JSW Dulux Ltd — Q4 FY26

JSW Dulux Ltd Q4 FY2025-26 Earnings Conference Call https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq3Cidnp050 Published: 3 hours ago

0:02 2 seconds Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to JSW Dulux Q4FI26 earnings conference call hosted by ICICI 0:10 10 seconds securities. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listenonly mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions 0:17 17 seconds after the presentation concludes. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over 0:24 24 seconds to Mr. Aneruda Jooshi from ICICI Securities. Thank you and over to you Mr. Jooshi. 0:31 31 seconds Yeah, thanks Michelle. On behalf of ICICI securities, we welcome you all to 0:37 37 seconds Q4 FI26 and FI26 results webinar of JSW Dulux Limited, formerly Exonobyl India 0:46 46 seconds Limited. We have with us today senior management represented by Mr. Rajiv Raj Gopal, joint managing director and CEO. 0:54 54 seconds Mr. Krishna Ralapali wholetime director and CFO Mr. Rohit Totla wholetime director and Mr. Rajiv Ja general 1:04 1 minute, 4 seconds council company secretary and compliance officer. Now I hand over the call to Mr. 1:09 1 minute, 9 seconds Rajiv Ja to read out the disclaimer and then take the call forward. Thanks and over to you Rajiv sir. 1:36 1 minute, 36 seconds Um I guess uh sir you're on mute. 1:47 1 minute, 47 seconds Rajiv, sir, you're on mute. 1:54 1 minute, 54 seconds Michelle, can you unmute uh from your side? Sure, I'll do it. 2:15 2 minutes, 15 seconds Sir, please pro. Sir, we'll have to hold on. Um, we are checking on the back end. 2:40 2 minutes, 40 seconds Ladies and gentlemen, we have some technical issues from the management end. We'll kindly request you all to hold on at this moment. Thank you. 3:10 3 minutes, 10 seconds Hello sir, please proceed. Uh, are you able to hear us? Yes sir, you're audible. 3:19 3 minutes, 19 seconds You can see us also. Yes sir, we can see you. 3:23 3 minutes, 23 seconds Okay. Uh, Rajiv, would you like to just keep it open? Yeah. 3:30 3 minutes, 30 seconds you would be uh introducing right and then I would I would be taking. 3:35 3 minutes, 35 seconds Yeah, sure sir. Uh uh actually uh I had introduced but thanks Michelle. On behalf of ICS securities we are pleased 3:43 3 minutes, 43 seconds to uh welcome you all to Q426 uh results webinar of JSW uh Dulux uh limited formerly Exonoval India Limited. 3:53 3 minutes, 53 seconds We have with us today senior management uh represented by Mr. Raju Raj Gopal joint managing director and CEO Mr. 4:01 4 minutes, 1 second Krishna R wholetime director and CFO Mr. 4:04 4 minutes, 4 seconds Rohit Toddla wholetime director and uh Mr. Rajiv Ja general council company secretary and compliance officer. Now I 4:12 4 minutes, 12 seconds hand over the call to Mr. uh Rajiv Ja for uh uh uh the disclaimer readout and then uh take the call forward. Thanks 4:21 4 minutes, 21 seconds and over to you Rajiv sir. Okay. So we are all investors. Uh good morning to all of you and uh we welcome you to this 4:28 4 minutes, 28 seconds Q4 and financial year end date 31st March 2026 post earning call. And as for our process, let me begin with our safe 4:36 4 minutes, 36 seconds hour statement that we used to give in every uh investor call. So this media release contains statements which address such key issues as the company's 4:44 4 minutes, 44 seconds growth strategy, future financial results, market positions, product development, products in the pipeline and product approvals. Such statements 4:52 4 minutes, 52 seconds should be carefully consider cons considered and it should be understood that many factors could cause forecast and actual results or outcomes would 5:00 5 minutes differ from these statements. These factors include but are not limited to price fluctuations, currency 5:07 5 minutes, 7 seconds fluctuations, developments in raw material and personal costs, pensions, physical and environmental risks, legal 5:14 5 minutes, 14 seconds issues and legislative fiscal and other regulatory measures and approvals as well as significant market disruptions. 5:21 5 minutes, 21 seconds Stated competitive positions are based on management estimates supported by information provided by specialized external agency. For more comprehensive 5:29 5 minutes, 29 seconds discussion of the risk factors affecting our business, please see our latest annual report and wait for our upcoming annual report for this year. So with 5:38 5 minutes, 38 seconds this I'm handing it over to Mr. Rajiv to take. 5:43 5 minutes, 43 seconds Good morning to all of you. uh we as is the usual practice we will not we have circulated the deck on the uh on the net 5:51 5 minutes, 51 seconds so you know it's it's already on the stock exchanges so I'm sure all of you have had a good chance to look at it what I will quickly do is to quickly run 5:58 5 minutes, 58 seconds by in terms of how the company has at a high level performed and hand it over to the CFO uh our Mr. Krishna to walk you 6:06 6 minutes, 6 seconds through uh the performance and then we are open. We would like to spend a little more time on the Q&A if you have any for the questions that you may have 6:13 6 minutes, 13 seconds for us. Yeah, I think first and foremost I think uh quite excited to be a part of the JSW Dulux uh journey. Uh I think for 6:21 6 minutes, 21 seconds for me the first thing is all of you have to understand that unlike most other players uh you know this is I almost feel like we are in an F1 race uh 6:31 6 minutes, 31 seconds while uh uh you know doing an open heart surgery uh you know it's it's it's almost like rewiring the househ when 6:38 6 minutes, 38 seconds electrocuted and and that's the journey we are in as all of you know with the ownership change there's a lot of transitions transformations a lot of 6:46 6 minutes, 46 seconds activities which are happening as all of you have figured out first uh for the team there's a shift from of the headquarters from Gura to Mumbai uh 6:55 6 minutes, 55 seconds there's there's a massive transformation journey and as a result I think one has to keep in mind that this performance 7:02 7 minutes, 2 seconds comes uh keeping in mind multiple other uh things which are also happening on the background. Yeah. And of course the 7:10 7 minutes, 10 seconds work on the integration uh has also in a in a way started. Yeah. So coming to the performance of the quarter, I think by 7:18 7 minutes, 18 seconds far obviously the change in ownership gives you a sense of the performance. Uh it is the JSW way of doing things. We've 7:25 7 minutes, 25 seconds had a record volume growth of uh 23% both on the decorative and industrial verticals. We've had very solid growth. 