Bajaj Electricals Limited ($500031)

Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Bajaj Electricals Limited Q4 FY '26 Earnings Conference Call, hosted by ICICI Securities Limited. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now hand the conference over to Mr. Manan Goyal from ICICI Securities Limited for opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, Manan.

Thank you. On behalf of ICICI Securities, we welcome you all to Q4 and FY '26 Results Conference Call of Bajaj Electricals Limited. Today, we have with us senior management represented by Mr. Shekhar Bajaj, Chairman; Mr. Sanjay Sachdeva, MD and CEO, Mr. Vishal Chadha, COO, Consumer Products; Mr. Rajesh Naik, COO, Lighting Solutions; Mr. Ashween Anand, CFO; Mr. Suketu Shah, Finance Controller. Now I hand over the call to the management for their initial comments on the quarterly and annual performance. Then we will open the floor for Q&A session. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Thank you. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Shekar Bajaj here. Thank you for attending our Q4 earnings call. We hope you had the opportunity to review our financial results and earnings presentation, which are available on the stock exchanges. In the quarter, marked by a milder start to the summer season, geopolitical uncertainties, supply chain disruptions and input cost pressures, we have delivered a modest performance. In the last quarter, we highlighted that we have embarked on a journey of cultural and structural change in the way we engage with the channel and to move to a more balanced approach between demand-led sell-through and volume-led push. We are progressing well in this journey. While these macroeconomic factors were demand disruptive, the Lighting Solutions vertical still delivered a strong performance. EBIT increased by 28% on a year-to-year basis. Further, the vertical ended the year with highest-ever annual EBIT margin of 8.5%. We are confident of continuing this trajectory going forward. The Consumer Products vertical bore the brunt due to a weaker start to summer. However, we expect the vertical to bounce back in the next financial year. I would also like to welcome Ashween Anand, our new CFO, in the company. She has over 16 years of diverse experience across finance, strategy and governance and has worked with leading global organizations including EY, Deloitte, Mondelez, Colgate Palmolive, and most simply Tata Starbucks. We are confident under her leadership, we'll be able to build Bajaj Electricals to a more resilient and future-ready organization. Further, in celebration of 100 years of Bajaj Group, the Board of Directors have decided to maintain a dividend rate same as last year and accordingly approved -- recommended a final dividend of INR 3 a share, that's 150% of face value of INR 2 each on equity shares for the financial year ending 31st March 2026. Before I hand over to Sanjay Sachdeva, our MD and CEO, I would like to highlight that the fundamental strength of our business remains firmly intact. Our brands continue to enjoy strong consumer awareness, our market shares across key categories have remained stable, and our distribution reach remains deep. I now hand over to Sanjay for detailed business and financial highlights. Thank you.

Thank you, Chairman, sir. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining our investor call. First of all, sincere apologies for everyone -- to everyone for canceling the investor call last week. It was because of the circumstances out of our control, more to do with the technical reasons. Before we start, I would like to welcome Ashween Anand, who is our new CFO into the company. With her rich and diverse experience, I'm extremely confident that she will add immense value to our company. I would also like to thank Suketu Shah, who was our acting CFO, for his contribution during this transition phase. As Chairman said, we have delivered modest performance for this quarter. Let me start with Lighting Solutions. Like we mentioned in the past, portfolio expansion remains one of our top priorities. As part of this strategy, we entered wires category in this quarter. The foray into wires portfolio has witnessed a robust market response with some encouraging demand trends across key markets. Backed by strength of Bajaj Electricals brand, expanding distribution reach and focused execution, we are confident this business will grow in future and will emerge as one of the strong growth drivers for the next few quarters. This vertical has consistently delivered revenue growth in margin in the last financial year. We delivered 60% revenue growth in quarter 4 and delivered EBIT margin of 8.7%. This has been a successful year for Lighting Solutions vertical with the annual turnover have expanded by 9.5% and annual CapEx margin close to 8.5%. We are confident of carrying this momentum into next year. On Consumer Products vertical, the last quarter was not as good as we wanted it to be. We -- part of this was intentional. This is about -- we wanted to move the business to a more balanced one where we wanted -- want to balance the demand-led sell-through with a volume-led push. This journey so far is progressive well, and we are confident that coming quarters and the year will be much better. The performance for the Consumer Products vertical was mixed across subsegments. At one end, while the summer cooling products had an impact of delayed onset of summer -- onset of the summer season, coupled with geopolitical uncertainties, supply chain disruptions and input cost pressures during the last 3 weeks of the quarter, the other end, the consumer products the kitchen appliances did well. Categories like induction tops and mixers have delivered double-digit growth. For the quarter, the vertical reported a loss due to operating deleverage. We are, however, confident of turning this around as we go forward next quarter. Now let me touch our financial parameters for the company. We continue to generate positive cash flow from operations and are ending the year with INR 934 crores of cash. We are operating at negative working capital. This strong liquidity position provides us with adequate financial flexibility to deploy behind growth, while maintaining balance sheet strength and capital discipline. Lastly, price increases and war end-use demand has been supportive in this quarter, the quarter we are in. However, sentiment concerns arising out of war, continued price hikes and patchy somewhat remains key headwinds. Importantly, our P&L position gives us confidence and flexibility to continue investing behind brands, distribution and innovations, positioning us well to a sustained growth as we move forward. While the near-term outlook appears constructive, the long-term stance remains cautiously optimistic. Overall, we remain confident on delivering steady and profitable growth going forward. With this, I would like to open the call for questions. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] We take the first question from the line of Shivam Patel from PL Capital.

