Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Voltas Quarter Four and Financial Year Ending March 2024 Earnings Call, hosted by DAM Capital Advisors Limited. 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 touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Miss Bhumika Nair from DAM Capital. Thank you, and over to you, ma'am.
Thanks, Sagar. Good afternoon, everyone, and a warm welcome to the Q4 FY 2024 Earnings Call of Voltas Limited. We have the management today being represented by Mr. Pradeep Bakshi, Managing Director and CEO, Mr. Jitender Verma, CFO, Mr. Nikhil Chandarana, Head Corporate Finance, and Mr. Vaibhav Vohra, Manager Corporate Finance. Without any further delay, I'll hand over the call to Mr. Pradeep Bakshi for his opening remarks, post which we'll open up the floor for Q&A. Over to you, sir.
Hi, this is Jitender Verma, CFO. Mr. Bakshi is also here. And, I will be opening the session with the quick intro on our results, and then, we will take up the question and answers along Mr. Bakshi, along with me. So, good afternoon, everyone. As we know that the financial year 2024 remained an eventful year, starting with supply chain disruptions in the aftermath of Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Hamas conflict, and the Red Sea crisis. All of these have led to a sharp jump in shipping rates. Group prices have also soared fast post Iran-Israel war, spiraling into a considerable surge in inflation. Tightening of globally synchronized monetary policy has also caused unwarranted pressures on businesses. Despite many unfavorable situations, the world avoided a recession, and the banking system proved largely resilient.
At an overall level, global growth remains buoyant in spite of the aforesaid circumstances, and the growth bottomed at 2.3%. For 2024, the IMF has estimated global growth at around 3.2% in 2024, which is at the same pace as in 2023. Back home in India, despite multiple global headwinds, India's monthly economic indicators like PMI, services index, GST and direct tax collection, supported robust business activity. Uptick in India's growth would continue to be driven by the government's Make in India thrust and high infrastructure spends. Also, narrowing of trade deficit and a lower CAD would support growth. The IMF has estimated India's growth at 6.8% in FY 2025 and 6.5% in FY 2026.
The company has seen record-breaking top line growth over the last year, with the sale of over 2 million ACs in FY 2024, indicating a strong market demand for the company's products, registering a quarterly growth of 72% and an annual growth of 35% in volumes. The volume growth was also driven by split air conditioner, sales of which doubled in Q4 and grew over 50% for the full year. With this incredible volume growth, the company reported consolidated total income for the year ending 31st March 2024, which was higher by 32% at INR 12,735 crores as compared to INR 9,667 crores last year. Profit before tax was higher by 58% at INR 486 crores as compared to INR 307 crores last year.
Net profit after tax was at INR 248 crores as compared to INR 136 crores last year. Earnings per share of a face value per share of INR 1, for year ended thirty-first March 2024 was at INR 7.62 as compared to INR 4.08 in the same period previous year. For quarter ending March 2024, the consolidated total income grew by 42% at INR 4,257 crores as compared to INR 3,003 crores in the corresponding quarter last year. Profit before tax was at INR 174 crores as compared to INR 214 crores in the corresponding quarter last year.
Net profit after tax was at INR 111 crores as compared to INR 143 crores in the corresponding quarter last year. Earnings per share, not annualized, for year ended, was at INR 3.52 as compared to INR 4.35 in the same period previous year. The corporate balance sheet continues to remain healthy, with the cash and cash equivalents at INR 2,835 crores as at 31 March 2024. You all have seen our results, so I'm not repeating the snapshot, which is there. I go straight to the segment, Unitary Cooling Products, or UCP, as we call it. The year 2023-2024 set a new landmark for the company and helped us set our dominance in the air conditioning industry. A year driven by cheer...
Excuse me, sir, you're not audible... Sorry for the interruption. The line for the management and the chairperson has been dropped. Please stay connected while we reconnect the management line. Ladies and gentlemen, we have the line for the management reconnected. Ladies and gentlemen, sorry for the interruption. We have the line for the management connected. Please go ahead, sir.
The split inverter category of air conditioners is in high demand, driven by consumers' desire to have products with advanced features and its long-term advantages of savings in energy costs. The expanded product portfolio of Voltas, with newer ACUs designed in-house and competitive pricing, has resulted in increased share of the inverter AC category to over 80% during the year. Based on the success of the inverter split category, the company has expanded inverter portfolio in the window air conditioner category as well, at strategic price points during the year. Further, during the year, there was strong demand for premium category of products, that is four and five-star rated products, and the overall sales mix for Voltas for these products has also improved.
