KRBL Limited (NSE: KRBL) Q1 2026 Earnings Call dated Aug. 08, 2025
Corporate Participants:
Unidentified Speaker
Ashish Jain — Chief Financial Officer
Anil Kumar Mittal — Chairman & Managing Director
Ayush Gupta — Head of the Domestic Division
Analysts:
Unidentified Participant
Himanshu Upadhyay — Analyst
Amit Agarwal — Analyst
Jatin Chawla — Analyst
Soumen Choudhury — Analyst
Hitesh Goel — Analyst
Ishant Lalwani — Analyst
Pawandeep Singh Bhatia — Analyst
Gursidak Singh — Analyst
Krushi Parekh — Analyst
Raman KV — Analyst
Chetan Doshi — Analyst
Presentation:
operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to KRBL Limited Q1FY26 earnings conference call. As a reminder, all participant 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 touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded.
I now hand the conference over to Mr. Ashish Jain, Chief Financial Officer of KRBL Ltd. Thank you. And over to you sir.
Ashish Jain — Chief Financial Officer
Thank you and welcome everyone and thank you for joining us Today we have Mr. Anil Kumar Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Anup Kumar Gupta, Joint Managing Director, he’s going to join us in some time and Mr. Ayush Gupta, head of the India Business, as key speakers on the call. To kick off the call, Mr. Mittal will provide updates on the business industry and our overall strategy. Following that, Ayush will delve into the domestic business. Finally, I will present the financial overview of the company for the quarter ended June 30th 25th. Once the management has concluded their opening remarks, we will open up the floor for Q and A. Please note that some of the statements made during this call may contain forward looking information and actual results may vary. From these statements you can refer to KRBL’s investor presentation available on Stock Exchange website and our own website.
Now I would like to invite Anilji to share his views.
Anil Kumar Mittal — Chairman & Managing Director
Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for joining us today for the Q1 FY2026 earthing call of KRBL Limited. I hope you and your families are safe and in good health. It gives me great pleasure to share our performance update for the quarter and speak about key developments in the global rice market. India’s positioning and our Roadmap Ahead Let me begin with the global Rice outlook. As per the USDA’s latest forecast, global rice production for the marketing year 202526 is estimated at 542 million metric tons, which is broadly flat compared to last year. However, global consumption is expected to increase to 541 million metric tons, up from 534 million metric tons in the preceding year.
This increase is largely given by India where consumption is projected to rise by 4.5 million metric tons. Even with consumption catching up, the market continues to maintain a comfortable balance. India’s competitive pricing and consistent quality remain our key advantages. Further solidifying our leadership in global rice trade, focusing now on India, our country has once again achieved a record rise. Production with the USDA estimating a total of 151 million metric tons for 2526, up from 149 million metric tons in the previous year. Since last year, India has surpassed China to become the world’s largest rice producer.
This historic milestone is a result of expanded cultivation, attractive price realization for farmers and favorable climatic conditions. On the Basmati front. We expect production in FY25 26 to remain strong, supported by increased sowing of new pre resistant seed varieties. Pest resistant seed varieties varieties such as Pousa, 1885 a substitute of 1121 Pusa, 1847 a substitute of 1509, 1886, a substitute of 1401 and 16377, a substitute of Pusa have performed well in the previous season, delivering better yields, improved disease resistance and superior grain quality. These developments are encouraging as they help improve farmer incomes while ensuring higher consistency in quality and supply.
As we move into FY 2026, Basmati paddy prices are expected to stay stable with a slight softening in certain regions due to strong output and balanced inventories. India’s export performance in FY 2025 was exceptional. Basmati rice export reached approximately 6 million metric tons, a 16% increase over the previous record of 5.2 million metric tonnes. In FY 2024, non basmati exports were equally strong, rising by 27% year over year to reach 14 million metric tonnes. These numbers reflect robust demand for Indian rice globally, supported by favorable pricing and strong government backing for trade. This positive momentum has continued into a new financial year.
During the first two months of FY 2026, India basmati exports have grown by 27% year on a year while non basmati exports have increased by 20%. These trends underscore India’s pivotal role in the global rice value chain. Geographical and trade developments continue to shape the operating environment. India’s stance on the Indus Waters Treaty is expected to create long term implications for Pakistan Basmati production, potentially reducing its competitiveness in export markets. This could shift additional demand towards India, benefiting Indian exporters like krbl. The recent signed India UK Free Trade Agreement marks a pivotal moment in the economic partnership between the two countries.
While the agreement does not currently extend different tariff concessions or preferential treatment specially for milled Basmati rice, it opens up several broader avenues that are expected to benefit the Indian ethnic food sector significantly. One of the key provision of the FTA includes enhanced mobility for Indian professionals along with streamlined business, travel and visa frameworks. This is expected to result in a growing Indian diaspora and professional base in the uk, thereby expanding the consumer base of Indian food products including basmati rice. From our previous prospective at krbl, the FTA enhances the long term growth potential of Indian ethnic products in the uk.
