Thomas Cook Ltd — Q4 FY26

Thomas Cook (India) Ltd Q4 FY2025-26 Earnings Conference Call https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFhZ9egJ0G0

0:02 2 seconds Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Thomas Cook India Limited Q4 and FY26 earning conference call. 0:14 14 seconds As a reminder, all participant line will be in listenonly mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions as the presentation concludes. 0:24 24 seconds Should you need assistant during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star 10 on your touchstone phone. 0:33 33 seconds I now hand the conference over to Miss Purva Zanvar from 361 Capital Market Private Limited. Thank you and over to you ma'am. 0:44 44 seconds Thank you dear. Welcome everyone and thank you for joining us on Thomas India Limited Q4 FI26 earnings conference call from the company we have with us Mr. 0:55 55 seconds Mahesh Aayer managing director and chief executive officer and the senior management team we would like to begin 1:03 1 minute, 3 seconds the call with brief opening remarks from the management and following which we will have the forum open for an 1:09 1 minute, 9 seconds interactive Q&A session I would now like to invite Mr. Mah Ayar to make initial remarks and thank you over to you Mah sir. 1:20 1 minute, 20 seconds Thank you Purwa. Good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining us as we discuss the Q4 and FI26 financial and 1:28 1 minute, 28 seconds operating performance. Uh while this may not be a brief call this may be a little longer as as we have a lot of topics to 1:35 1 minute, 35 seconds speak about. So please pardon me if this is going to be a little longer one. Uh before we begin I would like to introduce the management team joining me 1:42 1 minute, 42 seconds on the call today. I have with me Vishal Suri managing director of SOTC. Uh Dashish Nandi group CFO of the Tomsuk 1:50 1 minute, 50 seconds India Group. Vikram Lalwani managing director of Sterling Holiday Resorts and KS Ramakrishna managing director of DEI. 1:58 1 minute, 58 seconds Vijesh Modi who is the CFO at Tomuk India Limited. Uh Bhutani who heads investor relationships. Uh before I walk 2:05 2 minutes, 5 seconds you through our performance, I think it's important that I set the context because 2026 did not play out as in a 2:13 2 minutes, 13 seconds normal operating environment and it was not anywhere close to what a normal year would be. The year opened with palm 2:20 2 minutes, 20 seconds attack and the subsequent operations in April 2025 events that led to airspace disruption, weakened travel confidence 2:29 2 minutes, 29 seconds and slower pace of business. As the year progressed, the situation in the Middle East further intensified with the US 2:37 2 minutes, 37 seconds Iran Israel conflict, resulting in continued disruption to the westbound travel routes, pressure on airline capacity, elevated fuel and operating 2:46 2 minutes, 46 seconds cost and softer consumer sentiment globally. These developments had a cascading impact across the travel 2:53 2 minutes, 53 seconds ecosystem uh resulting in elevated airfares, tighter inventory availability, higher input costs and 3:01 3 minutes, 1 second increasing pressure on pricing across the supply chain. At the same time, currency volatility, particularly the 3:08 3 minutes, 8 seconds weakness of the rupee to the dollar and euro, added further cost pressures for the outborn travel business and consumers alike. 3:16 3 minutes, 16 seconds What compounded the impact was the timing of these events. Both of these landed on top of our most important 3:25 3 minutes, 25 seconds traveled focus seasons. The window in which we do a large part of our annual business were either lost or were 3:31 3 minutes, 31 seconds severely shortened. Thus, I think it is important to view our FI26 performance in two distinct lenses. the first 9 3:40 3 minutes, 40 seconds months of FY 2026 where our operating conditions and travel demand were relatively more stable and Q4 where the 3:49 3 minutes, 49 seconds impact of these geopolitical and macroeconomic developments became significantly more visible across the industry. 3:56 3 minutes, 56 seconds For the 9 months of FI26, we reported a 7% increase in our topline growth whereas our IBETA improved marginally 4:05 4 minutes, 5 seconds during Q4 of FI26. The group's revenue stood at 1,77 million reflecting a 10% decrease 4:13 4 minutes, 13 seconds against the same period last year. This is the number that carries the full weight of the external environment, the Middle East overhang, cost headwinds and 4:22 4 minutes, 22 seconds the travel market that was recalibrating in a real-time basis. And the second lens is the geography where our India 4:29 4 minutes, 29 seconds operations have shown resilience and maintained EBT for FY 2026 and grew by 4:35 4 minutes, 35 seconds 16% in Q4 FY 2026 fueled by a strong performance of the financial services 4:42 4 minutes, 42 seconds short hall outbound corporate travel India inbound business and mice. 4:47 4 minutes, 47 seconds Sterling results also contributed positively to the overall group's performance with 19% increase in topline 4:55 4 minutes, 55 seconds during the quarter and 7% growth for the full year on the back of a growing resort network. Vicram will share more details on his on this when he speaks. 5:04 5 minutes, 4 seconds Our overseas entities also remain resilient except for the destinations which happened to be directly impacted by the war and that's decided ventures 5:13 5 minutes, 13 seconds our destination management unit in Middle East and DI our digital imaging business which has around 50% of our revenue attributed to the UA markets. 5:23 5 minutes, 23 seconds Ram will speak about this and give you a detailed perspective on DI's performance in his remarks. On a fullear basis, 5:31 5 minutes, 31 seconds while our income increased to 83,982 million, a 3% increase on a consolidated 5:37 5 minutes, 37 seconds basis, our EBIT EBT was impacted by the geopolitical crisis and was 14% lower 5:44 5 minutes, 44 seconds than last year at 3,268 million. Before we move on to the segmented analysis, I will discuss the 5:52 5 minutes, 52 seconds strategic divestment announcement that was made in March 2026 where the board has granted in principal approval for the de merger of our resort business 6:01 6 minutes, 1 second into Sterling Holiday Resorts. This is a significant strategic move for our organization, one that we believe will 6:08 6 minutes, 8 seconds unlock value for our shareholders. for Thomas Cookook India Limited. This restructuring allows us to streamline our capital structure and concentrate 6:16 6 minutes, 16 seconds our resources on our travel and financial services business. The consolidation of our face value per share along with the merger of the three 6:24 6 minutes, 24 seconds dominant subsidies further simplifies our corporate structure and improves our earning per share directly benefiting 6:31 6 minutes, 31 seconds our shareholders. Let me move on to the travel uh to the segments and give you an insight into the various segments 6:38 6 minutes, 38 seconds that performed during the year. To begin with on the financial services, the financial services segment reported a strong outcome on the face of a 6:46 6 minutes, 46 seconds stretched operating environment. If you look at the LRS data as published by RBI for the period April 2025 to February 6:54 6 minutes, 54 seconds 2026 the three relevant segments of the travel related form exchange education and remittance there is a decline of 3 22 and 5% respectively. 7:07 7 minutes, 7 seconds Now in comparison, TCIL reported a 13% increase in turnover for the holiday segment, 17% in the education segment 7:16 7 minutes, 16 seconds and 19% in the remittance category. For the quarter in question, the forest revenue increased by 3% to 813 million 7:26 7 minutes, 26 seconds and EBIT improved by 17 million 17% to 392 million with an EIT margin of 48%. 7:35 7 minutes, 35 seconds For the full year, our reported revenue at EBIT remained flat at 3,261 million and 1,493 million with an event margin of 46%. 7:48 7 minutes, 48 seconds This clearly showcases the strong growth we are seeing across the retail foreign exchange segment which today contributes 7:55 7 minutes, 55 seconds approximately 80% of our total forex reported revenue which I must highlight here is on a net basis. 8:02 8 minutes, 2 seconds The growth has been a result of our constant endeavor to increase our reach via an omni channel approach. We have 8:09 8 minutes, 9 seconds expanded our reach by opening five new franchises, one own outlet and one airport counter during the quarter and 8:17 8 minutes, 17 seconds also improved our digital penetration which currently stands at 23% on an increase in transaction base. Our 8:24 8 minutes, 24 seconds website transaction for the quarter has seen a growth of 65% y bookings on our 8:30 8 minutes, 30 seconds app which is TCP pay so saw a 4.9x increase in transaction. Our WhatsApp engagement continues to grow positively 8:39 8 minutes, 39 seconds with a 2.2x growth year on year a bit on a smaller base. Our reach via 8:46 8 minutes, 46 seconds powers which is blinket has seen a great trajectory and we have witnessed doubledigit growth in the uh from its 8:53 8 minutes, 53 seconds launch in October last year. We are now present in six additional cities Na Kolkata, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Lucknau and 9:01 9 minutes, 1 second Chandigar and increasingly increasing our digital distribution network to 12 cities. A quick update on our se sub 9:10 9 minutes, 10 seconds segments within the foreign exchange space. Holiday and travel related foreign exchange segment increased 29% 9:17 9 minutes, 17 seconds in turnover in the quarter and 13% in the year. Again set in the context with the reduced travel spend as seen from 9:24 9 minutes, 24 seconds the LR's data. Our performance was encouraging. Our approach that one size doesn't fit all with prepaid cards has 9:33 9 minutes, 33 seconds led to a deep customer segmentation and that along with our distribution is working well for us. Our education business under the retail segment has 9:42 9 minutes, 42 seconds grown rather positively especially given the stress in the segment as as per the LRS data. Despite the contraction in the 9:50 9 minutes, 50 seconds overall student segment we gained market share we optimized demand that was moving towards alternate destinations. 