Page Industries Ltd (NSE: PAGEIND) Q1 2026 Earnings Call dated Aug. 07, 2025
Corporate Participants:
Unidentified Speaker
V S Ganesh — Managing Director
Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay — Chief Financial Officer
Karthik Yathindra — Chief Executive Officer
Analysts:
Unidentified Participant
Nupur Jainkunia — Analyst
Nihal Mahesh Jham — Analyst
Gaurav Jogani — Analyst
Devanshu Bansal — Analyst
Videesha Sheth — Analyst
Ashish Kanodia — Analyst
Sameer Gupta — Analyst
Ankit Kedia — Analyst
Prerna Jhunjhunwala — Analyst
Tejas Shah — Analyst
Rajiv Bharati — Analyst
Presentation:
operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Q1FY25 earnings conference call of Page Industries Limited. 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 this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing Star then zero on your touchstone phone. I now hand the conference over to Ms. Nupur Jainkunya from Valorum Advisors. Thank you. And over to you, Ms. Jainkunya.
Nupur Jainkunia — Analyst
Thank you. Good evening everyone and a very warm welcome to you all to the earnings conference call of Page Industries Limited. My name is Nupur Jain Kunya from Valeram Advisors. On behalf of the company, I would like to thank you all for participating in the company’s earnings call for the first quarter. Before we begin, a quick cautionary statement. Some of the statements made in today’s earnings conference call may be forward looking in nature. Such forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated. Such statements are based on management’s belief as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the management.
Audiences are cautioned not to place any undue reliance on these forward looking statements in making any investment decisions. The purpose of today’s conference call is purely to educate and bring awareness about the company’s fundamental business and financial quarter under review. Now I would like to introduce you to the management participating with us in today’s earnings conference call and hand it over to them for their opening remarks. We have with us Mr. V S Ganesh, Managing Director. Mr. Deepanjan Bandopatay, Chief Financial Officer. And Mr. Karthik Yatin, Chief Executive Officer. Without any further delay, I request Mr.
V S Ganesh to start with his opening remarks. Thank you. And over to you, sir.
V S Ganesh — Managing Director
Thank you, Nupur. And good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Very warm welcome to the earnings call for the first quarter of FY26. As Nupur said by Mr. Chief Executive Officer.
operator
Sorry to interrupt there, Ganesha. We are not able to hear you clearly.
V S Ganesh — Managing Director
Is it better?
operator
Yes, sir. You can proceed now.
V S Ganesh — Managing Director
Yeah. So as I was telling you, I’m joined by Mr. Karthik and Mr. Deepanchan. And I will briefly touch upon our business performance in the quarter before handing over to Deepanchan to take us through the specific numbers following which Karthik and Deepanjan will be answering your questions. And I will button wherever required. As we are seeing across the industry, we were not an exemption when it comes to consumption. We experienced subdued consumption during this quarter which has affected our offline retail treasury performance in terms of growth. This is partly structural owing to shift in festive consumption in the month of April when compared to last year, and it’s also partly due to the general slowdown in retail, especially due to the heightened geopolitical tension in the early parts of May.
It is however encouraging to note that we have witnessed steady recovery since May, with May being stronger than April and June stronger than May. Our online business continues to deliver robust. Growth. With demand being subdued and with our product pricing remaining unchanged. Our focus and effort were concentrated on maintaining operating margins during this quarter. We are continuing to be agile and cost conscious through efficient raw material sourcing, optimum manpower deployment, focused marketing investments and tight expense controls to hold up profit margins within our target range. LBA Modest revenue growth of 3.5% I am pleased to share that we have achieved a profit after tax growth of 23.6% for this quarter. Our key initiatives and investment for the year including the SAP S4 Hana migration and the new Salesforce Distribution Management System is progressing well and we are very well on track for successful implementation of these initiatives.
We have commenced commercial operations at the new ADESA plant this quarter and we will be continuing to scale up gradually in the coming quarters. On the product side, we launched a new fashion range of products under JKY Groove On, Jockey.in and select EBOs in the country addressing a younger target audience. The range seems to be well accepted and the initial response to the collection has been very encouraging and we look to further strengthen the range and expand its presence in the coming months. Our consumer reach through diverse sales channels continue to expand and at the close of Q1 we have a network of 110,400 plus multi branded outlets, 1490 exclusive brand stores and 1296 large format point of sales.
Our online network through jockey.in mobile app and key online marketplaces continue to expand. With the initiatives we are undertaking as an organization in all aspects of our business. Our long term outlook remains strong and we are very confident that we will see a consistent growth trajectory in the coming quarters. We express our sincere appreciation for your tremendous support and trust in our company. I will now call upon Mr. Deepanjan to take us through the specifics as far as the quarter is concerned. Over to you Deepanjan.
Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay — Chief Financial Officer
Thank you Mr. Ganesh. Good afternoon everyone again and welcome to the Today’s earnings call taking you through the Q1 results. Revenue for the quarter was rupees 13,166 million which is a growth of 3.1% over last year. Sales volume in the quarter was 58.6 million pieces which was growth of 1.9% year on year. EBITDA in the period was rupees 200947 million which was a growth of 21.1% year on year. EBITda margin is 22.4%. With efficient raw material sourcing, stable sewing efficiency and continuing cost optimization measures, EBITDA margins have remained strong. There was no price increase in the quarter.
Profit after tax was rupees 2008 million which has grown by 21.5% year on year. Inventory days is 56 at the end of the quarter which was 64 days in the beginning of the quarter. Net working capital was 48 days against 54 days at the beginning of the quarter. We have availed a term loan in the current quarter of around 40 million which is to get a benefit of the credit link, capital subsidy and interest reimbursement schemes of Karnataka State government. This is for the upcoming Krpait manufacturing facility. So we continue to enhance values to our stakeholders while remaining strongly rooted in resource optimization and efficiency.
