Emami Limited (531162) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Dear members, good morning, and welcome to the 40th AGM of Emami Limited. This Annual General Meeting is being held through video conferencing or other audiovisual means. For the smooth conduct of the meeting, members will be kept on mute mode. With regards to the members who have pre-registered as speaker shareholders to speak at the AGM, the audio and video will be enabled when the question-and-answer session begins on the instruction of the Chairman. Speaker shareholders are requested to speak as per the sequence that is set forth and keep their speech limited to 3 minutes, and cooperate. If any speaker cannot be reached due to any connectivity issues, we will call him or her at the end of question-and-answer session. Thank you. Now I will hand over the stage to R. S. Goenka, Chairman of the company.

Hello Board members and dear shareholders, a very good morning to all of you. I, along with my colleague and co-founder, Shri R. S. Agarwal, welcome you all to the 40th Annual General Meeting of your company, Emami Limited. The 40th AGM is being held through video conference via the CDSL platform in accordance with the circulars issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, applicable provisions of the Companies Act 2013, and SEBI listing regulations. We have the requisite quorum present through video conference to conduct the proceedings of this Annual General Meeting. Currently, 82 members are present through video conferencing to participate in this meeting. Participation of members through video conference is being recorded as per circulars issued by MCA and Section 103 of the Companies Act 2013. The register of Directors and key managerial personnel, the register of context or arrangements and other documents mentioned in the AGM notice have been made available electronically for inspection by the members during this AGM. I call this meeting to order. Dear shareholders, before we start the main proceedings of the meeting, I request the Board members who are present with us today, to introduce themselves. Shri. R. S. Agarwal and Smt. Priti Sureka.

We, Mr. R. S. Agarwal and I, Priti Sureka, are present in the AGM from Calcutta. We have received all the papers pertaining to the AGM. There's nobody other than us accessing the proceedings of the meeting. We can hear and see everyone. Thank you.

Shri C. K. Dhanuka.

Yes, I'm C. K. Dhanuka, I'm attending this meeting through video conferencing. Thank you.

Shri Anand Rathi.

Mr. Rathi, could you please unmute your mic, sir.

Good morning, shareholders and all my fellow directors. I'm Anand Rathi, Independent Director and Chairman of Audit Committee and Chairman of Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the company. I'm attending the AGM from Mumbai from my office. Thanks.

Shri Debabrata Sarkar.

I'm Debabrata Sarkar, Independent Director on the Board of Emami Limited, attending this Annual -- 40th Annual General Meeting from my residence, Bombay. I have received the notice and the relevant papers in time. I'm alone in my room. Nobody is having the access to the proceedings of the meeting. And I am audible to other members, and I could hear also properly. Thank you.

Shri Rajiv Khaitan.

Yes. I'm Rajiv Khaitan, an Independent Director of the company. I'm attending through my -- through video conference from my office in Bangalore. I can hear and see everybody, and I have received the agenda papers. Thank you, and good morning to everybody.

Smt. Mamta Binani.

[Foreign Language] shareholders. I'm the Independent Director of Emami Limited, and I'm attending the meeting through video conferencing from Kolkata location. Thank you.

Smt. Avani Davda.

Hi. Good morning to all. I'm an Independent Director on the Board of Emami. My name is Avani Davda. I'm attending this meeting via video conference from Mumbai. Look forward. Thank you.

Shri S. K. Goenka.

Mr. Goenka, could you please unmute your mic, sir.

I'm S. K. Goenka, Whole-Time Director and Chairman of CSR Committee of the company. I'm attending the AGM from Kolkata. I can hear and see everyone. Thank you.

Shri H. V. Agarwal.

Good morning, friends. I am Harsha Vardhan Agarwal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the company. I'm attending the AGM from Kolkata. Thank you.

Shri Mohan Goenka.

Good morning, shareholders. I'm Mohan Goenka, Vice Chairman cum Whole-Time Director and Chairman of the Share Transfer Committee of the company. I'm attending the conference from Kolkata. Thank you.

Aditya Vardhan Agarwal.

Good morning. [Foreign Language] I'm Aditya Vardhan Agarwal, attending this AGM from my residence in Kolkata. Thank you.

Prashant Goenka.

Good morning. I'm Prashant Goenka, Executive Director of the company, and I'm attending the AGM from Kolkata. Thank you.