7:33 7 minutes, 33 seconds Uh two reasons driving it. Uh I'm sure you must be wondering why that there's there's a gap between uh volume and revenue. Uh let me take that up front. 7:41 7 minutes, 41 seconds The gap is largely because of price and mix. As many of you remember in September October we had reduced the price premiums in many of our premium 7:49 7 minutes, 49 seconds categories super premium categories uh even in mid-market we were having premiums of almost close to 7 to 9% 7:56 7 minutes, 56 seconds because uh our earlier parent tags and Nobel N used to measure performances on aida percent and on anda percent not 8:04 8 minutes, 4 seconds absolutes and unfortunately in a market like India that has always been the challenge and hence uh what was agreed was that we would do actually a lot work 8:13 8 minutes, 13 seconds in terms of correcting our price premiums and overindexing particularly on the uh consumer and customer the painter where we were underindexed 8:22 8 minutes, 22 seconds versus uh you know the challenger brands and even versus sometimes the market leader. Yeah. So that's where you see a bit of it. It's largely price and mix. 8:30 8 minutes, 30 seconds Uh which is there obviously as you see in a couple of quarters ahead this will this will obviously the gap will get 8:38 8 minutes, 38 seconds bridged because we started the journey in September last year and then you will start seeing of course uh the revenue and the volume sort of almost uh 8:46 8 minutes, 46 seconds matching. However, suffice to say when you look at the last three quarter performances on a light to light uh because obviously this includes excludes 8:53 8 minutes, 53 seconds the uh you know all the carved out business uh that of Axenobel India and even certain play that you know the the 9:02 9 minutes, 2 seconds JSW dulux and this is a like to like of what's got acquired and what we are running now. Yeah. So we've had a 6.2% revenue growth uh and and that's one of 9:11 9 minutes, 11 seconds the strongest performances that we've had in the last four quarters. Suffice to say the building blocks are slowly getting in place and uh you know while 9:19 9 minutes, 19 seconds from a if other things being equal uh you know I think we are positioned well. 9:24 9 minutes, 24 seconds Yeah. However uh let me quickly cover the performance of the two verticals in decorative we've had a very strong volume growth amidst very competitive 9:32 9 minutes, 32 seconds pressures. We we had taken some pricing corrections also in Jan and Feb on certain categories uh primarily uh you 9:40 9 minutes, 40 seconds know just to make sure that we were benched to competition uh and that's something that we do across you know many of our metros uh and and that was 9:49 9 minutes, 49 seconds the attempt of course then obviously the script changed somewhere in March because what then happened was obviously the raw material prices which was benign 9:58 9 minutes, 58 seconds uh in Jan Feb suddenly saw a massive escalation uh more in the recent months uh than in the last quarter but obviously it went up and you've started 10:06 10 minutes, 6 seconds seeing industry take a price increase as we speak today uh till uh the 15th of May when the tomorrow when the last 10:13 10 minutes, 13 seconds branch of a price increase gets executed we would have taken close to about 9.7% of price increase but keep in mind that 10:20 10 minutes, 20 seconds the RMC inflation is quite elevated and uh it it it's hovering between 24 and 25% and if you take a 55% of that as raw 10:28 10 minutes, 28 seconds material right it translates to almost about a uh you know close to almost over 13 13 and a half%. So there's still about a 3 to 4% pricing from an industry perspective that we need to take right. 10:39 10 minutes, 39 seconds We in decorative had some very good work. You're seeing some good work done on dulux velvet toucha. Uh I was in a few markets in the last few days and 10:47 10 minutes, 47 seconds particularly in Mumbai etc. You know good to see that the brand is slowly starting to get some traction but we've got a long way to go right. I we also 10:55 10 minutes, 55 seconds launched finally our entire finishes portfolio under the velvet touch umbrella and this is a part of the change uh that we did. uh we've also 11:04 11 minutes, 4 seconds started getting a little more aggressive on our mass and economy privates. Uh so really suffice to say on premium we had good growths uh and uh retail and 11:12 11 minutes, 12 seconds semi-urban geographies grew faster. As far as industrial pains is concerned, we've seen uh all round growth across all the three vertical all the 11:20 11 minutes, 20 seconds verticals. Uh you know in in our automotive and specialtity codings vehicle refinish we we've had some good tie-ups. Uh you see the in the investor 11:28 11 minutes, 28 seconds deck the photograph of Porsche with whom we've had a tie-up. We've had some pressure more in the midm market and that's something that we as a team are working on. We've also had strategic new with leading OEM manufacturer in India. 