Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Kansai Nerolac Q4 FY 2026 results conference call hosted by ICICI Securities 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 the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Aniruddha Joshi from ICICI Securities Limited. Thank you, and over to you, Mr. Joshi. Yeah. Thanks, Rutuja. On behalf of ICICI Securities, we welcome you all to Q4 FY 2026 and FY 2026 results conference call of Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited. We have with us today senior management represented by Mr. Pravin Chaudhari, Managing Director, Mr. Yash Ahuja, Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. Jason Gonsalves, Director Corporate Planning, IT, and Materials. Now, I hand over the call to the management for initial comments, and then we will open the floor for question and answer session. Thanks to the entire management team for posting a strong set of numbers amid such a steep volatility. Thanks, over to you, Pravin, sir. I would request Jason, if you can walk them through the presentation. Good evening, everybody. I'll just take you through our investor presentation, which we have just uploaded a couple of minutes back. From an opening standpoint, reinstating our purpose. Our purpose was to create environments for a healthy and beautiful future. Our vision is to design solutions that protect, inspire, and touch lives every day. On the ESG front, Nerolac has been working extensively over the years, and it is today a water positive. It is committed to emission reduction and increasing green energy. From a brand perspective, for over a century, Nerolac has stood tall as a heritage brand, symbolizing excellence and innovation in the paint industry. Our strength lies in robust R&D capabilities and strategic technology partnerships, particularly in the Industrial segment, where we deliver cutting-edge solutions across diverse applications. Despite intense competition, Nerolac continues to command attention, proudly holding the position of the second most recognized brand in terms of top-of-mind awareness nationally. One of our most enduring assets is the Nerolac jingle, a cultural touchstone that has resonated across age groups for more than three decades. This timeless melody continues to reinforce our brand identity and emotional connect with consumers. Building on our century-old legacy, Nerolac continues to shape the future with breakthrough product innovations. Our sustainable solutions reflect a deep commitment to progress, responsibility, and customer trust, ensuring that we not only meet today's needs, but also safeguard tomorrow. Looking ahead, this same technological edge will increasingly shape our Decorative segment, enabling us to introduce breakthrough concepts that align with the growing demand for premium products. A prime example of this is our range of products which are exclusively category-defining products launched a few years ago, offering Indian consumers a truly differentiated experience in Decorative paints. Commenting on the business environment, what we have seen this quarter is that there has been a significant surge in crude oil prices, primarily because of the West Asia crisis. There has been a sharp depreciation in the rupee. The West Asia crisis has created a lot of uncertainty. There is a supply chain disruption which has happened. Demand in automotive has continued to be healthy. There is a continued focus of the government on infrastructure. I will now talk about the Decorative Segment, in which we will talk about the key elements of our Decorative strategy, which are built on five elements, which are New Products, New Business, the Projects Business, Influencer Program, Branding, and Marketing. Coming to our New Products, we have tried to bring out the salient details of our New Products. I will just touch briefly on each of them. Our first product is Excel Sheen, which is a modified ex-acrylic emulsion with silicone additive. Superior sheen with best-in-class dust pickup resistance and anti-algal performance across all weather conditions. Excel Everlast 14, India's first self-cleaning paint powered by Japanese PU silicone hybrid technology with anti-algal NCAP technology, delivering unmatched beauty and performance. Excel Everlast 20, which is India's first exterior paint with 20-year warranty. It is engineered with bulletproof nano silica technology for superior durability, crack bridging up to 2 mm and weather resistance. Beauty Gold Washable Plus, which is an interior emulsion with rich sheen finish and 1.25x higher washability than competition. It's the only paint in the category that has both antibacterial as well as it's the most washable product. Perma No Heat. Perma No Heat is a heat-reflecting liquid applied waterproof coating based on acrylic copolymer emulsion. It reflects visible radiation and infrared rays, thereby reducing the surface temperature by up to 15 degrees. Soldier Rain Raksha is a high-strength fiber-reinforced elastomeric liquid applied waterproof coating. It is formulated with resilient acrylic copolymers and reinforcing fibers. Coming to the new growth drivers. In that, in the New Business, we have had robust growth in new businesses, and the saliency of New Business has increased further compared to the previous quarter and for the year. The project business has