United Spirits Limited (UNITDSPR) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the United Spirits Limited First Quarter Financial Year 2027 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Shweta Arora, Head of Investor Relations at United Spirits Limited. Thank you, and over to you, ma'am.

Thank you, Bhavin. Hello, everyone. Good afternoon, and welcome to United Spirits Limited First Quarter Fiscal 2027 Earnings call. Before proceeding with today's call, I would like to remind the listeners that during the call, there may be some forward-looking statements. These statements are based on our views and assumptions at this point of time. However, this is not a guarantee of our future performance. And the results may materially differ from those expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. I request all of you to please refer to our financial and press release posted yesterday, both are available on stock exchange and company's website under the Investors section. There was some technical issue because of which press release is still not available on BSE. The teams are in touch with the stock exchange, and we regret the inconvenience caused. Moving on, today on the call, we have to Mr. Praveen Someshwar, Managing Director and CEO, who is joined by Mr. Pradeep Jain, Executive Director and CFO. Praveen and Pradeep will take you through the financial and business performance for the quarter followed by the Q&A session. Thank you, and over to you, Praveen.

Thanks, Shweta, and very good afternoon to everyone. Thanks for joining us today. And as always, it's wonderful to speak to all of you. What better way to begin today's call than by calling out the implementation of the U.K. FDA last week. It was a historic moment when the agreement was signed a year ago, and it's equally gratifying to see it come into force today. This is an exciting moment for us, and we look forward to executing our playbook and capturing the opportunities ahead. More importantly, it's a win for our consumers as access to scotch will improve significantly and the same will encourage further premiumization. Overall, we, as a company, remain committed to inclusive premiumization, and we're focused on growing scotch penetration and accessibility as the captain of the industry. There are several larger milestones in this quarter that are equally worth celebrating, if not more. Delighted to share that our Royal Challenge trademark has crossed 10 million cases on the trailing 12-month basis. This is a significant milestone for us, especially because we are the challenger brand in that segment. Taking it from one challenger brand to another. I'm further delighted to share that Signature, our Upper Prestige trademark has joined the INR 1,000 crore club on a trailing 12-month basis. With this milestone, Signature joins McDowell's No.1, Royal Challenge and Johnnie Walker, taking the total number of our INR 1,000 crore plus NSV trademarks to 4. We remain confident of sustaining the growth momentum on both these trademarks and further reinforcing the virtuous cycle of growth. And talking of milestones, last but not the least, Smirnoff, a trademark that has almost touched INR 250 crores NSV in Q1 of fiscal '26-'27. To put that into perspective, Smirnoff delivered approximately INR 350 crores NSV in fiscal '25, '26. Full year INR 350 crores and think about it, INR 250 crores in Q1 '26, '27. This growth underscores the scale and momentum of the brand, driven by our local flavor innovation around Minty Jamun and Mango Mirchi. The Minty Jamun innovation has effectively created a category of its own, inspiring launches, not just in the alcobev category, but in adjacent categories as well. Thanks to Smirnoff. The category in India is under a Jamun seizure, as I call it. Today, you can see Jamun-flavored spirits, Jamon-based cocktails gaining popularity across the market, validating the consumer appeal of this previously untapped flavor opportunity. What is even more encouraging is that the success of this innovation has created a positive halo on the core variant also, contributing further to the trademarks equity. We assure you that this is just the beginning. And we are working in the background to bring many more such exciting propositions from our innovation hub, the good craft company. Coming to our quarterly performance now. I'm sure you've all looked at our releases. So to avoid repetition, I would just touch upon a broader India growth story beyond the now often discussed policy headwind in Maharashtra. We've closed a strong quarter, delivering solid double-digit growth in our P&A above portfolio. Low teens P&A growth in rest of India offset by the Maharashtra impact. Allow me to unpack the performance numbers update. During the quarter against the reported P&A volume shrinkage of 1.3%. If we exclude Maharashtra, our P&A volume has grown by 6.4%. On NSV growth based on the same construct against the reported P&A growth of 10.1%, eliminating Maharashtra, we have grown 14.8%. It is in this context that we say we have delivered a solid quarter. Therefore, to conclude the headline performance. We strongly believe that our historically stated double-digit growth construct with 5% to 