11:39 11 minutes, 39 seconds Marine and protective we've had one of the highest revenues in the month of March. uh it's we've got strong order book in oil and gas infrastructure and 11:47 11 minutes, 47 seconds uh both on blade and dry dock business in in our in our coil business uh as you can see we won a lot of marquee projects including the dami Mumbai airport etc 11:55 11 minutes, 55 seconds and that's something that uh we we are delighted to be a part of India's infrastructure growth and also because of a high quality of paint uh you would 12:03 12 minutes, 3 seconds see that we are typically uh winning in most of the most of the maki sites across the country uh so hence when you 12:11 12 minutes, 11 seconds look at revenue we've had a 6.2% growth at an AIDA on a on a light like we we've had approximately about a 2% growth uh 12:19 12 minutes, 19 seconds and and back uh on PBT there was a slight decline. However, suffice to say that look uh you know a large part of the business uh is is now shaping well. 12:29 12 minutes, 29 seconds Uh we've seen that fraction also uh in April. So uh for me the only concern would be the elevated uh the raw 12:36 12 minutes, 36 seconds materials because that's the one which is slightly eating up margins and we'll talk more about that in the Q&A. Krishna over to you. 12:43 12 minutes, 43 seconds Uh thanks Raju. I think to sum up the overall performance of the company and uh notable uh few comments from my side 12:51 12 minutes, 51 seconds uh is that uh the trajectory started shifting it and uh we are moving towards uh getting towards the uh market share 13:00 13 minutes and uh all the cylinders both the industrial as well as the decorative paints has been uh uh geared up and 13:07 13 minutes, 7 seconds showing the stellar performance and uh despite of the price corrections and then uh elevated spends we could largely 13:16 13 minutes, 16 seconds protect our emitter percentages. Uh last year comparable basis it's 15 and we are at around 14.4%. 13:23 13 minutes, 23 seconds So this is uh this is actu this is acting in terms of uh well for us in terms of how do we deploy our spends and 13:32 13 minutes, 32 seconds how do we generate the revenue additional revenue with the deployment of the spends opex control measures are are in force and we are channelizing the 13:41 13 minutes, 41 seconds spend towards the growth initiatives and finally uh additional thing which I would like to add on here is that uh uh 13:49 13 minutes, 49 seconds the last branch of the real estate sale which we took uh The board approval has completed in the March 2026 which which 13:58 13 minutes, 58 seconds resulted translated into 64.8 crores of income from the real estate assets and uh taking into account of the business 14:06 14 minutes, 6 seconds performance in the growth plans the board has approved the final div of 50 rupees per share for the financial year 2526 which is subject to the 14:15 14 minutes, 15 seconds shareholders approval. Uh with this I hand it over back to you Anup and then we can go for the Q&A. 14:22 14 minutes, 22 seconds Thank you very much sir. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin with sir. I would request you to kindly mute 14:30 14 minutes, 30 seconds your line. Rajiv sir, there is a followup. 14:35 14 minutes, 35 seconds Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin with the question and answer session. 14:39 14 minutes, 39 seconds Anyone who wishes to ask questions may click on the raise hand option. You may also type in your text questions. 14:46 14 minutes, 46 seconds We will wait for a moment while the question Q assembles. 14:51 14 minutes, 51 seconds Please click on the raise hand option to ask questions at this time. 15:12 15 minutes, 12 seconds The first question is from the line of Roy from Noama. Please go ahead. 15:24 15 minutes, 24 seconds Anish please proceed. Yeah. Am I audible? Yes, you're audible. Please proceed. 15:32 15 minutes, 32 seconds Sure. Sure. Thank you. Thanks. Uh my first question is on uh the cultural integration uh frankly and on the software integration and dealer 15:40 15 minutes, 40 seconds integration is it largely done and any uh uh impact adverse you have seen till now because of these three aspects on 15:49 15 minutes, 49 seconds the business. Uh because there is still some margin. Could you repeat your question? 15:56 15 minutes, 56 seconds Am I not audible? 15:58 15 minutes, 58 seconds Anish could you kindly No, you were I think your early part of the question we missed. Could you kindly repeat? 16:03 16 minutes, 3 seconds Sure. Sure. I'll do that. Uh I wanted to check on uh cultural integration, dealer integration and the systems and software 16:11 16 minutes, 11 seconds integration. Uh is it done and uh was there any adverse impact? uh because when I see the P&L the AITA margins are 16:20 16 minutes, 20 seconds still down on a like to-like basis when I see urgger paint results there's a margin expansion and we expect the same for Asian paint also pilite also saw 16:29 16 minutes, 29 seconds that so broadly these three companies will be in the broader home decor space so if you could discuss these three aspects 16:37 16 minutes, 37 seconds yeah so thank you thank you for the question first and foremost on the culture integration look I think the the 16:44 16 minutes, 44 seconds teams have come uh we've started uh the uh I you know the team is now currently based out of Mumbai. Uh so yes uh you 16:52 16 minutes, 52 seconds know the cultural integration uh to my mind so far early days has has is going well. 16:59 16 minutes, 59 seconds Uh on the on the you know the second part which is uh on the dealer integration uh we've only integrated our projects business. So what we've done is 17:07 17 minutes, 7 seconds we formed a one projects business. to our projects team starting in Mumbai and then now in seven metros in the later of 17:14 17 minutes, 14 seconds this month will be an integrated team selling both JSW dulux and JSW games as far as retail is concerned that's 17:21 17 minutes, 21 seconds planned envisaged only early next year uh because we want to keep the teams at this point of time separate because we are selling both the brands separately 17:29 17 minutes, 29 seconds and also from governance perspective the two companies are still run separately so we are obviously watching it uh on 17:37 17 minutes, 37 seconds the back end uh as all of you may have head we've integrated the HR function to start with. So HR integration has 17:44 17 minutes, 44 seconds happened and Vitika Chopra has assumed the head of HR for JSW Dulux. He's also heading the JSW W pays HR. So that's on 17:53 17 minutes, 53 seconds the on where we are on the Aida margin uh uh to and and so dealers at this point of time are not impacted uh Abish 18:01 18 minutes, 1 second and as we said we will be doing a few pilots in the you know in the next months uh to test various hypothesis. 