We can now take up your queries.
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 the atelstone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and 2. Participants are requested to use handset while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question comes from Nihal Mahesh Jam with HSBC Securities. Please go ahead.
Nihal Mahesh Jham
Yes, Good evening to the team. Sir, I had two questions. The first is on the growth part. You did mention about the fact that there was a certain impact because of maybe the shift in yield. Even if I normalize that and say take the average volume growth for the last two quarters, it comes to around 5%. So is that the expected normalized growth in volumes to expect at least for the coming quarters? I know our aspiration is high single digit. But given how things are progressing, is that the better way to look at it in the coming quarters?
V S Ganesh
Nihal? Yes, our expectation is much higher growth. You know the general retail environment is not so buoyant. That’s why we had a subdued quarter. For us we with all the actions we have taken, we are aiming for a double digit growth when things normalize. And I think we have to wait for that. But as far as brand is concerned, we are taking all necessary actions for that One is not increasing the price, keeping the price under control, improving the. Products. As far as the features are concerned, coming out with new and exciting products, very concentrated expansion which we are not looking at numbers but a very productive expansion, very, very focused intervention as far as marketing initiatives are concerned to create better awareness about the ranges and about the brand. So all these actions will definitely help us. And as a country, you know the future looks very bright. It is just a question of passing or going through this phase and then the recovery will definitely happen.
Nihal Mahesh Jham
Sure sir. So the second question was on margin and with two parts to it. The first is that it is now four quarters since our margins have been higher than the guided 19 to 21 range and we obviously have currently the visibility of how our raw material is and despite in Q4 as mentioning that we are planning to step up it costs at least in this quarter that is not visible. So how to look at margins as a whole for the remaining year? Or is this a structural step up? Second part is that when we are seeing such a strong margin environment, doesn’t it make relevant sense for us to invest a decent portion of it back into getting demand? Improving demand rather than expecting for the overall macro to improve and drive.
V S Ganesh
Okay, so to two aspects. We are very comfortable with the 19 to 21% margin. So of course there are some expenses with some. Sometimes it is a question of timing, you know, certain conference the the expenses can be higher because of payment dues as far as projects are concerned, including IT expenses. But generally you know we have been controlling costs without touching price and protecting margins. So it is not easy to do that because it is continuous work on improving operating efficiencies and making prudent investments. We will continue to focus on that. As far as the second part is concerned, I fully agree with you.
We are not while we are controlling expenses, we are not controlling investments because our long term outlook is very very positive. And therefore be it be strategic investments in the IT side, be it beyond the distribution management system SAP S4HANA by expanding capacities by way of new plants which are coming up, one in Odisha and one in Karnataka, coming out with new product ranges and investments in rd, this will definitely continue unabated and that is because we know the medium term long term story is going to be very positive for us and we will continue to stay invested.
So to answer your questions, question yes, we will control expenses but we’ll continue to make aggressive investments which are prudent for the business.
Nihal Mahesh Jham
Got it. So the 19 to 21 range stays for the Margin even now.
Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay
Yes.
Nihal Mahesh Jham
Thank you so much. I wish you all the best.
V S Ganesh
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Gauravarov Jogani with JM Financial. Please go ahead.
Gaurav Jogani
Thank you for the opportunity. So I will just, you know, follow up to the earlier part of the question. If you look at the gross margin expansion, it is the gross margin which is, you know, seeing a very sharp expansion and leading to for flowing through the EBITDA line. So if you can help us out, you know, what is leading to this gross margin expansion really? And how much of this is sustainable going ahead as well.
Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay
Yeah. So on the gross margin, while we compare the gross margin year on year, definitely there is a sharp expansion which is more of a reflection of the steering efficiency over the years. So we have been focusing on improving the sewing efficiency year on year for last two or three years. And that’s what we saw that the increased sewing efficiency, more specifically the labor cost per minute. So that has reduced as a part of the product component. So that’s what is reflecting as a quarter on year on year increase in the gross margin. But if you look at the sequential gross margin, I.e.
q4 last year versus Q Q1 now, there isn’t much of a difference in the gross margin. So the, whatever the gross margin that you receive now is largely sustainable and that will continue.
Gaurav Jogani
Okay. So generally, you know, there is some variations in the gross margin on a quarterly basis, I’m assuming because of the interplay between the subcontracting expenses and the, the gross margin. So anything to read there. Because the employee cost has this quarter around increased a bit sharply, not much.
Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay
Of a subcontracting part, while productions have slightly increased. When we compare to the previous quarter, I.e. q1, 20, 25, there’s an increase. But I think the major reason is the labor cost per minute has reduced over time and that’s reflecting in a sharper gross margin when we compare year on year.
Gaurav Jogani
Yeah, sorry.
V S Ganesh
So sorry. The employee cost increases also because of the normal increment cycles.
Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay
Yes. Which is more a Q1 phenomenon. But when we are comparing year on year, then the impact on gross margin is more because of the efficiency which we have.
V S Ganesh
Correct, Correct.
Gaurav Jogani
That’s helpful. Second and last question, you know, is with regards to if you look at the overall volume growth for you, and I’m not talking about just the last one year, two years, but even if you look at a five year kegr basis of the pre Covid levels, the volume growth has really been, you know, in that High single digit number only. So apart from the recent slowdown in the demand environment, is there anything else like competition from certain other players, not only the listed ones, like, you know, trends now has seen very sharp increase in their inner well sales.