6% P&A volume growth and 6% to 7% price mix stands, and we are excited about our P&A double-digit growth aspirations. Of course, PJ will provide more color on the other key financial metrics in his comments. Now turning to key updates on our trademarks. As we speak, McDowell's renovated bundle has been launched in UP, Rajasthan and Haryana. The initial response on trials has been encouraging with consumers appreciating both the quality of the product and the overall bundle. Rajasthan and Haryana were launched just about a couple of weeks back, overall, it's very early days to draw any concrete conclusions until we have seen some meaningful data on repeat purchases over the next few months in different markets. We aim to roll out the new bundle to roughly 85% of the salient markets before the festive season kicks in. Coming to Mid Prestige. RC continued to strengthen recruitment and outpaced segment category growth, led by the strong performance of the One 80 ml pocket pack. During the ticket season, and that is somewhere between March and early June, the brand amplified salience through a high-impact IPL-led media campaign, delivering significant reach across digital TV ad print platforms. This momentum was further reinforced through a nationwide retail activation, covering roughly 8,000 outlets across 70% of our salient markets, leveraging cricket and esports-led consumer engagement. Turning to upper Prestige, which is Signature. Continues to enjoy strong consumer affinity and brand equity in the upper Prestige segment. The brand strengthened its purpose-led positioning through the route for mangroves initiative, engaging over 16,000 consumers across 3 flagship concerts while also scaling visibility through the launch of a sustainability-led marquee store in Hyderabad and expanding the Green Escapes program to over 6,000 stores. Black & White launched its new equity campaign anchored by a powerful FIFA World Cup '26 association, delivering an average quarterly reach of 78 million consumers. To drive deeper market penetration, we expanded our out-of-home presence across Tier 2 cities and continue to invest behind visibility. Brand has been profoundly competitively in the segment and is now the #1 scotch and international whiskey in India by volume. Also, India is the largest Diageo market for this trademark globally. During the IPL season, Johnnie Walker launched its equity film generating significant impressions and reaching more than 150 million consumers. This was complemented by the exclusive whiskey experiments events held on World Whiskey day, enhancing consumer engagement and brand affinity. Smirnoff strengthened its cultural relevance through standout activations across with Puma and the Super Kik and the Palermo Jamun launch and the Park Street takeover in Calcutta driving very strong consumer engagement. Coming to a brief update on RC SPL transaction. The Competition Commission of India, as you must have heard, has approved the transaction with the remaining statutory clearances clearly in process. Let me also briefly touch upon the organizational effectiveness initiatives we undertook this quarter. While this is an annual exercise. This year's exercise was a little deeper and therefore, more transformative, if I may say so, an impact. Over my last 15 months in the role, I've seen a clear opportunity to simplify our structure by reducing layers, leverage automation more effectively and thereby driving greater agility. The restructuring and the reorganizing we did during the quarter reflects that sentiment and is designed to help us execute faster, operate more efficiently, and strengthen that for our competitive edge. As I bring my remarks to a close, let me touch upon the broader macro and industry dynamics and how we look at navigating those. We are witnessing healthy demand momentum, particularly at the premium end of the market. At the same time, inflationary pressures, including those arising from the West Asia situation, and the AI-driven employment uncertainty are impacting sentiments and pockets of certain consumer segments. In this environment, our focus remains on delivering the right value proposition through a well-calibrated price pack architecture in Prestige and above segment. While premium monetization remains up for long-term trend in India, we remain sensitive to the value-conscious consumer in India, and we'll keep calibrating our offerings across the portfolio with a value writing lens. In a market as diverse as India, it is important to navigate the dichotomy between premiumization and value-seeking behavior. We believe these trends are not mutually exclusive. Our approach is what we would like to call inclusive premiumization, enabling consumers to access better experiences and trade within their means through the right pack price of offerings. Looking ahead, while the external environment continues to evolve, our strategy remains clear and consistent, a consumer-first mindset, continuously evolving portfolio and disciplined execution with agility. With this, I hand over to PJ for a quick update on the financial performance for the quarter. PJ, I know I'm a lot more optimistic but I'm sure you'll give them a bite of realism also.

