KRBL Limited (KRBL) Q1 2027 Earnings Call Transcript

Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the KRBL Limited Q1-FY27 Earnings Conference Call. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Ashish Jain, Chief Financial Officer of KRBL Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

To begin the call, Mr. Anil Kumar Mittal will share updates on the business, industry, and our overall strategy. Following that, Ayush will provide insights into the performance and outlook of our domestic business. Finally, I will present the financial overview of the company for the first quarter, ended June 30, 26. Once the management has concluded their opening remarks, we will open the floor for an interactive Q&A session. Please note that some of the statements made during this call may contain forward-looking information, and actual results may differ from these statements. You can refer to KRBL's investor presentation available on the Stock Exchange website and our company's website. Now, I would like to invite Anilji to share his views. The floor is yours.

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for KRBL's U1 FY2027 Earning Coin. I appreciate your continued trust and confidence in the company. This has been an unusual quarter for our industry, and I want to give you a full picture of it. I will take you through a global rice balance, India's production and export outlook, the final outcome of the 2025 Basmati crop in India and in Pakistan, how prices have moved over the last quarter and up to date, and the effect of the West Asia conflict on trade and logistics. Global Rice Outlook. As per the USDA's latest estimates released on 12th August 2026, global rice production in 26-27 marketing year is expected to decline to approximately 537 million metric tons against about 546 million metric tons in the marketing year now ending. At the same time, global consumption is expected to rise to approximately 543 million metric tons from about 539 million metric tons. The increase comes from India, where domestic consumption alone is projected to grow by around 3.5 million metric tons. With production falling and consumption rising, global ending stocks are expected to draw down from record levels. Tighter world balance sheet than the market was pricing at the start of the calendar year, and it should keep rice market firm rather than soft. Against the tighter balance, India's position is unchanged. India continues to command close to 40% of global rice trade, and despite lower domestic production, USDA forecasts India's rice exports to approximately 25 million metric ton in 26-27, about a million ton higher than the previous year. USGS projects India's rice production in the coming marketing year at approximately 150 million metric tons against about 154 million last year. India will comfortably remain the world's largest rice producer. Domestic consumption is projected to rise from around 124.5 million metric tons to nearly 128 million metric tons. Government rise talks remain very substantial as close to three times the buffer norm as at 1st April 2026. The variable everyone is watching is the monsoon. As of 5th August, cumulative rainfall was running about 11% below the long period average, And the IMD has revised its seasonal forecast down to approximately 90% of normal with below normal rainfall expected in both August and September. The northwest, which is our Basmati belt, is among the deficient regions with Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh all running well below normal June and July. The reservoir shortage nationally was about 27% below last year in early August, and all-India paddy acreage as on 7th August was around 4% lower over last year. What this means, the basmati belt is largely canal and tube well irrigated, so in our growing regions, a rainfall deficit shows up, high pumping, and input costs rather than has lost a crate. Nationally, though paddy area has fallen more than the Kharif average, and a deficit of the magnitude carries real yield risk for a longer duration, varieties are vested in October and November. What I would say is that a deficient monsoon on top of an already depleted pipeline argues for firm, not soft, petty prices into the new crop. Let me now turn to Basmati crop. The 2025 crop has fully played out and we have complete visibility. It was in the end a difficult crop. Acreage going into the season was healthy across Punjab, Aryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and parts of Madhya Pradesh. The production of near-pest-resistant pousa varieties continued to improve, but the floods in Punjab in late August and early September 2025 destroyed the crop outright on approximately 2 lakh hectares of cultivable land, on which around 60,000 acres was Basmati. Assessments put the decline in Punjab Basmati output at 20 to 25 percent, and Monday arrival in the worst affected districts ran about a quarter below the previous year. The quality was the second issue. Some marked and partially effective lots carried higher moisture, greater discoloration, and lower milling recovery, while uneffected by Rajasthan, Western Russia, Pradesh, and parts of Madhya Pradesh delivered good grain length and aroma. The result was a crop that was not merely smaller but sharply segmented with a widespread between genuine export-grade material and everything else. Quality segregation mattered more this season than in many years, and this is precisely where a company with our sourcing network and our aging discipline earns its position. The consequences was visible in price right through the year. Basmati Paddy opened weak in October 2025. BUSA 1509 in Punjab was trading around 2,500 to 3,200 per winter, well below the previous year, and then climbed steadily as the two sides of the crop became apparent. By February 2026, 1121 paddy in Ariana Mandis was in the range of Rs. 4,300 to Rs. 4,700 per quintal. By May, old crop paddy availability at the major northern trading centers had effectively run out with no material replacement until the new crop which arise