Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Ms. Disha Shah from Adfactors PR. Thank you, and over to you, ma'am.
Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us on Vaibhav Global Limited earnings conference call for the quarter and full year ended 31st March 2024. Today, we have with us Mr. Sunil Agrawal, Managing Director, Mr. Nitin Panwadkar, Group CFO, and Mr. Prashant Suryawanshi, Head of Investor Relations. We will begin the call with opening remarks by Mr. Sunil Agrawal on the business operations, key initiatives, and a broad outlook, followed by discussion on the financial performance by Mr. Nitin Panwadkar. After which, the management will open the forum for Q&A sessions. Before we get started, I would like to point out that some statements made or discussed on today's call may be forward-looking in nature and must be viewed in conjunction with the risks and uncertainties that we face.
A detailed statement and explanation of these risks is included in the earnings presentation, which has been shared with you all earlier. The company does not undertake to update these forward-looking statements publicly. I would now like to invite Mr. Sunil Agrawal to make his opening remarks. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Disha. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for the Q4 FY 2024 earnings conference call. I believe you have reviewed the results and investor presentation, which provides insights into the quarterly and annual business performance. I'm delighted to share that we have achieved our guidance revenue numbers. Consolidated revenue in Q4 was INR 789 crores, which is 14% higher than the same period of last year. During the quarter, we put a lot of emphasis on reducing the inventory and improving our working capital. This is visible in the form of reduced inventory and much improved operating and free cash flows.
On the full year basis, the group's top line crossed INR 3,000 crore mark for the first time at INR 3,041 crore, as against INR 2,691 crore, showing a growth of 13% year-over-year. Our gross margin for the quarter remains robust at 62.7%, with a cumulative margin of 62% for the full year. We continue to see gross margins in our targeted range of 60%+, backed by an in-house global supply chain. Our sourcing network, coupled with in-house manufacturing, enables us to offer products at competitive prices with a shorter turnaround time. Let me now take you through each of our addressable retail markets. In the U.S., macro indicators like employment data, consumer confidence, inflation rates, are trending positive and driving consumer demand.
Also, during last year, the mix of e-com sales in total retail sales in U.S. has improved by 90 basis points. In the U.K., inflation continues to moderate every month, but consumer spending power remains subdued due to high interest rates. We remain vigilant to the broader macroeconomic landscape there. Quarterly growth for our existing businesses in U.S. dollar terms in U.S., U.K., and Germany was 4%, 1%, and 38% respectively. In Germany, our strategic investments across TV networks and digital platforms have yielded desirable results, boosting our revenue to EUR 21.4 million for the full year, having achieved revenue growth of 48% on an annual basis. Such growth underscores our commitment to increasing our market share there. Our focus remains on the four pillars of our growth: widening reach, new customer acquisition, customer retention, and repeat purchases.
In this quarter, the reach of our TV networks was 130 million households. As of March 31, 2024, our unique customer base stood at 580,000, which is 26% higher year-over-year. Excluding current acquisitions as well, the unique customer base has been improving quarter-on-quarter. In existing businesses, new customer acquisition during Q4 was higher by 8% compared to last year. Further, customer retention stood at 39%. On a trailing twelve-month basis, customers purchased on an average of 24 pieces versus 23 last year. Let me now take you to the unique concept called Unreasonable Hospitality. The company is integrating the principles of Unreasonable Hospitality into its operation, drawing inspiration from Will Guidara's acclaimed book. The concept focuses on exceeding customer expectations by providing an extraordinary and memorable shopping experience.
By prioritizing exceptional service and memorable experience, the company aims to create a strong connection with our customers. This strategy is designed not only to attract new customers, but also to significantly enhance customer loyalty in the long run. This is evident with increased net promoter scores in recent quarters. Now let us talk about Ideal World and Mindful Souls and how we are shaping up. Notably, Ideal World achieved profitability on direct cost basis for the second half of FY 2024. We are confident of achieving profitability in next six months on a full cost allocation basis. Meanwhile, Mindful Souls is contributing positive leverage to overall business already. We are actively leveraging the digital prowess of Mindful Souls to foster synergies within our existing digital businesses.
Further, we have started utilizing the supply chain strengths of VGL Group for Mindful Souls, which is expected to further improve its profitability going forward. At VGL, community giveback is integral in our business model, where every unit sold results in a meal for a school-going child. Under our flagship midday meals program, which was launched about 10 years ago, has resulted in 87 million meals donated to school children till date. Currently, we serve 56,000 meals every school day. On clean energy front, I'm delighted to share that this quarter, we generated 1.1 million kWh of solar energy, which is catering to 100% power requirements of 2 manufacturing units in India. Additionally, 2 premises in U.S. and 1 premise each in U.K. and Germany are also operating on 100% renewable energy.