18:08 18 minutes, 8 seconds Remember the two business have two very distinct business models. 18:11 18 minutes, 11 seconds uh JSW paints is a direct model like many parts in the industry but we are dissu model and uh I think we'll have we are working on looking at what are the 18:19 18 minutes, 19 seconds strengths and weaknesses and before making any shift so that's why we need a bit of time we are not rushing into it projects was easy projects was a direct 18:27 18 minutes, 27 seconds model so it was easier to sort of shift into it u on the iida margin as I explained to you there is as I said in the earlier part of the meeting uh the 18:36 18 minutes, 36 seconds price because of the price drops that we had taken in the quarter uh you quarter three and quarter force December October 18:43 18 minutes, 43 seconds and a little in January because at that point of time as you know Abanese the crude was operating at a very different level it was you know below $70 right so 18:51 18 minutes, 51 seconds our our message was to really say that look how do we get more competitive and really drive volume growth across our segments so that is what has done it 19:00 19 minutes also because uh Dulux as as you are aware a higher share of premium so premium contribution to our overall 19:07 19 minutes, 7 seconds business is in mid-40s and as a result whereas the market premium contribution is 22 right so obviously there is going 19:14 19 minutes, 14 seconds to be as we play the other segments which is where the other players are very strong there is going to be a slight uh change in the mix and which is 19:22 19 minutes, 22 seconds what uh was anticipated and that's what's happened and that's the that is the shift so that is why you see a bit of it as I mentioned to you some of 19:30 19 minutes, 30 seconds these correction will be there in the coming quarter and the quarter ahead but by September this will all get neutralized between August and September 19:37 19 minutes, 37 seconds this will get neutralized because the impact will be very Yeah, I hopefully I've answered your question, Abinish. 19:43 19 minutes, 43 seconds Absolutely. Uh, thanks for that. My last question is on pricing. So, you are over in terms of premium at 40% versus 22% 19:51 19 minutes, 51 seconds for industry. So, if you could tell us now with the reduced prices in premium, are you at similar level as the market 19:58 19 minutes, 58 seconds leader in premium and and in the in the mass end clearly there's a very big opportunity for you. Would you be at a 20:05 20 minutes, 5 seconds uh now similar pricing with number two player BGER? Why I'm asking this is the new players pricing is now very similar 20:12 20 minutes, 12 seconds to BGER and given this is an opportunity for you would you operate at a lower pricing versus BGER or similar pricing versus BGER? 20:21 20 minutes, 21 seconds So first to your first part of the question we at premium levels in certain brands we still have about a 2% uh sort of a premium which is the the desired 20:30 20 minutes, 30 seconds premiums for the sort of uh you know strength the brands have uh and and that's one thing on the midm market we are pretty much now almost equal to BJO 20:38 20 minutes, 38 seconds of course uh you know some of our competitors are are are operating higher discounts that's something that we are cognizant of and higher inputs but other 20:47 20 minutes, 47 seconds than that it's now benched right so I believe that look I think with this uh 20:55 20 minutes, 55 seconds we have a as you rightly say we've got a stronger uh area to grow uh and that's the reason why in some of these segments also we've introduced or are making some 21:04 21 minutes, 4 seconds introductions to make sure that we are competitive sure understood that's all from my side thank you 21:12 21 minutes, 12 seconds thank you abish thank you the next question is from Darshetta from Asi Ma institutional equities. Please go ahead. 21:23 21 minutes, 23 seconds Yeah. Hi sir. Am I audible? Yes. 21:27 21 minutes, 27 seconds Yes. So I just wanted to get a sense that you know we had this uh target of reaching an overall market share of 21:34 21 minutes, 34 seconds somewhere uh about 8% levels. Uh how is the ramp up going on and have we been able to or are we on track to achieve that? 21:45 21 minutes, 45 seconds Yeah. So you know the uh the age is a blended number between decorative and industrial. So let me 21:52 21 minutes, 52 seconds start with you know first we've discussed a lot of decorative and decorative yes uh but we are on the journey we've got a way to go. I don't 22:00 22 minutes think it's a one quarter journey because some of these price corrections will take a period of time for consumers to get the confidence that uh JSW Jul is 22:09 22 minutes, 9 seconds sustainable. The challenge in the earlier uh tenure was because obviously being a part of a global company the IDIA percentures 22:17 22 minutes, 17 seconds were very high. So some of the actions were not sustained and that was the feedback we got from our channel partners etc. and hopefully in this part 22:24 22 minutes, 24 seconds of the journey we will see it. So let's do the first part on decorative will take a while but yes we are on the journey towards moving towards uh uh at 22:32 22 minutes, 32 seconds least becoming a strong number three player to start with from