross margin expansion, have you seen some of the players become a bit more competitive, a bit more focused on market share? I understand ad spends, everyone will see an increase. That's not a problem. But from a pricing perspective, is there a risk that in some markets, some players might become more aggressive?
Eventually, we've seen because we feel alcohol is more of a luxury product. It's more of a brand. So by cutting prices, the brands are not built. And as far as Radico is concerned, we don't chase volumes. So we always prefer to build brands, which always pays off in the longer run. So we are not seeing any kind of such activity.
Thanks. That's all from my side. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Harith Kapoor from Invest ec. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good evening and congratulations on exchanges once again. So I just had three questions. One was on 8PM Black. So this has been a brand that did extremely well for us, and then we saw it slow down a little bit last year. Seems to have kind of picked up in terms of growth again. So if you could just kind of highlight any changes that you made in the brand, either the packaging blend, or is it just increased distribution expansion? And just an outlook for when you see increased market share gains in that price point segment now. You also have After Dark there. So just some sense on 8PM Premium Black and its trajectory. That's my first question.
8PM Premium Black, we had gone for a packaging change. Gradually, we have extended to all the states now, and in fact, last quarter, the brand did extremely well. It grew by 40%, and overall, we've been plus this year, and I think now it's back into a growth trajectory, and as far as After Dark goes, it has grown very well. For the quarter, we've grown again at 40%, and for the entire year, it's up by 80%, so I think both the brands are on the right trajectory right now.
Got it. Got it. The second thing was on the Scotland subsidy. So could you just explain a little bit about how this helps in terms of your procurement and what benefits you get out of this, as well as is there any investment required in this one?
So Harit, as you know, we are the largest importer of the matured malt spirit from Scotland. And as we are working, and our focus is the malt-based alcohol and malt-based whiskys. So this is a step. This is the first step in that direction that we want to, as we are procuring more and more matured malt spirit. So to actually do start with whether there are various options available, which can be buying of fresh malt there, maturing it there, exchanging the malt, and if need be, then in future, investing in malt. So I think as the period goes by, but this is the right direction for the company. And since our uses are increasing every year, we feel fit that we should have investment into that part of the world.
Will there be any incremental initial investment required there, or you're just going to figure this out as time progresses?
So I think we actually are starting a very small way, but in due course of time, as value creations happen, we will look at that being 100% subsidiary. And in ODI route, we don't have any issue. But as time will come, we will come out with our distinct strategy, what we want to do with that.
Got it. Got it. And last question was on, we've seen a host of new initiatives in P&A in the last 6 to 12 months. When we look at the next 12 to 15 months going forward, apart from the D'YAVOL investment and likely outcome of that over the next few months, quarters, whenever that happens, do we see that it's going to be more investment in what we've done so far over the last 6 to 12 months? We've done a lot. And trying to kind of expand distribution for these new initiatives, focus there, or you think there is, at least in the next 12 to 15 months, there is more scope for filling white spaces, adding new variants, and stuff like that? So my short question is, is it kind of consolidation and distribution expansion for our recent new initiatives?
Is the way to look at kind of P&A over the next 12 to 15 months rather than a host of new things, which we have done over the last six months?
This is a very good question. If you see in the last two, two, three years, the kind of brands we have launched, starting from our latest two brands, which are Virasat Indian Single Malt, our Spirit of Kashmyr vodka, then even Kohinoor Rum and Sangam, and the Morpheus Whisky, I think these are very powerful brands, and if I see them five years down the line, these will be really, really big brands, hopefully, so I think the time is there. Radico, with its distribution might. Next two years, we are going to take it to all India and concentrate on the building part of these brands.
Because these all brands, apart from Morpheus, they are in the luxury space, and we feel there is a huge potential, which we can harness what we did with our Jaisalmer Indian Craft Gin, which now commands more than 50% of market share in the luxury gin space. So I think what you have rightly said, this is the consolidation apart from the delivery portfolio, and we are going to spread and focus on our distribution on these.
