The Chatter: Risks, Rewards, and Revelations

Edition #3

May 06, 2025

Welcome to the third edition of The Chatter — a newsletter where we dig through what India’s biggest companies are saying and bring you the most interesting bits of insight, whether about the business, its sector, or the wider economy. We read every major Indian earnings call and listen to the interviews so you don’t have to.

In this edition, we have covered the following companies:

Banking and Financial Services

Kotak Mahindra Bank
SBI
IDFC First Bank
CAMS

Textiles

Sportking India

Real Estate

Godrej Property

Consumer Appliances & Retail

Avenue Supermarts (Dmart)
R R Kabel

Food & Beverage

Graviss Foods (Baskin Robbins)
CCL Products
Godrej Agrovet (including Dairy business)

Hospitality & Hotels

Indian Hotels Company

Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals

Tatva Chintan Pharma Chem
OneSource Specialty Pharma

Cement & Construction Materials

UltraTech Cement

Capital Goods & Engineering

Hind Rectifiers Limited

Global

Coca Cola

Kotak Mahindra Bank

Addresses the significant regulatory overhang; progress on remediation and lifting the embargo is critical for future growth and sentiment.

“However, towards the end of the financial year, we had the RBI actions communicated to us on April 24, 2024. The directions currently limit us from onboarding new customers through our online and mobile banking channels and issuing fresh credit cards... [KEY REMARK] We are committed to working closely with the regulator to address the concerns. We have taken concrete steps and started the review and remediation process. We have brought in external expertise and ramped up internal teams to accelerate the path to closure... Our board is overseeing this very closely. We are confident that we'll emerge stronger
We invested time and resources to not only fix the underlying technology issues but also redefine our go-to-market digital strategies. This was reflected in the launch of our new mobile banking and 811 apps”
- Ashok Vaswani, MD & CEO

Addresses concerns around MFI portfolio risk by highlighting proactive de-risking, though elevated credit costs are expected short-term.

“Thirdly, the microfinance industry has seen significant credit strains. Something we had highlighted in Q1 of FY24. We have proactively managed the business to bring down the retail microfinance book by 33% year-on-year, which now constitutes only 1.6% of total net advances. Having said that, we expect credit costs to stay at elevated levels for the next two quarters.”
- Ashok Vaswani, MD & CEO

Shows a conscious effort (and regulatory impact) leading to a reduction in the share of higher-risk unsecured loans, impacting growth mix and risk profile.

“[Discussing RBI action impact] This resulted in the share of unsecured loans to our total net advances declining from 11.8% in FY24 to 10.5% in FY25. [Note: Year references seem off, likely meant Q4 FY23 vs Q4 FY24 or similar period]. The acquisition of the Standard Chartered personal loan portfolio partly helped us in holding up this share. Despite the embargo distraction, we stayed true to our strategy... we have taken concrete steps... [Focus is on the decline drivers]. The decline reflects both proactive tightening on our part and the impact of the embargo.”
- Ashok Vaswani, MD & CEO

Indicates solid loan growth momentum in the core banking business, aligned with the bank's stated growth philosophy relative to GDP.

“In the banking business, average advances grew by 18% year-on-year in FY24, 13% on an end-of-period basis. This is very much in line with our prudent philosophy to grow the book at about one and a half times to two times nominal GDP growth. Total average deposits grew by 16% in full FY24, 11% on an EOP basis.”
- Ashok Vaswani, MD & CEO

SBI

Cost-of-capital shift—potential ₹25,000 Crore capital raise could influence dilution and equity valuation but signals ambitious growth strategy

"Our board approved raising equity capital up to ₹25,000 crore. The enabling resolution is valid for the next 12 months, allowing us to raise capital based on evolving business needs and market conditions. While our current capital adequacy at 14.25% is sufficient for our growth ambitions, this equity buffer ensures that we can comfortably support anticipated loan growth, absorb any unforeseen economic shocks, and comfortably fund our strategic initiatives going forward."
- Dinesh Khara, Chairman

Reduced corporate credit growth directly lowers earnings visibility.

