Earnings Call Transcript - XNSE:NPST 2026-11-13

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Network People Services Technologies Ltd. Q2 and A21FY27 are linked to conference call. As a reminder, all PowerPoint lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on a touchstone phone. I now hand the conference over to Ms. Bhuvangi Jain from Valorim Advisors. Thank you. And over to you now.

Pravangi Jain, Head of Investor Relations

Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bhuvangi Jain from Valorim Advisors. We represent the investor relations for NPSC Limited. On behalf of the company, I would like to thank you all for participating in the company's earnings call for the second quarter and first half of the financial year, 2027. Before we begin, let me mention a short cautionary statement. Some of the statements made in today's earnings call may be forward-looking in nature. Some forward-looking statements are subject to risk and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated. Such statements are based on management's belief as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the management. Audiences are cautioned not to place any undue reliance on these forward-looking statements in making any investment decisions. The purpose of today's earnings call is purely to educate and bring awareness about the company's fundamental business and financial quarter under review. Now let me introduce you to the management participating with us in today's earnings call and hand it over to them for their opening remarks. We have with us Mr. Deepak Chand Thakur, Chairman and Managing Director, And Mr. Ashish Agarwal, Joint Managing Director. Without any further delay, I request Mr. Deepak Chantakur to start with his opening remarks. Thank you and over to you, sir.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

Thanks, thanks, Guru Gandhi. Very good afternoon, everyone, and very, very happy Diwali. I trust you all had a great weekend with your family, and we believe that the payment infrastructure will bring tremendous prosperity to all of you for decades to come now. As NPST, we are happy to be part of this journey. As we progress quarter on quarter, we see greater value proposition that we can bring in global market and also pick up opportunity to tap on larger business potential in domestic market. Before I begin our download on Q2 results, I would like to thank all of you, all the shareholders, for the trust and backing they have given us all these years, especially last two years. We were on a mission of transition. It was a tough time. The phase was, of course, difficult, but I must say that all the NPA-CNs had given their best to build payment solutions, which you can be proud of for the years to come now. I will share an overview of how we have fared last quarter and some of the key facts that will help our growth prospects in coming quarters. Before I begin, a quick view on the numbers. Our consolidated income has increased by 50% year-on-year. It has grown from 48.68 to about 72.95 crore, almost 20% increase from Q1 figure of 61.42 crore.

Speaker 5

Although late, but we have been able to post highest ever quarter.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