Leave of absence is granted to Shri Anjani Agarwal and Shri Anjan Chatterjee, who could not attend the AGM today as they are unwell. Representatives of the statutory auditors, secretarial auditors and cost auditors have also logged in to attend this meeting. Apart from the Board members, we have Shri N. H. Bhansali, CFO, and Shri Sandeep Kumar Sultania, Company Secretary, who are also present in this meeting. The statutory auditors and secretarial auditors have expressed unqualified opinions in their respective audit reports for the financial year '22-'23. There were no qualifications, observations or adverse comments on financial statements and matters which have any material bearing on the functioning of the company. So the auditor's report is not required to be read. Members are requested to refer to the instructions provided in the notice for attending the AGM through video conference and other audio-visual modes for a seamless participation. In case members face any difficulty, they may reach out on the helpline numbers. We have taken all necessary steps to ensure that the shareholders are able to attend the vote at the meeting in a seamless manner. Now I take you through the performance and operations of the company. As Swami Vivekananda once said, "In a day, when you don't come across any problems, you can be sure that you are traveling in a wrong path." Problems, obstacles, challenges are part of life and make one stronger, wiser, more prepared and more resilient. Our company's journey over the past 1 year has been both challenging and satisfying at the same time. Your company successfully navigated every challenge faced to adjust and adapt deftly to all external and internal demands with agility suited to the dynamic times. This was possible because we are driven by the belief that challenges are actually the opportunities that help to keep one on the right path. The FMCG sector, particularly personal care and health care space has been volatile during the recent past. In response to it, your company continued to stay invested both in its new business drivers and in core categories with a deep conviction about the Indian growth story forecast. We stand by our conviction and today, we see that the consumption trend pattern for the personal care and health care products is once again gaining momentum, and ayurveda-based solutions are increasingly becoming the trusted way of life while more and more Indians are getting comfortable with seamless omni-channel shopping experience, including local retail, modern trade and e-commerce. Embracing change to remain future fit that enables any business to win in the future, lies in its capacity to adapt and lead that change. Thus, your company is also making the right investments, adopting new age growth plans while staying equally rooted in the rich legacy of ancient wisdom of ayurveda blended with modern science. This effectively aids in bridging gaps between geographies, demographics, channels, and categories with a certain optimism and belief that better days are ahead. The fast-moving consumer goods that is FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the Indian economy, which is expected to experience significant growth in the next 2 years in the country, which currently has a population of 1.42 billion. This population catchment is increasingly young and employable and happens to be a larger consumer base with disposable income higher than any other country in the world. Digital transformation is also shaking up the FMCG business landscape significantly. As we know, it has made shopping from home possible, offering convenience with an array of wider range of products and competitive pricing. Today, not only the big players, but even small business across India are present in the digital space with the e-commerce technology for reaching out to a wider base of consumers and driving growth to reap the rewards of new formats of digital tools, social media promotion and increasing consumer demand for online and digital shopping. On the other hand, there is this ever-growing awareness of health and healthy lifestyle leading to increased demand for healthier and natural products. Hence, FMCG companies that prioritize health and wellness in their products offering, such as your company, are very likely to register better returns against this backdrop of transforming India. However, the performance of India's personal and health care sector during the last financial year must be explained within a context. Sharp seasonal disruptions, with summer and winter becoming irregular, marked by either less or excessive rains, floods and cold, affected established purchase patterns. Increased inflation during the last financial year also affected disposable incomes. Further, with the waning of pandemic, a sharp decline in the offtake of pain management and immunity-based health care products was also registered. By the close of the last financial year though, inflation had begun to moderate and rural demand began to improve by the end of the last quarter. Thus, net result is that following a brief downtrend, the Indian economy appears to have returned to growth, reinforcing the country's position as the world's fastest-growing economy. Against these realities of Indian economy, Emami Limited delivered a creditable performance. Emami revenue grew by 7% during the last financial year despite a warmer winter in the third quarter and unseasonal rains in the fourth quarter, which impacted sales of both winter and summer products. Further, if one excludes the pain management and health care portfolio, both having high bases being COVID contextual categories, sales grew by 17%. Further, despite geo-political challenges in the international market, Russia, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh, the company's global business grew by 20%. Dermicool, our newly acquired brand contributed to the overall growth, along with Navratna Cool talcum, validating the company's leadership in the prickly heat and cool talc categories. Most of your company's major brands increased their household penetration level during the last financial year. Sustained interventions and marketing efforts ensure that they further cemented their leadership position in their respective categories. Your company is well known for its marketing efforts through celebrity endorsement over the years, which is a proven consumer connect initiative. We value our relationship with our brand endorsers and will keep investing towards all such brand-building efforts in both traditional and digital media. Our EBIDTA margins of business, excluding strategic investment at 26.9% are close to the pre-COVID levels and with inclusion of strategic investment, EBIDTA margin at 25.3% are one of the highest in the industry. Dear shareholders, as you are aware that we at Emami have always given prime importance to your interest as our valued shareholders and work towards it constantly and continuously over the years. As a result, an initial shareholder who invested INR 1,000 for 100 shares of Emami and thereafter, invested INR 4,000 in the Rights Issue, would presently own shares worth INR 9 crores. In other words, initial investment attracted a return of 22,617 times over years. Shareholders' wealth also increased by 46 times following the public issue in March 2005 and by 10 times following the QIP in July 2009. Your company during financial year '23 made payment of 2 interim dividends and aggregate payout of INR 353 crores and thus maintained its rewarding policy to its shareholders. Your company also concluded buyback of its share in the current year amounting to INR 185.3 crores, excluding brokerage taxes and levies. Your company continued its investment in Project Khoj, its flagship rural footprint expansion project. The company added close to 11,000 towns and reached around 52,000 towns and villages at the end of '22-'23. Analytical tools were used to identify villages with right potential using external surrogate metrics like size, proximity to highways, number of pucca versus kutcha houses, et cetera, and map them using their coordinates to increase the coverage. Your company integrated analytical tools with the handheld devices to capture accurate geographic location, store-level information and intervene during the call at the point of purchase. Your company launched a Beat Optimization tool to minimize travel distance of the MRs within a beat, reduce overlapping of beats and optimize the scales -- sales beat area with proper outlet mapping and sequencing. Your company also launched an upsell and cross-sell, which generates customized assortment at individual store level, purchase behavior as well as peer group clustering to arrive at the SKUs that have the highest probability of being bought by the store. Further, analytics were used to identify the right modern trade and chemist stores, whereas analytical tools with image processing algorithms were used to ensure better in-store visibility. The company's e-commerce business grew by 82% during last year and 303% the last 3 year, now accounting for 9.3% of our domestic net sales. The company's modern trade revenues grew by 37%, marked by a widening presence across hypermarkets and departmental store chains. Sustained interventions and marketing efforts by all our brands ensure that they did not lose any market share and, in fact, cemented their leadership position across their respective categories. With a strong innovation pipeline in place, I am happy to share that your company launched more than 20 products in the domestic business in '22-'23, with a majority being digital-first launches on our D2C portal Zanducare. The company introduced digital first brands like 7 Oils in One organic oils, Kesh King organics shampoo, Zandu Seniorz range, Zandu wellness juices, Zandu infusions range, Zandu Apple Cider Vinegar, Zandu Stevia, and Zandu aroma therapy range, among others, which were well received. As a part of its growth line, through strategic investments, Emami increased its stake in The Man Company and Brillare, graduating them into subsidiaries. These investments will not only deepen our digital insights, but also complement growth. The company is well aware that the future is increasingly becoming digital and this space will witness many battles. In view of this, direct-to-consumer and e-commerce will play a key role in your company's growth with an omni-channel distribution network. To make the overall system more robust and reduce systematic waste, your company has also digitized both its sales and distribution as well as sourcing. This entire process will strengthen your company's top line as well as bottom line. The nation is evolving and so is Emami. We are continuously transforming to keep at par with the fast-changing India, be it for gathering insights on consumer trends, driving innovations, enhancing manufacturing, improving better target marketing and communication or even last mile delivery. We are on track to make technological integration in every aspect of our operations. Our international business seems to have stabilized, and we are optimistic for a healthy double-digit growth. We have focused on strengthening our core, and we look to the future with enhanced confidence and optimism. Talking about our future road map, your company aims to achieve higher levels of competitiveness. To set the momentum in the first quarter of financial year '24, your company has registered sales growth of 7%, EBITDA growth of 10% and PAT growth of 87%. With easing of raw material cost pressure, the quarter witnessed an expansion of gross margins by 240 basis points at 65.4% and EBITDA margins by 60 basis points at 23%. PAT margins at 16.7%, also expanded by 720 basis points. At Emami, we are committed to build a sustainable future for generations to come and dedicated to improving the quality of life by meeting the needs of society and the environment. We are constantly working to meet the changing needs of all our stakeholders, including employees, investors, customers, value chain partners, and the local community for a healthy and sustainable future. Sustainability at Emami is integrated into what we do and embedded within the core of our corporate strategy. Our efforts are committed towards environment addressing the need to grow the business with a lower carbon footprint. Emami Limited made investment in cutting-edge technologies that improve process yields, reduced waste, improved output quality, and moderated power or resource consumption. Emami embraced a holistic approach to achieve sustainability in operations, encompassing safety, environment, water conservation, energy conservation, and waste management. Over the years, the company achieved few milestones towards zero accidents, zero liquid discharge and zero environmental incidents. In financial year '23, reduction of our overall energy consumption by 8%, increase in overall renewable energy by 15% and reduction of the overall water consumption by 13% are some of the steps taken towards conservation of natural resources. Your company established an integrated waste management system, responsible scrap disposal, reduction in ETP waste, recycling of plastic and e-waste through certified vendors. It processed 10,204 metric tons of waste via EPR, accounting for about 74% of the total plastic consumption. To reduce carbon footprints in our R&D initiatives, Emami has undertaken various other steps to drive sustainability. To moderate environment and social impact, the R&D team is constantly engaged in product innovations and technology improvement. In packaging, your company introduced significant recycled plastic in primary and secondary packaging and reduced dependence on virgin plastics, thus lowering down the requirement. Further, your company engaged with farmers and collectors for cultivation of our rare medicinal herbs like Chirayta, Kutaki and Kapur Kachr among others. It conducted capability building programs for farmers providing technical guidance and training. It engaged in the distribution of quality planting materials and facilitated farmer registration under government cultivation programs. It enhanced farmer income and promoted medicinal plants conservation awareness. In '22-'23, 60% input materials were sourced from within or proximate districts and 29% input material were sourced directly from MSMEs/small producers. Under community development, the company planned its CSR engagement around a spirit of sustainable growth reconciling economy, society and planet. During '22-'23, the company allocated INR 10.48 crores for CSR initiatives across education and skill development, health, water and sanitation, and social uplift engagements. The allocated corpus was spent on company's various flagship CSR projects like Padho India Padho in education, Badhte Kadam in skill development, Padhenge Hum Padhane Ke Liye in teachers' training, and Jan Kalyan in social upliftment, and Swashthya in health care. These initiatives touched the lives of more than 70,000 individuals during the year. For building up a sustainable business, nurturing of human resources play a key role. At Emami, we believe that our employees are our greatest asset. Your company is committed to being an equal opportunity employer without any discrimination based on gender, race, religion, language, or geographic preference. Each and every employee is selected solely on the basis of his or her professional credentials, reflecting Emami's commitment to meritocracy. Emami's emphasis on talent is reflected through empowerment, resilience, accountability, and a structured performance-oriented appraisal. Emami fosters a conducive learning environment where employees are provided resources to maximize productivity, which in turn contributes to your company's growth. The company's strength lies in its diverse, experienced, talented, and professional workforce, which enables it to thrive in the dynamic business environment. As I conclude, I would like to take this opportunity to repose my faith once again in our current leadership team comprising the second-generation promoter directors who have well ingrained themselves in the company's operations and are currently leading the organization to charter its future growth map. With their deep understanding of the values, business strategy, culture and heritage of Emami, they bring innovative solutions and competence that will lead your company to greater heights. The current executive leadership team is heavily assisted by professional senior executives and other staff members with appropriate academic backgrounds and wide industry experience. The blend of enterprising spirit and risk-taking ability of the promoter directors who are professionals in their own right and ably aided with the diverse industry knowledge of these professional executives has made Emami, the powerhouse it is today. I also wish to thank all my fellow directors on the Board, including the independent directors who with their rich and varied industry experience and valuable guidance have helped the company in its policy decision matters. Their presence adds much diversity to the Emami Board and we sincerely value their contribution. In the coming days, Emami will continuously keep pushing the frontier, keep exploring new categories and territories, keep launching new and innovative products, keep revisiting existing brands positioning with evolving market landscape, and keep scouting for acquisitions or investments in new-age businesses, including start-ups. As I end, I'd like to sincerely thank all of our stakeholders and especially our valued shareholders and reiterate that we look forward to your continued support and encouragement in the days to come. Thank you. Now, I request Shri Sandeep Sultania, Company Secretary, to brief the members about summary of the businesses to be transacted as set out in the notice, general instructions on voting and rules relating to members queries thereon.

