Flair Writing Industries Ltd (NSE: FLAIR) Q3 2026 Earnings Call dated Jan. 30, 2026
Corporate Participants:
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod — Managing Director
Darshi Jain — Investor Relations
Alpesh Porwal — Chief Financial Officer
Analysts:
Kapil — Analyst
Aradhana Jain — Analyst
Sneha Talreja — Analyst
Resha Mehta — Analyst
Manpreet Arora — Analyst
Nilesh Doshi — Analyst
Presentation:
operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Flair Writing Industries Limited Q3 and 9M FY26 earning conference call. As a reminder, all participants lines will be in the listen only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing Star then zero on your touchstone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Ms. Darshi Jain. Thank you. And over to you.
Darshi Jain — Investor Relations
Thank you. Good morning everyone. Welcome to the Flare Writing Industries Q3 and 9 months FY26 earnings conference call today. On the call we have Mr. Vimal Chandrad, Managing Director, Mr. Mohit Rathod, Whole Time Director, Mr. Sumit Rath and Mr. Alpesh Purwal, the Chief Financial Officer. A short disclaimer before we start this call. This call will contain some forward looking statements which may be based upon our beliefs, opinions and expectations of the company as of today. These statements are not a guarantee of future performance and will involve unforeseen risks and uncertainties.
With that I would now like to hand over the conference call to Mr. Vimar Chandra, the Managing Director for his opening remarks. Thank you. And over to you sir.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod — Managing Director
Good morning and welcome everyone. Thank you for joining our Q3 and 9 months FY26 earning call. I hope everyone had the opportunity to go through our investor presentation and press release that have been uploaded on the exchange. We are delighted to present a strong Q3 FY26 performance highlighting by a robust 20.1% year on year revenue growth, a 25.7% increase in EBITDA and 13.2% increase in PET. We are forming solid momentum and resilience of our business. Our performance in nine months FY26 has been particularly encouraging and with a strong 18.6% increase in revenue in year on year our revenue growth has consistently surpassed our stated guidance of delivering a 15% CADAR.
Reflecting a sustained momentum across our business and the strength of our underlying growth drivers. Hence, we are confident in surpassing our guidance of 15% for FY26. We are also honored with the Excellence Award 2325 at the Plex Concept Platinum Jubilee Celebration. Further reinforcing our leadership as a key exporter of writing instruments and stationery from India for over four decades. In line with our strong performance and positive outlook, the Board of Directors has approved an interim dividend of 50 paisa per share representing 10% of face value of our equity shares. Going forward, our focus will continue to be on driving innovation supported by scalable and sustainable operations and a strong brand foundation enabling us to deliver long term growth and maintain industry leadership in the years to come.
I now hand over the call to Mr. Alpesh Porwal, our CFO to discuss in detail about our Q3 FY26 and 9 months FY26 financial performance. Thank you.
Alpesh Porwal — Chief Financial Officer
Thank you MD sir, let’s review the consolidated financial performance for Q3FY26. Revenue from operations for Q3FY26 stood at INR 317.7 crores, an increase of 20.1% year on year. The gross profit for the quarter was at INR 161.7 crores which increased by 17.9% over the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Gross profit margin came in at 50.9%, a decrease of 95bps year on year. While it is closer to the historical range, it decreased mainly due to a change of product mix. EBITDA for the quarter was at INR 56.9 crores registering a growth of 25.7% year on year.
EBITDA margin stood at 17.9% an increase of 80bps year on year. As we see the operating leverage kicking in, the incremental growth in translating more directly into ebitda, reinforcing our confidence in the various business transformation initiatives we undertake from increasing automation to deepening distribution relations for our wide range of innovative products. Profit after tax for the quarter was at INR 33.1 crores increasing by 13.2% on a year on year basis. PAT margins for the quarter were 10.4%. The PAT grew at a slower pace than ebitda primarily because Q3FY25 had a higher other income in Q3FY25 interest from Bank FD sorry in Q3FY25 there was an additional income of 3.2 crores due to sale of fixed assets, profit on sale of fixed assets and investments and also there was a higher interest on the FD amount.
Now the FD amount was an account of use of IPO proceeds for capex and expansion activities. Our pence business grew by 7.3% year on year in Q3 FY26 and overall by 4.7% in nine month FY26. Our pence business continues to maintain its leadership in India and has been a consistent and reliable compounder driven by own brand sales. Our performance was further driven by the remarkable growth trajectory of our creative and steel bottle and houseware businesses. These segments collectively delivered an impressive 78.5% growth year on year. The creative division grew 71.8% year on year to 211 crores in 9 month FY26 while the steel bottles and houseware segment rose to 102.2% year on year to 64 crores.