This will continue to flourish since we have committed 60-70% growth. It also reflects substantial boost to our growth trajectory here onwards. Our EBITDA 2 has shown 17% year-on-year growth and 15% QOQ, almost 16 crore, as on Q2. And finally, that has grown from, you know, 11 crore in Q1 to about 13.21. It is about 34% growth as compared to last year and 20% as compared to last quarter. And when you see half yearly results, our FY27 income has grown by about 60% year on year at 134 crore as against 83 crore. And again, EBITDA has grown by 27 and net profit has grown. EPS is now at 11.63, which is again a 34% increase. It is to be noted that we have given, you know, given all numbers, we have got a keen transition to arrive at these reserves in the last two years. Our TSP revenue, which contributed just about 15 to 20% of overall business two years back, when we achieved our highest quarter. Substantially scaled to contribute about 80% to 85% in this quarter. Now, this was essential to bring up because, you see, while there has been a substantial growth, we see. The contribution from the segment which we met on and the contribution from the segment which has gone down, as an organization, we have been able to absorb that particular challenge. And here we are, we have grown slow and gradual over this journey, but we have been able to contribute this figure. It was indeed a breakneck pace at which we have grown. But as a first generation entrepreneur, I must say that being married to NPST. We had to deliver to our commitments during this journey, and in short time, we learned something new. We rectified our mistakes. It was always in the back of our mind, which was one of our core strengths. Last two years of transition has also helped us evolve into an opportunity in global markets, which is one of the strongest growth levers we see today. We are in active discussion in more than 10 countries and have seen results already in last quarter. We not just signed one of the largest telecom service providers globally. But it opened opportunity for 10 different countries, as well as added new segment altogether. We are in deeper discussion in multiple projects, as well as the global RFPs that we are working on right now. This will give results in coming three quarters. Our international funnel has strengthened, we have good ticket size, and margin prospects are high. In our German domestic market, We took 10 years to evolve from license-based model to SaaS-based opportunity. In international market, we have an advantage of this learning, which will help us with the transition from license to SaaS within 2-3 years. In domestic market, I see a proud moment for NPST to have received an LOI for one of the largest payment solution order in the country. This will be built at a central level, and it will provide access to 300-plus banks within 18 to 24 months. This was only possible because we envisaged bank-in-a-box model. If you remember, we have been talking about this back-to-back multiple quarters. And because we envisaged a year and a half about how this particular industry will shape up, So, you know, just as part of our transition to TSP domain, we have been able to get this particular business, this order. Today, we are reaping benefits with a single largest order valued in 10 digits. This will help us build a solution at center level that no other company can do, and we see a good resale value of this product, at least competition. You know, and the other entities won't be able to show a live case that we can. This quarter also helped us break into new domain that we have been targeting for quite a long time. In Rectech, we got our first DPDP order from a private sector bank, and we also got our first order in digital currency. This has a global value. Our first CEOs were worth a wait, and it opens our gate into completely new directions. Our target to increase revenue potential from Rectech will boost with DPDPWin, and at the same time, it will help us pivot into futuristic domain. It will reduce our dependency on payment segment, and at the same time, it will further diversify at this stage, which is the beginning of planning for FY28 right away. We are already prepared for the next half of the year as well, and we have made several investments in AI productivity for each department, which will improve our response time and performance as per industry expectation in years to come. So for that, we are preparing right away. I'm happy with my team, which is on it, and taking every challenge as an opportunity. As the overall summary for our Q2 efforts, And now I look forward to listening from you, taking your feedbacks to further strengthen our resolve to achieve our goals. Over to you, Purwangi. We can start Q&A here onwards.

Operator

Thank you very much, sir. We will now begin with the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask questions, may please press star and 1 on their touchtone phone. If you wish to withdraw yourself from the question key, you may press star and 2. Please, gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Please press star and want to ask questions. We'll take the first question from the line of Divyansh from Three Nitra Asset Managers. Please go ahead. I'm sorry to interrupt you. Your audio is not clear. I requested you to kindly use your hand, please.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

I will not divulge the number for obviously competitive edge. Because this is a very close market. But I can give you a quick understanding that will help with your question. This answer will help you. First of all, we do have... A single opportunity, and we will be into the per-transition model, and at the same time, we will also be in the license model. The contribution will be, I would say that it will be good enough for us to, you know, reap benefits both in license and per-transition. It will give us great numbers in FY28, and then substantially, the increase will happen in 2930. I see this particular deal to contribute for the next five years from here. I can also give you an idea that while in India, on a per-transition basis, whatever revenue we are generating, this is substantially, you know, per-transition almost about 15 times Thanks more than what we would have it here in India. So, again, the deal value will be in a multi-million, it's a multi-million dollar deal for sure.

Divyansh, Analyst — Three Nidra Asset Managers

Okay, and when will we start, we will provide the services for regular business?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

Q4, it will start coming up. We are already in execution stage. We see the, you know, the results from Q4. In fact, we have already... I don't want to name it, but it's a central deal, wherein we have got an alloy for the, a single alloy that will give us access to more than 300 bucks.

Divyansh, Analyst — Three Nidra Asset Managers

Question, like, from when we will, like, start, it will be contributing in revenue, oops.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

The executions will start this quarter itself, and the overall execution is 9 months, and I feel that we should start getting contribution within these, from maybe, you know, Q4 or Q1 onwards.