also expanded to more towns. It has registered a high double-digit growth, the saliency of projects for KNP has further increased. We have given some of our marquee projects that we have painted, the Jharkhand High Court, the Vidhan Sabha at Raipur, and the general pool residential accommodation at Raipur. Coming to our influencer program, our paint as a service is today present in more than 250 cities, we continue to invest aggressively in the next-gen service. Our architect and interior designer program, which is Illuminati, today is present in more than 45+ cities, and it is also growing healthily over last year. Our secondary program for painters today covers more than 1.2 lakh painters, which are associated with the program, and secondary saliency to primary has also significantly increased. Coming to our retail platforms, we had two platforms earlier, which was the Nxtgen Shoppe and the Shop in Shop. We have now evolved and migrated to a new retail platform, which is called the Nerolac Paint Plus Zone, and almost 250+ shops stores have been opened across India. Coming to Branding and Marketing, our brand and marketing investments have remained strong with impactful campaigns running across both television and digital platforms. These initiatives are designed to deepen consumer engagement and reinforce Nerolac's identity in the mind of the audience. The Ghar Ki Raunak program or campaign has beautifully captured the emotional essence of home, strengthening our bond with consumers by celebrating the joy and pride of living spaces. In addition, our association with the Asia Cup has amplified our visibility on the national stage, connecting Nerolac with millions of passionate fans and further cementing our position as a brand that resonates across diverse audiences. Together, these efforts showcase how Nerolac continues to blend heritage with contemporary relevance, ensuring our brand remains vibrant and top of mind. Now, coming to the Industrial business. The Industrial paints serves diverse applications and thus creates diverse business opportunities in the three segments of powder, general Industrial, and high-performance coating. As you've seen, we have shown some areas in each segment that the company is present in. Coming to New Products, our focus has been on enhancing finishes and functionality, offering versatile applications, and prioritizing environment sustainability. Some of our products, we have tried to spell out here. In the passenger vehicle segment, we have introduced products which are energy efficient wet-on-wet systems, structural primers for chassis, as well as premier clear finishes. In the 2 and 3-wheeler segment, we have introduced low-bake technology. We have got anti-corrosive underbody protection products and high gloss clear coats, which we have introduced in this year. For commercial vehicles, we have introduced super low-bake color coatings, anti-corrosive casting sealers for castings, and clear adhesion promoters. When it comes to high-performance coating, again, on the same three platforms, the development has taken place. In general Industrial and high-performance coatings, you can see that some of the products which we have introduced is highly flexible RoHS-compliant coil coatings, which withstand severe forming operations, high-performance outdoor coating systems which have long-term UV resistance, and thermal insulating coatings. For powder coatings, we have introduced low-bake 1-shot matte powders, fusion bonded epoxy topcoats, and coatings for furniture and consumer durables, which have got high scratch resistance properties. Coming to the performance highlights of Industrial, passenger vehicles, as I mentioned earlier, has had healthy demand. New models and SUVs continue to support the passenger vehicle growth. In the 2 and 3-wheeler segment, we have witnessed high double-digit growth was supported by low interest rates and easy financing options. In the commercial vehicle and tractors, again, we have had double-digit demand, and a strong harvest season supported this demand. In addition, we have a new segments where further increase in saliency of specialized products in passenger vehicle is where the company is putting a thrust. In the ARF business, as far as the business growth is concerned, there has been moderate demand. There has been a thrust towards premiumization, where the saliency of premium products have increased, and there's an active conversion of body shops from solvent-borne coatings to water-borne coatings. There is a lot of digitalization of service operations, which is being undertaken to improve the customer experience and interaction. In performance coatings, the liquid segment witnessed strong growth. Channel sales witnessed very strong growth, and we maintained the premium saliency. In powder coatings, the demand showed good recovery in Q4, and we witnessed mid-single digit growth. Channel sales witnessed very good growth. Among the accolades which the company has won, it has won quite a few accolades during the year. In Decorative, we have won the Dragons of Asia marketing awards in Q2 2025, where we won six awards for the Dukan It Yourself campaign in the Maha Kumbh. We won the Gold Winner Ambient Media award, the Gold Fest award, seven Baby Blue Elephant awards. In Industrial, we have had some excellent awards, one from TAFE