four and then move the journey up on industrials very clearly we are gaining traction uh 22:39 22 minutes, 39 seconds automotive and specialtity codings uh we believe that look now with the sort of tie-ups we getting with some of the maki OEMs etc we believe we are on the 22:47 22 minutes, 47 seconds journey there we do not have a play as you know in autom space that's an technology that we 22:54 22 minutes, 54 seconds are working on uh in the in the past the global parent had not bothered about it but and with the new ownership we are very clear that's something that we want 23:02 23 minutes, 2 seconds to play and we're going to work on it will take some time but we believe that look at towards the later part of the fiscal we should be in a position at least by the last quarter to have a 23:10 23 minutes, 10 seconds serious there uh on the marine and protective and the industrial side and marine and protective I believe that look we are on the journey again we are 23:19 23 minutes, 19 seconds bringing a good number of projects and uh hopefully on that journey on industrials per se we should be able to inch a market share in the coming year itself. 23:31 23 minutes, 31 seconds All right. Uh got it. Got that. Uh if you can quantify in terms of a number uh if that's possible or some kind of uh 23:38 23 minutes, 38 seconds relative play between the rest of the incumbents. 23:44 23 minutes, 44 seconds If you can quantify the relative play between the rest of the incumbents. 23:49 23 minutes, 49 seconds Yeah. I think the market share if you can quantify in terms of or you know would you like me to comment on 23:58 23 minutes, 58 seconds look I think uh in in terms of uh you know and are you talking about absolutes or you talking about incremental 24:06 24 minutes, 6 seconds uh incrementally for example when are you talking about the quarter incremental yeah so look in my view as far as the incremental market shares 24:15 24 minutes, 15 seconds see look I think the market shares for different players you already you cover it very well as so I don't think uh it's it's it's it's a it's a bit of a 24:23 24 minutes, 23 seconds surprise but what we see and I think directionally what you're asking me is how's the play going on we believe that look uh we are gaining at the cost of 24:31 24 minutes, 31 seconds some players uh I don't think it's fair for me to comment uh on on the names etc but I'm sure when you doing your market and channel checks uh you you're picking 24:39 24 minutes, 39 seconds it up right my belief is look I think between the market leader and the challenger there is a there is a tussle u I think the number two player has also 24:48 24 minutes, 48 seconds announced it results. I think after that there is going to be a serious play between the various players and I think we're well 24:56 24 minutes, 56 seconds positioned between uh you know us JSW dulux will play a key role uh in in trying to fortify given the new mandates 25:05 25 minutes, 5 seconds which have come in does that cover it? 25:09 25 minutes, 9 seconds Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you sir. Thanks a lot. And uh secondly just my final question is that uh just to develop a sense on how the uh upcoming fiscal is 25:18 25 minutes, 18 seconds going to be FI27 any any uh guidance or some kind of I'm just picking a brain on 25:26 25 minutes, 26 seconds how the volume that's that's a that's the toughest question for me to answer now because let's understand what's happening today is 25:34 25 minutes, 34 seconds very unpredictable. uh we are seeing a lot of message coming from you know the countries uh you know the country leadership so very very difficult for me 25:43 25 minutes, 43 seconds to say exactly how this will navigate assumed that the you know the entire war would sort of uh end but obviously we 25:53 25 minutes, 53 seconds not correct we need need to do a bit of scenario planning as in terms of now assuming that things are going to remain at this level uh it's going to be quite 26:01 26 minutes, 1 second tough because I think the journey ahead uh uh you know if it continues at these elevated levels will see a bit of compression maybe for a quarter on uh on 26:09 26 minutes, 9 seconds the margins but I think structurally I don't think there's any issue I think once that's sorted I think things will really bounce back from the from a 26:17 26 minutes, 17 seconds industry perspective itself all right thanks a lot and all the best thank you 26:26 26 minutes, 26 seconds thank you uh Rajiv sir uh we can't see you right now I mean your video is off 26:33 26 minutes, 33 seconds actually my camera is on so I I I don't know why I'm I'm not being able to be seen. 26:37 26 minutes, 37 seconds Now you're visible, sir. Now you're visible. Thank you so much. Thank you. 26:42 26 minutes, 42 seconds Ladies and gentlemen, we'll take the next question from the line of Pratik Goi from HSBC. Please go ahead. 26:50 26 minutes, 50 seconds Uh yes, thank you for taking my questions. Uh am I audible? Yes, please proceed. 26:56 26 minutes, 56 seconds Yeah, thank you. Uh so my first question is um so 23% volume growth just clarification on that. Uh is that 27:04 27 minutes, 4 seconds entirely in the deco business or is that a blended figure? 27:11 27 minutes, 11 seconds It's a blended figure. It's not decor when we report the numbers both volume and revenue is for both uh the both the vertical 27:19 27 minutes, 19 seconds right. So any color on the deco business uh itself and also did you see any buying in this 27:27 27 minutes, 27 seconds No, see look it's it's it's similar. So there's no major differences. Both the business have had very strong volume goods to 27:35 27 minutes, 35 seconds start with. Second uh in terms of pre-by yes I mean look at the end of the day the dealer pre-by uh is is to an extent 27:42 27 minutes, 42 seconds uh of of sometimes a week to 10 days uh because you remember the shops are are not the sort of shops where you can 27:50 27 minutes, 50 seconds stock huge for you know large quantities. So yeah, there is a bit of pre-by that's happened 27:57 27 minutes, 57 seconds but remember that the real serious elevation happened in uh April and May what the way we see it. So really from a March perspective obviously there has 28:06 28 minutes, 6 seconds been a a bit of a pre-by but uh we need to wait and see how uh you know this shapes up. 28:13 28 minutes, 13 seconds Understood. And uh in terms of offtake itself uh shall I continue? 