Strong brand positioning, distribution reach, leverage on the supply chain, helped us retain our leadership position for the year with a YTD March market share of 18.7%. We continue to leverage our strength in traditional channels and increase our concentration in modern trade and organized channels, as we continue to build an extensive network of exclusive brand outlets, EBOs, including exterior zones at strategic locations, all of which will help in strengthening the market share. Voltas has maintained its leadership position in the air conditioner category for more than a decade and has maintained its lead over the competition. The brand is geared to further expand its retail and distribution network, grow product portfolio, and gain an additional edge over the competition. The company also registered a significant growth in volume in other cooling products, including air cooler and commercial refrigeration products.
The commercial refrigeration industry witnessed low traction throughout the year on account of reduced investment by the brands, more particularly in chocolate category. The growth of the commercial refrigerator category has remained tepid. However, channel push and anticipated demand for cold beverages, ice creams from across the industry helped us clock positive results for the business. Nevertheless, the outlook for this category is promising, and growth drivers are visible in the current financial year. The air cooler vertical has emerged as a crucial extension of Voltas' product line, providing an impetus to the company's position in the cooling product industry. The acceptance of our high-end product portfolio, expansion of channel and tactical distributor scheme, supported the primary delivery to the channel partners, which helped in registering the growth during the quarter. Voltas water heaters continued to gain good acceptance across the distributors and customers.
The commercial air conditioning vertical also contributed to the growth journey for the UCP segment. Performance of VRF, light commercial air conditioners, packaged air conditioners, ducted ACs reported notable growth across sectors. However, input price escalations and inability to pass on the same to the customers, owing to stiff competition, have impacted the margins for this sector. Increased commercial activity across the country, coupled with focus on customer retention and after-sales service, supported the overall growth for the category. However, competitive intensity has lagged the business's ability to garner margin-aggressive deals, especially in AMP jobs. For the year, varied consumer-centric finance schemes have also contributed significantly to increase in sales during the current financial year, and would eventually help grow the market share going forward. Further, on the cost front, commodity prices have started to accelerate upwards. Even USD INR has depreciated over a period of time.
Both of these have been detrimental to the profitability of the business. Nevertheless, various value engineering and cost austerity drives have kept the profits in balance. To summarize, for the quarter ended March 2024, UCP segment registered revenues of INR 2,955 crores, a 44% growth in turnover from INR 2,039 crores in quarter four, FY 2023. The segment reported an EBIT of INR 270 crores in quarter four, financial year 2024, as compared to INR 206 crores in quarter four, FY 2023, a growth of 31%. For year ended March 2024, UCP segment registered revenue of INR 8,160 crores, which is a 29% growth in turnovers from INR 6,475 crores in financial year 2023.
Segment result was INR 693 crore in FY 2024, as against INR 538 crore in FY 2023, which is a growth of 29%. On CapEx front, we are happy to announce that our expansion plan for both our factories in Chennai and Vadodara are in line with our targets, and we would gear up for commercial production to be ready for second summer/festival sales. Both our upcoming plants will have strategic, strategic advantage of the location and help us cater to South and West markets. This will enable us to meet growing demand for the under-penetrated refrigeration products, which would in turn help us deliver a powerful performance to give our consumers comfort and convenience. With our story of volume growth, we are optimistic on utilization of our factories to be optimum scale and get a cost leverage on the business going forward.
Segment B, Electromechanical Projects and Services. The segment revenue for the quarter was INR 1,098 crores, as compared to the previous corresponding quarter revenue of INR 746 crores, which is a growth of 47%. The segment results for the quarter reported a loss of INR 108 crores on account of delayed collection in certain overseas projects. Healthy opening order book, quality PQ, more focused management after the transfer of business has translated into healthy business performance of the domestic project business. The domestic project business recorded a growth of 38% for the quarter and 73% for the year ended March 2024. The business continues to focus on governance, working capital management, and high productivity to translate the orders into profits, and in turn, into better cash inflow.
The order pack for the domestic project business stands at INR 5,024 crores, respectively. For international project business, projects in Saudi continue to deliver good performance and drive the revenue growth for the business. Based on past experience, we reassessed our exposure, especially in Qatar, where we continue to face unreasonable delays in release of due receivables and prolongation of execution timelines. We judiciously took provision due to slow recoverability of receivables, resulting in a loss for the quarter for this segment. While the region impacted the business result and the company has made the necessary provisions throughout the year, we are fairly optimistic to not have further setbacks from the geography, and the international business should be on its way to deliver positive results in the next fiscal year.
