Vedant Fashions Ltd (NSE: MANYAVAR) Q3 2026 Earnings Call dated Feb. 13, 2026
Corporate Participants:
Rahul Murarka — Chief Financial Officer
Analysts:
Gaurav Jogani — Analyst
Tejash Shah — Analyst
Sameer Gupta — Analyst
Priya Dashi — Analyst
Rahul Agarwal — Analyst
Aashish Upganlawar — Analyst
Azharuddin — Analyst
Mithain — Analyst
Prashant Shah — Analyst
Prerna Jhunjhunwala — Analyst
Presentation:
operator
Sa. Operator request has been initiated. If you’d like to cancel this request, please press Star zero again. Sadies and gentlemen, you’ve been connected to Vidan Fashion Q3FY26 earnings conference call. Please stay connected, the call will begin shortly. Ladies and gentlemen, you have been connected to Vedas Fashion Tuesday FY26 earnings conference call. Please stay connected, the call will begin shortly. Sam foreign. Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Vedant Fashions 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. Gaurav Jogani from JM Financial. Thank you. Over to you sir.
Gaurav Jogani — Analyst
Hello everyone. On behalf of GM Financial, I would. Like to welcome you all To Vedant. Fashion’s Q3 FY26 earnings conference call from the management. Today we have with us Mr. Rahul. Murarka, CFO and Mr. Neeraj Saraf, GM. FP and a and head investor Relations. Thank you and over to you sir.
Rahul Murarka — Chief Financial Officer
Good afternoon Namaskar and a warm welcome to all participants. I am Rahul Murarkar, the Chief Financial Officer of the company. I am accompanied with Mr. Neeraj Saraj, GM FPNA and investor relationship. Thank you for joining us today to Discuss Vedant Fashion Limited Q3 and 9 month FY26 results. I hope you get an opportunity to go through our financial results and investor presentations which have been uploaded on the stock exchange as well as the company’s website. During the quarter, sale of our customer was around 692 crore and during nine month period it was around 1447 crore with a growth of around 5.4%.
Further, FSG during the ninth month of FY26 stood at 1.8%. As highlighted in our earlier discussion, this year our focus remains firmly on strengthening the quality of our retail business. This is reflected in the improvement across our retail KPIs during the quarter as well as nine months period. Our continued strategic emphasis on enhancing customer experience, deepening design offerings, introducing attractive price points, changing retail training, leveraging data like merchandising and replenishment and maintaining disciplined KPI. Management has collectively supported improvement of key retail KPIs and also improved inventory terms. In line with this calibrated approach, we pursued collective store expansion while rationalizing smaller format and other communications resulting in an addition of approximately 5,500s during the quarter.
Additionally, we launched another flagship brand, a flagship premier exclusive brand outlet of 9,000 square feet in Mumbai which further strengthened our premises a premium retail presence. During the year we executed an integrated marketing strategy across our brands and channels leveraging a balanced mix of digital and traditional platform to enhance brand visibility, sharpen brand positioning and deepen consumer engagement. Our initiative included category led campaigns, new wedding collection launches, festive and occasion based promotions, store level activations and influence collaborations. A key highlight during the quarter was the successful launch of the Manevar shaadi Show, a six episode YouTube podcast hosted by famous celebrity Karan Johar.
The series explores interesting take on modern India wedding planning blending humor, celebrity conversations and expert insights. It features well known celebrity personalities, industry experts, celebrity couples like Preeti Karbanda and Pulkit Savrat covering themes across wedding fashion, styling trends, photography, bridal entry and evolving customer expectations. The series also explored topics such as real wedding stories, the evolution of wedding fashion, the growing influence of social media and the importance of preserving wedding memories. The show has delivered strong viewership and very positive feedback which further strengthen long term brand equity through celebrity led storytelling reinforcing our connect with the modern Indian wedding customers.
Additionally, we continue to strengthen our brand portfolio through focused campaigns across levers. Mohe carried forward its Mohi Rangpo campaign celebrating its India’s vibrant festive spirit and Fomeh built further momentum around its truly you proposition through new collection launches and influencer led storytelling. Mebaaz launched its new campaign Celebration Begin with Mehbaaz and diverse executed targeted digital and social media initiatives during key festive periods to expand reach and engagement across marketplaces. Collectively all these efforts have enhanced brand positioning and consumer appeal across platforms with the positive impact expected to play out sustainably over the long term. Now I would like to highlight the key financial performance metric for the quarter and nine months period.
31 December 2025 starting from Q3 FY26 performance update, revenue from operation during the period was around 492 crore. The company continues to report healthy gross margin of 65.7% and healthy EBITDA margin of 44.6%. The company reported best in class pack margin of around 27.4% and the profit after tax stood at around 135 crore. Now coming to nine months period, the company reported revenue from operation of 1,036 crore with a growth of around 1.7%. The company continued to report healthy gross margin of around 66% along with healthy EBITDA margin of around 44%. The EBITDA during the period stood at around 453 crore.