So is it, there is some share loss, do you think that is happening that is leading to the slower growths?
V S Ganesh
Karthik, I think you, you will be. The best person to.
Karthik Yathindra
I mean, yeah, I mean we’ll have to put multiple things together to in a way respond to that at a consumer level. Yes, there is a possibility. But all the new entrants that you’ve spoken about largely operating in the organized retail, our friends for instance, are in the form of, you know, private label as far as innerwear is concerned, which is not directly come in play in the channels that we operate in. In fact, our observation as far as competitiveness is concerned for Page, we’ve seen multiple partners, sorry, multiple brands exit the general trade channel in the last year or two years when compared to what it was immediately after the pandemic.
The intensity in competition has kind of become easier. Now we don’t know what the future holds, but as we stand today, that’s how it’s. It’s moved with regards to competition in some of the core categories that we operate in.
Gaurav Jogani
Sure. So Karthik, just to you know, follow up, I mean, in which segment are you seeing the pressure mode? Is it the men’s inner wear, women’s inner wear or the athleisure? Which segment would you. Are you seeing the, the intensity more?
Karthik Yathindra
No. So see, as a brand today, we cannot identify one other brand with whom we compete with.
That’s because of the nature of business for Jockey and how we have in a way work with multiple consumer segments as well as multiple product categories. So a competition, to have a view on that, we will have to first break down Jockey into multiple parts and then look at whose competition there. And when we do that, there are players in all the areas that we operate in. It’s just that they’re not common. So for men’s inner wear, there are different set of competing brands which are very different from who we compete with for women’s innerwear, similarly for Athleisure.
But intensity overall from what it was about three years ago is actually a lot better now in the marketplace.
Gaurav Jogani
Okay, sure. Thank you, Karthik. That’s all for me.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from Devanshu Bansal with MK Global. Please go ahead.
Devanshu Bansal
Yes, sir. Hi. Thanks for the opportunity. So the volume has grown by 2% but RM cost in absolute term has declined by 8%. This actually implies that RM cost per seast has actually fallen by 10% and this is the trend that we’ve seen since last couple of months. So wanted to check what is driving this and pardon my ignorance, but wanted to confirm this labor cost would be sitting in employee cost, right? So gross margin, if there is a lower cost pursuing from a labor perspective, then it would sort of aid your lower employee cost, right? Not the gross margin.
Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay
Let me clarify that. So when we speak about product cost, product cost is naturally, since it gets into the inventory cost and cost of sales, we capture three components in product cost which is my material, raw material cost, labor cost, which is cost of production and related overheads, factory overheads combination of all these gets into my product cost. So that’s why when we say that the labor cost per minute has reduced, this is because of the improved efficiency, it gets into my inventory cost or the product cost. So that’s why any changes in labor cost per minute and the related overheads does impact my inventory cost.
So that’s why what we are seeing now is that yes, raw material cost has not reduced, it has remained stable over last few quarters. The effect of higher efficiency, receiving efficiency is what reflects in my manufacturing cost of which labor cost per minute is a component. So the higher efficiency is what is bringing reducing my product cost. And that’s what we meant. Definitely. As from a P and L perspective, employee cost is a separate line. But product cost captures all these things. And over time, the way the labor cost per minute plays out, that does impact our product cost as well.
Devanshu Bansal
Sorry, I got confused from the last sentence. So this reported PNL that we see, the employee cost is including the labor that is employed in your factories. Is that the right assumption?
Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay
Again, P and L is a financial expense, financial expenses, income presentation. So imply costs which include wages is definitely an expense item. Hence it comes out separately. But at the same time when we say product cost, it also includes the entire manufacturing cost component. So manufacturing cost is three factors. Raw material cost, labor cost and related overheads.
Devanshu Bansal
This 40, 41% cost that is there, that is what does that include which. Is seen to us,
Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay
it includes all the three components. Whenever we speak about product cost, it includes all the three components.
Devanshu Bansal
Understood? Understood. And secondly, just to follow up on Nihal’s question, so you’re targeting double digit growth, but as of now because the average has been about 5%, so current demand environment is sort of indicating a 5% kind of a trend in terms of consumption. Is that the right number?
V S Ganesh
Very, very difficult to predict this, Devanshu, because it is very volatile out there. It’s anybody’s gas. There’s so many geopolitical things happening, tariff pressures. Now we see a lot of pressure in the IT sector. So we have to wait and watch about this. It’s anybody’s gas. But you know, as I told you opening comment, we have been seeing month on month improvement. May was better than April, June was better than May. So that gives us hope. And this is one is because maybe because the market is slowly improving. Second is because of all the initiatives we are taking.
Devanshu Bansal
Understood, sir, understood. And last question from my end. So distribution from general trade perspective over last three four quarters has remained at one like 10,000 odd uplifts. So what’s your target of improvement here for this current year? That is the last question.
Karthik Yathindra
Yeah, so Devanshu, actually we’ve, we’ve expanded in the last couple of years as far as distribution is concerned. Of course we had reached 110,000 immediately after the pandemic because a lot of non traditional hosiery outlets were in a way tapped into to retail jockey products which was rationalized thereafter in 2023. But thereafter, year on year, we’ve been adding anywhere between 8 to 9,000 outlets per year.
The target we’ve taken upon ourselves this year is also in the similar range.
Devanshu Bansal
Fair enough. Khajij, thanks for taking.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Vidisha Seth with Ambit Capital. Please go ahead.
Videesha Sheth
Yes. Hi. My first question again was on the revenue growth bit. Two parts to it. One was that which part of the portfolio dragged the volume, performance innovated or was it that leisure led? And the second bit is while you’ve indicated that no pricing changes have been made, feedback from the channel suggests that some hikes have been taken in part of the menswear portfolio. If you could clarify on that, please.
