The Chatter: YES Bank, Colgate, Allcargo, & More
Q1 FY27 | Edition #81
Welcome to the 81st 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.
We’re always eager to improve—please share your ideas on how else we can innovate “The Chatter” format to better serve your needs.
In this edition, we have covered 6 companies across 5 industries.
Financial Services
YES Bank Limited
FMCG
Colgate-Palmolive (India)
Apex Frozen Foods
Logistics
Allcargo Global Ltd
Automobile
Olectra Greentech
Packaging
Uflex
Financial Services
YES Bank Limited | Large Cap | Private Sector Bank
YES Bank is a full-service commercial bank that has transitioned into a stable growth phase following a significant 2020 reconstruction. It focuses on retail, MSME, and corporate banking, supported by strategic global partnerships and a massive digital transaction footprint.
[Concall]
A strategic partnership with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation has established the Japanese giant as the bank’s largest shareholder. This provides the bank with enhanced global corporate banking capabilities and a more robust risk management framework.
“FY26 was also the year of our alliance with one of the world’s leading financial institutions, SMBC, the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. As the largest shareholder in the bank, SMBC opens new doors for growth, bringing deep capabilities in corporate banking, risk management and cross-border business that will strengthen our positioning in the years ahead.”
— Vinay M. Tonse, Managing Director & CEO
Management has successfully raised over $1 billion through foreign currency deposits, significantly outperforming its standard market share. This influx provides the bank with long-term liquidity and helps fulfill regulatory priority sector lending targets more efficiently.
“Regarding FCNR, which is currently being discussed and reported in the media, the amount we have raised is much more than our current market share of deposits. We have raised more than a billion dollars. We also see benefits from FCNR through free reserves and PSL benefits, as well as access to long-term financing. We have a pipeline of half a billion dollars or more in FCNR deposits as of today. We appreciate that only a few days remain for us to continue mobilizing these deposits, but we will see how the momentum develops.”
— Vinay M. Tonse, Managing Director & CEO
The bank is aggressively expanding its physical footprint with a focus on high-potential business clusters across India. These new branches are designed to act as centers for multiple financial products while bringing in low-cost deposits to improve margins.
“In FY26, the bank added 82 new branches, taking the total to 1,334 branches across India. We plan to continue expanding the distribution network, focusing on strategically important business clusters, districts and geographies, while also trying to densify our presence in existing key geographies. This aligns with our broader strategy of leveraging branches as multi-product profit hubs and enhancing low-cost liability mobilization.”
— Vinay M. Tonse, Managing Director & CEO
There is a strategic shift toward retail and MSME loans that offer higher interest rates compared to traditional corporate lending. By using partnerships and digital ecosystems to find these customers, the bank aims to drive higher overall portfolio yields.
“We are now focusing on increasing the share of high-yielding product categories such as personal loans, used vehicles, affordable home loans, unsecured business loans, micro-LAP loans and education loans. Our expansion plan is through co-lending partnerships, ecosystem-based origination, and deeper integration with supply-chain and MSME networks. A key priority is to increase the proportion of the priority-sector-lending segment in the loan book through both organic and inorganic routes.”
— Vinay M. Tonse, Managing Director & CEO
The bank currently processes approximately 33% of all digital transactions in India and is expanding its platform for small businesses. This massive digital scale provides a competitive edge in customer acquisition and embedded finance opportunities.
“Our key priorities include scaling our Iris and Iris Business platforms across retail and MSME ecosystems; strengthening API banking to deepen embedded-finance partnerships; and continuing to build our API capabilities. It is noteworthy that we already have more than 1,500 APIs. We are also looking at end-to-end digital onboarding journeys for both liability and asset products... The bank aims to sustain its leadership in digital payments, processing nearly 1 in every 3 digital transactions in India today, and to continue leveraging digital as a core driver of growth.”
— Vinay M. Tonse, Managing Director & CEO
The bank is implementing AI to speed up credit decisions and lower operating costs while maintaining strict fraud controls. This technological push is expected to improve pricing accuracy and create new ways to generate revenue from current customers.
“While we are looking at faster operations through automation, we also have adequate fraud-detection and risk controls. On one side, we have hyper-personalized customer experiences and quicker and more accurate credit decisions, which lead to lower costs and improved efficiency ratios. At the same time, we are maintaining a strong focus on enhanced cybersecurity and threat monitoring, supported by very strict responsible-AI governance. Through all of this, we are looking at new revenue opportunities and better pricing.”