9:57 9 minutes, 57 seconds Our relationships with over 800 MKU education counselors across the country gave us a genuine on the ground 10:04 10 minutes, 4 seconds advantage. Added to that, our partnerships with large NBSC's namely Credilla Aance Unawal under the NBFC 10:13 10 minutes, 13 seconds NBFC umbrella both gave us reach and credibility to capture the education loan demand resulting in larger FX 10:22 10 minutes, 22 seconds spends on the corporate portfolio. Today we cater to about,100 corporates spanning across large and 10:30 10 minutes, 30 seconds midsize and theme customers. The turnover in this segment grew 4% in the quarter and 5% for the full year. A 10:38 10 minutes, 38 seconds noteworthy development on our for prepaid forex card is that it has expanded today to 28 global currency 10:45 10 minutes, 45 seconds from 12 that we operating till December of 2025 creating India's one of the largest widest currency portfolio on the 10:53 10 minutes, 53 seconds prepaid card segment. Our float as we speak stands at about 16 billion rupees on a total prepaid card load volumes of $764 million US. 11:05 11 minutes, 5 seconds Moving on to the travel and related segment, I have shared the broader context under which we operated during the year and in this case our 11:13 11 minutes, 13 seconds geographical as well as the political as well as the portfolio diversity in what is what gave us room to maneuver. We 11:21 11 minutes, 21 seconds reported a total revenue of 67,25 million for the year which is an increase of 4% and our EBIT was down 11% 11:31 11 minutes, 31 seconds to 2,218 million with an EBIT margin of 3.3%. And this largely reflects the geopolitical 11:39 11 minutes, 39 seconds impact in our overseas subsidies which I will speak about in the subsequent paragraphs. 11:45 11 minutes, 45 seconds uh on the B2C front, our B2C segment which accounts for 27% of the travel portfolio grew by 8% during the year and 11:54 11 minutes, 54 seconds the quarter and this is despite the shortened and the impacted key booking periods during the year which I referred 12:00 12 minutes to in my opening remarks. Leisure holidays saw an 8% increase in the quarter and during the year. This was 12:08 12 minutes, 8 seconds led by a 17% increase in the short hall uh bookings during the year and a 21% increase in the quarter. Demand for 12:16 12 minutes, 16 seconds short hall destinations such as China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Japan continues to be very strong. Long haul growth for 12:24 12 minutes, 24 seconds the full year while positive remained subdued largely due to the impact of two big season seasons impacted by the 12:31 12 minutes, 31 seconds various evolving geopolitical conditions along with the pressure on supply and pricing. Our domestic portfolio was also 12:39 12 minutes, 39 seconds impacted during the year from the start due to the Talgam attack, the unfortunate Air India crash and the overall uncertaintity due due to the 12:48 12 minutes, 48 seconds geopolitical issues and the absence of Kum and Kashmir which got impacted on the domestic front. However, our focus 12:55 12 minutes, 55 seconds on this segment has to be has been to concentrate on select markets such as Bhutan and the pilgrimage travel which 13:03 13 minutes, 3 seconds is Chardham, Kailash, Aayodia, Vanasi, Btina. In fact, SOTC has partnered with Anurra to promote Dian's the spiritual 13:12 13 minutes, 12 seconds practice portfolio that we operate. Our results are thus a result of our model being agile and proactive initiatives in 13:20 13 minutes, 20 seconds this area. We pivoted quickly to respond and actively sell alternate longhaul destination, doubled down on our 13:27 13 minutes, 27 seconds eastbound short hall, leaned into domestic travel, and meaningfully expanded our pilgrimage travel proposition. These weren't reactive 13:35 13 minutes, 35 seconds patches. These were deliberate strategic redirects made quickly and executed well by our teams. During the quarter, we continued to strengthen our leisure 13:44 13 minutes, 44 seconds portfolio through multiple customer focused initiatives. We launched the Bhutan charter X Bangalore and Ahmedabad 13:52 13 minutes, 52 seconds to capitalize on the direct connectivity and growing travel interest to the destination. I'm happy to report that the charter flights that we are 13:59 13 minutes, 59 seconds operating for Bhutan has been completely sold out. We also introduced travel show a pioneering travel protection 14:07 14 minutes, 7 seconds initiative designed to address the evolving realities of model travel and provide customers with greater confidence and peace of mind. We also 14:16 14 minutes, 16 seconds launched an industry first visa rejection power. A finally groundbreaking insurance solution that safeguards travelers against financial 14:23 14 minutes, 23 seconds loss arising from visa rejections. In terms of forward booking, as we speak, short hall remains the preferred choice and the reasons are fairly 14:32 14 minutes, 32 seconds straightforward. Airfares, decision-m happening closer to travel date and visa process are less of a hurdle. In an 14:40 14 minutes, 40 seconds environment where confidence is still finding a scooting, this combination matters more than ever. Geopolitical tensions have materially impacted travel 14:48 14 minutes, 48 seconds demand with longhaul forward bookings witnessing weakness especially in the European destinations and some part of 14:56 14 minutes, 56 seconds our eastbound destinations uh including a complete drop in volumes in UAE and CIS markets. We are seeing airfare surge by 30 to 50% on most westbound routes. 15:08 15 minutes, 8 seconds Coming to the B2B businesses which account for 73% of our reported travel number. The full year shows a moderated 15:16 15 minutes, 16 seconds 2% increase in sales and the quarter declined by 18%. Important for me to reiterate certain events that were 15:23 15 minutes, 23 seconds present in Q4 last year which we had also discussed in the earnings call previously. We had about 100 crores of 15:30 15 minutes, 30 seconds business that was done on the government on the India my side which was not available in the current quarter. We also had about 100 crores of mic sales 15:39 15 minutes, 39 seconds that happened in our destination manage business in Dubai which is desert adventures which was not available in 15:46 15 minutes, 46 seconds the current quarter. Now if you look at our Q4 result this is a combination of the about two events as well as the 15:54 15 minutes, 54 seconds impact of the US US Iran war which directly impacted our operations in desert adventures which is our destination management unit in the 16:02 16 minutes, 2 seconds Middle East. To break the B2B travel segment further down, our India DMS portfolio grew by about 5% during the 16:10 16 minutes, 10 seconds quarter. The business had a healthy Jan and February which was partially offset by the weak March sales as was the case 16:18 16 minutes, 18 seconds with other units. On the international DMS side, revenue increased by 3% in the year and saw a decline of 24% for the 16:27 16 minutes, 27 seconds quarter. Let me quickly list down some of the performance drivers here. The largest impact of the geopolitical instability is visible in the number for 16:36 16 minutes, 36 seconds our desert adventures operations in the Middle East which declined by 50% in the quarter along with volume shortfall due 16:43 16 minutes, 43 seconds to the absence of large mice events. The other entities have helped offset some of this by a relatively good 16:51 16 minutes, 51 seconds performance. Noteworthy amongst them is Asian Trails which is in the Asia-Pacific region saw their revenue improve by 18% during the year and 6% 17:00 17 minutes for the quarter led by a strong performance Thailand in and Malaysia and some part of our China operations. This 17:07 17 minutes, 7 seconds was partially offset by geopolitical disruptions impacting European source market and the Middle East transit groups. LI3 Pro which is our operations 17:16 17 minutes, 16 seconds in the US saw its revenue growing by 9% during the year and 12% in the in Q4 17:23 17 minutes, 23 seconds FI26 supported by higher volumes despite continued challenges in the US inbound travel driven driven by visa and 17:31 17 minutes, 31 seconds uncertainty in those markets. Private authorities in southern Africa remained strong with revenue growing by 23% for the quarter and 34% for the full year. 17:42 17 minutes, 42 seconds While East Africa saw an 87% increase for the quarter and 18% for the full year supported by peak season and 17:50 17 minutes, 50 seconds sustained momentum from chartered operations and demand from key markets including USA and India. Coming to the next category in the B2B segment which 17:59 17 minutes, 59 seconds is mice. The segment reported a 2% decline during the quarter and I did elaborate is due to the absence of government events being a a one-off event that happened last year same time. 18:11 18 minutes, 11 seconds However, if you look at the breakup we have provided on a full year basis, our corporate business has increased by 6% and increased by 21% in the current 18:20 18 minutes, 20 seconds quarter. Having said so, we are seeing our H2 pipeline building up. There is a bit of wait and watch approach that corporates are taking at this point in 18:28 18 minutes, 28 seconds time and hence we believe that some of this demand will come back and translate in the later half of the year. 18:36 18 minutes, 36 seconds And the last segment is the corporate travel which has reported a turnover of 26 billion rupees and a reported revenue 18:42 18 minutes, 42 seconds of 1541 million for the full year which is a 19% increase yi and 28% growth in 18:49 18 minutes, 49 seconds revenue during the quarter. I reiterate this segment is the only travel segment which is reported on a net basis. In 18:56 18 minutes, 56 seconds terms of our portfolio, we have about 8,000 corporate clients with digital adoption of over 30% amongst them. We 19:04 19 minutes, 4 seconds acquired eight new accounts in Q4 FI 2026 across financial services, automo, telecom and energy sector and four new 19:12 19 minutes, 12 seconds large corporate accounts are in the pipeline. Our air volume recorded a growth of 7.3% y in Q4 FI26 and 4.8% for 19:22 19 minutes, 22 seconds the full year of FI 2026 with international air volume growing by 19% Y in quarter and 7% for the full year. 19:30 19 minutes, 30 seconds If you look at the non-air part of our business total volumes and transaction grew 7.6% 6% and 10.7% respectively y in Q4 FI 2026. 