Good evening, all of you, and thanks so much for joining us today to discuss Asian Paints Q1 FY25 earnings. I'm Sunila Martis from Investor Relations, and I'm happy to welcome all of you here today. Today we have with us our management team. We have our CEO and MD, Mr. Amit Syngle. We have our CFO and Company Secretary, Mr. R.J. Jeyamurugan, and we have Mr. Parag Rane, AVP Finance. I would now like to invite Amit to give us his opening comments. Hello, good evening to everyone, and welcome to the investor conference for the Q1 of FY 25. We'll start with our entire journey, the whole journey of delivering joy since 1942, and I think all of you are now familiar with it, that this is the core in terms of what we exist, which is to beautify, preserve, transform all spaces and objects, and bringing joy and happiness to the world. What you see are some of the newer initiatives in terms of what we have done in all the spaces, whether it is decorative, whether it is from the point of view of home decor, or it is from the industrial zones in terms of what you kind of see here. The disclaimer in terms of what you're aware of. Let's start with the overall top line numbers in terms of what they look. Obviously, the quarter has been tough and, overall, I think the demand conditions have been fairly challenging because of the host of reasons in terms of what we saw. So, we see, obviously the volume growth has been still fairly healthy. We were gunning for double-digit. We have landed at about 7%, which is still healthy over a big base of 7.8%, which we had in the previous Q1 quarter of FY 2024. And, overall, the only heartening thing which we see is that the CAGR numbers are still very strong, even if you look over a 5-year perspective at about 15.3%. Overall, when we see the value has been under real pressure in terms of what we have seen, and the value is at about a minus 3% in terms of what we see compared to 7.8% in terms of what we had experienced in the last Q1 quarter. The volume was 10% there in the previous Q1 FY 2022-2024 year. So obviously, I think value has experienced pressure, as we have said, two, three areas coming very strongly in terms of which have impacted. One is the fact that the product mix was a little inferior. Second, we had also deflation inflation in the market in terms of what took place overall to that extent. Overall, given the demand conditions, I think the value was something which definitely has been on the lower side as we see it. If we look at the industrial growth, the industrial growth has been definitely much better in terms of what we see on the backdrop of, good auto sales, in terms of what we have overall seen in terms of even, some level of, sales which have been seen in the, overall industrial sector to that extent. So if you look at the combined growth of decorative plus industrial, the value degrowth comes to about 2.2%, which is there, compared to, 8.5 of the previous year, quarter one, to that extent. The volume is at seven, compared to the ten of previous year, to that extent. In both these cases, also, if you see the CAGR levels are pretty healthy in terms of when we see with the industrial sales as well, to that extent. Going further, I think this is a slide which you are familiar with, and we have been talking about this, in terms of saying that the volume is something which the company has been relentlessly following, and that is something which has been the story for the last many, many quarters in terms of what we have delivered. So the CAGR is still very good in terms of what we are looking at, about a 15.3 over a five-year CAGR in terms of how it is there. And this is something which has been the performance which has been seen over this thing. This quarter has been a little lower at about 7%, as I said, but I think that is something which we still believe in terms of going forward with. As we look at further growth indicators in terms of what have come in, and these are somewhere which possibly, I think, are some explanations in terms of how the entire results pan out. So overall, as we said, it was impacted by heatwave and to some extent by the general elections, where we see especially both the retail as well as the institutional business getting affected. April and May were definitely not very good months in terms of what we saw. There were the recovery in the month of June, definitely, which we saw post the elections to that extent, which is there. This was also a quarter where we started some shoots of recovery in the rural demand also. In fact, what we saw that the T3, T4 cities were growing at a slightly fast, higher pace than compared to the T1, T2 cities in this quarter. I think that's a good sign in terms of what we see for going for future. The Q1 mix, as I said, was impacted overall, where we had the higher growth coming from SmartCare, which is our waterproofing range. You know, the whole area of distempers and wood finishes. I think these were the general products categories in terms of where we did well. Economy emulsions did not do well, and I think that is something which was definitely where we saw that, we kind of struggled in the quarter in terms of getting the numbers. Premium, as a category, did relatively much better in terms of what we saw to that extent, which is a good sign in terms of what there, because there has been a clear focus on this category, and this has done well. When we look at the distribution footprint, this continues to expand. Now we