The company also reported healthy pack margin of 25.2% and the profit after tax stood at around 261 crore. Moreover, during a trading film period December 25, the company reported strong and healthy tax and margin ratio of 95% which has been computed based upon operating cash flow to back including Jan during Tuesday of 26. Our overall performance was significantly impacted due to December on account of.
operator
Sorry to interrupt sir. So your voice is breaking.
Rahul Murarka — Chief Financial Officer
In view of festivity and varying during the period, I have proven that Tomesh is doing very well with an Overall growth of 40% in Q3 and YTT along with SSG growth of 12% in Q3 and around 16% in YTT as tested by the traction and right. We plan to further accelerate and scale the sentiment faster in future. Going forward, we remain firmly focused on our core strength supported by various ongoing initiatives to drive sustainable long term growth. We are optimistic that various government initiatives already undertaken will support a revival in consumer sentiment over the coming periods and we are fully prepared to capitalize on the improving demand.
Now we can move to the Q and A session.
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 answers 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 Tejas Shah from Avendus Park. Please proceed.
Tejash Shah
Hi, thanks for the opportunity. We have seen compression in gross margin without commensurate acceleration in growth. So if you can start by kind. Of sharing your thoughts on gross margin compression and how to think about this. Trade off that let’s say if gross margin goes down, can we expect some acceleration in growth or both are not. Related at least in the current markets construct.
Rahul Murarka
Thank you for your question, Tejas. So in the earlier periods Tejas we have been able to achieve exceptional gross margin. This time in the current Q3 the gross margin got impacted majorly because of GST because as we have discussed earlier, in 90% of our products GST rates have increased from 12 to 18%. However, following a balanced approach from a consumer lens and consumer prospect, we have not increased MRP of all the products and hence we wanted to deliver products which are aspirationally had value for money. So accordingly there is some level of one time GST impact which has come on our revenue as well as margins and profitability which we believe that will get normalized to a large extent in the upcoming period.
As far as growth is concerned, we are working on different aspects. We are taking a lot of initiatives around designs, varieties, price points to be more competitive and how we can bring more fresh products for the consumer, how we can improve the consumer experience and we are doing different things. We are also doing lot of marketing initiatives and we started on Amur Sadi show with Kanjwara. We have also started a new campaign with. So we are seeing a lot of new initiatives which have started historically.
operator
Sorry to interrupt sir, I’ll just disconnect your line and connect you again.
Rahul Murarka
Okay, sure.
operator
Ladies and gentlemen, we have the management again. So you may proceed. Yes sir.
Rahul Murarka
So Tejas, I think I don’t know from where did you lose me during the conversation on gross margin. I’ll just start from the beginning to be more relevant. So on gross margin, you know in the earlier period we have been able to achieve exceptional gross margins and during Q3 and this period the gross margin got impacted because of gst. As you are all aware that in our segment GST has increased from 12 to 18% in 90% of our products. However, we have not increased MRP to that extent considering the balanced consumer approach and to ensure that we deliver products which are aspirational yet value for money.
And there has been one time impact of GST in our revenue as well as profitability which we feel will get normalized to a great extent in the upcoming periods. However, the management from a gross margin prospect we are very confident that we’ll be able to achieve 65% plus of gross margin as we have informed earlier as well.
Tejash Shah
Sure, sure. Second question on. So we don’t have. A like to like peer set as. Such, but when we see names numbers. Of Aditya Birla Fashion’s ethnic portfolio or. Sisilk, we at least from context of. That peer set it seems that we. Are losing market share. So how would you frame your relative. Market position in this context? And is this divergence more cyclical, regional or execution led? How do you kind of try to explain that?
Rahul Murarka
Sure. So competition one arc is that we have done a lot of market surveys at the ground level and we have been closely monitoring competition at our end. What we see is that there have been overall multiple level of consolidation at an industry level because what we are seeing are the organized few Players who have started very recently in 12 years in science. But at an industry level we have actually multiple consolidations. Even we have seen few players having 5, 10 stores at panel winding up the business. So we are very confident on our vote which we have and we feel that.
You mentioned and enterprise can go pace with, you know, new stores opened in last 12 years. It is very, I mean it is very obvious that the L2L growth or the performance will. The number will show very positive. But from our prospect, if you ask me, like you know, also if I, if you talk about Taswa, you know, one of the brands you have been mentioning. So we talk about premiumization to a big extent. So look currently what we see when we talk about consumer sentiment, premiumization is actually in play. So our brand tome also has been doing exceptionally well during Q3 as well as the YTT period which is a premium segment and it is of course a base is low as the other competitor also you mentioned.