Fantastic. Wish you all the best in your journey. Thank you.
Thank you, Harit.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Karan from Choice Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Congrats on a great set of numbers. So I've seen Royal Ranthambore being available here in Gymkhana and as an on-trade kind of exercise. Could you throw some more color on what we are doing as part of increasing our on-trade, and what is the current percentage of on-trade versus off-trade?
If you see, about a year and a half back in our con call, we had said that the thing which we have to really work hard is on our on-trade part because now we've got the luxury brands, so in fact, in the last one and a half years, we have really beefed up our on-trade team. We have recruited from all the institutions, etc. We've been having close to about 50-70 people on the on-trade side, and we have addressed each of the bars, clubs, and everything, so I think that is where the future of these luxury brands are there, and what we are seeing, there is a huge visibility which we have achieved. Even in the airports, which we see 70%-80% of the outlets carry our brand now.
So I think on-trade, we have worked very hard, and we have got great results there.
Okay. Thank you. So any color on where you see?
On-trade would be about close to 6%-7% of our total sales now.
Okay. 6%-7%. That's great. So what do we plan on? So there were also offers. Do we plan on continuing with offers, and is these offers like buy one get one included in our A&P, or is that above our revenue line?
So, it's a part of our A&P. So, on-trade has not many activities. You have DJ nights. We have loads of activities. Then, we have happy hours. Then, there's also the visibility part and everything. So, it is all a part of the A&P.
Okay. Thank you so much. I'll get back to you in a minute.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Hith Raichura from Ananya Research. Please go ahead.
Congratulations on the set of numbers, sir. I would like to know the update on the tequila category. So what kind of margins are we looking at, and what kind of revenues can be expected in the coming quarters?
As you know, tequila is a very high-margin business, but the volumes, it will take time because it's a growing category in India. So margins will be quite heavy in that.
Okay. Any numbers that you would like to put on?
We would not like to comment on the margin number for the tequila.
Okay. Got it. Congratulations. And thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nilabja Dey from Ashmore Research. Please go ahead.
First of all, congratulations, sir, for a great set of numbers. So there is a news specifically came in the leading newspapers that alcohol companies are facing issues in collections in Telangana and also some operational challenges after this new excise policy. Obviously, the second one is not new in Maharashtra. But Telangana, there are collection issues, and the government is not releasing money. Is there any improvement? Can you just throw some light on how the things are panning out?
The collection issue has been going on for the last two years. In fact, in the last one or two months, we've got payment out of the old outstanding. And hopefully, the entire old outstanding should be cleared within a month. So I think we are quite hopeful things should improve.
Okay. And Maharashtra, sir, after this new excise thing, the country liquor is getting traction, and the premium ones are getting some issues. So is there any normalization of the stuff?
What has happened in Maharashtra is they have introduced this Maharashtra Made Liquor , MML, which can be catered by only the local companies who have a Maharashtrian partner or ownership origin, so what has happened is the MRPs have been raised from the regular range to INR 200 plus for a nip bottle, so the industry in the Q3 has declined by close to about 20%, but the Maharashtra Made Liquor is slowly gaining pace, and I think total market size of Maharashtra would be about 2.4 million cases per month, which is down to about 1.8 million cases, and Maharashtra Made Liquor is now right now 4 lakh-5 lakh cases.
Okay, sir. Thank you. Thanks for the clarification. Wishing you all the best.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nitin from Emkay. Please go ahead.
Hey, thanks for the opportunity. I would like to continue with the previous participant question. I just wanted to have some clarity around RNV's locus standi . What is the stance with respect to the court allowing all the companies to participate in MML? So are we also looking to participate under our JV? So that's the first question.
Yeah. Actually, in this month only, we are going to launch our MML through our joint venture that is RNV, and we should be in the market in the month of this month onwards.
Okay. That's heartening to know. Second question pertains to with respect to the raw material setting. First is around the Scotch prices. Are they inflationary or how we are placed with the Scotch price for sourcing?