Divyansh, Analyst — Three Nidra Asset Managers

Okay, and like, this is a government deal or like that, so our trade disable will be more higher in this particular deal, or?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

No, it's a standard structure as per the industry. You shouldn't consider this as a government deal. It's a standard process, the way we build licenses, the way we build manpower, the way we build the recurring revenue. It is the same set. There is no change.

Divyansh, Analyst — Three Nidra Asset Managers

Okay, and what has the causal revenue split between the one-time and recurring?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

One time and recurring breakup. Ashish, do you want to take it up?

Ashish Agarwal, Other

No, no. For this particular deal, what exactly do you want to ask? No, no. For overall quarter. One time and... SAAS is around, you can say, 20-25%. Rest is on license basis.

Divyansh, Analyst — Three Nidra Asset Managers

Okay, on license basis is 25% and remaining is recurring.

Ashish Agarwal, Other

No, no, no. You are talking about SAAS or license basis, what exactly do you want to know? License is about 25%. Last all in the form of license, you can say.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

The cream is much more than that. TAS is 20-25% and license model is about 75-80%. In that, there is a further breakup. There is AMC. In license also, there are AMCs, there are change requests, there are manpower.

Ashish Agarwal, Other

So, we split it as per license and SaaS model. So, if you want to understand one time under this, so one time is not more than 50%. It's less than 50%. Recurring is more than 50%.

Divyansh, Analyst — Three Nidra Asset Managers

In this, one time is less than 50%. And just if you are AMC and recurring, please. Yeah, yeah. And sir, last question, last solution only, if possible, could you provide service-wise revenue breakup, like UPI switch, IMPS switch, bank in a box, in that way, how much revenue each service is contributed in our overall life?

Ashish Agarwal, Other

It's quite difficult, as per my understanding, because everything is interlinked with each other. So, like, UPI is not separate a UPI license, but maybe using other things also. So, my UPI team is not only delivering just a license, they are also giving service when we are getting anything in PPS. So, they are also included for the coins business. So, it's quite difficult. That's the reason we don't have any verticalization till now. So, everything is interlinked with each other.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

I would say it is way too early to get into that state right now when we are trying to bundle solutions, we are trying to create multi-tenancy. In fact, we are trying to bundle it in such a way that all the products will be a part of a single offering. So that's the model we are going right now. For now, because when we look at a bank as an account, we don't look at one product or one solution. We see that if we can bundle a couple of products together and then take it forward and then add to it, That's how we plan the targets or that's how we plan the, you know, opportunities around each stage courses. So better to keep it the way it is, where we have currently structured is PSPs. So that's how we are trying to work. So this will continue for at least this financial year, and I see that we will continue to build for the next financial year also in a similar fashion, because it is only going to evolve.

Divyansh, Analyst — Three Nidra Asset Managers

Okay, and just for confirmation, in the upcoming, not upcoming, but UPI will be a major part of this, no? Not necessary.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

No, no, not necessary. No, no, not at all.

Divyansh, Analyst — Three Nidra Asset Managers

And we are intent with our guidance of...

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

Yes, I sent that already.

Divyansh, Analyst — Three Nidra Asset Managers

Okay. Thank you, sir.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Aman Phoni from Seven Alpha Investors. Please go ahead.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

Amen.

Speaker 5

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Darshal Zaveri, Analyst — Crown Capital

Thank you.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

Aman, I think I have, I would request that, you know, if you, I have given a very clear picture at the end of the last financial year. So, what we have clearly mentioned is, and again, today on call, I was emphasizing on how we have focused on transition to TSP domain. And, you know, the contribution moving from 20% has gone to almost about 80% within two years. We have clearly called out that first half of the year is going to be slower because the orders we have picked up will be in the execution mode. And whatever we are doing this financial year also, that will also start giving us impact in the next half of the year. So we are pretty confident because of this. It was a known fact based on the funnel, based on how the business was structured, and based on how we closed last year. And that is why when we gave the guidance, it was very clearly called out. In fact, someone even asked us about the margins as well. So first half of the year was more focused on execution, getting our footprint in the international market, staying afloat with the new subsidiary which we have formed in Dubai, and how do we get the business in the first half. Second half of the financial year is where we are seeing the growth coming in, we are seeing execution completions, we are seeing multiple new POS clicking in, we are seeing... Yes, we are pretty confident in the second half of the year how this is going to shape up. So there is no change in the guidelines we have given.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Hardik Gandhi from HPMG. Please go ahead.