are at about 1.65 lakh retail touchpoints, and that is something which is, very, very strongly, which has come in to that extent. Projects institutional business, we saw a bit of a deceleration in terms of the overall numbers as we came in, because I think due to the whole general elections, I think the market was a little bit slow to that extent, and especially when we saw the infrastructure sector, that is something which definitely was on a slower side. But overall, we still relatively did well, and I think the B2B sector has done much better as compared to the retail sector in terms of the overall analysis. From a point of view of all our decor, the home decor initiatives, overall, that is something which has done well. But particularly when we come to the Beautiful Homes Painting Service, which is a service which has been going very, very strong. It has two constituents, which is the Beautiful Homes Painting Service and the trusted contractor service. These has done very well, and I think, the parameters on NPS and the overall growth have been very, very strong in terms of what have been coming in this area. In this quarter also, the performance has been good. From an innovation point of view, the new products, continue to contribute to about 12% of our, top line, and that is something which has done well, and it is kind of, doing well. We spoke about in the last meet, one of our newer launches, Neo Bharat Latex Paint, which has been launched at the bottom of the pyramid level, to kind of really upgrade the unorganized, distemper consumer into a organized kind of, brand to that extent, has done extremely well. And we are very, very happy that we have been able to kind of really, you know, widen the moat and really kind of increase the overall potential in terms of what we have in access to the entire bottom of the pyramid now with this product coming into that extent. So it has really kind of given us a very good kick in this quarter as well as we have seen. Now we have products in interior as well as exterior, which is there working in this scenario. Capacity expansion has been, the other bit in terms of what we have been doing. Last time, I told you that we have done the brownfield expansions in terms of our existing plants, which are there, which is of Kasna, Khandala, and Ankleshwar. This time, we have an installed capacity of Mysuru, which we have taken from 3 lakh KL to about 6 lakh KL, which overall takes the capacity to more than 22 lakh KL overall at the organization level. So I think, which is a very big boost in terms of what we have in terms of the overall capacity coming for us, which is available in terms of from the point of view of growth. So these are some of the indicators. I spoke about the Neo Bharat. This is something which has done extremely well with our new brand ambassador, Virat. I think it's got a fillip. It has done very well. We have spent a good amount of money in terms of promoting this on various media channels to that extent. And overall, we think this is something which has given us a very, very strong surge and creating a new avenue of growth from the point of view of the bottom of the pyramid, as I said earlier. We have also been running a lot of videos, which basically showcase the relationship of Asian Paints with our dealer partners. This is an important initiative because it kind of reinforces the overall years and decades of relationship which Asian Paints has, and we have been working now with almost the third generation of people coming in. That shows the trust of people in Asian Paints in terms of what they have as a brand, and that is something which is amplified by some of these videos which have come up in terms of looking at showcasing this entire relationship. We also have kind of launched, you know, something for our wood finishes, what is called a WoodTech Emporio, which is the premium, almost a luxury brand in terms of what comes in here. That we have kind of working in terms of looking at facilitating architects very strongly in terms of how we kind of really bring aesthetics in the brand and so on and so forth. This is our absolutely premium luxe kind of initiative in terms of what we have taken, which kind of really gives everyone an idea in terms of what this product category is capable of creating as part of the whole digital series which have come in. The whole home decor foray has been extremely strong, and this is something which we have been pursuing and we've been speaking about for the last about four years strongly. We're happy to report that this overall categories have done well here. We are, as I said, last time as well, number one integrated home decor player, number one in various categories, which is involving decorative lighting. It is also from the point of view of modular kitchens, wall covering and textures, and also the fact that we are now number two in the fabric and the furnishing zones as well, to that extent. And our collaborations with lots of brands continue, and we keep on coming out with these collaborations, whether it is Versace, Jaipur Rugs, Sarita Handa, and this is something which is a strong source, which is kind of taking the Asian Paints equity, and also our partnership with our retailers forward in a very strong way. Since we are putting up Beautiful Home stores across the country now, where we have more than 61 stores, which we have put in. A lot of them are now WIP, which are coming now in the next quarter. So I think, strong