Yes. Thanks, Praveen, and good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining us today on the first quarter of fiscal '27 earnings call. Always a delight to connect with this cohort in this forum, right? As always, we'll request you to please refer to the financial and press release, releases posted last evening. It is noteworthy that the consolidated numbers do not include Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited anymore. This is consequent to the announcement dated March 24, 2026. It is now being reflected as discontinued operations, subject to BCCI and other regulatory approvals required to complete the transaction. Prior year numbers have also been restated accordingly. As Praveen mentioned earlier, we have delivered an overall strong quarter with double-digit P&A growth, and this is after absorbing the adverse Maharashtra impact. As mentioned last quarter as well, we do not see any sequential deterioration due to Maharashtra, while we still must cycle the base for next couple of quarters. Praveen has also deconstructed the quarter growth construct on the top line, so we'll not be repeating that. Suffice to say that the momentum in rest of India remains strong and building up for the next few quarters. Let me also briefly touch upon the popular segment. While it continues to be a small part of our business, accounting for less than 10% of revenues, it is important to provide some context for the quarter. The segment faced 2 policy-related impacts during the period, the continuation of the Maharashtra adverse impact and the changes in the Karnataka policy that came into play during the quarter. I would want the audience to appreciate that the Karnataka policy impact overall is very favorable to our Prestige and above portfolio and some part of that tailwind is also nested in the quarter P&A performance. I also want to reemphasize that the adverse volume impact in Maharashtra mathematically is accretive on the national price mix. Therefore, the reported overall price mix stands at 9.4% for the quarter and for Prestige and above, at 11.4%. But when we exclude Maharashtra from the equation, overall price mix normalizes to 5.4% and P&A comes down to 8.4%, which is what should be considered for the way forward, especially once we start lapping Maharashtra after a couple of quarters. On the cost side, as highlighted in the last quarterly call, this quarter absorbed the impact of the West Asia crisis, roughly a range of about INR 30 crores. Impact was across the lines of glass, energy, packaging and logistics. ENA has largely been stable. The redeeming thing is that crude has normalized from the north of 100 levels and playing around between 80 and 90. Having said that, the situation does remain fairly dynamic on that front, right? So therefore, we'll have to wait and watch in terms of when all this will normalize over the next 3 to 4 months. The marketing reinvestment rate during the quarter was at 11.3% of net sales. While this may appear high for the quarter, but I would request all of you to see this in the context of a renovation, innovation heavy calendar and an IPL, FIFA World Cup quarter, which gives our brands an opportunity to build salience and top of mind with the consumer. In addition, the top end of the portfolio continues to perform well, and that also demands higher A&P as we have historically stated. So overall, I would say that A&P investment would remain in the range of 10.5% to 11% for the full fiscal. As a consequence of all the above, our EBITDA grew 4.1% for the quarter at INR 432 crores, and EBITDA margin was at 16%. Moving on to the other relevant line items. There is a dividend income of INR 150 crores from Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited, which is reflected in the other income. In addition, you will be able to see an exceptional charge of INR 81 crores for the quarter. Approximately INR 50 crores is on account of the restructuring measures, which Praveen alluded to earlier, and the large part of the balance pertains to the closure of a unit under the multiyear supply agility program, details of which were shared in our stock exchange disclosures last month. Reported profit after tax for the quarter was at INR 391 crores, a growth of 51%. All other relevant numbers and information is well contained in our press release. With this, we can now open the floor for Q&A. Thanks.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Abneesh Roy with Nuvama.

