P N Gadgil Jewellers Ltd (NSE: PNGJL) Q3 2026 Earnings Call dated Feb. 10, 2026
Corporate Participants:
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil — Chairman and Managing Director
Analysts:
Rajiv Bharati — Analyst
Unidentified Participant
Gunit Singh Narang — Analyst
Dinesh Kulkarni — Analyst
Presentation:
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, you’ve been connected to P.N. gadkill Jewelers Limited Q3FY26 earnings conference call. Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to PN Gadgal Jewellers Limited Q3FY26 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 touchstone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded.I now hand the conference over to Mr. Rajiv Bharti from Nuvama Wealth Management. Thank you. And over to you sir.
Rajiv Bharati — Analyst
Thank you Shruti. On behalf of Nuvama, it is our absolute pleasure to welcome you all to PN Gadgets Jewelers Q3FY26 earnings conference call from the management today we have Mr. Saurabh Gadgil, Chairman and Managing Director. I would now hand over call to the management for the opening remarks. Over to you Saurabh.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil — Chairman and Managing Director
Thank you Rajiv. Good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining us today for the PN Gardil Jewelers Q3FY26 earnings call. I hope all of you had an opportunity to review our financial results, our press release and the investor presentation which are also available on the stock exchanges and on the company’s website.
I would like to welcome Mr. Deepak Vijay who has recently joined the company as the Chief Financial Officer. Coming to numbers this quarter, gold prices continued their upward trajectory marking a rise of over 70% year over year and 15% on a quarter on quarter basis. Despite the elevated price levels, the consumer sentiment remained resilient.
The quarter witnessed strong momentum starting with Dussera, gaining further traction during Diwali and ending on a positive note. Aided by the wedding season, traditional gold jewelry remained a core focus while lightweight jewelry continued its upward shift amid price volatility and shifting consumer preferences.
We launched three exclusive company-owned stores during the quarter, marking our entry into Patna, Bihar and taking our store count to 66 at the end of the quarter. Starting with a strong presence in Maharashtra, PNG has steadily expanded its footprint to five states across India with operations now spanning Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
We have also strengthened our brand outreach across India by appointing Ranveer Kapoor as the new. New co brand ambassador ushering a new chapter of legacy and modernity. Further, we have also onboarded Sara Tendulkar as the Brand Ambassador for Lifestyle, marking a key step in strengthening the brand’s connection with India’s future jewelry consumers. I will now walk you to the Financial Highlights for Q3 of FY26 for the quarter, consolidated revenue from operations grew by 35.6% year on year to 3,302 crores. Gross profit rose by 98.2% year on year to 474 crores. EBITDA grew 9.4% to 271.7 crores while net profit surged 98.6% year on year to 170.9 crores, with the net profit margin standing at 5.2%. For the nine month ended FY26, the consolidated revenue for operations stood at 7,194 crores. Gross profit rose by 86.8% year on year to 957.9 crores with the gross margin standing at 13.2% while EBITDA grew by 105.3% to 537.7 crores with an EBITDA margin of 7.5%. Net profit for the same surged by 104.5% year on year to 319.6 crores with a net profit margin at 4.4%. The retail segment contributed 5,524.4 crores in revenue, a 34.5% year on year growth and accounted for 76.8% of total sales, reinforcing the position as the company’s primary growth driver. E Commerce and franchisee segment also reported strong performances. E Com revenue stood at 377.4 crores and registering a growth of 125.8% YoY while the franchisee revenue rose to 864.8 crores reflecting a 65.4% increase. YoY on the customer front engagement continues to strengthen. Our transaction volumes were up by 35% with an average transaction value I.e. aTV of 103.0651 crore 365 sorry1 3065 footfall grew by 33% supported by strong conversion rate of 94% demonstrating sustained consumer interest despite volatile gold prices. Festive demand was a key growth driver in this quarter with record breaking sales of 190 crore plus on Dussehra and 606 crores on Diwali leading to the highest ever monthly a sale of 1,800 crores in October month. At the store level the same store growth continued strong for the quarter was at 33% and for nine months December ended 2000 and 25 average revenue per store stood at 109 crores. Revenue per square feet was 3 lakh 42 thousand. With a net profit of 4.8 crores per store. We also witnessed a meaningful increase in the studded jewelry mix which rose 52% taking the stud ratio to 8.4% reflecting a continued shift in consumer preferences towards studded jewelry. The inventory turnover remained healthy at 3.2 times, underscoring sustained operational efficiency and profitability. In the current quarter, we plan to add approximately 11 to 12 new stores comprising a mix of Coco Company owned and Foco Friendly franchisee owned stores across Maharashtra and central India region, enabling us to reach our target of 78 to 80 stores by March 2026. Looking ahead, we are optimistic about the sustaining growth this momentum with the ongoing wedding season expected to drive further consumer demand. In summary, Q3 FY26 marked another chapter of robust and broad-based performance with strong festive momentum, healthy profitability and expanding geographical reach. This concludes the financial highlights for the quarter. We can now open the floor for questions. Thank you.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press Star and one on their touchstone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and 2. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question.
Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles.
The first question is from the line of Pulkit from Delmos Capital Management. Please proceed.
Unidentified Participant
Thank you for the opportunity, and congrats on a good set of numbers. So the first question is on gross margin itself. There’s a sizable jump Q1, Q&YOY in a rising gold price scenario. One tends to sometimes believe that this might reflect some kind of gold price gain as well in inventory. Can you help us understand better what drove these kind of gross margins?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Yeah. Thank you. See the gross margins. We had also given a projection at the beginning of the year that we will see increasing gross margin. Primarily the first reason was that we had stopped the sale of the zero margin refinery business. Now that was definitely the key factor which would have impact on margins.
Having said that, another focus area for us which was the studded jewelry mix that has shown a considerable increase. We have increased by 52% in value and. That has been another contributor to the margin rise. And thirdly, our foray into the lifestyle jewelry segment by LS by P& G, which is more of a diamond and studded jewelry category, is also yielding good results. So all this in combination has been able to give us a good margin increase. And I think this is something which was also given to us as a guidance at the beginning of the year.
Unidentified Participant
So the first two aspects that you mentioned probably may not be as relevant simply because on a YOY basis, that part of refinery is already in the base
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
In FY 24, 25, 26 for six months we had the business or refinery.
Unidentified Participant
Yes. So when I’m comparing YOY, I’m comparing Q4FY25 to I mean Q3FY25 9.8%. Q4 had 12%. So last four quarter
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
You’re doing quarter or quarter. Okay,
Unidentified Participant
12 and now 17.4. And student mix hasn’t really changed much quarter on quarters. So I’m really struggling to understand.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Mix has definitely changed. We have seen a quarter quarter increase of 52% and lifestyle which was not there last quarter, Lifestyle today is standing at six stores. So that also has added high margins to the entire business.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, and how much to the overall sales?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Sorry,
Unidentified Participant
How much does it contribute?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
I can’t hear you. Can you speak a little louder please?
Unidentified Participant
How much does that lifestyle business contribute to overall sales revenue?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
This is lifestyle growing. Right side is not a very big contributor but right style if you look at it should be around 5, 6% of the entire sales.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, so in your opinion there’s no aspect of gold inventory gain in this? I mean you’re perfectly hedged.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
We are fully hedged. So there is no effect of the price increase on that. Like we had mentioned in the call before that you know there’s only a portion of silver which is not hedged. But that’s not a big number. So the primary margin increase has been due to studied lifestyle and due to focus on operational efficiencies.
Unidentified Participant
Silver price has gone quite substantial.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
And you’re seeing that Q4 it’s not in Q3.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. And lastly, just on your experience in UP Bihar, can you talk a bit more about it and what are your plans there? How much, what kind of confidence are you getting in terms of expansion strategy?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
For the last conference call we had mentioned that, you know they had start both up. Both the store has started on a positive note. By that I mean that the footfall were encouraging and were exceeding what we expected. Q3 has even we are seeing the same thing more amplified in. In both the stores in Lucknow and in Kanpur, the inventory mix there is more inclined towards studded, more inclined towards fancy jewelry than what we used to sell in Maharashtra here. So that another aspect also has added to the growth in the studded category. But the response has been positive. The footfalls are encouraging. And both UP and Bihar, both the states, are emerging as good states for the brand. To further strengthen our positioning there, we have also signed up Ranveer Kapoor as a brand embedded to take the legacy route and establish us as the premier legacy brand in the jewelry sector across India.
Unidentified Participant
Right, sir. So the question is how many stores can we open there over next three years? I mean any plans? Is it firmed up yet or are you still evaluating in the next in this quarter coming?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
So as you speak, next month we’ll be launching two stores in up. There’ll be one in Gorakhpur and one in Banaras. Post that there’s plans to also target more stores in Lucknow, Priorities, and other cities. So I think up as a state can accommodate around eight to 10 stores. Is the short term plan for the brand perfect?
Unidentified Participant
Great. Thank you sir. And all the best.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Yash from Edelweiss Public. Please receive.
Unidentified Participant
Hi. Hi team. Thank you for taking my question and congratulations on good set of numbers.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Thank you.
Unidentified Participant
So my first question is regarding if I’m not wrong, in majority of our stores in Maharashtra, the reason for high asset turnover is also because some big chunk of our business come from make to order, right? So how. How are you seeing the same trajectory in the newer stores and in newer regions like maybe Bihar or up Are we seeing similar trajectory for make to order business?
Are the numbers similar over there? See, we had mentioned when we were in Maharashtra, the made to order had reached up to 40%.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
And in those states I think we would be around 25 to 28%. Made to order business primarily works well in the jewelry categories where we have sizing problems. Bangles, earring, fingerings. These are two main categories where we do a lot made to order which also is the same policy there.