at the Global Supplier Meet 2025, where we were awarded the Best Supplier award. Toyota Kirloskar Motor has awarded us the Best Raw Material Supplier. Maruti Suzuki has, you know, given us the Superior Performance in Safety award. Suzuki Motorcycle has given us the Best Vendor award and as well as the Cost Down award, which we got from Suzuki Motorcycle. Coming to the area of ESG, KNP was rated in the B category in climate change and water security in the CDP cycle 2025. We have been awarded a bronze medal in EcoVadis. The result places KNP among the top 26% of companies assessed by EcoVadis 2025. We have been recognized in the strong category by CRISIL ESG ratings 2025. We have been rated in the top 12 percentile companies within the chemical industry group in the S&P Global Large & Mid Cap ESG Index 2025, and we have been rated in the top and ranked 20 out of 577 companies in the chemical industry and have received a low risk rating, indicating lower ESG risk in 2025. Coming to our CSR initiatives. Through our CSR initiatives, we remain deeply committed to driving positive change across multiple dimensions of community well-being. Our efforts span skill enhancement, ensuring environment sustainability and community development, while also prioritizing preventive healthcare and sanitation. At the same time, we continue to invest in promoting education, empowering individuals, and fostering inclusive growth. These initiatives reflect Nerolac's ongoing dedication to giving back to society in a meaningful and sustainable way, creating impact that uplifts communities and builds a brighter and healthier future for all. Coming to our financials. For the quarter 4 on a standalone basis, the revenue growth is 7.6%, PBIT was up 21%, and PBT before exceptional items was up by 12.8%. For the year on a standalone basis, net revenue is up by 3.2%, PBDIT is up by 1.2%, and PBT before exceptional items was down by 0.9%. For the consolidated basis growth in quarter 4, revenue was up by 7.5%, PBDIT was up by 30.6%, and PBT before exceptional items was up by 23.2%. For the full year on a consolidated basis, net revenue is up by 2.9%, PBT, PBDIT was up by 3.4%, and PBT before exceptional items was up by 1.4%. We have improved our working capital during the year, though the number shows an increase, but our special focus has been on reduction on inventory. The number of increase is because of investments. As far as the dividend is concerned, the board has recommended a dividend for the year of 250%, which comes to INR 2.5 per share. When it comes to CapEx, the CapEx is more or less normal and in line with previous years. Coming to risk and outlook, among risks, West Asia crisis leading to supply chain disruptions is one of the key risks that we see in this quarter. High commodity prices due to crude oil price surge and impact on downstream products. Import cost surge due to rupee depreciation. As far as the outlook is concerned, as per RBI, construction activity momentum will be sustained. Paint price increase on account of steep material inflation is being taken and considering the inflationary scenario, demand visibility remains more or less a wait and watch. With that, I come to the end of the presentation, and I now open up the floor for question answers. Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and 1 on the touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and 2. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Abneesh Roy from Nuvama. Please go ahead. Thanks. My first question is overall competitive intensity. We have seen severe cost inflation last two months. As a result of that, we are seeing price hikes by almost all the paint players, including new players, fairly being similar. On advertising or promotional intensity, are you seeing some reduction from the new players? They have never seen obviously this kind of inflation, given their very short cycle. Any evidence you have seen, either free grammage or in terms of dealer incentive? Yeah. As far as we understand from our sources, you know, that on economy, that free thing has been withdrawn. I don't know. I mean, there's a mixed response always comes from the trade, but I don't know what is the policy. That's what we understand. I think whatever we have seen in month of April was committed much before this geopolitical problem and inflation. I would, I think, you know, they would have to go through it. I don't think there's so much option left. It remains to be seen as to remaining months in quarter one and quarter two, because this time Diwali is late, so we might see some adjustment there. It might happen. As far as current quarter is concerned, I think April has been committed. I think that intensity, we could see that it was there. I mean, people spend money on advertisement as well in month of April. Right. One related question is generally, when we see sharp inflation in FMCG paints, local players lose market share. Now, you are a respectable player in the legacy overall market share, but overall your size is much smaller than, say, the two legacy players, and the number one new player is also very aggressive. In that context, are you gaining from the local players or are you now starting to lose some more share to these three players, given you have a overall pricing, which is a bit delayed in the B2B, and definitely those