Good day, and welcome to Westlife Foodworld Limited Q2 FY2025 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 touchtone phone. We would like to remind you that certain statements made by the management in today's call may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect management's best judgment and analysis as of today. The actual results may differ materially from the current expectations based on a number of factors affecting the business. Please refer to the safe harbor disclosure in the earnings presentation. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Chintan Jajoo. Thank you, and over to you, sir. Thanks, Ajay. Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us on Westlife Foodworld Earnings Conference Call for the first, second quarter ended thirtieth September twenty twenty-four. I am Chintan Jajoo, lead analyst, Westlife. From the management team, I have with me Mr. Amit Jatia, Chairperson, Ms. Smita Jatia, Vice Chairperson, Mr. Saurabh Kalra, Managing Director, Mr. Akshay Jatia, Executive Director, and Mr. Rushik Shah, Chief Financial Officer. We will kick off today's conversation with Akshay sharing his thoughts on overall business progress and outlook. This will be followed by Saurabh taking us through operational, financial, and strategic highlights. For that, we can open the forum for questions and answers. We will be referring to earnings presentation and financial releases available on the BSE, NSE, and investors page of our website. With that, I now request Akshay to commence this session. Thank you, and over to you, Akshay. Hello, and good evening, everyone. I'm happy to have you on the call today. I'll begin with a brief overview of the operating environment. As you know, the demand environment remains challenging across retail and mass consumption categories. Community-related external issues have been prolonged, particularly impacting drive-thru traffic. Furthermore, erratic weather patterns are not just impacting business operations, but also leading to heightened volatility of input costs. Consequently, our same-store sales growth remains subdued at negative 6.5% for the quarter, while overall sales growth stood at 1% year- on- year. Given the high levels of fixed costs in our business, unfavorable operating leverage has limited margins. Having said that, we believe these headwinds are largely abated. Our primary research indicates that consumer frequency has remained stable with a slight uptick in certain segments. The share of roadside retail has been at the lowest levels in the past few years, suggesting a rising preference for hygienic and safe and convenient options, as well as increasing penetration of large brand, branded players. Furthermore, positive macroeconomic indicators, such as consistent growth in private consumption, support our expectation of a gradual consumption uptick. While the macro environment continues to play its part, we have stepped up our execution on value, innovation, and governance. These initiatives have started delivering positive results, as seen from higher guest counts in the month of September compared to last year. Our market share numbers are inching up in the West, where we are bolstering our market leadership, as well as in the South, where we are nearing a strong position. This quarter is also marked by two significant milestones. The first one is the launch of the globally successful McCrispy platform as a part of our core menu. The second is the introduction of the Multi Millet Bun, developed in collaboration with Central Food Technological Research Institute, or CFTRI, in line with our Real Food Real Good initiative. We are super excited about these launches as we enter the festive season. Our network expansion remains on track with eight new stores, taking our total to 408 across 68 cities. As we move forward, we are confident that the foundation we've built will continue to propel us towards our Vision 2027 goals. Thank you for your continuous trust and support. I will now hand over to Saurabh to take you through the financial and operational details of the quarter. Thank you, Akshay. Ladies and gentlemen, good evening, and thank you for joining us to discuss our Q2 results. Our revenue, like Akshay has already mentioned, for the quarter stood at INR 6.18 billion, about a percentage increase, over the previous year. Same-store sales were at a - 6.5%. While overall consumption trends remained subdued compared to last year, they were stable sequentially. In fact, this is one of the quarters where we did equal to Q1 numbers, which is generally the holiday season, despite all the rain issues and other climate issues we had. Our off-premise business declined by 2% YoY, primarily due to softer dine-in trends, community-related external issues, and heavy rains that significantly impacted July in our key markets. However, momentum in August and September was relatively better. The off-premise business grew by 5% YoY, with flat same-store sales growth. Our average sales per store on a trailing twelve-month basis was at INR 60 million. On the digital journey, with increased traction in our flagship loyalty program, My McDonald's Rewards, and the adoption of self-ordering kiosks. Digital sales now accounts for nearly three-fourths of