So when we talk about our brand Tomev which is a premium segment and doing pretty well, exceptionally well I would say in Q3 we report 12% SSG growth. In YGD we reported 16% SSG growth and overall we reported 40%. And with the kind of figure that we have, it is very encouraging. And we have plans to faster expand it in near future. So that is how we look at competition as of now.
Tejash Shah
Got it. I’ll get back in queue for more questions. Thank you. Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sameer Gupta from India Infoline. Please proceed.
Sameer Gupta
Hi, good evening sir and thanks for taking my question. So firstly I understand there has been a peculiarity due to wedding dates this quarter. But even when the quarter started you would not have expected a decline in sales. So there would be some more additional factors that have come in this quarter. Would it be helpful if you could highlight some of those as to what exactly has happened apart from of course the wedding dates mismatch.
Rahul Murarka
Sure. So I’ll give the entire conversation on the Q3 why Q3 got impacted and which will cover the other factors also. Sameer, thank you for your questions. So basically our Q3 performance got impacted because of January month. Because this year there were no weddings in January at all. No single date of weddings. Last year there were 11 wedding dates in January. Furthermore in December also this year There were only three dates till 6th of December where in last year it was pretty scattered till 14th of December and there were six wedding dates. So of course there has been a major Impact of December month.
Because overall when we look at our October 1st November performance it has been we have done decent business and our business performance was positive. Furthermore what has happened is that this time festivities have started very early. So like Navarati last time started in October. This time Navarati started at the end of September only. So as a result some part of revenue also got booked in September. So if you look at our business performance from September to November again we were able to do very decent, good business, positive both schedule and overall growth. However, it is the month of December which got so significantly impacted that the overall Q3 performance got impacted.
But the good part is that with all these happening we are all retail KPIs, ABs, ABB, everything has been doing very well because of the hard work which we have done at the ground level. So that is a very positive sign from business fundamental aspect. Now what more important factor which is playing as you mentioned, what we were not knowing is that the impact of consumer sentiment like this was one thing which again we felt that you know, with all the initiatives that government has taken on the GST and various other things, we were also very optimistic that the consumer sentiment would drastically go up your will significantly go up.
I would say however, we did not see any major shift in that consumer sentiment especially in the middle class segment because you know Manevar is catering to the middle class segment. So we have seen that the value and premium are still doing very well. But middle class is a segment which is getting affected where maneuver is getting affected. So if you look at our brand like tome which is a premium segment brand so that has done exceptionally well because premiumization is in play. So you know these are the various aspects which have impacted. But the point there is, look, we are management.
We have been doing a lot of hard work at our ground level. We have been doing a lot of we have taken a lot of initiatives for price point design, marketing initiatives and we feel that once the macro level environment gets better in upcoming periods, whatever hard work we have done as a management as a company should show a positive result going forward.
Sameer Gupta
Great Rahul, that’s very helpful. Second question. So I mean this is the third consecutive year of subpar performance. Now I’m not asking particularly for this quarter but if you analyze data over the past three years you would have identified some pain points. So just wanted to understand like what are those pain points that you have identified? You mentioned the the middle class is seeing a challenge. Is that kind of being validated in your data that you know it is Mid end where the growth has been slower or is it entry price points? Is it non wedding merchandise, smaller stores, stores where there is competition that has come up nearby? Is it certain geographies that are lagging behind? Any kind of analysis on this will be helpful.
Rahul Murarka
Sure, sure. So look, on the last two, three years, last one year at least, what we have witness is that, and as we discussed that the middle class consumer sentiment has actually been muted and it has affected all the consumer companies and we are also one of them. And because we also are wedding based, discretionary. So why, you know, when wedding happens, of course the bride and the groom will wear, but what happens is that the other attendees and the family members, that is where the impact starts coming. And which is affecting us also that is on the consumer sentiment which has been affecting us for last at least one year.
I would say say on the competition. You know, as I explained that, you know, of course after stores have opened, more than organized, I would say unorganized lot of players have opened. But we have seen a lot of consolidation, multiple level of consolidation also at the ground level, which we have already seen. And even the new players, even the organized players who started opening two, three years back stores even they have. At the ground level for the unorganized players and overall industry level. So of course, you know, competition would have some impact. But when we monitor performance of our store, where competition is there and where competition is not there, we don’t see any major delta.
In fact, I mean the data which we come across of a store where just nearby competition has come up, we see a slightly positive delta also which also surprises in a way. So that is where we understand that, you know, there’s something else which is there apart from the competition. And as far as. Of course, so that is why, you know, consumer sentiment is something which we felt. And as far as price point is concerned, look, as I mentioned that we have taken a lot of initiatives on ensuring that we have entry price point. Also we have done a lot of work like I would be.