performance at the stores also, which have grown in a very big way to that extent. Our collections, as I said, are all in the, you know, premium to luxury ranges. What you're seeing is, what we call is the Paris-Calcutta collection from Sabyasachi, which has kind of come in to that extent. Along with, we have launched, collections, in fabrics as well, and, along with the wallpapers to that extent. And this is something which, is moving very, very well. The response from the market has been great in terms of what we are able to do, and really kind of puts the brand into the luxury space in a very strong manner. This is another thing which wanted to kind of introduce to you. We have opened our second BH Studio in Guwahati. The first one is in Anna Nagar in Chennai. This one is more than 16,000 sq ft. It is a store which is definitely par excellence in terms of what has come in. It gives customer a phygital journey into the store with all premium to high-end kind of decor products which are there, including lighting which is there, fabric, wallpaper, furniture. Very, very strongly done, and it's something which is really a masterpiece in terms of the way it has come out. So I think these are strong forays which are happening in the home decor as we look at it. To look at some numbers here, I think, kitchen, modular kitchen, the business has picked up. Finally, we've got a 5% growth in terms of the overall numbers. We have had a positive PBDIT for the last six quarters, and that is something, which is strong, in terms of what we have been, I think, pursuing here. Even the bath business, which was, for the last two, three quarters down, has got a 10% revenue up shift in terms of what we see. Overall, what we see, this is getting very well supported by our Beautiful Homes network, which is coming. Both the kitchen and bath are getting supported strongly. Here we had a bit of a loss, which is there, but I think this is part of the growth journey. We will see—definitely see the bottom lines also picking up as we are seeing the top lines now coming in terms of this overall category. When we look at the other categories of home decor, both categories, which were our acquisitions, White Teak and Weatherseal, have done overall quite well, in terms of this thing, both in double-digit growths in terms of what you see. We are putting more and more stores, in White Teak, both FOCO and COCO, in terms of stores which are coming up, and as well as, our BH stores promoting both, Weatherseal and White Teak, in a strong way. I think these are categories which are now, looking in terms of some bit of growth, which is coming in the categories. When we look at our international operations, this is how you know we are represented across the globe in terms of their parts of Asia, Middle East, Africa, in terms of where we are all represented. Some part of the islands, which you see in the South Pacific, these are our representations in the global market. Here, I think there has been a challenge in terms of the overall business. The top line has been under constraint here. We have had a degrowth of about 2%, which is there. Although in terms of constant currency, we would have grown by about 1.8%, given the fact we have had depreciation of currency, which has happened in Ethiopia, in Egypt and Bangladesh to that extent. And that is something which has contributed to basically the difference between the INR and the constant currency in terms of what we see. However, some bright sparks which are coming. Ethiopia has done quite well. Sri Lanka has now picked up in a strong way to that extent. There has been slow down in Middle East to that extent. However, I think one of the areas which has been obviously troubling us in the Asian markets is Nepal, where the economic situation for the last, now, almost about, you know, 7-8 quarters, has been definitely not very, very good to that extent in terms of what we see overall. So overall, both top lines and bottom lines are affected there to that extent, and that is something which possibly we are looking at in terms of how the situation kind of really recovers. As I said, both Egypt and Bangladesh were affected by the currency devaluation to that extent, and there has been also overall growth issues to that extent. So overall, I think a subdued kind of show as far as the international markets are concerned to that extent, in terms of constant currency of about 1.8%, kind of a growth coming in the overall environment. The profitability has also therefore consequently got affected in terms of what is there. So overall, the numbers are lower in terms of what we have delivered, in terms of the overall profitability as you can see it, and that is something which is something we are looking forward in terms of how to kind of really reverse this as we look at this quarter going forward. As far as the industrial business is concerned, this business has done well, especially when we look at the business, which is our auto refinishes and the auto OE business, which is there. This has done very well. I think the overall, builds in, auto in the first quarter have been good. We have seen double-digit, revenue growth, which has come in, in this business to that extent, which is very strong. Even the profitability numbers have been strong in terms of what we are getting to that extent. So overall, from that point of view, we see that the PBT margins have also gone up overall in terms of what we see in this business. So