“We initially targeted around 14% overall credit growth for FY25. While most segments performed well, corporate lending saw unexpected large-scale prepayments from central public-sector undertakings (PSUs). These PSUs utilized recent equity infusion from the government to deleverage substantially, which significantly impacted our corporate credit book. Consequently, despite having a robust pipeline of around ₹3.4 lakh crore, our corporate credit growth for the year was negatively affected, prompting a revision downward of our overall credit growth expectations to the range of 12-13%."
- Dinesh Khara, Chairman

Continued pressure on margins from policy rate reductions may affect near-term profitability. Increased reliance on costlier term deposits also signals sustained margin pressures.

"With repo-linked loans constituting about 29% of our total portfolio, the recent RBI repo rate cuts have introduced moderate pressure on our net interest margins (NIM). We have proactively adjusted our deposit and loan pricing strategy to mitigate this impact, and while we are targeting to maintain our NIM broadly around the 3% mark, investors should anticipate quarterly fluctuations as rate adjustments flow through the balance sheet."
"Our CASA ratio has dipped below 40%, driven by significantly stronger growth in term deposits (11.48%) compared to CASA deposits (6.34%). This shift reflects changing customer preferences and rising competition for retail deposits. It has raised our cost of funds marginally, prompting us to intensify our efforts to recalibrate deposit strategies, particularly by enhancing our digital and customer outreach capabilities."
- Dinesh Khara, Chairman

Non-recurring, regulatory-driven ₹3,300 crore one-time treasury gains from RBI regulatory change significantly boosts reported quarterly profits.

"Following RBI’s recent circular allowing banks to book valuation gains on security receipts (SRs) backed by government guarantees, we booked substantial treasury gains of approximately ₹3,300 crore this quarter. Of this amount, about ₹2,800 crore directly boosted our net profit after tax adjustments, significantly enhancing our treasury income and profitability for Q4 FY25."
- Dinesh Khara, Chairman

Increased international exposure diversifies earnings sources and enhances overall loan growth.

"In terms of our credit growth, the international segment has shown robust performance, with credit growth standing at 14.84%, surpassing domestic credit growth of 11.56%. This was primarily driven by external commercial borrowings (ECBs), as Indian corporates increasingly tapped overseas markets for funding needs. They are benefiting significantly from the attractive cost arbitrage available internationally compared to domestic borrowing rates. Given these favorable global market conditions and continued interest rate differentials, we expect this international growth momentum to sustain, further supporting overall credit expansion at the bank.
"We had a slight uptick in India-linked loans where, in the second half of last year, we have seen higher demand from Indian corporates for raising ECBs because of the cost arbitrage. Even on a fully hedged basis, their cost was slightly better - rated companies had a cost advantage compared to rupee lending. So this is very... I mean, we always look at the opportunity. Whenever there is a need, we can ramp up, or whenever we don't need, we can ramp down. That is the ability of the IBC portfolio."
- Ram Moan Rao Amara, MD for international banking, global markets, and technology

IDFC First Bank

Highlights rationale behind recent large-scale capital raise, positioning it as strategic for future growth and scale transformation, drawing parallels with ICICI Bank's historical trajectory.

"People ask why we raised such a large amount of capital, diluting by around 15%... If you see ICICI Bank’s early years, significant capital raises transformed its scale. Similarly, we're at an early stage as a converted DFI and must invest aggressively. We raised ₹21,000 crore in five years, but going forward, this will allow us to scale significantly. We now have ₹7,500 crore coming through CCPS, convertible into equity at ₹60 or above after trading there for 45 consecutive days, which substantially boosts our capital adequacy to around 18.2% and CET1 to 16%."
- V. Vaidyanathan, CEO & MD

Indicates disciplined expense management, highlighting a deliberate strategy to achieve operating leverage by maintaining lower operating expense growth relative to asset expansion, enhancing margins.