19:42 19 minutes, 42 seconds Before I hand over the call to Vikram for his comments on sterling holiday, I just want to say the environment currently is very volatile with customer 19:50 19 minutes, 50 seconds sentiments being very low and travel decisions shortened. We are witnessing a softened forward booking pipeline where 19:57 19 minutes, 57 seconds in the near short term the long large volumes coming out of long haul will not be completely substituted by short hall 20:05 20 minutes, 5 seconds and domestic. However, we continue to create offerings both from a product and driving perspective mindful of the 20:12 20 minutes, 12 seconds elevated input cost and give more options for our customers to make that holiday decisions. Our focus continues on prudent revenue management and 20:21 20 minutes, 21 seconds tactical cost optimizations to tide over the current geopolitical environment. Uh with this I'd like to hand over the call to Vikram for his questions. Thank you. 20:32 20 minutes, 32 seconds Uh thanks Mahesh. Uh good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Uh my name is Vikram Lalwani. I'm the managing director and CEO of Sterling Holiday 20:40 20 minutes, 40 seconds Resorts Limited. I'm also joined by my colleague Mr. El Krishta Kumar who is the chief financial officer. It's a 20:47 20 minutes, 47 seconds pleasure uh speaking with all of you again and thank you for joining us today as we present Sterling's performance for 20:55 20 minutes, 55 seconds the quarter uh and the year ended F March 31st 2026. Uh FI26 21:04 21 minutes, 4 seconds uh marks a defining year for sterling uh a decisive inflection point where scale 21:11 21 minutes, 11 seconds profitability and balance sheet strength have expanded simultaneously. 21:17 21 minutes, 17 seconds not sequentially. We are now operating at a sweet spot of scale where incremental growth is increasing margins 21:24 21 minutes, 24 seconds and the cash. Over the last few years, Sterling has consistently demonstrated sustained growth with improving 21:32 21 minutes, 32 seconds operating leverage. This reflects the structural improvement in our business model and the benefits of scale now 21:39 21 minutes, 39 seconds flowing through meaningfully into profitability and cash generation. I'm pleased to share that Q4 FI26 21:48 21 minutes, 48 seconds uh was another record quarter for us uh across all key operating and financial metrics. Sterling delivered its best 21:56 21 minutes, 56 seconds ever Q4 number, a bettera and profit before tax. Uh just a few highlights on 22:02 22 minutes, 2 seconds the Q4 FI26. Uh the total revenue for Q4 FI26 stood at uh 1,48 million uh 22:11 22 minutes, 11 seconds registering a double digit growth of 14%. Uh I beta grew 10% at 348 million 22:18 22 minutes, 18 seconds INR. PBT increased 18% to 207 million INR. With this we completed our 25th 22:26 22 minutes, 26 seconds consecutive profitable quarter. Our cash reserve stands close to 3,400 million uh while continuing to maintain a 22:35 22 minutes, 35 seconds completely debt-free balance sheet. Uh the resource business continues to be the key engine driver for Sterling's 22:43 22 minutes, 43 seconds growth clearly demonstrating the success of our strategic transformation that we've undertaken couple of years ago 22:50 22 minutes, 50 seconds towards a focused hospitality operating model. Room revenue for the quarter grew 22:56 22 minutes, 56 seconds nearly 40% at 672 million. Occupancy improved to 64% RR increased by 12% to 23:06 23 minutes, 6 seconds 6347 and the repar increased 16% 23:13 23 minutes, 13 seconds despite a 20% increase in overall room inventory. 23:18 23 minutes, 18 seconds uh despite weather conditions uh disrupting Q2 and this being a first 23:24 23 minutes, 24 seconds full financial year after the sunset of the membership acquisition for the full year FI26 sterling delivered a total 23:34 23 minutes, 34 seconds revenue of 5 5,487 million INRETA stood at 1,71 23:42 23 minutes, 42 seconds million and uh the margins are healthy at 31%. uh profit before tax is at 1,142 23:51 23 minutes, 51 seconds million with PBT margins of 21%. The core revenue generation of the company is now sustainably driven by the resort 23:59 23 minutes, 59 seconds business and operating hospitality platform reflecting strength, sustainability and maturity of our 24:06 24 minutes, 6 seconds transform business model. As uh we had indicated in our earlier earnings calls as well. Uh we expected H2 performance 24:15 24 minutes, 15 seconds to be stronger than H1. I'm pleased to share that this guidance has played out well. The two record quarters in H2 that 24:23 24 minutes, 23 seconds is Q3 and Q4 enabled H2 revenues to outperform H1 revenues by 21% and over. 24:32 24 minutes, 32 seconds We now have 78 resorts, hotels and retreats, approximately 3,800 rooms across 65 destinations in India. We 24:42 24 minutes, 42 seconds added nearly one and a half resorts or launched one and a half resorts per month last year and almost 31 to 33 24:50 24 minutes, 50 seconds resorts over the last 24 months. A 29% CAGGR growth in resorts over the last two years. Our expansion journey 24:59 24 minutes, 59 seconds continues at an accelerated scale. Uh we expect to cross 95 resorts and 4,500 25:06 25 minutes, 6 seconds rooms in 2027 with more than 20 signups in our pipeline actively coming on 25:13 25 minutes, 13 seconds board. Our focus is on tire 2 tier 3 high growth business come leisure corridors. Today 62% of our rooms are 25:21 25 minutes, 21 seconds P&L while 38% of our rooms are managed inventory. As we scale further, we are 25:28 25 minutes, 28 seconds consciously optimizing our portfolio through a judicious mix of P&L growth and an asset light expansion, which is 25:36 25 minutes, 36 seconds what we've been saying in an asset model. This strategy is supported by disciplined sweating of our own assets 25:44 25 minutes, 44 seconds as well over the last few years, which continues to drive sustained topline and bottom bottom line acceleration. At the 25:52 25 minutes, 52 seconds same time uh Sterling remains future ready for any kind of expansions including in green field developments across Akree land banks. 26:02 26 minutes, 2 seconds Importantly we have uh achieved this while maintaining healthy profitability metrics with aneta margins of 31% and 26:11 26 minutes, 11 seconds over and PBT margins of 21% combined with a debtfree balance sheet. Our cash reserves have grown at a multi-year 26:20 26 minutes, 20 seconds CAGGR of 55%. Uh delivering high growth with strong capital discipline remains a rare and differentiated combination 26:29 26 minutes, 29 seconds which uh we have attained. On the operational front, Sterling continues to strengthen its brand and customer propositions as well. Our customer 26:38 26 minutes, 38 seconds experience metrics continues to remain strong despite scaling uh with 30 resorts and 11 uh restaurants earning 26:47 26 minutes, 47 seconds Trip Advisor excellence awards. Sterling Kana and Dune Diner a restaurant at Sterling Msuri was also awarded the best 26:55 26 minutes, 55 seconds of best in Trip Adviser putting them in the worldwide top 1% in the category. We have significantly strengthened our 27:03 27 minutes, 3 seconds operating frameworks, governance processes and scalable systems. We have leveraged technology by developing first 27:10 27 minutes, 10 seconds of its kind customuilt sterling one powered by distributed ledger technology on a PHP application providing direct 27:19 27 minutes, 19 seconds access to 7 7,000 travel partners and 360 corporates and over in India at this 27:26 27 minutes, 26 seconds point. Our technology is powered by AI to provide value added interaction across the customer journey and provides 27:34 27 minutes, 34 seconds us with deeper customer insights to improve our customer offerings. Having attained meaningful scale, we are now in 27:42 27 minutes, 42 seconds a planning phase of a complete rearchitecture of the brand that should begin reflecting across customer touch points in the next two to four quarters. 27:53 27 minutes, 53 seconds In parallel, as you're aware, the de merger process from Thomas Cook has also been initiated. Uh while we uh remain 28:00 28 minutes watchful of short-term headwinds like weather and impacts on input costs that may impact us, uh we have the resilience 28:09 28 minutes, 9 seconds to weather such headwinds as demonstrated in FI26 and are confident that our long-term drivers remain 28:16 28 minutes, 16 seconds intact. Looking ahead, we believe the transformation phase is now largely behind us. We are entering the next 28:23 28 minutes, 23 seconds phase of value creation. Accelerated value creation. Sterling is now just not growing faster. It is growing better 28:31 28 minutes, 31 seconds with greater predictability, stronger operating leverage, increasing cash generation and disciplined capital 28:38 28 minutes, 38 seconds allocation. We remain extremely optimistic and confident for the year ahead, including Q1 of FI27, and look 28:48 28 minutes, 48 seconds forward to creating long-term value for all the stakeholders. Thank you once again for your uh for your time to 28:55 28 minutes, 55 seconds listen and for your continued support of us. Thank you Ram. You can go ahead please. 