It expands our addressable market strengths, distribution opportunities and position us well to capitalize our rising consumption trend for authentic premium Indian food products among both diaspora and mainstream consumers. We will continue to monitor the regulatory landscape for future tariff revisions while leveraging this and enhanced market environment to deepen our presence in the uk. Regarding the United States, it is important to update you on the recent development impacting Indian rice exports. The US Government has recently imposed reciprocal tariffs with India facing a 25% duty on its export including Basmati rice which this While this presents a short term headwind, we broadly expect that the ongoing dialogue between India and US will lead to a negotiated settlement in the near future, as both countries have historically worked together resolving such trade frictions.
In long run we believe these issues will be stabilized. However, if the 25% tariff were to remain in place over the extended period, it could impact the overall competitiveness of Indian basmati rice in the US Market. Notably, basmati rice from Pakistan currently faces a lower tariff of around 19% which gives it a 6% pricing advantage, potentially shifting some market share in their favor. That said, KRBL’s business exposure to the US remains relatively limited. Therefore, the financial impact on our company is expected to be minimal. On the logistics front, while the Israel Iran conflict has added uncertainty in the region, there has been no material impact on our shipments or freight costs thus far. Our diversified distribution network and strong relationship with logistics providers has helped us maintain reliable delivery timelines even in challenging times.
Now turning to KRBL’s performance in Q1FY 2026, our export revenue for the quarter stood at 489 crore compared to 247 crore in Q1 2025 reflecting a growth of 98%. Total revenue came in at Rupees 1584 crore. Led by the strong momentum in our export business, we reported an EBITDA of 225 crore and a profit after tax of rupees 151 crore. This number reflects that such of our operational strategy, procurement, planning and product positioning across key international markets.
Saudi in this quarter has remained little slow after Ramadan orders are coming but now with the same pace as was expected, not with the same pace as it was expected. KRBL has received all necessary Indian approvals to establish a subsidiary in the Kingdom. This marks a critical step towards deepening our presence in this region where India Gate is already a household name. We look forward to sharing further updates in the coming quarter as we move ahead with on ground operations. Looking forward to rest of the FY2026 we remain confident of maintaining our growth trajectory in both export and domestic markets.
With demand continuing to rise, global supply remaining stable and strong support from farmers and government policies, we see multiple tailwinds for the rice industry and for krbl. Our focus remains on premonization, brand led growth, expanding distribution and maintaining the highest standard in quality and sustainability. I would like to close by thanking all of us shareholders, business partners and employees for their continued support. Your trust in KRBI drives our commitment to deliver excellent and sustainable value.
Thanks to everybody and I will now hand over to Ayush Ji.
Ayush Gupta — Head of the Domestic Division
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. It is my privilege to address you today as we open a new chapter in KRBL’s journey the quarter one of financial year 2026. This quarter’s performance demonstrates not just momentum but the depth of transformation that is taking root in our India business. At the outset I want to reaffirm KRBL’s unwavering commitment to becoming a future ready multi brand multi category FMCG leader. Our strategy remains focused on deepening consumer connections, strengthening our distribution muscle and expanding into high potential high margin categories. It’s a strong start to the year. Domestic sales excluding power for quarter one financial year 26 stood at rupees 1063 crore up by 15% versus quarter one FY25.
This growth was driven by robust volume gains up across both Basmati and non basmati portfolio. Branded Basmati sales grew by 16%. Branded non basmati sales surged by 77% driven by our focused regional rice play and strong traction in core markets. This performance underscores that our portfolio choices made over the past two years are paying off. We are seeing profitable growth across the categories we have chosen to lead. Our retail reach now stands at 3.6 lakh outlets in quarter one, up from 2.9 lakh outlets in quarter one financial year 24 reflecting steady year on year expansion, numeric distribution has improved to 58% up by 120 basis points.
Weighted distribution is up by 360 basis points. These gains are not just about coverage, they are about depth. Our push into semi urban and rural Bharat continues to pay dividends with higher throughputs per store and sustained market share leadership in general trade holding steady at 37.9%. E Com remains a star performer. Market share is at 44% at the June exit of 2025, up by 200 basis points. Volume of take in E commerce channels is at 34% year over year with nearly 70% growth in quick commerce. The modern trade channel faced category headwinds with packaged vast smoothie segment declining 22% in the quarter versus same time last year.
Additionally, we are seeing the rise of private labels in select retailers which is putting the channel market share under stress. Our new India Gate packaging which was launched in January of 2025 with the intent of educating and empowering consumers is resonating strongly across with 95% of consumers finding it significantly more appealing, informative and distinct. Taking the brand agenda further, we have identified key elements of value to drive equity and growth for Brand India Gate. This is in line with our goal of moving the brand from a functional role to a more evolved emotional and social role in the lives of our consumers.