three players, those two legacy and that new player are very aggressive. Overall, you see this situation as a positive or a negative? It's very difficult to estimate, you know, how much unorganized players are gaining or losing. We believe, I think, they are there in the pockets, and in difficult times they go down and again they emerge again. Very difficult to say as to whether we're gaining or not. What we are definitely seeing is since November, there has been constant uptick in the market, and I think that is a positive sign. This trend is only improving. Now, if I talk about November, December, January, there was no sign of any war or nothing of that sort. It was pretty stable. Raw materials cost was benign. I think with that thing also, so overall I think market is quite, I would say bullish in a way for Decorative. This might be temporary pause, I would say, for unorganized sector, but remains to be seen. We have no data as such to really support that, and, very difficult, I would say. Yeah. Sure. Thank you. That's all from my side. Thank you. Right. Okay. Thanks. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mihir Shah from Nomura. Please go ahead. Hi, sir. Thank you for taking my question, and congrats on a good performance. Firstly, just few bookkeeping questions. What was the growth between Deco and Industrial, given auto sales were relatively strong this quarter again? What is the difference in the growth in both of those key segments? Also in Deco if you can help us understand the volume growth and mix impact for you. Last quarter it was quite negligible. But, you know, what was it for this quarter? That's my first question. Yeah. As far as volume, value, volume value gap for Decorative is concerned, it is again not very significant. I think that is how I have been stating right from quarter 1 that, you know, our focus is very clear. We'll be focusing on select market where we want to gain market share and concentrate. Second thing is profitable mix is very important. We have cautiously, you know, curtailed our sale into items which are not profitable. That might be seeing in terms of value, but I don't think, you know, that's very critical going forward. I think profitable growth with good margins in Decorative is the key focus. We are confident the progression that you have seen from quarter 1 to quarter 4, I think that journey, I think, is we are getting lot of confidence now that I think we are on right path. I think there's no point in getting into this mad rush of market share at any cost anywhere. That is not the idea. I think, you know, it's important to deploy resources carefully, and it's a time where actually resilience will matter. I think if we pass through this, I think future is very bright for Decorative paint as far as company is concerned. That is the roadmap that we'll have in future also. As far as auto is concerned, yeah, auto did grow by in double digits, but we also have very sizable presence in Industrial which grew by single digits. Overall, I would say it was mix, slightly, you know, mid-digit plus as far as Industrial is concerned. as far as Decorative is concerned, obviously it will be also in that range. overall, I would say very balanced growth this quarter, and that too, I think, with good improvement in contribution and overall profitability. Understood. Thank you for the roadmap that makes, you know, this brings a lot of clarity there. Secondly, on the cost inflation that we are seeing, if you can highlight the kind of price increases that you have taken that will set in one queue from here on. Given that you have a higher exposure to B2B players, historically we've always seen franchise seeing some initial sign, initial pressure on margins because the price hikes from B2B usually come with a lag. How are your discussions with the B2B players? When do you expect the price hikes in Industrial business to come through, and the kind of price increases that you've taken in Deco? Yeah. Deco, I think, we were the 1st one to go in the market with price increase. The 1st increase we took in month of March itself. About 25th March we took the increase, and then followed by 10th April, followed by 21st April, and now it will be 11th May. This price this March was about, I think, 2%. After that it was all 5%-6%. Net net I would say will be higher single-digit as far as price increase is concerned in Decorative as of now. In Industrial also, I think auto also we are very strong in terms of negotiation. We got a good breakthrough. There are price increases which have been granted. Obviously, you know, it is not, I can't say it for entire auto, but one thing is very clear that it might be slightly delayed negotiation, but it is always with effective from. I think that is very important. I think with that in mind, I think we are not losing out on inflation as far as profitability is concerned. Maybe it will be slightly here and there in terms of timing. In case of Industrial, there is a good mix of OE as well as channel. When it comes to channel, like Decorative, there also we announce the price increase and that new prices are effective mid-April itself. Overall, I would say it's a pretty satisfactory price scenario, and I think we are very cautious about our overall profitability when we are getting into the business, and that is how the team is working