28:22 28 minutes, 22 seconds Yeah. 28:22 28 minutes, 22 seconds In terms of Yeah. 28:24 28 minutes, 24 seconds Yes. uh any color on that? Uh yeah, so I've got Rohit who uh looks after a decorative business. I'll invite 28:33 28 minutes, 33 seconds him to say a few words and after that I can say Rohit. 28:36 28 minutes, 36 seconds Uh hi Pratik. Uh thank you for the question. Basically we see off take also 28:43 28 minutes, 43 seconds on the similar line. uh and and as a result uh yeah though there is a little bit of fear but uptake uh 28:54 28 minutes, 54 seconds which we capture through fers is also on the similar lines I think point was you got the answer 29:03 29 minutes, 3 seconds yes yes yes I could hear thank you for the thank you for the answer that that helps last question for my see in this in this 29:11 29 minutes, 11 seconds sorry please go on go ahead No, I was just adding to Rohit. I said in this you can't 29:19 29 minutes, 19 seconds do a huge difference between uh you know remember that we uh are are in decorative uh we've got about 20% of our 29:27 29 minutes, 27 seconds retail business which is direct and 80% is you know 75% 25% uh so project is direct right which is 20% of the overall 29:34 29 minutes, 34 seconds business. So within that 80% almost 75% is so you can't you know you can't really sell in if you if you really don't sell out. So hopefully that 29:43 29 minutes, 43 seconds answers your question. Yeah, please go ahead with your next question. 29:46 29 minutes, 46 seconds Yes. Um, thank you. And my last question would be any more color on the competitive dynamics in the the sector? 29:52 29 minutes, 52 seconds Uh, are you seeing real incentives being reduced by everyone? 29:55 29 minutes, 55 seconds It is very competitive. Look, it is very competitive. There's no 30:02 30 minutes, 2 seconds doubt. The situation is extremely competitive. I think the difference we see is obviously uh you know the fact that different players would have 30:11 30 minutes, 11 seconds different stock levels which is going to impact the margins. uh people who had elevated stock levels at lower prices would see a little more you know entire 30:19 30 minutes, 19 seconds margin pressure coming a little later than those of us who had you know relatively lower stock level but other than that uh competitive pressures will continue in the industry. 30:38 30 minutes, 38 seconds Uh excuse me sir. Sir sir we are not able to hear you now. Are you able to hear me? 30:46 30 minutes, 46 seconds Yes please proceed. 30:48 30 minutes, 48 seconds Yes. So so the industry will obviously see a lot of aggression from all the players in the market for the coming few quarters. I think this is a year where 30:55 30 minutes, 55 seconds clarity will emerge in terms of market positions towards the end of the year towards end of the f. 31:04 31 minutes, 4 seconds Okay that answer my question. Thank you sir. 31:09 31 minutes, 9 seconds Thank you. We'll take the next question from Anerod Joosi from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead. 31:17 31 minutes, 17 seconds Yeah. Uh sir, congrats for uh great set of uh uh numbers as far as volume growth 31:24 31 minutes, 24 seconds 23%. So two three things one uh uh if you can indicate is there any channel 31:30 31 minutes, 30 seconds check u uh filling in that pro one at March end and secondly there was some uh issue with the dealers uh when the 31:39 31 minutes, 39 seconds merger was announced and we had seen probably some detocking happening at that end. So I guess those worries are behind us and those dealers have also 31:47 31 minutes, 47 seconds come back on uh uh uh uh to to upload the inventory. So is that uh uh also uh 31:55 31 minutes, 55 seconds a reason for uh such a strong uh volume growth? Secondly, how should we think about volume growth uh on a normalized basis over next uh uh one year FI27? 32:06 32 minutes, 6 seconds Question number one. Question number two, considering the price cuts, price hikes and maybe uh trade spends uh 32:15 32 minutes, 15 seconds restructuring. So how should we think about the effective uh uh adjusted price hike? Question number two and uh uh 32:24 32 minutes, 24 seconds third uh is the paint industry also completely out of the woods now means last three years have been really tough for the entire industry as far as 32:32 32 minutes, 32 seconds revenues or margins are concerned. So do you see both the things that's quite a lot of questions loaded into one? 32:40 32 minutes, 40 seconds Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Sure. 32:42 32 minutes, 42 seconds That's quite a lot of questions you've loaded into one question. You've loaded a lot of questions into one question. 32:47 32 minutes, 47 seconds But suffice to see on the volume growth first. Uh look the volume growth uh firstly has has been in both the businesses and uh it's fairly secular. 