This quarter saw this getting translated into brand building. One of the core value elements identified was transmitting Indian values through food and with Mr. Amitabh Bachchan we launched a 360 degree national campaign Taste of Indian Values with a 5 week national presence in the months of June and July. This campaign has garnered positive response and high engagement and we expect this to translate into strengthening our brand equity further in the coming times. The core element is that of social impact and we embarked on this journey last year with our powerful initiative Grains of Hope aimed at building a hungerless world by empowering Indians to pledge towards feeding underprivileged children across the nation.
This was very well appreciated and also brought us recognition, winning a prestigious Abbey’s Gold Award, reinforcing our leadership in purposeful brand communication. On the media side, Brand India Gate kept a healthy six week presence on TV and digital platforms in quarter one in line with our annual operating plan of 32 weeks on air Force. The full year our brand initiatives have led to our top of mind recalls significantly rising by 400 basis points and this has also helped move the needle on household penetration which now stands at approximately 10% up by 480 basis points year over year.
One of the most exciting stories this quarter has been the launch of Uplife’s Healthy Edible Oils Applive Weight Watcher for Weight Management Applive Gut Pro for Gut Health. The journey so far has been immensely rewarding in terms of capability building, strategic learning and organizational maturity. The Uplife platform taps into real underserved consumer needs and gives us a clear right to win in the health space. Our right to win is built on three factors. First, brand trust leveraging indiagate’s credibility Second, differentiated positioning functional health benefits backed by clear science and third, Execution excellence rapid distribution in top category outlets.
We have captured 5% market share in launched modern trade platforms and cities. We have executed a general trade launch in core markets which is Delhi, NCR, Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab covering 8000 top category outlets and we have achieved repeat orders of approximately 35% of our launch volumes in just 45 days proving product acceptance and demand with gross margins in the range of 25 to 30% and rising consumer awareness, we are confident of crossing approximately 40 crores in revenue in financial year 26 from this launch alone in a category which is a 1800 crore segment and growing at a 20% year over year.
I would like to emphasize that we are looking at AppLife as a comprehensive health and wellness platform and that we will soon be expanding our portfolio with more innovative products spanning multiple categories. Our goal is to reach a 300 crore revenue milestone in this segment over the next three to five years. Meanwhile, our Ready to Cook Biryani Masala continues to gain traction and scale up profitably with a quarterly growth of 33% in revenue. Looking ahead, quarter one financial year 26 has set a strong foundation for the year. We will continue deepening penetration in Bharat Use data led decision making to sharpen sales and marketing execution, scale up life as our health and wellness pivot with a pipeline of new innovations and drive premiumization and SQ mix optimization to strengthen gross margins.
In closing, I want to reiterate this is not growth for growth’s sake, it is growth with discipline, with focus and with a clear view of long term value creation. KRBL is not just selling rice, we are building brands, expanding categories and reshaping the way India thinks about packaged foods. With the momentum of quarter one, the strength of our brands and the clarity of our strategy, I am confident that financial year 26 will be a landmark year in KRBL’s transformation journey.
Thank you. I will now hand it over to Ashish Jain for comments on the financial statement.
Ashish Jain — Chief Financial Officer
Thank you. Ayush. I will now take you through the performance for the quarter ended June 30, 2025. All figures mentioned by me would refer to the Consolidated financials of KRBL Limited for the quarter under question. Total income was at 1617 crores, higher by 32% over the corresponding quarter last year. Export revenue as Anilji mentioned grew by 98% on account of growth in private label business while domestic revenue excluding power grew by 15%. Other income in the quarter was higher on account of incremental interest income of around 10 crores on account of higher treasury investments during the quarter.
Our gross margin for the quarter stood at 25.7% compared to 23.2% in the same quarter last year, higher due to lower average basmati cogs. EBITDA margin for the quarter was also higher at 13.9% versus 11.4% due to higher gross margin. Finance cost for the quarter was lower at 1.4 crores as against 4.8 crores due to lower borrowings during the quarter. Profit after tax for the quarter was at 151 crores or 9.3% in margin terms as against 87 crores or 7.1% in the corresponding quarter. I will now share a comparative analysis of first quarter of current financial year versus the preceding quarter which is the quarter ended 3-31-25.
We delivered a healthy sequential performance as well with revenue from operations rising 10% quarter on quarter driven by a 6% increase in domestic sales and a 17% increase in export sales. The growth in domestic revenue was due to both volume and realization growth while export saw expansion in the private label export Other income includes other income for Q1 includes higher interest income as compared to the preceding quarter by 6 crores while it also includes a 16 crore gain on sale or mark to market gain on investments. Gross profit in quarter one is lower in comparison to that in quarter four primarily due to change in sales mix.
In other words, we have a higher proportion of export bulk sales which tend to give lower margin as compared to the branded export sales. EBITDA in quarter one followed the trend in gross profit partially benefiting from lower proportionate employee costs as well as optimization and other expenses. Moving on to inventory, our total inventory as of June 30th 25 stood at 2,950 crores 53 crores. This includes 350 crore 54 crores in PADI inventory which was at 596 crores at the same time last year and 2,438 crores of rice inventory versus approximately 2,936 crores as of June 30th, 2024.