The carry-forward order book for international business as at 31 March 2024, stood at INR 3,030 crores, largely in UAE and Saudi Arabia region. Total carry forward order book of the segment stood at INR 8,054 crores, with INR 7,414 crores of carry forward orders as at 31 March 2023. Segment C, Engineering Products and Services. Segment revenue and results continued to report improved performance for the quarter, registering healthy growth over previous years. Segment revenue for the quarter was INR 156 crores, and EBIT for the quarter was INR 48 crores, respectively. Segment revenue for the year was INR 588 crores, and the segment result for the year was INR 206 crores.
Mining and construction equipment vertical has achieved its targeted numbers despite feeling pressure for margin reduction. India's infrastructure projects and the revival of the mining sector present growth opportunities for the business. MNCE focused on enhancing its market share in its fast-growing business and has a healthy supply of its machines. The recent allowance for commercial mining of coal and the relaxation of FDI norms in the mining sector by the government are positive developments for the business. These initiatives are expected to boost business for this vertical in the coming years. The textile industry experienced volatility characterized by fluctuations in cotton and yarn prices. The textile market remains sluggish due to highly subdued export demand for yarn. As a result, CapEx within the industry has decreased across the sector, which led to reduced utilization levels of spinners.
Despite the opposite factors, the business performance of our textile machinery vertical, or TMV, reached all-time high levels due to its healthy order book and through continued focus on after-sales business. Voltas Beko. The home appliances industry in India has witnessed a healthy growth, fueled by a surge in demand for both large and small appliances. Voltas, leveraging Arçelik's technical expertise and Voltas' strong brand presence, expanded its footprint in Indian households by manufacturing Made in India products in Sanand, Gujarat, and focusing on enhancing its distribution network, particularly in South and West India. In the ensuing year, Voltas Beko achieved significant milestones, becoming the fastest growing Indian consumer durable brand in just five years, selling over 5 million appliances despite multiple headwinds of COVID. Voltas Beko has solidified its position among the top brands in semiautomatic washing machines for 2023-2024.
Beko has also seen growth in the market share of refrigerators, washing machines, and semiautomatic tabletop dishwashers. Voltas Beko has delivered a volume growth of over 50% in revenue and quantity compared to last year, largely due to new product development and increase in billing locations. Voltas Beko is dedicated to expanding its market presence across various product categories and deploying customized approaches for market penetration and growth. These initiatives will involve the right top retailers adopting channel-specific tactics to enhance market reach in key regions, in key regions through retail and distributor channel, distribution channels, and maintaining a strong focus on boosting e-commerce and omni-channel development. New product launches, including larger capacity refrigerators and enhanced features, will help us in our growth trajectory to attain targets for breakeven and 10% market share. Outlook.
At the board meeting held on seventh May 2024 for adoption of accounts for the year ended thirty-first March 2024, the board declared a dividend of 550%, despite various provisions taken by the company in its international projects business over the last two years. Board delegated the importance of higher volume growth in its UCP business, which delivered healthy segment results and its commitment to pass on the share of profits to its shareholders. At a consolidated results level, this distribution of dividend amounts to a 72% payout of its profits during the year by way of dividend. Cooling products being a weather dependent and seasonal product, the summer period becomes critical for the industry and company for growth. The current weather forecast and increased footfall projects towards a sustainable growth.
The company is adequately prepared to secure the opportunity, both on supply and consumer demand front, and will continue to pursue its aggressive strategy to strengthen market share in a profitable way. For the project business, we will continue to follow cautious and adopt risk-mitigated approach while selecting new orders. The execution of the orders in hand is paramount to ensure timely completion of the project with intended margin. Thanks. We can open for questions and answers.
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 phone. 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. A small reminder: participants, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all the participants in the conference, please restrict your questions to only two per participant. If you have a follow-up question, you may rejoin the queue. Our first question is from the line of Ankur Sharma from HDFC Life. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. Good afternoon, and, thanks for your time. The first question was, on the room AC business. If you could share your market share, you know, as of end of March 2024, and also, you know, where do you think you can take this number to, you know, in the current year? We understand you've taken a lot of initiatives, especially on the modern trade side, tie-ups with a lot of large, you know, national retail brands. So if you could just help us, where do you see your market share, in current year? Second, yeah.
Okay. The first is, the first is about the market share. I think, you know, my colleague shared with you our market share as of financial year end on, this thing is 18.7%. Yeah. So year-to-date basis, it is at 18.7% on the room AC category.