All these measures are aimed at achieving our goal of carbon neutrality in Scope 1 and 2 of greenhouse gas emission by 2031. Furthermore, we are constructing another rainwater harvesting tank of 600 kiloliters capacity to ensure prudent water management at VGL Group. On governance part, I'm pleased to announce that the group's subsidiary in India, the U.S., and U.K., and China, have once again been awarded the Great Place to Work certification. I extend my gratitude to all our colleagues across VGL Group for their feedback in judging our workplace as Great Place to Work. As we celebrate this, we reaffirm our commitment to encourage inclusive and supportive cultures across VGL Group. We believe in creating long-term value for our shareholders.
The board has recommended a final dividend of INR 1.5 per equity share, which is subject to shareholders' approval at AGM. Including three dividends, total dividend payout against earnings of FY 2024 would be 78%. We'll continue to keep our focus on growth and profitability with prudent capital management, and hence, want to reiterate our earlier stated guidance. We expect a robust performance in FY 2025 and achieve 14%-17% revenue growth with strong operating leverage. For subsequent periods, we expect the revenue to grow in the mid-teens range with decent operating leverage. Towards the end, I would say that over the past year, we have seen tangible improvements across various facets of our business. We are optimistic about our outlook, buoyed by positive trending macro indicators and multiple growth drivers in place within our business.
While unforeseen challenges may arise, we are confident in our ability to navigate them effectively due to our low-cost vertical model as well as high agility aptitude. I now hand over the call to Nitin to discuss financial performance. Over to you, Nitin.
Thank you, Sunil. Good evening, everyone. I am delighted to welcome you to VGL's Q4 FY 2024 earnings call. While Sunil has given an update on operational performance and key initiatives undertaken during the year, I will now take you through our financial performance for the quarter and fiscal year ending 31 March 2024. Revenue growth in Q4 was healthier at 14% year-over-year, and was INR 789 crore, versus INR 693 crore in Q4 FY 2023. During the last two quarters, we have seen visible improvement in our volume growth, driven by positive consumer sentiments. During Q4 FY 2024, the volume growth was 26% year-over-year. Even after excluding impact of acquisitions, the volume growth is much stronger at 13%. As Sunil also mentioned earlier, we optimized our inventory and working capital during the quarter.
Consequently, the operating and free cash flow during FY 2024 was INR 270 crores and INR 230 crores, respectively. On full year basis, the group's top line was INR 3,041 crores against INR 2,691 crores in FY 2023, registering an annual growth of 13%. Now let me brief you on geography-wise revenue breakdown. In U.S. dollar terms, Shop LC grew by 4%, TJC grew by 1%, and Germany grew by strongly 38%. On a combined basis, our existing business grew by 5% in U.S. dollars. If we include acquisitions, the overall year-over-year growth was 14.5% in U.S. dollars and 13% on a constant currency basis in last quarter.
Further, we maintain our stance of achieving a breakeven point in Germany in H2 of FY 2025 at operating level. During the fourth quarter, TV revenue amounted to INR 453 crores, and digital revenue reached INR 305 crores. While TV revenue experienced a growth of 10.8% year-over-year, digital revenue saw a relatively stronger growth of 19%. Digital continues to complement the TV segment, driven by its extensive reach and discovery capabilities. The digital business accounts for 39% of total revenue. The Mindful Souls, the acquisition of Mindful Souls, is anticipated to drive long-term growth, and we believe that this strategic move will lead us to 50% digital revenue share by FY 2027.
The sales mix of lifestyle products has been growing over the years, now standing at 30% versus 12% of FY 2018. Looking ahead, our goal is to elevate the contribution of lifestyle products to 50% of our total sales by FY 2028. A unique offering in the form of BudgetPay gives customers the option of buying product on a EMI basis and is valuable feature for the buyers. In FY 2024, BudgetPay contribution to overall retail revenue stood at 39%. The gross margin remains strong at 62.7%, demonstrating the efficiency of our vertically integrated business model. The EBITDA margin for the quarter was 8.1%. Adjusting for Germany, EBITDA margin during the quarter was 11.6%.