on. I think as far as our investor community is concerned, I would urge, you know, don't look at it quarter-wise what is happening. I think it's important to look at on a longer run as to how is our overall strategy and direction is concerned. But as far as profitability is concerned, definitely, you know, pressure is on the team in terms of taking the price increases and direction is fairly positive. That is what I would like to comment. Got it, sir. Thank you very much for that. Lastly, can I ask you if there is any margin guidance for FY 2027 that you would like to share? Where do you think we will probably be aggregating towards for FY 2027 on consol and standalone both? Yeah. Like historically, we have been talking about 13%-14%. I think that is what endeavor is. This year also, I think we were in that range only. Definitely, we would be there. Though our endeavor is always to go on higher end, as of now, I can leave it at that. Got it. Thank you. Wishing you all the very best. Thank you, Mihir. Thanks. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rehan Syed from Trinetra Asset Managers. Please go ahead. Hello. Audible? Yeah. Good evening to everyone. everyone. Thanks for taking my question. So I have two questions regarding the margin and cost structure side. Firstly, around material, given the crude replacement depreciation, what is EBITDA margin sensitivity to a 5%-10% increase in input cost that we have shown in this quarter? I could not hear you, but if I understand question correctly, you're talking about inflation and its impact on profitability. Is that right? Is that what you want to say? Yeah, yeah. That's it. Yeah. As I explained earlier, I think, we are going ahead with the price increase and trying to pass on inflation as much as possible. Second thing, you know, there is inventory that also will carry both on FG and RM. To that extent, there is a cushion available. You know, the inflation already taking place will come in effect sometime. We are hopeful that, you know, by then price increase also kicks in. Our endeavor is to neutralize, though some impact cannot be ruled out. Okay. Great. Sir, on second question on your Industrial segment side that you have mentioned increased reliance of specialized products in passenger vehicles. What percentage of auto coatings revenue now comes from these high-value products? Could you please tell me? Yeah. You know, being leader there, I think our endeavor is to increase penetration into each vehicle that gets produced. In a vehicle, there are many, many areas which are still unexplored. We are trying to tap that, each surface if there is a paint application that is possible. Now the areas which are left are very, very niche, but they are very, I would say premium in nature. I think that is the one area which now we'll tap so that more of a car, I think i s our endeavor. That's the specialized paint we talk of. Okay. Just continuing with this part on your performance coating and powder coating showed recovery and growth in this quarter. What is the current utilization level in these segments and capacity headroom for growth going forward? Yeah. In case of Industrial, I think in powder and Industrial liquid coating, we have sufficient capacity. We should be operating about 70%-75% as of now. Sir, could you help answer the second part, like segments, capacity headroom for growth in this segment? Sorry? Uh- Not able to understand the question. Like you have answered the current utilization. I'm asking about the segment capacity headroom for growth in this segment. You're asking for outlook? Like yeah. Yeah. I think, like we have been reporting, you know, in growth areas like performance coating, we have been growing in double digit. I would say that's our endeavor. I think in infrastructure spend, as long as it keeps happening and we start expanding our segment, which I had briefed in our strategy session in month of February. I think that's our endeavor to really grow double digit as far as performance coating is concerned. Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mrunmayee Jogalekar from Asit C. Mehta Investment. Please go ahead. Hi, sir. Good evening. I hope I'm audible. Yeah. You are audible. Sir, historically, Q4 has been a sequentially weaker margin quarter for us because of the mix being tilted towards Industrial. This time if we see the margin pressure sequentially was much lower compared to some of the historical Q4 numbers. Is it mainly because the scale was a little better, we are improving sequentially, or any other factor that you would like to highlight here? Yeah. One is in both Industrial and Decorative, of course, performance is better. In Decorative also mix-wise we are far better than last quarter, and that I think has resulted into overall contribution improvement. Mix you are saying individually in both, Industrial and Decor? Yeah, in both. Okay. In both. Yes, yes. Okay. Great, sir, great. Secondly, after the price hikes that you mentioned, the four set of price hikes that you have taken, have you seen any impact on volume so far? I know it's not a long period since the price hikes have been implemented, but any color you can give on how the volumes are shaping up? As of now, frankly, there is no impact we have seen. If really this geopolitical situation, obviously someday we believe it is getting