Right. I understand that. Possible to share the market share number, market number, and also where do you see this number going to?
So you see, if you look at our market share for last about a year or so, it's been hovering around 20-odd%. And also, if you look at, you know, you know, this is the syndicated research numbers which we talk about here, and they are actually, you know, there's always a lag in, you know, the numbers, secondary shares reported by them. But if you look at on a primary shares basis-
Yeah.
We have done about, you know, more than 2 million air conditioners, and industry size has been, you know, rated as about 10 million.
Sure.
We are about, you know, 10-20% as per primary sales reports as well estimates also. This is the market share numbers-
Mm-hmm.
As of now. But if you look at the strategy, you are talking about the strategy as to how we will take it forward, as you would have heard us saying, that we have been, you know, trying to probably capture market share extraction from each of the channel, you know, now. We've been focusing on, you know, besides the conventional channel, distributors, modern trade, exclusive outlets, and also the e-commerce platforms. So everywhere we've got a strong presence, and it is going to continue as we go forward also.
... So that all these, you know, channels give us a proper market share, and our endeavor would be to continue to maintain and sustain this leadership position as well as, you know, market. Also, if you look at whatever may be the secondary sales numbers being presented by, you know, this third party syndicated research agency, professional agency.
But if you look at, you know, on the primary sales number, there is no brand which is closer to us.
They're miles away from us, without naming any one of them. Many of them are still struggling to catch up with 1 million mark.
We clearly, having crossed 2 million, with many of them, we are double than them. However, when these numbers are reported by the syndicated research, it does not show up the correct market share figures. So what I am interested in delivering to my shareholders and stakeholders is, to continue to grow with this kind of growth. If you look at the growth which we have spelled out, in the quarter four, it's more than 70%, about 72% or so. Even if you look at the annual analysis or the total YTD financial year, is growth on the room AC front is more than 35%. If you look, there's another segment, which is the split category, which is dominant in the total room AC. You know, roughly around 85%-88% or 90% sales is coming from the split category.
There, we have been able to double up our number in this fiscal.
Also, if you look at even in the quarter, in quarter four, and if you look at on an annualized, which is also YTD numbers also, it's been about 54%-55% or more than 50%.
So from this, you can look at as to how we have been, you know, widening the gap with, you know, other brands. So I am sure the, you know, shareholders would be interested in knowing that rather than, you know, only knowing some number, which is, you know, thrown upon secondary sales.
Also, whatever we have pumped, whatever material is gone into the market in the last quarter, because secondary sales, as I said, there is a lag.
So now in the coming months, you'll get to see, ideally, the market shares, even as reported by the syndicated research, should also go up. So I'm expecting that to go. But, you know, we are actually, you know, confident that we are doing well for the, for ourselves and for our shareholders, in terms of giving them, providing them with the growth on both revenue front, also on the, on, also on the, volume front. So this is what, again, going forward also, our strategy is going to continue to strengthen the other channels, which we have started, you know, focusing on in the last one, one and a half years. The other channels, allied channels like e-commerce and also the-
... exclusive outlets, we continue to grow. We have, we've been present in more than 325 exclusive outlets, more than 26,000, you know, channel partners across the length and breadth of the country. So I think this shows the might of the brand. I'm sure I've been able to answer to your query, sir.
Thank you so much. The next question is from the line of Rahul Gajari from Haitong Securities India Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks. Good afternoon, gentlemen, and thanks for the opportunity. I've got two questions. The first one is on the project business. Sir, in the project business, is it possible you could share with us the provision that was booked in the fourth quarter? And whether all of this was specifically from the Qatar project, and if this is the last of the provision that we've seen over the last two years in Qatar, and how are the projects in the other regions, and your outlook for FY 2025, as far as the project business is concerned?
So, Rahul, you know, I'd like to answer it twofold. You know, if you look at the project business, overall project business, it is twofold. One is a domestic project business, and another one is the international piece. So if you look at our domestic project segment, which is UMPESL, which is our, you know, subsidiary, wholly owned subsidiary, there you would have seen we have done pretty well. And you would have seen our growth in the revenue is, and also the profitability. Yeah. It's been, growth has been about 20% in the revenue, and in the profitability also, it's been about... How much is that?
The profitability is also around.
More than 30%.
Yeah.
More than 30% growth in the, this thing also. Also, if you look at, there are three segments into it. One is the infrastructure projects, and infrastructure also is MEP, water, and electrical. All three segments have done well, and for the very first time, we have crossed more than, you know, almost-
Ninety crores.