I think auto has definitely kind of given us a trend in terms of really looking at a good business happening in this part of the industrial zone. When we look at the general industrial business, which is the APP PG, as we call it, we have seen a flattish kind of a revenue which has come in here overall. Therefore, even the profits have been a little bit subdued in terms of what we see. We have taken some price decisions here because the pricing pressure has been strong, so that has kind of really kind of taken a little bit of a toll on the profitability overall to that extent. So, but overall, if you look at the industrial business is almost at about a 5.8% value growth overall in terms of if you look from a combined business point of view. Overall, gross margins, if you look, basically on a material price inflation, which have happened overall, and also in terms of a lower mix, today, some bit of our work, which is around the sourcing formulation efficiencies, have kind of really given us some reprieve here to that extent. But still, if we see that the gross margins are at about 42.9%, they have come down from what were there in Q4 to that extent, but I think still fairly healthy in terms of where they are staying, if we take the effect of the material inflation, which has kind of come in to that extent. So in summary, when we look at the overall financials, top line, as I said, on a standalone level, at -3%, and when we look at even a consolidated level, it goes to about -2% overall to that extent. The PBT margins are definitely lower than the Q1 of the last FY 2024 in terms of what we see. But on a sequential basis, we see that it has come down by about 50 basis points to that extent, so from about possibly 20.8 to about 20.3 in standalone. And similar story, what we see in the consolidated, where the PBDIT margins have come down over the last year by about 420 basis points, but vis-à-vis the sequentially, about 50 points down to that extent. So I think we are still in our overall zone in terms of what we want it to be of about 18%-20% to that extent, and that is something which we'll continue to strive in terms of going forward, so that we remain in our overall margins place to that extent. As we kind of go ahead, I would like to kind of really say that it's not, it's largely the, you know, the areas of, you know, inflation, the whole area of the mix, which has kind of really affected the numbers. By and large, we don't think so, that, there is any competitive activity which has kind of really looked at, kind of giving this performance as we look at it. From a point of view of, you know, overall sustainability in terms of what we have been done, I think the overall governance has been very, very strong, and I think this we kind of really keep on this thing because the organization is really committed to a very sustainable performance in terms of looking at it. So even from a perspective of ESG, we have got it, all very strongly going well. So whether it is from the point of view of RE, where we are at a very strong level in terms of where we are at about 66%, or it is from the point of view of a freshwater replenishment, I think, the numbers are very, very strong in terms of what we see the performance in financial year 2024, and where we are going towards in the FY25 to that extent. So the numbers, whether it is the specific effluent generation or it is from the point of view of Scope 1 and 2 Emissions, or it is with respect to the overall, work which is done in the social framework of training people or taking care of the healthcare, I think those have been very, very strong. In fact, last year in the Colour Academy, which is there, we were able to kind of train almost about 6.8 lakh people overall to that extent. So it's been a strong initiative in terms of what we have been able to kind of take on in terms of doing to that extent. So I think overall it's been a strong kind of foray with respect to some of these initiatives. Something which obviously I think all of you are looking at, in terms of what is the kind of forecast as we kind of go ahead. Obviously, I think, there are some good shoots which are happening in the market. We see the rural markets, definitely coming up, and that is something which is being spoken about by other, companies as well in terms of that they are seeing some definitely shoots. As I said, for us, the T3, T4 markets, grew a shade higher than the T1, T2 markets to that extent, which is a good sign in terms of what we see. Overall, we are now seeing an uptick in terms of the overall monsoon, and we hope that today, whatever is the deficiency at the overall country level, that kind of really gets into a smaller zone to that extent. I think this will really improve the sentiment in terms of the rural sentiment coming up in terms of what we see to that extent. We also have upcoming festive season. We have a full month of October, Diwali being 31st. So I think we have a full season of the festive demand, which is there. So I think these are all factors which are looking good in terms of driving, and now we will have a quarter which is free of any elections and other things which we kind of saw in quarter one to that extent. So I think this is something which will definitely even kick off the B2B institutional business, which is there, which we expect to kind of definitely grow much better as compared to what we have seen in Q1 to that extent. One worry obviously is inflation. We have seen