Karthik Yathindra
Thanks for the question, Vidisha. We don’t share category level performance, but I would say that innerwear as a portfolio as been a bit more muted in terms of retail consumption when compared to athleisure in the bygone quarter. Not a big difference, but still a difference between the two. With regards to price increase. There has been no price increase taken. There have been a few changes made more to correct the ladder of our portfolio which we would not really account to as price increase, which has had an effect of about.03 3.4 percentage points. Overall, if you look at it at a brand level, they were Essentially price ladder corrections that were taken in a few styles.
Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay
And this was also affected in the last quarter. Not this quarter,
Karthik Yathindra
not in this quarter. This was actually affected to the end of quarter three last year.
Videesha Sheth
Okay, got it. And the second question was again a follow up on margins. Is that are these digital or it spends that you’re talking about going to be back ended which makes you retain the margin guidance and also what were the ad spends during the quarter?
Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay
So answering the second question, ad spend has been around 3.5% which is slightly lower in this quarter. But I think for the overall entire year will still be in that 4 to 5% range. So definitely the benefit of lower ad spend is reflecting the margin to some extent. Regarding a margin, can you just repeat the first question?
Videesha Sheth
Yeah, the. The first one was that of the digital or ID spends that you’re talking about, are they, are they going to be back ended as well, which is making you retain the margin guidance? No one is of course the ad spends as well that you talked about that they’ll be higher.
Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay
Yeah. No, the digital and IT spends are based on the actual concept as and when we incurring it or as an in the contractual liability starts. We do accountants. So there is no back ended accounting of that.
Videesha Sheth
Got it. It’s fairly clear. And just a, just a third question if I may. In context of this Jockey Groove launch and focus on younger consumers. Given that younger consumers are relatively less brand loyal, what gives you the confidence that they will display the similar stickiness as your older consumer cohort? That’s also my concern.
Karthik Yathindra
Good question, Vidisha. I don’t think the expectation is to have similar stickiness as the older consumer. The way JKY grew has been conceptualized itself is to have more frequent changes. It would be a fashion line, a very, very tight, limited line, but having complete change in the styling and design season after season, much like how many fashion brands operate. So that skill going to be a part of the portfolio addressing this particular consumer. So we are not expecting stickiness to a certain product. But as long as the younger consumer can come in and experience JKY Groove and come and find something new every season within that particular collection.
That’s the intent.
Videesha Sheth
And this product line is largely outsourced or manufactured in house?
Karthik Yathindra
Both. So it’s not specifically designed to either be outsourced or manufactured. It could be a combination.
Videesha Sheth
Correct. Thanks a lot. All the best.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from Ashish Kanodia with City. Please go ahead.
Ashish Kanodia
Yeah. Thank you. Sir. The first question is on the you know, the growth statement which you made, like May being stronger than April and then June been stronger than May. Just wanted to understand that like, you know, across the quarters also there are, you know, some quarter which are stronger and then there are some quarter which are relatively weaker. So typically, is this a phenomena you see, you know, across the years that month on month, you know, as you go from April to June, there’s a month on month improvement or was this the first time you are seeing this trend?
Karthik Yathindra
See, there is no specific pattern. Obviously quarter on quarter, the contribution to the overall number varies. But in terms of growth rates there is no specific pattern. Last year that’s what we experienced. Quarter one for us was slower when compared to the subsequent quarters in the year. As the year progressed, our performance, both at a retail level as well and also at a primary level improved. For us this year we don’t know we have seen that within the quarter till June. It’s also largely to do with a very muted April because of the festive impact, we’ve seen recovery in May and thereafter for the recovery in June.
So as of now in the quarter, that’s how it’s been. And if I take last year as a trend, we’ve seen improvements quarter on quarter for the year as the year progressed.
Ashish Kanodia
So Karthik, let me put it this way. When we look at the full quarter number, there’s a 2% volume growth. If you look at April, May and June on a YoY growth versus last year, how different the growth profile would be. I understand April could be maybe meaningfully different because of the early festive. But when you look at May and June on a yoy growth basis, was the trend very similar or was it different? And similarly, are you seeing any uptick in July or is July also kind of very similar to what you have seen last quarter?
Karthik Yathindra
So I cannot comment on July yet, so I’ll keep my comment to the quarter. So if you just look at it from a number point of view, last year we had reported about a 4% revenue growth in quarter one. By the time we ended the year it was about 8, 8.5% for the whole financial year of FY25. And that’s where I said that the performance improved quarter over quarter. It’s a similar pattern we have experienced in quarter one alone. I’m not sure whether that’s a reflection of what we will see in quarter two and quarter three.
I’ll retain my comment for quarter one where we’ve seen a positive trajectory month over month.
Ashish Kanodia
Maybe I will Take that offline. The other question, the second question is in terms of the earlier discussion around margins. Now when I look at one, the EBITDA margin, you have a positive tailwind on the EBITDA margin, even gross margin margin side. At least on the efficiency side. When you talk about improving efficiency, it looks like a structural advantage, right? That this, this benefit should continue. So in that context, you know, when you look at the, for example, you talked about the correction in price product ladder which had a positive impact, right? 0.3 0.4%. As a brand, why not take a price cut or a price correction in the.
At the entry level price point, right. Not across the portfolio. Because at the entry level if you take some price, correct. It basically helps the brand to gain market share. Because the pricing difference between say a lower brand product versus jockey’s entry level product becomes slightly lower. Right? And at least your margins could easily support that. So from a strategy point of view, why is that not a thought process?