I just wanted to know if [indiscernible] for FY '27 and FY '28. That's my first question. And the second question on the revenue growth, in Fans and Appliances and Consumer Products, while on Lighting, if you can point out [indiscernible] well. And how [Technical Difficulty] margins have performed in this context. So these are the two questions.

Is The question clear?

Can you repeat the questions? Questions are not clear.

No, your voice is a bit muffled. That's why we are not able to hear your questions correctly.

Is it clear now?

Yes, yes.

Yes. So I just wanted to know your CapEx plan for FY '27 and '28? So that's my first question. And second question is on the Consumer Products. How has Fans and Appliances have performed in this quarter individually, while on the Lighting side, wires, switch gears and other products have performed individually?

So you mean to say the financial year, '26, '27. CapEx on '26, '27, right?

No, CapEx for '27 and '28, your CapEx plan?

Next 2 years?

Next two years.

Next CapEx will substantially come down. It will be less than half what we have been doing in the past. So it will be mainly for replacement of moulds or in some cases, on innovations, we're going to use CapEx wherever it is necessary. But the intensity of the CapEx investments will come down as we move forward to the next 2 years. On the fans and kitchen appliances?

So as far as the appliances portfolio is concerned, in kitchen appliances, as was mentioned in the opening remarks, we have delivered a very good, almost 30% growth over last year's same quarter. We have had modest growth in water heaters and irons, coolers being a seasonal product and with the onset of -- a delayed onset of summer has shown a degrowth and a similar trend has been observed in fans also.

This is a Rajesh. Shivam regarding bifurcation between lighting. If I bifurcate that between 2 verticals, which is Professional Lighting and Consumer Lighting, Professional Lighting has also grown and Consumer Lighting in trade has grown. Two categories what we recently launched in that, wires was like in February. So recent orders are immediate. As Sanjay mentioned, there is a good traction and response, which is coming from the market. We are still next 2, 3 quarters will be important for us to track and ensure that growth targets we have taken we achieve.

[Operator Instructions] We take the next question from the line of Arun Agarwal from Kotak Securities.

Sir, 1 is on the Lighting Solutions business. We clocked good margins this quarter -- this year, in fact. You said that the momentum would likely continue in the Lighting Solutions business going forward in FY '27 as well. So could you just help us out, is there a possibility of further margin expansion? Or this is the range that would likely continue over in say, next 1 to 2 years in Lighting Solutions?

Thanks for the question. As we have been talking about, we are driving product mix and premium products into the category which has helped us to bring this additional margin. The time we have to continue expanding the margins, but we'll not be able to tell you the figures where we want to reach from here.

So just to sort of add to that is, look, the margins are good in lighting and there are a lot of opportunities in the lighting business. So while our gross margin movement will be positive, part of that, we are planning to use to accelerate growth in Lighting. So at the EBIT level, it may be close to where we are -- but whatever advantage we'll get in terms of margins or the momentum, we'll spend that behind to build momentum further.

Okay. Coming on to the Consumer Products business, has seen significant pressure in recent quarters now. Now how do you see? Because every quarter what we are seeing 1 of the other segment, sometimes 1 category performs and the other categories sort of declines more. So where do you see maybe how many quarters would it take for us we really do see momentum returning back into the Consumer Products business?