I’ll give you an example. Like for Kurta set and jacket, there’s one price point called 262 4. We have strengthened a lot in this price point to ensure that our products are very competitive at a very attractive price point. So after GHK it was good for us also and more helpful for the consumers. So we have taken lot of these, we have done lot of market surveys on the price points and how we can improve ourselves from a price point and from a designing perspective also and have done A lot of groundwork at the, at the ground level so that you know, whenever things improve we will be in a position to leverage that positivity.
Sameer Gupta
So just a follow up here. So competition is consolidating, your efforts are in place but recovery on growth still is contingent on overall macro pickup. Is that a fair understanding?
Rahul Murarka
Absolutely, absolutely.
Sameer Gupta
Or you feel there is like confidence now that you know next year you will probably add retail area which has been missing this year.
Rahul Murarka
Yes, that is another thing. You have rightly highlighted that because this year, you know, strategically we were focusing on improving the quality of our retail footprint to improve the overall quality of our business from a long term sustainability prospect. But we feel that our store expansion should start normalizing from next 2, 3/4. So of course from the upcoming financial year we expect that the store opening should also start normalizing. So that will be another lever of growth for us which currently because strategically we were not focusing on that, it was not there. So that will also help a lot in future.
Sameer Gupta
Got it Rahul. That’s very, very helpful. Come back in the queue for any follow ups.
Rahul Murarka
Thank you.
operator
Ladies and gentlemen, the management line has been disconnected. Please stay connected. With us. Sa. Ladies and gentlemen, we have the management on the line with us. The next question is from the line of Priya Dashi from fil. Please proceed.
Priya Dashi
Hi, thanks a lot for taking my question. So I would once again, you know, like let you talk about the growth aspect. So I mean I just want to ask, you know, if we look at our performance over a year, over 2012 months or something. I think within that period the number of trading would be normalized, right? I mean that is that, that should be our assumption. So I think if we are still not able to grow, is it because the category itself is losing relevance and you know, trends that we used to mention that you know, we are moving to more traditional wear during weddings etc and that sort of, that trend has stalled.
And secondly, in this UC environment are the or Conor organized players at an advantage given that, you know, they, I don’t know, I mean whether they would or something like that because of which. And there would be discounting modes. So are these factors also playing out? Thanks.
Rahul Murarka
Thank you for your question. So you know, as far as the trend of traditional wear is concerned, you know we have been the lead player motivating people for encouraging people to wear Indian wear over the years and that has really played a lot positively across and that is where we can see a lot of competition also coming up. So if we also look at recent you know, high profile weddings. Then we have seen that, you know, even foreigners are wearing Indian wear and attending the weddings and 99% plus people attendees are wearing Indian wear. So from an industry prospect, Indian wear is actually into play and it is doing really well not only in weddings, but also across festivities and celebration.
And thankfully we have been able to have that those campaigns which have helped overall improvement in sentiment and overall motivating everyone to wear Indian wear over the years. So from an industry prospect, and that is where you know so many players, we see both organized and unorganized coming and opening this store in this industry. So from an industry prospect, it is a very growing industry and there is no challenge at all. Now as far as unorganized player is concerned, look our 80% basis, what we did earlier, 80% of our market, we got a survey done a few years before.
Basically 80% of our market is unorganized player. And of course in last three, four years lot of stores have opened in the unorganized segment. And we acknowledged that there would be some impact of competition in our business. But having said that, the major reason of the business performance which we see in last one year or so is because of the consumer sentiment and macro assets which have played a more important role and a major role in our business performance rather than competition. And as far as competition status is concerned, why many unorganized players have opened the stores in last three years.
But we have seen a lot of consolidation also at the ground level and at the industry level. As I mentioned, there are also few players which were having five to 10 stores. At Pan India level they have also wind up all the stores. So and our industry is a very challenging industry. You know, there are various modes which are required and we are very confident on our modes. What we have been able to develop in last two decades because understanding customer taste and preference across Pan India, working on the supply chain and also look retail.
Generally retail and apparel works on discounting mode. Earlier there was only 12 months in a year where discounting used to happen USS. But now you would see a normal apparel player, retail player having discounting us across the year. Now in our segment us is something which generally doesn’t give more benefit to any other retail player because you know, if you put Sherwan in 50% discount, nobody going to buy unless there’s a wedding. So there are a lot of challenges in our industry which is not possible for any unorganized player to cope up with. And you know they are having very small working capital.
So obviously in 12 years it, it looks exciting but once the overall liquidity gets stuck because the inventory is not moving because USS discount doesn’t play a role, that is where the consolidation starts. And good part about us is that look Overall all our KPIs have been increasing across year on year. Every year we are seeing every quarter. While of course you know, the revenue wise overall we have not been able to grow to a great extent. But as far as retail KPI is concerned, which is the main fundamental and basics of running retail that is growing every quarter and every year which is the most important thing and we have been able to fundamentally maintain our margins also at a pretty good level.