29:06 29 minutes, 6 seconds Yeah. Hi, good evening everyone. My name is Kamarin. I'm the managing director and CEO of Digi Photo Entertainment Imaging. Uh first and foremost, uh thank 29:14 29 minutes, 14 seconds you very much for giving me the opportunity to to present the last quarter and the year performance. Uh as you can see we've had uh we as Mish 29:23 29 minutes, 23 seconds mentioned we are one of the most affected in this group uh due to the current geopolitical scenario. Our 29:29 29 minutes, 29 seconds quarter 42026 posted 194 cr topline against a 201 cr topline of a similar 29:37 29 minutes, 37 seconds period in quarter 425. uh against which we also posted u uh a bit uh of negative 29:45 29 minutes, 45 seconds 10 cr against uh 7 cr positive in the same quarter last year. Uh throwing a little more light on what exactly 29:52 29 minutes, 52 seconds happened in the quarter. Uh I think it's a well well-known news that uh the geopolitical scenario in the Middle East 29:59 29 minutes, 59 seconds was the worst and affected the market a lot. uh DI's overall business was 50% depending was depending and is contributed from the Middle East region. 30:10 30 minutes, 10 seconds Uh whilst the quarter 4 Jan and Feb uh were trending in the right direction we were posting about 9% better performance 30:19 30 minutes, 19 seconds than the same Jan Feb of the previous of the previous year. Uh March t turned to 30:26 30 minutes, 26 seconds be a train smash. uh this train smashes further quarter for because it was supposed to be our best March in the last five years as Ramid was falling on 30:36 30 minutes, 36 seconds March in this year. Uh had it been the norm, we would have posted another 40 to 50 crores over on the top line and an 30:43 30 minutes, 43 seconds additional at least 8 to 10 crores on the bottom line which would have made our overall year look a lot better. 30:51 30 minutes, 51 seconds Having said that, in spite of all the challenges, this got partially offseted by our Far East and Apac operations 31:00 31 minutes where we have posted a fairly healthy consistent growth. Hong Kong and Malaysia as markets have done better 31:07 31 minutes, 7 seconds than the past. We've had some new sites coming on board in that region too. So that helped us to partially offset the 31:15 31 minutes, 15 seconds same. uh going forward uh looking at this whole thing we are looking at optim the time in March also was very little 31:23 31 minutes, 23 seconds for us to do any correction to save the quarter or the year in any better way but in immediately the company has taken 31:30 31 minutes, 30 seconds all possible steps on optimization and cost correction uh going forward and that will be seen in the coming quarters 31:37 31 minutes, 37 seconds as we trend along uh we have also a lot of autom automation and automization that has been implemented within the 31:45 31 minutes, 45 seconds group within the company and across the market as I've been always mentioning about our new software solutions that has finally 31:53 31 minutes, 53 seconds gone fully live and has been stably operating for the last 2 months consistently across all our operations. 32:01 32 minutes, 1 second So VC is now 100% alive. This optimization will be directly helping our direct cost on people on our capture on increasing our capture and our sales. 32:12 32 minutes, 12 seconds Uh the digital sales journey as we've already implemented is showing us a healthy trend of traction. We have 32:19 32 minutes, 19 seconds activated our WhatsApp channel which is further helping us to boost some conversion and we are seeing this 32:26 32 minutes, 26 seconds through the uh through the markets that we are open. Middle East right now is slowly just coming out of it. I think 32:34 32 minutes, 34 seconds what we forecast going forward will be approximately a 50 to 60% recovery towards the end of the year. That's how 32:41 32 minutes, 41 seconds MD looks like. While doing that, we'll be staying focused on penetrating our existing markets in the Far East and opening new locations within the markets 32:50 32 minutes, 50 seconds that we're already operating thereby helping us to better our margins and also optimize our cost. uh we are hoping 32:56 32 minutes, 56 seconds to see sizable uh betterment as these quarters go along. Although I would resonate with what Mah said that we do 33:04 33 minutes, 4 seconds not see this year anyway getting or delivering what we what it was supposed to but our aim would be to make sure that we still make money and trend 33:13 33 minutes, 13 seconds ourselves into the coming year where we can still step up and live up and deliver what we have supposed to be delivering in the year 2026. That's all from my side. Thank you. 33:27 33 minutes, 27 seconds Ria, you can open the floor for Q&A, please. 33:32 33 minutes, 32 seconds Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. 33:38 33 minutes, 38 seconds Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touchstone telephone. 33:46 33 minutes, 46 seconds If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handset while asking a question. 33:57 33 minutes, 57 seconds The first question is from the line of Somia S from Insightful Investment. Please go ahead. 34:06 34 minutes, 6 seconds Uh yeah. Hi, thank you for the opportunity. Uh so my question was uh regarding the sterling resort as we've 34:14 34 minutes, 14 seconds been adding hotels and uh you know the room number of rooms has been adding Q1 Q1 Y uh I just wanted to know if the 34:23 34 minutes, 23 seconds occupancy we expect a like for like improvement in occupancy in Q1 and how Q1 has been so far. 34:31 34 minutes, 31 seconds Okay. Hi uh Somia this is Vikram Lmani thanks for your question. Uh so I'd like to split your question into two parts of 34:39 34 minutes, 39 seconds answers. One is I'll answer it in form of a a Q1 uh outlook that you're looking at. I think in uh in general as I said 34:49 34 minutes, 49 seconds we are extremely optimistic about Q1 and as we are in Q1 as of now uh we we see 34:57 34 minutes, 57 seconds no headwinds fortunately and uh I think we will have uh you know a good healthy 35:03 35 minutes, 3 seconds Q1. Uh number two is um a having said that in terms of the scale that we've uh 35:10 35 minutes, 10 seconds attained uh we added 14 results last year and another 14 or so uh year before last and despite that we've actually 35:19 35 minutes, 19 seconds started showing improvements in uh uh occupancies from 61 to 64 even with a uh 35:27 35 minutes, 27 seconds increased supply base. So uh uh so that's the thing and from a leisure business again I've been maintaining 35:35 35 minutes, 35 seconds that a good uh occupancy uh for the entire year is uh it will be 35:41 35 minutes, 41 seconds approximately 65 closer towards 70 that's a that's a good optimum uh occupancy to uh maintain and hold 35:50 35 minutes, 50 seconds obviously it will uh vary season to season as it's uh Q3 for us is a is the strongest season Now since the last two 35:59 35 minutes, 59 seconds years uh strongest quarter Q1 is a strong quarter and Q4 which we just 36:06 36 minutes, 6 seconds concluded actually um you know emerged a dark horse and a very strong quarter for 36:13 36 minutes, 13 seconds us. uh uh so uh I think the opportunity is further there to scale uh both in 36:20 36 minutes, 20 seconds terms of supply and uh to get to the occupancy of uh 65 to 70% through the year. I hope that answers your question. 36:30 36 minutes, 30 seconds Uh yes sir, that was great. Thank you so much. Thank you. 36:34 36 minutes, 34 seconds Uh I have just one more question. Uh this one is regarding uh our outbound 36:40 36 minutes, 40 seconds travel. So short hall has seen stronger growth uh for the year and I just wanted to know if uh currently like in Q1 we 36:50 36 minutes, 50 seconds are seeing the same trend because long haul being subdued I understand what the reasons uh have already been highlighted. 36:58 36 minutes, 58 seconds S I think I kind of addressed that question in my remark uh but I reiterate that yes we are witnessing double digit 37:04 37 minutes, 4 seconds growth as far as the short hall business is concerned uh and that's obvious reasons because people are looking at destinations which are closer by because 37:13 37 minutes, 13 seconds uh time taken to make that decision and the availability of visa and such things are far more easier for a short hall destinations also you'll appreciate that 37:21 37 minutes, 21 seconds a lot of these short hall markets are eastbound and and that's where the most of the traffic is currently traveling to. So yes to that extent uh the short 37:29 37 minutes, 29 seconds hall is looking uh promising at this point in time. Uh it's the the pain is on the long haul side mostly westbound 37:36 37 minutes, 36 seconds long hall the volumes are currently sub all right sir thank you so much that 37:46 37 minutes, 46 seconds thank you next question is from the line of he go from choice institutional equities please go ahead. Yes. Uh 37:55 37 minutes, 55 seconds semi-political question. Uh I wanted to understand that uh the war impact is evident but uh even uh even that that 38:04 38 minutes, 4 seconds was in Q4 but uh overall in FI26 we see India DMS uh grew only by 3%. Uh also 38:11 38 minutes, 11 seconds domestic B2C grew by 14% in FI26. So uh any other reason that you want to highlight uh apart from the war that is 38:19 38 minutes, 19 seconds already evident and also uh following up uh how do you see Q1 uh do do you see any recovery in the travel industry overall? 38:29 38 minutes, 29 seconds So he you had multiple questions so I'll try and address each one of that to begin with. I think on the domestic side I think kind of I alluded to in my 38:37 38 minutes, 37 seconds opening remark again the ER began with bell down the operation syndrome. So that impacted because Kashmir it was a 38:45 38 minutes, 45 seconds big market for us. It it was roughly about 18 20% of our domestic portfolio which got impacted during that period. 