For Q3 FY26, the growth of both these segments stood at 68.7% and 116.2% respectively. Over time we also do anticipate our revenue mix to shift with creatives and steel bottles contributing a progressively larger share to the overall portfolio across these categories. Our efforts to introduce novel additions and grow the lineup of portfolio has enhanced our shelf visibility. Fueling the robust growth during the quarter, we expanded our Portfolio by introducing 28 new products across all range and categories as on December 31, 2025 we have a total of 240 product offerings in creatives overall for the quarter, our total own brand sales grew by 23.3% year on year to INR 286 crores of which the domestic owned brand sales grew by 22.5% and export owned brands grew by 29.9%.
This quarter’s strong performance in the export sales was also supported by growth in OEM exports by 22.4% bringing the overall export growth to a healthy 26.5%. During the first nine months of FY26 we delivered strong growth with revenue of rupees 927.2 crores registering an increase of 18.6% year on year, an EBITDA of rupees 166.8 crores showing a 20.9% increase year on year and PAT of rupees 104.8 crores showing an increase of 18.8% year on year. This growth came from both domestic and export markets. Domestic owned brand sales stood at Rs. 752.79 crores reflecting a 21.3% year on year growth while export owned brand sales reached rupees 88.38 crores registering an impressive 28.8% growth.
Together, own brand revenues totaled Rs. 841.18 crores marking a 22% increase over the previous year. Export OEM sales contributed rupees 67.37 crores with a 22.6% growth. Overall, domestic sales amounted to rupees 771.4 crores up 17.2% and export sales stood at Rs. 155.75 crores up 26.1%. With respect to the domestic OEM business, our earlier OEM relationships have reduced to zero as indicated in the previous calls. Despite this, we have exceeded our stated growth targets even though performance was moderated by domestic OEM segment as highlighted earlier. We are also pleased to report that new customer engagements through our Flomax subsidiary have added a fresh revenue stream of rupees 6 crores under domestic OEM on CAPEX and expansion initiatives the new Vulchar facility is slated to become partially operational in Q4 which will further strengthen our manufacturing capacity in writing instruments and stationery.
At our Flomax Surat facility, the total Capex as of 9 month FY26 stands at 9.6 crores, primarily directed towards plant and machinery and the subsidiary continues to contribute positively to the creative segment. In addition, we have invested 8.28 crores in second new building currently under construction which is expected to be completed by Q1FY27 on the qualitative front of for the results as Highlighted by our MD SIR, the overall revenue growth as of 9 month FY26 has consistently outperformed our stated guidance of 15% CAGR backed by sustainable and scalable growth delivered by our two diversified business segments I.e.
creative segment and Steel Bottles and Houseware segment. We have high growth visibility over the next two years and thus are confident in delivering higher growth trajectory than our current guidance in the coming two years. While we still have levers to outperform the stated growth currently, we would like to exercise prudence but remain open to adjusting our guidance based on our outlook. To ensure that the exceptional growth trajectory in our creative segment continues well into the future, we are executing a set of strategic initiatives designed to strengthen our foundation and expand our opportunities. Our in house manufacturing share has risen to 75% enhancing operating efficiency, quality control and scalability.
We are preparing a series of new product launches that will broaden our portfolio and keep us aligned with evolving customer preferences. Strategic collaborations are also central to our momentum. Our licensing partnership with Disney continues to bring character based products to market, deepening engagement with younger audiences, while our distribution alliance with Maped France positions us to deliver premium creative products to domestic and global customers. In addition, the Flomax stationery JV is expected to commence manufacturing of wooden pencils and also significantly boost capacity and sharpen our focus on polymer pencils, erasers, sharpeners and allied categories. Together, these initiatives are not only driving current performance but are carefully designed to sustain and accelerate growth in the creative segment.
Ensuring that we continue to outperform guidance and deliver long term value for our shareholders. In steel bottles. In houseware segment, we are driving growth through design innovations with in house lacquering and coloring, strong general trade distribution network supported by modern retail, quick commerce and e commerce with a dedicated distribution team and expanding our portfolio to 50 plus SKUs with continuous new launches to meet all season demands. Having operationalized the Flomax JV in this year and maped partnership starting to contribute to revenue, we are also exploring opportunities for inorganic acquisition in the fast growing segments of our business.