And like we mentioned before, like you know, like we ship it from here to Nagpur in the same way by shipping it from here to Lucknow, Kanpur, any other place. So as of the model has not changed. The volume has. The volume there is a little lower than Maharashtra. Because here there the state is more towards fancy jewelry, more towards studded jewelry where we do not go made to order. Understood. Which means it is right to assume we can have 3.3.5x in inventory turnover over.
Unidentified Participant
Were there after this rally of gold prices and everything.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
That’s right.
Unidentified Participant
Got it, got it. And one more bookkeeping question, like what is the current mix of GML and how we are planning to increase it going ahead.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
GML is a portion which is, you know, there’s gml, there is a future options and then is the old goals. So these three primarily are the drivers which are part of the hedging mechanism. So you know, depending on the situation, we keep on shifting between these three variants. So there is no fixed target as far as just Gmail is concerned.
Unidentified Participant
Got it. And what would be the current mix of these three as of today?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
So if you look at the total sales total, you know, the total stock, they would be old gold would be around 30%, GML should be another 20, 25% and F&O should be the next 15, 16%.
Unidentified Participant
Thank you and best of luck for the coming quarters.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Gunit Singh from Countercyclic pms. Please proceed.
Gunit Singh Narang
Hi sir. Thank you for this opportunity. So our revenues for Q3 increased by about 38% year on year. So I just would like to understand what percentage of this increase is on account of higher gold prices.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
On higher gold see gold prices for the quarter have seen an increase. But when we’re looking at the, you know, total total revenue, our revenue primarily comes like the revenue primarily come from the making charges income. So as long as you know we are, we are able to generate that making charge income.
That is what we target. On the, on the company level when you have higher prices you see a volume dip and simultaneously when prices go down, you see a volume hike.
Gunit Singh Narang
All right, sir, I mean I want to understand for example for the current quarter gold prices have fallen by about if I’m not from 15, 20%. So I just would like to understand that in a scenario where say for example gold prices fall by 10% or 20% so how is the revenue expected to be affected by this? And also, I mean do our margins also get affected by a fallen, say what would be the effect of fallen fall of 10% in gold prices on our margins? Also both revenues and margins
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
There wouldn’t be impact. But first year margins are not dependent on the gold price movement. Our income primarily is from making charges. So we have typically seen when margins, when rates go up, your volume will take an impact but the margins would still remain the same because the value of the product is still there.
So I don’t think it will have an impact. On the margins per se. If the gold prices get lowered, we’ll be seeing a higher volume and that will compensate for the margins. You know, so in that scenario we are kind of hedged.
Gunit Singh Narang
All right, so is our hedging 100% on gold price movement?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
So as far as reflective hedging the 100%.
Gunit Singh Narang
All right, so just to repeat what you said, basically, even if gold price remains at the current level of go zone, further our revenue as well as margins should not be affected by a fall. I mean it should depend on growth in business. Or if in case we are adding stores, revenue should go up even though the gold prices fall. Is that the correct understanding?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Absolutely.
Gunit Singh Narang
All right, sir, thank you very much. That’s all from us.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Shivano from Three Head Capital. Please proceed.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, hope I am audible. Thank you sir. Good afternoon sir. If I see our Panchay segment revenue growth only 12% year on year group, why this happened?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Sorry, can you repeat the question again please?
Unidentified Participant
Why our country segment revenue grew only 12% year on year.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
We segment
Unidentified Participant
Franchisee segment.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Franchisee segment.
Unidentified Participant
Yes.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
The franchisee is a. Is a business wherein we do outright sale. So we had. The franchisee has not expanded. You know, in the last year we had our focus was more on the company owned stores. So the state outside Maharashtra expanded, it was more on the company owned stores. That is why the franchise business has not seen growth as far as you know, as similar to what we have seen in our own stores.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, understood. My next question will be our this quarter our revenue mix from lifestyle from 5 to it’s 5 to 6% you mentioned.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Yeah, Lightsail business. You know, because light style we have a format wherein we have independent light style stores and we also have shopping shops in our. In our big PNG stores. So all in all that business should be in the range of 5, 6% next couple of years.
Unidentified Participant
Makes you targeting.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
We definitely aim to increase that business because that’s the business which is lightweight, it’s impulse buying, and it’s connecting to the next generation. So you know we’d be happy if we can reach a target of 10% with lifestyle.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. Okay. My last question is what will be your FY27 store opening guidance?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
So FY March 26 we should be nearing around 80 stores. And I think FY27 we would be adding depending on the QIP when you do it but at a compiler which we can look at around adding 25 more stores. Combination of Cocoa, Foco and. Combination of PNG and lifestyle.
Unidentified Participant
We can expect
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
105 stores at the end of March 2027.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, thank you. Thank you. Best of luck.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Bhaiba Mishra from Finvestor. Please proceed.