38:51 38 minutes, 51 seconds Hence that volumes was not available. Uh if you look at specifically at a Q Q1 or 38:58 38 minutes, 58 seconds a Q4 comparison for FI26 and compare it with the previous year. So the impact of Kashmir and we also dealt with the Kumba 39:06 39 minutes, 6 seconds which was available in the previous year which was not transacted this year. So this is the comparison point as far as the domestic is concerned. So impact coming from kum that was the previous 39:15 39 minutes, 15 seconds year and uh the the shortened cycle on Kashmir I think these are the two large impacts. If I have to kind of exclude 39:22 39 minutes, 22 seconds that or include that in whichever numbers that you want to fi25 or fi26 we'll actually see a growth which will be more like a double digit growth that you will see on the domestic side of it. 39:32 39 minutes, 32 seconds Uh coming to your point on uh the overall landscape as we see in Q1 of FI 2027 uh our belief is that the the short hall and domestic will witness growth. 39:43 39 minutes, 43 seconds The short hall as I mentioned previously through the previous question also the shortfall is continuing continuing to grow at about at a double digit phase. 39:52 39 minutes, 52 seconds Uh the domestic market is also growing. 39:55 39 minutes, 55 seconds I think it's the long haul where we are seeing a subdued demand and and that's for the obvious reasons that we all know. Uh I will also qualify here that 40:04 40 minutes, 4 seconds the volumes that we do on short hall and domestic does not completely offset uh the volume short hall coming from the 40:11 40 minutes, 11 seconds long haul because long haul are large high price products or or large ticket size ATVs as we call it today. So to 40:19 40 minutes, 19 seconds that extent there will be uh some amount of uh reduced volumes that we are currently seeing in our forward booking. 40:26 40 minutes, 26 seconds Having said so uh the category that we operate which is discretionary by nature uh is also a category where people do 40:33 40 minutes, 33 seconds not uh cancel it's more like postponement. So our belief is that if if the impact of the war is kind of settling down very quickly you will see 40:41 40 minutes, 41 seconds this demand coming back in the later half of the year. And and that's the view we have at this point in time. 40:48 40 minutes, 48 seconds Uh okay fine I got it for the media part. Uh could you also uh please uh talk the same about the corporate and mice part? I think you mentioned that 40:56 40 minutes, 56 seconds you're seeing a strong demand there but uh are there any expected slowdowns for Q1 with regards to the war impact and any new partnerships that you've added? 41:08 41 minutes, 8 seconds So currently on the corporate travel side we aren't seeing any reduction in volumes. they continue to trend at 41:15 41 minutes, 15 seconds similar trend lines that we have seen in the previous year which is a 78% growth that we've seen. So I don't think that's getting subdued on the my side. Yes, as 41:23 41 minutes, 23 seconds I said the decisions are getting delayed. So a lot of it is a wait and watch approach. So there could be a quartertoquarter shift but again uh as 41:31 41 minutes, 31 seconds you'll appreciate that mice is more like a reward and recognition program RNR uh or a sales uh initiative for a lot of 41:39 41 minutes, 39 seconds corporates. Hence these are committed costs. It's just a timing of when that will happen. So my expectation is that a lot of that will come back in probably 41:48 41 minutes, 48 seconds if it's not happening in Q1, it'll happen in Q2 and Q3. 41:53 41 minutes, 53 seconds Uh okay, got it. And one last question from my side if I may. Uh I think we have a cash uh cash net of tech around 42:00 42 minutes 800 2,000 cr. Uh could you highlight where how is the cash going to be deployed or do we have any strategy there? Like I think you mentioned you 42:07 42 minutes, 7 seconds know automation. I think that would be one area that anything else that we that our mission has in mind. 42:17 42 minutes, 17 seconds Uh hi hi this is Dashish Dashi. So um to answer the question yes you're quite 42:23 42 minutes, 23 seconds right we have a large cash net cash so I would use I would rather use the word net cash rather than anything else and 42:31 42 minutes, 31 seconds uh at a net level yeah it's about close to about 800 which is the number that we have also talked about. Now um what we 42:40 42 minutes, 40 seconds uh intend obviously um we have some plans of cap for capital expenditure which is into software uh with basically 42:48 42 minutes, 48 seconds a technology because uh as you know uh travel not only travel even other parts of our business notably financial 42:55 42 minutes, 55 seconds services and DEI depends a lot on uh on technology and therefore there will be increasing investment in technology 43:02 43 minutes, 2 seconds that's one we also would like to sort of uh uh you know uh pay off our debt uh which will be 43:10 43 minutes, 10 seconds possible over the next couple of years because of long there are some long-term loans which has fixed equipment periods. 43:16 43 minutes, 16 seconds Um apart from that we would be looking at we as you know uh we have grown through 43:23 43 minutes, 23 seconds acquisition we have grown in organically in the past and uh if there is any opportunity for growing in organically we'll we'll avail of that if there is a 43:31 43 minutes, 31 seconds suitable opportunity which fits our criteria in terms of returns etc and then we will uh look for such opportunities. 43:40 43 minutes, 40 seconds Okay. Sure. Got it. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. 43:46 43 minutes, 46 seconds Thank you. A reminder to all participants, you may press star and one to ask questions. 43:54 43 minutes, 54 seconds A reminder to all participants, you may press star and one to ask questions. 44:00 44 minutes Next question is from the line of Miss Purwa Zanvar from 361 Capital Market. Please go ahead. 44:08 44 minutes, 8 seconds Yeah. Hi. So, thanks for the opportunity. So my question is on the financial services segment. So if we see 44:15 44 minutes, 15 seconds our gross turnover in FI26 has grown by about 8% with retail turnover up 10%. 44:23 44 minutes, 23 seconds Yet our reported revenue declined by.5%. 44:28 44 minutes, 28 seconds Does this indicate increasing margin pressure or delegate strategy to trade margins for market share gains? 44:38 44 minutes, 38 seconds So Purwa uh I I don't think it's a straight answer like that to say are we uh trading margins. So there are some 44:45 44 minutes, 45 seconds practical call we take uh with regards to how we go and acquire and and you'll appreciate that when you are in a digital business some of it is uh you 44:54 44 minutes, 54 seconds know optically visible to the customer and hence there is some trade-off that happens but I think it's more to do with the mix of business that we transact 45:01 45 minutes, 1 second while the volume will look like the way that you said it's about 8%. uh on the uh mix side of it because if your uh 45:09 45 minutes, 9 seconds concentration on wholesale versus retail, retail versus corporate uh shifts, I think that there is a likely shift that happens on the margin side of 45:18 45 minutes, 18 seconds it. The second one and as I said this before, we report our revenue on a net basis. Now there are there are this 45:25 45 minutes, 25 seconds education consultants and franchisee business that we operate where there is a revenue share. So while we get the gross revenue there's also revenue share 45:33 45 minutes, 33 seconds that happens with them and hence those are also reflected in the net revenue that we report. So again as I said there is no margin pressure there are there 45:42 45 minutes, 42 seconds are no challenges on margin our retail business continue to operate in the range of about 2 to 2.2% our wholesale 45:49 45 minutes, 49 seconds business continues to operate about 6 to 7% and I don't think those margin uh figures have changed over the last few quarters. 45:58 45 minutes, 58 seconds Okay. Got it. And second was that earlier we used to wait for around 5% pivot margins in the travel segment. Uh 46:08 46 minutes, 8 seconds so given this shift towards short hall from long haul uh do we maintain that 5% 46:15 46 minutes, 15 seconds guidance or it will take time to achieve that? 46:20 46 minutes, 20 seconds So uh look at it purwa you know whether I sell short hall I sell long haul our 46:27 46 minutes, 27 seconds gross margins are almost the same they are not too different in that sense you know it's just that the unit value of a short hall as compared to long haul is 46:36 46 minutes, 36 seconds different so to that extent as an arithmetic this number would look uh lower uh and look this shift is 46:43 46 minutes, 43 seconds currently happening we don't know how long this shift will happen and and we've seen gradually more like you know a short hall dominated kind of a travel 46:52 46 minutes, 52 seconds sentiment that has emerged over the last two or three years. So I think in that uh perspective uh I would think the the 47:00 47 minutes 5% that we've said is our objective to get to uh is is not uh getting disturbed while there will be temporary uh 47:09 47 minutes, 9 seconds setbacks that may come because of the geopolitical the cost pressures and stuff like that because our endeavor also is to push the market make them 47:16 47 minutes, 16 seconds travel. So there are some tactical calls we'll take and as you would have seen in the media we've gone to the market with attractive price points. Uh we are offering cash backs and stuff like that. 47:25 47 minutes, 25 seconds So there are some tactical calls that we take which do which does protect kind of put some uh pressure on margins but 47:32 47 minutes, 32 seconds those are well planned and and uh kind of tactical in nature but I think the long-term trajectory on margin remains 47:39 47 minutes, 39 seconds intact and also please remember uh when we spoke about the 5% limit margin on the travel business was also based on our DMS operations getting profitable. 47:49 47 minutes, 49 seconds So we've had this wagery like you would have seen what happened in desert this one quarter kind of impact in the whole year and and you know these kind of 47:56 47 minutes, 56 seconds impacts have so their contributions don't come in and kind of drag the overall EBIT for the travel segment. So 48:03 48 minutes, 3 seconds yeah it's not a one-sizefits-all kind of an answer it's more like to do with the B2C side and within B2C short hall versus long haul and within B2B some 48:12 48 minutes, 12 seconds segments which have taken the larger role of the geopolitical impact. 