Looking back on the quarter, we take pride in the solid results achieved and extend our appreciation to our stakeholders for their continued support. With this momentum, we are focused on sustaining progress and driving the next phase of growth. Now I open the floor for question and answer session.
Questions and Answers:
operator
Thank you. So now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the Touchstone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue you may press star and two participants are requested to use handset while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question comes from the line of couple from Karnal Asset Management. Please go ahead.
Kapil
Thank you. And first of all, congratulations on a great set of numbers. My first question is can you give highlights about what would be the primary and secondary in the creative and steel bottle segment?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
Yeah. So when we talk about the primary sales in creative Q3 we did about 77 crores and 9 months in 26 which is 211 crores that is of creative which is 72% up than last year. And when we talk about the household category and seal bottle category, Q3 number is at 25. The primary number is at 25 crores in Q3 and 9 month number is at 64 crores which is 102% up than what we did last year.
Kapil
So sir, can we like indicate like how much the secondary sales would have happened out of this?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
So more or less. If you say when we talk about the secondary sales is at par with the primary sales because the distributors or the superstockers would keep stock of maximum 45 days to 60 days. They would not, you know, invest in a company more than that. So the secondary sales is also at par with the primary numbers.
Kapil
Sure. My next question is on the creative segment. Within this segment product would be doing the maximum.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
It’s in creative segment There are almost 18 categories and most of the products are doing very well.
operator
Sorry to interrupt. Kapil, there is a lot of background disturbance from your end.
Kapil
Now it’s fine.
operator
Okay, you can proceed.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
So when you talk about the creative, see, sharing the data would be little sensitive because of the competition. But at the same time we can say in creative, over the years you have launched 18 categories of products where all the new product launches that are, you know, which are standing out in the market are all to do with the innovative, small, small, innovative designs and the packaging what we have initiated. So that’s. And the result is the combination of the products and as well as the placement, what we are doing in the stores, we are increasing the throughput in each and every outlet and we are making sure that all the innovative products, whatever we have launched in last one and a half year are place at the retail level.
Kapil
Got it, got it, got it. And how much would have been the volume growth in Creative segment for us this quarter?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
See, in. In terms of volume, it is very difficult because Creative products does not go in terms of volume. But yes, just to answer that question, in terms of volume in creative, you know, the volume growth is as big as 141%. If you take volume. Because see, in terms of volume, you know, a set of Crayons has 12 colors, 24 colors, a set of coloring range in terms of sketch, when they have, you know, 12 and 24. So it’s very difficult to calculate volumes. But yes, for your number it’s about 141% growth.
Kapil
Got it, got it. And I guess similar would have been in previous quarter also.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
Yeah, in previous quarter also it’s similar.
Kapil
Okay. And within the PEN segment, if you can give a breakup of the realization growth and volume growth.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
So when we talk about the PEN as a category overall in Q3 we have grown by 7% and in over nine months we have grown by 5%. When we talk about the volume, it is about 6% in Q3 and 3% volume in nine months. And to give you some more insight, if we talk about our own brands, the volume has increased by 18% of our own brands and in three months. And when we talk about nine months, the volume of our own brand sales has gone up by 11%.
Kapil
Great sir. Great sir, thank you for answering all the questions. All the rest to you. Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Aradna Jain from BNK Securities. Please go ahead.
Aradhana Jain
Thank you. Congratulations to the team on the good set of numbers. Couple of questions from my side. First Maybe I’ll start with the PEN segment. So PEN witnessed good growth compared to the last couple of quarters that we’ve seen. However, if you see on a nine month basis, it’s still below our guided number of high single digit. So what is the plan around that for the full year? Where do we see this number? And for say FY27, what would be our guidance on the Penn State? That’s my first question.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
So Arana, just to answer your question on Penn, as we mentioned, you know, overall we have grown by 5% guided by a strong Q3 numbers of 7% going forward in Q4 also we are expecting a similar trend because of the run rate and the momentum going our way in this category. So. And we have always maintained that, you know, going forward also in 27, 28 we would be, you know, targeting high single digit number in that because we feel there is a lot of scope in this category going forward.
Aradhana Jain
And in our PEN segment, I believe Hauser XO is our best selling product. Is that right?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
Yeah, yeah.