— Vinay M. Tonse, Managing Director & CEO
FMCG
Colgate-Palmolive (India) | Mid Cap | FMCG
Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited, a rapidly growing company in the personal care industry, offers a diverse range of products including oral care products like toothpaste and toothbrushes, personal care items such as skin and hair care products, as well as household care products like dishwashing paste. The company has recently expanded its product line to cater to dentists with offerings that include treatments for gingivitis, tooth sensitivity, whitening, fluoride therapy, mouth ulcers, and specialized cleaning.
[Concall]
Only ~19% of India’s toothpaste category is currently premium, substantially below categories such as soaps and shampoos. Management believes this leaves significant room to upgrade consumers.
“Our premiumization percentage as a category, in the toothpaste category, is about 19%, or about a fifth of the category, above the 140 index. If you look at toilet soap and shampoo, those numbers are in the order of magnitude of 2x and 3x. As a community of toothpaste brands, we certainly have an opportunity to do more, and Colgate can be at the forefront of this. Being at the forefront is an exceptionally important pillar for us.”
— Prabha Narasimhan, MD & CEO
Visible White Purple is one of the three brands at the centre of Colgate’s premiumization strategy. Management describes its performance as unprecedented within the Indian business.
“Then we have Colgate Visible White Purple, which is the newest launch. This launch is now a little under 2 years old; it will be 2 years old in the next quarter. It is the single most successful innovation of Colgate-Palmolive India.”
— Prabha Narasimhan, MD & CEO
Colgate says its revamped communication strategy and premium brands are translating into significantly faster growth versus competition.
“The outcome is that we now grow 5x faster than our key competitor in premium toothpaste. The fun, or the magic, does not stop there.”
— Prabha Narasimhan, MD & CEO
Digital channels are becoming increasingly important for Colgate, particularly for premium products and new-product discovery. Management sees e-commerce as structurally beneficial rather than merely another distribution channel.
“Coming to e-commerce, the ability and the desire to win on screen are supercritical for a brand like ours. I am really happy to say—I have said this before, and I am going to say it again—that e-commerce for us is growth-accretive, margin-accretive, premiumization-accretive, and share-accretive. It is a channel that is pure goodness on absolutely every count.”
— Prabha Narasimhan, MD & CEO
Quick commerce is helping Colgate sell premium and differentiated products while improving growth, margins and market share within its digital business.
“As we look at quick commerce, we then say that quick commerce is growth-accretive, margin-accretive, premiumization-accretive, and share-accretive to our e-commerce business. As channels evolve, we are in a really strong position.”
— Prabha Narasimhan, MD & CEO
While e-commerce represents roughly 6% of the overall category, Colgate materially over-indexes the channel. Digital channels are also being used as testing grounds for differentiated products.
“The 6% e-commerce contribution is for the market, not for us. Our contribution is actually in the double digits, just a little above the early double-digit level. That is why it is share-accretive, growth-accretive, and so on. The expansion in e-commerce and quick commerce is largely as I mentioned. We are in a good position and are driving this forward.”
— Prabha Narasimhan, MD & CEO
Colgate remains the challenger in sensitivity but is investing behind Sensitive Active and therapeutics. Early growth from the revamped proposition has been exceptionally strong, albeit from a small base.
“Colgate Sensitive Active has some exceptional technology that works to provide instant relief as well as 24-hour sensitivity protection. A lot of work has been done on repackaging this, as well as on creating demand. As a result, since we started in January this year, we have, on a very small base, been growing 10 times faster than the sensitivity category.”
— Prabha Narasimhan, MD & CEO
The company wants to build a dentist-led therapeutics business around Periogard and other products. It is increasing sampling and the number of oral-care experts visiting dentists.
“We are using this, along with the fact that we have an outstanding regimen of paste, brush, and mouthwash, to ensure that we drive prescriptions. For this, we are making a massive investment in both sampling and increasing our feet on the street, or increasing our oral care experts who visit dentists.”
— Prabha Narasimhan, MD & CEO
Management was unusually candid about its personal-care business. Despite leadership in premium handwash, Palmolive overall has not met expectations.
“Lastly, I come to personal care. I must confess that this has been an area of disappointment. We have not done a great job with Palmolive. There are some green shoots. One of them is that we now lead the premium handwash segment, which is great, but it is a relatively small segment and we have an opportunity to grow it.”
— Prabha Narasimhan, MD & CEO
Premium toothpaste has increased materially as a share of the portfolio. Management says incremental advertising is translating directly into stronger incremental sales.
“We have invested significantly behind our premium business, and you can see that it is up 2.5x in terms of its percentage contribution to overall toothpaste sales. We are seeing a high level of elasticity here: the more we invest, the greater the uptick we are seeing in incremental sales.”