"We achieved significant moderation in operating expenses, with Q4 opex growth at just 12.2%, against our asset growth of about 20%. Looking forward, despite continuing loan and deposit growth of 20-22%, we are setting an aggressive internal target to hold opex growth at around 12-13% annually. This will drive meaningful operating leverage and margin improvement."
- V. Vaidyanathan, CEO & MD

Acknowledges significant contraction in the microfinance portfolio amid elevated credit costs, but signals optimism about improving asset quality indicators, suggesting peak stress may be easing and incremental slippages likely to moderate going forward.

"Our microfinance business has contracted by approximately 28% during FY25 due to continuing sector-wide challenges, with credit costs remaining high around 10.5%. Next year, we expect microfinance exposure to further shrink to 3-3.5% of total loans, as we remain extremely cautious given current market volatility."
- Sudhanshu Jain, CFO
"In microfinance, early delinquency (SMA-0) loans sharply declined from ₹275 crore in December to ₹152 crore in March, clearly indicating peak stress is behind us. Collection efficiency also rebounded strongly to 99.4%, closer to pre-stress levels, suggesting incremental slippages should materially reduce going forward."
- V. Vaidyanathan, CEO & Managing Director

Management attributes sharp dip in profits primarily to challenges in the microfinance segment, emphasizing that this setback is temporary rather than indicative of structural weaknesses, guiding for a clear recovery trajectory from FY26 onward.

“So instead of our PAT going up from Rs. 2,400 crores to Rs. 2,900 crores upwards, we did a downturn this year. I do agree. So it's down to about Rs. 1,500 crores. So I want to share with you that this dip is not that there's any fundamental issue with the bank or the model where it's going to go cutting down this way. No, no, no. The curve is not heading down this way for next 2 years, 3 years, nothing like that.
You think of this 2025 as a year that this has happened because of microfinance. You think of it that 2026, we will stage a smart recovery. And FY27, FY28, FY29, we should be back winning ways.”
- V. Vaidyanathan, CEO & MD

CAMS

Seven new AMC clients in 12 months represents unprecedented client acquisition momentum, including major names like Jio-BlackRock, potentially accelerating MF revenue growth and offsetting price reset impacts

“What is most gratifying, I think, is that in the history of CAMS—I've been here 9 years—I don't remember a single year where we took more than one AMC live in the fourth quarter. This quarter we took Angel One, which is a marquee name, and Unify, which is another marquee name, live during the quarter, taking the live AMC count now to 21. But I think the good news is that there are five more of these which are waiting to go live, which will happen within the next 6 months. And I think from investing in the future and creating a future perspective, there is no better news than this. So these five more comprise of course Jio BlackRock, Pantomath's choice and there's one more. So that's the count that we are expected to take live in the next 6 months, and again brings a lot of strength in the overall scale up of the business as we move ahead.”
- Anuj Kumar, MD & CEO

Management expects 7-8% full-year yield compression in FY26 but only 4-4.5% on exit rate basis (Q4FY26 vs Q4FY25), suggesting price stabilization is approaching

“Management has been transparent about price adjustments needed for a major client as contracts transition to fully digital models. "We have done almost like 50% of the impact is there in the base in this particular quarter. So if you move forward you will see probably similar impact in terms of quantum coming in the next quarter or two and post which everything will be there in the base. The whole guidance that we gave in terms of the annual drop in yields if you see in the current year, we ended the year with a [basis points] of around 2.33, which would have been a 6 to 7% drop compared to the last year, and then next year you will see a similar kind of a drop. We had guided that it'll be around 6 to 7% and I think this will be within this range for the next year. But if you take the quarterly [basis points] which is the last quarter [basis points] which is at 2.24 and if you see how it will play going forward I think the end of Q4 of next year the yield depletion could be close to 4%."
- Ramsaran, CFO