Speaker 5

Hello. Hi. I'm Audible. Yeah, congratulations on a good set of numbers. It will be reassuring to see the confidence and the Q2 numbers. Just two things from my end. But just wanted to know from your side, what's your view?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

When you say reverse engine, you are referring to?

Speaker 5

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

Enterprise solution which is available in the market as a tool versus the solution which is custom built as a product form for a very, very specific requirement. So, the impact of AI in the open tool versus… What we are doing right now, it has brought down our response time, but when it comes to reverse engineering for the open tool versus what we are doing, there is a completely different market altogether. Understood. So, I think technically it's two different domains assessing right now.

Speaker 5

Sorry. And the second question was from a timeline point where... The new 300-bank order, which we got under Sri Lankan Perifondi.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

It's an execution time, but the deal is for five years. And the best part is it has helped us create a very strong partnership in the industry. Again, we'll share that when the time comes. And it has helped us build a very, very strong partner ecosystem, which is replicable, not just in India, but beyond this. So it's a five-year deal. When it comes to the Sri Lankan deal, it's not just the five-year journey, but the potential of a country is also around this particular deal, which is where the entire country will be now moving in the direction where India was about seven, eight years back. So I see Thank you. to come now. and view that number straight away, but I can definitely say that starting from 28, it will be cumulative and upward trend in 29 and 30. That's how it works. The way the country will evolve, this particular deal will give us the revenue.

Speaker 5

Right. That's really a good thing.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

I think we are very close to a few things now. Maybe between this and the coming quarter, we'll announce it.

Speaker 5

Okay. And is it a new product we are targeting, or we are just targeting a similar business, just in a different geography?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

So, our parameters are very, very stringent, and that's why we have taken so much time. What do you do to get the access to some global markets and accounts? And that's where the efforts are. For now, that's the first priority. Because the way we are seeing the traction for India's story, we want to immediately work on that. There are a couple of discussions in those directions, and some opportunity if we get the consolidation possible in our segment in the domestic market. That is also something that we are discussing right now. I would say that the domestic one may take time, but international probably should be earlier.

Speaker 5

Understood. And will it be with our existing funds or will we be requiring any additional short-term debt? No, no, existing funds. Understood. All the best.

Operator

The next question is from the line of Swaraj Mehta from Perpetual Capital Advisors. Please go ahead.

Swaraj Mehta, Analyst — Perpetual Capital Advisors

Hi, thank you for the opportunity and congratulations on the good side of numbers. My first question was, cost of goods, including budget expenses, was 28 crores in this quarter, out of which 18 crores in the subsidiary. For the revenue in the subsidiary came at a lower margin. So, is this the first part of a larger order where incremental margins will be higher? Any light on the scope of this order would be great.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

Yeah, see, the thing is, we want to pick up the global orders from the global subsidiary. And the challenge was, in a very short time, we did not have the books and credentials for us to pick up such orders. So, indeed, we have picked up orders which are turnkey nature, which are where the, you know, credentials are set. So, those are the strategies in which we have gone way too quick in this particular subsidiary.

Ashish Agarwal, Other

Ashish, you want to add more to it? Absolutely, you are absolutely right. We have 12. Create our footprint in that entity for the bigger order. So we have taken it. It's a multiple order. It's not a single order. So we have to turn with multiple clients.