Operating margins were slightly affected by higher shipping costs, driven by an increase in volume of 26% and increased content and broadcasting expenses, which was primarily on account of acquired businesses and new airtime cost of Vodafone in Germany. On an annual basis, EBITDA margin improved to 9.7% from 8.4% in FY 2023, reflecting 130 basis points improvement. Excluding Germany, EBITDA margin for full financial year was 12.3%, versus 10% in FY 2023. We remain confident that EBITDA margin will continue to improve going forward. The profit before tax for the quarter stand at INR 36 crores, which is 18% higher year over year. For full year, the profit before tax amounts to INR 190 crores, which is 35% higher year over year. Further, both acquisitions are robust and growing.
The Ideal World business is profitable on direct cost basis, and we are confident of achieving profitability on a fully allocated cost basis within the next 6 months as the performance is better than what we were expecting. Mindful Souls is already a profitable and margin-accretive business, and it continued to progress well. We are leveraging the supply chain of VGL, which is expected to further enhance the group's profitability and strengthen our digital segment. We are delighted to share that this year we generated stronger free cash flow, which is INR 230 crore, underscoring the cash generation capacity of our asset-light business model. Further, our net cash balance remains positive at INR 168 crore, even after consistent quarterly dividend payouts and funding the two acquisitions.
At present, ROCE and ROE stands at 19% and 10% respectively, showing an improvement of 500 and 100 basis points respectively, versus last year. This highlights our ability to manage capital prudently and generate healthier returns. We are committed to generating value for our stakeholders. The company paid interim dividend of INR 4.5 per equity share during the first nine months of FY 2024, and has recommended a final dividend of INR 1.5 per share for the year, resulting in total dividend payout of 78% against total earnings of FY 2024. Looking ahead, we are optimistic about the performance in FY 2025, expecting revenue growth in the range of 14%-17%, along with strong operating leverage. For subsequent periods, we project revenue growth in mid-teen range with operating leverage. Thank you. Over to you, moderator. We may now open the line for Q&A.
...Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Rishabh Gang, who is an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Am I audible?
Yes, you are.
Wonderful. So sir, the EBITDA margins currently on a blended basis are around 89%, excluding Germany, 11.6%. But historically, we have gone as high as 17%. So what EBITDA margins do you think you will be able to achieve in FY 2025, 2026? And what line items in PNL should propel that changes? That's my first question.
Yeah. So we gave guidance for strong operating leverage, and so this will come, number one, with the volume going up, so revenue going up and the expense not expanding in the same proportion. So the ex, the expense leverage line item will be HR costs for this year, the shipping costs and SG&A. The content and broadcasting costs may not offer leverage this year because we took some extra airtime for Ideal World for Germany and even for US, we have taken some better channel positions, and some it has not increased the number of households, but we have taken a better channel position and the digital marketing. So the, to reiterate, HR costs, SG&A, and shipping will give us leverage this year and plus some added expanded margin. We're expecting the margins to expand a little bit this year.
Okay. On the shipping cost, sir, like, the volumes are expanding a lot, so, you still expect the operating leverage to play there?
Yes. So we have renegotiated some shipping costs this year, so that will give us some leverage.
Got it. And sir, wanted to ask on the ROCE and ROE front, right? So we used to have, 25% kind of ROE, 35% kind of ROCE, 3-4 years back. So how do you see the return ratios panning out over the years, as and when your acquisition starts paying off? Like, what is your view on the return ratios, sir?
Yeah. So we don't give specific guidance on return ratios, but, we've given a guidance of strong leverage this year and decent leverage for, next year and onwards. So they'll continue to expand and the investment cycle that we had of last two or, three years, so that we not need to make investments in foreseeable future.
Okay. Just one last question. On the target ROI and the payback period, like, what are your criteria when you actually search for these acquisitions? And what was in your mind when you acquired Ideal World and Mindful Souls? Like, what was your target ROI and payback period for them?
Yeah. So our criteria for the acquisition is different for whatever we have done in last year. It's the one for the Mindful Souls is to get a synergy and learning from digital business while existing business is profitable. And Ideal World, to expand our market share in U.K. We are targeting that company we acquire, which has a healthy profit and healthy return ratios in ROCE and ROE terms, at least at a current level or higher than our current level of VGL's ROCE and ROE numbers.
Mm.
As our expansion strategy to hit 50% retail share by FY 2015 and increase further onwards, we are constantly looking to find an opportunity or a learning from digital side wherever we can, either through acquisitions or improvement in our existing channels.
So, so no criteria of minimum payback period that you see when buying these things? Just, just a curious question, sir.
So our criteria is to make sure that any acquisition we do gives us leverage from the current business, in terms of ROCE. So they should give us leverage and never a deleverage.
All right. Got it, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. Before we take the next question, a reminder to all the participants that you may press Star and One to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Pradeep Neti from RGI Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Hello?