— Jacob, Whole-time Director & CFO
Colgate’s EBITDA margin is around 500 bps above its nearest competitor, giving it room to reinvest. Management has decided to use that cushion to accelerate growth.
“Our EBITDA is 500 basis points higher than that of the nearest competitor, if you look at the chart. This allows us to choose between investing and going faster or continuing to grow at a higher level of profitability. Right now, we are making the call that we will invest more and grow the business faster. We are accelerating.”
— Jacob, Whole-time Director & CFO
Higher A&P spending could pressure near-term operating margins. Colgate says it will prioritise attractive investment opportunities rather than manage the business to a predetermined EBITDA percentage.
“As I mentioned, there would be an upward bias even on the currently reported quarter’s advertising numbers. Therefore, in the short term, we are not going to be constrained by EBITDA levels or target a specific level. If we think spending X more on Total and Visible White will give us Y growth, then we are open to doing that. We are not going to be constrained because we truly believe that this is how we build brands.”
— Jacob, Whole-time Director & CFO
Management says premium demand is no longer restricted to large cities. Digital advertising and e-commerce are allowing Colgate to reach premium consumers even where physical distribution is limited.
“What is interesting is that unlike earlier, when everything in India started in the metros and then percolated downward, what we are seeing now is quite democratic. We are seeing an uptick in premium in tier-2 towns. We are seeing an uptick in premium in rural villages. This is aided by the fact that physical reach no longer needs to be present in a town for consumers to access these benefits. The phone, or digital, allows us to communicate with people almost on a one-to-one basis. We do not have to cover an entire state to reach a particular audience. We can reach the audience that is more likely to buy premium. We are therefore seeing a more democratized desire for premium, which we are then able to fulfill through some of these channels.”
— Prabha Narasimhan, MD & CEO
Apex Frozen Foods | Micro Cap | FMCG
Apex Frozen Foods Limited is a leading exporter of processed L. Vannamei and Black Tiger shrimp, with a strong presence in the value chain. The company has strategically focused on backward integration and value addition, positioning itself as a premier supplier of high-quality shrimp.
[Concall]
Despite a weak Q1 due to labour and logistics disruptions, Apex maintained its FY27 volume target of around 12,000 MT.
“For now, we have estimated the current year’s production at around 12,000 metric tons. We are working in that direction. Q1 was affected mainly by labor shortages during the summer. There were also some supply and maintenance issues related to labor and logistics.
We should be able to achieve that. That is what we expect as of now. We will continue to work toward 12,000 metric tons for the current year, by the end of this year.”
— Management
Beyond FY27, Apex sees FTAs and geographical diversification creating a path towards significantly higher production volumes.
“Going forward, into FY28 and FY29, it would be too early to comment at this time. However, our next target is definitely to reach between 14,000 and 15,000 metric tons, as you asked. We should be looking forward to that with all these improvements in the global scenario relating to the FTAs, subject to no new issues arising regarding trade or related matters.
Hopefully, we should be looking at a diversified market and a diversified market environment. I think we should be moving in that direction toward 15,000 tons.”
— Management
Management says the Q1 volume miss was largely operational rather than demand-driven, with the labour issue now resolved.
“We definitely had issues during FY24 and FY25, and we have been coming out of those issues, particularly in FY26. The main issue was on the labor front. This was unexpected for many industry players during the summer of this year and was a setback.
Otherwise, we should have achieved at least 3,000-plus metric tons of volume in Q1 itself. There was an issue that we had not anticipated. That issue was resolved toward the end of Q1, and there are no issues relating to it now.
There has also been some shortage of raw material supply, but that will be overcome as the new crop comes in, including the second crop from different farmers and producers across the state and the country.”
— Management
War-related disruptions remain one of the biggest near-term risks to profitability, although Apex does not expect a significant margin decline.
“It should continue, but at the same time, as we have also stated previously, farmgate prices are firming up and increasing. We are also seeing some increase in realizations. Overall, margins should remain stable, subject mainly to supply conditions and, more importantly, the war-led disruptions that are still continuing.
We do not know how our freight costs have changed between Q4 of last year and now, but over these 3-4 months, freight costs have increased by more than double. That is another factor we are watching and preparing for. We do expect stabilization, and we do not expect a significant decline in margins.”
— Management
Q1 realization jumped sharply YoY, helped by better dollar pricing, higher value-added sales and rupee depreciation.
“As stated in the beginning, realization per kilo in rupee terms was 930 rupees for the first quarter of FY27, compared with approximately 812 rupees during the first quarter of FY26. There has also been an increase in the dollar-based unit value in general because we are increasing the volume of value-added products or ready-to-eat products, and this has also been supported by the depreciating currency.”