Swaraj Mehta, Analyst — Perpetual Capital Advisors

And it's in terms of mobile or something else? Sorry, I was just crying. So it is in terms of mobile or something else?

Operator

Mr. Mata, please use your handset. Mr. Mehta, please proceed.

Swaraj Mehta, Analyst — Perpetual Capital Advisors

In terms of hardware, the inventory that we've put up for the global subsidiary, or is it something else?

Ashish Agarwal, Other

You can say it's a compromise of license and the OEM product. That is the required to procure for delivering the Tanki project.

Swaraj Mehta, Analyst — Perpetual Capital Advisors

And so NTCI recently introduced the Vyapar Saksham scheme, I think, day or day before yesterday. How do we stand to benefit from it?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

So, we are yet to assess that. Any such scheme which comes up when, you know, banks are supposed to absorb it, and when banks have to absorb it, for sure, it opens up gates for the existing TSP in bank. So, that is where we get an opportunity with a completely new product. So, it adds on to the new product offering.

Swaraj Mehta, Analyst — Perpetual Capital Advisors

So, credit on UPI, this could be a trojan house for smaller banks to compete against bigger banks who have larger credit cards issued. So, how do we see this going forward, and how many banks have we deployed this for so far, and how would it be structured in terms of unit economics?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

In credit on UPI, we are live with the solution for a bank, for PPI holders, for NBSC. Not NBSC, sorry. So for all those who are qualified as per the credit line policy, we have not seen... I mean, that was part of our projection, in fact, when we began last year. Unfortunately, it has remained more like a software than the revenue model getting created by the clients. So I would suggest that we will have to see how banks are adopting to the revenue model coming out of it. To be very honest, we have gone to a level wherein... The lending over QR, that particular model is something that we are keen on building and we are almost there now. However, we are going a bit slower because the adoption... The mission by banks. And one last

Swaraj Mehta, Analyst — Perpetual Capital Advisors

question is, can you explain the HSM order, what it is, and how does it fit into NPST's overall solution?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

HSN is a core part of our UPI solution. In fact, when we go for UPI licenses, for this is needed. Second, when we built a bank in a box, we also needed HSN as part of the offering. So we decided that we'll start picking up HSN model because it will add... The overall value to the offerings we have both in Bank in a Box as well as the license-based solution. And in that case, why not pick up the order as a whole? So that is how we got into this. And now we are further dwelling into security aspects, wherein my tech team is very keen on building a larger security layer over the payment solution. This is a way to actually enter this particular segment. So it was a need product-wise, we went on to the opportunities that came across beyond our captive product, and now we are seeing what future can be added. Don't want to commit how this will come up, but for sure, this is a learning stage. Thank you so much for joining us.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Darshal Zaveri from Crown Capital. Please go ahead.

Darshal Zaveri, Analyst — Crown Capital

Hello. Thank you so much for taking my question, sir. Firstly, congratulations on a really fantastic set of numbers, sir. Sir, I just wanted to know in terms of our EBITDA margin trajectory, sir. Sir, I think, as you said, H2 might have more significant growth, right? So, how does that, you know, translate into operating leverage for us, sir?

Ashish Agarwal, Other

Yes, I'll take it. So, Abita can increase, but gradually. So, you can say next quarter, it will be better as compared to this quarter.

Darshal Zaveri, Analyst — Crown Capital

Okay, fair enough. There will be some gradual increase, and as more execution picks up, maybe the EBITDA margins improve. That's a fair way to look at it, right? Yeah, that's great to know, sir. And also, sir, I wanted to know in regards to, you know, our acquisition, so what is, like, Rafi, the deal size, or, you know, if you could, you know, help elaborate a bit more on the acquisition part that, you know, we are looking at. Any details would be very helpful, sir.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

We haven't closed it yet, so it will not be correct to give the numbers.

Darshal Zaveri, Analyst — Crown Capital

But in terms of like not like the revenue potential, but at least the cost that it can be to us like in terms of, you know, purchase cost figure or something that would also, you know.