Karthik Yathindra
Go ahead Deepanjan, please.
Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay
See, there are two parts to this question. One is definitely the operating margin and whether it is right to reduce the price operating margin while it is we are in the range of 19 to 21%. Of course it has been a bit higher in last few quarters. But as we have been telling and we, and that’s what is likely to happen the subsequent quarter that we see. As we see the margins will be within this range of 19 21%. This heightened or the increased margin of 21% plus is unlikely to be sustained. So we’ll come back within this range more because our marketing spends will be in the range of 4 to 5 and as we go ahead, our IT spends will be slightly on the higher side.
So considering all these factors, it will be coming back within this range of 1921. Coming to your question of why not price reduction to take advantage of the market. We as a brand all along has stood for value of our money and we are focused always on driving value to the consumer. So the kind of products or features that we provide in our products, our prices are very much in line with those features. So we don’t see a requirement that by reducing price simply to capture the market share, our value position will be enhanced or will be affected.
So we will maintain our value proposition and towards the same objective, we don’t see any requirement of price increase.
Ashish Kanodia
Sure, Deepanyan, that’s helpful. Thank you. That would be all from my side.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Sameer Gupta with India Infoline. Please Go ahead.
Sameer Gupta
Thanks for taking my question sir. And I mean I know it’s been asked by many participants but just on this volume growth number so 2% versus 8.5% last quarter. I understand that you mentioned the reasons as subtitute consumer sentiments and festive timing mismatch but frankly we haven’t seen such a slowdown for any other retail company so far which have reported. Plus you mentioned innerwear has seen slightly more subdued and this is a more staple category. So just wanted to understand a little more in granular detail any study or handle you have as to track brand relevance, whether those aspects are healthy channel wise.
If there is a problem, is EBO growing much faster than the GT channel? Any color that you could give additionally to what you have already given.
Karthik Yathindra
Sure Sameer, thanks for the question. I think it’s probably the first thing on our minds as well. Right. So in terms of brand health and relevance for men’s inner wear as well as women’s inner wear as a category, brand score seems to be still at an all time high. Just to give you get you in on the details right. Our top of mind awareness for the brand for men stand at about 55% and for women at about 36 37% which has been the highest that it’s ever been. More importantly we track a metric called NPB which is most preferred brand.
It’s the general brand management metric where for men jockeys at about 55% and for women it’s about 45% again all time high that it’s ever been since the time we’ve been tracking it. So we don’t have indications of the brand losing relevance amongst what we define as our target audience. In fact the brand score seems to be on a high. This is through syndicated research, also from anecdotal research that we collect when we speak to retailers on the ground. This is multi brand retailers as well as the information that we have on system on record as far as our EBS stores are concerned there is there is a marked drop in consumer at a store level that’s what we’ve seen both in a multi brand scenario as well as an exclusive brand scenario.
And that’s the reason they kind of push to attribute this more to the consumer level. And of course the growth that are seen today is being aided by expansion. But at a consumer level that seems to be stress at this point in time.
Sameer Gupta
Got it. And any difference in the MBO versus EVO growth rate.
Karthik Yathindra
So at a like to like level there is no difference. Of course when you add an expansion. We’ve been adding about anywhere between 130 to 160 EBs year after year and hence we’ve seen better growth rates overall as a channel. But if that were to be discounted and looked at at a like to like store level performance MBOs and EBOs seem to be performing in a similar manner, but there’s a definite difference in performance between offline and online. Online seem to be growing a lot more robust and healthy when compared to offline.
Sameer Gupta
Got it. Second question is on the JKY Groove, the new launch product. Now. Just wanted to understand the thought process here. Is it coming after a feedback from the trade channels or because see, Jockey as we know is known for comfort and fit. Fashion is a different ball game. It increases, you know, the risk of provisioning on inventory, dead stock, etc. And the competition here is much more intense versus your normal jockey products which stand for, as I said, comfort and fit. Also last year we had experimented with jeans that has seen a limited success. So what exactly is the thought process behind launching this product?
Karthik Yathindra
Great question Sameer. Thanks for the question. This is not a feedback from gt, not a feedback from retailers for the need for this. This is more to look at spaces for extending product portfolio within the brand ambit. That’s where this is coming from. As you know, you’ve been following the brand over the years. We moved from inner wear to sleepwear, sleepwear to loungewear, loungewear to athleisure, athleisure to 1 mile wear. We’ve also entered the performance activewear and we’ve seen large portions of success in all of these areas that we’ve gotten into. This is another space within apparel as a category and the apprehensions that you have are the apprehensions we have as well.
And that is the reason we’ve not gone out for a full fledged launch from the get go. What we did this quarter was more of a pilot just to understand how this space operates and whether there are going to be risks like you had mentioned. So this particular launch was contained to just about 50 EBOs in the country and jockey.in and one other platform on E commerce just to assess what the response is going to be and also track business metrics in terms of turns, in terms of inventory, in terms of redundancy, etc. And this was launched about mid May.
So as I’m speaking to you, we have about 75 days of tertiary data compared to the primary that we made or the products that we made and hence sell through information. So so far the performance has been really, really good and promising. That being said, I don’t think tomorrow this will become the mainstay of Jockey or the Face of Jockey or we’ll expand straight away to, you know, 50,000, 60,000 outlets. That’s not the intent. We will, you know, thread this area cautiously, look to expand in a methodical manner season after season until we get a hang of this, get a clear understanding of what it means to business and how it affects our metrics.
But it is an opportunity for us to talk to the younger audience. It’s an opportunity for us to extend ourselves into a new space. That’s how we’re looking at it.