Thank you, sir. Members may please note that there will be no voting by show of hands. As this meeting is being conducted virtually, the company has provided the facility to cast the votes electronically on all the regulations set forth in the notice. The remote e-voting has commenced on 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, 19 August 2023, and it closed at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, 22 August 2023. Members who have not cast their votes electronically and who are participating in this meeting will have an opportunity to cast their votes during the meeting through the e-voting system provided by the CDSL. Members can also click on the vote tab on the video conference screen to avail this feature. As the voting on this business has already begun, there is no requirement of proposing and seconding the resolution. However, I am reading out the subject matter of resolution proposed to be transacted at this meeting for the information of members. First item, agenda #1 is for adoption of stand-alone financial statement of the company, along with report of Board of Directors and auditors thereon; and adoption of consolidated financial statement of the company for the year ended 31 March 2023. Agenda #2, confirmation of dividend of INR 8, two interim dividends declared during the financial year 2022-'23. Agenda #3, appointment of director in place of Shri Sushil Kumar Agarwal who retires by rotation and being eligible, offers himself for reappointment. Agenda #4, appointment of director in place of Shri Harsha Vardhan Agarwal who retires by rotation and being eligible, offers himself for reappointment. Agenda #5, appointment of a director in place of Shri Aditya Vardhan Agarwal who retires by rotation and being eligible, offers himself for reappointment. Agenda #6, appointment of -- reappointment of Mrs. Mamta Binani as an independent director for a second term of 5 years. Agenda #7, reappointment of independent director, Shri Debabrata Sarkar for a second term of 5 years. Agenda #8, ratification of fees of INR 1,65,000, excluding taxes and out-of-pocket expenses, payable to cost auditor M/s. V. K. Jain & Company for conducting the audit of cost records of the company for financial year 2023-'24. I just want to rectify, the resolution #3, it was for reappointment of -- appointment director in place of Shri Sushil Kumar Goenka who retires by rotation and being eligible for reappointment. And objectives of all the resolutions, which are special resolutions set out in point 5 to -- 6 to 8 are explained in the explanatory statement to the notice. Now I request Shri Goenka ji to proceed with the proceedings of the meeting.

Thank you, Mr. Sultania. Now I invite the shareholders who have registered themselves as the speakers to ask their questions, if any, on the agenda items. Please mention your name, folio number, PP and client IDs, location from where you are joining and the page number of audit report to which the query relates. Members are requested not to repeat the queries, which have already been asked by other members. All the queries will be answered together by the management at the end. I request the moderator to call the speaker shareholders one by one.

Thank you very much, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. We now invite our first speaker member, Mr. Bimal Krishna Sarkar. [Operator Instructions]

Hello. [Foreign Language] Am I audible?

Yes, you are audible.

[Foreign Language] Very good afternoon. Sir, I, Bimal Krishna Sarkar, equity shareholder of the company. [Foreign Language] page 340, note number 3.39, legal and professional fees increased by 51% [Foreign Language]. Traveling and conveyance [Foreign Language] increased by 65.64% [Foreign Language]. CSR [Foreign Language] As per section 135, chapter 5, [Foreign Language]

We now invite our next speaker member. That is Mr. Tarak Nath Chakrabarty. [Operator Instructions]

Good afternoon, Mr. Honorable, old is gold, our Emami company Chairman, Mr. Agarwal ji and Goenka ji and our very senior and all our personnel, Executive Board of Director and our valuable company's CEO, CFO, Mr. Bhansali ji, he is a really very efficient, ability and good working manner person, and newly joined Mr. Sandeep Sultania. I know personally, he is onetime Srei CFO, after that joined Manakasia Group CFO and Secretary, and after that joined our Emami Limited. We are very proud to fill this person, really very efficient, ability and good manner person and very sincerity and knowledgeable. And I thanks to our company Management Board, the proper time with dynamic company secretary who are recruiting our Emami Limited and parallel, our share department, very most senior Mr. Ashok Purohit, and associated all members, I'm really very proud feel and very efficient, ability and good manner person to minority shareholders attached and all our messages are properly delivered in our website. Now at present, our pandemic situation is overcome. I -- Chairman, I pray that God give health, you are safe, after that you all are working, proceeding to continue. And this year, company AGM is really, really excellent and our company annual report and really, very monumental pillar. All our coverage, printing machine, color matching, company accounting standard and turnround but this year company one thing point is step down is profitability, but company has not backup of the minority shareholders. Company always try to best performing turnaround profitability and good pay dividend, 3 items our company already things are maintaining, 2 time interim dividend, 400 [Foreign Language] 800% as per INR 1 return to INR 8 return, not a matter of joke, pandemic situation and [ dry ] position. We are very proud feel and I thanks to our company, Director, Finance department and our company, all the Management Board with Chairman, that take decision, the minority shareholder keep enjoy. Not only that parallel your company, our share price now today is INR 540 touch up this secondary market scenario. However, minority shareholder are really very enjoy and really we are proud feel to always keep confident our company management team and our company, all take decision the company scenario of the business segment, 2022-'23. Turnaround is too much higher, profitability margin, some margin is low. Parallel, all these things are really you have maintained. Sir, it is my humble request. Sir, long time our huge reserve of capital. Sir, issue of one right or bonus at par is a very -- take decision. It is my request and take decision our Board. Sir, accounting standard is 100% benchmark point and there will be all our schedule keep follow-up. They always try to make cost control and costs reduce. There are no comments to this accounting standard such that our CEO, CFO, Mr. Bhansali ji is very most senior and long time, you maintained the accounting division. So naturally, we are our fully confident our finance department team and our one thing points that next young generation company try to is a very good achievement. And our flag is a very long time we are this standing position, every year new milestone put the company turnaround and exhibit the annual report. Sir, we are not betrayed. Many speaker are present. They are -- sir, one thing I request to you, sir, coming here at least attending the physical meeting but is long time over 5 years not related to very nearest our old is gold, Chairman sir and all our senior management team, Board of directors and present. Now all our members are not need to parallel, very close. It is I request, I pray that God give health, you are safe and after that you enjoy your various type of work. I thanks to company backup side, all our members, management team controlled by VC meeting. Thanks, our announcement madam is really -- tomorrow night is trial of demo, connecting the VC meeting is a very proud feel and really very good manner person and who presented all these things and sound are all staying. I, Tarak Nath Chakrabarty, speaking, Kolkata, long time your shareholder. And thanks to all our member, I over to mic to Mr. Chairman for further proceed. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Thank you very much, sir, for compliments.