our total sales. We continue to engage over 3 million monthly active users through our mobile apps. Moving on to profitability, margins during this quarter were muted, too, largely due to unfavorable operating leverage and higher royalty fees. Gross margin for Q2 stands at 69.7, was affected by temporary spikes in fresh produce prices, particularly lettuce, where availability did become an issue. That said, we expect the gross margin to rebound back to 70% + levels in the second half, which is a healthy benchmark that allows for investment and strategic growth initiatives. Restaurant operating margin and operating EBITDA margin were down by 352 basis points and 343 basis points year- over- year, respectively. Consequently, staff costs as a percentage of sales increased due to annual wage increase, while the other operating expenses decreased due to cost optimization initiatives, despite continued new store additions. Depreciation stood at 8.1%, and we expect this to decline with higher volume. With higher volume, we expect the depreciation to decline further. Profit after tax stood at INR 453 million or 7.3% of sales. On network expansion, we added eight new restaurants and closed three, bringing the total count to 408 stores across 66 cities as of September. Approximately 94% of these feature McCafe. Pretty much all stores which are applicable for McCafe have McCafe. 90% of the stores are EOTF restaurants, and 21% offer Drive-Thru services. We remain on track to achieve our FY 2025 target of 45-50 new stores, reinforcing our confidence in the long-term growth potential of both market and our business. As we navigate the current challenges, challenging business environment, we are focusing on three key levers to drive profitable growth in the near term and medium term. First, our value platform. Building on our everyday McSaver meal, we launched a McSaver Plus campaign in July, aimed at a snacking day part. This is helping us build momentum in our dine-in business. As a matter of fact, guest counts in September were already at the last year's level. The second lever is product innovation. We are stepping up with the launch of globally successful McSpicy, McCrispy platform. As the name suggests, these products offer a high crunch and an indulgent experience to our customers and are premium McDonald's range globally. McCrispy chicken burger features a whole muscle chicken filet patty paired with a unique water glaze bun, while the McCrispy veggie burger offers a patty made of exotic vegetables like zucchini, aubergine, and bell peppers. We've also introduced McCrispy fried chicken to our bone-in chicken portfolio, now available across the South market. We officially launched the McCrispy campaign at the start of October and are planning to amplify it further during the upcoming festive season. Please do try McCrispy. We are very, very proud of the product. If you haven't already, and please give us feedback, good, bad, or if you don't like it, please do let us know. The third lever is a robust cost discipline, which is critical for maintaining the fiscal and financial discipline and achieving our strategic goals. While these productivity program are helping us navigate current challenges, fostering a culture of cost consciousness and shared responsibility will position us strongly when the market conditions improve and helping us achieve our Vision 2027 targets. In conclusion, with these initiatives in place, along with the belief of gradually improving consumer spending, we are well positioned to gain momentum in the second half of the year. Our market share continues to strengthen month on month, highlighting our focus on execution and brand building. We remain committed to our Vision 2027 targets. Thank you for your time. I now hand over the call to the moderator and open the floor for Q&A session. 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 touchtone phone. An operator will take your name and announce your turn in the question queue. Participants are requested to only use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Our first question comes from Devanshu Bansal from Emkay Global. Please go ahead. Hi, thanks for taking my questions. Akshay, first question is, there is this big growth divergence between growth in optimized channel for McDonald's and the growth that the aggregators are reporting, right? So, Zomato, for example, has reported 20% plus growth, while for us the digital channel is in single digits. So I just wanted to check, what's your view on this growth divergence versus the aggregator? That's the question number one. From our point of view, you know, based on constant and consistent discussions with them, we are growing at a very healthy rate on their platform versus or relative to the platform and the competitors. So from that point of view, they believe that, you know, we are in a market leading position even on their platform. Based on our initial calculations, a lot of the growth that we're seeing in their food delivery segment is inorganic. On the organic level, we are seeing that their platforms are experiencing pressure, and from the, you know, consistent conversation during our reviews and partnership discussions, we are quite satisfied with the growth rate that our brand is able to