Yes. I don't know about inflationary because if you see all the articles, it is saying that there is a sea of Scotch which is available in Scotland. There's a glut, so I think we are seeing a price decline, in fact, in the Scotch prices, and there is enough of Scotch which is there, so we are seeing softening of prices.
Sure. This is good. And in terms of, I just wanted to have some perspective around this banqueting market where we have wedding parties, corporate events. So how material is this segment for the overall alcohol sector and how we are placed in this segment since we have the full portfolio available with us now?
As I told earlier, the same question was asked. This is one of our key focus areas now. And in the last one and a half years, we have really beefed up our team. And we are addressing this part of the segment since we have our portfolio and we've got substantial gains from it. More is that you have to be seen in these banquets, these parties, etc., which create a brand. So I think this is one of the biggest focus areas of Radico right now.
How material would be the contribution for the industry?
See, I won't say it's the contribution. As I said, on-trade, combining these banquets, etc., would be in the range of about 7%-8%. So more than the volumes, it's more the imagery and more the being visible or being seen at these places and sampling.
Okay. This is good. My last question pertains to this luxury portfolio. So will we be able to quantify what is the salience of revenue for the nine months? Thank you.
See, for the full year, last year we were 340, and this year we should be close to about 500 crores in revenue terms.
Okay. Thanks a lot, and all the very best.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone telephone. The next question is from the line of Abhijeet Kundu from Antique Stock Broking. Please go ahead.
Congratulations, sir, on a very strong set of numbers. My first question was on Andhra. You have done really well, I mean, outperformed, increased your market share sequentially, and which is, I believe, has been driven by brandy, so getting into the next year, how do you see the overall scenario there, because the market share gains have been very consistent and have been going up, but how do you see that market growing for you in the sense that because sustaining that kind of growth on this kind of base would be challenging? How do you see that?
Yeah. Andhra has been a very good market for us as of now. And what we are seeing is that the premium side of the portfolio has started now increasing in the last two, three months, which we feel that should gain traction, which should be very good for Radico. And as far as the brandy goes, where we have a lion's share at the regular segment, I think going forward, we'll be happy if we can maintain our market share and participate how the industry grows there.
Okay. And in case of your debt levels, those have been coming down consistently. Over what period do you plan to, I mean, repay majority of that?
See, since we are debt-free, it's hardly anything which is left now. So that is least of our concerns. But I think the kind of cash flow the company is showing by next year FY 2027, we have been excellent.
Great. And the third question is you have now created a subsidiary in Scotland. So I mean, acquisition of Scottish breweries or distilleries, all of that would be a part of this, right? Because there are a lot of Scottish breweries, distilleries there which could be on the block. So obviously, those would be your target this segment.
See, as Dilip was saying that we are the largest buyers of Scotch and our premium portfolio is growing, the weight of the Scotch is going to go up. And also, we are seeing a decrease in the prices of Scotch because there is an oversupply. A lot of distilleries are getting closed. So that's why we created a subsidiary so that we'll be evaluating, but we are not in a hurry or we are not doing that. But we have taken an enabling thing by making company, whether we mature malt out there, we buy directly, or if there is something which is available at a very, very good price, which has the inventory of Scotch not brand. So we can look at it, but as of now, nothing is on the cards.
Yeah. Okay, sir. Thanks. That's it from my side. Congrats again.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Naveen Trivedi from Motilal Oswal. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good evening, everyone. And congratulations on the very strong numbers. So just a couple of things from my side. In terms of the P&L volume growth, if I look at, there has been consistent kind of a strong delivery despite we have seen other players have not kind of seen this sort of a growth rate. Any color about the market where we've seen ahead of what we kind of reporting the numbers? So to get a sense about which of the markets we are kind of gaining shares. So that's one first question. And the second question was on the margin side.