We now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Ashit Kumar Pathak. [Operator Instructions]

Am I audible, ma'am?

Yes sir, we can hear you.

And visible?

Yes sir.

Okay. Very good afternoon, respected Chairman, Vice Chairman and MD, CFO, Board of Directors, Company Secretary, fellow member joining at 40th AGM of Emami Limited. My name is Ashit Kumar Pathak joining from Dum Dum, Kolkata. Thanks to our new Company Secretary, Mr. Sandeep Kumar Sultania and Assistant Company Secretary, Mr. Ashok Purohit and entire leadership teams for sending me the hard copy of the annual report and notice of the AGM very well in advance and allow me to speak. Also, my esteemed thanks to our ex Company Secretary, Mr. A.K. Joshi, for his enhanced cooperation to the company -- to my company and members also. The excellent opening remarks by our respected Chairman, very optimistic remarks represented for the future prospective of my company and current strategies and road map. And also thanks to my company's second-generation management teams for the excellent financial performance, financial year '23 for the many -- as well as for the many domestic as well as global challenges had in inflation of raw materials, higher borrowing costs, geopolitical turbulence, slow economy and environmental challenges, where consolidated revenue achieved INR 3,406 crores. And EBIDTA also achieved nicely, INR 863 crores. And profit after tax achieved INR 640 crores and net cash surplus generated INR 275 crores. Excellent financial performance. I am appreciating to my company's management team. Also, nicely, good reserve and surplus INR 2,258.68 crores and nicely going to be a debt-free company. This is the excellent performance I am appreciating because debt-equity ratio nicely reduced to 0.3 from 0.13. And also, members are rewarded with buyback of shares, offering price, INR 450, and also dividend payout INR 8. Sir, I have brief views which I'd like to share. In editorial overview, we mentioned financial '23 faced significant volatility FMCG personal payer and health care payers. By the way, irregular summer and winter and increased inflation in pain management and health care products with higher input costs impacted our gross margin. Throw some highlights, our company's management team for optimistic strategies and road map to coming financial year with these challenges. I think these challenges will be ongoing process because global economy is under recession position. Quarter 1 results, very nicely achieved. Revenue, INR 824.66 crores and consolidated net profit INR 137.67 crores. Sir, domestic business constitute, mentioned 83% and international business is 17%. Any plan to enhance our international business next 2, 3 years in other footprints, as mentioned, like SAARC, MENAP, SEA, and Africa and others -- other sectors? If possible, throw some highlights. And sir, our e-commerce business grew, mentioned, 82% during last year and overall 303% in the last 3 years, now accounting for 9.3% of our domestic sales. My view is that are we concentrating mostly in e-commerce platforms and B2C portal and modern trade verticals or more business prospectives and also brand-spending strategies? For more business prospectives, throw some highlights. But last financial year, we spend INR 561 crores, aggregating 16.5% of our total revenue. In current financial year, any plan for acquisition, potential domestic FMCG business? As well last year, we make acquisition that we pull. Are we concentrating more business prospectives without more -- with our more demanding products in small pack, where it mentioned -- I noticed, we are distributing Dermicool INR 20 pack and Navratna Oil is INR 20 pack. My view is that the small pack business will give enhanced space because Indian economy is a very prospective economy, but there is some impacted in some COVID, and that impacted our economic position. Hindustan Lever also doing this type of business. So this is a good strategy, in my view. Thanks to my company's management team for awards and accolades mentioned, Page 96, and plan to set up company's own retail stores in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, just like Patanjali are doing. And present operational status of Emami Lanka Private Limited because Lanka faced economic recession last financial year; and good promoter holding, thanks to my company's management team, 54.27%. And any, sir, production hampered our Uttarakhand plants due to heavy rain? If, throw some highlights. And all 7 plants, there's been a capacity of utilization. And all the 7 plants are recognized as smart plants. If you could throw some highlights with industry for AI, ML and IoT with new digital tools. Nothing to say more. My view is that our all the products are mostly value-added products. But most of our items are not properly available in our local market. But the Navratna Oil is available, BoroPlus is available. Chyawanprash Honey is not so available in our local market. I am residing at Dum Dum Cantonment, so there is very -- so -- but the Dabur Honey is very easily available. So I think this is to be noticed to distribution. Nothing to say more. I pray to God, everybody good health and prosperity of my company. Thanking you, sir.

Thank you. We now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Sujan Modak. [Operator Instructions]

Hello, you can hear me?

Yes, sir.

Respected Chairman, other Board of Directors, I'm Sujan Modak. I'm attending this meeting from my residence in Kolkata. Sir, if we see the performance of our company, this is very, very good performance. You have given a very nice set of numbers. So I -- and you have given very good dividend also, sir. I really congratulate our management for this. Sir, I know that our management is a very strong, very efficient and result-oriented management. And at the same time, second-generation management, they have also come already. So this is a very nice set of management we got. Thank you, sir. Sir, my previous speakers have talked so long and they have taken so many questions, so they have already taken my questions, most of it. Sir, I have a few questions to ask you, sir, please. So what are the key challenges our company is facing to keep this growth momentum intact? Please tell us that. And now, as you said, sir, Russia-Ukraine conflict is going on. World economy is showing indications to slow down, and global inflation is up in our country also. That inflation is on the higher side and interest also staying high. In this particular scenario, what is the guidance you give for particularly this year? This is very important. So for people like us, the investors, we need your guidance. Please tell us, sir. Sir, before I finish, I'd like to definitely welcome our Company Secretary, Mr. Sandeep Kumar Sultania and his whole team for being very good investor services, including Madam, Diksha Dubey and also Mr. Ashok Purohit. Welcome, Mr. Sandeep ji. Sandeep ji, thank you very much. If possible, [Foreign Language] Sir, nothing to add more. Thank you for patiently hearing. Over to you for further processing. Thank you.

We now invite our next speaker member, Atanu Saha. [Operator Instructions]

Good morning. With the time is noon, afternoon. I, Atanu Saha, is a shareholder of Emami Limited. Sir, my respected Chairman, before that, I wish to go off thanks to our Priyanka ji, first of all. Sir, our Chairman and Board of Directors and all Independent Directors in different places and Company Secretary, Sandeep ji, who informed me time to time; and his total team, sir, and CFO and all shareholders present in this virtual meeting, sir. So today's 23rd August 2023, our company's 40th, 4-0, AGM, the annual general meeting organizing it. Sir, my only one question, sir, that compound sales growth, it is not good at all, sir. 6.12% till 5 years in at all. So I wish a good year ahead with good results and good dividend at all. Thank you. I, Atanu Saha, now I forwarding to our moderator. Thank you. Have a good day. Thank you.

We now move to our next question that's from Goutam Nandy. [Operator Instructions]

Am I audible, sir?

You are, sir.