inflation which is there to about 1.8% in Q1. We have also taken a price increase of about 1%, which has already been done. We see further challenges which are going to happen in terms of looking at further inflation which we expect could be in the range of about anywhere between 1.4%-1.5%, and therefore, possibly we could see further price increases as we kind of go forward to that extent. So I think that is something which we are seeing in the environment, and that is something which we'll keep a watch on as we kind of keep on doing. The industrial business is on a good stream right now, and we think that this is something which we are now focusing at in terms of growing, and we'll continue to do that. The home decor categories are now bringing to do good in terms of all categories which have done well in the quarter one. This is something which is our commitment in terms of really forging Asian Paints into the decor area and owning up homes, because this is really aiding the paint category in a very strong manner as we kind of go ahead. Global, I, we believe that some challenges will continue in terms of some of the Asian markets to that extent, but we think that Middle East and the African markets would definitely pick up as we kind of go forward, and that is something which we are looking at definitely. So on the whole, I think we are definitely looking that there should be an uptick in terms of the overall demand as we kind of go forward, both from a point of view of Indian markets and international markets, as well as industrial. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Today, we have participants joining on Zoom video platform and via audio conferencing. Requesting all participants joined via Zoom video platform, kindly rename yourself with your name and company name. Please use the Raise Hand feature to ask a question to the panelists. Kindly unmute when given a chance to ask a question. Please mention your name and company name before asking your questions. Kindly restrict your questions to only two due to time constraints. Participants connected via Zoom video platform can also pose their questions on the chat box, and we will ask on your behalf. People joined via audio conferencing, please press star one to ask your question. We have Mr. Abneesh joined us via audio conferencing. Sir, request you to kindly ask your question. Yeah, so Abneesh from Nuvama. Two questions. My first question is, in some of the south markets, Pidilite has ambition to scale up in the rural part of those states. Plus, Birla Opus has also opened franchisee stores in Hyderabad, 2 stores and maybe some more cities. So when I join this with the sharp increase in the staff costs, it is up 23% YOY and 9% quarter-on-quarter. Wanted to understand any effect of these players on the broader market contours. And on the staff costs, how much is a normal increase plus expansion? How much is it because of your company being the poaching ground for all these new players? How much is the impact because of that? So overall, when we see, as I said earlier, by and large, in terms of the performance, largely, you know, I think the overall industry has been down, in terms of the kind of demand scenario we have seen. So I don't think so it is really impacted by any, larger competitive activity in terms of what is there. Even the newer brands which are kind of coming in, they are trying to stabilize and see in terms of what they can do. We don't think so that they have really impacted anything overall to that extent. From an employee cost, perspective, if we kind of look at, overall, the employee costs have been, higher. There was some correction we had taken as part of our overall sick leave policy to that extent, which has, if you look out- take out, you know, out of that, so the overall increase would be lesser to that extent in terms of what you see today. But having said that, we have also invested in a higher number of people this year overall, given our imperative that we want to increase our distribution overall, and have a larger footprint in terms of our overall retailing points to that extent. And that is something which has gone to kind of really increase the overall numbers, which have also impacted the cost, which has come in. These numbers are aiding us from the point of view of, one, increasing our rural footprint, increasing our activity with respect to the categories of waterproofing, the whole bottom of the pyramid segment, and so on, so forth, to that extent. Therefore, I would say the larger increase in terms of the employee cost has happened because of the new, people addition overall to that extent. Otherwise, a normal addition is just the inflation in terms of what is there, in terms of the overall salary which takes place. So my second and last question is on the demand side again. So there is some faint growth improvement in kitchen and bath business. Now, here, my questions are on the real estate side, new projects, new building side. Of course, last few years for the industry, real estate industry has been very good. We are getting some initial signs that there could be some slowdown on this very early days, because Q1, of course, as you also highlighted, many one-off factors were there. My question is, one, what's your sense on the real estate overall demand side? Because that does impact all your businesses.... Second is, from kitchen and bath top line, what were the structural improvements done? So these are still