Yeah. To answer your first question, already we've answered the same question was asked where we said that we've seen market share increases compared to the competition in states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, MP, Haryana, Telangana, all these places.
Sure, sir.
Naveen, what is your next question?
So my next question was on the margin side. So this quarter, we have seen both gross margin and EBITDA margin has seen plus 300 sort of a kind of expansion. So what is the outlook on the gross margin side and the EBITDA margin side for next year? And also, in terms of margins, how mix is playing the role and how much RM cost is being supported this quarter, sir? If you have any break-up.
So the gross margin in this quarter has improved by 10-50 basis points. It is largely on the back of the softer raw material scenario where we have had an improvement in margin of around 225 basis points. And the product premium margin product mix has been 125 basis point margin improvement. As far as the EBITDA margin is concerned, again, 100-110, where there is an operating leverage and other things, is also playing a key role now. 100-125 basis point is on account of that, and 200 basis point is roughly on account of the raw material improvement. On sequential basis, however, the product premiumization has played a key role. And there also, the margin has improved by more than 250 basis point.
The 200 basis point is on account of the product premiumization, and 50 to 60 basis point is on account of the raw material softening.
Sir, any comments on the outlook side?
We see the scenario of raw material to be stable, to be nine, stable. And I think the upward trajectory has been guided earlier also that in the next two years, we are going to improve our margin on the basis of our product profile and premiumization happening by 125 basis points each for the next two years, thereby to go to late teens kind of margin.
Yeah. Sure, sir. That's all from my side.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Jasdeep from Clockvine Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thanks for taking my question. So what have been the trends on the export front in nine months? What is exports as a percentage of sales, and by how much has it grown over the last nine months?
In terms of as a percentage of the overall business, the volume is about 6%, and the revenue is about 10%. We've been having a steady growth in our export business, both in terms of the luxury portfolio as well as the regular portfolio. We're also focusing a lot on the global travel retail, and that's a key market expansion or channel expansion that we foresee in the coming years.
Got it, and so, what has been the growth in revenues in the last nine months in exports?
It's been consistent. So we are happy with that.
Got it, sir. And what's the composition of exports in terms of the contribution of P&A to the overall exports revenue?
We do have composite. Composite, it is 7.5% by value and 5% by volume. P&A would be about 80% of the portfolio in exports.
Okay. So got it. 80% of portfolio is P&A. Got it. Thank you, sir. That's all from my side.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nitin Awasthi from InCred Research. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. A broader question from my side. About a decade ago, if you would sit down with any liquor company which would have aspirations and ask about the end goal, I said acquisitions. At the end, finally, you would end up with a distillery in Scotland being a must for any company in India, an Indian company to do well. However, over a period of time, we saw Japanese whisky is doing very well with Japanese malts, and of course, Indian malts itself doing very well. Then it seemed like that was Scottish distillation and malt unit was no more a requirement for Indian brands or Indian companies to succeed. Is there a misread in this assumption of mine, or is that a very, very big requirement still even after the success of Indian malts?
This is an interesting question you have. Earlier, if you would say that the wines, if you talk about wines, it would be only France, but now we see wines coming from all the regions across the globe. In fact, new age wines are somewhere much better than maybe the old age wines, so same thing with the malts, if you see. Earlier, it was the Scottish malts, and now the Japanese malts are more expensive than the Scottish malts. In fact, Indian malts are becoming more expensive than even the Scottish malts as of now, so I think the trend is changing, and more importantly, people across the globe, people in India want a different taste and a different experience, and malt has its unique character where every country has a different kind of palate to the malt.
So I think it's now kind of a global phenomenon, and you no longer have to be in Scotland to have the right malt.
Understood, sir. So would this be thanks to this phenomena that has taken place in the last decade in Japan, in India, would probably be the reason for the supply of the glut being there and increasing in Scotland, having the pressure on the prices of the said malts because they had naming rights, right, on their malt? They were the only guys who could call it Scotch. Nobody else could. Everything else was still called malt. But because of that reason, it would be the reason of the price correction that these guys would have seen. So the current move, if any, should be seen as an opportunistic move rather than the play of Scottish malt still being the premium brand to go to. Is that understanding correct?