Yes. Good morning, respected Chairman, Board of Directors and my online fellow shareholders. Myself, Goutam Nandy of Kolkata, an old equity shareholder of the company. So firstly, I'd like to give thanks to your secretarial department for sending me annual report, annual notice and necessary joining link through e-mail, all in advance. So specially thanks to our respected company -- new Company Secretary, Mr. Sandeep Kumar Sultania, his whole team, including Mr. Ashok Purohit, for rendering very good services to our minority shareholders. Sir, you are organizing your Annual General Meeting through video confidence, and I find it's, again, a success. Sir, I'm very pleased to receive your wonderful annual report, which is very attractive and also very, very informative. Sir, accounts [Foreign Language] earlier speakers already expressed their views regarding the accounts and performance, so no repetition from my side. Sir, I find very good performance in every segment, even in this challenging year. Now the situation is still very, very tough. COVID-19, geopolitical situation, Russia-Ukraine war, [Foreign Language] every company is suffering. Our company is not also the exception. Still, you are paying very good dividend to our minority shareholders. Sir, I am very happy. Sir, your CSR is also very, very good. So please keep it up, sir. Sir, I'd like to know, what is your road map for the next 3 to 4 years? Sir, are you going to launch any new product in this year? Sir, do you have any expansion program in near future? Sir, is there any plan to issue bonus share in near future? Last [Foreign Language], 1:1 basis. [Foreign Language]. Every 5 years, we are expecting [13, 18 ]. And the time has come to reconsider, sir. So we are expecting, sir. Sir, if situation permits, please arrange a factory visit. [Foreign Language]. Sir, another thing, please provide speakers' serial number with your link, which you are sending to us well in advance. [Foreign Language]. Sir, I have requested for the hard copy of annual report. You have sent me in my recent address, so thank you again, sir. Sir, we are using your products, and we are very much satisfied. As per the price and quality is concerned, it is really remarkable. Sir, I'm very happy to be a shareholder of your company. I have full trust with our strong management. And so I, along with my family, wholeheartedly support your all resolutions, which we have already casted through our e-voting. Sir, looking forward with a positive outlook towards our company with higher profit, margin, handsome dividend, 1:1 bonus and dividend. Sir, may God bless you, sir. Stay safe, stay healthy. Thank you very much, sir. Signing off, Goutam Nandy from Kulgachi, Kolkata. Thank you.

We now invite our next speaker member. That is Mr. Manoj Kumar Gupta. [Operator Instructions]

Good afternoon, respected Chairman, Board of Directors, fellow shareholders. My name is Manoj Gupta, an equity shareholder of Emami Limited. First of all, I thanks to you and the Board for the good result of the company for the year '22-'23. And I thanks to our Vice Chairman -- both Vice Chairman and all-time Directors and the Board and especially [indiscernible]. All 365 days, he looked after all the [ capabilities ]. Whenever we approached him, he was always ready to support us. And thanks to our new Company Secretary and his team who has helped us to join this meeting through VC. And thanks for your dividend. I thank you, our CFO, Mr. Bhansali. He's always ready to respond to questions on the accounts whenever we -- on results, about the balance sheet, he's always ready to resolve the issue on balance sheet. Sir, what's your future plan? We strongly support Emami because -- what's your future plan with CapEx for next 2 to 3 years? I will not ask a single question on your CSR because you are doing a lot of things for the community and society in the city of joy because I know very well that what we are doing, especially in Tarakeswar during the Shravani Mela, you are doing a lot of things for the pilgrims of Tarakeswar, so I will not say a single word about it. I will not ask about the CSR. You are doing a lot of noble job for the community and society in every sector, health and education and -- for every pilgrim time like Pongal and Shravani Mela. So thanks to you. And sir, I -- thanks to that, Mr. Anand Rathi is there. He's a big share broker and his runs a big share broking company. And company will get a benefit from his vast experience to invest our surplus money in various platforms. Sir, how you face the competition in your field? And your products are very good and acceptable at every house and Zandu and Emami products. And sir, brand ambassador, I've asked you to bring brand ambassador, a female, and a brand ambassador, those who have got the medal for the nation in the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics. Try to bring them as a brand ambassador of your company. Rajhastan, Haryana, the females have got the medals, bronze, silver, gold. They will get money, and it will be used to inspire them to make brand ambassador of Emami. And I wish you got to fulfill your vision and your expectation that FMC business will be about for 2027 is USD 660 billion. So I wish you get that USD 660 billion of the FMCG business, as per your opening remarks, in your chairmanship. And I wish to God to give you more success with the healthy and prosperous safe long life. And I also wish to God for -- to continue your friendship with Agarwal ji and you, yourself. [Foreign Language] And nothing to say more, sir. And I wish to God to give you more success to -- with all the executives and the employees. Thank you, sir.

We now invite our next speaker member. Mr. Santosh Kumar Saraf. [Operator Instructions]

[Foreign Language]

Our next question is from Mr. Yusuf Rangwala, connected on audio. [Operator Instructions]

Good afternoon, Chairman sir. [Foreign Language] Thank you very much.

We now invite our next speaker member, Manas Banerjee. [Operator Instructions] We will wait for a moment for Mr. Manas Banerjee to unmute his connection. Mr. Banerjee, can you please unmute your mic and your camera?

Good afternoon, everybody. Respected, Chairman, present Board members and my fellow online shareholders. Myself, Manas Banerjee, an equity shareholder of Emami Limited, joining the VC meeting from Kolkata. I convey my sincere thanks to our Company Secretary and his whole team for sending a hard copy of annual report and registering my name at 40th AGM of the company. Sir, for financial year 2022-'23, our company reported a mixed set of number because of high inflation, rural slowdown and subdued consumer sentiment. But our company has been maintaining a healthy dividend payout INR 8 per share in total for the financial year 2023. Congratulations to the Board members for this. I already supported all the resolutions by remote e-voting. Now I have some queries, sir. For the financial year 2023, top line registered a positive growth of 6.7%, but bottom line registered a degrowth. So any guidance for the financial year 2024? Next query, sir, how you look at a hair oil market going forward? What would be our aspiration in terms of Kesh King portfolio? Next question, sir. Sir, pain management and health care segment witnessed significant corrections. Do you see some positive traction happening on ground? And how you can expect from this segment in FY '24? And finally, sir, I wanted to understand more on the distribution initiatives that we have undertaken, can you elaborate on the same? Before I conclude, I repose my full confidence on the functionary of this Board of Directors of this company. Thank you, sir, for patience hearing. And over to you, sir, for further proceedings.

We now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Praful Chavda. [Operator Instructions]

Chairman, Board of Directors, my fellow shareholders, [Foreign Language] Thank you.

We will now invite our next speaker member, Speaker #12, Mr. Kaushik Shahukar. [Operator Instructions]

Good afternoon, everyone. I am honored to have the opportunity to address you all today and would like to express my gratitude to the Board of Directors for allowing me to share once again. First of all, I salute the Board of Directors for its -- for continuing VC mode of meeting, therefore allowing pan-India participation. Sir, request you to continue the positive trend. I'm a satisfied shareholder of our company, and I must commend the management for the remarkable efforts in creating wealth for the shareholders. However, I'd like to raise a couple of concerns. My primary concern pertain to the utilization of savings on account of virtual mode of meeting. Can you -- it would be prudent and fair to allocate a portion of this saving of this functional welfare of the shareholders, more particularly among speaker shareholders who actually participate in AGM and speaker shareholders? A prudent gesture of recognition and appreciation would be sort of momento among them on the occasion of festivals. Sir, can you provide me on the breakup of expenses on account of virtual mode of meeting and on physical mode of meeting, if possible? I humbly request the Board to consider my proposal and explore the possibility of including this gesture of recognition and appreciation. By doing so, I probably believe that it will reimpose the partnership of the company and stakeholders and contribute to the overall learning of our corporate family. Also, it will serve as advertisement, which is more effective than the other means of advertisement. Sir, secondly, can you provide the insights of Emami international operations and its approach to expanding its presence in global markets, whether the company strategies for entering new markets and establishing partnership in different regions? My final concern is the company has been hesitant in supporting individuals in need, including myself. I've shared my credentials in the past and followed up constantly. But my request has not been considered. Should not a differently-able person be part of CSR activity? I appeal for our support. [Foreign Language]. Your assistance would mean a lot to me. If I can't get help from a reputable company like Emami, then whom can turn to? I am resending my credentials after our meeting in the hopes of receiving justice and toward your consideration for desired help and support. I want to clarify that I'm not seeking handouts of free money, nor a sympathy. I value my independence and self-reliance. I'm a chartered accountant myself. I hope you can understand and respect my desire to maintain my independence. Thank you for considering my request and I firmly believe that with your support, I can make significant contribution to our organization and a positive impact on society. I eagerly await your response and sincerely appreciate the time and attention you've given me today. Additionally, I would like to request the assistance for introducing me to your esteemed auditor. As a fellow professional, I believe that suitable guidance would be instrumental in gliding our mutual goals. Thank you. Thank you so much, sir.