in October. Pakistan's 2025 crop ended in a very different place from where it began. Early first reports spoke of most of the crop being wiped out. The final assessment put Basmati damage at only 5 to 6 percent, and Pakistan's own economic survey in June reported rice production actually up to 0.8 percent. Their supply came through intact. Their competitiveness did not. Through the quarter, Pakistani Basmati traded at a premium of around USD 100 per ton to comparable Indian material on APIDA's benchmark with a flat currency, giving them no relief and their government answering with a duty drawback rather than a price cut. The result was predictable. Pakistan's rice exports for the year ended June 2026 fell about 26% in volume and 32% in volume. Higher prices did not buy than volume. India's competitiveness has not been eroded. It has been reinforced. First, for India as a whole, FY2026 was a record year by volume of 1,000,000 metric tons worth Rs. 50,138 crore and non-Basmati exports of 15.01 million metric tons worth 51,892 crores. India today accounts at roughly 85% of the world Basmati trade, which brings me to the defining feature of the quarter under review. On 28 February 2026, the conflict involving Iran and United States and Israel escalated sharply, and the state of Hormuz has been practically one since then. This mattered to our industry more than almost any other because the Middle East stakes of Indian Basmati exports was physical. Between 4 and 5 lakh tons of Indian Basmati was stranded, some at Indian ports and some in transit, at the peak of the disruption. Freight went vertical. Container rates from the west coast of India to the Middle East rose more than tenfold from roughly US$500 to as much as US$5000 per container. Cargo has continued to move through Khor-Fakhan for UAE-bound volumes, Jidda and Saudi Arabia and Salalah for onward movement into Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, but transshipment added 7 to 14 days of transit and several hundred dollars per container in handling. India's Basmati export volumes in the first quarter reflected all of this, approximately 1.5 million metric tons against 1.7 million in Q1 FY2026, with the Middle East down about 11% year-on-year. But the price side moved the other way. Basmati realizations for the quarter were approximately 20% higher year-on-year and 13% higher sequentially. This was a volume shock caused by logistics, not a demand shock caused by buyers. That brings me to the current geopolitical position, which is materially better than what was prevailed till now. The commercial transit through the state had begun to resume. This seems to be the most promising reopening since February. Through the disruption period, importers across the region brought hand-to-mouth and deferred forward commitments. As confidence in transit returns, inquiry levels and order book begin to rebuild. The Gulf markets have now absorbed two-quarters of the constrained supply. Inventories have been drawn down materially, and that shock will have to be replaced. The balance sheet remains intact, our brand holds their shelf position, and we have both the inventory and the balance sheet to serve the demand as soon as the route is reliable. Now turning to KRBS performance. Q1 FY 2027 stood at Rs. 244 crores against Rs. 485 crores in Q1 FY 26, a decline of approximately 50%. That decline is entirely a Middle East story. As sports to every other region taken together grew 37% in the quarter. We were alongside each other because between them, they described exactly what happened. Where we could ship, we grew. Where the route was closed, we could not. Overall revenue for the quarter was 1,496 crore, lower by about 6%. The company reported a bidita of Rs. 372 crore and a profit after tax of 261 crore, the strongest quarterly profitability in the company's history. For the balance of 2027, our position is this. The export shortfall of the first quarter is a timing issue, not a structural one. Our customers are intact. Our orders pipeline is intact. Destination inventories have been drawn down, and our non-Middle East export business grew 37% through the disruption. Provided shipping conditions in West Asia continue to stabilize. We expect export volumes to recover progressively from the second quarter. And we are maintaining our guidance and meaningful export growth for the full year. The ABR demand remains consistent to wholesalers under our interim arrangement. Our search for a long-term distribution partner is ongoing, and we are being deliberately selective in a market for this importance. The cost of a long partner far exceeds the cost of taking more time. Strategic priorities are unchanged. First, disciplined procurement, prioritizing low moisture, high recovery paddy to protect both margins and brand quality, which will matter especially in a season where the monsoon has been deficient. Second, continued criminalization and expansion of our branded portfolio in India and internationally. Third, deepening our position with large global buyers using India's pricing competitiveness relative to Pakistan. You can see a disciplined capital allocation. Operationally, this was a demanding quarter on the export side for reasons entirely outside the business. A war, a closed shipping lane, and a freight market that at its peak made Gulf-bound trade uneconomic. We delivered our strongest ever quarterly profitability. Though it is not an accident, it reflects a domestic business that absorbed the shock, a procurement strategy that protected margin, an export book diversified enough to grow wherever the roads stayed open, and the balance sheet strong enough that we were never forced to sell into weakness. I would like to thank all our shareholders, customers, partners, and employees for their continued support and confidence in KRBL. We remain committed to delivering sustainable long-term growth while maintaining the quality, trust, and leadership associated with the India Gate brand. Now, I will hand over to Ayush for the domestic business update. Thank you once again.