Look, see, it's a yes and a no. To some extent, 100% of your thing is right. The malts from India, malts from Japanese, Japanese malt, even Taiwan. We know a lot of countries, they have got their own malts, but Japanese and Indian malts have rarely done well. And second is, there is a slowdown in U.S. and Europe, which has added further pain, and China, which has further added pain to the Scotch industry. So I think it's a combination of all the activities where it's a great opportunity because for the existing brands, when you're using X kind of malt, you get that price advantage.
Understood, sir. Got it. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Anirudh Jain, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Good evening, sir. Congratulations on an excellent set of numbers. My question is, till now, Radico has developed all the brands in-house across different categories within the spirit segment. For tequila, you have taken a markedly different approach in terms of how to tap the market. So what are the reasons driving us in if you could throw some light on that? Look, first of all, Radico has created all the brands organically. So even in tequila, it will be our brand which will be created organically, bottled in Mexico .
So I think in Radico, we are following the same policy because we know the art of creating brands, and we always prefer to build versus buy. So I think we are following the same thing in the tequila also.
Okay, sir. As per the press release, it shows that Radico will be holding a 47.5% stake. So is there some other arrangement for the brand ownership, or that would be also 47.5% only currently?
This is a joint venture between Radico Khaitan, 47.5%, 47.5% is with Shah Rukh and his associates, and 5% is with Nikhil Kamath.
All right. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Abhijeet from Antique Stock Broking. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the follow-up. My question was on Morpheus Whisky. I believe it is now available across eight states. And so how has been the initial response to it? And to follow it up, you would be also registering it with the CSD at some point in time. When do you see that? I mean, what are the plans with that?
As far as Morpheus goes, it is right now at the seeding stage, and the initial response what we are getting is quite positive. We have priced it higher than the leading brands. So it's at a higher price point, which Radico has always done with all its brands. So I think the response what we are getting from the market is encouraging. It will take time because, as we said, we do not chase volumes. We let the brand grow on its own. And we feel that it has a good potential. And as far as the CSD goes, it's still a long way off to get into CSD because we have a lot of criteria about the number of years. It has to be in the civil market cases. Then it takes one year to come in.
I think there's still a lot of time left for it to enter the CSD.
Okay, sir. Thanks. That's it from my side.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ajay Thakur from Anand Rathi Securities. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Thanks for taking my question. Sir, I had two questions. One was, what to understand what?
Okay. Can you speak a little louder?
Hello. Yeah. I had two questions. First was, wanted to understand more on the contribution that we have from the contribution kind of run rate that we have from the super premium and the luxury segment. I remember the last time, a few quarters back, you had indicated that the run rate was roughly about 400-500 CR on annual basis for the super premium and the luxury brands. What it would be now if you can share some details around the same?
Actually, we've already told in our call that we expect it to be close to 500 for the coming year, which last year was 343.
Okay. And the second part, I wanted to also understand a bit more on what would be the policy for the cash we would be generating post the debt repayment. How would we be utilizing this cash, and how would we be in terms of distribution of this cash as well? If you can share some insights into that as well?
I think, depending on the board's decision, but I think mostly it will be used for dividend payout.
Understood. Quite helpful. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Over to you, sir.
In the closing, we want to say that this quarter's results, the strength and momentum of Radico Khaitan business model, record operating performance, expanding margins, improving returns, and strong cash generation highlights the quality and durability of our growth. With the differentiated portfolio and disciplined financial execution and robust balance sheet, we are well positioned to sustain this momentum and continue to deliver consistent, profitable growth. We remain highly confident in the road ahead and committed to creating long-term value for our shareholders. Thank you for joining us on this call today. We look forward to connecting with you next quarter. Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of DAM Capital Advisors, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line. Thank you.