Sameer Gupta
Great. This is really, really helpful, really detailed answer. Thanks for this. One more question, if I may squeeze in. This is specifically on the international business. Now. We have had these territories, Middle east and Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, etc. For many years now, but we haven’t seen anything meaningful happening on the international front. It is still sub 5% as a percentage of sales. What is the thought process here? I mean, are you limited in terms of bandwidth to explore waters outside India or. I mean, how do you look at it?
Karthik Yathindra
Honestly, I think for many years now, the focus has been India. India has been writing the growth story for Page, not just for Page, for any category you look at across brands, and I think it continues to do so. The promise that India gives is there, it is intact and we are very, very committed to building the business here. But about a year, year and a half ago is where we’ve actually consciously invested in infrastructure as well as resources to dedicatedly handle our international geographies. Now, some of these geographies are strategically not being entered into for reasons.
But the areas that we have entered into, largely, if you look at Middle east or Nepal, these are areas where infrastructure efforts and investments have been made in the last couple of years. We have invested now a lot into research and market understanding so that we can in a way get back into these territories with a new leash to speak and look at it with all intent now that we’ve invested in that geography. So, yes, at this point in time, it is a very small contributor to the overall revenues of the brand, but they are seeing opportunities in each of these geographies to grow and contribute in a meaningful manner to the overall revenue Page.
So we will see change in this area this year and the next year onwards. Also, the entry into these areas has a long gestation period for us to actually launch or relaunch the brand to make, make it a success. And have meaning in that business and that’s why you’re seeing that lag. But yeah, when we do choose to move in there and build the brand meaningfully that time we will start seeing results.
Sameer Gupta
Any target you have internally or whatever you can share as to what kind of contribution it should have, let’s say in five years from now.
Karthik Yathindra
No, I don’t think we are targeting from a contribution point of view. Internally there are independent business plans at a country level. That’s the. That’s the way we are looking at it based on the potential that the country throws at us rather than looking at it as a contribution metric to the overall business.
Sameer Gupta
Got it. This is helpful. So thanks again. I’ll come back in the queue for any follow ups.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Ankit Kedia with Philip Capital. Please go ahead.
Ankit Kedia
So my first question is on the manufacturing cost. It seemed the volumes have been low in the quarter. So did we get some benefit out of that? Given that the manpower cost would have been low apart from the efficiency gains you’re talking of. And by the end of the quarter, if the volume increases, say by end of the year, will we get leverage on that front or it will be in line to the sales or volume?
Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay
No, definitely. I think there will be benefit coming from manufacturing efficiency. There are two parts to it. If the volume increases substantially and that’s what you’re hopeful that volume will increase in the coming quarters. So with increasing sales volume there will be a requirement of increasing the production and maybe the requirement of recruiting more people will also come in though efficiency is increasing. So if there is more recruitment of workforce then the benefit of higher manufacturing efficiency will be to some extent diluted. But if you, if you continue to leverage the existing workforce and produce more then the benefit of further manufacturing efficiency or over absorption of overheads will flow into the manufacturing cost.
Ankit Kedia
Sure. And sir, from the Odisha plant, you know we had some benefits from the state government while today did we see some benefit of that also flowing? Because on the manpower front we have some thousand manpower out there. So I don’t think we are running at the, you know, even half the capacity today. So how do we see that ramp up coming in and do we need if the volume say you know, to little bit high single digit. When do you think the full capacity utilization of Odisha can happen? You know, given that we have set ourselves 8,000 target and this is a new plant and another plant is expected to come in a year’s time.
So can both the plans be absorbed for the 8,000 target you have set yourself or is these two plans for very long term in nature?
Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay
So both, I think even from the plan of or even from our plans of expansion in the next few years, both these manufacturing facilities will be fully up and running and also for a significantly longer term, that is more production requirements and more sales requirement. This will be good addition to our total capacity. At the same time, the Orissa facility as well as the new upcoming KRP facility, they are much more modern. Much more, I would say technically and even from sustainability perspective, these are much more modern manufacturing facilities. So that also helps from the Orissa subsidy part of it.
It’s a bit early now because that’s, that’s what the plan is. While you just started operations and the subsidies typically start flowing in only from beginning of next financial year. Nothing will grow in this year. So it’s a bit early now.
Ankit Kedia
Sure. And my last question is for Karthik. Karthik, you said, you know, you did an external study where the footfalls, you know, were lower at the MBO and EBO level. In the study, did you see that a retailer like a zoodio is gaining share in the innerwear category or the study was only for innerwear where you would have seen that overall growth is not there and probably some of the innerwear brands exiting the market in the MBO channel, but value fashion retailer gaining significant market share in a category which you know is not your competitor overall.
Karthik Yathindra
Yeah, thanks, Ankit. No, it did not come out clearly in the study, to be honest. And also from a price point at which the brand that you mentioned operates in, it would, I would imagine, come directly and compete with some of the economy brands that operate in that price point, both in terms of product quality spec as well as price point? I don’t believe that would directly compete with or will be comparable with Jockey as a brand. Where we operate in, of course, channel also is a play because for us largely in the general trade and exclusive brand stores in the offline space where we operate, whereas that would operate like any other private label, so to speak.
So yeah, I mean, I don’t have a clear answer to say yes or no. There is a possibility, but I’m not sure whether that’s what’s happened over here.
Ankit Kedia
Are you seeing when you say the innerwear got impacted, how was the growth in the, you know, modern classic category of men’s innerwear? Because that pricing would be similar to the retailer whom we are discussing. So is modern classic growth more muted compared to P1, P2 category first.