“Yes, we are seeing similar levels as far as realization in rupee terms is concerned. We are expecting similar levels for realization per kilo.”
— Choudhury Karuturi, MD & CFO
Demand visibility appears healthy, with Apex having orders in hand through roughly the first half of Q3.
“Our order book is good. It is currently filled until the middle of Q3. However, the order book position keeps changing because of issues such as equipment-related problems, shipment delays, or supply-related issues. Those factors can also change the order book. Currently, we are in a good position through the middle of Q3.”
— Management
After months of tariff uncertainty last year, the removal of the 150% tariff and finalisation of the 10% tariff have improved buyer confidence.
“Regarding your other question, whether it was related to dumping from Ecuador or to greater certainty regarding tariffs, the 150% tariffs were removed by the US government and the 10% tariff was finalized at the beginning of the year. Buyers in the US have also found greater certainty in doing business, rather than facing the almost 4-5 months of uncertainty during the previous year.
Because of this certainty, and subject to market conditions and business strategy, they accordingly increased their order positions with us, both as an industry and specifically for our company. That is one of the reasons why a large number of US orders were added.”
— Management
The EU is the more important FTA opportunity for Apex, but non-tariff barriers still need to be removed before the full benefit can emerge.
“Moving forward, once the FTA is fully implemented in all aspects—not just in relation to duty and tariff matters, but also through the removal of certain non-tariff barriers, such as the requirement for Indian shrimp consignments to be tested, with 50% of all shipments arriving from India still being tested—we could see even more volume growth in these markets, especially the EU.
The UK FTA is also expected to produce results sometime by the end of this year or early next year, and we will see the results at that time.”
— Management
Management expects the EU FTA around December/January and believes its full impact could start showing thereafter.
“Usually, by the time FTAs are fully implemented, they take a minimum of 1 year. The UK FTA has already been implemented. There are some minor issues, but for our trade, these issues are making things difficult.
Otherwise, we expect the EU FTA, hopefully, by the end of this calendar year, sometime in December or early January. That is what we have been told, and that is the feedback we have received. We should see the benefits.”
“Yes, we should see the full effect of these FTAs, particularly the EU FTA, on which we are placing significant emphasis and for which we have high expectations.”
— Management
Geographic diversification is progressing beyond the US and Europe, although Russia and Australia are taking longer to develop.
“Regarding Russia, that business has not yet taken off in the first quarter. Perhaps by the end of Q2 or in Q3, we should be able to pick it up as far as Russia is concerned.
Australia is still at the discussion stage because the customer conducted certain audits. Hopefully, once the customer clarifies the regulatory requirements, we will be able to proceed. We are waiting for that. So far, we have not taken up business there.
However, we have initiated business with Japan, a market in which we had not operated for the past decade or more than a decade. This has been initiated currently, and we expect it to be reflected in the subsequent quarters of the current fiscal year.”
— Management
The CVD determination expected around December could become an important industry catalyst if the US accepts India’s argument that RoDTEP and Duty Drawback are tax reimbursements rather than subsidies.
“Regarding Countervailing Duty, we will most likely have the announcement toward the end of this year, around December, when we will know whether there will be any changes. We expect a reduction, considering the good response we have received from the Government of India regarding schemes such as Duty Drawback and the RODTEP scheme.
Hopefully, the responses will be positive, and the US government will agree that these schemes are not subsidies but are more in the nature of reimbursement or refunds of taxes and various indirect taxes and levies paid by the sector. We expect to know more toward the end of the year, in December.
ADD was previously 1.35% and is currently 3.44%. It is reviewed every year, so there will be another review next year and we will know more then. I think the final determination on ADD will be around September. We will know around September. We will know about the anti-dumping duty in September and the Countervailing Duty in December.”
— Management
Logistics
Allcargo Global Ltd. | Small Cap | Logistics
Allcargo Global is a leading international shipping and air transport company specializing in less-than-container-load (LCL) consolidation with a 14.5% global market share. The firm operates an asset-light model across 2,400 direct trade lanes and uses a proprietary digital platform for approximately 70% of its export bookings.
[Concall]
Management is insulating the business from external shocks by aggressively cutting costs through AI automation and offshoring. This focus on internal efficiency and trade lane optimization is intended to protect margins even if global trade remains flat.