achieve. ...Understood, Akshay. That's very clear. Second, Akshay, in some of your interviews, you sort of indicated about collaborating more with the other franchisee that operates McDonald's in India. Plus there was some mention of Oil Alliance drive-throughs as well. So just if you could throw some light on these two things as well. Could you just repeat the second half of the question? I couldn't hear you clearly. Oil Alliance drive-thrus. Are you sort of building some alliance with the fuel pumps or something maybe? So, the first one was around collaboration with North and East, is that what you said? Right. Yes. Yeah. So, you know, like we've always maintained, you know, we are separate companies, but we do operate one brand. And as the business in the North and East is, you know, coming back to shape after the long dispute that went on over there, and there's a lot of investment going into the business. I think that, you know, there are opportunities where we do collaborate with them. For example, the McCrispy campaign that we just launched in the festive quarter, it's also being launched in the North and East. And, you know, we are collaborating in terms of, product build, offering, pricing, as well as advertising. So these are opportunities where, you know, we see sense in collaborating, and, we take advantage wherever we can. In terms of, the second question, I'll just pass it on to Saurabh, and he'll give you an answer. So Oil Alliance is not new for us. We already have 10 - 12 restaurants operating as Oil Alliance drive-thru. We expected to continue working with the three big oil companies, which is Indian Oil, BPCL and HPCL, and see opportunities where it emerges both on the highway and in city, where there is an opportunity to build an alliance together. Sorry, operator, I'm not able to hear. Hello, am I audible now? Yes, sir. You were sort of mentioning that you have been in partnership with few fuel retailers, so I could hear you till that point. Yeah. So I was saying that we already have 12 operational stores, around 12 operational stores with the Oil Alliance partners, primarily the public sector companies of Indian Oil, HPCL and BPCL. We are looking forward to partnering with them more, especially on access controlled highways and the city areas, wherever we can provide and wherever we can partner together. We already have master agreements with BPCL and HPCL. We're trying to do the same with Indian Oil and see how often we expand that base, especially for highways. Understood. Last question from my end. Sort of, so from a SSSG perspective, Q3, the base itself is very favorable, where we sort of saw a significant decline due to COVID-specific challenges. So, is expecting a mid-single digit kind of a positive SSSG in Q3 would be a reasonable expectation? Because we are competing on a low base. Is that a right assumption? I think we are a momentum business, and you will see. What we have learned is, one of the reasons why we did Value War, we wanted to make sure that the GC momentum comes back here. It is the guest count momentum comes back here. Like I said, when I was speaking also, that in September we saw almost sitting on the same level as last year. Now, having said that, it is a momentum business, and you don't see overnight turns and changes. And so we expect, we see- we expect to be market competitive, and we will see our results differentiated in the marketplace for sure. What will that number be? I'm not in a position to comment right now. Thank you, sir. Thank you for taking my questions. I'll get back in the queue. Bye. Thank you. The next question is from Jay Doshi, from Kotak. Please go ahead. Hi. Hi, team. So, you know, we have seen a significant deterioration in margins over the past few quarters, partly, you know, due to the headwinds that overall the industry faces, and perhaps for you, it's been slightly more. My question is, now we are three years away from your, you know, 2027 vision. And when you articulated that vision, the underlying assumptions were, you know, about 600 odd stores, with INR 7.5 crore per store, average revenue per annum, and ballpark, 15%-17% lower end EBITDA margin. A lot has changed in terms of, you know, AUV trends in the past two years. If you're not able to get to that ADS that you had articulated at that point of time, you know, by 2027, is it still possible to get to the lower end of EBITDA margin? Do you think that business has enough operating leverage or cost efficiencies, or you think there will be, you know, you'll miss the margin? Or to put the other way, what is the minimum ADS you would need to get to fifteen thousand, 15% pre-Ind AS EBITDA margin at company level? So, Jay, our answer is different, as said by Saurabh, that we're a momentum-based business, and a lot of the efforts, you know, like I also said in my commentary, themed around value for money, innovation and governance are all aimed towards increasing average unit volume as well as profitability. And as you saw, even with our Vision 2022, the moment the momentum, you know, came in the direction and way we wanted it to, you saw average unit volume- ... grow significantly as well as margins, and that's exactly what our endeavor is, even for H2 of this year. So, as the average unit volume