CAMS' insurance repository business has significantly accelerated, doubling annual policy additions from 20-25 lakh to 40-50 lakh over the past year. He reveals that while LIC has signed on, their integration will only begin in July

"In terms of insurance repository, you would have seen that till about a year back we used to increment volumes at the rate of about 20 to 25 lakh [2-2.5 million] policies a year. Last one year this increase has almost doubled to become 40 to 50 lakh [4-5 million] policies. LIC is still not integrated. While they've taken a decision and integration is happening, real policy flow will start only from the month of July. They have the option of saying that all new issuance which is upwards of two and a half cr [25 million] policies will come into demat. But what we increasingly believe is that most of the digital channel issuance will happen in demat. So which could be under 1 cr [10 million] new policies in a year."
- Anuj Kumar, MD & CEO

Sportking India

Provides near-term outlook for cotton prices (stable) and flags potential government policy change (import duty removal) which could positively impact costs and margins for spinners.

“About cotton prices, you know, there is... we feel the cotton prices are going to be stable where they are, like there won't be much movement maybe, you know, 2-3%, within a range of 5% for next until at least till October. And there is a lot of movement, the government is seriously considering to remove the import duty. If that happens, that will be another stimulus for the textile industry, spinning sector basically.”
- Munish Awasti, Chairman & MD

Management observes stronger-than-usual demand in the current quarter (post-April), suggesting resilience despite typical seasonal slowdowns, a positive signal for near-term volumes.

“So, you know, these generally historically, you know, the the market is a little quiet going after Holi, like in April, May, June. But surprisingly this year, we have seen much better demand than what it used to be. So demand continues to be pretty good right now.”
- Munish Awasti, Chairman & MD

Highlights the significant role of government intervention (CCI holding MSP stock) in the cotton market, influencing prices and supply dynamics, a key factor for input costs.

“Cotton prices have remained range bound with less volatility. The Cotton Corporation of India continues to hold a very significant stock of cotton driven by its MSP related action and has procured close to 100 lakh bales of cotton in the current cotton season. Cotton yarn spreads continue to be influenced by encouraging demand and has marginally improved over the previous quarter. Softer input cost due to staggered schedule of raw material procurement has enabled margin expansion which drove the overall out performance in the current quarter.”
- Munish Awasti, Chairman & MD

Management highlights potential free trade agreements with key Western markets as a major positive catalyst for the Indian textile industry and Sportking's future growth.

“Overall, we are pleased with our business performance for FY25 as we delivered robust gross based growth. We are excited about the future as the impending trade deals with USA, Europe and the UK can be a watershed moment for textile industry. And they all look to be pretty imminent in nature. We at Sportking are ready for our next growth cycle and are exploring various options in front of us.”
“Exports have been a source of strength in yet another quarter, we achieved the highest ever exports revenue for the full financial year during this fiscal. While the full effect of tariffs remain an uncertainty, going by the current structure, Indian textile sectors have emerged as marginal favorites and better placed compared to some of the most prominent Asian textile giants.”
- Munish Awasti, Chairman & MD

Provides clarity that the US ban on Xinjiang cotton primarily affects China's domestic usage patterns rather than directly flooding export markets, suggesting a more nuanced impact on Indian competitiveness.

“So first of all, it's not premium cotton, it's the similar cotton as we produce in India. There's nothing premium about that cotton that, you know, the product made out of that cotton can be made by the Indian cotton also. That point is that. And the second is, you know, China, the country consumes about 9 million tons of cotton every year. And total production of China is 6.4.
And so what they generally do is to export to US and other countries where Xinjiang is banned, they don't use that cotton, they use the cotton they import or the yarn they import. And China is definitely, of course, one of the biggest consumer of apparel and home textiles for the domestic consumption. So most of their Xinjiang cotton is used for their own domestic consumption.”
- Munish Awasti, Chairman & MD

Godrej Properties

Provides strong booking value guidance for FY26, indicating management's confidence in sustained growth momentum, driven by a large launch pipeline. Sets high market expectations.