Karthik Yathindra
No. So interestingly, across price points we’ve seen consistent performance in the bygone quarter. And specifically to the comparison, even Modern Classic will be priced premium when compared to the player in question here.
Ankit Kedia
Sure, that’s helpful. Thank you so much.
operator
Thank you. Thank you. The next question comes from Prerna Junjunwala with Elara Securities. Please go ahead.
Prerna Jhunjhunwala
Hello. Thank you for the opportunity. First, I would like to understand the growth in the various channels. As you mentioned that, you know, The MBU and EBU channel growth was similar and D2C continued to grow. What I was trying to understand is what restricts the physical distribution channel on growth apart from retail environment not being that great, as mentioned earlier, is there any challenge challenge on footfalls or in terms of attracting customers to the stores? I mean, just trying to understand what is restricting the distribution channel growth whether it is video or mbo.
Karthik Yathindra
Yeah, so like I said, whatever growth we’ve posted this year is on the back of expansion in a way. So where the growth is being muted is at a consumer level, you know, like to like. So that’s where it’s being attributed to walk ins or consumption being subdued this bygone quarter. But otherwise expansion in terms of number of doors, in terms of presence has definitely gone up when compared to last year, same quarter and also gone up within the quarter from March closing to June. So that in terms of efforts or inputs is on. We continue to expand but where we’ve seen a stress is largely at a like to like growth levels.
Prerna Jhunjhunwala
And what are we doing to attract more? I understand that you’re doing, you’re doing a lot of product innovation, but apart from that, any customer engagement activities that you have ramped up, could you give some instances over that that could help us understand that okay, future growth rate should be much higher than what we’ve seen in this quarter.
Prerna Jhunjhunwala
We have a very robust marketing plan in place like we do every year in terms of strengthening brand with clear actionable call outs to make sure that we are able to drive consumption. That’s how we are approaching this year as well. And over the years, over the last three years, our investment in marketing has gone up year after year. And today we operate anywhere between 4.5% to 5% in terms of investment in marketing. And that’s the kind of investment that’s going in as well this year. It’s just that in quarter one, largely owing to timing and how the sporting calendar pans out, we’re seeing a muted investment in quarter one.
That’s because last year we participated in the World cup campaign which happened to be in the month of June and hence we are seeing a difference over there as far as this year is concerned. But otherwise, when you look at it in totality, full year to full year, we have a solid marketing and in place backed with adequate investments for us to activate consumer.
Prerna Jhunjhunwala
Okay, and the second question is on Gen Z younger audience product category that you have launched in JKY Group, what is the current distribute, current distribution reach that you have reached in that would you want to reach by the end of this year?
Karthik Yathindra
Yeah, so I think we have to take it one month at a time, one quarter at a time as far as this collection is concerned because like I said, it’s a test at this point in time. We need to see how it performs. The pilot itself was launched in 50 exclusive brand stores, 52 exclusive brand stores to be precise, as well as jockey.in. that’s the level of presence that it had. It was not extended to the general trade market in the first season. We wanted to keep it really tight where we have very clear understanding of, you know, the sell throughs as well as who’s buying it.
And it was a line of about 14 different products plus colors and sizes to also get a sense of what appealing to this audience when it comes from a brand like Jockey. So at this moment it’s a very, very contained distribution. But as we go forward, as we learn more about this space, we will gradually increase its presence in the country, both across exclusive brand stores as well as multi brand retail.
Prerna Jhunjhunwala
My last question is on women and athleisure categories. Your annual report talks about these categories being your growth focus going forward. Could you just help us understand what will be the key initiatives that you plan to take this year to improve the growth rate in this categories?
Karthik Yathindra
I think largely it’s going to be product in terms of what we will see in terms of introduction in the portfolio in these two areas. We’re going to have a completely new range of elevated premium products coming in as far as the women’s innerwear space is concerned. It’s just in a way going in now, just in time for the festive season and that’s going to be one of the key pillars for us. Also in the at leisure side, we’ve done a lot of work in upgrading and elevating our existing products in terms of features, in terms of fit to make it a lot more modern than what it is today to, you know, suit the younger consumer at the same time, not alienate our existing loyal Consumer set.
So that’s been a massive exercise that the product team has undergone with every product that is currently in the portfolio. And then of course Groove is going to be a pillar when it comes in season two. And then there are a few initiatives which I cannot give away too much at this point in time for all of our benefit. But that’s something that is planned sometime in quarter three this year. So large portion of focus which is disproportionate in this area when compared to the other categories is going to be on product enhancement.
Prerna Jhunjhunwala
Understood, sir, thank you. And last question will be on inventory.
operator
Sorry to interrupt there, Ms. Jinwala. Can you come back in the question queue for any follow up questions?
Prerna Jhunjhunwala
Can I, Can I go ahead.
Karthik Yathindra
Please? Go ahead. Yeah.
Prerna Jhunjhunwala
Yes, thank you. Thank you so much. What is the status of inventory levels for atmician as has it started declining? As mentioned in Q4 call, there was a difference of around seven days, as you mentioned, between the inventory at the.
Karthik Yathindra
Partner level is what you’re checking.
Prerna Jhunjhunwala
Yes, yeah, yeah, yes.
Karthik Yathindra
So we are seeing a decrease month after month as far as inventory days are concerned at a partner level. I think I had mentioned the last time as well as far as Innaware as a portfolio is concerned, we are already where we want to be, which is our optimum inventory level. Autoware still has, like I think I mentioned this last time, we’ll be taking the whole of this year, at least the first three quarters for us to reach an optimum level. But I don’t believe that is holding back, holding us back in a big way in terms of, you know, performing both in terms of primary and secondary.