Aradhana Jain
So would it be possible for you to share that in terms of in the PEN segment, which is like 67, 68% of our overall revenue? How much would Hauser Expo be contributing in the PEN side?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
We would not like to share the number on a call, but if you want anything in personal, we can give you that. But because keeping competition in mind, it’s very difficult to answer this question. But yes, just to answer that, EXO does not contribute a major, a major NAFTI in the overall PEN category.
Aradhana Jain
Understood. And in terms of average realization of pens, have you seen any improvement there? This is say last year.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
No, it’s stable. It’s stable at 5.4 rupees per piece.
Aradhana Jain
Okay. And in the export side of things, which are the key geographies for us for PENCE currently and are we seeing any impact of US tariffs on US and from eu, FCA perspective, do we see any benefit to flow to US from that perspective on the export side of things.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
As far as exports is concerned, you know, we have been doing very, very good in us, uae, Switzerland, Japan, Colombia, the South American market. So all these countries have been growing. And to answer your question, on the U.S. tariffs, U.S. tariffs. See, we were never dependent on us as an export. Overall, if you look at it, it was only 3% of our total top line. But it has not impacted us in any way. US tariffs. And when we talk about EU tariff declaration, we are already exporting to European countries. And with the new trade deal we will definitely gain More momentum in our entire range of products to European nations and increase our exports in near future.
Aradhana Jain
Understood. And in the pen side, have we seen any market share gain in the last say six, nine months period versus what we were at a year back? And what would be our current market share in the pen segment?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
Definitely we have gained our market share in Penn because if you look at the overall our growth in our own brands, which is which I consider as a major business in Penn’s overall growth is almost 18% volume share we have gained in our own brands. So which is very high compared to the competition. So we are not losing or we are not giving it up to any of the competition which is coming up. We are fighting in each and every category.
Aradhana Jain
Understood. Just on creatives, couple of questions. One I wanted to understand we are currently 75% in house manufacturing, right? So what’s the plan going ahead for say the next one year? Are we planning to increase that manufacturing capacity further and how much is the capacity utilization? There is. And are we seeing any improvement in our margins coming directly because of the in house manufacturing that we’ve shifted to.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
See with the new facility coming? And we’ll definitely increase our capacity in creative, you know, currently which is 75%. We tend to bring it to 80% plus in coming quarters. And then we talk about the profitability margins improving. I would say we would be stable at the EBITDA level which we are going currently.
Aradhana Jain
Okay. And from Flomax perspective, if I heard it correct, we’ve already done close to around 910 crores of capex. How much more Capex are we planning to do there? And what’s the kind of revenue potential that we are expecting from the Flomax facility? And by when can we expect those numbers to start flowing in on our creative number?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
To answer your question Aradna, Flomax is already contributing to the revenue of creative out here. We started manufacturing in this financial year. So far you’re right, we have done this. Investments of more than 9 crores in plant and machinery in this year. And in the pipeline is the new facility which we are coming up with the additional unit which we want to bring up. And at Surat we have, we expect an additional 8.5 crores of additional capitalization in terms of building and plant and machinery.
Aradhana Jain
Okay. And in creatives have you started exporting or. It’s all domestic that we are currently doing.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
Export also we have started but it’s very small compared to what we are doing in domestic. It’s too early. We are still catering to the domestic demand.
Aradhana Jain
Understood. Just last question from my end. On the steel bottle side, so fair to assume that whatever sales we are currently doing in the steel bottles is coming from stainless steel bottles or there’s also some bit which started coming from the vacuum insulated tumblers which are fairly new compared to the stainless steel bottles and which are the major channels where we are selling these. And from price point perspective, are we competitive to the other leaders in the market or we are price lower or premium to them?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
To answer this question I would say, you know, when you talk about the vacuum steel tumblers, it’s included in steel bottles only, it is a part of it and we have been always manufacturing from day one, steel tumblers and steel flask, all other part of steel as a category, steel bottle as a category. And other than that, you know, when we talk about the contribution, I would say the overall sales has been contributed mainly and by all three divisions which is general trade, modern trade and E commerce.
Aradhana Jain
And in terms of capacity utilization, where are we in the steel bottle side and do we plan to also expand in the capacity utilization like capacities, the steam bottles going ahead in the next one year? Any plans on that?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
Yeah. So going forward as we progress more and increase the sales and you know have a more penetration into the domestic market, we definitely look into adding more facility and also maybe increase the category in this particular segment.
Aradhana Jain
Understood. I’ll maybe join back with you for any follow ups. Thank you so much and all the best.
operator
The next question comes from the line of Sneha Talreja from Noama Wealth Management Ltd. Please go ahead.