So that is where we feel that as soon as the macro environment improves we would be the first person and we would be in a very advantageous situation basis whatever initiative we have taken in last one year at the ground.
Priya Dashi
All right, thanks a lot, I’ll come back.
operator
Thank you. Before we take the next question, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all participants in the conference, please submit your questions to two for participants. The next question is from the line of Rahul Agarwal from Ikkikai Asset. Please proceed.
Rahul Agarwal
Hi, good evening Raulji. Good evening Neeraj. Just couple of questions then I’ll get back in the queue. Firstly you mentioned about you know, a store consolidation still going on and then next year should look better. Could you elaborate a bit? Could you give more color? Where are we on this journey? What have we seen in this nine months? We have seen some more shutdowns in third quarter. Just a bit of elaboration on what are the thought process right now and how do you see next two years evolving on a top down basis. That will really help.
That’s the first question.
Rahul Murarka
Thank you Rahul for your question. So you know strategically as a management we focused on improving the quality of our retail footprints which will result in improving the quality of our business. That would be helpful for a long term sustainability of the business from a long term prospect. So that is where you know we were focusing on our retail footprint which existing we have and there were some store closures which we have done last year and currently also because of various reasons starting from, you know, smaller stores. Because if you’ll see our majority store expansion are having in the flagship segment we are opening more larger stores.
So in order to improve the overall brand identity and customer experience we have been closing smaller stores of thousand square feet and less including the sil store. So that is one reason. Secondly, you know, generally because Indian environment is very dynamic. Cities, many cities in India are also dynamic. New markets are evolving, old markets are getting old. So there are a lot of market shifts also which are happening within a city. So that is another reason what we are doing is that we are closing the markets, store in market which are very old and now where the market is not doing so well because it has shifted to another location.
So that is another reason. And third is of course there are certain stores which are not very, very much performing as per our KPI. So that is why we are consolidating on those things. And what we feel, and I’m very confident as a management is that once this exercise is over in next two, three quarters. So to answer your question Rahul, we feel that this exercise should get over in next two, three quarters. And from there on we feel that the quality of business and the overall productivity should be very good. And as far as store expansion is concerned, this is where you know, store expansion also we have not seen much store expansion this year strategically.
But we feel that the store expansion should start normalizing from next two, three quarters.
Rahul Agarwal
Right? Right. So if I look at you know, the store count, right. I mean June 23rd we had similar stores, 664 odd basis going into next three quarters. Are we going to see an absolute decline here or we’re going to see though we’re not going to see net additions. I understand because it’s going to be gross plus some closures but we’ll maintain this count going forward. Is that understanding correct?
Rahul Murarka
So to be very frank, you know what how we judge and how we monitor square fit store expansion is based on square foot area. And why you see a decline in account is that because as I mentioned we have been opening larger stores and we as the closures which are happening are smaller stores which are there. So because thousand square feet and less or smaller stores are closing. So that is why count wise it is going down. But I think the kind of store opening which we do, it varies from 2,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet.
So that is why the right way of monitoring which we also do is based on square feet area rather than count to see how we are progressing on the expansion.
Rahul Agarwal
I understand that understand this last question on balance sheet, you know, given the slowdown and moving of demand between quarters, I think wedding days for, you know, February 26th is a very strong month. I would imagine almost double digit trending days. Some flow through, we have seen in January, some comments on that and on inventory. Is there anything to worry about.
Rahul Murarka
So on the inventory side, we have built a lot of efficiency around this as a result of efficiency in supply management and inventory management and demand planning. As a result, we have seen improvement in inventory turns as well, which is actually something amazing to have from a business prospect because we are able to do much more business with lesser inventory turns. So basically from that prospect, inventory levels have really improved at our warehouse as well as at the store. On as far as January is concerned, as we discussed, there were no wedding dates at all in January.
Considering that aspect, we have been able to do decent business in the month of January.
Rahul Agarwal
Got it. Thank you so much for answering. I’ll get back in the queue. Thank you.
Rahul Murarka
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ashish from InvestQ PMS. Please proceed.
Priya Dashi
Yes sir. Just wanted to understand because we’ve stalled on opening new stores and I would assume that we are still long way to go in terms of penetrating the markets that are available in India for our sort of products. So is it to. I mean it sounds like the ROIs on those investment not come immediately or maybe might be lower than what your company ROIs would be or paybacks would be. But does it make sense to just stall the entire process because you think that the markets are not supportive enough? Because maybe the ROI is not like maybe 30, 40% and maybe it’s like 20%.