In the infrastructure alone, we have done about 90-.
90 crores.
INR 96 crore. And other businesses, also textile machinery and mining construction also, it's been almost INR 100 crore each. Or INR 106 crore in textile, probably, and INR 100 crore in the mining business. So all these, you know, cylinders have, you know, continued to deliver in this last two years, if you look at, and they've continued to outperform the industry. Even the market shares in each of these segments, also, whether it is textile machinery, it is more than 62%. Mining construction, also more than 65% in the product where we sell. And even in the infrastructure business, we remain one of the dominant players in India. So coming back to the international piece-... Yes, of course, you know, it has given us some headwinds in the last few quarters.
And, you will recollect, we had met you very recently, Rahul, and there also I had predicted to you that, you know, it is largely coming in from one geography, which is Qatar. Some small pieces had happened, but that is almost about a year back. But of late, whatever has come through is coming from the Qatar region only. And, we have, you know, proactively taken whatever we thought probably is delayed payments, et cetera, we have taken into account and we have already provided for. So going forward, hopefully, we are confident there will not be any further provisions. So except for one contingent liability, which we have already shared with all of you all along, which is, one in Qatar, in the one hospital case, Sidra, which I'm sure all of you know that.
So except for that, I think we are all good to go from here. And if you look at the two, three, four major projects which are continuing, two in KSA, Saudi Arabia, one water theme park in KSA, and another one hospital, you know, project, which is doing well. We are continuously delivering, executing it well, and we are recovering our dues, everything from there. Then another one in Dubai, that also. So everything is going on well on the current projects which are being executed, the large projects, we've been doing reasonably well. So I'm confident as we go forward, you know, this will all be a path for us international, you know, whatever issues we had, and it should be a healthy proposition in the international business also as we go forward.
In fact, to add to that, I would say that whatever provisions we have taken, if we are able to collect in the near future, that would give us an opportunity to write back these provisions. That's, that's an opportunity for the coming years. Next, please.
So also, let me correct, you know, if you look at it, I stand corrected, our growth at the EBIT level is 61% in the infrastructure universal domestic piece, which I was talking about, and the turnover growth has been 73%. So I stand corrected on that because I was talking only one megawatt. Now, put together all three pieces, this is the final growth numbers.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pulkit Patni from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Sir, thank you for taking my question. So first one is just an observation. This is the first time you released a number in terms of volumes, you know, right at the end of the quarter. Is it a practice that you're going to be continuing going forward as well? Every quarter, we would get to know the volume number immediately thereafter?
Pulkit, see, this was a very, I would say, an extraordinary achievement, where we achieved 2 million, and that is why immediately after the quarter end, we had,
Yes, of course. You know, also, whenever we get an opportunity, whenever such, you know, milestone achievements will continue to happen, which, we foresee happening, as you know, many of our businesses have been doing pretty well. So we'll continue to inform, you know, our shareholders and investors and all the stakeholders so that they are, you know, appraised of whatever developments have been happening at our end. That will be our endeavor.
Okay. So I’m assuming this is not going to be every quarter, but only if there’s a milestone. So my—now, my question is, as I look at your revenue for this year, for this segment, INR 8,000 crore, historically, when you were doing INR 4,000 crore revenue, you were reporting 13%-15% margin. This time around, we are at, you know, a much lower margin number. Now, while, Mr. Bakshi, you spoke about how growth-focused you are, how should we look at this margin going forward? Because with such strong volumes, at least we were expecting some bit of operating leverage to reflecting your margins a lot better. That would be my question number one.
Shall I answer?
Yes, sir, please.
So you see, if you remember when I talked to you last time also, you know, as we are looking at, you know, growing the businesses, and our primary focus is on increasing the, you know, volume and the revenue. And at the same time, you know, last time also we said that we will continue to deliver a high single digit growth. And I'm sure you will all appreciate that we have continued to deliver. And actually, over the last time what reported, we have done slightly better on that also.
RAC.
So yeah, in RAC, if you look at alone, the margins have moved from 9% to 10%, so on a quarterly basis. And therefore, I think probably as we move forward, we're trying to improve on that. But, you know, when you grow from INR 4,000 crore to INR 13,000 crore, you know, you please appreciate, you know, for that we'll have to... We cannot continue to make 12% and 13% margins. But even if we've been maintaining high single digit growth, and I'm sure you would have seen many other banks also reporting the numbers, how many of them have been able to maintain this kind of a, you know, EBIT number?