Sneha Talreja
Hi, good afternoon team and congratulations on great set of numbers and thanks for the opportunity. I’ll be quick with just two questions from my end. Firstly, there have been five consecutive quarters that you have exceeded volumes now which is over 15 odd percent volume growth. Now the ask rate is just about 6%. Like you have already mentioned on the call that you know you will be delivering 15% plus for the next two years. But is there any specific guidance that you would want to give us for you know, this year as a whole as well as next year.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
So I think for future guidance. Of course as you know with the current momentum that we are going, we are like, you know, we are quite sure that we’ll outperform our current guidance of 15% and in the near future also with the new pulsar facility also coming fully commissioning in Q1 of next year, I think we are confident that the momentum should continue and we will Definitely outperform our 15% guidance to Ms. Any numbers there? No, I think I would just stick to the momentum that we are going on and as you have seen in the recent past, I think in the near future we will try to continue that.
Sneha Talreja
Sure. And it’s been two consecutive quarters. We’ve seen a great run up in your exports own brand business, would you highlight what are the differentiated changes that you’re doing here? Is it addition of new customers that you’re doing or is it you know, certain specific geography that you started sitting which is working well or is it any anything to do with the China rebate, you know, coming down wherein you know we are replacing China in any particular geography?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
No, I would say it is, you know, as you discussed earlier also it is to do with the kind of product which we have launched in a year and a half. These products are gaining momentum not only in India but even in exports market. And as I mentioned earlier regarding the export sales, we are doing extremely well in the South American market, the Middle east market with a stable American business and European business.
Sneha Talreja
Noted. Just one or two bookkeeping questions from Alpes sir, what would be the sustainable level of other income? We have seen a significant drop. I know you mentioned the reasons in the opening remark but what could be the sustainable number here and also what would be our working capital day standing at this point of time and in case you can give receivables numbers also separately.
Alpesh Porwal
All right. Yeah, you heard me right. That the pat, if I compare the pat from Q2 to Q3 there was just one of items which we saw in Q2 and hence the difference out here, the pat, the other income. We don’t. I mean this income from my foreign exchange fluctuation and the interest on FD and I expect it to continue the range of 3 to 4 crores per quarter, not more than that. And as far as working capital is concerned, we say the working capital in the third quarter normally is on a rise due to a higher stocking of goods which we have seen like especially from whatever we import from China because of the Chinese New Year holidays.
We stock those Items in advance. Q4 is the strongest for us and where we see the movement on all fronts right from the sales point of view to also getting into the consumption or the margins perspective because of the product mix and the larger volume of sales. So we expect the working capital cycle to reduce there. And as I have stated in the earlier calls also the working capital cycle will bring it down by 10 days at least in the by end of this Year.
Sneha Talreja
Understood. Thanks. Thanks your team and all the very best.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants that you may press star and one to ask question. The next question comes from the line of Resha Mehta from Green Edge Wealth. Please go ahead.
Resha Mehta
Thank you. Many congratulations to the team for a very solid set of numbers, especially given the high base. So you know, the first question is basically on the creatives. So you did on the export side. Right. So you did mention that there is negligible exports on the creative side. But if you could highlight, are we exporting anything on the bottle side?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
So that is also very negligible. Only a couple of crores we have exported. But yes, in near future we will focus on export market as well. We are developing few products for them.
Resha Mehta
So is it just product development that is holding us back from starting exports in these two new segments?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
I think we are still focusing on domestic market and developing products which cater to domestic market initially. And then in the meanwhile in coming quarters we will be focusing on export market as well.
Resha Mehta
Right. And you know, on the bottle side. Right. So suddenly our quarterly run rate, you know, which used to be at around 12 crores, has gone up to around 25 crores since the last two quarters. Q2 and Q3. So anything specific there? Because you know, like, you know, because of the anticipation of bis, a lot of other competition, you know they had preloaded inventory imports from China. Right. And you know, like for a lot of our peers, you know, that inventory probably has, you know, gotten extinguished. So is that one of the reasons why we are seeing a pickup in our bottles, you know, quarterly run rate?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
So mainly to do with the new product development which was due to be launched in Q2 and Q3. So we did that and the traction was good in those new developed products. So that is the main reason why we have been able to. Because earlier we had very few products to cater in domestic market. But now we have developed the entire range and it’s an ongoing process which will do it for next few quarters.