So as a businessman, how one should one would approach this?
Rahul Murarka
Sure. Thank you for your question. So two things are there. First of all, look, last year if you look at FY25 on a net basis we did open 85,000 square feet and that too is also on a net basis because there were closures also. So at a gross level in last year we did decent openings and we did pause on store opening acceleration. And this year also we have opened store at a gross level but we have closed also because of reasons we have discussed. And as a result on a net basis it looks like we are just 23000 square feet area extension.
But we have been expanding also and the reason we have been doing is first of all to improve the quality of our retail footprint so that the quality of business improves. Secondly, you know, one year back when we discussed there were a lot of inflation in the lease rentals because of which also we had paused the acceleration of store expansion because whenever we enter into lease rental it is for a very long period, it is for 10 to 15 years. So if we enter into a commitment with a very high rental, then it is a long term impact on our profitability.
And that is why, because of these reasons, we did pause the manner in which we were accelerating the growth of retail opening. But having said that, the fact is that we have been still opening even last year and currently also we have had some gross openings and we feel that this exercise of consolidation will get over in next around 2/4. And from there on we feel that the store expansion will get normalized as it was happening earlier.
Aashish Upganlawar
Follow up on that would be. Would you say that the paybacks on the new stores has elongated versus what used to see. Used to see in the past?
Rahul Murarka
Not really. Actually, to avoid that we have done this because, you know, as I mentioned that to avoid a scenario wherein we get into a very commitment of very high residential. We didn’t want to get into that situation. And that is why, because we are into franchise business. So we are very cautious and we have a very proper approach on store opening so that we ensure that wherever we open store, we ensure that not only we make money, but the franchisee also makes money. So we open the store only with the contact where both of us are able to make good amount of money.
So the point is not that we were seeing that ROI will not be low, but because of if you look at our store expansion, in last 2, 3 years we have opened around 7 lakh stores in the store area, which is a huge store expansion. So we also wanted to review those ones which we have already opened. But the question was not on the roi. The question was how we can improve the existing fleet, which we already have and how we can wait for the right moment to come, then we can accelerate our store expansion.
So, you know, store expansion is already in our hand because we have all the mappings of the market, the cities where we need to expand. It is just about the right moment we are waiting. That is where we will accelerate that in next few quarters, as I mentioned.
Aashish Upganlawar
Okay. Actually, is it likely to be a problem with the Festive Wear category itself because there are different retail businesses having different directions. Because in certain mass retail we are seeing that the SSGs and everything is growing very well. So would you comment on that? Is it specific to category or Generally the market is not great because numbers speak something different for other people.
Rahul Murarka
Overall, this industry has been really doing very well, as we discussed. Overall the industry has been doing very well and that is where we see so many players coming up as well as consolidating. But the point is that this industry itself is very difficult to work upon. It is not a very easy industry. To work upon because consumer taste and preference are very different every region, every city. India is a complex country with different taste and preference across market cities and states. So it is very different in difficult industry to work and survive and grow from here on.
So that is the reason we see some consolidation already happening. But from an overall industry prospect it has been really doing very well. When we compare with, you know, any mass or a value retail or a premium retail as I mentioned, you know in India middle class segment is something which has actually got impacted in last one year when it comes to consumer sentiment. But if we talk about value or when we talk about premiumization, those are the areas which have actually not got impacted. So that is where we see as I mentioned that you know our premium brand tome is doing exceptionally well while Manevar being in the middle class mid premium segment has been impacted because of the current macro environment.
Aashish Upganlawar
Okay, thank you so much.
Rahul Murarka
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Azaruddin from Samitra Capital. Please proceed.
Azharuddin
Yeah, so thank you for taking my question. Most of my question was already answered. So just one question. We took some initiative on our cocoa stores in last quarter and we invested around 11 crores as a capex as well. So just can you please share the initial performance insights? How are these stores performing in terms of revenue post store level, EBITDA and payback period compared to 4, 4 stores and based on the pilot result, do we see a larger rollout of Coco stores ahead?
Rahul Murarka
Thank you for the question. So look as a model we will continue with the franchise model which we have. So from future prospect also largely our expansion would come from franchisee store only. As we mentioned in our earlier call, we had converted franchisee store to Coco store to do some experimentation and to try new things to see you know, how what is the outcome of that. So from, so from a future prospect the expansion would be largely from franchise only and not Coco model. As far as performance of these stores are concerned it has been doing decently well apart from your general the December reason and whatever is there.
But overall when we compare to the other stores in the same region it has done decently well. They have done in parity what other students have done.
Azharuddin
Okay, and how are you taking the let’s say average selling price across your different brands? Let’s talk about the maneuver or the Tuame or Mohe Maple. So is there any data which you are tracking across your new product launch in the particular brand or what? I just want to note the blended realization across the brand compared to Your peers.