keeps growing basis all our initiatives, and there's a strong focus on both the strategic initiatives as well as the execution of the same, we are quite confident that these numbers can be achieved, and that's where all the effort is towards. And like I said, we saw this with Vision 2022, and, you know, we maintain that same optimism about Vision 2027, which is why we gave out a five-year vision. In fact, when we gave out the vision, everyone was telling us that it's conservative, right? And from our point of view, we've seen a lot of cycles over the last thirty years, and the retail startup space is one that has its headwinds as well as its tailwinds. But what we've taken this, you know, sort of, situation, as we call it, as, we've taken it as an opportunity to double down on the strategic initiatives, and we're very confident that once we turn the corner, you know, we shall only be seeing positive momentum. Understood. Thank you. Second question is just a follow-up, you know, some that was partly asked in by the, you know, earlier participant. You know, last year you had called out in December quarter, you know, a particular, you know, a quantum of headwind you had because of geopolitical reasons. Now, over during the course of the year, has it more or less eased out, or there's still some headwind, you know, in some stores in some markets? And then now, as we, you know, as that gets anniversarized starting November, should there be a big jump in, you know, SSSG trends? By big, I mean at least 200, 300 basis points. Should that be the base case assumption that, you know, December quarter, SSSG should be at least 300 basis points better than, September quarter, everything else being same? It's a great question. I think we all talk about it on an everyday basis. I don't think a lot of stores which got impacted last year have come up with a level of what they were pre the crisis. Having said that, what you've said is absolutely right. We've built a lot of good momentum, and when we believe the negative cycle should be behind us, and we should be able to do a better job in the H2, that is pretty much what Akshay had mentioned, and I also mentioned that we believe we are poised, if the consumption trends come back, we are poised to be able to create the results which normally you would expect from us. But what I can tell you is, no matter how the environment is, you will definitely see differentiated results in the marketplace. Thank you so much, and good luck for the quarter. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from Naman Jain, from Pioneer Investcorp. Please go ahead. Hi, good evening. Am I audible? Yes, you are. Yeah. So primarily I wanted to know, what's your average per customer invoice value? Sorry. Can you repeat please the question? Per customer invoice value on an average. We generally don't share the details of average value. That's why we would not give a... There's a range which we talk about. It's pretty much as much as the market average, around INR 300-INR 350, but we'll not, we can't give you the specific kind of amount. Okay. And secondly, we are seeing a trend of people trying to focus on a healthier lifestyle, so they try to switch to healthier alternatives to what we offer as our products. So how are we hoping to tackle that? So life is very relative. I think Mumbai's, if this is an environment in which everybody was becoming reasonable and was looking at a lot of data before making a decision, I think a McAloo Tikki Burger would become a fan favorite and a healthy rating for everybody in the country. However, there is more about the perception than reality. But having said that, I think we've done a lot of work on the platform of Real Food Real Good. If you look at it, like I said, McAloo Tikki became a burger which was balanced in the calories coming out of fat, protein, and carbohydrates three, four years back. This quarter, we've committed to the steps we need to take, in the direction of making our food more nutritious. We've launched a millet bun, which you can add to any of your burgers at INR 10 extra. We continue working on both quality standards and nutritional standards of all our products. Needless to say, there are indulgent burgers which we would like people to use it when they are having an indulgent occasion or an occasional treat to move on. So I think what we are seeing is that our consumers are really appreciating the effort which we have made. In fact, millet bun was very, very appreciated in this field. Yeah, that's all from my end. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from Gaurav Jogani from JM Financial. Please go ahead. Thank you for the opportunity. My first question, you know, is with regards to a clarification. Did you say that, you know, the stores that were impacted due to the geopolitical things, the last year around, are they back to those earlier levels now? No. Like I said, some stores have recovered. There were the part of stores which were impacted. We had given the number last year. If I look at it from that standpoint, where they were and they are impacted, they are better off, but they are marginally better off. They still largely remain impacted. And I can quote a few examples of stores in Mumbai Central, Madh Island, where what we used to do, we are not even doing half of what we used to. So, it remains tough in some of these ways. Sure, so just a related question to this. I mean, so assuming you know that, because they would be in the base now in Q3, and assuming these customers don't come back, how do you look, not now, but two, three years ahead, your AUVs trending? Can we add, you know, new set of customers on new occasions or something of that sort, you know, that takes us ahead from this thing? So exactly what you said. We try to go back to our strategy and focus on our input. And if you look at it, what we did was a McF lavor platform, which was we wanted to relight the momentum on snacking so that the dining we see will increase, and we've seen good results coming out of it. In fact, like I mentioned, that in September, as a matter of fact, we are almost at the similar guest count levels what we were last year. So it's about solving the problem structurally, and then rather than reacting to the situation, how can we add occasion? So can we strengthen snacking further? Can we do value more? So a lot of work which has happened in the past six months has been around the value platform, and we call it with the kind of momentum we have gained on it. Yeah. So after that, we gained, you know, great momentum from our value platform. On top of that, we recently launched the McCrispy burger also, which is a great example of innovation as well as affordable, you know, luxury, as we call it, in the food space, where it's a premium burger at a great price point with very high quality ingredients. So at the same time, you know, it's on a great value, but at the same time, it's aspirational and high quality for our customers. So, you know, we continue to toggle between both entry level, mid-level, as well as premium level price points to ensure our customers get all aspects of value, whether it's price, whether it's quality, whether it's convenience, whether it's you know, new sensibilities with ingredients like what we've done in the you know, veggie McCrispy burger. So that's how we're adding new occasions, and we're very confident that you know, like we said in our commentary, that we feel the headwinds are abating, and we're on a very strong wicket as the growth in consumption starts coming back. Can I suggest this, that you know, if you can give the data point that X of these stores, you know, which are impacted due to these geopolitical or competitive issues, the rest of the stores, would they be having a positive SSG? Could that be a fair understanding or assumption? So they have grown sequentially, like I mentioned, so that would mean they would have a marginally positive SSG. Okay, sure. And you know, my, the next question is with regards to the margins again. You know, given that, you have done great work on the recosting side, which is clearly reflecting in the G&A expenses as well. So assuming, you know, once the demand comes back and you start doing that mid-single digit kinds of SSGs also, can we expect, you know, better, than earlier expected margin profile for you? Because there, then there's a double lever of cost savings plus the operating leverage quickly coming in. Gaurav, we maintain our margin guidance as we've given out in Vision 2027. As we see ADAs coming back into our initiatives of value innovation, we're gonna have a strong focus on cost governance. By doing so, I think we were very healthy margins last year, which was kind of, you know, numbers that would have kept us completely on track. We're anticipating that as the growth in consumption comes back, we'll continue to rebuild our momentum. I think Vision 2027 is where we maintain our profitability guidance. Okay, sure. And the last question from my end is on the in terms of the gross margins. You know, I understand that, you know, there's been impact because of this latest thing that you mentioned, but is there also an additional impact of the value platform or rather the next level platform that was done, which would have kind of impacted the gross margin? And in that light, what could be the possible gross margin levels expected ahead? I think I mentioned in my initial commentary also that we expect to go back to the seventy plus levels for sure. Like we said, there were a few headwinds on fresh volume. There was no lettuce available, and part of it had to be imported from outside the country to make sure that we continue to serve our product. That's why there is a one-off. We will get back to our seventy plus level of gross margin in the half, we are very confident about it. Thank you, very thank you. Thank you. The next question is from Krishna Shah, from Ashika Stock Broking. Please go ahead. Okay, ma'am, thank you for the opportunity. My first question is on the new store target front. So we've mentioned that we'll be opening around forty-five to fifty stores this year in this financial year, and so far, we've added only eleven stores. So do we expect to meet the target of, like, another thirty, thirty-five stores in the next two quarters and expect a higher outflow of CapEx? ... So we maintain our guidance from store additions, and we maintain our guidance from CapEx also, which is roughly around INR 220-INR 250 crores per year. Okay, got it. And, secondly, on the ramp up