32:56 32 minutes, 56 seconds We do see obviously as we move ahead uh that this this would come to a double-digit sort of a growth from a long-term perspective to answer your 33:05 33 minutes, 5 seconds first question. Yeah. uh on your uh and and really the volume growth is has been led as I mentioned a couple of times before that we've taken some price 33:14 33 minutes, 14 seconds corrections which is long overdue uh because we believe that it's important to have the right pricing strategy for our our brands and uh once that has got 33:22 33 minutes, 22 seconds done we are able to see a little bit of a bounce back and the confidence is seen in the dealer channels on the dealer channels per se uh look there's been no 33:30 33 minutes, 30 seconds uh uh you know yes there was a lot of challenges when the strategic review got announced there was a lot of push back both on the retail and the project side 33:38 33 minutes, 38 seconds in decorative where you know a lot of societies etc were asking us you know and the team in terms of whether the 33:45 33 minutes, 45 seconds warranties would get on it and I I think all that is behind us so obviously now we are seeing a bit of a stronger uptick coming in uh obviously dulux being the 33:54 33 minutes, 54 seconds best quality paint in the market always helps right and that's something that consumers are always aware of painters are also aware of I think our work in 34:02 34 minutes, 2 seconds terms of making sure that consumers are able to we are able to be that uh uh into uh the consumer story is the most critical element on the adjusted price 34:10 34 minutes, 10 seconds hike. Yes, the 9.7% that I talked about is not the is a price hike without the adjustments. The adjustment as I mentioned to you there there is a 34:19 34 minutes, 19 seconds there's a price uh correction. Now obviously in the quarter that the price drop impact was about one and a half to 34:25 34 minutes, 25 seconds 2% and that would you know be in the quarter ahead too. So would that would need to be taken up you know from the price increase that we've taken and 34:33 34 minutes, 33 seconds that's the only difference that we see right in terms of volume growth for the you know coming quarters I I do as I mentioned earlier it'll be we are 34:41 34 minutes, 41 seconds looking and targeting a double digit growth anod have I missed anything 34:49 34 minutes, 49 seconds on the paint industry uh sorry I think uh look I think on the paint industry uh I I think the demand is coming back uh 34:57 34 minutes, 57 seconds what is going to be a challenge for the paint industry is the two biggest variables are crude and forex. So that needs to be studied very closely. What 35:06 35 minutes, 6 seconds we are seeing is obviously the larger players ability to be able to manage this entire uh game given the sort of 35:13 35 minutes, 13 seconds cash flows etc is a little better uh than the smaller players but look players with deep pockets would be able to you know manage this a little better. 35:21 35 minutes, 21 seconds Anerud have I answered the question? 35:24 35 minutes, 24 seconds Uh yes sir. Uh very helpful. Many thanks. Thanks. 35:30 35 minutes, 30 seconds Thank you. We'll take the next text question from Abnish Roy from Noama and the question is how is company dealing 35:38 35 minutes, 38 seconds with aspects like like cultural and system integration. Are these over? 35:45 35 minutes, 45 seconds Uh so I I mentioned on the cultural integration that a lot of work uh is in progress. the teams uh are are we've already I've already indicated that look 35:54 35 minutes, 54 seconds that work is on and I think it's positive so far so I don't see any issue on the systems integration I think that work is being done uh we are working 36:02 36 minutes, 2 seconds with uh industry experts uh to work on it and that will something that will be more seen towards the end of the year we are planning to have an integrated uh 36:11 36 minutes, 11 seconds you know SAP etc being done uh you know post around Diwali post Diwali uh just to make sure that you know because it 36:18 36 minutes, 18 seconds takes time We are studying both the systems etc. It's not it's not like uh you know this the system of the earthwobel India JSW deluxe is cut off 36:28 36 minutes, 28 seconds and and just being moved in the systems are slightly different uh you know in terms of the even within SAP what's getting used so that that's planned 36:36 36 minutes, 36 seconds towards end of the year thank you sir we'll take the next text 36:44 36 minutes, 44 seconds question from Darit Va from Asi Ma institutional equities and the question is any capix plan uh And if you can give a sense on capacity utilizations. 36:56 36 minutes, 56 seconds Yeah, good good point. Uh so two things that is happening uh is uh as a part of the integration we are looking at 37:03 37 minutes, 3 seconds working on cross manufacturing right. So uh we as you are aware that the JSW paints was only made in uh in in Vijayad 37:11 37 minutes, 11 seconds and now we are going to manufacture it across our plants. uh and similarly vice versa some of the products for some of the southern states which were 37:19 37 minutes, 19 seconds manufactured in Hyderabad and Tane will start moving into Vijayaga. So we are doing working on that and some early work has been done on product trials and 37:27 37 minutes, 27 seconds the first set of batches have got sort of made. Uh so to that extent the capacity utilization that I'm just going to talk about does not consider it. 37:35 37 minutes, 35 seconds Currently we operate anywhere between 55 to 60% on decorative paints on and on performance on our industrial products. 37:43 37 minutes, 43 seconds We are even as high as 70 80%, we've added some additional capacity and the capex uh uh you know is we are going to 37:51 37 minutes, 51 seconds be seriously investing in the capex again uh other things being equal uh we we are going to sort of look at capacity expansion and localization as a part of 38:00 38 minutes our agenda moving forward. Hopefully answered your question as thank you so much sir. Anyone who wishes 38:08 38 minutes, 8 seconds to ask questions may please click on the raise hand option or you may also write in your text questions. 38:32 38 minutes, 32 seconds The next question is from Jiva Bharti an individual investor. Please go ahead. 38:42 38 minutes, 42 seconds Uh good morning sir. So my question will what are the future upcoming projects and brand activation like marketing spins or brand collaborations? 