Resha Mehta
Now since you know, the non BIS inventory would have probably been exhausted from the system post the festive, would you now say that you all are on an equal footing versus your peers on the bottle side as far as the trade channel acceptability is concerned or are we still focused on, you know, modern trade E Com as the primary channels for bottles?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
See, yes, you know, but it will take more time for us to be in the category of our competition. You know, our base is very small compared to what they are doing. So I think another couple of years and then, you know, it will be fair for everybody to compare us with the competition.
Resha Mehta
Right, right, right. And you know, one thing on the pen side, right. And I, I’m sorry to harp on this again, but you know, 5% revenue growth, when we look at it from a nine months perspective, you did call out that your own brand revenue growth has been higher. Right, but, but you know, when do we see that, you know, overall, you know, the OEM business also you know, kind of picking up because especially if we see the OEM numbers, they have started looking better. And I believe you also, you know, completely shut down the business to that one OEM customer who was, you know, in any case paring down their revenues.
Right. So in that situation then when do we see, you know, that own brand growth kind of starts reflecting in the overall PENS growth that we deliver?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
See, I think, you know, in Penn as a category there are so many different verticals we are catering to. So you know, it’s an ongoing process where one category would do well in, you know, couple of quarters and there would be another category doing, you know, you know, just struggling. But I would say overall, if you look at the numbers, if you look at the overall volume growth, we are not nowhere losing the market share or giving it up to the competition. Even at the high base where we are, we have been growing at 18% in our own brands in terms of volume.
So I would say the OEM used to be a significant part of our top line. But going forward we are focusing more and more on our own branded sales because OEM business is totally dependent on them and quarter on quarter they keep on changing their forecast. So we would rather focus on our own brands.
Resha Mehta
So the OEM business in any case, so the problematic OEM customer anyway, so the revenue recorded in this quarter would be zero, right from them.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
In domestic, yes.
Resha Mehta
So this is for the domestic. But in exports it’s still continuing, right?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
Export is continuing and it’s growing also. So our overall OEM exports has grown by 24% in nine months.
Resha Mehta
So, but then do we see this converging somewhere? You know, our own brands have been doing very well and you know, but the overall pen’s category growth and you know, that was my primary question, that when do we see this kind of converging or you know, at least coming, you know, close to the own brand revenue growth number.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
So overall this or whatever growth we are showing is our own brand growth only, you know, our own branded sales in pen as a category has gone up by 12%, which is reasonably better than what the competition is showing. But I would say 12% in our own brand shows the kind of strength what we have in our brands as well as our distribution capabilities. So I would say going forward, this should stabilize. Keeping in mind the OEM ups and downs in the business. That’s the reason we are always focusing on high single digit growth.
Resha Mehta
So just to clarify, nine months pen revenue growth is 5%. What is the nine months own brand pen revenue growth? That is the number. 12% or.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
12% is a Q3 number. 9% is our own brand sales for nine months.
Resha Mehta
Okay. And volume growth for nine months.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
Volume growth for nine months is 11% our own brand.
Resha Mehta
Understood. So okay, so the gap is like.
operator
Sorry to interrupt, you may rejoin.
Resha Mehta
Yeah, thank you.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
Thank you.
operator
The next question comes from the line of Manpreet Arora from Arora Wealth Advisors. Please go ahead.
Manpreet Arora
Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. Am I audible?
operator
Yes sir, you are audible to us.
Manpreet Arora
Yeah, great, thank you. So sir, first question is on the creative side, you know, one on the market in general and then our strategy in particular. You know, so we have subcategory with site creatives like mechanical pencils, markers, drawing instruments, etc. Now you know, if you can help us understand out of these subcategories, you know which are the biggest categories and is our strategy like are we focusing on a few of these big subcategories or we are creating a large basket to, you know, be available at all points in these subcategories. And then I have a follow up question on the strategy as well.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
So basically we are focusing on three main categories which is to do with the scholastic range, office supply range and the gifting kit range. So these three are the broader categories where we are focusing. And our main growth has also come in this as a category going forward. We would be in coming future, a few quarters later we would be focusing on coloring range as well.
Manpreet Arora
All right, thank you. And sir, you know in the past we have mentioned that we have this. We started, we just started by rolling out into 68,000 outlets. And then we are monitoring how it goes and then we will roll out to a bigger. So what are those KPIs that we are monitoring here before we decide to expand into the channel. So what are those key things that we are monitoring here?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
So the key number, what you’re monitoring here is the value per outlet. Number two will be the number of products or the SKUs which goes in each and every outlet. So these are the Two main numbers we are focusing and unless we have our, you know, the basic targets we achieved there and then we would like to expand.