My first question is to PJ. I wanted to understand on IPL team sale, what approvals have come, what are pending? And what is the expected time line? Is there any change versus the initial around 6, 7 months time line? And second part of the question to PJ is what happens to the balance 90% stake to Nevola? Is there a game plan to eventually acquire the majority stake in this? That is my first question.

Yes. Abneesh, so I mean, very clearly, as you would have seen in the press, Competition Commission of India approval has already come in. And we are working along with the buying consortium with the BPCI, right? The BCCI approval is the core approval, and we expect that to come through in the next 60 to 90 days, right? So very much on track for that original 6- to 7-month time line for closing the transaction, right? So that's one. Your second question was, look, as we've always said, we keep taking these minority strategic position, right. In new consumer trends that we see emerging and with a set of entrepreneurs who -- start-up entrepreneurs who we believe are breakthrough, right? So that's the only way to look at it right now, right? And then over the next 3, 5, 7 years, if the businesses become big and scale up, et cetera. then we can take a position on the balance, right? So that's the response to your second question.

Sir, my second and last question is to Praveen. So it is on the 3 South Indian states. One is on Karnataka, great start for you and industry. I wanted to understand if government also gets a good benefit because if that happens, other states could see this as a template. It is a bold but a great reform. Second quick question on South is in Tamil Nadu with the new government focus on better honesty and better regulation. Would you expect that at some stage great reforms can happen there? Third quick question on South India. Telangana, there has been news flow on the price side. Any update on that?

That's very specific. Thanks, Abneesh. Overall, I think South is doing very strongly. Karnataka, as you rightly said, we've seen very healthy growth, especially with the new policy document. Yes, I think even whatever little I know about it, I know that it's a win-win proposition. The government is feeling good about how they are mopping up taxes appropriately, consumers are feeling good because they are starting to see their premium exciting brands now a little more rightfully affordable and rightfully priced. And we, as people who are servicing them are feeling good. So I think it's a win-win proposition. It's too early to say this is exactly the playbook. I think it's going to play out, and we'll see it over a few quarters, which will give us all comfort that, yes, this is the right. That's what I'd say. Tamil Nadu, early to say anything. I wouldn't speculate early signs are exciting, but that's a long way ahead. Telangana, I always hope for the best. Hopefully, industry and the policymakers will work together to do the right thing for the industry. But we are in a right way. So overall, South of India is looking good.

Our next question comes from the line of Arnab Mitra with Goldman Sachs.

My first question was, again, on the India U.K. trade deal now that the deal has come through in terms of time lines. How much time line do you think is there before we see an impact on growth and costs, which are the 2 elements where you probably have a benefit? And any change in the expectations of how you think the growth acceleration could be or the cost savings could be versus what you had shared last November deal initially was signed?

Yes. So Arnab, let me take that. So absolutely. As Praveen mentioned, the treaty is up and running in terms of on-ground reality now, effective a few days ago, right? And we have actually also cleared our first shipment at the concessional duty, so I did want to provide that comfort. Now bear in mind that that's a shipment. But obviously, there is a lot of inventory in the system already, right? Inventory at the corporations, inventory with the distributors, with the wholesaler have already duly cleared. So we expect that inventory to be in the range of anything between 60 to 70 days, right? So we believe the real benefit to the consumer and the reflection, right, in our statement will happen sometime around October, early October, right? So that's probably -- numbers are, by and large, pretty much in the same range, right? Yes, there is absolutely a benefit on the IMFL portfolio on the COGS, et cetera. But do bear in mind, as I have always cautioned all of you, right, there are some competing factors also. Look, Forex has depreciated by almost 12%, 13% over the last 8, 9 months, et cetera, right? There's always a little bit of force inflation that happens, et cetera, right? But those will kind of neutralize those benefits. But yes, net-net, it will be, it will be beneficial.

And those neutralization factors, if I may say so PJ got accentuated given the West Asia crisis. And therefore, overall this is what it is. Have I left some part of your question.