Yes, sir, you're audible.
I'm audible?
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir. You are. Please go ahead.
Okay, thank you. Thank you for giving the opportunity. I want to know about the broadcast and advertisement costs. Sir, will these expand in FY 25, or will it remain same?
The person you are speaking with has put your call on hold. Please stay on the line.
Hello?
Yes, sir. Sir, the current-
Yeah, uh-
Participant got disconnected.
Are you audible now?
Yes, sir, you're audible. The current participant got disconnected, sir. I'm reconnecting the participant.
... Okay.
The next question is from the line of Deepak Kumar, who is an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hello?
Hello, sir.
Yeah. Hi, sir. So, my question will be more on the demand side, you know, like how do you see demand panning out in the U.S. and U.K. in the next two or three, in the next two fiscal years? And, you know, especially keeping that in mind, like, what kind of revenue growth do you estimate on like-to-like basis, like excluding the acquisitions?
Thank you for the question, Deepak. Our guidance is including the acquisition. It's not broken down, existing business guidance and the separate guidance.
Mm-hmm.
But you want to see include acquisition. So, even accounting for acquisition, we have given a guidance of 14%-17% for this financial year, and mid-teens for next financial year onwards. Now, given that these new two businesses that we have would not account for all the growth, there will be growth in existing businesses, but we are not quantifying that separately.
Okay. And, you know, another question is more on the target customers. Like, your target customers are mostly like what, you have mentioned in the PPT. It's like 65+ years and 45+ years. So, like-
Yeah.
Are we targeting, you know, certain percentage of our sales to younger population? Is there any strategy on that front?
We believe that 45+ women have more money, more disposable income, more time on their hand to watch our programming, and our product is designed towards them. That demographic is increasing in U.S., U.K., and Germany faster than the younger demographics. We love that demographic and want to stay focused there.
Okay. Okay. Okay, thank you. That's it from my side.
Thank you.
Good.
The next question is from the line of Ritesh Chheda, from Lucky Investment Managers. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir, for FY 2024, how many months?
Sorry to interrupt you, sir. Can you be a little away from your mic?
Yeah. You can hear me now?
Yes, sir. Please go ahead.
For FY 2024, sir, how many months was Mindful and Ideal World consolidated for?
Yeah. Hi, Ritesh. 6 months was roughly for Mindful Souls and Ideal World in operation in full financial year.
Okay. Can you quantify the $1 million or EUR 1 million revenue, whatever you talked about for Mindful and Ideal World?
Yeah. Mindful and Ideal World was roughly around $17 million, both of the new acquisitions.
Okay. My second question is. So basically you'll have half year this year. My second question is: In your guidance of 14%-17% growth, what is the inherent assumption for Shop LC US and TJC UK?
Yeah. So, for both of them, we are assuming growth to be there, but we are not giving specific guidance for individual entities because of mainly because of uncertainty around the election in U.K. and U.S.
Usually, what's your experience for election periods in your business? In your past years, what has happened?
So that's why we have taken the wider number, 3, 14 to 17, because of the uncertainty. So, the experience has been, different of different election cycles. Some election cycles we did not see any impact. Some election cycles we did see some impact. So it's difficult to predict.
Okay. On your segmental, where you have given Europe excluding United Kingdom, I am presuming this is Germany operations.
Germany and Mindful Souls, both operations, yeah.
Germany and Mindful Souls. Okay. So there is this swing in profitability for, you know, minor swing in revenue. What is it on a QOQ basis? So a INR 90 crore revenue goes down to INR 84 crore, but your loss widened. So is there anything which you want to call out?
Yeah. So it is a forex losses, which is not actually a forex losses on account of P&L, as the loan goes, loan forex losses goes to OCI, Other Comprehensive Income, which our Germany business has taken U.S. dollar loan from our U.S. business. So euro movement in last quarter has resulted this kind of higher losses that you see in euro business. In group overall account, it doesn't show in our P&L. It goes in Other Comprehensive Income.
Okay, it goes in Other Comprehensive Income.
OCI, yeah.
Other Comprehensive Income, remuneration, defined benefit plan and exchange difference of 88 - 88.
Because it is not realized, it is unrealized. Once it is realized, then it goes to P&L.
So it's this INR 9 crore swing, which I can see from the P&L, which I have to match up with the INR 9 crore here.
Mm-hmm
... in the segmental. That's how I have to understand? So your PBT is INR 31.65-
Yeah. Yeah.
-and your-
Right.
No, sir, your—no, I don't understand, because the segmental is at PBT level, and PBT, PBT is matching, so that explanation which you're trying to give doesn't go with the number?