very small numbers in terms of growth coming back, but would you say that most of the issues are now resolved in terms of a strong growth metrics, the tough decisions being done, all those have been taken now in these two businesses? So overall, if you look at from the kitchen and the bath business, we have put a lot of focus with respect to the whole area of servicing, which is there. We have also looked at possibly augmenting our overall range in terms of what we are supplying. We are introducing more newer designs, concepts which have come in to that extent. We have looked at premiumization coming with more expensive kitchens, which are targeted at the, you know, the premium customers in terms of that sense. So I think today we are getting that benefit, which is coming from the point of view of the work which is done. The second area is our Beautiful Homes stores, which are now spread across the country, 61 stores. They are also giving a fillip to both, kitchen and bath in a strong way in terms of what we are getting. We have also new factories which have come in, which are basically aiding the whole supply and the servicing conditions for these two businesses going forward. So we have not been a very strong players in the projects segment. It is a small segment which caters to we are stronger players as far as the retail is concerned in both the kitchen and the bath categories to that extent. And even in bath, we are involved more in terms of some of the smaller projects which are there to that extent. As we see it, I think, the overall, you know, the builder segment, the construction segment, has definitely been a little bit slow in terms of, what we have witnessed in the last about six months as compared to earlier, while, the real estate has been on the high because there has been also a lot of existing inventory, which is getting now sold overall to that extent. We still feel that the housing sector is an important sector, and I think, the premium luxury sector is something which is doing quite well overall to that extent, which will kind of keep on aiding our B2B business, which is there. As I said, we are expecting much stronger growth happening in our B2B business going ahead, and, real estate would be one, big indicator which will come out of it. We, we think it will still kind of be still decent in terms of in the market, but more impetus, we see coming from the government infrastructure projects, which are going to be there, plus the overall segment of factories, where a lot of companies are expanding, new companies coming in to that extent. I think that all aids the B2B business in a very strong manner. Thank you, sir. We have Mr. Aditya Soman joined us via Zoom. Sir, request you to kindly unmute yourself and ask your question. Sorry, we can't hear you. You're on mute. Requesting you to unmute yourself, sir. Yeah. Can you hear me now? Yes. Okay. Good afternoon. I'm sorry for that. Thanks for the opportunity to ask the question. So, two questions. Firstly, on volume growth, during the announcements, you had indicated a double digit volume sort of guidance for fiscal 25. Does that remain for the remaining three quarters, given that you expect an improvement? And second question on the price increases that you've taken in July and that you indicated that there might be further price increases to offset the material cost increases. So will that transmission lead to the gap between volumes and value decrease? So overall, if you see today, we have delivered 7% volume, and if you net out, from the point of view of inflation or the price decrease, which we have taken earlier, which was to the tune of about 4% odd, we would have actually landed at about a 1.5% kind of a value to that extent. So I think, overall, to that extent, what we see is, that we are still watching the, you know, the second quarter in terms of how it kind of really opens. I think overall, what we are seeing is that the month of June has been good in terms of the demand pickup to that extent. As I said, rural demand is showing some signs. The sentiment, because of monsoons, is increasing. We also have a festive kind of season ahead, so definitely we are looking at in terms of a double-digit kind of a volume growth for this quarter going ahead in terms of hoping that the demand conditions will be better in terms of what we see as we kind of go ahead. As far as the value and the volume gap is concerned, last time also I said the endeavor is that it would be in the zone of about 5%-6% in terms of what the gap to that extent. And as we look at some of the price increases which are coming, which are enabled because of the inflation which is happening, I think this gap definitely should be in this zone as we kind of see forward going ahead. Maybe just one follow-up on that. The price increase will have nothing to do with what the competition has to do, right, at this point? See, actually, you know, I think the, given the price elasticity, which we have from a point of view of the brand and the equity in terms of what is there, we feel that our pricing anyway is at a premium in the market to that extent. And there is a significant gap between, any of the players which exist in the market to that extent. So we feel that, we go by the pricing decisions, which are more from the point of view of looking at our overall margins, given the inflation which is there and so on and so forth. So I think to that extent, it is irrespective of what the, you know, the competition is really doing in terms of the price, because, I think the trajectory is very, very different in terms of what we see. ... All right, very clear. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Next, we have Mr. Avi Mehta, joined us via Zoom. Sir, request you to kindly unmute yourself and ask your question. Hi, am I audible? Yes, sir, you are. Hi, sir. Sir, I just wanted to clarify on the earlier question. So while you pointed to some recovery in June, are you revisiting or are you still planning to achieve what you're targeting, that double-digit volume growth for FY25, with probably a 5%-6% pricing decline? Is that still on? Is that the right way to read that last answer? So what we have seen, in terms of June, I think, there has been the uptick in demand, and the June conditions have been definitely much better in terms of what we have seen, overall to that extent. Basis that, I think, the overall sentiment improving what we see today and what we look at from the point of view of even a stocking season for the coming festive, thing. I think, both indicators are that we should kind of really be able to kind of really gun for that double digit in terms of going forward. So I think those are the indications which are we are getting from the market overall to that extent. Hopefully the, you know, the whole bottleneck we had due to elections and everything has is over now, which really, you know, affected the months of April and May in this quarter. Otherwise, this month, this quarter also could have been much closer to the double digit in terms of the volume overall to that extent. I think, what we need to really look at is the value growth in terms of where we need to kind of really get in, as we kind of go ahead, and that is something which we are looking at pursuing as to kind of, how do we kind of really galvanize the growth and look at, improving the mix overall as we go forward. Got it, sir. Got it. Sir, second, just continuing on that, we have taken a 1% price increase. Now, with that, would we, would that be enough to get gross margins closer to what we saw in fourth quarter versus where we are right now in first quarter? We are anticipating that we would have another you know inflation of about 1.5% in the second quarter as well. Given the fact that we've already had about 1.8 and 1.5 is something what we are seeing on coming, we will have to take maybe further price increases as we go ahead. And that should hopefully... so you would probably need to take more price increases to get it, to take care of the future inflation. But sir, this price increase is okay for the existing inflation. Is that the right understanding? Or if they're- Yeah. highly discounted to take care of economy, I don't know if that is a reason which why. No, so I think, the overall, I think, increase is clearly linked to the overall, inflation, which we are seeing. So as you see, it is not really matched to the overall percentage levels of the inflation to that extent. We never do that, because we look at overall balancing in terms of what possibly is the right thing for the market in terms of going forward, as it is there. So I think, even in, ahead, looking ahead, we would like to look at balancing the increase in terms of going forward, and it might not be exactly matched to the inflation in terms of what it is taking place. No, perfectly clear, sir. Thank you very much, and wish you luck for the future. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next, we have Mr. Mihir Shah joining us via Zoom. Sir, request you to kindly unmute yourself and ask your question. Hi. Good evening, everybody. Thank you for taking my question. Apologies for my bad throat. So I just wanted to check on the employee cost and the other expenses. I've adjusted for the one-off that you had called out last year for the employee cost, and despite that, you know, there is a 15%+ increase in employee cost and other expenditures also gone up by 14%. So I understand the gross margin or the gross profit part, that is not a major surprise, but I believe the surprise is coming on higher cost, which is dragging down the EBITDA, you know, materially. Uh- Okay. Yeah. So, okay, how we see it is that, as I said earlier, I think, we have definitely taken some increase in terms of adding the numbers with respect to the overall employees are concerned. We are looking at expanding our footprint with respect to some of the newer categories. We are looking at increasing the number of retail points, as we have already stated as part of our overall distribution policy to that extent. So I think, and we are looking at a larger kind of focus with respect to certain span of controls for some of our people to that extent, in terms of especially when it comes to overall areas of sales and marketing. And therefore, I think some of the numbers which we are augmenting are looking to kind of look at this increase. We hope to kind of really balance this with the value growth going forward to that extent, so that from a point of view of percentage to sales, we get into a reasonable band in terms of what we have been following over the years to that extent. And clear that we are looking to account for the kind of growth strategy in terms of what we are taking, because the growth strategy would be for definitely to look at the medium term in terms of how we want to kind of grow. Got it. So then, it would be okay to assume that the costs that we are seeing in the first