“This combined with the equity capital of ₹6,000 crore we raised through a QIP in December 2024 will enable us to continue to invest for growth. In FY 26, we plan to grow residential bookings to over ₹32,500 crore, a 20% growth over our FY 25 actuals, through the launch of over ₹40,000 crore of inventory combined with strong sustenance sales. This combined with strong project deliveries should allow us to maintain rapid growth in operating cash flows as well. With a robust launch pipeline, strong balance sheet and sectorial tailwinds, we are confident of continuing the momentum in FY 26”
“It was also a strong year for business development. We added 14 new projects with an estimated saleable area of approximately 19 million square feet and expected booking value of ₹26,450 crore. This includes two new projects with an expected booking value of ₹3,000 crore added in the fourth quarter. GPL has achieved 132% of its annual guidance for business development in FY25.”
- Pirojsha Godrej, Executive Chairperson

Outlines capital allocation priorities, emphasizing reinvestment for growth backed by a strong balance sheet, rather than prioritizing dividends/buybacks currently. Signals openness to M&A.

“Yeah, I think the first principle is that we want to maintain a fortress balance sheet. I think it is important in this sector, it gives you the ability to withstand any downturns that may occur. It also gives you the ability to take advantage of opportunities that may arise during those downturns. [KEY REMARK] Now, beyond that, our focus is clearly on growth. We think the opportunity for growth remains immense... We think investing that capital back into the business offers shareholders considerably higher potential returns than large buybacks or dividends at this stage. That could of course change in the future, but for now, the focus is very clearly on growth. M&A is definitely an opportunity.”
- Pirojsha Godrej, Executive Chairperson

Explains the key factors behind GPL's market share gains and volume outperformance, highlighting brand, execution, and industry consolidation as primary drivers.

“Yeah, so, I think there is no one specific reason. I think it's a combination of factors starting from, you know, the brand trust that Godrej Properties enjoys, our execution track record, the quality of product, and I think very importantly, the kind of diverse offerings that we have across various segments and various geographies... And I think the consolidation trend has also helped players like us who have, you know, a demonstrated track record, who have quality products... So I think it's a combination of all these factors... customer is also looking for predictability, customer is looking for quality.”
- Pirojsha Godrej, Executive Chairperson

Provides an outlook on a key cost component, suggesting stability in construction costs currently, which supports margin visibility for ongoing and upcoming projects.

“So, you know, the construction cost largely depends upon the underlying commodity prices. And of course, as Pirojsha was mentioning, you know, the tariffs etc. could have an impact. But largely, if you see the commodity price cycle, it's been quite benign in the last, you know, few quarters. And our anticipation is that largely it should remain stable going forward as well. Of course, you know, there could be ups and downs, but we don't see any major changes happening in the near term.
- Gaurav Pandey, MD and CEO

Graviss Foods (Baskin Robbins)

Reports underwhelming growth despite favorable weather.

As quoted in businessline:

“Courtesy the early onset of summer and the intense heat build-up, expectations of the industry were high from the peak summer months. Against these expectations, even though our business delivered a modest over 20 per cent growth, we find it underwhelming.”
- Mohit Khattar, CEO

Highlighting an intense shift of consumer buying patterns towards quick-commerce platforms, intensifying competition and pressuring industry margins.

As quoted in businessline:

“We are still understanding the nuances but it does seem that the industry is witnessing a major churn with customers moving especially from food delivery based aggregators and even offline buying to quick commerce platforms. The competition is a lot more intense on these platforms and that may have been a reason for the modest growth numbers,”
- Mohit Khattar, CEO

Avenue Supermarts (Dmart)

Highlights multiple pressures squeezing margins this quarter, including heightened competitive intensity in FMCG, rising labor costs due to labor shortages, and increased investments in store openings and customer experience improvements.