Ashish Agarwal, Other

This is not finalized, actually. That's what the call is telling. We are evaluating the company, but it's yet to be finalized. So it's a little bit unfair to tell any cost which is not yet to be finalized. So allow us some time. We'll definitely come back to you. We'll finalize all this.

Darshal Zaveri, Analyst — Crown Capital

Fair enough. Fair enough. That's it from my side. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Operator

We'll take the next questions from the line of Vinod Chandra Agrawal, an individual investor. Please go ahead.

Speaker 5

Thank you for the opportunity, sir, and congratulations for the set of numbers. My question is on the UPI MBC. Thank you. How much do they see that it can... Due to this... If you have any guidance on that, it would be helpful.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

In fact, if you remember last call, you know, six out of ten questions were around MDR, and while it was announced, The point that time was very clear. While everyone were talking about it on social media, they were posting about, you know, how it is going to impact the growth and numbers and industry. I cautioned all my shareholders very clearly that let it happen first and let it breed only then I can give numbers. And this is exactly the reason why. Because see, MDR has, MDR is no more, UPI MDR, okay? UPI MDR is no more a product-specific. It has a national level impact, and everyone, it has an impact across the government's policies, across the payment industry, across regulatory policies. There are so many involved in this. And it is not, it is, although that time it was, it was there that, you know, it will come out, and the date was also declared around 15th October later on, after our call. We knew that in one month, it is very, very difficult that, you know, decisions can happen so quickly, although there is a pressure. So, progress, I can tell you that, that time we did not get any letter, any communication. Now, we have letters and communication to deploy MDR-related changes. So, that is going on. And at bank level, the adoption is also going on. For a missive. It will change, policies will get impacted, and it will evolve over. Because after 15th October, a new date is not declared. It has been told that during festive season, they don't want, no changes to be done, and it is to be taken after that. The festive season can be December also, festive season can be where we are today. And even after festive season, individual bank's policies, and then also monitoring how this is impacting or how this is... It's also very, very important. So let us sail through that period, and only then we can tell you where it will land. So I can assure you that once everything is done and the phase is complete, then for sure it will have an impact, a positive and an upward impact, than what we have given you in projection. So there will be an incremental value. But I can't count that value as of today. I want to remain conscious about it.

Speaker 5

Thank you.

Operator

The next question is from the line of London, an individual investor. Please go ahead.

London, Analyst — Individual Investor

First of all, congratulations on achieving the highest ever top line. And also, thank you very much for explaining everything in detail, including the guidance and, you know, the trajectory going forward. Sir, my question is with regards to the international business. You mentioned, and as you know that, you know, as you have mentioned earlier, that international business is... So, having already secured one international contract, how many additional international contracts are currently in the pipeline? And how should we look at the opportunity and growth potential going forward?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

I cannot give you exact number, but depending on various stages of discussions, communications, you know, proposals, and, you know, RSPs, all of that taken together, I can give you a range. So, it ranges between 5 to 15 nods right now, okay? So, which we see that the fruits will start coming in. So, you'll see some this year for sure, Q3, Q4. You will see larger results in FY28. So, again, the impact is high because what we have built here, the local companies do not have the solution. So, for sure, for the procurement of the solution, they have to look for countries where the solution is matured enough. And India, for sure, is a place where they can buy from. So, they have been able to do well in this particular.

London, Analyst — Individual Investor

Okay, thank you. Sir, my second question is about this bank-in-a-box opportunity. You have mentioned in the presentation that there is an LOI covering around 300 banks. What has it become for NPST, you know, in terms of the overall part of the revenue?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

Like I mentioned right now, the direct number is in 10 digits, this particular opportunity. And furthermore, what it does is, it helps us give presence across 300 Guest Bank in 18 to 24 months. And when that happens, Our focus will remain on new product development, whatever, every year, all the new regulatory product requirements, all the new solutions as expected by banks to save through. You see, there is going to be a major impact in the software domain due to AI transformation, due to AI challenges. There are so many alterations which will happen in coming years. So, 18 to 24 months, we see, you know, direct revenue coming in, which the number which I gave, at the same time, our access to this particular market will immediately increase. We don't have to now invest. Thank you, everyone, and welcome to the call. Every size coming in from this particular business will also multiply. So that is how we are projecting business, a separate, focused business on bank-in-a-box will start coming in in the domestic market.