Sure. Consumer Products business, we had some you actually we had some long-term issues, and we tried to solve most of them -- or some of them in the last 12 months, including we had to flush out excessive stock in the trade, partly driven by sales in the previous few quarters and also because of the season, which didn't go as well as we wanted it to. We are waiting for a good summer because the part of excess steel is also the summer products, fans and coolers. Now most of that is out. The stock levels are now reasonable. Therefore, we will be selling as per what the tertiaries are now because there will not be any level of correction apart from that. Now when we see tertiaries, we are in good in most of the categories, except for fans, where we need to do more work when it comes to fans. So we are clear where we are. What is going well, what will continue to do well, what does it turn around and where we need to do. So except for fan, we're in good place. The fans is something we need to work, which we are going to which the teams are working in the next 12 months should be much better.

Okay. So from a margin perspective, sir, just directionally, I understand you won't give us any guidance there, but from a direction for -- direction purpose, is it fair to assume that the EBIT margins in the consumer business, what we have done the -- initially we used to do of what, 6%, 7% earlier, which has come down to around 3%, 3.5% in '24/'25 and last year, I think it was negative. So is it fair to assume we would at least reach closer towards the FY '24, '25 margins this year? Or is that 2 things difficult?

Difficult to say exact margin, and I tell you why because there is another factor which is affecting the cost of our products is the war-related inflation. Not everything we'll be able to pass on because we have to see -- we are trying all the possibilities of leveraging our supply chain network or stepping up savings. But we are using all the levers to see that we deliver a good margin. However, we do believe we have to also see we stay competitive in the market. And in that context, maybe whatever is left, not everything, we'll be able to pass on to consumers. And this is our current hypothesis. But we will see as the year goes. In that case, we will not be able to deliver -- it's difficult at this stage to say whether we'll be able to deliver '24, '25 margin. We are also very clear that we want to do that level of margin, which is sustainable, which means we are very, very clear that we want to spend money behind innovations and behind brands. So you will see a step up in that in the next 12 months, our investment behind brands and investment behind innovations.

Okay. And sir, it's correct to assume you, I think, said that the inventory levels are completely normalized across all the product categories at this point in time, right?

There are some coolers and mainly coolers, there is still correction required, but it will not be material for us to say that it's going to impact majorly to full year performance. Some quarters here and there it can do, but not a full year performance.

Okay. And sir, lastly, on your -- for the past couple of quarters now, we are seeing some exceptional items coming in. So is this kind of exceptional items through or we could expect some more exceptional items or write-offs or provisions going forward?

Okay, Suketu this side. I think so far, all that we could trace and whatever we could find certain issues, I think we have taken care of that. And we hope that we have a good year on next year.

We take the next question from the line of Aakash Fadia from Yash Securities.

So what is the quantum of price increase we have taken in Q4? Any follow-up price increase we have taken in Q1 FY '27?

We have -- Consumer Products, our price increases have ranged from anywhere from 3% to 10% in quarter 4, and we have already taken a price increase in the same range in April. So -- and in May, also, we have announced price increases where we are seeing further pressures because of war and commodity inflation.

But despite the, say, 3 price increases, we have not yet covered the commodity inflation completely. Is that correct? And further price increases will be required?

See, we have covered the commodity inflation to the extent possible. But as Sanjay mentioned that going forward, we will need to be more calibrated because there is demand uncertainty, which might arise. We have to look at it in the overall context. But so far, we have covered up to the extent possible the commodity inflation.

[Operator Instructions] We take the next question from the line of Manan Goyal from ICICI Securities Limited.

Sir, my first question is regarding how are we doing in terms of channel inventory? Like is it largely normalized? Or is it at the elevated level? Second is, how are we doing in terms -- how are we seeing the demand in terms of the summer season going ahead? Because we have seen like IMD rating has already been mentioned that there has been a good summer season going ahead. So how are we seeing the traction in terms of primary channels as well as secondary channels. Yes, these are my 2 questions.

So in Consumer Products, we have connected the channel inventory to a large extent. But there are in some categories like summer products, coolers specifically where they are still at a slightly elevated level. We are watching the season progress. Quarter 4 was a delayed summer in this quarter so far, there has been a mixed bag of summer as well as unseasonal rains. In some parts of the country, we are seeing good demand coming in because the summer is good there. But in some parts of the country, it is not as good. So it's a mixed bag. In the early part, did not see summer, but now we are seeing a very good summer coming into North. South was pretty hot, and we saw good traction coming over there. So it's not a consistent weather pattern across the country. It's a mixed bag, and we are being agile enough to fulfill the demand wherever we see an opportunity.