No, no, I understood. So Citron benefits are similar, but obviously, the starting point can be different because of the utilizing factors that have come in now is what I understand, right?

Yes.

Got it. My second question was actually on the growth acceleration you've seen this quarter, ex MH, Maharashtra. Would you attribute it largely to the acceleration in Smirnoff is very, very impressive. And of course, there's a McDowell's relaunch, it seems in very early stages. Would Smirnoff be a major driver here or you've seen across the board a pickup? And any specific reasons because it looks like quite a significant improvement in growth compared to last quarter.

Okay. So look at our portfolio, no. Overall, I think we've been consistently seeing growth mid Prestige and above, okay, consistently over the last few quarters. yes, Smirnoff is picking up. And therefore, that's beefing up that growth algorithm, if I may say so. Okay. What we need to do to get our overall portfolio into play is get our play in McDowell's and the growth in McDowell's. We've just gone in for renovation. We've gone in for renovation. The whole bundle is now looking excitingly different and excitingly new and our consumer initial response has been very exciting. But it will take a few months as it comes -- settles into these markets and a whole lot of consumer sampling will happen, which hopefully will build on to a virtuous cycle of growth in that space. If you get that at, I genuinely believe the acceleration will be very, very healthy. Otherwise, we are very well positioned as we speak to deliver our guidance on a consistent basis.

Our next question comes from the line of Percy Panthaki with IIFL Capital Services.

My first question is on the gross margins going ahead. So we have, as you mentioned earlier, 2 competing factors, which is one is the COGS benefit from the U.K. FDA or any other cost-saving programs that you might be running on packaging material and raw material. On the other hand, we have this inflation in crude, which will affect both glass as well as PET prices. So under a scenario where crude sort of remaining at around 95 to 100 to the dollar. Do you think that you would be able to -- I mean, these 2 competing forces will mollify and you will be able to maintain the gross margins on a Y-o-Y basis? Or do you think that a 95 to 100 crude, we see a gross margin compression on a Y-o-Y basis for FY '27 as a whole?

Yes. So Percy, look, I mean, if you're saying that in the full year, crude will be in the 95, 100 range, we are going to be then lapping a crude of 65, 70 in the base, right? So obviously, there will be inflation, but again, our effort will be to get our multiple interventions into play. There is a little bit of multiyear supply agility program still in the play. Our ongoing continuous productivity is also into play. So we will get everything into play, right, and our premiumization mix into the play to ensure that as an overall blended business, we continue to aspire to grow our profit a little ahead of our revenue growth, right? That's what would be our intent in terms of the overall P&L, right? Gross margin could move a little bit here and there depending on exactly some of the factors that you...

Just to press a little bit on this point, I mean, can you take me through the math here? See, about 25% to 30% of your sales would be packaging material affected by crude in one way or the other. And at the current crude prices, the inflation in packaging material cost could be anywhere between 30% to 50%. So if I do the math, the inflation actually works out, I mean, 0.25% into 0.4%, it works out to about 10% of your sales, which is a really huge number. And we can't really get this quantum of price increases in 1 year. So I can -- I mean, I know that, first of all, you need to assign a probability to this event it says that crude maintains at such a high level throughout the year, which might not be a very large probability. But in event -- but in case that event does pan out, do you think that the margins can be really disastrous in that event?

But Percy, that's a bit of an alarm picture that we are thinking on. I don't think we should go on those lines, right? First of all, the numbers are not as high as you are calling out, right? Then if you look at the other big item in our portfolio, which is neutral alcohol spirit that is fairly stable right now. In fact, it's been deflationary for the last 4 quarters, right? And then the FTA benefits, our continuous productivity machinery, et cetera. So we believe that we should be able to neutralize, right? Now if obviously, remains at 110, 120 throughout and numbers hit the roof, but then we will have some kind of mitigation plan at that point of time, right? And we will come proactively to you and talk about it, right?