Good afternoon, everyone. I will take you through the performance of our India business for quarter one financial year 2027 and provide an update on the structured initiatives underway. Domestic revenue excluding power stood at 1,221 crores, growing 14% year-on-year. The composition of the quarter was mixed. Our consumer packs and regional rice businesses performed well, while branded rice volumes saw a modest decline due to lower bulk pack sales. During the quarter, rise commodity prices moved upwards, allowing us to take appropriate price increases and resulting in higher realizations. The short-term increase in prices led intermediaries to defer bulk pack purchases while waiting for greater price stability. We therefore see the decline in bulk pack largely as a postponement of volumes rather than any structural weakness in demand. Demand remains stable, and we expect these purchases to progressively materialize over the coming quarters. For financial year 27, our outlook remains positive, and we are confident of delivering approximately 10% growth in domestic volumes. This will be supported by continued growth in consumer packs, the expansion of regional rice, normalization in bulk packs, and stronger execution across channels. Let me now update you on our four strategic priorities. Our first priority is democratizing distribution. India Gate is present across approximately 3.3 lakh retail outlets and reaches 1.2 crore urban Indian households. Our focus is not merely on adding outlets. We are improving the quality of our distribution through deeper direct coverage, stronger outlet execution, and greater availability in under-penetrated downs. Our distributor management system has now been successfully rolled out across our top 190 distributors. These distributors contribute approximately 65% of our consumer-backed business in general trade. Active adoption of the system is improving visibility, governance, and execution discipline across the business. Our second priority is remodeling the supply chain. Fill rates in organized trade are now averaging approximately 90%, with average servicing of around 5 days from the receipt of a purchase order. While this represents a significant improvement, our benchmark is clear. We are working towards fill rates of at least 95% with servicing within 72 hours. Modern trade delivered healthy growth during the quarter with rice volumes growing 6.5% and value growing 13% while maintaining strong gross margins. At the same time, competitive intensity remains elevated and our market share performance in parts of modern trade needs improvement. We have identified the gaps and are responding through sharper assortment, pricing, availability, and account-level execution. Our focus is on delivering growth while protecting the long-term strength and profitability of the portfolio. E-commerce continued to be one of our strongest performing channels, delivering approximately 50% primary sales growth during the quarter. Indiagate exited June with approximately 41% market share in e-commerce, maintaining a lead of around 10 percentage points over the next largest competitor. The e-commerce operating model has also evolved significantly. The team now owns the complete channel P&L, including sales, gross margins, contribution margins, thing availability, and city-level execution are being monitored through an integrated dashboard. This is enabling faster decisions, stronger accountability, and more productive deployment of investments. Our third priority is investing in the India Gate brand. During quarter one, we continued to evolve both our communication and the media through which we engaged with customers. We created more than 45 million engagements. Our Mother's Day and Father's Day campaigns moved beyond conventional greetings and built conversations around the Indian values of duty and sacrifice. Together, these campaigns generated more than 90 million views. Beyond reach, these campaigns represent an important evolution in our marketing approach. Our communication is becoming more contemporary in externality, more relevant to today's audiences, and better suited to the new-age media platforms on which consumers spend their time. Brand building investments, we do not evaluate them based on the relevance of building our portfolio beyond rise. During Q1, we launched Indiagate Light and Fluffy Poha across 22 cities in North India. Poha is a natural adjacency for Indiagate. It is a large staple category with relatively low branded penetration, while the branded segment is growing strongly. Our right to win in this category comes from our sourcing capabilities, supply chain strength, distribution reach, and most importantly, trust consumers' place in the India-gate brand. The initial response from retailers and consumers has been encouraging. We will scale the category in a disciplined manner based on consumer adoption, repeat purchases, and the quality of the economics. Our masala portfolio also performed exceptionally well during the quarter, delivering 74% value growth year-on-year. This category plays a distinct role in our portfolio. Rice is primarily a monthly basket purchase, whereas masalas are consumed across different meals and recipes. They can therefore help us enter more households, increase the frequency of consumer interactions with IndiaJet, and build deeper engagement with the brand. Our proposition is anchored in authenticity of taste and flavor. We are focusing on popular regional recipes that are often complicated to prepare at home, but where consumers increasingly expect a restaurant-style experience. Building on the success of our biryani masala, our newly launched ready-to-cook masala range have received a strong initial response. At the end of quarter one, our Masala portfolio had reached an annualized revenue run rate of approximately 9 crores. We are targeting an annualized revenue run rate of approximately 25 crores by the end of the financial year 27. Regional rise also continues to be an important growth opportunity. Demand has been established and product quality has been streamlined. Our focus is now on ensuring regular supply and operating stability. Our new facility at Gangawati is expected to become operational by the end of Q3, supporting the next phase of growth. Quick commerce is particularly promising for regional rights. The category remains highly fragmented among regional brands, while platforms increasingly require trusted brands that can offer consistent quality and professional service a complex, fast-moving challenge. Underlying all four priorities is a broader organizational transformation. Our objective is not merely to deliver market share gains in a particular quarter. We are preparing KRBL for its next stage of growth by building a more process-led, technology-enabled, and data-driven organization. This includes stronger processes and accountability, end-to-end supply chain excellence, order-to-cash transformation, better use of dashboards and analytics, faster decision-making with robust governance, and a strong culture of ownership and performance. To conclude, domestic revenue grew 14% in quarter one, supported by higher realizations and healthy performance in consumer pack and regional rice. The softness in bulk pack was largely due to the timing of purchases, while underlying demand remains stable. Our outlook for financial year 27 remains positive. We are confident of delivering approximately 10% domestic volume growth, while sustaining profitable growth in the India business. I will now hand it over to Ashish for his comments on the financial side.