“Three things have happened during this quarter – (I) increased competitive intensity in the FMCG space has impacted our gross margins; (II) surge in wages of entry level positions due to demand / supply mismatch of skilled workforce; and (III) continued investments in improving our service levels with respect to faster turnarounds on availability, checkouts and future store openings. We also had a larger number of store openings during this quarter.”

- Mr. Neville Noronha, CEO & MD

Indian Hotels Company

Strong demand growth continues to outpace new hotel supply, driving industry-leading RevPAR growth

“The hospitality cycle remains firmly in an up-swing. Industry-wide in FY-25, room-nights sold grew about 6 percent while available supply increased ‘under 3 percent’. That gap matters: demand keeps outrunning new rooms, which is why RevPAR at IHCL rose 12 percent for the full year and 16 percent in Q4, letting us hold a 73 percent premium over the all-India average. We don’t see the structural drivers—rising incomes, new leisure destinations, evolving traveller behaviour—reversing any time soon.”
- Punit Chhatwal, MD & CEO

Selective approach to new hotel expansions, focusing only on asset-light or strategic projects offering high returns

“Pure green-field—buying land, securing approvals, building from scratch—still does not clear our IRR hurdle in most metros. Where it works is when land comes on a long lease at favourable terms or when it leverages state-driven tourism hubs like Ekta Nagar (Gujarat); there we expect pay-back in five-to-seven years, possibly four. We will continue to chase such targeted opportunities while keeping large-city development asset-light.”
- Punit Chhatwal, MD & CEO

Increased willingness of Indian consumers to pay premium prices boosts IHCL’s profitability

“Indian consumers have become far more willing to pay for premium experiences; we now estimate ‘well north of a million’ people who will spend materially on hotels and restaurants. That lets us push rate-led RevPAR—flow-through on rate increases can be 80-90 percent—while occupancies hold, even though booking windows have shrunk to days rather than weeks outside peak holidays. It’s a structural shift we did not see pre-Covid.”
- Punit Chhatwal, MD & CEO

Leisure tourism recovery lagging; IHCL invests actively to accelerate broader foreign tourist arrivals

“Technically, foreign tourist arrivals are not yet back to pre-Covid, so we now talk about ‘foreign arrivals’ more broadly. Business-related inflows—from global capability centres, auto OEMs, post-G20 follow-ups—are rising steadily, but pure leisure remains below 2019. IHCL is spending ₹25 crore over three years to promote India abroad and has eased terms for inbound tour operators to accelerate that recovery.”
- Punit Chhatwal, MD & CEO

Hind Rectifiers Limited

Branching into emerging technology (AI, Web 3) and expanding presence in Middle East power sector through new subsidiaries

"During the year, our board approved the incorporation of two wholly owned subsidiaries. Coincate Studios Private Limited, which is aimed at developing next generation solutions in the field of IT, AI and web 3 and other emerging technologies, and Hier FZ LLC, strategically positioned to expand our presence in the power generation, transmission, and distribution sectors in the Middle East."
- Mr. Sinya, Chairman, Managing Director, and CEO

Prioritizing profitability over volume growth by selectively targeting high-margin orders

“We’ve adopted a more selective bidding strategy, consciously moving away from low-margin orders. The focus is now firmly on projects that meet our internal return and profitability thresholds. This shift is already visible in the improvement in margin profiles across the order book.”
- Mr. Sinya, Chairman, Managing Director, and CEO

Sets ambitious target of ~30% annual growth driven by active tender participation

“We are very fixated on having a 30% growth year on year. With that strategy in mind, we will participate in the tenders... We have our targets and that’s what we are going to try to achieve.”
- Mr. Sinya, Chairman, Managing Director, and CEO

Godrej Agrovet

Focusing capital expenditure solely on high-margin segments, notably oil palm, avoiding new investments in underperforming businesses:

“No capex in ASX. In GAVL we are only putting capex in high-margin businesses now, particularly oil palm plantation. It is the recipient of most capex—they’re coming up with refineries in palm kernel oil etc. Apart from that, they’ll get into further value-added products also. So the capex is being done for that also. Capex for next year—very minor, just maintenance things. Nothing is planned for further capex until we get more visibility into the business and until EBIT and overall profitability improve.”
- Balram Yadav, MD

Investing heavily in branding for dairy products, including celebrity endorsements, to drive growth in value-added segments:

“One reason for margin compression in dairy business was that we accelerated our marketing initiative for our value-added products and you'll be glad to know that we spent almost ₹6 crore in Q4 of last year and we have taken Rana Daggubati, the superstar of Southern cinema, as our brand ambassador. So all those spends have been made. We believe that these results will start coming in this year.”
- Balram Yadav, MD

Astec LifeSciences faced heavy losses due to sharp decline in product prices and high-cost inventory; maintaining cautious outlook ahead:

“I'll simplify the whole thing. In enterprise business we lost heavily because the prices just halved and we were left with a lot of finished product and high-cost raw material. At one time, our cost of raw material was higher than the finished product. So we sold a lot of material on negative contribution, which accounts for almost 50 to 55% of our losses. The second thing was that CDMO, which was supposed to pick up, also did not pick up... So we are being conservative this year.”
- Balram Yadav, MD

Actively considering portfolio restructuring, gaining flexibility by fully acquiring stakes in key JVs

“I fully agree with you that portfolio consolidation or reorganization has to play out in this company. And by buying these stakes [in Godrej Tyson Foods and ATPL], we have given ourselves that freedom to do that. So my sense is that we are going to see what each business can do. We are working with some consultants also to make future plans and I'm sure that in time to come, you will see management action on the questions you have asked.”
- Balram Yadav, MD

Ultratech Cement

Highlights continued market share gains, forecasting robust double-digit volume growth despite modest industry expansion; temporary heat-wave seen as short-term disruption only.

“We believe the quarter just ended added only ~4% demand for the industry, yet UltraTech’s own volumes grew almost 10%. Looking ahead to FY-26 we expect to grow double-digit on a like-for-like organic basis, even on this higher base. The only near-term wobble is the severe heat-wave in April–May; I therefore call the ‘short-term challenge’ literally a couple of months, not a structural issue.”
- Atul Daga, CFO, UltraTech Cement

Management sees fuel costs stabilizing but flags risk of rising ocean freight costs driven by U.S. tariffs, closely monitoring potential margin pressure.

“Fuel prices spiked early in the quarter but look contained: U.S. crude output is up and Brent has softened, so coal/pet-coke hasn’t moved much. Indirect fallout of new U.S. tariffs could be higher ocean freight. We’re watching shipping costs closely—$37–40/t of pet-coke price today is freight.”
- Atul Daga, CFO, UltraTech Cement

R R Kabel

Shift towards premium and mid-premium segments driving better pricing and reduced warranty expenses

“Premium and mid-premium SKUs now account for one-fifth of FMEG sales, up sharply from a couple of years ago. The shift is raising average selling prices and trimming warranty costs.”
– Rajesh Jain, CFO

CCL Products

Significant jump in borrowing due to sharply higher coffee bean prices, impacting working capital requirements

“From FY 15-20 your benchmark price for raw Robusta was about US $1,000 a tonne; today it’s US $5,000. For the same physical volume I need 5× the cash. That single factor explains most of the borrowing jump. The inventories are against confirmed orders—we’re not speculatively stocking beans.”
– Chittaranjan Raju, CFO

Global coffee demand growth expected primarily from developing markets amid flat consumption in mature economies

“In Europe or the US everyone already drinks coffee, so the category is flat. Future global consumption growth will come from developing economies—India, China, Middle East—where penetration is low; we see sustained double-digit category growth there.”
– Chittaranjan Raju, CFO

Stability in coffee prices, even at higher levels, is preferable over volatility as it improves working capital cycles