On volume basis as of June 30th, paddy and rice inventory stood at 91,000 tonnes and 392,000 tonnes respectively compared to 141,000 tons of paddy and 425,000 tons of rice as of June 30th 24. The decline in inventories due to both lower per unit cost and as well as lower volume. Moving on. Cash balance which includes treasury investments was at 1281 crores as of June 30, increased from 349 crores at the same time last year. With that I come to the end of my prepared remarks.
I will now like to hand over to the moderator for opening the Q and A. I will just like to mention that as the ED matter is subjugated, we will not be in a position to respond to queries on that matter. So over to the operator now.
Questions and Answers:
operator
Thank you very much. We will now begin with the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press Star then one on their touchstone phone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press Star then. Two participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Our first question comes from the line of Himanshu Upadhyay from Bugle Rock pms. Please go ahead.
Himanshu Upadhyay
Hi, good afternoon and congrats on good set of numbers. See there is this on exports we have stated at one place that good growth is because of private labels and at another place it is written good growth because because of growth in bulk sales. Okay, can you give the bifurcation between how much of our business was through our own brand, private level label and bulk sales in this quarter and what really led to the growth? Because I am Referring this is one slide 8 and the other is slide 33.
Ashish Jain
Yes, so I’ll clarify. See, private label and bulk export are the same thing. Basically same segment where we supply bulk volume on a private label basis to importers overseas. In terms of the breakup between the two side which is branded and bulk that we generally don’t share. But bulk business tends to be bulky. So These are large B2B orders. AS and when that sale happens it leads to a bump up in export revenue.
Himanshu Upadhyay
And one thing, follow up on this. When we are selling the bulk sales, what we are doing are we also doing packaging and everything for the other person in their own brand and selling it out. Let’s say 1kg bulk 5kg packs for their brand and then we are selling or it is just volume.
Ashish Jain
It is so the pack size is usually 10 kilos and above in private.
Anil Kumar Mittal
Label 10 kilo into 440 kilo 4040.
Himanshu Upadhyay
But is the customer’s brand and everything Written on that pack.
Ashish Jain
Yes, yes.
Himanshu Upadhyay
So we do the packaging and then export it.
Ashish Jain
Yes. So sourcing, processing, packaging, all of it is done by us.
Himanshu Upadhyay
Okay. And secondly on this just one observation. Okay. The last few years we have gone into regional rice before that into one other category also cereal, breakfast cereal category and an oil category all time. We have seen that we have been very optimistic and have not gone into that category or grown that category. How confident are we on the oil segment and what have been our learnings? Okay. And is regional rise still focus or it is now out of focus for us. So some thoughts on that?
Ayush Gupta
Yeah, thank you for the question, Himanshu. So on the breakfast cereal, you know, we primarily entered into quinoa a lot of years ago. And quinoa, while we entered mostly from an export perspective, but domestic, you know, we’re still retailing that product. But the demand for a product like quinoa, which is also an export oriented, sorry, you know, it’s a foreign product for India, you know, and a very high priced product. So demand remains little bit minimal. But you know, we are kind of trying our hands more at quinoa, trying some more innovative categories to bump up the demand, but that remains on the smaller side.
However, if I talk about regional rice, we’ve put in an estimate two years ago of 1 lakh metric ton by the end of 20, 28 or 29, I’m not sure. But we are still determined to, you know, to deliver on that commitment. Having said that, regional rice has performed exceptionally well in this quarter. We’ve grown by about 77% in value in this quarter on regional rice. Regional rice had slowed down a year before because there are many regional rice varieties available in the country. And choosing the right one, which is margin accretive, choosing the right one which has a branded play which can give long term value for the organization, was very critical.
So while we expanded rapidly into many varieties and categories, we found success only in few because the industry dynamics allowed us to do that. But we are now slowly again filtering out the right kind of varieties which makes sense for KRBL’s ways of operation. And we are adding more and more regional varieties in our portfolio. But we continue to be determined to deliver growth on regional rights. And I think that’s a segment which is one of the most positive tailwinds for us going forward. Lastly, on the oil segment, as I mentioned in my comments, we are committing to a 40 crore revenue in the first financial year of our launch.
We also see this scaling up to 300 crore portfolio within the applied brand, within many categories that we’ll be launching within apply brand. But again, oil, especially healthy edible oils is a 1800 crore category today and growing at a 20% year on year growth trend. So I think potential is there and category size is there and we have just stepped into it in the quarter one. It’s a new category for us with a new brand as well. We are learning every day and we are moving forward. I think so far what we have done is really, really positive for us and I think we will, you know, it looks like that we will be committed and we will deliver on our commitments.