Of course, freeing up that level of capital at the partner level will help us introduce more products, more relevant products for those markets which should again help us in better secondary sell throughs. But yes, it’s a phase that we will need to live through and I’m hoping that in the next couple of quarters we should be able to reach optimum levels without aware as well.
Prerna Jhunjhunwala
Thank you. So that’s really helpful. All the best.
operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, please limit your questions to two per participant. The next question comes from the line of Tejas Shah with Event S Spark. Please go ahead.
Tejas Shah
Hi, thanks for the opportunity and I joined a bit late so sorry if this question has been asked in any form before. So we are now at the scale where macro trends dominate performance and then we are seeing this in many other category leaders also across consumption space. Now one possible solution that we have seen off late is that to create a portfolio organically or inorganically within the larger portfolio of low index categories of brands. Now, since the brand vector is not with us, brand extension is the only lever that we have. So just wanted to know, and we have done many launches also in past, perhaps not with this mindset alone, but we have seen in many category extensions.
So are there any bright spots in the portfolio clearly outperforming the average? And when you do the sum total, you can say that 20, 25% of our overall portfolio is growing way above what the company is today delivering number.
Karthik Yathindra
Tejas, thanks for the question. Right, but this is a function of the life cycle in which that particular space within the portfolio is at. So definitely there are going to be areas within the portfolio which is outdoing the average. It’s got to do with what stage of the life cycle is that portfolio at. And it’s also got to do with how we cut the portfolio.
So I can straightaway say, for example, accessories as a portfolio, where we sell socks, towels, caps, handkerchiefs, as a portfolio is outdoing the brand average by a big margin. That’s also because it’s in a nascent stage, it’s not completely fully distributed to the extent that we would like it to be. And hence there is a lot of inorganic opportunity for growth which is sitting over there. Further, if we had to, you know, dissect each of our portfolios further. Right, let’s say within men’s inner, where if you have to break it down further, or within women’s inner, where if you have to break it down further, either in the form of product types, either in the form of collections, either in the form of material groups, you will find, you know, parts of the portfolio that is outdoing the average, all of which are in a way opportunities for organic growth.
That’s also because unlike FMCG here, the number of SKUs that we deal with, which are truly differentiated from each other, either in the form of fit or product type or material or price point, there is opportunity for us to grow. So, yeah, there are many parts within the portfolio today which is far outdoing the portfolio average and leading that inorganic agenda for us.
Tejas Shah
Yeah, and so JKY Groove, it’s actually kind of extension of what we just spoke about, but launching it just in 50ebos and only in our portal, what markers will actually give you confidence from such limited launch will actually will give you confidence to roll it further.
And just wanted to know that, is it like targeting a certain category of audience at a price point? Because I was just Looking at the site, it’s largely priced below 1000 rupees and with some fashion this element also in the product line so broadly. Just wanted to understand your view on here.
Karthik Yathindra
Yeah, so I think I responded to a similar question just before. The markers that we are looking for is firstly, consumer acceptance because it’s new for Jockey as a brand. Secondly, we are having a lookout for who’s actually shopping this. Is it the existing Jockey consumer who’s shopping this or are we attracting new consumers into the brand by making this available? The third is to see inventory turns itself and sell throughs.
Right. We had a certain plan obviously because of the number of stores that we had planned for. We had. We had planned limited quantities. But keeping in mind the number of stores and hence store level performance of sell throughs is a very good indication of how the. We’re also keeping an eye because this is relatively high fashion when compared to what Jockey otherwise operates in. What the kind of redundancy that is going to be left with at the end of the season. Are there anything that is going to be left at all? These are something that we’re really looking out for so that we can build clear business metrics this space before we can expand.
And that’s the reason it has been limited to the distribution that we’ve kept in mind. We believe it is sufficient width for us to get a clear reading of this part of the business. And then once we justify this to ourselves in terms of performance, it would be relatively easier.
operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Rajiv Bharti with nu. Amma, please go ahead.
Rajiv Bharati
Thanks for the opportunity. So this is regarding JKY Group. So this looks exciting. So the question is product market fit to you, which you talked about the day you offer this in trade channel, is that a marker to suggest that you have established a product market fit? And the combination of that is, you know, the success of various launches, extension which we have seen over the years has gone down. How does trade actually accept this kind of launches?
Karthik Yathindra
So there is already some level of inherent demand in trade for JKY Group. We’ve been, we’ve been receiving a lot of requests from our partners in the general trade channel to extend the portfolio into their stores as well. Again, I’m guessing this is because of the experience with which these retailers come. They deal with consumers on a daily basis. They have a fair sense of what will work with their consumers, what will not work with their consumers. Having considered all of that, if there is some level of latent demand for this. I’m assuming that, you know there is a market for this in general trade as well.
Whether we consider it successful the minute it goes into general trade, I don’t know. We’ve always taken a phased approach. We are taking the similar approach now even within our organized retail space itself. Out of close to 1500 stores that we have, it was today introduced only in about 50. So there is a long way of expansion opportunity available here itself. And then of course, general trade is a massive opportunity which is also there. Once we are able to establish relevance of this product at this price point from this brand for consumers in that channel, then we will go after expansion to make it available in as many touch points as possible so that more consumers can come and experience this particular brand which will flow into business as well.
Rajiv Bharati
Yeah. Thanks a lot, sir.
operator
Thank you. As there are no further questions from the participants, I now hand the conference over to the management for closing remarks.
Deepanjan Bandyopadhyay
So thanks again. It was really wonderful discussing the Q1 results with all of you. I think with this we can close the earnings call.
operator
Thank you on behalf of Page Industries Ltd. That concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. And you may now disconnect your lines. .