Manpreet Arora
All right, thank you. Earlier in the call you mentioned that for the Flowmax we have one 6 crore contract with an OEM. Did I hear that right?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
So we have done overall 6 crore business and Flowmax in OEM.
Manpreet Arora
I see. So sir, what is the strategy there? I mean we are doing our own brand as well as OEM on the Flowmax side.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
So Flomax was formed in a way to help us grow in our creative scholastic range. And at the same time earlier also they were doing, you know, few OEM business. So they are continuing with that.
Manpreet Arora
Okay, thank you. My second question is on the working capital side. Now you know in the past you mentioned that especially our inventory days will be higher because we are launching a lot of new products and we want to keep inventory at least in the stage when we are right now growing on the creative segment. But if we look at our receivable days and payables also, sir, for the last three years, you know, our receivable days have also increased every year the last three years. And our payables have come down for the last three years.
So and if we, you know, compare it, compare it with our peers, listed peers in a similar space, you know, especially on the receivable days we are way above. So you know, any color on, you know, is there a difference in our business model or a channel strategy on why these numbers, you know, have increased over the last few years? I’m not talking about inventory because that’s. I understand but more on the receivable, why the days have increased and why the payables have come down. And you know also how our current strategy. Is our current strategy responsible for this or anything that has changed in the business environment. Help us.
Alpesh Porwal
Hi Manpreet. So what you see as working capital cycle out here, it’s a conscious decision. It’s not something that it is not our control. Traditionally we have been giving higher credit and we have always seen if you would see the past balance sheets also you will see a higher number of days against debtors revenue from operations. And this is because of the mass and premium product range which we deal in. And like I reiterate that we have been kind of looking into our numbers and as we launch new segments and new products where we see the opportunity to kind of reduce the receivables, we will go for it.
But by the end of this year we look at at least 10 days improvement. In the entire working capital cycle as far as inventory is concerned. You are right because as we launch new products and there’s a range of products, lot of products which we are launching in different segments including creative and steel bottles, pens we are aware of because we have been in the industry for more than five decades and we are so much kind of, you know, we of how the new say for example the new product is being launched and how it will be accepted or not accepted in creative and steel bottle they are fairly new in terms of the new product launches where we also have newer relationship with our distribution channel and our sales partners and hence we have to maintain a little higher inventory over here.
However, this is a continuous process. But not to say that we are not going to come down on the inventory levels as well as the receivables levels.
Manpreet Arora
So sir, as we scale up, let’s say you know next year when creatives become a little more mature as a part of our portfolio and we get get more insights into the market and how we are doing, do you see some of these things coming down and gradually improving over the next two years?
Alpesh Porwal
We see that thing also. But Manpreet, there’s one point which we need to see is that we need to notice that we have maintained our margins and profitability in spite of these higher things. Now this is a strategy which we adopt which might be different from what the competition adopts. So if you were to compare the bottom lines or EBITDAs of our competitors and the kind of number of days of working capital cycle, it will be quite varied out here so. But yes.
Manpreet Arora
It also impacts our return on capital.
operator
Mr. Mantrip, Mr. Manpreet, you may rejoin the queue for the follow up questions.
Manpreet Arora
Sure. Thank you.
operator
The next question comes from the line of Nirma Mehta from Unique Asset Management. Please go ahead. Please go ahead. Please proceed with your questions.
Aradhana Jain
Hi, thank you for the follow up couple of questions. One, I wanted to know in terms of guidance for CFY27, is it fair to assume that in maintain our guidance of high single digit or is there any change there? And in terms of creative and silly models we still expect like 40, 50% of YoY growth in FY27 and in terms of EBITDA margins said to assume from the current 18% levels to improve slightly there given that now we’ll be further increasing our in house manufacturing capacity in the creative and given that the you know, raw materials are also not, I would say benign.
So do we expect the EBITDA margins also to improve from the current level. So yeah, that’s my first question. On the guidance side how do we see FY27?
Alpesh Porwal
So Aradna, the EBITDA margin will gradually go up as economies of scales kick in and once new units are fully operationalized. Plus this is going to be a continuous process and we would like to maintain the. We would be maintaining the momentum as we see today.