Himanshu Upadhyay
One small follow up. Sorry to interrupt.
operator
So there are several other participants waiting for that. I’m so sorry. May I request you return to the question queue. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all the participants in the conference, please limit your questions to each participant and you may rejoin the queue for follow up questions. Our next question comes from the line of Amit Agarwal from Leeway Investments. Please go ahead.
Amit Agarwal
Hello. Good morning everyone. Hello.
Anil Kumar Mittal
Good morning.
Ashish Jain
We can hear you.
Amit Agarwal
Yeah. My question is regarding Saudi Arabia exports. This is good news that we are opening our own office there soon. But the idea of hiring our distributor or wholesaler is the target drop now forever. And you also mentioned that you are already facing a slowdown in the Saudi Arabia export market. So to what extent we think that we will be able to achieve the turnover in Saudi Arabia this year.
Anil Kumar Mittal
See, as far as Saudi is concerned, we will be very new. As far as our direct distribution will be concerned by opening the office and it might, I do not know, it will take a year or two year to remove the current distributors to whom we are working. It is too difficult to answer that question at this moment. If we get a momentum and we start doing at early times very well, then definitely one by one we will remove the distributors. Because definitely our profits will also increase and our revenue will also increase reach. So. So that is. That is the prime thing as far as Saudi is concerned.
Amit Agarwal
But you also mentioned that the the you are already facing a slowdown after the Ramadan. So what to what extent we we will be able to achieve this year in Saudi what we are expecting to achieve?
Anil Kumar Mittal
See, after this quarter we will be will let you know what would be the turnover. But let me tell you, it is not me only the whole India. After the Ramadan, the next preceding month is always very slow. And after Ramadan and the preceding month, most of the people they leave the country and go for holidays and vacation. So therefore the quantities come low. But now the orders have started coming and I think so August, September should prove to be good day in Saudi.
Amit Agarwal
But because we have already facing a distributed issue. So will that be a challenge or. I think for this year issue has been sorted out. For this particular year, no.
Anil Kumar Mittal
We are still looking out for the detail outlet distributor for the retail out outlet. But as far as our wholesale business is concerned, what we are going to start do initially when we open an office we will only supply to the wholesalers.
Amit Agarwal
Okay. Okay. And the second question is regarding oil business, sir. As far as my information goes that basically we have been outsourc the product to some third party. So will it be a low margin business or. And how much investment has already been given to the oil product?
Ayush Gupta
Okay, yeah, so yes, we are outsourcing it to a third party but you know, so. So you know, since we already have a backward integration in terms of crude oil manufacturing for ripe bran oil, the raw material still remains ours but refining processes and packaging processes is currently outsourced. Coming to your second part that if this is a low margin business we are actually getting into the healthy edible oil space which connotes more of the functional benefits and talks about a lot of consumer insighting. So this particular segment while relatively small, smaller in the overall category remains a higher margin business compared to the larger category. And as I mentioned we’re looking at a 25 to 30% gross margin from this category in the financial year. In terms of investments, there are not many investments at the back end which is the production part. We continue to invest in brand building and distribution as we scale up our launch.
Amit Agarwal
And my last question regarding the three.
operator
Request to return to the question queue please. Thank you. Okay, our next question comes from the line of Jatin Chawla from RTL Investments. Please go ahead.
Jatin Chawla
Yeah, hi, good afternoon and thanks for the opportunity. My first question is, I think in the results release you’ve also talked about your foray into real estate. So if you could just, you know, kindly tell us what are the plans there.
Anil Kumar Mittal
As far as real estate is concerned? Let me tell you, we have around 150 acre land in our Ghaziabad plant which is valued today around 4000 crore rupees. And we intend to ship this plant about 50 or 80 kilometer away from Ghaziabad somewhere near Meerut. And that land by the time we shift to Meerut it will. By that time it will become about seven, seven and a half thousand crores. We Want to monetize on that land and shift our plant to Meerut side. That is all.
Jatin Chawla
Got it. So what are the timelines here?
Anil Kumar Mittal
It might take two years, two and a half years.
Jatin Chawla
Got. Got it. My second question is on the decline in gross margins on a quarter on quarter basis. So partly I understand this is driven by much higher bulk sales which are at a lower, you know, gross margin. Any other factor? Because the gross margin decline on a quarter on quarter basis is quite sharp.
Ashish Jain
There are no other significant factors. It’s really driven by the sales mix during the quarter. So no other factors.
Jatin Chawla
And when I look at year on year your inventory even in tonnage is lower. One would have thought that given that the Basmati prices are lower, significantly lower this year you would probably be stocking up more. So are you expecting prices to remain low through going forward as well?
Anil Kumar Mittal
We think ourselves to be fortunate because till the time March the prices were quite high. It was not lower as was expected. But from March to June the prices came tremendously down and whole industry was under panic from June onward. In July Angas it has started going upward trend and markets have shown a reasonable rise in the market. Because of this roller coaster behavior in Basmati pricing it is not do advise to give to have big stocks rather than we should have a limited stock and look at the market and then create stocks.