So I think probably we've been doing reasonably well in delivering to the expectations of the shareholders, and we'll continue to do so as we go forward.
See, the point here is that,
... with our increased volumes, the rupee profit or rupee, or the rupee rebate is on a much higher trajectory, and that is, which adds to the earnings per share of the, you know, which is the important thing for the shareholders. So if we are focusing on higher volumes and delivering higher margins in rupee terms, that is the goal and the growth. And also, you know, in line with that, we have also given the dividend growth 550% this time, as against 425% last year. So I think you will understand our intentions to pay more to the shareholders. That's how we are looking at.
No, sir. I completely understand. I think clearly the volume focus is visible in every way. So my second question is on CapEx. Now, obviously, volume being such a big focus, you're doing some CapEx. Can you just talk about where we stand in terms of capacity? And obviously, India is a growing market, how do we intend doing CapEx to build that capacity even further?
Yeah. So very good and important question at this juncture, especially. You see, I was going through a couple of reports, you know, news items, wherein it is shown that, you know, across the Asia Pacific region, the heat wave is quite intense. And coming back to India, which is our main primary focus market, there also, you know, country is very hot and humid at the moment. It's unbearable, and temperatures are hovering around more than 40, 45 degrees in several places. And therefore, therefore, there is a great demand of compressor products. You know, so much so, if you look at my growth in the last two, three months, it's been more than 70, 75%, which is unprecedented.
I'm sure however good planner you may be, as a brand or as an organization or as a person, individual also, I don't think this kind of growth would have been planned by anybody and would have expected. As a result, what has happened is, the stocks have started to disappear from our warehouses. Factories are augmenting their, you know, production capabilities, but that is getting outpaced by the sales demand. Therefore, willy-nilly, and actually we are trying to invest a lot of CapEx into augmenting our facilities and gearing up to cater to those rising demands. We are, as you would know, I'd announced earlier, we've bought out a very large land parcel of about 150 acres.
In my opinion, probably this is going to be India's largest manufacturing plant, which I'm going to set up in Chennai, which is going to go live by the end of this month, and this will, you know, take my manufacturing to almost another 2 million as we go forward. So immediately, 1 million will catch up from this year itself. We will start in the next one year's time, from May, June onwards. Until the next May, June, I'll add up at least 1 million to my production capability. Currently, my manufacturing plant in Panagarh is giving me a capacity between 1.3-1.5 million, so I would be able to reach to about 2.3-2.5 million, which will suffice my requirements for the current year.
But I'm going to add up to that another 1 million in Chennai, so I am, you know, trying to, you know, catch up with the game. In next two to three years, when I hit about 3-3.5 million, I would, would be safe and able to cater to these rising demands. So we're spending, you know, amount on product developments. We are spending amount on augmenting production facility, not only in the room AC, but also in the other, you know, product categories, our commercial refrigerator products in Vadodara, our commercial air conditioning in Vadodara, that is near Baroda. We have set up a plant which wherein also we have invested a lot of CapEx, and we are augmenting capacities in both these plants as well. And then also at Sanand, in our Voltas Beko range of appliances also.
There also, if you look at our numbers, we have done almost touching 1 million each refrigerator and washing machine. So there also, you know, we are gaining grounds. Our market shares are increasing, our volumes are increasing, and therefore we need to augment all these capacities to be able to live up to the consumer requirements. Have I answered, sir?
Yes. Thank you so much, sir. Our next question is from the line of Nikhil Kale from Invesco. Please go ahead.
Thanks for taking my question. Just wanted to check one thing. I think you mentioned that the RAC margins have moved from 9%-10% on quarterly basis. Just wanted to understand, did I hear it correctly? Because on a, UCP basis, it's still 9.2%, so that means that the other segments are pulling it down. Is that understanding correct?
Yes, absolutely correct.
Yeah, RAC definitely increased. There was a slight bit of headwind on the commercial refrigeration and CAC, but as Mr. Bakshi has already mentioned, we still continue to maintain, according to our guidance, which we have given to the investor community of high single digit margins, and we are within that, quarterly ups and downs notwithstanding.
So fair to say that even on a full year basis, you would be northwards of, say, 9% for the RAC segment?
... On a yearly guidance basis, I would still maintain the same thing of a high single digit-
No, sir, in terms of FY 2024.
For the full year 2024, the numbers would be down closer to 9, I would say, which we have already reported. Yeah.
Got it.
If you are looking at those RAC, yeah.