Unidentified Participant
Hello. Sir. Congratulations for the excellent set of numbers. Many of my questions have been answered. I have one question. I think for FY26 we had targeted revenues in the range of 9,000 to 9,500 crores. And I think we have already achieved 7,200 crores as of Q3. So do we see, I mean exceeding or touching the higher end of our, I mean revenue target of 9,500 crore in FY26.
And also sir, I need to know your outlook on the revenue numbers and EBITDA margin profile for the FY27 given the current gold prices and how you see the volume growth panning out in FY27.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Long enough question. So I think FY26 we should be closing a little higher than what the guidance we had given. So hopefully we should cross the 9,500 and be close to be 10,000 crores is what we are projecting. The market looks good and we are on strong momentum. So that looks achievable next year.
We don’t know where the gold prices are heading. No one can take a call on that. But I think next year we should be able to have a 20% to 25% growth over this year. So around 12,000 crores is what we should be able to target for FY27.
Unidentified Participant
All right sir. All right. Thank you so much sir. That’s it from my end.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Shivam Shukla from Twin Venue. Please proceed.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah. Good afternoon sir. Am I audible?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Yes you are. Go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Sir, I had a question on the sales growth. So while comparing ourselves with the industry peers like maybe a titan or Kalyan jealous. So overall industry growth was somewhere around 40 to 43 percentage odd on the revenue front for Q3. And we PN Gargil being a little smaller player as compared to these two companies.
So don’t we think that our revenue growth could have been better as compared to you know on the league of a little higher than you know this big players. So just wanted your insight on this.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
I think I can’t comment on what the other players are doing. We are sticking to our guidance, we are sticking to what projection we had made, and I think the store growth, the volume growth is not just coming, you know just from the existing store. It’s also new store addition. There are a lot of various. Factors. So I think as far as we are concerned we can talk on our company. You know we, we’ve had, we had projected and we have exceeded that projection. So I think all I can say is that we are on, we are on track to meet our guidance or to exceed our guidance.
Unidentified Participant
Okay sir, answer. Can we get figures for the volume growth for Q3, the gold duty volume.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
The volume, the volume growth for Q3 would have been in the range of around 25% plus.
Unidentified Participant
Volume growth 25% plus. Answer. We, as far as we remember that we had a guidance to increase our stud ratio going forward. So any comment on stud ratio? I mean on further improvement or you know the process, how we can improve it from here on speak there’s an improvement.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
See firstly the student category has seen a 50% plus hike growth. Secondly, we launched Polki and Kundan categories. So when you consider diamond, precious stone, Kundan, Polki, we would be close to 10% as of December end. So there’s a continual improvement on that front.
And the company focus would still be to take this start ratio to 13 to 14% in next two, three years. Yeah. Ideally we should look at, you know, next three, four years.
Unidentified Participant
Three, four years. Okay. Okay sir. Thank you so much.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Priyanshu Jain from Growth X Infinity. Please proceed.
Unidentified Participant
Hello, I’m audible.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Yeah, you’re audible. Go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Hi sir. So for the next year you said the stores. So can you give the bifurcation as well? Bifurcation of the like for the lifestyle and the other stores.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
For the next year we have out of 25 stores which we had planned it will be a half and half. So 50 would be light style. 50 should be PNG is what the plan is. Again in both the categories it would be Coco and Foco mix of that. And we have seen some reduction in the Foco model of franchisee or own company operated.
So are we have any plans to ramp up this process as other competitors which have done in the past? Going forward,
Our strategy in the neighboring states of India was first to have a proof of concept. I have a company store. So we have done that successfully both in UP and in Bihar and in mp. So now in the coming year we’ll be looking at exciting franchisee growth in those states. In Maharashtra we kind of are the market leaders and we have tapped almost all the major markets here.
That is why we were not keen on adding more franchisees here. But in the coming year. You will see franchises coming up in all the states where outside Maharashtra may be already present.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, and so like last two questions. So like this year we will do somewhere 9,000, 9,500. Next year we have any internal plans which we are targeting to implement next year. Internal plans as in.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
You mean that revenue target. So what is it?
Unidentified Participant
Yes sir. By. For the revenue as well and the EBITDA margins we are expecting or maybe sustainable going forward because we have like get a better margin this quarter. So like are these 8% plus margin sustainable going forward?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
If you look at the margin, EBITDA margins for the Q3 are always on higher side because of the big festive season, Diwali, which is in that quarter on an annualized basis we had projected that we will be seeing increase in margins EBITDA margin and that that should be sustainable at 7%. 7 to 7.25% is what we feel.
A PAT margin is around 3.75% to 4% is what we feel is sustainable in the long run. In terms of the target, we should be targeting around 11,500 to 12,000 crores for FY27 as of end of March 2027. And we expect that we continue growth in the focus area of central India as we had mentioned before.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, so that’s all from my side. All the best for the future. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rahel from Sapphire Capital. Please proceed. Mr. Rahel,
Unidentified Participant
Hello.