London, Analyst — Individual Investor

Thank you very much for answering my questions, and all the best, sir.

Operator

The next question is from the line of KISD, an individual investor. Please go ahead. Hi, everyone. Am I audible?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

Yeah, please do.

KISD, Analyst — Individual Investor

Okay, a small follow-up question for the previous one. I just want to reiterate on the same thing. So, you have mentioned it could be, you know, the 300 bank deal. It could be a 10-digit one, and it will start contributing after 18 to 24 months, or we'll see the numbers after 18 to 24 months?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

No, no, revenue contribution will start within 9 months. That's a direct revenue contribution. This question was... On the additional opportunity that may come across, that additional opportunity will come only after, I mean, I'm taking conservative number of 18 months. And by then, it should be matured enough, eyeballs around NPST, brand presence, that should help us immediately get traction anytime we launch a new product or new solution in this sector.

KISD, Analyst — Individual Investor

So, and it will continue to contribute every year, or do we have any cut-offs of these many years, only we will be serving them, or how is that going to be?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

So, the direct business is capped at whatever number we have, that we will declare at right time. And the additional business opportunity over this particular segment, where the universe is, you know, although it looks 300, but if you see the overall cooperative segment, the entire universe is around 1200 plus facts. In fact, 1800, we have just calculated 1200 odd. Having a brand here with that credibility, how much we are able to monetize out of it, how many number of products we are launching. Assuming that you launched one product and you're able to take it to 500 bags, or let's say even 100 bags, into the ticket size per month, into number of years. So that's how we will evolve.

KISD, Analyst — Individual Investor

Okay. And it's like number of years also, right? More number of years, not like, but after 24 months, we are not too sure it's not like that, right?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

No, no, no. This is 5 years deal. The direct deal is 5 years. But our presence in the market will be forever, right?

KISD, Analyst — Individual Investor

Yeah, yeah, that's right. And Sri Lankan deal is also for five years?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

Yeah.

KISD, Analyst — Individual Investor

Okay. And, you know, mainly I could see that there is a lot of work going on. I could see that clearly in the presentations there are maybe five POCs going on and many new projects which are... But I just want to understand, like, you know, POC, we might get converted into work order or not, we are not too sure. But which one do you think, out of all the current happenings, which one can be the greatest contributor for your revenue?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

See, global market is, without any doubt, picking up. There is, due to the ticket size, you know, while in domestic market, you pick up 10 deals there, even if you pick up, like, 3 or 4, that's sufficient. Then, apart from that, in domestic market, I would say that bank in a box and then new focus on creating compliance box. That for sure in next one year will start giving results to us because DPDP is the next big thing and we want to capture on that. Along with DPDP, there are so many concerns raised around fraud, around money mule, so many issues happening in market. So we have to reinvest into a lot of R&D, a lot of product, you know, and it has an immediate takeaway. Around solving the problem for these banks. I would say bank in a box with new DPDP and compliance products will be the next big thing. However, we have a very, very structured team around large accounts. So that will also give results.

KISD, Analyst — Individual Investor

I mean, DP is a subject project which comes under Rectic, and Compilence in a box is a subject project, or do you have two?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

So, Bank in a Box as a concept was launched one year back. Last Feb, this Feb, in fact, we went live. And we have been working on this for more than a year. So, almost a year and a half.