38:55 38 minutes, 55 seconds So uh thank you for the question. I mean look this is a little competitive. So I'm sorry uh I'm not in a position to disclose but high level I think uh what 39:04 39 minutes, 4 seconds we are trying to do is to uh the challenge on dulux is really uh and I assume you're speaking decorative now so the challenge on dulux is really we've 39:13 39 minutes, 13 seconds got a very high awareness how do you really can convert it to making sure that we are able to get a higher purchase uh uh into it so the 39:21 39 minutes, 21 seconds communication and all other programs are really working towards it and our uh you know our campaigns is something that we'll work out which will be seen 39:29 39 minutes, 29 seconds perhaps uh around Diwali time. So that's really on the first side. On terms of product launches, obviously look, Dulux 39:36 39 minutes, 36 seconds uh we work on what we call feel the difference uh you know in terms of the fact that we like to show demonstrable superiority versus other players in the 39:46 39 minutes, 46 seconds market and that's what the marketing and R&D team and business teams are currently working on. 39:57 39 minutes, 57 seconds Mr. Ja, any further questions? Yes sir. 40:03 40 minutes, 3 seconds We'll take the next question from Manoj Menan from ICICI securities. Please go ahead. 40:15 40 minutes, 15 seconds Mr. Manin, please proceed. I have unmuted your line. Audible. Yes. Hi. Morning. 40:23 40 minutes, 23 seconds Thank you. Thank you. uh you know so only only one question I actually from a brand point of view you know do you look you know in the last few years at least 40:31 40 minutes, 31 seconds in a couple of years you know you have tried to reposition as a younger brand uh you know yes as an ambassador etc 40:41 40 minutes, 41 seconds you think there's more work to be done or you kind of done that just just a bit off on the brand where it is and you know the relevance for the current 40:48 40 minutes, 48 seconds audience yeah look I think the the positioning of dulux and remember now have we have two brands tends to work for you know in a 40:56 40 minutes, 56 seconds larger scheme of things but really the positioning of Jul is really in terms of best-in-class quality international etc. 41:04 41 minutes, 4 seconds So that's something that we are we are consistently working on right and uh and and to your question there is lots more to do. I think the idea is to really 41:13 41 minutes, 13 seconds have campaigns that are memorable to really you know make sure that we get a the higher amount of new users enticed 41:21 41 minutes, 21 seconds to adopting the brand. uh the when we did a brand equity study manoj and the brand equity study clearly shows that we've got a long way in terms of making 41:29 41 minutes, 29 seconds the brand more contemporary useful I think in terms of product quality clearly uh it came out that amongst all the players even if you ask painters who 41:37 41 minutes, 37 seconds sort of done it you know they they perhaps because of slightly lower incentives that we give are are not really driving conversions but when you 41:45 41 minutes, 45 seconds ask the painter and we had this it was while it may sound anecdotal the reality is when you really approach the painters and ask them which is the best brand 41:53 41 minutes, 53 seconds they will tell you perhaps uh dulux is in the forefront of it. So I think that's the trick. The trick is you've got a brand which has now over the years 42:01 42 minutes, 1 second really built quality. Uh you know I remember when I joined this company in 2013 there was a issue uh coming out of 42:08 42 minutes, 8 seconds the ICI legacy into uh Axonobel and the quality was the biggest. I'm glad the team R&D the marketing teams etc have 42:16 42 minutes, 16 seconds corrected it. We've still got a long way to go and that's what the teams uh you know Rohit the marketing teams etc are working on. 42:24 42 minutes, 24 seconds Thanks sir. Good luck. Good luck. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. 42:31 42 minutes, 31 seconds Can we take one last question and then we can close? Uh sure sir. 42:35 42 minutes, 35 seconds Uh ladies and gentlemen, this will be the last question for today from the line. Uh the text question is uh from Anut Cycle from Manis Capital and the 42:44 42 minutes, 44 seconds question is is the decorative paint industry expected to see doubledigit volume growth this year with the inflation we have and how is it that every player will gain market share. 42:58 42 minutes, 58 seconds Look uh two things we are right now uh as we speak I think uh the situation is 43:06 43 minutes, 6 seconds slightly different from the last quarter because what we are seeing is elevated raw material and uh Krishna please feel free to add if you have by the end of 43:13 43 minutes, 13 seconds what I see I think my view is look I think the players with deeper pockets players who've got the right strategic intent and the ability to win and 43:20 43 minutes, 20 seconds execute will be the people who deliver higher market shares right and we want to be on the forefront of it I think this is a huge transformation as far as 43:30 43 minutes, 30 seconds JSW Dulux. I'm glad that I'm a part of the journey and really look forward to at an appropriate time next year this time you know really uh feeling proud 43:39 43 minutes, 39 seconds that the team has really pulled off a solid market share game. Yeah. Krishna Rohit you want to add anything? Yeah. 43:45 43 minutes, 45 seconds Yeah. So that's it. U so I really want to thank all our investors again once again for all the support that you've 43:53 43 minutes, 53 seconds given us. uh you know thank you wish you good luck and do stay in touch we will uh you can do get in touch with Rajiv 44:01 44 minutes, 1 second Jab if you would like to sort of have any further questions or meet up till then thank you stay safe all the very 44:08 44 minutes, 8 seconds best good luck thank you very much thank you members of the management ladies and gentlemen on behalf of ICICI 44:16 44 minutes, 16 seconds securities that concludes this conference we thank you for joining us and you may exit the meeting now thank Two.