front, I just wanted to understand what is the ramp-up period in terms of months that we are expecting, like we've already had, for the new stores? If I understand correctly, you're saying, how quickly do new stores ramp up to system AUV? Yeah, yeah, correct. So, you know, again, it varies. There are some stores that ramp up quite fast in the course of couple of years. A couple of examples of stores that take a little longer are more futuristic stores, where we put, you know, freestanding drive-throughs on highways that are developing or suburban highways or suburban centers that are also developing, where you have a slower build, but obviously the unit economics are still quite favorable. So, you know, there is a basket of stores in, say, Mumbai, which we've opened, and on day one you start seeing them within the first couple of months moving up to system average. So again, you know, this is a flavor of a combination of examples, and you know, that's how we kind of give out our guidance, where it's roughly over a period of two to three years, where you can see system average. Okay, got it. This is helpful. And my last question is on the off-premise front, where we are mentioning that we've grown 5%. So the 5% year-on-year growth is coming through our drive-thru approach that we are planning to expand through, or more through delivery? Like I mentioned in my commentary also, that while the same-store sales growth remains flat, 5% is the total growth. Obviously, needless to say, it came out of both delivery and drive-thru. Okay, got it. And what would be our split, in terms of, delivery through our app versus, the third party? So we don't break out that data. Okay, got it. Thank you so much. This is helpful. Thank you. The next question comes from Saurabh Sinha from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead. Yes, thank you for the opportunity. My question is on McCrispy. It's been around, I guess, for about a month now. What's been your observation on whether it is helping get new walk-ins or new customers, rather? Or is it increasing the frequency of existing customers? Or is it some other observation, like maybe existing customers upgrading to it? So what has the data been saying till now? Too early to answer this question. I think I'll keep this for the next quarter. But all I can tell you is, when I've been in the restaurant, a lot of customers are talking and giving a great feedback about the food, about both the products, which is the crispy and the McCrispy chicken. All right. I wanted... My second question is, sorry if I missed this earlier, you made a comment about, September footfall already back, September month footfall, was it, already back to where last year's footfall was. Is that what you meant? Yes. Okay. And are you talking like-for-like footfall? Same-store footfall. Same-store footfall. Okay, same-store footfall is back. Okay, thank you. Thanks. That's all. Thank you. The next question is from Sabyasachi Mukerji from Bajaj Finserv Asset Management Company. Please go ahead. Yeah, hi. Just a clarification from one of the comments made earlier. So when we compare, you know, our performance with the food aggregator, Zomato, the gross order value YoY increase for this quarter, they have reported around 21%. I believe you mentioned that when we talk with the food aggregator, they say that it is because of inorganic growth and, you know, organic growth is not very strong. I'm sorry, what is inorganic growth here for the food aggregator? What we understand is, one is the western fast food growth. That's what we are calling organic. There are other categories which they focus on, like, for example, cities, they open new cities. All that drives their growth. There are multiple categories they have to work on and multiple cities they can work on, but it is not like-to-like. For example, the western fast food is not like-to-like. The categories in the platform are not always like-to-like. What we mean is that we are doing quite well when we speak to them as far as the western fast food business is concerned. Okay. And when we say that we are doing better than our peers in the western fast food category, could you, I mean, you know, shed some light on what could be the, you know, western fast food category is doing? I mean, is it declining YoY? I mean, how, what's your sense? Sir, I will not elaborate further, but all I can say is there is obviously growth, and we are also a part of that growth, including the total growth which we have seen in the dining out or take-out occasion, which is out-of-restaurant consumption, which we have mentioned that we grew by 5%. ... You know, so basically, what, where am I coming from is that, are you seeing some trends where, in your conversations with, you know, your probably partners and, I mean, with the food aggregator and all, that probably there is some downtrading that is happening across the board, you know, people preferring to lower ticket size or maybe going to the unorganized chains which are listed in the food aggregator app always. So I mean, are you having that sense from conversations with them? We would not be commenting on that one, sir. It is their business. It is for them to comment about. We do have conversation in closed rooms. We discuss things