Operator
Yes, sir.
Unidentified Participant
Yes. Hi sir. Yeah, actually my question was an EBITDA margin. So the 7% which you achieved this quarter, which is like a good high compared to the last few quarters, this is sustainable for coming quarters, right?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Yeah, that’s what I said. You know, In Q, in Q3 the margins were much higher. EBITDA margins for just the Q3. But overall we see on an annual basis, annualized basis, 7% is what you see might be feel sustainable.
Unidentified Participant
Right. Okay. And I just couldn’t hear. So you said 25 stores in FY27. The mix of Coco and 44 Poco. I was not able to. We don’t do 4 4. It’s only Coco or Foco, the franchise company operated. Correct. Okay. All right. Got it, sir. Thank you so much.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Before we take the next question, we would like to remind participants that you may press Star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Raj from Finvestors. Please proceed.
Unidentified Participant
So we have very aggressive plans of store openings right now. We are having stores 67 as of, as of today, and we are planning to have 78 to.
Unidentified Participant
To 80 stores by the financial year. So how confident and what. What is our actual plan and what is the reasonable number to reach by 27? And also keeping the gold price rise in the view has been drastically increased. Are we seeing any volume growth in Q4? And the last question will be how can we take question one by one instead of asking so many questions together.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
So I’ll just answer your first question in terms of number of stores. We are currently at 66 stores as of December end and by March. By March end we already have plans. So the work is going on. Stores are finalized. So we should be. We are confident reaching 78 to 80 stores by end of March.
25 stores to be added next financial year. Like I mentioned before, a mix of Coco and Foco and PNG and Lightstyle. So the Lightstyle store format are smaller store formats 1,000 to 1,500 square feet. A PNG is around 3,000 to 4,000 square feet. So the confidence to achieve the numbers for March is almost there and work is going on.
So that should not be a problem as far as the achievement the number is concerned to answer on your volume growth. Like as of Q3 we had seen a volume growth in gold of 25%. So I think both in value and volumes there’s been growth in Q3 and Q4 is going on. So I can’t talk on the current quarter as we speak.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. Sir, right now, sir, we are only left with 50 days in this quarter. Are we seeing sir, any, any spark of volumes, volume growth in Q4?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Yeah, I can’t give you anything which is on the current quarter. But all I can say the momentum is strong and, and we should be able to meet our guidance or exceed the guidance what we’re given for the year.
Unidentified Participant
The last one will be on the gross margin. Sir. The gross margin in this quarter, sir, as you know, that is a very good quarter. So it is elevated. So what could be the reasonable gross margin for the whole year and going forward to look at?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
So we have always mentioned that around 13 to 14% gross margin is something which should be sustainable. EBITDA at 7% and PAT at 4%.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, out now. We are doing a 4.4% margin till nine months.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Yeah. So we should target below these numbers.
Unidentified Participant
You see four point. It’s always. The Q3 is always a high month. So everything when we stock up for minimum margin maintenance, I think 4% is what we should be able to maintain which is a quite a big increase over the last two, three years. Okay, thank you. Thank you very much and wish you good luck for the future.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is on the line of Gaurav Shukla from Finvestors. Please proceed.
Unidentified Participant
Good afternoon, sir.
Unidentified Participant
My all questions I’ve been asked. Thank you sir.
Operator
Thank you.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Yeah, thank you.
Operator
The next question is from the line of uncle from Inved. Please proceed.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, so thanks for the opportunity. So firstly my question is on the side of uip what are our plans over there?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
The QIP plans. Like we are saying that we have taken the approval from the board which is good till end of August 2026. Having said that we have already mentioned that the QIP will primarily be to fund our expansion ahead. So we are right now looking at the geopolitical development. The positives on the India USA deal, India EU deal are factors which are in favor. So let’s you know see how things shape up and then once we are.
Once we’re able to come to some conclusion we’ll be able to communicate better to you.
Unidentified Participant
Understood sir. Understood. So my next question is like as we are sticking to our guidance and. Or we may cross our guidance of 9,500 crores. So where is this growth coming from? Is this from the new stores or is this from the existing stores? Also it’s upward of 50%. So the growth is coming both from a new store and from the existing store Also E commerce is doing well.
So we are seeing sustained efforts being paid off in terms of the right merchandising, right communication, marketing. So I think we are also able to garner a lot of share from the unorganized sector which also is adding to the growth.
Got it sir, Got it. Understood. Lastly, any guidance on the volume growth? How much can can be expected? Anything on that front?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Volume growth as of December there was a 25% plus growth in gold volumes. I really can’t talk anything on the on this quarter here because yet it’s going on. But I think like I mentioned before volumes and value play an interchanging role. When value go, when gold prices go up, you know, volumes decline and vice versa.
But I think overall, you know we wish we look to be in a good position to achieve our guidance.