“We are using opportunities in technology-led automation, replacing some of the work with agentic AI, and continuing our drive to have more and more resources based in lower-cost geographies. This is made possible by our continued focus and investment in creating one single system for finance, HR, and operations across the globe. That is the trend that continues for us on the business side. As we move forward, we are not taking into account any significant improvements in the economic environment as we prepare our business strategy. Some of these geopolitical events are completely unpredictable. Rather than pivoting any of our plans to an outcome driven by the end of the Middle East conflict or the end of some of the other conflicts, our focus entirely remains on operating in the environment as the business opportunity presents itself and staying focused on improving our efficiency. We have brought down our loss-making trade lanes and focused on container utilization. All of these factors contribute to improved gross profit per unit of cargo that we carry.”
— Ravi Jakhar, Director, Strategy and Group CFO
Current LCL volumes are 10% below their peak, but the company is still outperforming a declining industry by several percentage points. Management expects LCL to return to its long-term trend of growing at twice the rate of the broader container market.
“In terms of growth, if you observe the business, you would find that it had steadily grown in LCL as well. However, over the last 2 years, there has been a contraction in volumes. In the most recent period, as I mentioned, over the last 6 months, the Middle East crisis has further had a negative impact on volumes. Where we stand today, we are almost 10% below our LCL volumes of a couple of years ago. The last 2 years have been quite poor for management, and actual industry volumes may have declined by almost 13-14%, because we would have outperformed by approximately 3-4%. The decline may have been slightly more than that on the overall volume side. I would say that the decline in volumes has been across both LCL and FCL over the recent couple of years. However, because we have a dominant market position in LCL, that impact becomes immediately visible in our P&L. In general, the rule of thumb is that the LCL business tends to grow at roughly 2x the FCL growth rate. This has been demonstrated over the last 10 years and is likely to remain true over the next 5-10 years as well.”
— Management, Management
The company is evolving from a simple port-to-port shipper to a provider of high-value, end-to-end delivery services. This shift to door-to-door services is a primary driver of the structural improvement in profit per unit of cargo.
“In terms of absolute gross profit, if you observe the last 7-8 years, we have improved our yield considerably, which is the gross profit per unit of volume that we handle. We have achieved this through a multitude of factors. Approximately 10 years ago, we were largely doing ocean port-to-port business. We have moved into significantly more door deliveries. We are offering first-mile and last-mile connectivity on many of the cargoes that we handle. We have created scale that enables us to negotiate better terms with warehouse contractors where we operate for consolidating and deconsolidating cargo and de-stuffing boxes. We have undertaken significant network optimization. Historically, a significant percentage of the business may have been in loss-making trade lanes because utilization was not optimal. We have used a great deal of technology, processes, and practices to significantly improve gross profit per unit of cargo that we handle.”
— Ravi Jakhar, Director, Strategy and Group CFO
The company is shifting its strategy from aggressive acquisitions to purely organic growth. This pivot should reassure investors that capital will be used to improve current operations rather than funding expensive new buyouts.
“In terms of acquisitions, we have made strategic acquisitions over the years to enter new products or new markets. At this point, we do not foresee a need to enter any further markets. We are present in all the relevant markets and in all the products that we want to be in. With the network strength that we have built over the last couple of years, we have grown more organically. Even in new markets, we enter by hiring new teams, both for new products and for entering new markets. Therefore, at least in the near term, the strategy is to grow by investing in people and not by buying businesses.”
— Ravi Jakhar, Director, Strategy and Group CFO
Allcargo aims to substantially lower its net debt within the next nine months through working capital improvements and property sales. This debt reduction is expected to further strengthen the company’s financial position and credit profile.
“We work with a single global bank in many countries, where cash sitting on the books also acts as a cover against this debt. Therefore, you can look at the cash balance against the debt. Almost 40% or slightly more of this amount would also be cash sitting on the books. Therefore, net debt is effectively 60% of the number you mentioned. Further, we intend to reduce that significantly over the next 2-3 quarters through, first, a focus on reducing working capital on the balance sheet; second, some non-core asset divestments, including real estate that we may still own but do not need to own; and third, a few other measures to improve working capital. These initiatives should see the net debt number—which I would identify as the more relevant number, looking at debt net of cash—come down significantly over the next 2-3 quarters.”
— Ravi Jakhar, Director, Strategy and Group CFO
The company identified $10-15 million in non-core real estate assets that it plans to liquidate. These proceeds will likely be used to further reduce consolidated net debt, which currently stands at 570 crore.
“Consolidated debt was approximately 942 crore at the end of the March-June quarter. Net debt was approximately 570 crore. [Regarding selling non-core assets] These would be some of the warehousing and office assets that we own. Combined, as a very broad ballpark number, they could be worth approximately 10-15 million dollars.”