KISD, Analyst — Individual Investor

Sorry to interrupt. It's not Bank in a Box. It's Compilence in a Box. That's what I could say.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

I'll come to that. Yeah, I'll come to that. So, we launched Bank in a Box. We launched with payment products in it. Then we added digital banking in it, and now we are adding a compliance box. So the compliance solutions, which were not on our data center and not available on subscription model, will now get added to it. That's why we are calling it as a compliance in a box. Whereas the policies, process, guidelines for a bank in a box and this one remains the same. So those pieces are already done. We have to add more to it. I mean, we have to add product to it, not the guidelines, which we have already built.

Operator

Thank you. Mom, I'm sorry. We'll have to move. Thank you. We'll take the next question from the line of Swaraj Mehta from Perpetual Capital Advisors. Please go ahead.

Swaraj Mehta, Analyst — Perpetual Capital Advisors

One question I had was making in AI. Can you quantify how much AI efficiency could reduce our operating cost over time?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

We are not targeting a reduction in operating costs. We are targeting increasing productivity. I think we should count it that way. To be honest, why? Because we also have to see the other way. While we will reduce the cost of operation, the payment will also go in the same direction. So, saying that, you know, I bring down my development costs from 20 to 5 days, and expecting that clients will pay me for 20 days, that is not going to happen. There will always be competitors doing it in 5 days. So, it's the need of the hour. So, we have to look at productivity, not at cost. I would say that we have been able to, in fact, we have targeted almost about 40% improvement in productivity this year. So, by March, we should be there.

Operator

The next question is from the line of Sajal Gupta from FE Securities. Please go ahead.

Speaker 5

Yes, good afternoon, Deepak and Ashish and everyone in the team. Congratulations for such good set of numbers. My question to Ashish to you is that you just said that your EBITDA margin should be above 25%. Or better than this, going forward. So, I'm talking of years 26, 27, 28. Do we see the trajectory of the EBITDA margin to range around anything about 28-29% at that point of time, because a lot of your international projects will come into play at that point of time?

Ashish Agarwal, Other

Maybe, yes. Currently, we are around 24%, and this year we are targeting around 25%. So, next year, it can be, you can say, it's between 27-28. Yes, we can target this.

Speaker 5

And Deepak, you have just been talking about Sri Lanka project as Sri Lanka or domestic, that the products which you are launching there for five years, but once you have implemented and that goes on such a large scale, won't it be very difficult for the client to change you as a customer, as a client, sorry, as a vendor for them?

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

So, it is structured in a very different way altogether. We are not just... We are not just a vendor, we are also a domain expertise that we bring in the market. So try and understand that more than launching a product, which is the case in India, in these countries... And welcome to the call. Wherein we are not just adding a value as a solution provider, we are also being more of a consultative solution provider, wherein we go with them to their customers, we spend time not just with them but also to build the ecosystem. So we are in that phase right now. And the deal is also structured in such a way wherein there is a revenue sharing model. That is the reason why I don't think there is a replacement possible because the moment you invest into it and then you create a long-term revenue model with a revenue sharing model. And then the revenue is free again.

Speaker 5

Yeah, so that is a point which I'm trying to make out here, that your contracts, which are as of now of five years,

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

can be of larger time period as what you're talking about.

Speaker 5

Right now. Anyway, this was my query. Thank you so much, and all the best for the future.

Operator

That was the last question. I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Deepak Chan Thakur, Chairman

Thank you. Thank you so much, guys, and very proud of my team who has been working relentlessly with us. While I speak to you guys, there are more than 350 people focused in building the organization. Great learning as and when we go ahead, there are some... There are some focused efforts and there are certain opportunities that we are still looking into, we are still tracking as and when we will evolve, we will continue to improve and rectify wherever that has to be done. And as and when these opportunities go stronger, we will keep on updating you guys and we will definitely improve here onwards. Again, happy New Delhi, everyone, and, you know, best of luck with all your portfolios.

Operator

Thank you, members of the management. On behalf of Network People Services Technologies Limited, that concludes this conference. We thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.