48:18 48 minutes, 18 seconds You got it. Thank you. So that is Thank you. Next question is from the line of Chaitan from Systematics Group. 48:28 48 minutes, 28 seconds Please go ahead. 48:31 48 minutes, 31 seconds Yeah. Hi. Uh thank you for the opportunity. Uh couple of questions. 48:36 48 minutes, 36 seconds First on the foreign exchange part. So in fiscal 26 we have seen comparatively better growth in education and holiday segment compared to the industry. 48:46 48 minutes, 46 seconds How should we uh see this going forward in fiscal 27 and RBI has uh recently 48:53 48 minutes, 53 seconds issued revised norms for entities dealing in foreign exchange. So any positives or drawbacks for us in this. 49:01 49 minutes, 1 second Thank you Chad for asking that question. 49:02 49 minutes, 2 seconds I should have covered that in my commentary. Uh but thank you for asking that. First uh let me address the first question which is on the education 49:09 49 minutes, 9 seconds segment. As I mentioned uh I think this has been one of our strongest uh year as far as the growth on the education 49:16 49 minutes, 16 seconds segment is concerned uh actually driven by a lot of partnerships that we have had the NBFC partnership that I spoke 49:23 49 minutes, 23 seconds about and also uh the agency network that we have through which we source this business. So I think it's been a strong boat for us. Also we have 49:31 49 minutes, 31 seconds segmented this market as you know we have a prepaid card offering specifically focused on the student segment and a lot of benefit that we have offered to the students 49:39 49 minutes, 39 seconds specifically targeting this market. So despite a difficult environment where uh there have been challenges in the US in 49:46 49 minutes, 46 seconds the Canada market in terms of intake of students we have managed to increase our uh market share in the student overall student segment. uh my estimate is that 49:55 49 minutes, 55 seconds for FY27 we will continue to see this trajectory because some of these partnerships we have just signed they have not traded 50:03 50 minutes, 3 seconds for the full year and their full year trading should uh reflect a better performance for FY27. 50:09 50 minutes, 9 seconds uh to your question the second part of the question which is on the recently issued notification from RBI yes it's a big positive for us uh one is because 50:18 50 minutes, 18 seconds you know our license which is an AD2 largely uh is a current account based transaction license what it has allowed or what the circular talks about is that 50:27 50 minutes, 27 seconds we can now undertake capital account transaction by definition trade transaction up to 25 lakh rupee per transaction. So that opens up a new 50:36 50 minutes, 36 seconds avenue of business for us which uh currently is outside the ambit and was also was always a domain of ranks. So 50:44 50 minutes, 44 seconds now we can actually be in that space where we can do uh trade related remittances and you'll appreciate there are a lot of theme MSE companies who do 50:52 50 minutes, 52 seconds a lot of remittances and given our partnership both on the forex side which is about 1100 corporates on the corporate travel side we have about 800 51:00 51 minutes relationships. So you know we have a captive base to whom we can now start offering trade related services also. 51:05 51 minutes, 5 seconds Yes that definitely opens up. The second advantage or or the positive that I see is that RBI is now not going to issue fresh FFMC licenses. So what's going to 51:14 51 minutes, 14 seconds happen is the current universe of 1500 or 1700 licenses that are there in the market are are are the only ones who are going to exist. So no new operators are 51:23 51 minutes, 23 seconds going to come in. So that kind of becomes restrictive in that sense. uh but also I think increasingly the message RBI is giving is that they want 51:30 51 minutes, 30 seconds to regulate a few entities which is the AD1 AD2 and they have spoken about a new category called as AD3 specific to where 51:38 51 minutes, 38 seconds they will provide foreign exchange services which are relevant to the category of business that they deal with. So I think it's kind of redefining 51:46 51 minutes, 46 seconds the landscape and and I think uh our bond exchange business should benefit out of this one. Obviously a lot of fine 51:53 51 minutes, 53 seconds lines still needs to be defined and I think RBI is kind of actively working on it and and is going to roll out a paper on it which will give us more direction 52:02 52 minutes, 2 seconds in terms of how this will be operationalized. 52:06 52 minutes, 6 seconds Got it sir. And so second question is on DEI. Uh so the business operates around in 14 countries with UAE contributing 52:15 52 minutes, 15 seconds around 50% which is significant geographic concentration. So any plan strategy to reduce this concentration 52:22 52 minutes, 22 seconds and and which geographies do you believe have the highest growth potential ahead? 52:28 52 minutes, 28 seconds Ra you want okay um yes yes so I think uh yes we do operate in 22 countries but in 52:35 52 minutes, 35 seconds significantly of sizable nature we've operated in about five odd countries which is Dubai is one among them Dubai 52:41 52 minutes, 41 seconds takes 50%. Our strategy right now would be to focus on the other markets in the where we already operating namely 52:50 52 minutes, 50 seconds Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and uh a good amount of Egypt and India also and 52:57 52 minutes, 57 seconds Thailand. So those are the markets where we are focusing on increasing. Uh we do have options of going to new markets but 53:04 53 minutes, 4 seconds that this may not be the best time to do that because the cost structures are higher when you start new. we have still bandwidth available within these markets 53:13 53 minutes, 13 seconds where we can grow further. Uh Singapore we we were we we hold about 80% market 85% market share. So we have some more 53:20 53 minutes, 20 seconds opportunity to grow there. But Malaysia and Indonesia are sizable in nature. In fact, just as we speak, we've signed up 53:27 53 minutes, 27 seconds about 15 new potential partners uh in the coming 6 months that we'll be operating opening in between Indonesia, 53:35 53 minutes, 35 seconds Singapore, um China, Macau and uh Hong Kong. 53:44 53 minutes, 44 seconds Got it, sir. Got it. Thank you and all the best. Thank you. 53:50 53 minutes, 50 seconds Thank you. Next question is from the line of Anil Shaha from Insightful Investment. Please go ahead. 53:57 53 minutes, 57 seconds Yeah. Hi, my question is related to Sterling. So Mr. Lalani, you know I'm I'm just looking at your presentation 54:05 54 minutes, 5 seconds slide 39. See at the end of at the end of FY23 we had about 2420 rooms and in FY 24 54:16 54 minutes, 16 seconds which is you know for those 2420 rooms and whatever addition that you would have done in 24 during the course of the year we saw the highest EBIT of almost 54:25 54 minutes, 25 seconds 137 crores after which we've added almost 1200 to,300 rooms from there maybe even more sorry we've added we are 54:34 54 minutes, 34 seconds now at 3800 uh our EBIT continues to actually be steady in terms of 129 crores over the 54:41 54 minutes, 41 seconds last two years. In fact, a decline from FY24. 54:45 54 minutes, 45 seconds So I'm sure there are lots that going on. One of the reasons which I'm obviously probably the member ratio at 54:52 54 minutes, 52 seconds that time was 69% in 24. That's come now I I mean the guest ratio was 69 which has gone to 75. So you would have some 55:00 55 minutes member fees which are not there any longer but you know we not seeing growth while we're seeing number of rooms number of resorts our footprints going 55:08 55 minutes, 8 seconds up I'm not seeing that percolating to a bit could you just throw some light okay let me just uh uh tell you in three 55:17 55 minutes, 17 seconds or four factors here now over a period of time uh as I said the uh the revenue 55:25 55 minutes, 25 seconds stream or member acquisition has actually we've uh we've stopped the member acquisition. So that revenue 55:32 55 minutes, 32 seconds stream is down. Uh similarly on the other hand we've been trying to ramp up the uh number of resorts and each of 55:40 55 minutes, 40 seconds these resorts do have a ramp up time involved. I've explained this also a little earlier that whenever you open a 55:48 55 minutes, 48 seconds resort, it takes three or four months to ramp up and uh you know in fact you get 55:54 55 minutes, 54 seconds you uh uh get an upfront cost even before you start earning the revenues in these resorts. So there is always a lag 56:03 56 minutes, 3 seconds of two or 3 months there. So in a ramp phase you will face these uh uh these aspects of uh uh you know lead and lag. 56:12 56 minutes, 12 seconds uh and we've also substituted a lot of the uh uh the business model which is predominantly uh membership driven into 56:22 56 minutes, 22 seconds now predominantly resort driven uh so which is now almost 85% 90% of the overall game. So in this whole uh 56:31 56 minutes, 31 seconds aspects of phase or scale uh you know when you had couple of quarter wise you had couple of upfront costs there is so 56:40 56 minutes, 40 seconds we've at least maintained the I beta margins that's that's the uh the level there as I said that now as we keep 56:47 56 minutes, 47 seconds scaling it's only going to increase because of the fact that we've actually transformed this whole model here uh 56:54 56 minutes, 54 seconds number one number two uh you know while we c it earlier 57:00 57 minutes uh uh while the ramp up of the uh of the new lease ress happens over a time frame uh some are seasonal in nature like 57:09 57 minutes, 9 seconds Rajasthan uh the depreciation of on the ROU asset which is actually affecting our aid actually it's from month one itself and the depreciation for these 57:18 57 minutes, 18 seconds are quite on the highest side so that is another reason why you'll find the slightly dropping keep it dropping slightly in FI25 57:26 57 minutes, 26 seconds other reason is this is the first full year of where we don't have any membership acquisition related revenues first full year. So the good news is 57:35 57 minutes, 35 seconds that we're able to hold on to a bit we also able to increase the cash flows without any of those membership acquisition related revenues coming into 57:44 57 minutes, 44 seconds our revenue stream. So these are two reasons but the good news is EITA margin at 31% and 24% of uh EIT margin I think 57:52 57 minutes, 52 seconds we're holding on that is something good for us which is purely coming from research business we'll only build up from there and as we keep going ahead the scale 58:01 58 minutes, 1 second will start aldering yeah so if you know I mean if you if we assume that we won't grow let's say in 58:08 58 minutes, 8 seconds FY27 and just keep the rooms at 3010 where do you think we can actually make in terms of an absolute ebit. 58:18 58 minutes, 18 seconds It's a hypothetical question. I'm just trying to Okay, I know it's a little hypothetical. 