Jatin Chawla
Got it. So our benefit on lower Basmati prices on gross margins is it largely come through or do you expect some more benefit in the next three quarters?
Ashish Jain
No, I think you know overall if you look at the inventory we are we would expect the overall average cost to come down over the next I would say two quarters.
Jatin Chawla
There should be some more benefit in the next two quarters.
Ashish Jain
Correct.
Jatin Chawla
Great. Thanks a lot and all the best for the year.
operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Souman Chaudhary from Mansourovar Financials. Please go ahead.
Soumen Choudhury
Good afternoon sir and thank you for the opportunity. My first question was on the US tariff issue. Our competitor exports a very large quantity to the US now post this 50% tariff which has been done. If they were to pose any problems in exports is it likely that part of this gets shifted to India or the Middle east which are our large markets creating problems in terms of lower realizations and margins.
Anil Kumar Mittal
See, let me tell you, creating a new market is not so easy. Indiagate brand being so strong for us, it is also challenging many times because our prices are very high compared to the competitors. So let us keep one thing in focus that at the moment, definitely exports to America are under worry. Are under worry because 50% is too high a tariff. As far as we are concerned. We have a very limited exposure in America compared to the competitors. But it will not be too good for me to talk about competitors. It is not advisable to talk about competitors.
Soumen Choudhury
No, what I meant was that excess rice gets sold in the domestic market and the demand comes off a little bit. Creating problems for realizations here.
Anil Kumar Mittal
No, I feel, see if, if all of that rice which has to go to America or to other places and if it is sold in domestic market, definitely the market will crash. It will come down. But nobody see, let me tell you, people will keep the rice in stock. It will not. The prices are not going to fall to the extent what we are thinking. Yes, definitely there would be an impact on the pricing. No doubt about it.
Soumen Choudhury
Okay. Okay. And I had a couple of questions on the financial side, Mr. Jain. Is it possible to share the quarter on quarter volume growth for the current quarter?
Ashish Jain
Yeah, I can.
Soumen Choudhury
Overall, overall or exports and domestic separately, Whatever.
Ashish Jain
Yeah. So the. I’m sharing the overall rice sale growth in terms of volume. So quarter year on year growth in quarter one is 38%.
Soumen Choudhury
Okay.
Ashish Jain
19.
Soumen Choudhury
Okay. Okay, fine. And just one last thing. On other expenses, other expenses went up quite a bit in the last couple of quarters this quarter. We see a big drop despite turnover increasing so much. So just if you could throw some color on this.
Ashish Jain
Yeah, so I think if you look at the preceding quarter, there were some one offs and also like Ayush had mentioned, there was a packaging relaunch. So advertisement expenses were also higher. If you look at the current quarters, those two factors are not there. So which is why you see a fall.
Soumen Choudhury
Okay, so should we assume this to be a more reasonable rate going forward?
Ashish Jain
Yeah. Subject to any freight rate changes driven by geopolitical events. Otherwise this can, you can look at this at the run rate.
Soumen Choudhury
Okay. Okay, thank you so much. That’s it from my side. Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Hitesh Goel from Origin Capital. Please go ahead.
Hitesh Goel
Yes, sir. Thanks for taking my question and congratulations on good set of results. So basically I just want you to understand there’s a lot of volatility in the gross margin. Right. Because of the bulk exports. So basically can you give us some sense on how you know this gross margins will pan out in this particular year?
Ashish Jain
Yeah, yeah. So you’re right. See like I mentioned, the private labor or the bulk sale tends to be lumpy. And because it’s a B2B business where we are sourcing and packaging in somebody else’s brand. The margins are carry a different profile. So as and when the sale happens, the gross margin does get impacted. But overall, I think earlier maybe in the last call we had mentioned that for financial year 26, we are expecting an improvement in gross margin driven largely by higher exports as compared to last year.
Hitesh Goel
Yeah. So in 20, basically 5, your gross margin on 25%. Right. So basically this year actually in FY26 you’re expecting a higher exports versus last year and mostly driven by bulk. So also branded and domestic, basically the pricing is holding up quite well. Right. So domestic from that perspective.
Ashish Jain
Yeah, yeah, that’s right. So I mean if you look at the market and this is just EBITDA export numbers, if you look at quarter and quarter ended June 30, I mean average rice price, Basmati rice price is down by roughly 15%. While if you look at our domestic realization, that’s actually up by 1% on a year. On year basis.
Hitesh Goel
Yeah. So domestic margins are going up, right from that perspective.
Ashish Jain
Yeah, yeah.
Hitesh Goel
So. So we can assume that it will be higher than 25% in terms of gross margins for next year, right?
Ashish Jain
Yeah, that’s our expectation at this point. Yes.
Hitesh Goel
And other expenses you said will be maintained at this kind of run rate of around 141, 145 crores on a quarterly basis. And any, any view on freight rates because that is on spot basis for you guys. Right. Versus competitors which are making contracts for six months a year. So any color on the freight rates near term, what is happening and what has happened in this quarter?