Got it. Got it. And just on the projects business, we've seen very strong growth in the domestic side of things. So now what proportion of our total revenues is coming from the domestic side? And again, there, would it be possible to highlight what kind of margin levels are we seeing?
For the total project business, our guidance on the project business, I would say domestic as well as international, has been between 4%-5%, and we would continue to maintain that. As we have seen in the last two years, we had to take certain provisions in the international business. So, if we, if we exclude that, as we expect that, majority of the, you know, problems are behind us, and we should be looking at a better future in international business also. So we expect that. Our domestic business has continuously been doing good, especially doing much better after the business transfer agreement was complete, and, that has been a very positive thing, to, to the same business.
So, if I were to answer on your very question, that, you know, basic question, what you said is the domestic business' contribution in the project business. You know, if you have looked at my order book, it is, the domestic business is double than the-
I saw.
Double than the international business. It is INR 5,000 crores plus, and there it is INR 3,000 crores. So, you know, we are definitely more focused on the domestic side of our project business, where we have got a better handle and a control, and therefore, and also this business has been doing well reasonably for last couple of years. You would have seen it is growing. It has shown reasonably good growth. Our water projects as well as electrical projects, besides the MEP, which used to be our mainstay earlier on, we have been doing well in all these segments. And there, the margin is also slightly better, and therefore, we'll continue to focus more on this. And if you look at in this business, the beauty is the return on capital employed.
If you look at, in this business, return on capital employed on only the infrastructure piece is about 40%.
49. Over 40.
Over 40% or 49%. But if you look at this universal piece total, it's almost about 100 odd %, 89% or 90% roughly. So I think, you know, that is what we have been focusing upon, and you rightly noticed that we want to focus on the domestic piece more than the international piece.
Thank you so much. The next question is from the line of Bhavin Vitlani from SBI Mutual Funds. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good evening. So I have a couple of questions. The first is, as you mentioned, the very strong growth in the industry, industry stocked out, and even then, you're guiding for high single digit margins. So we are not seeing margin expansion. So if not now, then when? That is question one. The second is, if you could maybe take out the... I mean, if you just help us with what is the provision that you made in the overseas project, because we're seeing a figure of 100 in it. So what actually is the provision? And taking that provision out, what is the EBIT margin in the projects business for the quarter as well as for the year? You gave some return on capital number.
It will be helpful to understand the absolute EBIT in this. Third is in Beko, you had earlier guided for breakeven in FY 2025 and positive trajectory on the margins from there on, and you get to a high single digit margins in Beko as well. If you could just help us, where are we in that journey? So that, these are my questions.
So, okay, I will answer some of your questions. Yeah. So first of all, if you ask about the growth, see, industry growth has been as per the syndicated research, is about 20-odd%, if you look at. And I shared with you our growth in quarter two has been 72, quarter four is 72%, and on annual basis, it's been more than 35% in the AC category. And if you look at all unitary cooling products also, it's been more than 30% growth, which we have registered. So that's one piece. And we are growing faster than the industry.
Secondly, during the peak season, when you say, "If not now, when will the margin expansion happen?" You know, suddenly, during the course of the season, it becomes very difficult because dealers have already or customers have already placed orders on you, and you have already given them pricing, et cetera, and suddenly you can't go back to them that I'm increasing my prices with immediate effect, and therefore start making more margins. So that becomes a little difficult at the moment. But of course, you know, we'll, we'll keep our eyes and ears closer to the ground and see if whenever, as and when there are opportunities and there are, if, you know- other challenges like demand, supply, gaps, et cetera, that time we will see as to how do we move forward on that direction onto that. And second question is about?
He asked about the margins on the project business, which I already answered.
Project business margins, we've already shared with you. It's been hovering around 4, 4.5, 5%, at the EBIT level. Yeah.
The EBIT guidance.
On a gross margin level, they've been higher. Yeah.
And then the third is on breakeven.
And coming back to, you know, Voltas Beko and the breakeven, let me answer you on that also. See, Voltas Beko also is continuously showing growth. Our growth this year has been more than 50%. It's been about 53% on the entire consumer durable category, refrigerators, washing machine, microwaves, and dishwashers. So coming back to I had-- Yes, of course, we did talk last time when we spoke, that we are talking about break, making the-
EBITDA.