58:22 58 minutes, 22 seconds Let me answer this in a way. Uh see, typically uh I'm talking from an IETA point of view. All right. Uh first, because that's a real operating story. 58:31 58 minutes, 31 seconds Uh from an I beta point of view, typically anything between 32 to 35% 58:38 58 minutes, 38 seconds or a 36% is a great beta. All right. and uh seasonality it will vary from quarter to quarter as I said quarter 1 quarter 3 58:46 58 minutes, 46 seconds will have a different uh u you know uh equation to it so anything between uh 32 58:53 58 minutes, 53 seconds to 35% is actually uh that range is actually a very stable range and we will 59:00 59 minutes continue to maintain that stable range so while if the if your question is 3810 rooms have to remain constant where do you get your from uh Yeah, absolutely. 59:12 59 minutes, 12 seconds You know, sir is giving me margins which means that I need to now then predict revenues. Now revenues could be a mix of some of them are owned, some are 59:19 59 minutes, 19 seconds managed, some are leased you know. So the good the good demon to demonstrate the fact the Q4 revenues if you have 59:27 59 minutes, 27 seconds noticed you would have seen an increase in occupancy you would have seen an increase in the AR rs. These two factors on the constant 3810 rooms will 59:36 59 minutes, 36 seconds definitely help us get the revenues up in the current financial year and we're already seeing that happening in the month of April and to some extent in May also. 59:47 59 minutes, 47 seconds And even if you say like 67% of our total equation is P&L rules. So it's not 59:54 59 minutes, 54 seconds over asset light either. It's a well balanced portfolio and we will continue to keep that portfolio well balanced. So 1:00:01 1 hour, 1 second as in when the occupancy AR or the ref bar scales this will automatically scale even now at a flat 3,800 1:00:10 1 hour, 10 seconds uh and you also have the ramp ups of those other 14 over a period of years which will complete one full year also. 1:00:20 1 hour, 20 seconds Sure. Okay. Uh my second question is you know on the DEI uh we obviously you know 1:00:27 1 hour, 27 seconds nobody saw this coming uh the war and you know peak season in Dubai. So we've got a 10 crore I think an EIT or an EBIT 1:00:35 1 hour, 35 seconds loss. uh is is that something that's a you know that's something that's done and dusted and behind us you've taken 1:00:43 1 hour, 43 seconds corrective actions to make sure that going forward we will not see these kind of losses uh despite the situation and 1:00:51 1 hour, 51 seconds geopolitical remaining constant uh in Q1 Q2 and so on so forth sir 1:00:58 1 hour, 58 seconds well um firstly the time given was too little so obviously March was too date this happened on the if you all know the 1:01:07 1 hour, 1 minute, 7 seconds dates it happened on 1st March literally 28th February to be precise and by the way they have done so the corrections 1:01:15 1 hour, 1 minute, 15 seconds have been done currently what we look at is overhead corrections on people low cost centralization cost of moving certain parts but all those takes time 1:01:24 1 hour, 1 minute, 24 seconds it won't happen overnight uh even correction of people take a 30 days to a 90 or 60 days period of uh notice etc so 1:01:33 1 hour, 1 minute, 33 seconds to answer your It is not done and dusted but also it will not be continued in the same form. 1:01:39 1 hour, 1 minute, 39 seconds It will reduce it. We'll have to stabilize it and as long as we confident that the business will come back you cannot we can only do as much as 1:01:47 1 hour, 1 minute, 47 seconds required so we can restart quickly. we don't see a quick comeback but if we see as I told you all that we see a 50 to 1:01:55 1 hour, 1 minute, 55 seconds 60% comeback we are restructuring ourselves out to only sustain and deliver that number and therefore also go into other areas of optimization like 1:02:04 1 hour, 2 minutes, 4 seconds our IT optimization we're doing a lot of utilization of AI to reduce lot of the IT services overheads etc balance some 1:02:11 1 hour, 2 minutes, 11 seconds uh license versus owned models for some of the third party services that we're taking uh correcting some property area 1:02:18 1 hour, 2 minutes, 18 seconds cost and marketing uh and automation on outsourcing all of this are being done simultaneously you will see that quarter 1:02:25 1 hour, 2 minutes, 25 seconds by quarter the number reducing uh and then effectively coming back to positive uh Ram if I may add to this uh so Mr. 1:02:34 1 hour, 2 minutes, 34 seconds Dashisha and just wanted to add to what Ram is saying. So u we have taken as Ram detailed uh in the last few minutes. We 1:02:42 1 hour, 2 minutes, 42 seconds have taken a series of actions to optimize our cost on the both on the direct as well as on the indirect side 1:02:49 1 hour, 2 minutes, 49 seconds and uh each of these actions would lead to some sort of cost reduction etc. But it would happen you know over time over 1:02:57 1 hour, 2 minutes, 57 seconds the next couple of months. However, one thing that we can't do much about is the actual situation on the ground in terms 1:03:05 1 hour, 3 minutes, 5 seconds of uh travelers coming into the Middle East which is the affected area and consequent footfalls into the relevant 1:03:11 1 hour, 3 minutes, 11 seconds parks or the sites. So the top line is something that we are still dependent on the ground conditions on ground 1:03:18 1 hour, 3 minutes, 18 seconds conditions. So that is something that's not in our hands. uh cost side will see definitely improvements and as and when 1:03:26 1 hour, 3 minutes, 26 seconds uh this current situation eases or um gets resolved um we will see the the 1:03:33 1 hour, 3 minutes, 33 seconds business bouncing back into profitability and when it bounces back it should bounce back stronger because the uh changes done at the cost level um 1:03:42 1 hour, 3 minutes, 42 seconds are of long-term in nature and therefore should help us over the years and it's not it's not not just one time improvement. 1:03:50 1 hour, 3 minutes, 50 seconds Sure. Thanks. Yeah. Thanks. 1:03:52 1 hour, 3 minutes, 52 seconds One last question if I may. So, um uh you know in in in I think in the presentation we've talked about having 1:04:00 1 hour, 4 minutes cash and equivalence of about 2600 crores uh you know if I and somewhere in the 1:04:08 1 hour, 4 minutes, 8 seconds presentation we've also talked about 1,600 crores of float uh you know minus the debt of 277 1:04:15 1 hour, 4 minutes, 15 seconds crores. So net cash with the company as of now should be closer to about 730 40 crores. Is that correct? That's net cash is correct. 1:04:25 1 hour, 4 minutes, 25 seconds Is that correct? Is correct? Yes. Yeah. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you. Bye. 1:04:32 1 hour, 4 minutes, 32 seconds Thank you. Next question is from the line of Ana Ka from Alpha Alternative. Please go ahead. 1:04:40 1 hour, 4 minutes, 40 seconds Um hello sir. So I have a couple of questions. Firstly, I wish to understand why there was a drop in the perform in the performance of the financial 1:04:48 1 hour, 4 minutes, 48 seconds services segment at both the top line and the bottom line levels. Um secondly, I want to understand how you plan to 1:04:56 1 hour, 4 minutes, 56 seconds tide over the impact of monsoon um as far as the um resort segment is concerned. And the third thing is if we 1:05:03 1 hour, 5 minutes, 3 seconds could get some clarity on the timeline for the demon that would be great. 