Thank you. Before we take our next question, we'd like to request all shareholders to please confine your comments to the business set out in the notice of the AGM and please do not repeat questions raised by other members. We now invite our next speaker member, Ms. Lily Pradhan. [Operator Instructions]

Am I audible?

Yes, ma'am.

Very good afternoon, all the Chairpersons and all viewers. Myself, Lily Pradhan, from Kolkata. First of all, I give my respect to the Board of Directors, respected Chairperson, Chairman, respected Secretary with secretarial team. As a Secretary, always coordinated with me, even all shareholders. I am very happy to know the company's performance is developing a lot, which is sustainable growth in -- nowadays. But I have put some specific question in present situation. What is the aim and objective of future development in all of our world, like at international level, globally? What is the CSR activities on challenging person? These micro analyses of CSR activities? Must we submit the CapEx plan in future development? It must be considered, plant visit and also rewards for, especially, speaker shareholder. Every person can participate and express their views easily due to continuing VC in future. As a woman speaker, request all to support women empowerment. Nothing more. Thank you. Thank you so much. With best regards, all the best.

We now invite our next speaker member, #14, Indrani Chakraborty, to please accept the prompt on your stream, unmute your audio and video and ask your question. We will wait for a moment for Ms. Chakraborty to unmute the connection. [Operator Instructions]

Am I audible?

Yes. You're audible.

Very good afternoon. I am Indrani Chakraborty attending VC from Kolkata, a small shareholder of Emami Limited. At present, I'll congratulate my Company Secretary, Board of Directors and my fellow shareholder to give me a chance in this platform. I casted vote along with my family members in favor of you in this AGM. I believe my company will perform better to better in the coming future. Best of luck to my Board of Directors. I conclude my speech. Thank you, everybody. Sir, please give rewards to speaker shareholder. Have a nice day.

We now invite our next speaker member, Sudipta Chakraborty, to please accept the prompt on your screen. [Operator Instructions]

Sir, I'm Sudipta Chakraborty, attending VC from Kolkata, a small shareholder of Emami Limited. As such, I congratulate my Company Secretary, my Chairman, Board of Directors to give me a chance to speak something in this platform. Sir, I believe my company is in strong hands, and it will perform better to better in coming future. Sir, Emami is a reputed brand. Everyone knows the name of Emami. It's only possible for your honesty, dedication, devotion and determination. You always think for general public about product or CSR activity. He's very good person. I believe my company will progress day by day with your leadership. Thank you, sir. Thank you, everybody. Please give some rewards, sir, to speaker shareholder. We will get more excitement. Nothing more to say. Thank you, sir.

Thank you very much.

Our next speaker member, #16, Mr. Abhirup Nandy, had registered, however, has not connected. We will therefore move to our next speaker member, Mr. Sunil Kumar Modak. We will wait for a moment for Mr. Sunil Kumar Modak to unmute his connection.

Can you hear me?

Yes, sir.

Okay. Good afternoon, sir. Respected Chairman, distinguished Board of Directors, Company Secretary, employees of Emami, my fellow shareholders. Myself, Sunil Kumar Modak, joining this VC meeting from my residence at Kolkata. First of all, I express my thanks to the management, Board of Directors and employees of Emami for the excellent result and maintain good dividend this year, too. Sir, Emami is one of the finest FMCG players in our country, catering more than 150 products to consumers, both domestic and international users. Our products are available in 70 countries and have 8 factories, 1 in Bangladesh also. Company engaged in manufacturing and distribution -- distribution of personal care and health care products. 140 Emami products are sold in every second across the world. Wonderful. 6.5 crore households in India use one or more of Emami products -- Emami brands daily. Happy to learn that, that our 20 new products introduced this financial year, 2022-'23. And sir, I want to know, are you planning to launch any new products coming years? Apart from this, I have some questions. What is the road map for the next 2 to 3 years? What is the CapEx program? And number -- how much is our employee strength and their male-female ratio? Is there any sexual harassment? If happens, how we have tackled this? And what do you feel key challenges in our company? I have already casted my vote in favor of the resolutions and hope our company will do better in your strong hand. And before my end, this speech, I want to consider a plant visit for the willing members. Thank you very much. Have a nice day.

Thank you.

We will now invite our next speaker member, #18, Mr. Vinay Vishnu Bhide. Mr. Bhide, request you to please accept the prompt on your screen. We will wait for a moment for Mr. Vinay Vishnu Bhide to unmute his connection. There seems to be no response from this connection. We will, therefore, move to our next speaker member, #19, Mr. Dipayan Pradhan. Request you to please accept the prompt on your screen.

I'm clear?

Yes, sir.

Afternoon all, to all stakeholders and members, and thank you for holding a virtual meeting. This allows people from overseas to join the meeting. I wanted to ask if we have any plans to counter the marketing strategies of our chief competitor, Patanjali? And I wanted to ask, since there is an increase in labor costs and like such variables, are we planning to use, say, machine learning, AI or any kind of automation to augment the workforce? Thank you. That will be all.

We will take a next question, that's from Chandravati Gattani. Please accept the prompt on your screen. We will wait for a moment while Ms. Chandravati Gattani unmutes her connection. Yes, ma'am. Go ahead.

Very good afternoon, respected Chairman sir, and other Emami Board member present in the meeting. I, Chandravati Gattani equity shareholder of Emami Limited. I support all the resolution. And [Foreign Language], thank you very much to our Secretary team led by great knowledgeable and vast experienced, Mr. Sandeep Sultania, send Annual Report in a written form timely and give me an opportunity to express myself. Sir, our Chairman's speech and Annual Report is very detailed, with all self-explanatory information of the company. Thank you very much for such a healthy balance sheet. And sir, balance sheet [Foreign Language] 15-page [Foreign Language] founder leader and their second-generation leader group photo [Foreign Language], sir. I hope [Foreign Language]. Sir, thank you very much for continuing the trend for sharing the profit with shareholders, sir. [Foreign Language] Cannis Lupus Services [Foreign Language] for natural, Ayurvedic and chemical-free product for pets. [Foreign Language] Sir, we can also see the dedication of the management team to create long-term value for us as a shareholder, and it makes us so confident in the company, sir. Also, I hope [Foreign Language] Hospital business [Foreign Language] Best wishes for more success, sir. Thank you very much, sir.

Thank you.

We now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Jaydip Bakshi. Request you to please accept the prompt on your screen. We will wait for a moment for Mr. Bakshi to unmute his connection.

We can move to the next.

Sure, sir. It looks like Mr. Bakshi is experiencing some audio-video issue. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Go ahead.

Am I audible? Yes.

Yes. Yes, Mr. Bakshi.