Anil Kumar Mittal
As far as our understanding is concerned, freight rates are not going to increase because of geopolitical changes. And I am quite confident with our experience that freight rates will not increase. They will remain constant like what they are at present.
Hitesh Goel
Okay. And so my final question on this land of Ghaziabad which you have talked about this. We are going to develop in Ghaziabad or we, we are going to. What are we going to do with this land? Sorry, I didn’t get that.
Anil Kumar Mittal
We are going to develop it because that size of land from our factory or from Ghaziabad up to 60, 70 kilometer. There is no such land in up to 70 kilometer. And it comes into the township only. So we are going to develop the township only.
Hitesh Goel
So we are going to tie up with the developer or we are going to deliver that cell?
Anil Kumar Mittal
No, we will tie up with the developer, definitely will not Take that risk of starting ourselves. But majority will be us and the the developer will have a small share out of it.
Hitesh Goel
Okay. Okay, sir. Great, sir. Thank you. And all the best.
operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Ishant Lalwani from Ashika Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Ishant Lalwani
Hi. Congratulations on a good set of numbers. So what is our total installed capacity in our rice business and what is a current capacity utilization level?
Ashish Jain
Yeah, total total installed milling capacity is 207 metric tons per hour. Now see, rice industry because it’s a seasonal industry. So you can’t look at it in terms of capacity utilization. But given that factor, we operate at an optimum level.
Ishant Lalwani
And any capex going forward?
Ashish Jain
No, no significant capex. We have adequate capacity.
Anil Kumar Mittal
Okay.
Ishant Lalwani
And also how did a ANP spend in Q1 compared with the Y and Y basis?
Ashish Jain
So as comp. I mean it’s comparable to the corresponding quarter last year. It’s just that in the preceding quarter it was higher like I’d explained earlier. But otherwise on a year on year.
Ishant Lalwani
Basis it’s comparable in percentage terms.
Ashish Jain
I don’t have that number right now. I can share it with you.
Ishant Lalwani
Also, how did you see your EBITDA margins in our applied brand in edible oil business going forward? How do you see in two to three years?
Ayush Gupta
As I mentioned see, we are looking at a 25 to 30% gross margin. Obviously because it’s launch and there will be heavy investments both in terms of exposure, expanding distribution, branding, marketing. Because it’s also health proposition, there are going to be significant advertising and promotional expenses. So we don’t see it coming as a positive EBITDA for at least the first three years. Post three years we have planned a positive EBITDA from this category from the launch of oil in the category.
Ishant Lalwani
Thank you. Thank you so much.
operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Pawan Deep Bhatia from NV Alpha. Please go ahead.
Pawandeep Singh Bhatia
Yeah, hello.
Ashish Jain
Yes, we can hear you. Go ahead please.
Pawandeep Singh Bhatia
Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Sir, I also had the questions around the land in Ghaziabad. Everything is answered. Thank you, sir.
Ashish Jain
Okay.
operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Gursi Dak Sen from Prudent Equity. Please go ahead.
Gursidak Singh
Yes, yes, we can hear you. So my question is regarding the land in Ghaziabad. What is the timeline for the monetization for the same?
Anil Kumar Mittal
It’s around two and a half years.
Gursidak Singh
And by what time do you plan to shift your production to Maharma?
Anil Kumar Mittal
It is too early to comment. There is no it’s too early to comment anything but we have a plan of two and a half to maximum three years.
Gursidak Singh
Okay. And my second question was regarding the expansion towards newer markets. Is there a plan for FY26 towards new markets like Australia and maybe other places.
Anil Kumar Mittal
We are already doing. We are market leaders in Australia. Australia we are doing very fine. Other places we are doing fine. Only the we are weak in Saudi Arabia which we intend that after opening the office the things should streamline.
Gursidak Singh
Okay, thank you.
operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Khrushi Parikh from Bugle Rock pms. Please go ahead.
Krushi Parekh
Yeah, hi. So my question is again related to inventory which was answered earlier but just trying to get some sense what led to the volatility in the raw material prices? And based on our experience, how are we looking to build up inventory during this year? Now in terms of volume.
Anil Kumar Mittal
See, as far as inventory is concerned, it will depend upon what prices the new crop opens up. If the new crime. Let us say we look at last four years, the pricing pattern and we find that the prices have opened up 15 to 20% lower than the previous three years. Definitely. Then for us to build up an inventory is not problematic because rather putting money into bonds and here and there we can put into inventory. We don’t have any problem of the funds. The inventory creation is not a problem. The problem is to evaluate whether it is the right pricing or not that is the main concern. And looking to the crop, present crop which has been sown and which is going to come from 1st of October 2025, I believe if the prices open 5 or 10% lower than this year, we are going to have a huge inventory.
