Aptech Limited Q4 FY23 Earnings Conference Call Insights

Key highlights from Aptech Limited (APTECHT) Q4 FY23 Earnings Concall

Q&A Highlights:

• [00:31:52] Sunny asked about the same store outlook going forward. Anil Pant MD said that the same store sales growth will look about the same. And the future growth would come from expansion, with plans of opening more than 100 stores in FY24.

• [00:32:26] Sunny also asked about the kind of mix of store opening in FY24. Anil Pant MD replied that it will be similar to last year, while international will also be part of it.

• [00:43:41] Manikant enquired about the 1Q being always soft in terms of margins for the last three years and if it’s going to be the same in 1Q24. Anil Pant MD replied that margins would be similar by the numbers would not be in line with 4Q23 but will be significantly better than what was reported in 1Q23.

• [00:45:38] Jash Shah asked about reason for substantial increase in trade payables on cash flow statement. T.K Ravishankar CFO said that it’s due to one large customer’s money being realized later and due to the business partner’s agreements being executed.

• [00:47:25] Jash Shah asked for any updates on further investment or metrics for ProAlley since the last update in Q1 FY23. Anil Pant MD replied that significant investments have been made in content development and the company is still finding ways to scale up customer acquisition without burning money like edtech companies. The belief is that the right mix will be found to benefit the organization.

• [00:50:22] Sunny Gosar  asked how are newer segments like aviation and preschool evolving and what is the growth plan for these segments as MAAC, Arena, Lakme, and Aptech Learning mature. Anuj Kakkar ED said that the preschool segment was hardest hit during COVID but is being rebuilt profitably post-COVID. The company focuses on domains with large employment potential and the possibility of distributed training or education, with several potential areas being considered.

• [00:55:57] Sunny Gosar enquired about the HCL partnership update. Anuj Kakkar ED answered that APTECHT has not seen much traction with the HCL tie-up. The initial plan did not work out as anticipated and has been reevaluated. The basic precepts of the agreement, including the employment potential and gap between supply and demand in the IT segment, remain unchanged.

• [01:02:58] Mayank asked about the disruption ChatGPT or Generative AI will have to the company’s businesses. Anuj Kakkar EDirector replied that generative AI greatly helps students by making visualization easier and improving the quality of their creative outputs. The company is training sales counselors to use BARD and GPT-4 to answer student queries in real-time and expects generative AI to have immense benefits for the creative process.