Rahul Murarka
Brand wise, we are having a complete track of ASP brand wise. So typically, you know, because we have access to all the post sales which is happening in the franchise store. So our ERP is fully integrated for us, wherein we have full visibility of at what price, what products are being sold to which customers. So that is not a problem. So look, branded ASP for us is around 5000 if you look at current YTD. And of course the ASP of Manevar would be below that and Tome would be higher. It would be in the range of 15,000, ASP 15 to 16,000 and Mohi would be in the range of 7,000, 6,000.
So that would be the breakup of ASC.
Azharuddin
Okay, thank you. All done.
Rahul Murarka
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mithain from Fractional Capital. Please proceed. Sorry to interrupt, sir, your voice is not clear.
Mithain
Is this now clear?
operator
Yes, sir.
Mithain
So your Gauss GSC rate as I understand is about 17%. Could you help us with the. Can you please hear?
Rahul Murarka
Because it’s coming very low for us. Not able to hear properly.
Mithain
Yeah, so your gross GST rate is about 17%. You help us with the net GST rate.
Rahul Murarka
So our GST rate on all products above 2500 is 18%.
Mithain
Yeah. So blended I calculated about 90 error.
Rahul Murarka
So basically 90% of our products are in that bracket only. And only 10% of product would be in a bracket where the GST rates are 5%. So overall, if you ask me, maybe, you know, it would be in the range of 16% times.
Mithain
Okay, and could you sort of give us some sense of the net GST rate after considering the benefit of input tax credits?
Rahul Murarka
So look, input tax rate, in our case the fabrics which we purchase are generally at 5%, whereas our output is at 18% for the manufacturing which we do. So basically at a net level, if you reduce 5%, you’ll get the net GST rate for that.
Mithain
But do you have other credit as well? Right. On rent, etc. We would have credit rent.
Rahul Murarka
No, we don’t take anything on rent. Actually. We don’t have any rental model. So there are other input credits on services if you are coming to that, like lease cost and other things. So those inputs are there, but broadly at a net level, I would tell you that it would be net of everything. It would be in the range of, you know, high single digit, I would say at least.
Mithain
Got it, sir. Thank you very much.
Rahul Murarka
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Prashant Shah, an Investor, please proceed.
Prashant Shah
Hello, Am I, is my voice audible?
Rahul Murarka
Yes, absolutely.
Prashant Shah
Yeah. Thanks for the opportunity. Just an analogy. I mean, you know, I mean you mentioned in your earlier comments that the middle class sentiment has not turned up as the company would like to be. As an analogy, I mean gold prices have gone through, I mean have gone up exponentially. But still, I mean jewelry companies have done have reported fantastic numbers. The quantity has sold has been, has may have come down but the realization, the design, almost all of them have done have reported a fantastic numbers. And so my point is, and to be, I mean, pardon me if I’m very blunt.
Has there been some sort of slip up in reading the consumer sentiment which has impacted our quarterly sales? Or is it that, I mean the consumer is not finding a value which is why he is looking for alternatives and that is impacting our sales? That is my first question.
Rahul Murarka
Sure. Thank you for your question, sir. So look, we are not an expert on jewelry companies but the basic thing, what our understanding was is that considering the price of jewelry which has gone up significantly last one year, I mean that could be one important aspect to consider from a growth prospect for them. And secondly is that you know, in India jewelry is not a discretion, it is an investment. It is for both. I mean even in the last company which were dealing with jewelry, less than 50% is based on wedding for them. And more than that is other than wedding.
And in India, you know, people look for jewelry from an investment prospect also and not for an expenditure.
operator
Sorry to interrupt sir. There’s the line is breaking again. I’ll just reconnect. Ladies and gentlemen, please stay connected. Sam. Ladies and gentlemen, we have the management connected. You may proceed, sir.
Rahul Murarka
Yeah, so I think we, I was able to explain the rush which is there on silver and gold which may be driving the, the overall growth for the jewelry players. And the jewelry as a segment is not an expense but also consider an investment from an Indian culture prospect. So not very comparable, to be very frank with our segment. So from our reading sir, the actual reason is because we have been closely monitoring our products performance, all retail KPIs. We have been doing market surveys at the ground level. We have been discussing with various people at the market, we have been discussing with various players also.
So our understanding seems to be that the overall consumer sentiment at the middle class level are actually impacted which is majorly affecting our business. Apart from the wedding dates play which did play a very important role. Because if you look at overall US revenue also as we mentioned, if we exclude, you know, December month Then you know, in the festivities and celebration we have been able to decent business. But of course with positive, more positive consumer sentiment, we could have done better as well. But overall when we talk about Q3 performance, it is majorly because of, you know, December and January wedding.