on what is prudent for our business. We are really not too worried about what happens on their timing and other businesses. But when they give us a relative confidence or we know that we are competitively very well placed, that's the point we wanted to make and that's what it is. Okay, thanks. So that's all from my side. Thank you. Next question is from Ashish Agarwal, who's an individual investor. Please go ahead. Yeah. So, my question is regarding the royalty that you have written. One of the reasons is royalty increase. So, it's... How much is the royalty that you are paying this year? Is it 5% or more than that? It is actually 5.5% with GST. Plus GST. Because your website says 5% this year, so I was just looking at. Is royalty, I mean, how much is it, really creating that much, you called it out, is what I wanted to understand here? Sir, 5.5% with GST, which is around 5% without GST. It is, whatever has been uploaded is correct information on your point. Okay. And, given the macroeconomic condition and given the QSR this, are we in a position to negotiate with the parent company about the royalty, or that's not in the cards? So we do not look at our marriage relationship on a day-to-day basis. Obviously, we want a long-term, more stable royalty plan, and we have got a royalty plan, three years back, which we have uploaded. When it comes for renegotiation, again, we're gonna renegotiate. Short-term, temporarily, conversation which happens, we don't usually update it, in a natural course of when we will, or we would like to call them as operational things. There might be an off incentive, et cetera, which might come here and there. But largely, our royalty plan, whatever we have committed to, we remain on track on that one. Okay. Thank you. That's it from my side. Thank you. A reminder to all the participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question comes from Vishal Punmiya from YES Securities. Please go ahead. Yeah. Hi, team. Thanks for the opportunity. My question is actually on store additions. Not for us, but for the industry. If you can give some insight in terms of how the industry is looking at store additions, because a few quarters back, everyone called out aggressive expansion. Even the larger players in the western and southern region, who were earlier regional players, they called out aggressive expansion of stores. Based on the current environment, how are they looking at store expansion? If you could help with some insights. Yeah. So, Vishal, I think, you know, we maintain that we will continue to open 45-50 stores this year, as we're committed to investing in growth, and we're very confident in terms of our strategy, and we believe the opportunity ahead of us is large. In terms of... And we've been very consistent in our guidance around store additions, and we always maintain that we will do what the market can handle. In terms of the industry, I can't really comment much, because there's been inconsistency in terms of how stores have been opened. And you will probably hear of, you know, whatever their views are, when you, you know, hear their commentary or speak to them individually. But overall, yes, obviously, we've always maintained we need to do what's right for the business and right for the market, and we continue to, you know, perform and open in that manner. So, we stick to that, and industry will continue to evolve. Yeah, I totally appreciate that you have been consistent with your store additions. The reason that I asked for the industry, how they're getting, is basically to get some sense on the competitive environment and whether that would benefit us in the next couple of years when, if the market recovers, then whether we would be a bigger beneficiary of that recovery. So that is where I'm coming from. That's what I said, right? So we are investing in growth. We are very confident of our strategy, which is why, like I said, we do what the market can handle. And when we took this decision to increase our store openings, it was with a long-term view, and it was not just to capitalize on, you know, any short-term gains that we were seeing. And what I was trying to also imply is that, we will be there to take advantage of the growth, however, the industry evolves. In terms of the competitive landscape, there's been inconsistency in terms of, you know, what you hear. And, you know, that's what I've always maintained, even in my individual conversations, that, we'll continue to see that evolve as the consumer environment evolves. For us, we have a very long-term opportunity and a long-term view. You know, even 40-600 stores, we've come up with a guidance that's right for the market. Okay. Thank you. That's all from my side, and best of luck for the second half, and also wishing the team a happy Diwali. Happy Diwali. Thank you. Thank you. Happy Diwali. Thank you. Participants, you may press star and one to join the question queue. As there are no further questions from the participants, I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Thank you so much. Have a great week, and wishing everyone a very happy Diwali, and looking forward to speaking to you on next quarter. Thank you. Thank you. On behalf of Westlife Foodworld Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.