Thank you to the Company Secretary, Sandeep ji, for giving me an opportunity to express my view and conducting this video conference and presenting a detailed annual report. And also, to Mr. Ashok Purohit ji for sorting out our problems and helping out whenever we reach to him. And also, for conducting this video conference in a smooth manner and timely reminding us about our turn also. Sir, in this initial speech, you well explained our company's present and future prospects, so we have performed a good performance in the different -- difficult challenging environment. And thanks for the dividend -- interim dividend, you have passed on to us. Sir, regarding the Ayurvedic sector, any new products are we planning to launch? And any value-addition products in our pipeline? So what has been the generation of the e-commerce business and our prospects for the future? Sir, marketing expected plans for brand promotions and future market penetrations, what is our marketing expenditure plan, sir? And regarding our surplus and reserve, which we have our thoughts for the future? And sir, any new acquisition plans or new product launch and any new concept of packaging to ward off the usage of single-use plastics? And sir, the second-generation leaders who are -- with our -- in the Board will help us -- the company to grow further into new heights. I'm personally using our different products and really satisfied with them, from hair oil to Zandu products. And congrats for the rewards, which we have received. And so hope sir, under your guidance and the next-generation directors, and able team of professionals and stuff, our company will come out with acceleration growth trajectory and remain as a household name in the country for the years to come. Thank you, sir, for giving the opportunity, and all stay safe. Thank you, sir.

Thank you very much.

We now invite our next speaker member, Mr. Amit Kumar Banerjee.

A very good afternoon to all of you, respected Chairman of the meeting, other Board members present. Myself, Amit Kumar Banerjee, from City of Kolkata. Thank you for getting me connected and opportunity to speak. Such a wonderful occasion, today, organized your company, Emami Limited. It is our 40th Annual General Meeting of the company. As regards the performance is concerned, it is no doubt, very good. Good performance, total revenue increased about INR 3,405 crores. Profit after tax too, with a turnaround INR 639 crores. Dividend, yes, also there, INR 8. CSR activity is also there. It is good for welfare measures. Market price of the shares is also reasonable. Sir, what is the key challenges now at present for sustainable growth of the company? Risk management issue, vision, kindly discuss and share your views. Research and development cost to sales for last 2 years, kindly share your views. Sir, dividend, INR 8. Last year, we had also received INR 8. Consider bonus, sir, this time, and plant visit, if it is possible so that we, being a shareholder, could understand, could observe the necessary infrastructures over there at the plant. Sir, I am a long-standing shareholders and have a faith with this leading brand, Emami. Yes, I like the product also, very much. Navratna [Foreign Language], BoroPlus, Fair and Lovely Cream (sic) [ Fair and Handsome Cream ], Zandu Balm, prickly heat powders, and so on. So lovely product presented to us. Thank you. I really appreciate the entire management team. And also, I hope our company will definitely perform much better profitabilities in near future and expand our company into a new high, will able to maintain such a wonderful, prestigious brand, Emami. I also thank our new company Secretary, Mr. Sandeep Sultania; Secretarial team, Mr. Ashok Purohit; and all other coordinators rendering good investor services also. Also, thanks to all team members for presenting a full video conferencing meeting today. Myself, Amit Kumar Banerjee, over to you for further proceedings.

Thank you very much, ji.

We have the connection for Mr. Vinay Bhide reconnected. Mr. Bhide?

Can you hear me?

Yes, sir, please go ahead.

Thank you. Chairman, Mr. R. S. Goenka; Vice Chairman, Managing Director, Mr. Harsha Agarwal; Mr. Mohan Goenka; other distinguished directors presented in today's meeting, company's executive shareholders. My name is Vinay Bhide, and I'm a company shareholder speaking from Mumbai. At the outset, let me congratulate you, sir, and the management for having -- putting a higher turnover of about INR 3,400 crores versus nearly INR 3,200 crores last year. The performance is steady on all accounts, and most of the questions that I needed to ask have already asked by my previous speakers, so I will not take much of common time. I have just one question to ask of you, sir. The question is that, when did we last do a brand valuation? And what was the brand value at that point of time? And do you see a necessity of doing a brand valuation at this point of time? So this was a key question. If I have any further questions, I will share the Secretarial team on mail and not take much of common time. And I must mention that Mr. Ashok Purohit and all the other people have taken a lot of pains to ensure our participation. So I will close with best wishes to you, sir, the entire Directorial team, and I wish the company and the employees all the best. Thank you for giving opportunity to speak. Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

With this, we conclude the question session from the members. Over to you, Chairman, sir.

Thank you all for the compliments, questions and suggestions about the company. While the responses to the shareholders' questions are being compiled, we will take you through the company's various campaigns and advertisements for a few minutes. CFO, Mr. N. H. Bhansali, will thereafter answer all members' queries. [Presentation]

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. Over to you, Mr. Bhansali.