Percy, just to add to what PJ said, that's the power of the portfolio.

That's the power of the portfolio, right? So I won't worry too much. State governments will become more amenable, hopefully to provide some pricing, right, though with a lag as we have always maintained. So I won't worry too much on that right now at this point of time.

Got it. Understood. Second question on understanding gross margins for this quarter. there is a one-off in the -- if I adjust the base for that one-off, your raw material cost as a percentage of sales is about 54.5%. And in this quarter, you mentioned that the cost inflation impact is about INR 30 crores. So if I basically remove that INR 30 crore cost inflation, then your gross margin -- sorry, your COG comes to 52.8% in this quarter. So on a Y-o-Y, there is an expansion of 170 basis points and this is attributable to the mix -- now my question here is that if your overall kilo isn't 170 bps expansion rather small for such a big realization? Just to make it clear, I'm looking at this 170 basis points after removing all other effects apart from what could be attributable to the mix. And of course, there would be any other cost-saving initiatives, et cetera, which I won't be able to remove. But I've removed the cost inflation impact this quarter and I've removed the one-off in the base last quarter, and that's how I'm getting 170 basis...

Yes. So Percy, maybe I'm not following the math, right? But I think the larger point is that as we get the mix benefit, the COGS also goes up, right? So as the higher end of the portfolio sells, the COGS is also much higher, right? So therefore, what you see as a benefit is the net benefit, which is a combination of the entire mix benefit, right? So -- but your overall numbers seem to be correct, right, which is, yes, on an underlying basis, we have expanded gross margin in exactly the range that you've spoken of, right? I didn't get the rest of the math, and maybe we could take that separately offline.

Our next question is from the line of Harit Kapoor with Investec.

Yes, sure. So just on the India U.K. FT bit, just another follow-up here. So we've spoken about the benefit on the productivity and the margins as well as on the international portfolio being at probably at lower price point. If you could just kind of highlight as to what incremental opportunities from a white space, new product launch, et cetera, that this event kind of brings upon us? And how do we kind of -- what is our kind of thought process on that from the next, say, 6 to 12 months perspective? What more can we do in this opportunity that has been presented to us? That's my first question.

So Harit, thanks for the question. First, absolutely, I think you will -- and when I say scotch will become more accessible with FDA, you will see a whole lot of excitement around it. It will take some time to play out, but you will see. We being the industry captain, you'll see us play out over the next few months, a few things, and you'll get a feel of how that will improve accessibility of scotch. -- across to our consumers. But as I would say, wait and watch. Over the next couple of quarters, this is going to open up new space and new excitement.

Yes. Too early to call out anything.

Equally, I would assume as we come through this, there will be a host of other competitors coming into the fight. And my view on this is when you see competitive activity, it unlocks further growth. So I think you'll see a virtuous cycle play out, but too early to say the next few quarters will be exciting.

And the October call will be a good time to discuss some of these things...

And the second question was on brand investments. So if you see the last 2 years, we've seen continued step-up and probably one of the reasons why P&A has also growth have been strong is that your brand investments have continued to step up. While it may be too early in the year to ask, but is there a kind of range that now we are looking at for brand investments? Last year was a 10%, 10.5%, you were at the upper end almost of that range. What should we kind of assume from a full year basis now? What range are we kind of looking at now given that all these opportunities exist in terms of investing as well as the McDowell No.1 launch?

Yes. So Harit, I called that in my opening comments, and I think I've been saying that for the last couple of quarters now. The range should be seen as 10.5% to 11% for the full fiscal year F '27, right? This is the broad range that we would want to follow, obviously, subject to a little bit opportunistic here and there that might. But broadly, the range that you -- that we'll guide is 10.5% to 11%.

And just a small additional question here was that Pepa, you did mention that October is the right time to kind of talk about this. Would October be also the right time to -- for you to get a fair assessment of how McDowell #1 has landed given that it will be done in 85% of the country?