Yeah, and so there's one last line item in the segmental. If you see, there is one line item within the consolidation, the name is the inter-segment elimination. It goes to inter-segment elimination. If you see the in segment-wise.
Okay. Okay, I'll take this offline, but in your opinion, it's to do with the FX movement for the swing in numbers that we see on the segmental?
Right. Yeah, right.
Now, my last question is, we are running at about, let's say, from the segmental annual PNL at about INR 52 crore segmental loss in the Germany operation, including Mindful now. At what scale does this becomes neutral?
Yeah. So it is, and if I talk specifically about Germany, at 50% higher than current scale, it will be neutral.
So you have grown 50% this year, FY 20...
Yeah. So in current level, from the current level, what we see in the run rate-
EUR 22 million, if it grows by 50%, you, we see this loss going away, right?
Yes. Right. Yeah.
So in your 14%-17% top line growth inherent assumption, is there a fair bit of possibility that Germany losses would not be visible in a couple of quarters from now?
We are anticipating, but, by the guidance that we have given for the second half, we will be breakeven at operating level, and we are, anticipating that we will achieve that level, but full year it will not be profitable.
Okay. That's why I said by couple quarters from now.
Yeah.
Okay. Thank you very much, and all the best, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pradeep Neti from RGI Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Yes, sir, you're on mute.
Hello. Thank you for giving the opportunity. I want to know about the other costs, especially, broadcasting and advertisement costs. Sir, will it expand more in the FY 2025, or will it remain same, just, like, FY 2024?
Yeah. So for percent, it will remain same as a percentage of revenue. In absolute dollar or rupee terms, it will go up, but as percentage of revenue, we won't see leverage on that one in current financial year.
Okay. Okay, thank you. Nothing else.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Tanvi from... who is an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. This could be a small repetition. Can you just again repeat the revenue that you've derived from Mindful Souls and Ideal World for FY 2024?
Yeah. Around INR 17 million in FY 2024, we generated from new acquisitions.
Okay. And sir, at optimum utilization, when we account them for the full year, for FY 25, what is the revenue that can be anticipated from these new acquisitions?
We don't give guidance for individual units, but I can give you a rough number. It will be between $40 million-$45 million.
40-45 million GBP?
Dollars.
Dollar.
For this current financial year, this is what we are looking at, approximately. We, but we don't give guidance specifically per unit, but since it is a new acquisition-
But-
and you asked the question, so I'm giving you that ballpark number.
Okay. Any guidance in terms of your overall EBITDA margins, considering the losses that we have in Germany so far? Any guidance for overall margins for FY 25?
Yeah. We don't give guidance on, margin numbers, Tanvi, but we are, we gave guidance of strong operating leverage on EBITDA or PBT level for current financial year compared to last year. Now, other participant had asked question, then we will reach earlier numbers of 15%-16% of EBITDA. So we, we are unable to give specific guidance, but we will see continued leverage on improved revenue numbers for foreseeable future.
No, sir, I'm getting... In terms of revenue, I know the, the growth guidance that you've given. But sir, in terms of EBITDA, because, you know, as you've earlier spoken, that Germany by second half would be basically, you would be neutral, so there will be some synergy, some benefit coming from that part also in the second half of the year. So overall, definitely we would be getting, if it goes in line, we would be getting some margins better than FY 2024. Is that a correct understanding?
That is correct, and EBITDA will flow in from not only Germany. It will flow from U.K. and U.S. businesses as well.
Okay.
Germany is the only EBITDA leverage play. It will be from all three geographies.
Okay, okay. Got it. Thank you, sir.
Okay.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Gaurav Nigam from Tunga Investments. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you, sir. First question was on, can you please specify the unique customers on TTM basis for the base business, which is USA and U.K.?... It's Gaurav, it's roughly around 465,000, roughly around. 465. So it has materially gone up, sir. I think last quarter it was around 410, if I remember correctly.
Yeah, that I think that was number 400, we told last time it was excluding Germany. I'm just telling including Germany, that number. So-
Okay, 465-
Quarter we see, we saw on QDM basis, 2% improvement.
Okay, so 465 is including Germany. How many would be Germany, sir, in this 465?
It's roughly around 50,000, something.
50,000. Okay, understood. Understood. Sir, there is a reduction in number of households. Is there something in USA very specifically? Is there something because of which this has happened?
Yeah, we-
Right now, you're-
Yeah, we exited some houses that were not producing for us. So we have certain criteria for our evaluation of the households. So some houses don't produce, we exit them, and we enter into new houses that we think will produce for us. So this change is only in U.S.