Thank you, Goenka-ji, for giving me opportunity to interact with our dear shareholders. Our shareholders have always been very careful, and they have always raised relevant queries and have also guided us all through, and it is always a pleasure to interact with them this -- through this platform. In terms of sequence, I'm trying to respond to all of them in the same chronology as the questions were asked by the respective shareholders. It starts from -- the first one was from Mr. Bimal Krishna Sarkar. He had a lot of appreciation for the management, for the Annual Report and also for the Secretarial department. He appreciated that despite reduction in the profit, we have been -- we have declared 2 interim dividends at 800% dividend, a payout of 56% with a payout of, in terms of amount, it is INR 350 crores payout, so highly appreciated that. His question was, why travel and other expenses have increased compared to the previous year? This is because in the FY '23, the activities have been normalized compared to the COVID period. And so with the normalized activities, the normalized expenses have come back, and we are putting all efforts for growth of the business and for reducing the expenses. CSR obligation has been met. It has been done through various initiatives under education, health care, sanitation, social upliftment. And there has been a special initiative which has been undertaken even for the female education, and our -- one of our program for Nanhi Saraswati. And there are various other programs under it, the male and female, all the children are being educated. The request was there for visually disabled, help to them in the -- under the CSR activities. We do that under the specific -- under the programs of health care program -- various health care programs. He highly appreciated the informative Annual Report. In fact, this is the fourth year of our integrated Annual Report. And along with Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report which has been published, so it is very voluminous, and we have tried to keep it as informative as possible to make it more useful for the shareholders. The second was from Mr. Tarak Nath Chakraborty. He had all the appreciation for the founders and management and Company Secretary. And the proceedings, excellent Annual Report, he mentioned. Also appreciated dividend, I'm not repeating all that. He had a question on when the bonus shares can be issued further. In fact, since last 3 years, we are doing the buyback of shares and we have paid around INR 650 crores on buyback of shares, and this has resulted in helping improve the shareholders wealth also. So that's a great initiative we have taken in addition to declaring very high dividends, 800% year-on-year. He had a request for a physical meeting. We note that, and will be evaluated over the time when it comes. He highly appreciated the VC arrangement. The next was from Mr. Ashit Kumar Pathak. He had all the appreciations for the Chairman message and all the annual report and departments. I'm repeating not -- and this appreciations have been received from many of the shareholders, almost all of them, and so I'm not repeating. We are -- on behalf of the management time, I'm responding to them through our gratitude. He mentioned about the international -- that despite challenges, global and local challenges, we have been able to demonstrate excellent financial performance. In fact, our international business during -- despite challenges had grown by 20% during this period. Debt-equity ratio is -- there is almost negligible. No debt. In fact, we are in money with around -- over the INR 200 crore kind of a surplus is available in the balance sheet. He asked about the views on the challenges for the times to come. In fact, the demand, the input prices and then the international business, all the 3 challenges are being properly handled. In terms of the input prices, we are doing very judicious purchasing. And also, the input prices have now started coming down and -- as well. Have witnessed the impact in the first quarter. In terms of the demand, the demand is also improving. In particular, the rural demand, we feel that now there would be an uptick. International business, we had grown by 20% in the previous year, and we expect the double-digit kind of a growth in the current year as well. And we are already present in over 70 countries, and we expect to expand whenever, wherever we feel that there is an opportunity to do further business. E-commerce. He had a question on e-commerce. E-commerce has grown by 92%, which contributes 9.3% of the domestic business. And he also had a question whether any plan for acquisition in the current year. We are always on the lookout for opportunities across health care and personal care segments, and also investments in the start-up activities. So that continues. We -- lastly, we did an acquisition of Dermicool, and we also made some investments in few start-up companies, and we have them -- acquired them gradually, and 2 of them have been made subsidiary in the last year. He had a question on whether the production was hampered due to Uttarakhand floods. Though there was no impact on the production, no material impact. But yes, because of the intermittent range, the demand somehow -- the summer production demand was impacted. And all our plants are most modern with the best facilities. This is just to assure you. The next was from Mr. Sujan Modak from Kolkata. He asked for the global challenges. I already mentioned that there are challenges with respect to global business, with the domestic business, input prices on -- and the demand side, and we are addressing all of them. He had a question on the view, asking a view on the interest, which is interest cost which is rising. Your company is highly liquid and is on the cash -- cash surplus company, so we do not have a debt. But despite this, we manage our debt very efficiently even if we do it. So a very, very low cost of fund. Whenever there is an occasion to acquire, we are highly rated -- financially highly-rated company. And inflation impact, he had asked for. And that -- I already mentioned that the inflation is now receding, and so as an impact -- favorable impact in our procurement cost also. Next was from Mr. Atanu Saha. He had all the appreciation for the management and Secretarial department, but he somehow said that CAGR growth is very low at 6.1%. Just to assure Mr. Saha that the growth is in line with the industry, and this is despite all the challenges, which we discussed. And so we have -- to that extent, it has been a reasonable growth. The next was from Mr. Goutam Nandy. He had all the appreciation for Annual Report and management and many things. I'm not repeating them. He asked for the road map for a long term for the company. We would continue to remain in the personal care and health care business, and we will continue to grow them. We have identified 3 pillars for growth. One is to grow the core, to do acquisitions and also do -- make investments, strategic investments and nurture the companies and grow them. So all the 3 -- we expect to grow the business by putting relentless efforts in all the 3 pillars. He had a request for bonus shares impact and also increasing the shareholders' wealth. In fact, we did. As I mentioned, we have done the buyback 3 times in the last 3 years, and I've already replied. And our [ base ] has increased by 10x in 14 years, 46x in 18 years and over 22,000x in 43 years. Next is from Mr. Manoj Gupta. He had also all the appreciation. He asked about the future plans, which I already replied. And he had a suggestion of including brand -- the females who won the medals as brand ambassadors. We have noted the suggestions. He had asked for CapEx plan. It is around INR 100 crores kind of a thing on a yearly basis. Mr. Santosh Kumar Pathak (sic) [Santosh Kumar Saraf], he had all the appreciation for staff and workers in addition to the management. He asked about the use of renewable energy at factories. We have -- wherever it is feasible, we have made solar plants and we are using the solar energy and other renewable energies also. He had a question on physical shareholding. In fact, over -- there are over 90,000 shareholders -- 97,000 shareholders, and our shareholding in the physical state is just 333. So 99.7% of the shares are in the demat form. We have full compliance with the insider trading and all the compliances are there, and we are very proactive in doing all the compliances. He had a query with respect to the female employees. Over 6,000 employees are there, of which around 18% employees are the female. And we promote our female employees through our CSR -- females through CSR programs and also in terms of the recruitment. We have a specific program of -- we have a specific program of Nanhi Saraswati for educating the females. He had a question on East Bengal Club and the benefit to the company. It is an independent, separate entity in the Emami group, and we have the privilege of doing our advertisement wherever required and when it fits with our business kind of a thing in that forum also. Next was Mr. Yusuf Rangwala. He had all the appreciation and appreciated the investments by the celebrities. We have used all the celebrates, many of them. It is one of our business models, which we feel that it gives us a lot of -- our brands, while they are the best, it also adds a lot of memorability to the brand, and so we are using them to market our products aggressively. He asked for the gift hamper of nice products, but this is not permitted by law, and so we have dispensed with this practice many years back. The next was from Mr. Manas Banerjee. He had all the appreciation, and he -- he appreciated the top-line and bottom-line growth despite challenging times. He had a question on pain management decline, which had happened last year because -- and that was because of the base effect. During the COVID period, there had been pain -- substantial growth in the pain management products, but which has now been come to a normal, and so we expect now the good growth to come. On casting, the performance is good and on -- where we have taken many distribution initiatives, and they have all been narrated in our Annual Report. Mr. Praful Chavda had -- he raised a pertinent question as to why the growth is just -- the growth is almost doubled in 9 years, so -- we would have expected more. But despite this, the turnover growth has doubled in 9 years despite the challenging times, which are there in the last 4 or 5 years, and it is in line with the industry. And here, we had a view on the use of celebrities, which we note. And -- but we always match our requirements in terms of the marketing, and we do that market mapping of the celebrities and then, only we use. The next was from Mr. Kaushik Shahukar. He had many requests in addition to the appreciation. He had a request for helping the people through CSR, our activities. We note that with gratitude. The next was from Ms. Lily Pradhan. She asked for the CapEx line and the questions on global business plan. And all that, all I've answered. The next was from Ms. Indrani Chakraborty, had all the appreciation for the management, Company Secretarial department and Board, and she had a request whether we can reward speaker shareholders separately. We do not feel that, that is permitted by the law. The next was from Mr. Sudip Chakraborty. He had all the appreciation, and the same repetitive questions he had. Mr. Sunil Kumar Modak, he appreciated the products, and he said that -- he made a note that every second, 140 products of Emami are being sold across the globe. He was highly delighted to know that. He asked about the road map, which I already mentioned. CapEx plan. Mr. Dipayan Pradhan, he had a question on the usage of AI and ML in the business, artificial intelligence, machine learning languages. We use them appropriately wherever we feel that it has a usage for us in terms of our using them in the analytics, for the sales, for procurement or for many other things. Ms. Chandravati Gattani had many appreciation, a lot of appreciation for the photo and for the management. And she also appreciated the pet care products support, which we have done through an investment in a start-up business. Mr. Jaydip Bakshi had a question on marketing expenditure. We are spending almost 16.5% of turnover on the marketing expenditure, which has been done in the last year. And he also asked about the new products in the Ayurvedic sector. We have launched many new, relevant products in the Ayurvedic sector from time to time. Mr. Banerjee had asked on the growth plans, and that we have elaborated in Annual Report, and I also mentioned earlier. And lastly, Mr. Vinay Vishnu Bhide had a question as to when did we do brand valuation last. In fact, brand value gets reflected in the performance of the company and also in the market cap, which has improved or consistently with your support. We have not done any brand valuation in the foreseeable past, and we do not intend to do it for the future. There is no need as such, but it's -- the brand value is immense and it gets properly reflected through your confidence. So with this, these were all 21 shareholders and their queries. With this, I take opportunity to again thank all of you, all the shareholders, our respected directors and the Chairman, sir, for giving me an opportunity to interact with you. All the best.

Thank you, Mr. Bhansali. Members joining the meeting through videoconferencing facility who have not yet cast their vote by means of remote e-voting may work through e-voting facility provided during AGM until 15 minutes post conclusion of AGM. The members who have cast their vote by remote e-voting prior to the meeting shall not cast their vote once again. The Board of Directors has appointed Mr. Raj Kumar Banthia, Practicing Company Secretary from M/s MKB & Associates Company Secretaries, Kolkata as scrutinizer for the e-voting process of the meeting. Based on the report of the scrutinizer, the combined results of remote e-voting and the e-votings done at the meeting today will be announced and displayed on the website of the company, and will also be submitted to the stock exchanges within 2 working days of the conclusion of the meeting as per the requirements under the SEBI listing regulations. I thank all the members for attending and cooperating in conducting the meeting through video conference or other audiovisual means. I also thank all the directors and members of the management team who have joined the meeting today. I wish everyone the best of health and safety in the year ahead. I now conclude the meeting. Thank you.