— Stephen Dunn / Ravi Jakhar, Global CFO / Director, Strategy
Automobile
Olectra Greentech | Small Cap | Automobile
Olectra Greentech Limited, formerly known as Goldstone Infratech Limited, is a leading Public Limited Company in India specializing in the production of composite polymer insulators and electrical buses. With a strong focus on innovative technologies and high standards, the company has emerged as the top manufacturer and supplier of Composite Insulators in India, known for their global utility and technological advancement.
[Concall]
Olectra expects a meaningful acceleration in production through FY27 after consistently producing around 350 buses in each of the previous four quarters.
“Even if you take the 2,000 vehicles, the run rate in the coming quarters that we are discussing is 500 to 600 vehicles. The exit quarter, when we ramp up and have our own buses in the last quarter, will add to that.
To explain further, we are producing current-generation buses for current orders. We have consistently produced about 350 buses in each of the last 4 quarters. We expect to produce close to 500 this quarter, improving to 600 and 700 in the last quarter. That is what we are looking at.”
— Management
Beyond its existing 8,000-bus backlog, Olectra has won 1,085 buses in Telangana and emerged L1 for another 155 buses in Rajasthan on its next-generation platform.
“We already have an order book of about 8,000 vehicles. Last time, we won a tender for 1,085 vehicles in Telangana as part of the CESL tender.
Recently, we became L1 in Rajasthan. Today, we received the letter asking us to attend discussions. It is an outright order for 155 buses, and there were about 4 to 5 participants. I am happy to say that we became L1. This clearly demonstrates Olectra’s product quality as well as its competitive cost in the market for outright sales.
This will be our new 9-meter platform, which we are developing for the next generation. As I said, it will be ready by the last quarter of this financial year.
We already have 1,085 plus 155 vehicles under discussion, both for the new platform. For the existing platform, we have about 8,000 vehicles, which will be delivered over the next 2 years.”
— Mahesh Babu, Managing Director
Management says deliveries will be matched with depot and market readiness rather than aggressively producing against the large order book and locking up working capital.
“The market has to absorb the vehicles. If you look at the last full year, around 5,400 vehicles were registered. If the market is 5,400 vehicles, delivering 8,000 vehicles ourselves would not be prudent or appropriate. It would not be right for us to manufacture the vehicles and keep them in inventory because our working capital would be locked up.
We will have to time production and the supply chain in such a way that the market is able to absorb what we produce.
Similarly, if you look at the first quarter, about 1,400 vehicles were registered. Therefore, we will have to determine how to deliver based on market readiness, rather than producing aggressively. Aggressive production would not generate revenue; the vehicles would simply remain in our inventory if the depots were not ready. We have heard that this has happened with many competitors.”
— Management
Management highlighted working-capital discipline as a differentiator, saying it avoids keeping finished buses waiting for months for depot readiness or flag-offs.
“I would say that Olectra is one of the most efficient companies in terms of working capital management. As soon as we produce a vehicle, it is deployed within 30 days, or at most between 30 and 60 days, into the customer’s operations.
There are competitors holding vehicles for 3 months for flagging off and depot readiness, and they can afford to lock up their working capital.
I would say, rest assured, we have been number one since inception, and as of today we remain number one in terms of registrations. We are delivering the highest number of vehicles in this segment into the market.”
— Management
Management expects India’s e-bus market to reach roughly 8,000 units in FY27 and sees another substantial increase next year.
“We expect total FY27 TIV to be about 8,000 buses, out of which we expect to deliver about 2,000 to 2,500 buses in this financial year.
Next year, a CAGR of at least 30% to 50% is expected, depending on what happens in the market. That is our prediction regarding bus adoption.”
— Management
Management believes headline e-bus penetration understates adoption in Olectra’s core addressable segments, particularly state transport undertakings and 9–12 metre buses.
“The bus segment has reached a reasonable point at 7%. This 7% is very critical.
Even if you look at the overall bus market, the 7% is an overall figure. If you look only at 9-meter and 12-meter buses, out of 7,800 buses, almost 1,400-1,500 buses represent EV adoption. Therefore, adoption in that segment is almost 20%.
If you look at STUs, out of the 2,000 buses that STUs ordered or registered in the first quarter, 1,400 were electric. That is substantially close to 70%. Therefore, STU EV adoption in buses is about 70%.
For 9-meter and 12-meter buses, it is about 19% to 20%. Overall, it is about 6%.”
— Management
Olectra expects its upcoming vehicles to comply with PM E-Drive and PM e-Bus Sewa localisation requirements, with almost the entire vehicle sourced locally.
“The new-generation products will meet the PM E-Drive and PM SEVA requirements. All the aggregates will be local, and all the remaining parts except the cell will also be local.