Unidentified Participant
Understood sir. Yeah, that’s it from my end. Thank you so much.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Yash from Adelweiss. Please proceed.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, thank you team for the follow up. So sir, I wanted to understand better on the style part of the business. Like you already alluded a good guidance for the expansion of the same. So.
Unidentified Participant
Are we planning which states or city we are planning for this expansion and how different the customer segment is compared to png.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Lifestyle as a category was primarily meant, like I mentioned the previous call, also as a bridge between the PNG customers and the customers of tomorrow. So lifestyle is very design oriented. High fashion, high glamour jewelry. But light on the pocket and having around 35, 40% studied in the entire merchandise.
So Maharashtra is still quite open for lifestyle. Because we have not really expanded in Maharashtra. So the focus will primarily be on Maharashtra. When you speak on Maharashtra, I think in the coming year we’d be looking at having more stores in the bigger cities of Maharashtra like Mumbai, Pune, Nasik, Nagpur, csn, Sholapur and these kind of places online also would play a very important role in lifestyle.
And having said that lifestyle will also be into various malls in different cities. The year after that is when we see the lightstyle moving outside Maharashtra and moving into the other state where P and G is present. But we feel that this is a brand which has huge potential. It is something which is in demand by today’s consumer. And if any ask for the product, it’s very differentiated. So designs and lifestyle. The merchandise is completely different than of PhD. So you will not find the PNG products in light style and vice versa.
So there is a separate design team, a separate merchandising team or sourcing team for light style.
Unidentified Participant
Got it. Thank you sir for the answer.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Tushar Verma, an investor. Please receive.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah. Hi sir.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah. So I have two questions related to retail segment only. First is retail EBITDA margin excluding other income have increased from like 6 to 7% in FY25 to 9% this year around 8 to 9%. And similarly pet margins has also increased. So what are the key drivers of the sharp margin expansion?
Like this segment does not include bullion sale as well.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Retail has been a focus area for us because after the discontinuity of the non margin refinery sale business, retail has been a major contributor for the entire sales drive at P and G. Three factors which have helped the retail business has been that the introduction of light style which again is a high margin business. Our focus again on the studded category addition of Kundan Polki and in the merchandise mix. And the movement to central India in Up Bihar where again the sales of studded jewelry is on a higher rise. So all these factors have been able to help us to increase our margins for the last quarter.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, and the second follow up question on same retail segment only. Like you said, sustainable gross margins are around 14%, EBITDA around 7% and PET around 4%. So what kind of sustainable EBITDA do you think for retail segment only. And additionally could you please share the Trend Prior to FY25 of retail, EBITDA and tech margins?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
See, retail EBITDA should be in the range of sustainable, should be around 8 to 8.25%. At a company level we’re talking about 7%. So I think this is what we feel is sustainable. Retail will benefit from the higher focus of studied, from the higher focus of lightweight jewelry. And as we are merchandising also is moving more to a lighter weight would also mean higher margins for the side of business in pet margins of this segment.
Unidentified Participant
Sustainable pet margins and the trend if we have prior to FY25 sustainable margins prior to FY25,
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
You know that I, I’ll email to you because we don’t have it offhand right now but if you want the previous data we will email that to you.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. Just the pat margins for the retail segment. Sustainable pat margins like I said 8 to 8, 8.25.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
What are you asking for pat margin?
Unidentified Participant
So like, like you said 8 to 8.25 sustainable EBITDA for retail segment. So, so similarly what kind of pet are sustainable for this segment? Bad for retail segment.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Yes, yes. So retail I think patch in the range of 5.5 to 5.5 should be sustainable.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nitin Jain from Fair Value. Please proceed.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, my questions have been answered. Thank you.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rajiv Bharti from the bama. You may proceed.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, good afternoon sir. So question is on other expenses. So other expenses have gone from 85 crores to 190 crores nearly on a yoy basis. Right. So can you break that up? What’s. What’s basically shooting this, this kind of surge.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
The other expenses primarily the increase has been in the advertising expenses because the number of stores are increased from 47 to 65 expansion Newer states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sain. Signing up of Ranveer Kapoor and Musara Tendulkara brand ambassadors has been the primary driver again increasing commission and brokerage from E Com also has seen an increase, you know, from as E Com sales have gone up also the commission and brokerage also have gone up. So this has primarily taken up the other expenses. But having said that, we’ll still be able to stick to the 1.5% level of market expenses of total turnover as we had, as we had given the guidance in the last call.
Unidentified Participant
Sure. The other question is on the segmental growth, E Com has grown by nearly 1, 140%. Right. And my understanding is this is basically coin sale and this is, this is ideally a margin dilutive bit, right? Potentially both on the gross margin and EBITDA margin side and which is basically growing faster than the company. So can you explain that it has not hit the margin.