over, someday again we start think, you know, it's now not ending. I hope if things change, I think we should be in a stable zone as far as quarter is concerned. All right, sir. Got it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Amit Purohit from Elara. Please go ahead. Hello. Yes, sir. Hi, thank you for the opportunity, and congratulations. I just wanted to understand on your outlook for the next year, you indicated that November you're seeing an uptake from an industry growth perspective and for you as well. In the context that till now you haven't seen any significant negative impact, how would the trend in terms of secondary sales now, probably much of the activity would be primary or the secondary sales also because price increases have been taken, so stocking up might be happening. How do I assess for the full year, if you could just give some sense on the industry growth? Yeah. I mean, frankly, difficult to, you know, predict at this stage. If I have to go by the recent trend of last 5 months, if that is anything to do with the overall market and economy, for economy which concerns paint industry, I think there has been significant improvement in all the verticals. I think if that is the indication which was pre-war, that means there is a fundamental things are getting corrected or changed, I would say that's the green shoot that I'm seeing. If this war gets over, I mean, soon, I think then there should not be any impact as the overall year is concerned. Of course, if this gets dragged on and this then it starts impacting our daily lives in terms of fuel increase and, you know, all those other costs going up, then I think it is anybody's guess. If it happens to us, it might happen to entire, I would say other sectors also which are consumption driven. It's like a very difficult to guess as to what will happen. As of now, I am only relying on past five months trend, and I'm pretty hopeful that if that trend has to sustain, I think we should have another good year, I would say. Sir, lastly, on the project side, which is your, you I mean, if you could give some indication on the new initiatives, New Businesses and the project, what would be these as a percentage of our total sales in terms of contribution? Project in the sense Decorative projects you are saying? Yes. Yes, sir. Yes. I think Decorative project should be now about 10%+ Yeah, 10%+. The New Businesses which includes waterproofing, construction chemical and even the wood finish. I think that also should be, 10% plus, but slightly on a higher side than projects. Okay. Okay. That's it. Thank you, sir. Okay. All the best. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pratik Gothi from HSBC. Please go ahead. Hello. Am I audible? Yes, sir. Yes. Hi, sir, this is Pratik Gothi from HSBC. Thank you for taking my question. I have two please. On dealer incentives, if I remember correctly, dealer incentives were increased across the board by all companies, I think, when input costs were benign. Have you seen incentives lowered now that in cost inflation is back? This is for you, and if you have a comment on the industry dynamics as well, that will also be helpful, please. Yeah, see, you know, dealer incentives is also function of, you know, time, it varies month on month. April typically is also a high stocking month otherwise also. I mean, forget this year with war and price increase it could have been slightly accentuated, otherwise also it happens. I would say it's very difficult to comment on just 1 month as if inflation what has happened. I think it is pretty much in line with what we would have seen otherwise also in last year or otherwise. Now, it remains to be seen that if this inflation persist in next 1 or 2 months, what happens? Definitely, you know, whenever there's a price increase that happens, incentives are obviously adjusted to certain extent. That is a normal practice which always happens in the industry. Understood. On paint demand, if we split the deco markets into projects business, construction chemicals, wood finishes, and what we can call as core retail deco paints business, basically business that goes through the dealers, have you seen any improvement or growth in the core retail deco paints business? Yes, we have seen improvement. Okay. In terms of mix, you mentioned that mix had improved for you. Can you give more color over there? How is that mix improvement coming about? Is that Nerolac Plus range that you have or any color on that would be helpful, please. Yes. you know, if you would have, I think in presentation, you know, this can be detailed out on our new products. In our quarter four, I think our new product contribution is very high. I think that is one I think has contributed. All these products are launched in emulsion category, which is obviously as such as a mix it is considered premium. In that also, when we classify the economic premium, super premium, there also super premium has done well. I think that is the direction that obviously has taken. New product in that also it's a super premium doing well. I think all in all, that is why I call out as overall mix being better. Understood. Okay. That helps. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Tejas Shah from Avendus Spark Institutional Equities. Please go ahead. Hi. Thanks for the opportunity, sir. Sir, did I hear you correctly that you said that we focused on market share gain and we have gained market share in some focused market? Yes, you are right. Sir, which region or which markets this would be? No, it is You know, when we talk about focused market, it is pan-India. It is not like Northeast. There are, you know, specific strategies for each towns, and we are focusing on that to really gain share there. That is what is working very well now. Sir, this would be urban largely? I would say T2, T3 mainly. T2, T3. Yeah. Sir, just wanted to understand the character of the competition which is now put to test. This time, I think there are two new players who are actually facing this inflation for the 1st time. Thankfully we have seen that at least the large listed players have taken price hike. How the new competition is behaving and how the long list of or long tail of unorganized or large unorganized guys are behaving in this environment? I think, you know, they also took price increase. In fact, you know, they had announced price increase much before this war itself, one in January, one in February, because they were anyway I think below market standard price. They wanted to reach and bridge that gap. That is one. After that, again, you know, this inflation has hit and I don't know as of now whether really they have taken further price increase. Now, as far as that remains, you know, in terms of what competition is trying to do, which is a new entrant. On unorganized sector or small player, obviously, you know, there'll be impact which they'll have because of their capacity to absorb the inflation. More than inflation, I think it is availability also which is causing a trouble. Definitely there'll be some, I would say, impact that might be happening with unorganized. In month of April, typically, you know, it's a big stocking month, so as such inventory is stocked of all the leading brands. In this month really it's very difficult to say that whether unorganized got impacted and there is a sale that shift is happening. Very difficult. It will be only seen in next, I would say 3- 6 months where that impact is really been seen, where there is extraordinary demand that is coming of certain products. Typically these are, you know, low-end products like primers and all. I don't see, you know, there'll be super premium emulsion category where there is a major play. It's all standard products, which I don't think will be any significant as far as we are concerned. Awesome. Last question. Margin guidance of 13%-14%, is it assuming ceteris paribus on raw material to stay like this, or there is a built-in assumption that second half kind of reverses and gives us some room to have that benefit? Yeah, I think there is a strong, I would say belief that, you know, things will change. I think we are seeing some signs and some of the raw material prices also got corrected now. I think the temporary surge that happened because of this uncertainty and panic, I would say is now stabilizing. We believe that I think things should stabilize. Quarter on quarter very difficult to project because timing-wise there is always an issue, but I think overall I think things should be better. Yeah. That's all from my side, sir. Thanks. Thank you, Tejas. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Avi Mehta from Macquarie. Please go ahead. Hi, sir. My questions have largely been answered. I just wanted to clarify, you said on the Decorative growth and Industrial growth this quarter, could you I missed that comment, sir. If you could just repeat how much was the growth momentum in each of the segments? Yeah. Avi, you know, in Industrial I was saying, you know, there was a reference to auto being double digit. I said, yeah, it is close to double digit. We also have Industrial section which is also large, and there is where, my answer was in relation with the strategy where we focus on extremely premium profitable mix now and we are doing away with all low-end and non-profitable items. With that, I think I was talking about slightly higher single digit as far as Industrial is concerned. Even deco I think we were pretty much mid-single digit or lower than that, around that. I think overall I think a better show as far as mix is concerned. Got it. Got it. Very clear. Just on that front, on the Industrial side, I mean, as we move now, you know, there is obviously some inflation concerns. Auto industry, is my understanding correct that the growth momentum has sustained till this? Because there was a clarification that you said that in Decorative the momentum has kind of demand sustained. Is Industrial also the similar kind of situation, especially autos? Yeah, yeah, it is building up. Okay. Sorry, if I may, just from a thought perspective, would that increase the ability to take price increases in that sense? or is that, would you kind of agree or what are your comments on that, sir, would be helpful? I think even, Avi, otherwise also I think whether it's a low phase, high phase, I think, you know, definitely, we are looking at our margin and hence, you know, there is something which we will not forego and team is after price increase. If you look at the scenario, actually this is not a standard kind of a thing. Entire raw material has undergone change along with dollar, you know, appreciation. I think customers are listening very carefully, engaging, and I think based on justification, they have already started giving us price increases. Okay, sir. Some price increases have already happened. any quantity- In auto it's very difficult, Avi, you'll appreciate that. Yeah. No, no, fair enough. That's all from my side. Thank you very much, sir. That's it. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Aniruddha Joshi from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead. Yeah. Sir, the price hike in Decorative, effective price hike, would be I guess in low teens for us as well as the industry, I guess. If the war ends and if crude corrects materially, will there be price cuts or will we try to increase ad spends or will we try to increase the margins? What will be the strategy of the company? Question number 1. In terms of how do you see the outlook for FY27, considering there will be steep inflation, not just in paints, but in general there is a possibility of material inflation across commodities in India. How is the outlook? If you can share outlook in terms of Decorative projects, as well as Industrial and auto. Yeah. Thanks, sir. Okay. you know, auto, as I said, you know, it looks like demand is pretty strong and most of our customers are talking about long waiting lists as far as their products are concerned. We are hoping that things should be okay for auto as a whole concern. In other Industrial segment also we are not seeing any change. I think infrastructure and even otherwise appliances and all that is going pretty standard and normal, we hope that also continues. Coming to deco, I just mentioned about last 5 months trajectory, I think that has also gone through April. We believe that things should be okay as far as deco from demand perspective is concerned. Otherwise also, unless, you know, something dramatically happens and, you know, there's an inflation which is beyond means than what we saw maybe three, four years back, then of course it's a different story. As of now it's too difficult to assume, you know, have extreme assumptions in both ends. Very, very difficult. I mean, it's like a crystal gazing. As far as price increase topic that you have concerned and inflation or deflation, I mean, if inflation continues, then obviously our price increases are there and we might take further price increase. Second thing is if there's a deflation that happens, then typically what industry does in the short term is obviously the scheme gets adjusted and if corresponding deflation, if it is making sense, it's always passed on. That happens. When price increase is there, scheme gets adjusted. Reverse also happens when there is a deflation in a short period. Obviously, if there is a sustained stability we see with the deflation, then obviously price will get corrected downward. We don't see that happening, and the reason is, crude of 60 or 70, I don't know whether we'll go back so soon there. The structural imbalance that got created with all this, shipping lane disturbed and all of that, I think also might take some time to settle in. I think we have to live with the situation I would guess for next 6 months with this. If things improve, then maybe second half we might see a dramatic change. That's what at least I believe and, that's how we are working with. Yeah. Okay. Sure, sir. Last question. Assuming crude settles at let's say INR 100, will there be any requirement to take further price hikes or current price hikes of low teens are in a way sufficient? I think with INR 100, I think it should be okay. Okay. Sure, sir. This is very helpful. Many thanks. Right. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Siddh Gandhi from IIFL Capital. Please go ahead. Hi sir, this is Percy Panthaki here. I just wanted to ask one question on the other expenses line for this quarter. It is down, and it is in terms of basis points, it is about 150 basis points down YOY as a percentage of sales. In absolute terms, it is about one and a half percent down YOY while the sales has grown at 7%, 8%. Can you give any reason why there is such a big 150 basis points kind of saving in this cost item? Yeah. If you look at absolute increase, no, from last year to current year, it is same, right? Because of sale increase, you are seeing that drop out there. Yes, as the scale of the business increases, this cost would also normally increase, right? No, there is a fixed cost leverage. Optimization is also being done. That also I had mentioned earlier in quarter. We are also looking at cost efficiency, spend efficiency, all that is also coming in now. Okay. There is no, full year truing up in Q4 which is causing this movement, is it? No, no. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah, that's it. That's all from me. Right, Percy. Thank you. Thank you. Participants, to ask a question, you may please press star and 1. As there are no further questions from the participants, I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Sir, you may please go ahead. We don't have any questions. Any closing comments from your side? No, I think nothing. Thank you so much. I think it is first time we conducted our Investor Meet in the evening at 5:30 P.M. Thank you all for joining and hope to see you in next quarter. Thank you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of ICICI Securities Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.