Yes. So, what I would say is early days. Even then, it because some of those markets would have come in September. But overall, it will give us a good feel of where McDonald's is and therefore, good time to have.

No, absolutely. Of the early market launches, we will have a better sense than what we have today.

Our next question comes from the line of Jeetu Panjabi with EM Investco Capital Services -- sorry, Capital Advisors Private Limited.

I have one pointed question. I joined a little late, so I'm not sure if I missed it. But is there a clarity on when the RCB transaction closes and when we could expect -- expect the margin in our books in United States?

Yes. So Jeetu, as we've always said, we made the announcement in the last week of March and 6 to 7 months is what we have always said. Like we again said earlier in the call, the Competition Commission of India approval has already been received. You would have read that in the press. And right now, we are working with the buyers and the consortium on the approval from BCCI, right? BCCI is taking a little bit of time because first, they were busy with the tournament and then 2 deals have happened. So they are going through that diligence process, right? But yes, we expect it to complete by September, October.

Our next question comes from the line of Aditya Soman with CLSA.

So 2 questions. Firstly, when you talk about this 10.5% to 11% sort of marketing spend, can I get a sense of where this is getting spent? So would it be largely sort of digital? Or is it a point of sale? Or are we seeing any shift in any of these channels? And second, just a follow-up on the one before. So we've got this sort of INR 150 crore dividend from RCB. I'm assuming this will be the last one, right? Or would we still get some sort of a pro rata dividend for FY '27 as well given that the transaction closes halfway through the year?

Yes. So Aditya, let me take your second question first, right? So yes, I mean we would also want to believe this is the last one. Hopefully, we'll close the transaction successfully, right? So this will pretty much be the last one in terms of dividend, right? So that's one. On your first one, which is -- look, obviously, that it's -- as I said earlier also, I don't want to give any exact breakdowns, et cetera. But clearly, if you compare the A&P mix of this category versus that of a normal CPG category, I guess, digital is slightly higher in quotient versus the traditional TV media, et cetera. So that is one. And a large part of it is the point of sale point of purchase, salience is also significantly higher than the rest of the CPG, right? So those would be my 2 or 3 call out, Praveen, in case you have to add anything to that.

Absolutely. Consistent to that, I think it's a 360 spend to reach the consumers. You reach out at the point of sale and that activation, I assume in this category -- not assume. I'm sure in this category is ahead of other categories. Our overall communication on digital is a little more than what the traditional FMCGs would do in TV. But the mix is pretty much consistent overall.

Understand. And then, for example, when we saw this sort of Black & White activation during the World Cup, this would now largely be classified as digital or still it's a mix of digital and TV?

It's a mix of digital and TV. So you're so right. You happen to see TV, I assume, but it is very much digital also in a big way. I hope you like the campaign, Aditya.

Yes, it was good.

The next question is from Jay Doshi with Kotat.

Couple of questions. One is, if you could elaborate what is the extent of end consumer price reduction you expect in Diageo portfolio, BII portfolio post U.K. FDA implementation, given that rupee has depreciated quite a bit in the last few months. And besides that, what else gives you confidence that this is a game changer in terms of driving premiumization, if pricing change is not likely to be meaningful. So that's my first question, and I'll wait for the answer and then ask the next.

Yes. So Jay, let me take the price reduction on a blended basis, right, on the BIO portfolio would be in the range of 7% to 9%, right? So yes, I mean, that is consistent. I don't think that number will change on a national weighted average basis, some states, it could be a little higher, some states...

Currency depreciation doesn't affect that number, which was the same even...

Absolutely. It doesn't. It doesn't. It doesn't at this point of time. It doesn't right. Over a period of time, we'll have to see how it goes, right? But yes, as of now, it doesn't. Okay. And what was your second question? I've forgotten...

Is there anything else that your optimism or your tone was quite exciting. So are you expecting to launch many new products which you couldn't launch for some other reasons earlier post U.K. FDA implementation and that gives you a lot of confidence.