Thank you. Gross margin for the quarter stood at 36.3% compared to 25.7% in Q1 FY26. The reasons for this movement are the price increase as mentioned earlier, lower private label exports in the current quarter, and higher other income, partially offset by higher COGS. Excluding other income, gross margin in Q1 FY27 was at 33.51% as against 24.15% in the corresponding quarter last year. EBITDA margin for the quarter was at 23.8% versus 13.9% in the same period last year, broadly following the gross margin trend but partially offset by higher proportionate employee costs in the quarter. Paid for the quarter was at 261 crores, or 16.7% in margin terms, as against 151 crores, or 9.3% in the corresponding quarter. Let me now share a comparative analysis of Q1 versus the preceding quarter. Revenue for operations was at Rs. 1,496 crores, like I mentioned, lower by 2% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, mainly due to lower exports to Middle East region, while domestic revenue remained flat. Other income was higher in the current quarter as there was MTM gain and interest income on investments along with Forex gain. Gross profit was higher primarily due to higher other income, higher power revenue, and better Basmati realization, slightly impacted by higher Basmati cogs. EBITDA following the trend in gross profit and further improved as there was empty loss of investments and forex revaluation loss shown under other expenses in the preceding quarter. Moving to the balance sheet, the highlights are as follows. Our total inventory as of June 38th, 286 crores in paddy inventory versus 354 crores as of June 38th, 25, and rupees 2,481 crores in rice inventory versus 2,438 crores as of June 38th, 25. On volume basis, as of June 30, 26, paddy and rice inventory stood at 71,000 tons and 389,000 tons, respectively, compared to 91,000 tons of paddy and 392,000 tons of rice as of the same date last year. Total cash plus investments was at 1,841 crores as of June 30, 26, as against 1,281 crores on the same date last year. The increase is driven by lower net working capital requirement and higher internal accruals in the period. With that, I come to the end of my prepared remarks. I will now like to hand over to the moderator for opening the Q&A session. I would just like to mention that as the ED matter is subdued, we will not be in a position to respond to queries on this matter. So over to the operator now.