And other part is when you said 25% volume growth, this you’re talking about putting all channels put together. Right. And if I let’s say strike out 25% from the 36% number ballpark, will get something like 10% growth on the pricing. But the pricing is materially, I mean significantly more higher. Right. So what am I missing here?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
See E Com, like you mentioned before, you know, the driver, the E Com sales driver is bull, which has been also the case investment demand has gone up also on the physical side. But E Com, you know, is not a margin diluter. It’s a net margin business for us. So E Com, even the bullion business does a margin of around 1.52% on the bullion.
So that’s something which again is a margin business. But the volume, the growth has been quite large there. But it also had we also been able to grow on the jewelry side though the numbers would be small compared to bullion. But jewelry sales, gold jewelry, diamond jewelry and silver jewelry all have shown good significant increase in E Com.
E Com also is a tool for Omni channel where people browse online but buy offline. So that’s again an area which is a focus for us when you talk on the margin on the volume bit, 25% when you talk on the entire, you know, increase. So that’s, you know, over the last quarter talking about Q quarter over quarter.
So to answer your question, you know, gold, this was, this was last quarter versus this quarter. So it’s a QR Q. So we have grown 25% in volume over last quarter.
Unidentified Participant
Can you call out what is our yoya volume increase? The yoy volume increase would, I think, be a single digit or maybe flat. Okay.
Unidentified Participant
You think there is still growth? Because I thought the price itself is I think upwards of 60% growth. Right. Even if you adjust for mix there should be a volume decline.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
But we also added number of stores. So like I think for 47 to 66 stores we also added more number of stores.
Unidentified Participant
No, I agree what I’m saying, the Overall growth is 36%.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Everybody, the whole industry has seen volume degrowth. What really industry is focusing on are the margins being able to maintain and the margins as you know from making charges. So as long as you know your making charge income, you know is intact, the margins would not be affected.
Unidentified Participant
No, fair point, fair point. That’s all from my sir. Thanks a lot.
Operator
Thank you. Before we take the next question, we would like to remind participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Nitin Jain from Fair Value please.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. So you have given a guidance of around 20 to 25 store openings for next year, which is a very strong guidance. But your revenue growth guidance is around 20%. So can you please elaborate? Like are you seeing any slowdown in the market or what could be the reason?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
When you say 25 stores, I’m talking of the PNG store and the Lightstyle store. The lifestyle store are smaller, you know, compared to P and G. So PNG store typically would have inventory of around 5560 crores. A light size should be in the range of around 10 crores. So when you look, when you try to look at the entire number one in five stores would only mean around 12 to 13 or 14 PNG stores in a balanced light size store.
That is why on a gross level the revenue increase would be at least 20%.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Aman, an investor. Please proceed.
Unidentified Participant
Thank you for the opportunity. My first question is regarding the QIBs. So could you please share as a timeline and how the fund are going to be used. So like I mentioned before, we have not yet freeze on any timelines for the QIP. The resolution is, you know, effective August of 2026.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
So you know. Yes, we are still working on that and once we confirm we’ll be able to finally, you know, be able to communicate with you.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. And my next is some doubt regarding the light style store. So when we compare with like your peers like Kalyan and Tanish. So first they expanded their cold store pan India before the lightweight jewelry format. But where we see in the png, PNG is still at very early age.
Unidentified Participant
Case and they are feels like bit aggressive towards the lifestyle because you are allotting 50% of total store for next year to light style. But when we compare the the sales coming from the light style is around 10%. So it. So do you think that is still worth to be?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
I’ll tell you this is a. It’s a very seriously planned discuss on. On the map with the management. On one side we’re looking at higher gold prices. Other side we’re looking at a lot of new generation customers who want jewelry not on occasion but for their own occasion. So we have always mentioned that PNG is a. The demand driver is primarily festive and wedding.
While lifestyle will be more toward own occasions. Personal birthdays, anniversary is gifting. So this is a new trend which is emerging and we want to be a part of this trend. When you talk on expansion, we have done expansion which is not over aggressive. The stores of PNG would be completely funded from its internal accrual.
And that’s why we had given this guidance wherein we said that 25 stores half would be PNG. Out of that half would be franchisee. So the order growth from PNG that will be also internal accrual. We would not need any further debt to expand and to fulfill this growth. So it’s a. It’s a well thought strategy and it’s something which the company is confident about.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, thank you sir.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Meet Mehta from Prasun Exponential. Please receive.
Unidentified Participant
Hi, thanks for the opportunity. I just wanted to ask like you are planning to expand in other states and cities. So are we seeing any in revenue per square foot or anything like that? If you could throw some light.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Yeah. As we explain new cities, you know definitely the break even would take around 18 to 24 months. So revenue, the revenue per square feet or established stores would always be higher than the newer stores. So considering so what we have the update we gave right now around you know three and a half lakhs for nine months revenues total. So this includes the companies, you know, old store, new store, everything put together.