At the current level, there is a transition taking place between the old generation and the new generation. I do not have the exact number for the current level, but apart from the aggregates, many of the components are local.”
— Management
Olectra explicitly expects better margins on its next-generation vehicles once localisation increases.
“Yes. In our new-generation products, when everything is local, we will have better margins than we do today. That is expected.
I cannot say how much we will realize, but the margins will definitely be better. You will see this from Q4 of this financial year onward.”
— Management
Management expects Q1’s margin pressure to ease but is stopping short of promising an immediate return to historical 14–15% levels because exports and product mix remain uncertain.
“We also wish, like you, that margins would return to the earlier levels. However, we do not expect the Q1 impact to continue. Margins will definitely improve.
Our wish, along with yours, is to return to the same margins. Our intention is to get back to those levels, but this will happen over a period of time because we will have to mitigate the risk by looking beyond exports, determining how to address it, assessing the market, and working accordingly.
What we are saying is that margins will lie between 12% and 15% on a given day, and that is the nature of the market. In fact, if you look at the auto industry, most companies have margins much lower than this, at around 10% to 12%.
While we continue to enjoy the higher percentage, we need to determine how to maintain it. That is the intention of management.”
— Management
The company expects the addressable EV truck market to reach 1,500–2,000 vehicles next year and is targeting a meaningful share immediately after launching its own platform.
“The 3 lakh 30,000 figure you mentioned is for diesel trucks. If you look at EV trucks, last year there were about 800 vehicles.
In Q1 FY27, EV truck registrations were about 270 vehicles. There is a good level of growth, and the figure will reach close to {? 1,000 plus vehicles ?}, or 1,200-plus vehicles, in this financial year.
We expect the addressable market to be 1,500 to 2,000 vehicles in the next financial year. Out of that, in the first year, we will target at least a 20% to 25% market share and then begin growing from there.”
— Management
Olectra plans to use FY28 to explore overseas markets, with its upcoming vehicles already being configured to meet export requirements.
“Our new-generation platform vehicles, both buses and trucks, are being prepared for the export market as well. That is one of the reasons we are not simply localizing components but are developing new-generation products.
We will have the potential to export, and we have already started configuring the vehicles to meet export requirements when they are introduced in Q4 of this financial year.
The next financial year will be our opportunity to explore participation in export markets and take our vehicles overseas. So, yes, the answer to your question is yes. With our new-generation products, we will be ready by the end of this financial year.”
— Management
The insulator business is becoming a second growth engine, with Olectra adding new products and capacity rather than relying only on its existing polymer-insulator portfolio.
“Our intention is to achieve 5x growth in Olectra’s energy division over the next 3 years. That is the plan, and the team is working toward making it happen. This will involve both new products and capacity enhancement.
Capacity expansion at the plant has already started. We will have another shed of a similar size to the one we have today, with all the equipment in the pipeline. This will enhance capacity to support this vision over the next 3 years.”
— Management
Management views the energy business as strategically as important as mobility and sees India’s transmission-grid upgrades as a major structural opportunity.
“While there are many predictions, our internal study indicates strong growth in the energy or insulator division. As you know, India is upgrading its power lines, and many of them are being upgraded to 800 kV lines.
Therefore, there is significant potential. As of now, we have close to 300 crore worth of orders in hand, and we are continuing to receive inquiries and deployments over time.
I strongly believe that with the new products we are developing, we will achieve 5x revenue in the insulator division over 3 years, as we have already stated. That is the objective we will work toward.
I strongly believe that we will maintain a market share of more than 30% in this segment. Therefore, we are treating the insulator division as equally important as the mobility division in terms of growth, investment, and new products.”
— Management
Polymer-insulator raw materials had surged 40–70% because of the war and supply constraints, but management says a significant part of that increase has already reversed.
“We faced a challenge from the increase in raw material costs. The prices of many raw materials used in polymer insulators increased by between 40% and 70%. Hence, we faced a margin challenge this quarter due to the war, higher petroleum prices, and supply constraints during this period.
That situation has now eased. Prices have already fallen by close to 40%; out of the 70% increase, 40% has fallen back. Therefore, if there are no further disruptions, we expect average prices from now on to return closer to the levels that existed before the war. Accordingly, improvements are expected in the coming quarters.”
— Management
Packaging
Uflex | Small Cap | Packaging
Uflex Limited is a leading Indian Multinational known for manufacturing and selling flexible packaging products globally. With a focus on quality innovation, it provides complete packaging solutions that help preserve freshness and extend shelf life of food products. Its reputation in the industry, both in India and overseas, positions it as a prominent name among printing and packaging companies.