Thank you. We will now begin with the question and answer session. Question. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and 1 on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and 2. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question and kindly restrict the number of questions to a maximum of 2 at a time. In case you have any further questions, please rejoin the queue. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question The first question comes from the line of Shivam Gupta with Prenetra Asset Managers. Please go ahead.

Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. I want to know, like, can you please give us on the update on Saudi Arabia entity as the incorruption and wet registration process has completed?

Hello. Yes, we can hear you.

Yeah, I want to know, like, the update.

Yeah, continue.

Thank you, sir. Yeah, I want to update on this. Saudi Arabia entity. Has the incorruption and the wet registration process has completed?

See, as far as Saudi is concerned, we are searching for a good distributor because we feel that the past problems which ever has arosen are due to selection of a wrong partner, which has led us about one and a half year behind than going ahead with the process. So, we are very cautious in determining a good distributor, and as soon as there is a peace in that region, we are sure we have located three and four distributors, and we have to finalize one of them, but we are waiting for the peace to arise in that region.

Means you are still doing direct bookings?

He's concerned, we have deferred that program, and we feel that a distributor will be a much better choice than going for our own office over there.

Okay. And second, with the 18% U.S. import duty now settled, are you seeing any pickup in U.S. Basmati volumes, or is it still not a focused market for KRBL?

The U.S. market is stable for us, and we have done pretty good business over there in the last three, four, this quarter. But let us see the impact we are going to discuss within ourselves and with our distributors and different channels. What would be the reaction of their buying pattern after the duty increase?

Okay, sir. I will join Dr. Q. The next question comes from the line of Balaji Vaidyanath with NAFA Asset Managers. Please go ahead.

Good morning. Thank you so much for the opportunity. If you could give us some color on the export market in the sense that if there were to be a scenario where the inventory depletion happens, as you had mentioned in your opening remarks, but the freight cost doesn't come down as much as what we anticipate, Do you see a situation where, you know, there is restocking which is being done by the importers at such a high, you know, level in terms of visites? Will they be able to do that? That is question number one. Question number two is we have already seen almost one and a half months in the July, August, September quarter. While I'm not asking for specific numbers, directionally, how is the export number looking for us, you know, in this spectrum of what?