Krushi Parekh
Right. So. So the question was again because even last year we saw the acreage for Basmati increasing and we were hoping that the prices would decline. And in some, in some ways, based on the data, even in your, based on your presentations as well, the prices of Basmati have declined to an extent. So I was just trying to understand. Volatility is one thing that you mentioned. But what were the factors for that volatility? And I get your point. 2026 maybe the year where we may want to build up some inventory.
Anil Kumar Mittal
That’s a very good question. Let me tell you. We never anticipated that ending 25 will have an export export volume of about 6 million tonnes. Plus first of all we were expecting 5.25 million ton and instead of 5.25 million ton it stood at 6 million ton. That is number one secondary even in domestic market has increased by 10 to 12% this year. There has been a very good demand in the domestic market market. So there were these two failures on the part of KRBL to evaluate the export the total quantum in export market and the total quantity in domestic market.
Krushi Parekh
Okay, got it. And all the best, sir. Thank you.
operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Raman KV from Sequent Investments. Please go ahead.
Raman KV
Hello sir, can you hear me? Sir, sorry if this question is repetitive as I joined little late. So can you just explain during the quarter how like the reason for 32% sales growth as well as to 200 basis point margin improvement?
Ashish Jain
Yeah, sure. So see the year on year sales growth is led by our export business. So during the quarter our export business almost doubled in terms of revenue. And the growth in this was led by the private label side of the export business. So that’s what drove While the domestic business also grew by about 15%. Higher revenue along with lower average cost of goods sold is led to the higher margin during the quarter.
Raman KV
Okay, sir. Sir, and my second question is with respect to the oil, the cooking oil segment. So from what I can see from the presentation, it’s more like a healthier oil which has 40% less fat retention and stuff like that. So I just want to understand what how is our oil different from, you know, other established healthy oil brands and basically what, what’s our right to win in this crowded segment of who paying oil?
Ayush Gupta
Yeah, thank you Raman for the question. So you know we’ve launched two variants in the segment and this segment as we all know is dominated by Marico’s Fola brand and it’s almost 1800 crore category which is growing at a 20% year over year. And mainly in the healthy edible oil segment, everyone’s just talking about one thing which is heart health. So you know, when we launched Applive we wanted to create a differentiated positioning for ourselves and hence applif with a value proposition to a younger India. The 25 to 35 India which is now the mass population in the urban countries and have more spending power.
And the two variants that we launched were Applied Weight Watchers and Applied Gut Pro. Weight Watchers being for weight management and Gut Pro for your healthy gut. Both these variants are backed by science and clinical studies in the aspects that they provide as benefits. And we feel our brand India gate credibility will be a great leverage for us to enter the consumer households. As I said, in the last four months of our launch we’ve been able to get a very clear view from consumers that our positioning has been well accepted. So we feel that’s a great win in a category that which is owned by legacy players for so long that we were able to create a white space, identify a white space and launch a product. Lastly our execution excellence in terms of distribution in top category outlets and lastly the marketing efforts that we are putting behind the brand. I think this gives us the right to win in this category, sir.
Raman KV
A follow up on this segment itself sir. One I just want to understand what the difference between your two oil which you launch one is with respect with respect to Gut flow and another with respect to Weight Watchers. One is that and second part of that is you said you will do roughly about 40 crores this year from your cooking oil segment. How much growth are you expecting from this segment in next year like FY27 and will it be EBITDA positive?
Ayush Gupta
Yeah. So the two variants Weight Watchers and Gut Pros have different blends. Gut Pro is a blend of rice bran oil and soybean oil and Weight Watches is a blend of rice bran oil and sunflower oil. In terms of revenue growth as I mentioned will be 40 crores is what we planned this year. In the next year it’s about close to 150 crores. And EBITDA positive. We plan to be EBITDA positive by the mid of third year or by the end of third year.
Raman KV
Thank you sir. And from can you give any growth guidance from the with respect to the entire company for FY26 and 27?
Ashish Jain
Yeah. I mentioned our expectation at this point is that a revenue of more than 6000 crores for current financial.
Raman KV
Thank you sir.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Chetan Doshi from TM Financial. Please go ahead.
Chetan Doshi
Yeah. Thank you for giving me the opportunity and congratulations for good set of numbers after a long time we are seeing quarter on quarter jump as far as the top line is concerned. And even bottom line is much better. Now my one question is that this real estate thing, will it be a separate entity or it gets added to the top line of our company? Because in next two years we’ll be a 10,000 crore company if that gets added to it.
Ayush Gupta
Yeah.
Ashish Jain
So see all what we’ve done is that we’ve put in place an enabling resolution which is also subject to shareholders approval. And in fact in terms of structuring we are looking at all options in terms of whether to do in the main entity or a subsidiary. And we’ll update you I think as and when that’s concluded.
Chetan Doshi
Okay, thank you.
operator
Thank you. We take this as the last question. Thank you very much, members of the management team. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of KRBL Limited, that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us. And you may now disconnect your lines.