Page Industries Ltd Q4 FY22 Earnings Conference Call Insights

Key highlights from Page Industries Ltd (PAGEIND) Q4 FY22 Earnings Concall

Q&A Highlights:

• Gaurav Jogani with Axis Capital asked about the price increase taken in 4Q, beyond the 8% price increase announced in Dec. VS Ganesh CEO replied that the company didn’t have any further price increase other than the one it had in December.

• Gaurav Jogani with Axis Capital also asked that given the raw material stock the company has, if further price increase will be needed given the inflationary pressure seen in cotton prices. VS Ganesh CEO replied the company is closely monitoring the situation. It’s not that the inventory will help PAGEIND in the long term. If there is a need, PAGEIND will be touching the prices to ensure that EBITDAs are around the 20-21% mark.

• Devanshu Bansal of Emkay Global asked about the cost savings considering GM dropping by 200 bp in 4Q, but EBITDA margin expanding by 500 bp. Chandrasekar K CFO answered that it is due to the much higher volume in 4Q22. The opex as a percentage of revenue went down and PAGEIND keeps a strict control of opex.

• Devanshu Bansal of Emkay Global also asked about the volume growth for 4Q22 and FY22. Chandrasekar K CFO said that volume for 4Q21 was 46 and for 4Q22 it was 50. And volumes for FY21 was 148 and FY22, it is 191.

• Nihal Jham from Edelweiss asked about the change in the sales and marketing spend. VS Ganesh CEO said the company makes sure that the spend on sales and marketing is not curtailed to a great extent as the traction is very high. PAGEIND is very bullish about the market and the growth.

• Saumil Mehta with Kotak Life asked what kind of other expenses have seen a moderation in 4Q22 and if it’s going to be the new run rate for FY23. Chandrasekar K CFO replied there is no moderation as far as the overhead is concerned. Staff salaries, all the other opex have grown to keep pace with the growth in volume and at the same time as a percentage of revenue opex has come down.

• Ankit Kedia from PhillipCapital asked about the growth differential between the metro tier 1 market and the rural market, if there are some pressure points on volumes in the rural market. VS Ganesh CEO said the company is seeing overall growth be it the category or tiers of cities. All product categories and all channels have performed well.

• Bharat Gianani Moneycontrol Pro asked about the revenue growth target for the next 2-3 years. VS Ganesh CEO replied that the company was looking at $1 billion by FY26. In fact now the company is looking at $2 billion and beyond. As a management, the company is working on those aspirations and is well poised to counter those hikes.