EBITDA level. EBITDA level, we said we will make, you know, breakeven by the end of the, you know, financial year 2025. Yes, of course, we still maintain that, and our endeavor is in that direction, one. Secondly, we talked about, yes, after that, post that, from next to next year onwards, when we move after 2025, 2026, 2027, we'll start generating profit out of this category. But I don't remember I having told you that we will make high single digit in this category at that point in time when I discussed. But yes, of course, we said that, you know, our journey has, you know, begun. Obviously, we are a bit late entrants in this category. So yes, of course, we will start reaching profit, but high single digit, it will take, you know, couple of years to reach onto that.
Of course, as we go forward, our endeavor would be to definitely generate profit from this business, too.
Market share of 10%.
Market share, of course, we are saying we plan to take it to 10%. If you look at some of the categories, if you look at the refrigerators as of last March-end report, market share is 5.3%. Washing machine, all washing machines put together is 8.3%, or 8.5%, rather. And if you look at the semi-automatic washing machines alone, there, our market share and direct cool refrigerator also, if you look at, you know, the semi-automatic washing machine, we have already, as of March end, we are at 15% market share. So I'm sure you'll appreciate the effort which the team has put in to take us to this level. And as volumes get built up, the profitability will automatically start falling in place. Next, please.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Girish from MS. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir, thanks for the opportunity. I just had a couple of bookkeeping questions. If you could help us with on Voltas Beko, your revenue for FY 2024, and of the 26,000 touchpoints that you have on AC, how much is Voltas Beko right now selling at? And if you can give the billing points as well from the dealer perspective. And the second question was on AC: If you can just break us through the UCP on commercial refrigeration, commercial AC, and air coolers for FY 2024 year-ending. Percentage. Thank you.
So, you know, I will give you, two-fold answer to this. One is when you say, how many dealers or touchpoints we have, we have got more than 12,500 odd, you know, channel partners who are selling, refrigerators and washing machines for our Voltas Beko range of appliances. You talked about the turnover. Turnover is INR 1,585 crores, as against, you know, INR 1,500 crores, the budget which we have taken for ourselves, and as against INR 1,088 crores in the last financial year. So this is the answer number two to your questions. And, what else did you ask, sir?
Sir, I just wanted, for FY 2024, UCP break up around how much of percentage is coming from commercial AC, commercial refrigeration, and air coolers?
In terms of revenue, sir, if you are asking me-
Yes, sir.
So we had done about INR 1,000-odd crore in commercial refrigeration. We had done about INR 3,000-odd crore in commercial air conditioning. This is how it is, and you can calculate the rest. I just want to highlight on the Voltas Beko, when you asked us the revenue, we have told you the numbers, but these are not consolidated in the Voltas numbers. Voltas Beko being a 50/50 joint venture, we take only the you know the profit and loss numbers, not the revenue numbers. So these are not included within our top line, just for your information.
Sir, can you give us a guidance on CapEx? I may have missed it. For fiscal 2025, 2026, how much are we expecting to incur on capital expenditure?
2025, 2026 is little farther, sir. I would like to answer, limited to this year itself, because-
Okay.
You know, we have not budgeted for, you know, for next year, the CapEx. Probably we'll do it-
2025, 2026.
2025, 2026 is a little distant, so I think I'll be able to answer a couple of months later when you ask me this question.
Fiscal 2025 would be how much, sir?
25 CapEx budget?
Yes, sir.
See, we had already announced that we will do a CapEx of INR 500 for our Chennai factory. So you can take that, approximately half of that was capitalized, or rather capital work in progress for last year, and roughly about half will be within this year, FY 2025, including for our Vadodara plants and other things. So roughly about that much. But besides this, you know, we are also augmenting our, you know, Vadodara plants, both...
...The commercial AC, commercial refrigeration, there also we are spending monies almost to the tune of additional more than INR 200-INR 250 crores, and during this year, and also to augment further on the Chennai plant, besides, you know, what we spent about INR 200, 20-30 crores. Balance part of the INR 500-INR 550 crores will get spent during this year.
Thank you, sir, and wish you all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will take that as our last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to Ms. Bhumika Nair for closing comments.
It's important to host the call and wish you all the very best for the upcoming years. Thank you very much. Any closing comments from your side, sir?
Yes, I think we have made our intentions very clear that we will focus on growth and fire on all cylinders in all our business segments where we operate. We want to retain the leadership position, and this is clearly evident from the fact that while maintaining our volume growth, we have also been maintaining our margin leadership, which is a crucial thing. I hope that the investor community and shareholder community will be happy with our results. I would say that should continue, and we look forward to your continued support and confidence in Brand Voltas and in us, and we'll continue to deliver on whatever commitments we have been making to you. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of DAM Capital Advisors Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.