[Concall]
Despite geopolitical uncertainty, Uflex gave unusually explicit FY27 guidance, expecting both revenue and EBITDA to grow around 35% over FY26.
“Generally, we should not give guidance because guidance is very difficult in today’s market scenario. Things change very fast because of the geopolitical situation. But since you are asking a specific question, and to respect you as an investor, I think we are expecting 35% growth in our topline in this financial year. Similarly, we expect EBITDA to show the same growth in this financial year compared to the last financial year.”
— Management
Uflex believes the improvement in margins is structural, supported by past capex and a growing contribution from value-added products.
“At the beginning of the call, we said that these margins are very sustainable going forward—not just sustainable for this year, but going forward for the next 3 years. Let me add that the 15.5% margin is something we are working on. The guidance we have given for FY27 is 30% topline growth and 30% bottom-line growth. We will have similar growth next year as well. You can see what kind of margin we will be able to generate going forward.
These are very strong margins that can be achieved with the kind of capex we have undertaken and the focus we now have on value-added products.”
— Management
Film realisations have risen sharply since the West Asia conflict began, with finished-product prices rising faster than raw-material costs.
“Giving you a very specific answer on price would be difficult, but I can tell you that price realization is up 30% compared to when the war started in West Asia. Our BOPET and BOPP prices have gone up. To be specific, BOPP prices have gone up by 25% and BOPET prices have gone up by almost 30-35% from the February 2026 level to now. BOPP is 25% higher, while BOPET is around 35% higher.”
— Management
Management believes the spread between raw-material costs and finished-film pricing can be protected even if geopolitical conditions eventually normalise.
“Prices are quite stable as of now, and we do not see any major correction in prices. However, these are global situations that evolve every day. As long as crude remains high and this crisis continues in West Asia, we see prices remaining in the vicinity of their current levels. But if everything normalizes, we may see some correction in prices. Our raw material sourcing and finished selling prices will have the same margin that we have now.
So we are not very concerned about pricing. We are concerned that whatever margins we make, we should continue to hold those margins. We are confident that we will hold those margins throughout the year.”
— Arun Kumar Sharma, President – Finance and Accounts & CFO
Despite aggressive duty-free Indonesian imports hurting Indian volumes, Uflex expects demand growth and higher-value products to revive the segment.
“From Q3 onwards, you will see aseptic coming back on track. It was somewhat slow this quarter in terms of volume, but not in terms of price. It will pick up next quarter. The packaging industry is more closely linked to consumer growth and FMCG growth in India, which we are seeing improve significantly.
You will see aseptic packaging becoming a major growth driver for the company going forward because it improves the quality of the product, improves the product’s shelf life, and improves the aesthetic appeal of the product. All these factors will help. We have an installed capacity of almost 24 billion packs, and I think we will be using a significant portion of that capacity by the end of the year.”
— Arun Kumar Sharma, President – Finance and Accounts & CFO
Existing domestic capacity itself has considerable headroom, particularly in higher-value metallised and ultra-high-barrier films.
“There are a lot of opportunities. If you look at our utilization graph this year, domestic utilization is currently only 70-73%. In addition, we have a lot of unutilized specialty segment films, such as metallized films and ultra-high-barrier film, where we have considerable opportunity. We are currently utilizing around 30-40% of that capacity. Those areas will therefore come up quite strongly.”
— Surujit Pal, Vice President & Head of Investor Relations
Uflex sees international manufacturing as structurally more profitable because overseas customers allow easier cost pass-through and significantly higher realisations.
“We will always generate higher margins in the overseas business. Overseas business will always give a higher margin because the price at which we sell the product in overseas markets is, if I can give you a ballpark figure, almost 2.5 times the price at which we sell in India. In India, however, the cost base is also lower. Overseas, the cost base is higher. Despite the higher cost in overseas markets, we receive better price realization and better margins there because customers..are willing to pay that price. In India, we have to be very conscious of competition and of the pricing that customers are willing to pay.”
— Surujit Pal, Vice President & Head of Investor Relations
Geographic diversification is central to Uflex’s strategy for reducing exposure to trade disruptions, shipping constraints and geopolitical shocks.
“We want to be near our customers. Wherever we have a large market, we cater to the Middle East through our Dubai facility. In the US and other places, we cater through our Mexico facility. In Europe, we cater through our Poland and Hungary facilities, and in Nigeria, we cater to African customers.
We are trying to be near our customers in all these markets so that the geopolitical events taking place, and the difficulty of shipping from one place to another, do not affect us. We are de-risking our topline model in such a way that at least 75% of our turnover should come from being near to our customers. That is the policy we have adopted.”
— Arun Kumar Sharma, President – Finance and Accounts & CFO
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