So, regarding Middle East, what I would say is that, see, the benchmark price that was earlier set by all the governments in the Middle East region was that even after the war, the local government was not allowing us to increase prices on the shelves. But now after the local freight increases, the benchmark prices have increased. So now we are able to pass on the extra freight costs and also the rice price increases. So if this freight rate continues like this for another couple of months, so we will be able to, you know, pass on those prices already. Yeah. And what was the second question? So, quarter to outlook, again, as we said in our remarks, the route is now partially opened and, you know, shipments are going. Although we are seeing a lot of container hurdles like space availability and equipment availability, so the movement is still a little slow, but we see that demand is picking up.

So, sequentially, there is a chance that the numbers could be higher?

Yes, we'll see better numbers because I think bulk business will also resume in the second quarter to some extent. So, yeah, export numbers will be much better.

But it could get offset due to, you know, this little bit of Saudi business that we started doing last year on our own. So, to that extent, it might get offset because we have changed once again our strategy from going direct to trying to look for a distributor again.

So, that direct distribution is still on. So, we are just doing it parallelly. By the time we find another distributor, we are still going parallelly with the wholesale distribution. So, that model is still continuing. So, we don't see any change in that model till we find a new distributor.

My last question on domestic is, you know, if you could mention, you know, two, three states where you have had a significant win in terms of market share. And not specific numbers, but directionally, you know, significant win in market share and two, three states where you would have probably seen a drop in market share overall.

Yeah, frankly, as a brand India Gate, we enjoy market leadership position, I would say, across 75% of the states that are available in India. Off the top of my mind, I wouldn't know exactly in quarter one which market states have increased market share and where we have declined. But overall, our market share in traditional trade market have declined by about two percentage points over quarter one last year.

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Chirag Singal with First Water Fund. Please go ahead.

Yeah, thanks for the opportunity and congrats on great set of numbers. First question is on the margin outlook for this year. So, we have done almost 21% EBITDA margin during the quarter. So, what is your outlook for the rest of the year?

Hi, this is Ashish. In our view, the margin of quarter one, while they are at a high level, but these are clearly not sustainable. You know, these have arisen because of two main reasons. One is very high prices during the quarter, and also we had some MTM gains on our investment portfolio. The way we see the rest of the year is that I think a lot will depend on two factors. One is how quickly exports scale up. Like Anilji had mentioned, we have an order book, but we are simply not able to supply to many parts of the world. As and when that sale materializes, that will help in improving the margin. And the second also is the upcoming paddy season. Right? So, we would watch these factors very closely. In general, the margin should be slightly better than that of last year is our view right now.

Could you quantify the gains and also on the MTM investment gains? That is part of other income, right? I am looking at operating EBITDA.

Yeah. So, I think in terms of quantify, I would say about 1% to 2% better at an overall real level, at an EBITDA level.

So, last year, we have done 15. So, you are saying 16% to 17% as the guidance.

Yeah, I would say between 17% to 18% is what we are looking at right now.

Okay. And the second question is on India business. Aiyush, if you can please answer this. So, two-part question. First is, in the quarter, the volume growth was only 3%. NSR growth was 11%. So what's the volume-led growth outlook for the full year, and if we can also give some guidance on next one, two years, just to understand what kind of volume growth you are targeting for the India business. And second question on the India business is on the new product launches. So when I look at Indiagate on, you know, Blinket and similar apps, the non-Basmuti range that we have is very limited with the kind of cash flows and the grants and et cetera. Why not go more aggressive and build a broader basket instead of evaluating products one by one? I mean, you know, all these products are anyways small in terms of overall contribution. But don't you think focusing on like a broader basket will give you more options to decide which one to scale and which is higher margin, which is lower margin? Like looking at margins and all the other metrics that you consider at a broader basket level than looking at individually. Because the switching cost is very low. So, as a consumer, if I'm looking for India Jet products, there are very limited options in non-Basmati. And, you know, I'll simply switch to other brand, you know, as I run out of options in this brand. So, I'm just not able to understand, like, what's stopping you to go more aggressive to build a broader basket of products.