[Operator Instructions] We take the next question from the line of Manoj Gori from Equirus Capital.

Sir, in the opening remarks, somewhere in the comments, we highlighted that we'll continue to innovation and other brand building exercises. Can you throw some light because just the backdrop is, if we look at probably some last 2 to 3 years, when Mr. Anuj was also taking care of the business, there were significant investments made behind the product development and other initiatives. And we probably going by the financials, we were not able to see any positive benefits flowing, so going forward, what are these investments for? And how should it translate into growth numbers and margin trajectory, probably keeping aside FY '27 but somewhere around FY '28 to FY '29 levels? That's the only question, sir.

So thank you for raising this. So there's a lot of learning we have in the last -- what has happened in the last few years. And we want to incorporate that as we are building our innovations for the next 2 to 3 years, which means we are bringing innovations which we at the right price point with the right margins. And we are also making sure not only that the rice price point was the right price point with the right margin. But also we're bringing innovations, we have adequate margin, which is necessary to support those innovations in the market. So then the idea is that with these innovations, we don't want a case that it dilutes our over -- but at the same time, we're making sure the innovation on the 1 which consumer needs at the price at the right price and -- which is different from what is already existing in the market. So their approach is changing now. And that should reflect as we move forward with innovations.

Can it be quantified in some form, at least in numbers, if you can give some highlights because that will even give us some confidence for modeling proposal?

So tell us more about what numbers you're talking, for example.

For example, like how should we look at the growth, how much acceleration we can expect during FY '28 and FY '29 and probably how the margin trajectory should also shape up based on these initiatives?

So our intent going forward is to grow ahead of the market. That is number one. Now we believe market will grow close to mid-single digit. So therefore, we -- our growth rate should be more than that. Our intent is to make industry average, at least industry average profit and industry average is between 6 to 8.9%, and that is where it should be. So as I told you, this is our intent, and that's what we are working on. And that's where the entire teams are looking at all the opportunities where we can build this momentum to this level and build it profitably to the level which industry allows. Does that help you?

We take the next question from the line of Natasha Jain from PhillipCapital.

Two questions. First, if you could throw some light in terms of your market share in fans, how it has moved, say, in the last 2 to 3 quarters? And the second question is the reason for the sharp jump in your OCS?

So on the fans market share, we have lost a bit of market share. And primarily, the reason behind that is that we are still not as good on our VLGC performance as we would like it to be. The industry's contribution is higher versus ours. So we are working hard towards making sure that, that part of the fans portfolio gets better.

I think second question was on the operating cash flow. So -- so we have generated around INR 400 crores of operating cash flow for the quarter, and that's primary driven because of the working capital improvement, half of it coming from inventories and half of it coming from the trade receivables.

And a follow-up on the earlier answer. So the follow-up is that in terms of BLDC, can you tell us how is the scale-up happening at Bajaj? And what is the plan in terms of I believe we've launched the next product, so how is the feedback and what is the strategy there going forward? Are we planning to roll out full scale?

Sanjay here. So let me put it like this. We know we are not competitive in fans. We recognize that. And we are working on various -- from various angles to improve the situation. So we have traditional induction plans. We are very good in that in terms of expected the economy and subeconomy, both in terms of our offerings also in terms of our price points, and we make reasonable margins on that. Now the other one, which is -- but unfortunately, that segment is not growing. The segment which is growing is BLDC and this is where we have gaps. In the next 12 months, our plan is to bridge this gap. And this is where we believe the acceleration of growth will happen.

[Operator Instructions] We take the next question from the line of Shivam Patel from PL Capital.

Sir, I just wanted to know on working capital side, will we maintain at what FY '26 levels or can you see an improvement?

So Suketu here again. So we have been operating at negative working capital for the past 2 years, and we -- the expectation is to continue on those same lines for the next year as well, and we endeavor to achieve that.

[Operator Instructions] There are no further questions from the participants, I now hand the conference over to the management for their closing comments.

Thank you very much all the participants for participating in this investor call. And sorry, once again, that we could not complete in the earlier period. Clearly, all of us are working very hard. Last year was a very bad year for us for various reasons, which has been explained. Current year, we are hoping it will be a much better year. You'll be all much happier compared to what has happened last year. So with all that, I wish you all the best, and thank you.

Thank you. On behalf of ICICI Securities Limited, that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.