“What really hurts is choppy prices, not high prices… If prices stabilise—even at today’s high base—customers go back to longer contracts, and our working-capital cycle and inventory days shrink.”
– Chittaranjan Raju, CFO

Tatva Chintan Pharma Chem

Potential recovery in SDA volumes linked to diesel resurgence in Chinese heavy trucks, though management remains cautious:

“Chinese truck makers pivoted to cheap LNG after Russia’s pipeline glut—SDA demand slumped because SCR systems weren’t needed. We’ve seen this movie twice in 25 years. Gas prices are edging up while crude softens, so customers think heavy trucks will swing back to diesel, restoring SDA volumes. We’re not baking it into guidance yet, but the upside could be material.”
– Chintan Shah, MD

OneSource Specialty Pharma

Highlights capacity expansion for GLP-1 [Glucagon-Like Peptide-1] products ahead of patent expirations in key markets, with expectations for significant market expansion driven by increased access and affordability in undeserved regions.

"Both these markets like most markets which are coming off patent in the next year have been very poorly served. In fact, the key driver in these markets will be increased access. In a market like Brazil, which is one of the largest population markets globally, the penetration the way the innovator has served the market there is less than 1% of what it should have been. In Canada it is about 4-5% penetration. Once there are generic players in the market and much higher access, we see these markets taking their true potential which could be anywhere between 10-12 times in case of Brazil, or maybe about 4-5 times in case of Canada."
- Mr. Niraj, CEO

Expects limited impact from oral GLP-1 [Glucagon-Like Peptide-1] competitors, highlighting the continued importance of self-administered injectables and the company's flexible manufacturing capabilities.

"The entire western world is very clear that the whole idea of these products is self-administration. Vials require intervention of a healthcare professional and that is exactly against the concept of self-administration. Our capacities are fungible - the new lines at our flagship site are combi-lines which can do both vials and cartridges. Orals will have their place but their role will be limited to 20-25% which even the innovators are talking about. While there are oral therapies in play, there are also injectable therapies coming which are once-a-month injectable, which is way more attractive than a daily tablet."
- Mr. Niraj, CEO

Highlights expanding opportunities in GLP-1 [Glucagon-Like Peptide-1] market driven by new clinical applications and WHO [World Health Organization] recognition of obesity as a key focus area.

"In anticipation of the launch of Semaglutide, our progress towards expanding capacity especially in DDC [Drug-Device Combination] is on track with the first phase set to conclude towards end of the year. In the near term, we know there are several GLP-1s in the works, with very significant new uses and clinical trials delivering outstanding results. This space will expand with multiple treatment options. You're probably aware that even the WHO has now added obesity as a key area of focus and are considering GLP-1s as a solution. All of that should significantly expand the market opportunity."
- Mr. Arun, Founder and Non-Executive Chairperson

Coca Cola

Coca-Cola's strong performance in India (adding 350,000 outlets and increasing household penetration) combined with China's recovery signals significant expansion in high-growth Asian markets, while strategic focus on affordability and digital integration demonstrates successful adaptation to regional economic conditions.

“Finally, in Asia Pacific, we delivered volume, organic revenue and comparable currency neutral operating income growth. In ASEAN and South Pacific, volume declined as strong performance in the Philippines was more than offset by weaker performance in Thailand and Indonesia. However, we won value share in the region. We're focused on driving affordability with refillable offerings and attractive absolute price points, increasing outlet coverage and accelerating placement of cold drink equipment. In China, our system focus on improving execution is paying off and led to volume growth. We delivered impactful integrated marketing activations around the Lunar New Year and invested to drive growth in away-from-home channels. Trademark Coca-Cola had strong volume performance, while Sprite is getting back on track. In India, we had strong volume growth across our portfolio of global and local brands. Our system added nearly 350,000 outlets and increased household penetration. Also, our system increased cooler placement and added approximately 100,000 customers to its digital customer platforms.”
- James Quincey Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

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