There's a material decline, sir, I think from INR 80 million-INR 61 million, if I'm not wrong, in one year. Is that correct?
Let me just check. That doesn't sound right.
Okay. Okay, then I'll check. Okay, understood.
70-60 doesn't sound right. Let me just check. I remember getting about 5-6 million homes, but this 19 million doesn't sound right.
Understood. Maybe I'll check with Nitin and Shyam.
Yeah. Yeah.
So just continuing on previous participant, where you gave, like, 40 million-45 million, kind of for the new acquisition. I think in the last con call indicated that the base businesses can grow at, high single digit, low double digit, that kind of a number. If I just do a backward calculation, you are probably indicating now that base businesses will grow 3%-4%. Is there something I'm missing? Has something changed quarter-on-quarter because of this, this change in guidance?
No, actually, Gaurav, as Sunil mentioned about, we, we have taken the impact of election in, in our assumptions this year. That's why we want to be conservative on it. The last quarter we mentioned high single digit around, that we expect that we will generate from our existing business. And new acquisitions, will, will shape up accordingly in this year. But we have accounted for in the conservative approach for the both of the countries has election, U.K. and U.S., so we have considered that in, this assumption.
Got it. So there is a, like, change in guidance for the base business. Is that-
Yes.
because of elections? Understood, sir. Just one more question, sir. On the ASP side, I saw a significant decline in ASP, although I think earlier we were thinking that we can keep this constant. Is this because of the market changes or we have done something to reduce the ASP?
For two reasons. When the customers have come back home from travel and going out a lot, so they've resumed their, they're resuming more their natural habits of buying. So till last year, we're having to sell high-end investment kind of product that pushed up the ASP. Second thing is, during this quarter, especially, we exited a lot of our inventory, which we had purchased during COVID, and some of that was delayed in transit time due to the shipping trans disturbances. And we exited large part of that, and that was lower price point inventory.
So that has lowered the price point, but we're not giving a guidance that will go back up in a higher price point because the investment-driven demand that was there last two year because of inflation may not be there. So we are keeping our guidance to the similar price point for going forward.
Understood. Understood. This is great, sir. Thank you for answering my question. Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Deepak Kumar, who is an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hello? Sir, by any chance, like, do you have, like, the gross margins at, you know, segment level, jewelry and lifestyle, and how do the margins vary when we sell our products through TV sales, online website and other channels?
Gross margin is roughly pretty much similar in both of the categories.
Mm-hmm.
Even I would say they're slightly higher in lifestyle product, as it requires storage cost and other fulfillment cost. But broadly, both of the categories has similar margins.
Okay, and, like, even when we sell them through different channels, the margins will be similar?
Yeah, different. On website, it is slightly higher margin, but website, we have options of exiting that old inventory via clearance and rising options. So overall combined, website margin is slightly lower, but selling through the normal sales through website and live TV streaming platforms, the margin is slightly higher on web.
... Okay. And like, do we have any, any rough estimate as to know how much data is there in the gross margin in terms of percentage?
It's not materially different. Yeah.
Okay. Okay, okay. And, one more question, like, how much is the incremental gross margin for, like, for own brand products? Hello?
Product margin. Yeah, so our own branded product margin is slightly higher than the third party branded products. I don't have the specific data between the two, but they are a bit higher. But nevertheless, our criteria to get any third party brand, even from outside, is 60%. So it, sometimes, if there is a clearance, we may have to reduce that margin, but we try not to go for outside brand below 60%. And that is the reason we will never sell, Apple or Bose or Samsung products.
Okay, okay, okay. Okay, thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Rishabh Gang, who is an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir, thank you for the opportunity. Wanted to ask about jewelry we sell, right? So, if we can give a mix on what is the percentage of fine metal jewelry, and what is the percentage of silver and base metal, products that you sell, so that I can, get to know what is the proportion? Yeah.
Yeah. So gold and platinum jewelry is very small ratio of the total jewelry. By volume, it may be less than 1%. By value, it may be less than 10% of all the jewelry. I don't have the exact numbers, but I'm giving you an estimate.
Yeah, no issue, sir. Also, the high value diamond or stones are also less, a lesser value, right?
Very well. So total sales amount of the gold and platinum would be 10% or lower. I, I'll have to figure it out. I'll have to take it out, but that's my estimation, I'm giving you this number. Specifically, our team will research and give it to you in resolution.
Sure, sure. Second question here was regarding Mindful Souls, right? So I think it is a very good, so congratulations for that. And which geography does Mindful Souls actually serve in, right? Have you considered expanding it in other geographies as well, since margins are very good?