Thank you, Chirag. I think I touched on both these points in my comments as well, and I'm happy to discuss it in more detail right now. On the India market, our outlook remains positive with a 10% domestic volume growth year on year. And that's the number we kind of commit to for the upcoming two to three years as well. Yes, quarter one, we've seen a bit of a degrowth in volume, but as I told you, that's because of bulk pack business, which couldn't conclude in quarter one, which actually got factored in quarter two. But over the subsequent quarters, quarter two and three, we will see resumption in the bulk pack volumes. Once that happens, we'll be back on track with our commitment of 10% for the year. Consumer-backed business, which is more structural in the way we operate, I think we are doing great work in terms of opening up the demand, getting our GTMs right, getting the governance models right. So I think we see a very positive trend in the consumer-backed business on the bulk pack, as I explained to you. Regional rights, you rightly pointed, and I also mentioned this in the comment, that regional rights and quick commerce is increasingly becoming a very, very positive opportunity for us. For even the products where we find that in general trade, the economics doesn't make sense, the economics on e-commerce is much more feasible for us to enter a lot many regional rice varieties that we were not thinking about in general trade. I think over the subsequent months, within this year, you will see us entering a lot more regional rice varieties in the quick commerce space. Frankly, even QuickCom platforms have come up to us and suggested us that we should enter a lot of these regional rice varieties because local brands kind of dominate right now in the general trade space. And those brands are not, you know, attuned to operate on QuickCommerce. The way QuickCommerce operates in terms of diligence in supply chain, pricing models, the way it requires performance marketing, etc., these local brands don't have teams and the ability to operate. So, platforms like Blinkit, Zepto have been repeatedly calling us and, you know, requesting us to enter these platforms, and we have started working on it. So, later this year, you will see us entering a lot more of these categories.

Thank you. A reminder to all the participants, in the interest of time and fairness to others, please restrict yourselves to two questions. For any more questions, you may rejoin the queue. The next question comes from the line of Amit Agarwal with Liwei Investments. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon. Congratulations on good set of numbers. My question is regarding inventory volumes. As we understand that homebrews is opening up and our exports are going to go up, and you have been saying that our domestic sales will also pick up. But if you see the inventory for the last two years, for the corresponding period, the volume has gone wrong. Can you show some color on that, and how do you expect to increase exports and domestic sales? We have inventory and we have enough cash on the books, so why not spend more money on buying inventory? That's my only question.

Amit, your voice was not very clear, so let me just confirm the question you asked. You are asking in light of increase in exports and domestic sales, is the inventory adequate?

Yes, yes, yes, yes. And we have enough cash on the books, so why not buy more inventory and increase the market share, export as well as domestic market?

This year we will be buying inventory, definitely we will be buying inventory. As Mr. Jain said, we have about 389,000 tons of rice and about 70,000 tons of peri as on 30th of June 2026. But this season, naturally we will be buying more, no doubt about it.

So we have been, like, two years, if you say two years, our inventory wasn't two years back. So we have enough cash. So why didn't we buy more inventory earlier?

What he's asking is that for the last two seasons we've been buying lower quantities. So if we were expecting, why didn't we buy more?

We were expecting a price hike, what you are asking, no? No one knows about the price, no? What you are asking?

No, sir, we have cash in the book.

Cash in the book doesn't mean you buy a paddy A&Y. You have to see the market. You have to see everything while buying paddy. It is not that A&Y, if you have cash in the paddy, so we can buy anything, whatever we like. Our stock levels are very comfortable. 389,000 rice at the end of the season is quite a comfortable stock here, I mean.

