Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited — Q2 FY25
ABFRL reported Q2FY25 consolidated revenue of INR 3,644 crore (+13% YoY) and EBITDA of INR 410 crore (+11% YoY) with an 11.2% margin.
neutral
medium
✓ Verified against BSE filing
Claim Ledger
Did management answer the analysts?
Every material analyst question, graded on whether management actually answered it — with the verbatim exchange and quantitative claims checked against filed numbers.
54%Questions answered3Evaded / deflected12Questions auditedContradictedNumbers vs filing
Partial answer
High priority
Demand conditions in October for Pantaloons and lifestyle brands.
Asked by Gaurav Jogani, JM Financial
Management gave a qualitative 'decent start' without quantifying growth or providing comparable data.
no specific numbersqualitative only
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Question
How have they been running into this first month of October in the testing season for both the brands, i.e., Pantaloons as well as the lifestyle brands.
Vishak Kumar, Director and CEO
So far we've had a decent start. I wouldn't say, you know, I don't want to jinx it. But decent start to Diwali it's been.
Evasive
High priority
Post-demerger growth plans for ABFRL given debt.
Asked by Gaurav Jogani, JM Financial
Management acknowledged the question but gave no concrete plan, only referencing a future fundraise.
no specific plandeferred to future fundraise
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Question
Post the demerger between ABL and ABFR, how do you plan to scale up things in the ABFR piece of business given that business will have a certain amount of debt?
Ashish Dikshit, Managing Director
At the time of demerger and announcement the board had also approved the fundraise exercise... we would look to raise capital... we'll fund it adequately to drive the growth.
Answered
High priority
Reason for flat/lower margins in lifestyle brands despite lower markdowns.
Asked by Nehal, Ambit Capital
Management directly attributed the margin flatness to a one-off gain in the prior year.
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Question
Despite the positive LTL, was it a step up in marketing spends or maybe a channel shift which is let's say margins being flat or slightly lower.
Ashish Dikshit, Managing Director
Specifically last year, same quarter we had a one-off gain... we had a one-off gain in last year which we didn't have this year which would have impacted margins.
Declined
High priority
Planned debt level for new entity after QIP and CapEx outlook.
Asked by Nehal, Ambit Capital
Management explicitly declined to provide any numbers or guidance on debt or CapEx.
refused to commentdeferred to board approval
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Question
What is the planned debt with which say the new entity will start with after the QIP? If you could give a ballpark sense and would the pile up expansion that you're targeting be significant in terms of the CapEx outflow?
Ashish Dikshit, Managing Director
At this stage unless the board has formally approved a fundraiser I won't be able to comment on it... I'm not at liberty today to talk about either the size or the timing of the fundraise.
Partial answer
High priority
Pantaloons EBITDA margin expansion and negative EBITDA.
Asked by Garima Mishra, Kotak Bank
Management explained the negative EBITDA but did not quantify the impact of Style Up or provide a timeline to profitability.
no specific margin numbersattributed to Style Up without quantification
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Question
How do you view this? And I'm asking this also in the context that EBITDA margin does not give a complete picture, giving some rental costs below EBITDA.
Ashish Dikshit, Managing Director
Improved performance is with on a like to like basis... Pantaloons also has Style Up as a part of it, a small portion... pulling down Pantaloons segment profitability.
Evasive
Medium priority
Steps to drive up LTL in Pantaloons given tepid demand.
Asked by Garima Mishra, Kotak Bank
Management gave a generic answer about organic improvements without specific actions or targets.
no specific initiativesgeneric answer
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Question
What steps can be taken to drive up the LTL.
Ashish Dikshit, Managing Director
The drivers of improved productivity for us remain the same... about store improvement, merchandising improvement, superior consumer experience... more organic.
Partial answer
High priority
Progress on external investor for TMRW and capital needs.
Asked by Garima Mishra, Kotak Bank
Management stated no additional capital needed but gave no timeline or progress on external investor.
no timeline for investorno additional capital commitment
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Question
Is there any progress on getting an external investor on board for TMRW? In case there's no investor comes in, how much more capital will ABFRL need to invest into TMRW?
Ashish Dikshit, Managing Director
We had board approval of close to INR 750 crores which is what we have invested... We don't plan to increase that nor does the business need it... We'll have to time it appropriately.
Answered
High priority
Reason for net debt increase of INR 800-900 crore in H1.
Asked by Devanshu Bansal, Emkay Global Financial Services
Management directly attributed the debt increase to specific investments in ethnic businesses, TCNS, Tarun Tahiliani, and TMRW.
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Question
I just wanted to understand this increase in net debt better... which are the business segments as of now where we have to support operationally the business.
Ashish Dikshit, Managing Director
Most of our cash has gone into ethnic businesses which is largely in the subsidiary part... investment that we made in remaining acquisition of Tarun Tahiliani... partial commitment of equity for TMRW.
Partial answer
Medium priority
TCNS festive traction and margin profile.
Asked by Devanshu Bansal, Emkay Global Financial Services
Management gave a qualitative update on break-even trajectory but no specific margin figures.
no specific margin numbersqualitative only
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Question
Any thoughts on initial traction for the festive season and if you could just update on the margin profile of the business.
Ashish Dikshit, Managing Director
We begin with the year by Q3 we'll break even which is pretty much on track... Business profitability has improved significantly from where it was.
Partial answer
High priority
Organic growth in ethnic business and store addition guidance.
Asked by Aditya Soman, CLSA
Management gave a 10% growth target for organic business but did not quantify store additions.
no organic growth number givenstore addition only qualitative
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Question
Can you give us a sense of how much of the growth is organic? ... any sort of indication of store additions over the next two quarters and also for fiscal 2026.
Ashish Dikshit, Managing Director
We wanted more organic growth of the business which is without addition of TCNS and couture business of Tarun Tahiliani. I think the vision is talked about 10% growth for the remaining business.
Answered
High priority
Growth potential of Pantaloons given cautious approach by Trent.
Asked by Tejas Shah, Avendus Spark Institutional Equities
Management provided specific store addition targets and strategy shift to urban-centric expansion.
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Question
How should one assess the growth potential of Pantaloons? ... How are we approaching the growth runway or expansion only for this format?
Sangeeta Pendurkar, CEO Pantaloons
We still believe there is a huge opportunity for us to grow... anywhere between 200 to 250 stores is what we have called out... opening about close to 20 stores.
Answered
Medium priority
Trends in innerwear and athleisure segment.
Asked by Tejas Shah, Avendus Spark Institutional Equities
Management directly confirmed a positive trend shift with specific commentary on athleisure and innerwear.
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Question
After many quarters the leader actually gave a very positive commentary on the segment recently. So are we seeing any similar trend shifts in our segment?
Ashish Dikshit, Managing Director
The first signs of Athleisure continuous decline has stopped... innerwear had come back couple of quarters back... from here onwards I think you will see stronger growth in the innerwear.
Quantitative claims vs filed numbers
| Claim | Management said | Filing | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| TMRW clocking close to INR 1,000 crore run rate | ₹1,000 cr | ₹1,761 cr | Understated vs filing |
| Organic ethnic business growth target of 10% | 10% | 13% | Understated vs filing |
| Lifestyle brand EBITDA margin target north of 18% | 18% | 4% | Overstated vs filing |
| TCNS EBITDA margin target mid-double-digit | 15% | 4% | Overstated vs filing |
Filed figures sourced from Screener.in. Claims within a small tolerance of the filing are marked “matches filing”.