Yeah. So about 90% is in U.S., and rest of the 10% is from U.K., Canada, Australia and Germany. So we have recently launched, just before we acquired, within last 1 year, they have launched into these countries.
Okay. Okay, sir. Also, what is the revenue model for the sale that we actually make through social retail and OTT platform? Like, I just could not think about how you sell through that. And that is my first question on that. And second question is, what are the gross margins and DSO days to Walmart also, I think we sell to Walmart as well. So any idea on the working capital days for that end?
We don't sell to Walmart. We sell on Walmart platform as a third-party vendor, on Amazon-
Okay.
and Walmart. And there, right away, we get the payment within three days from Walmart and Amazon. There's no data days.
Okay.
And, your other question was, mi-
What is the model for social retail and OTT platform? Like, how do you sell and revenue model?
So for social, we sell through advertisement on Facebook, Meta, and little bit of TikTok. So we advertise there, and the customers land either on our websites or land on Meta Shop, where we list our products, but the customer detail is ours. The customer belongs to us. Unlike on platforms like Amazon or Walmart, the customer doesn't belong to us. Customer knows only Amazon or Walmart. In social, customer belongs to us. OTT is very similar to our television. Instead of seeing the streaming on television, they see streaming on connected TV, either through the linear channel on OTT or through the app on OTT platform. For example, Roku or Fire TV or Samsung TV, our apps are on the platform.
We advertise that app, so people get the advertisement for the app, and if they see that, they like the message that we are getting on the advertisement, they'll click and download our app on the Smart TV and watch us live. When they watch us, they can order on Smart TV or through their website, or call our customer service on a dedicated IVR number.
All right, very interesting. Just one last question if time allows. How does the mechanism work for the BudgetPay? Like, who bears the delinquency risk, and what kind of additional cost does VGL incur in BudgetPay option?
Right. So our... Roughly for the group, around 39% sales comes through BudgetPay .
Mm-hmm.
We give the BudgetPay based on customer payment history. Every customer has a different financing options. It gives from a option from two to five installments, not more than that. First installment, we collected at first place, and rest is equally in each month.
... Customers don't need to pay any interest or other costs. It's just, we do finance that cost ourselves from our own working capital, and this is roughly around 1.5-2% from total budget per sales.
All right. All right. Thank you, sir. Y
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you, Vishal.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, you may press Star and One to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Shreyans Jain from Svan Investments . Please go ahead.
Hello. Thanks for the opportunity, sir. So my first question is with regards to what you were talking about Germany. So there is an OCI in Germany because of a loan that you've given from USA. So is my understanding correct, that INR 9 crore loss in Germany should be a INR 9 crore gain in the US business in the segmental bit that we report? So am I understanding this correctly?
Yeah, yeah. Well, that segmental, yeah.
Segmental, yes.
Yeah, segmental profit, there are unrealized gain in their books as of now, but in last quarter it was a flip side or reverse on that calculation. So overall, in the books, in consolidation, PBT, PAT and EBITDA doesn't account it.
INR 37 crores EBIT in USA should have been lower by INR 9 crores if you had not booked the gain. Is my understanding correct?
I have to check that number, because I don't have that ready with me, but I have to check and then I'll come back to you.
Okay. And sir, my second question is what is the absolute spend on content and broadcasting in this quarter versus last year?
Absolute number I'm not sure, but roughly it is around 16%. 16% of the sales. Yeah, 16% of the sales.
Okay. And sir, just last question on Germany again. So even if I adjust this OCI bit, you know, INR 9 crores, but after that also we would have done about INR 12 crores of loss. So QOQ from 5 to 12, that's again a swing of INR 7 crores. So have we done something? Because I think Vodafone addition of Vodafone customers I think was there in the last 2, 3 quarters. So is that the only reason or we've done something more in Germany?
Yeah. In Germany also, we have cleared up our existing inventory that we've done excess buying in the previous quarters. And we have done a one-off exercise to clear that inventory. That accounts for the additional losses that you see in Germany.
What was the amount, sir, exact contribution to that?
Roughly... Yeah, roughly $300,000-$400,000, roughly.
$300,000-$400,000?
Yeah.
Oh, okay. All right. That's it. Thank you so much for your assistance.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rishabh Gang, who is an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you, sir. So you have mentioned about crowdsourcing of ideas, looks very innovative. So wanted to understand what is the reward mechanism of crowdsourcing of ideas? And also you mentioned about, revenue contribution of new items introduced is 70%. So what is your... How do you clear your old SKUs, and at what margins do you clear those old SKUs? Yes, sir. Hello?