Okay, and any plans for putting this cash into some good euros?

Okay, Amit, you're not very clear, but anyway, thank you.

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Yash Dante Wadia with Dante Equity. Please go ahead.

Yash, please go ahead with your Yeah, am I audible? Yes. Yeah, just give us some regional rice revenue targets and overall revenue targets for this financial year.

So, regional rice, we've grown at 25% in quarter one, and that is the kind of target we had projected for the start of the financial year. So, our objective is to maintain that throughout the subsequent quarters for the rest of the financial year.

Yeah, could you give me your number?

Yeah, so, yes, we had done about 270 crores in branded regional rice last year. I think what Ayush is saying is we are looking at 25% growth on that number in the current year. And we are on track.

And overall numbers also, I ask, revenue, what are you looking at this year?

Yeah, so I think in terms of, we can answer that in terms of volume, where Ayush had mentioned, Overall, we're looking at a 10% volume growth. Price, like Anilji had also explained, a little difficult to answer that right now considering the overall West Asian situation and also the upcoming season.

My second question is, if you've looked at the Saudi market, right, and the entire West Asia crisis, I'm assuming a lot of rice hasn't moved, right? It's not just you. In general, A lot of rice hasn't moved to these areas. So technically, when this supply gap opens up, right, don't you see the prices of Basmati going on north overall in general? Because the supply gap obviously must be huge now, right?

It will open up. Definitely there will be an impact on the price. The prices are definitely going to shoot further. But in every market, because it's a staple food, too much of rice also doesn't work. Because rates have increased, rice price will also increase. So there is always a limitation of everything. Number two, the new crop is already on the head. From first week of September, the new crop will come. And what is the size of the crop is still a question mark because the rains came quite late. I think so within week 10 days time by 25th of August we will know a picture that what would be the size of the crop. And as I mentioned in my initial address, that because it is wherever the basmati is grown, it is all through canal water and underground water. So therefore, the crop should not go weak. But natural grain definitely, they help in the production of crop and the quality of the crop. So these are the two things. Definitely prices will increase, number one. Number two, it all depends upon that what is the quantum of, what is the quality and quantum of crop.

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Somin Choudhury with Mansur Rover Financials. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon, sir, and thank you for the opportunity. My question was on the domestic market. Okay. How have realizations behaved in this quarter vis-a-vis Q4? And what was the price hike taken in Q1?

I mean, there's Ashish. In terms of the branded business, realizations vis-a-vis Q4 are higher than around 9% in Q1. And what was the second question?

The price hike taken in Q1?

It's around the same mark. It's around the same mark, about 9%, right? That's why the realizations have increased.

Okay, okay. And another thing is, given that the paddy prices continue to be very strong, did we take any more price hike in this quarter, or can we expect some more price hikes in the near future?

We are, frankly, the prices of Basmati are already on the higher extent of the bandwidth that is possible. And we are not going to be taking any more price hikes within quarter two. As Ashish also mentioned earlier, we are going to be waiting and watching for the parry cross season to unfold. And then we will see calibratedly which segments we can continue price hikes, price hikes where we have to take some margin hits, etc. I think that is something that we have to see while quarter three unfolds.

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Raghav, Bhutoria, with Lindsay Securities. Please go ahead.

Hello. Am I audible, sir?

Yes, sir.

Yes, we can hear you. Go ahead.

So, in the last 10-12 quarters, this has been the best cross-margin performance that KRBL has given. So, is this just because we had some inventory at lower cost and now because of the price hikes, the margins are looking better? Or is it structurally going to improve?

One is that in the quarter, there were price increases that happened. And also, there were some MTM gains. I think longer term, you know, this level of gross margin in the business is not sustainable. Our view right now is that for the current year, we look at about 30% gross margin and about 17% to 18% EBITDA margin.

Okay. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. Thank you, members of the management. On behalf of KRBL Limited, that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.