1:05:09 1 hour, 5 minutes, 9 seconds Yeah. So that we passed your questions Ana and uh I think I'll take one part of the question and let Debash comment on the timelines for the re merger and then 1:05:18 1 hour, 5 minutes, 18 seconds I'll get uh Vikram to come back and talk about uh the effect of monsoon and and stuff and how he's preparing for that. 1:05:25 1 hour, 5 minutes, 25 seconds Uh first your question on foreign exchange and why the performance has been low in the quarter. I think kind of 1:05:33 1 hour, 5 minutes, 33 seconds we spoke about it at great length even even in my opening commentary. uh if you look at for the quarter I think it's a 1:05:41 1 hour, 5 minutes, 41 seconds good performance I think it's a it's a growth both in terms of uh revenue as well as EBIT and also an improvement in 1:05:50 1 hour, 5 minutes, 50 seconds the EIT margin if you look for the full year it's a little flattish and that reflects the trend uh and I think kind 1:05:57 1 hour, 5 minutes, 57 seconds of I alluded to the point that we've operated in the environment where two of the conflicts that emerge one the domestic conflict which is operations 1:06:05 1 hour, 6 minutes, 5 seconds indu attack and the international conflict which is the Israel Iran US conflict I think both of them ended up 1:06:15 1 hour, 6 minutes, 15 seconds in in some kind of peak of our travel seasons one which is the inbound season one which was the outbound season in both this foreign exchange is a 1:06:23 1 hour, 6 minutes, 23 seconds byproduct for both one in one case I buy foreign exchange in one case I sell foreign exchange so I think if you're looking at the full year you're looking 1:06:32 1 hour, 6 minutes, 32 seconds at more like a 9 or 10 month year rather than a 12 month year because it was impacted Now with that impact also it's not just 1:06:41 1 hour, 6 minutes, 41 seconds the impact to the business that could have done it also impacted the sentiments. Obviously people who were willing to travel and I can't even 1:06:48 1 hour, 6 minutes, 48 seconds anticipate what that number was uh they didn't travel or they didn't make the decision to travel and hence uh you know the business got impacted but I think 1:06:57 1 hour, 6 minutes, 57 seconds the noteworthy part if you look at the full year performance is that we held our EBIT at about 149 crores for the 1:07:04 1 hour, 7 minutes, 4 seconds full year and if you look for the quarter we actually grew by about 17% despite the challenging environment in the current quarter. So I think there 1:07:12 1 hour, 7 minutes, 12 seconds are some positives that we have seen. Uh at the same time there are external challenges which we could not have done anything about and you know large part 1:07:21 1 hour, 7 minutes, 21 seconds of our business uh if I look and I I kind of correlate this to the market data that I mentioned about the LRS data which showed a degrowth in the overall 1:07:29 1 hour, 7 minutes, 29 seconds market our portfolio actually grew on top of it if I just to give a color to our float balances that we have roughly 1:07:36 1 hour, 7 minutes, 36 seconds about 16 billion rupees. You compare it with what we had as of December. It's the same number which means that our uh you know customers are not spending the 1:07:44 1 hour, 7 minutes, 44 seconds money is still living on the card customers are not traveling and suspense are not happening and that's why the flow are accumulating. So I think it's a reflection that we haven't lost anything 1:07:52 1 hour, 7 minutes, 52 seconds out there. It's just that the sentiments have been weak. I think despite that the quarterly performance has been strong. 1:07:59 1 hour, 7 minutes, 59 seconds You want to comment on the Yeah, thank you M. Um so when we uh took the board approval um for this 1:08:06 1 hour, 8 minutes, 6 seconds particular de merger project we said that it will take us 12 to 15 months. Uh the project is currently on track. Uh we 1:08:14 1 hour, 8 minutes, 14 seconds have applied to the nse and the BAC for uh relevant approvals and we are in touch with them answering the queries as we speak. 1:08:23 1 hour, 8 minutes, 23 seconds uh we expect uh this process to get completed by Q1 of FI28 which was the original timeline that we had intimated. 1:08:34 1 hour, 8 minutes, 34 seconds Let me uh step in here Vikram on the question on monsoons. Let me uh answer that way. I can only we can only hope 1:08:42 1 hour, 8 minutes, 42 seconds that the rain gods are not too furious in quarter 2. But having said that there are two parts to it. One uh is an asset 1:08:50 1 hour, 8 minutes, 50 seconds protection. So we uh have u you know we are undertaking uh spends uh to ensure 1:08:57 1 hour, 8 minutes, 57 seconds that in the event of uh a terrible monsoon uh our assets are protected first. That's number one. Uh because in 1:09:06 1 hour, 9 minutes, 6 seconds case there is any uh issues pertaining to that it would actually cost us a loss more which will impact us in Q3 to get 1:09:14 1 hour, 9 minutes, 14 seconds this repaired. So that is step number one that we are taking care of and we should be able to take care of that by 1:09:22 1 hour, 9 minutes, 22 seconds mid of June. uh but on the uh other aspect in terms of if there is an issue uh you know it normally affects and we 1:09:31 1 hour, 9 minutes, 31 seconds what we've seen in the last 2 to 3 years it normally tends to uh uh affect the north of India uh and you know 1:09:40 1 hour, 9 minutes, 40 seconds especially Himash Uttakhan uh you know that it and maybe sometimes even Kerala it does tend to impact that 1:09:48 1 hour, 9 minutes, 48 seconds but that's why we see over a period of time uh in the last 3 to four years. Our our uh uh approach has also been to 1:09:58 1 hour, 9 minutes, 58 seconds derisk by having a spread out portfolio through the country to the maximum possible extent. That's why incrementally every 1:10:06 1 hour, 10 minutes, 6 seconds year we are derisking the aspects of overdependence on one quarter or over 1:10:13 1 hour, 10 minutes, 13 seconds dependence on one region. And u in the previous u uh um uh earnings calls also 1:10:21 1 hour, 10 minutes, 21 seconds I've mentioned that that you know during say the covid time uh where Q1 for example was the strongest quarter for 1:10:29 1 hour, 10 minutes, 29 seconds sterling in the past maybe four five years ago actually today still to Q3 because of the fact while the overall 1:10:37 1 hour, 10 minutes, 37 seconds pie is growing uh because of the fact that the portfolio expanded to other areas beyond the hills say for example 1:10:45 1 hour, 10 minutes, 45 seconds So therefore the as we go along we are also derisking the portfolio dependence 1:10:52 1 hour, 10 minutes, 52 seconds on one region or portfolio dependence only on one particular quarter. 1:11:01 1 hour, 11 minutes, 1 second Um all right sir thank you. 1:11:06 1 hour, 11 minutes, 6 seconds Thank you. Next question is from the line of Mahavir Kali an individual investor. Please go ahead. Good 1:11:15 1 hour, 11 minutes, 15 seconds afternoon. So I'm more interested in the mice business segment and I just wanted to know how has it performed on a QQ and 1:11:22 1 hour, 11 minutes, 22 seconds a YI basis as for the revenue and profitability and also like any updates you can give to me about the Q1 related 1:11:31 1 hour, 11 minutes, 31 seconds uh developments in the mice business you are seeing currently. 1:11:36 1 hour, 11 minutes, 36 seconds Uh Mr. Mahave this is Mahesh. Uh I'll take that question. uh and I mentioned again uh I kind of covered a lot of that 1:11:44 1 hour, 11 minutes, 44 seconds ground when I gave an opening remark. I think from a mice business perspective this year has been good uh despite the 1:11:52 1 hour, 11 minutes, 52 seconds uh headwinds that we have faced during the year. Uh if you look for the quarter and if I have to exclude the government 1:11:59 1 hour, 11 minutes, 59 seconds business that was done in comparable quarter of last year our overall portfolio grew in terms of topline sales as well as profitability. 1:12:08 1 hour, 12 minutes, 8 seconds uh we also mentioned that this was the year for the first time uh the mice business across Thomas and SODC had a gross margin in double digits. Typically 1:12:17 1 hour, 12 minutes, 17 seconds this business operates at single digit margins closer to the 78% and for the first time we had a double digit margin which also shows how we have created 1:12:26 1 hour, 12 minutes, 26 seconds experiences for customer and been able to extract our pound of flesh in kind of uh giving better services and better 1:12:32 1 hour, 12 minutes, 32 seconds experience to our customer. If I look at the forward looking booking for miles going forward as I said while for Q1 1:12:41 1 hour, 12 minutes, 41 seconds there is a little bit of I would say wait and watch approach that's happening but the pipeline is strong the there is 1:12:48 1 hour, 12 minutes, 48 seconds no uh dirt of pipeline in terms of inquiries that are coming from our customers. uh this is an integral part 1:12:56 1 hour, 12 minutes, 56 seconds of the reward and designation and the sales distribution program for a lot of our corporates and hence I think there is always going to be a deferment and 1:13:03 1 hour, 13 minutes, 3 seconds not cancellation so why you could see a shift from one quarter to another overall I don't think the volume will be missed in the financial year FI27 1:13:12 1 hour, 13 minutes, 12 seconds got it and lastly can you like give me a revenue split or a GBB split in the B2B and B2C segment you have uh 1:13:20 1 hour, 13 minutes, 20 seconds as we said our B2C business is roughly about 27 28% and our B2B business is a balanced 72% in terms of revenue. 1:13:31 1 hour, 13 minutes, 31 seconds Got it. Got it. Thank you so much. Thank you. 1:13:37 1 hour, 13 minutes, 37 seconds Thank you. As there are no further questions, I now hand the conference over to management for closing remarks. 1:13:45 1 hour, 13 minutes, 45 seconds Uh thank you so much ladies and gentlemen for participating on this call. uh as I said before FI26 was marked by significant geopolitical 1:13:53 1 hour, 13 minutes, 53 seconds disruptions at both the start and the close of financial year effectively truncating our sales and operating period for to be more like a less than 9 1:14:02 1 hour, 14 minutes, 2 seconds months. Despite these challenging environment characterized by airspace disruptions, elevated costs and significant negative currency 1:14:10 1 hour, 14 minutes, 10 seconds volatility, the Tamsuk India Group delivered a very strong performance with consolidated income growing by 3% at 1:14:18 1 hour, 14 minutes, 18 seconds 85,578 million. Looking ahead, while the environment remained uncertain, we are cautiously optimistic that peace will 1:14:26 1 hour, 14 minutes, 26 seconds endure. Our focus remains on student fiscal management, leveraging technology for increased productivity and to deliver sustainable growth and value to 1:14:35 1 hour, 14 minutes, 35 seconds our shareholders. I'm also happy I just want to mention this point here that our board of directors have recommended a 1:14:42 1 hour, 14 minutes, 42 seconds dividend of 50 pes to a 1 rupee face value share subject to approval of the shareholders. Thank you so much uh and thank you for participating on the call. 1:14:54 1 hour, 14 minutes, 54 seconds Thank you on behalf of the Thomas Cook India Limited. That conclude this conference. Thank you for joining us and you may now disconnect your lines.