Let’s. Along with the muted consumer sentiment, of course.
Prashant Shah
Well, I mean we’ll have to go with that. But because you know, I mean jewelry was one example. But otherwise if you see wedding venues, airlines, hotels, wedding coordinators, I mean all of them seem to be doing a roaring business. But if you say so, I mean, fair enough. I mean my second question was in one of your earlier calls you had mentioned that lease rental inflation you consider at 4% per year. So a growth below 4% would be a degrowth. Is my understanding correct.
Rahul Murarka
So thank you for your question. I actually don’t recall that we did give any commentary. What we mentioned is that you know, every, we have generally lease term of 10 to 15 years and every three year, generally three to four years, there’s an escalation clause which is there for around you know, say 5% or plus of escalation in the lease rental. So that is how we are. And because we enter into lease rental for long term basis say for 10 to 15 years. So if we commit on a high, on an environment where the lead rental at a high, high, high rate, then it becomes a long term commitment for us.
Prashant Shah
So in light of the recent, I mean what I. What you just.
operator
Mr. Prashant, may we request you to join the question only.
Prashant Shah
I mean this is the last one. Is the company thinking of renegotiating any of the lease rentals and. Right. I mean in view of the recent business trend.
Rahul Murarka
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So look, I mean we do renegotiate lease rental wherever we feel that there’s an opportunity considering the overall market situation. We always do that as a normal process.
Prashant Shah
Okay. That’s all. I wish you all the best.
Rahul Murarka
Thank you so much. Thank you.
operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Prena Janjanwala from Alara Securities. Please proceed.
Prerna Jhunjhunwala
Thank you for the opportunity. Just wanted to understand the mix of cities, how the demand has been panning out. Whether it is pain in some segment of cities like tier two, Tier three, because you are the widest available brand in the organized space. So is there any opportunity or challenge that you see in Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 that have been affecting you in some way or has been, is now available for opportunity in both ways? I would like to understand the geography of our brand. Visibility.
Rahul Murarka
Thank you Prenda for your question. So you know at a YT level we don’t see any gap geographically to be very frank. But on a quarter on quarter basis there are various reasons why different geographies do behave differently. Like in case of South 2 we saw that you know overall at a YTD level it has done good positive business. But when you look at Q3 it was more impacted than other regions because they have their own inauspicious period which started earlier called Mudham which started earlier this time in November end which generally started in December mid.
But apart from that we have not seen much major difference geographically at a pan India level.
Prerna Jhunjhunwala
So a follow up to this is that we’re seeing difficult time across geographies given that our SBCs have been declining. So is that a right understanding? Not even for this quarter, but you know from a nine month perspective as well.
Rahul Murarka
So you know to be honest, if we exclude the December month which has been exceptional December month which we have not seen at least in last five years wherein there have been no weddings in January, if you look at the core wedding and festivities period, we have actually done decent positive business. But it is just because of this December month that our overall performance has got impacted in Q3 and of course as a result YKD levels have also got impacted. As I mentioned, if you look at September to November or October to November, then we have done decent positive business both overall as well as L2L.
But the December month was so drastically impacted that it actually impacted the entire quarter. So to be very frank, when it comes to festivity and wedding, there was another question that others are also doing well. So we have also grown only during that period. But it is just because of the wedding calendar, because of the December month it got so much affected in quarter three.
Prerna Jhunjhunwala
So my second question is on brand wise performance. Given that your premium portfolio continues to do better, could you just help us understand how the brand mix has changed over the last three to four period years and how do you foresee it going forward and whether maneuver as a brand, what kind of investments would you see if that percentage is declining meaningfully?
Rahul Murarka
Sure. So with the growing brands of course you know the pie of new brand percentage of mix has been improving and of course we expect that to further improve along with Manevar because Manevar also we are very confident that it will grow along with other brand also. But yes of course there has been some percentage slight which has also overall other brands, if you see that has improved over Manevar but from a future prospect. We are very confident that all our brands, along with our flagship brand will have a very strong growth potential. So difficult to comment on.
You know how the mix would change going forward. But yes, we see a healthy growth in all our brands from a future perspective.
Prerna Jhunjhunwala
The current mix would help if you could share.
Rahul Murarka
Actually, I’m so sorry but we are not currently sharing the mix percentage. But yes, in future, at some point of time we would definitely do that.
Prerna Jhunjhunwala
Sure. Thank you so much and all the best.
Rahul Murarka
Thank you.
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.
Rahul Murarka
Namaskar. And thank you everyone. It was a great pleasure interacting with you all, with all the analysts. Thank you very much for joining. Looking forward to interact again in the next quarter. Thank you. Thank you.
operator
Thank you on behalf of GM Financial. That concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. And you may now disconnect your lines.