Hello.
Hello, sir. Am I audible?
Yes, yes. Thank you, Rishabh. So crowdsourcing means we have multiple set, multiple channels for getting the idea.
Mm-hmm.
So number one is customers be encouraged through our television and website to share their product ideas with us. With employees, we have very robust program of sourcing ideas from all blocks of employees and their family members. And then we get the ideas from outside innovators. It's our Catapult program, where we get the product pitched to us, and then those products, our committee would decide whether to take on air or not. And we also have Draw Your Design program, where we encourage schools or design institutes-
Mm-hmm.
to draw the pro designs and participate. Now, there's a different reward mechanism for different people. For example, internal team, we have $100 for idea accepted and then 1% of revenue for one year. For external customers, we don't reward because earlier we used to do that, but then that led to some dissatisfaction. Where they gave a design, but the design was already in work, they felt that they, we didn't reward them as much. For Catapult, outside reward, outside vendors, if they manufacture for us, they sell the product to us. If we manufacture for them, we give them commission from 4%-8% of revenue. So there are different mechanism, and this concept is working out well for us.
Very interesting. Yes, sir. On the inventory of old SKU, how do you go ahead with that? Hello? Hello.
Sir?... Ladies and gentlemen, we have lost the management connection. Please stay connected while I reconnect them. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for patiently holding. We have the management connection back on call.
Hello? Hello. Thank you, and apologize for the disconnection. We had some issue. Rishabh, did I answer your question?
So my question was, how do you clear the old inventories, right? Because, revenue contribution of new items increases 70%, so you would be having some lot of inventories of previous year's items. So how is your mechanism for clearing those, SKUs, and, how does the margins look for those kind of SKUs?
Yeah. So for clearing the existing inventory or the earlier inventory, we have multiple mechanisms. Number one is we run clearance sales 4-5 times a year on television, and we have clearance within our websites. And then the third is the Rising Auction, another option. So the small segmented item, whatever are left, we put up on the Rising Auction at $1, and people bid against each other, and they buy the product. So, so the Rising Auction has a margin of about 8%-10% only. Then the clearance of website has about 35% margin, and clearance of television has about 45% margin. So the margin that you see of 62.7% is a blended of clearance and the new one.
Excellent. Good margin,
The 70%, remember that, 70% is a new product that is launched within last 12 months. But 30%, not all goes into clearance. Many of those products are sold at full margin, or the majority of that, and only a small amount would go through this clearance mechanism at lower margin.
Okay. So in the last con call, you had mentioned that, so Ideal World used to be in a 30% gross margin kind of product space, and you have actually entered, even through Ideal World in the product categories in which we are already present, 60%. So what are we actually leveraging off Ideal World? Are we leveraging their reach? Because we are not selling in the product categories they are in. So what do you think about that?
Yeah. So Ideal World, we've not sold jewelry there. We have sold... We are selling home, beauty, accessories, what we were selling earlier, and the customer base that they had was quite substantial. We got the customer list of about 480,000 customers who were active within the last 12 months from them. So we are able to reach out to those customers and get them back. And plus, we have a list of about 5 million customers that they would like over lifetime, they developed. We can't email to all of them because of the GDPR constraints, but we can retarget them on Google and Facebook over the time.
Okay. Fine. Just one last question, if time allows. What are your return rates across jewelry and lifestyle, right? And how does it actually correlate the value of the item and the return rate? And how is the cost of return calculated, if possible to break down?
All the categories we mentioned have different rates, even with the price point categories and even the products, and the geography also. So U.S. geography, U.S. has a lower return rate, and in Germany is a higher return rate. But for the group, overall return rate is around 23%-24%. Jewelry being higher and lifestyle being the lower return rate.
So, how higher in Germany, how lower in US? A better idea on that, if possible.
US is roughly around 17%-18%, and Germany is around 35%-36%.
So whenever these returns happen, like, what are the additional costs, like logistics costs? Like, what is the percentage, which you get to, which you have to incur because of that?
Yeah, that number I don't have readily available, but roughly, fulfillment costs, excluding shipping, accounts for around 7%.
All right. Okay. Thank you so much, sir. Really appreciate your time and effort. Yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will take that as the last question. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Sunil Agrawal for closing comments.
Thank you. So I want to thank all the participants for your time and great questions. If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out to Prashant Suryawanshi, the DGM, or Amit Sharma at Adfactors PR India, and we'll be happy to answer your questions. Thank you once again.
On behalf of Vaibhav Global Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line.