So I think it’s still one of the best number in the industry and we are hopeful that we’ll be able to continue with this trend.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. Yeah, that’s it from me. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Raj from Finvestors. Please proceed.
Unidentified Participant
Thank you for taking my follow up question. Are having stud ratio of 8.4% where our peers are having in double digits and some bigger peers are in in high double digit.
Unidentified Participant
High teams. So what is our plan to consolidate or just make a take advantage of having a greater strategy?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
That’s a good question. You know, primarily we were only the state of Maharashtra, which primarily is a gold market. So if you look at all the south based players and western, western India based players, gold has gold rules the roost. But you know, for the last seven, eight years the focus has been to increase the studded ratio which has now come to almost 10% when you take Kundan Polki into account also now as we move towards central and north India, which are typically more studied and diamond markets, this will see a natural increase also and a focus for the company.
We will take it further. So I think we would also aim to be able to reach the margins on the numbers as other players have once we are able to copy in India. But having said that, in next year, three, four years, we are aiming to take the ratio to 13, 14%.
Unidentified Participant
That’s great. Thank you very much. That’s all from my side.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Shivam Shukla from Finn Avenue. Please proceed.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, thank you so much, sir. I just wanted to reconcile the fact that our shareholding is still above the 75% benchmark. So any plans for equity dilution in the upcoming year or.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
That is what I’ve said that, you know, we are still not, you know, finalize the QIP plans nor the plans for any, you know, promoter stake sale. So as and when something is finalized, we will, we’ll get back to you on that. But yes, you know, as per the separate regulations, in the three years, we have to get down the shareholding to 75% of the promoter group.
Unidentified Participant
Yes, sir. Yes, Thank you.
Operator
The next question is from the line of Dinesh Kulkarni from Fine Sight. Please proceed.
Dinesh Kulkarni
Hello, sir. Am I audible? Okay, thanks for taking my questions and really great set of numbers. So my question is, you know, pretty simple. Have you seen any trend over the last six, six months, over the two last two quarters where the customer’s preference is more for, you know, the gold bars or you know, solid form rather than the jewelry just. Just because there is such a surge in prices that people just want to like hold gold rather than individual reform?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
See, there’s a, there’s a definitely there’s a shift in investment demand which is, which is further gaining taxation. And we’re seeing a lot of, you know, newer players in the market looking at investing in gold both physical or in the online format. So that is definitely there. But as far as. As far as weddings festive demand is concerned, Jewelry, jewelry is the only option there. Old gold, people are swapping old gold for new jewelry so that render increase. And today almost 40% entire purchases are financed by old gold from people’s households. So jewelry sales are there. Jewelry sales will continue. Weddings festivities are days when jewelry sales are big. So investment demand as of now has seen an increase. So if you had seen a ratio which would have been 15, 18% of bullion and the balance of jewelry today it could be in the range of 25, 26% bullion and the balance jewelry. But jewelry, jewelry in India is different. It’s sentiment, part of festivity, part of our culture and I think that will still remain the same.
Dinesh Kulkarni
Yeah, I understand that. Perfect sir, just on the similar line. So do we have any different operating margins for when say like as you mentioned the percentage of ratio is increasing towards the bar side. So are we expecting any change in margins because of that? Assuming the gold prices remain very high and the demand for the solid form is higher than the azure reform.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
I think I don’t see bullion sale will further increase than what the current ratio they are. I think it’s quite a high number. If 2/3 of your business today is still jewelry I think margin should not be impacted. I think even if prices go higher, margin should, should not have a negative impact.
Dinesh Kulkarni
Okay, so at least we should be able to sustain those margins, right?
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
That’s right.
Dinesh Kulkarni
Okay and the last question for mine, so how are we looking at the Capex? Maybe like Capex per store or the overall terms for the next two, three years as we are expanding into different geographies.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Capex for our PNG stores around 2 crores in terms of the store fit outs and you know 70 lakhs for the Lightstyle store, the franchisee store, the Capex is born by the franchisee. So that is not, that is not a cost for the company. You know and inventory wise like I mentioned before we need around 55 crores of inventory. Gold, diamond, silver put together for the company stores and for lifestyle should be in the range of around 8 to 10 crores.
Dinesh Kulkarni
Okay, so we are not expecting, expecting any major change in this, these numbers going forward. Right? I mean. Okay, that sounds great. Thank you very much and all the best.
Operator
Thank you. Due to time constraints that was the last question. I now hand the conference over to the management for the closing comments. Over to you sir.
Saurabh Vidyadhar Gadgil
Thank you everyone. We truly appreciate all the participants for taking the time out to join this call. And for insightful questions. We hope you’ll be able to address them to a satisfaction. If you have any further queries or would like to know more about the company, please feel free to reach us. To reach out to our secretarial team and to our Investor Relations Partner, XB4 Advisory. Wishing you all a great day ahead. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you on behalf of Nuvawam Wealth Management. That concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. And you may now disconnect your lines.