Aradhana Jain
And on the working capital side, fair to assume that the inflated working capital will still continue. There won’t be like we’d earlier guided that we’ll try to reduce our working capital Cycle by say 7, 8 Days for your. We don’t stand by that. Right?
Alpesh Porwal
We do stand by the cycle. Absolutely. Radhana, you are right. Out here we are aware of and it’s a conscious decision to enhance a strategy. Again it’s a strategy specific to us that we have adopted of higher credit period and nothings inventory on the other side is because of the large number of products which we have been launching in an entire universe of our product range. So we see the inventory levels and the receivables coming down and the multiple manufacturing facilities also add to the inventory just to add to that. But yes, 10 days is what we stick to it and we shall achieve that by the end of the year.
Aradhana Jain
Understood. And lastly on the CapEx. So this year we’ll be doing around 80, 90 crores of CapEx. We’re already through with around 60, 65 crores for next year. What is the plan? The Vasaat facility is expected to come online by sale fourth quarter. Suppose that are we still planning to, you know, keep doing this kind of Capex or it will be more like a maintenance capex going ahead for some time being.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
So with the commissioning of the Valsad unit, you know our IPO proceeds commitment would be over by then and then we’ll look towards only the maintenance capex and the investment in the molds for launching new products. So there won’t be any major, you know, manufacturing facility being added until these are fully utilized.
Aradhana Jain
Understood. This was really helpful. Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Resha Mehta from Green Edge Wealth. Please go ahead.
Resha Mehta
Thank you for the follow up. So just you know, on the PENS part. Right. So value growth has been 9% while volume growth has been 11%. And you know, when I look at this in conjunction with that, you know the realizations have been stable at around 5 rupees. Perhaps the premiumization in our pence portfolio is, you know, not happening. Would that be the right conclusion?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
So more or Less if you look at the numbers. See when we talk about premiumization, of course we have a big share of premium product range and mid premium product range. But yes, you know we are the volumes in mass category is increasing at a rapid speed which you know, when we look at the overall numbers it looks at, you know, the overall realization is same.
Resha Mehta
So and you know and this has happened since the last two years, right that the mass segment has again made a comeback.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
Yeah.
Resha Mehta
Right, right, right. And just lastly on the you know what’s the timeline to pare down the promoter stake to 75%.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
Time to. Well, we, we have by the guidelines. We have time till November end of this financial year. I’m of this calendar year.
Resha Mehta
Got it. All right, thank you so much and all the best.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Nilesh from Prospero Wealth Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Nilesh Doshi
Hello, am I audible? Sir?
operator
Yes sir, you are audible to us.
Nilesh Doshi
Good morning Moen. Sir, my question is related to ROE return on equity. See companies generating around 11 to 12% of ROE and so what is the expected ROE company is likely to generate in coming years? Because now the flare is not only a pan producing company but a multi product company and particularly the creative segment and steel bottom segment is the higher growth area. Higher growth segment and generating the higher GP margin. So what what the investor can expect the ROE company will generate in upcoming future.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
So we maintain our pat margins and improve gradually and in the coming period where we see the ROE slated to kind of increase as we, as we, as we move forward as our products also stabilize and our segments are fully explored, you will see absolutely see a higher ROE. It will improve.
Nilesh Doshi
Sir, currently it is around 12% or 11 to 12% and one of the we can say the competitor in listed frame is generating the 20 to 22% of ROE. And now we have added the high growth high margin business creative segment and we may reach to 300 crore rupees of top line in the current year, current financial year. So can we expect around the 15% of ROE to be generated in the next financial year?
Alpesh Porwal
Mr. Nilesh, I would not say give a number out here but surely as you see what we have, you see over here the new segments the of creative and steel bottles in the last three quarters of the performance and you said it right and I would appreciate that you noted that that these are actually going to contribute in a large way in our bottom line and ROE impact. So once the economies of scale kicks in we would see the ROE numbers going up, all the bottom line going up.
Nilesh Doshi
So in other way, can we expect that the capacity will be utilized once the expansion is over, which will generate the higher revenue as well as the higher profit, and thereby our ROE can be improved?
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Nilesh Doshi
Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, sir. All the best.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
Thank you.
Alpesh Porwal
Thank you.
operator
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. That was the last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to management for closing remarks.
Vimalchand Jugraj Rathod
We would like to thank you all for taking time, taking our time for this call. Any further queries and questions, you can reach out to our MUFG In Time, our IR advisors. Thank you.
operator
On behalf of MUFG In Time Private Limited. That concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. And now you may disconnect your lines.