quarter are likely to continue for the remaining part of the year for other expenditures and other staff costs? Yeah, some of the costs will continue. To that extent, there are other cost measures with respect to general overheads, where possibly we will look at what are the cost measures we can take, whether it is with respect to the general expenditures, which kind of take place overall. So some of those definitely will come under some optimization as we kind of go ahead. So, as we go forward, some costs would definitely remain, which are possibly fixed in nature, but some of those costs is something which we'll definitely put a focus on. Got it, sir. Secondly, I wanted to just deep dive on the gross margin bit. The new launch that you made in the latest phase seems to be doing quite well, and that is also dragging down the overall mix this quarter. You had earlier mentioned that the negative mix will be around 5-6%. Of course, we're seeing it higher, at the higher end of the band, maybe 7% this quarter. Going forward, given that economy emulsions can continue to grow well, also, you've taken some price cuts in the lower end, in the distemper, in the putty and the primer segments, rather than all these paints that we have seen. So, do you think that can have a bearing on the gross margin bit also? Should we revisit that assumption? No, we have not taken any price cuts to that extent. So, the only price cutting we had done was in the last financial year in terms of what was there, which was you know earlier to quarter four, to that extent. So right now we have only taken a price increase, which is there, overall which has kind of come about. And as I said that we had spoken about a 5-6% band. If you net out the price decreases, which were taken you know far earlier, you would see that the you know the actual value would have come to about 1.5-1.6% kind of a thing. Which is in that 5%-6% band for the 7% growth in terms of what we have spoken of to that extent. And therefore, I think, we are still kind of really targeting that kind of a band between the volume and the value going forward. But definitely we have not taken any cuts in terms of our prices. My apologies, sir. I said price cuts, it was price hike. Got it. I think that's all from my side. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. Next, we have Mr. Ashish Kanodia joining us via Zoom. Sir, request you to kindly unmute yourself and ask your question. Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Just on the 5%-6%, that value gap you are talking about, so, you know, the price cut which you took last year, that will also have some impact in the next two quarters. And then, you know, when you look at the rural kind of growing much faster, the product mix could actually even get slightly adverse, you know, in the next one or two quarters. So is it fair to say that the, you know, the 5-6% gap between volume and the value which you are targeting, it's more like an exit run rate rather than a yearly average? So definitely, I think, you know, the attempt here is to kind of look at in terms of improving the mix, in terms of going ahead and also kind of focus on the value in terms of going forward. So therefore, I think, that is the point which we are looking in terms of bridging the gap overall from the point of view of volume and value to that extent. Because currently the mix, if you look at it, some of the economy ranges have done much better as compared to the overall premium luxury part in terms of going forward. Plus, I think, some of the price increases which are being taken to that extent will also kind of help us in terms of looking at bridging that gap overall going forward to that extent. So I think the endeavor is that we kind of remain in that bracket as we kind of go forward, but as, as you rightly said, I think we will have to put a lot of focus in terms of our premium products to kind of see that we are able to get closer to that range. Sure, sir. That's all from my side. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next, we have Mr. Shirish Pardeshi joining us via Zoom. Sir, I request you to kindly unmute yourself and ask your question. Yeah. Hi, good evening, Amit. Just two questions I wanted to understand. This 7% volume growth, what you said. Three reference point. One, we said that our NPD contribution is about 20%. We have also launched the Neo Bharat paint in the market. And third, you also mentioned in the beginning that there's some economy emulsions has not done well. I just wanted to understand which segment has declined within that. I mean, putty primer would have grown. You also said waterproofing has grown. So maybe some more qualitative comments on that. So overall, as we said, you know, the whole segment of the bottom of the pyramid, which is the entire distempers segment, which basically gets combined with Neo Bharat, I think that is a segment which has done extremely well overall for us to that extent. And as you rightly said, segments of SmartCare, waterproofing, wood finishes, textures, some of those zones have done quite well for us overall to that extent in terms of the growth which have come in. I think the segments which clearly have this thing is the segments where possibly there is stress. One is the segment of the economy emulsions per se, to that extent. Overall, even if the segments of certain undercoats like primers and all have not done very well for us to that extent, in terms of what we see. Some of the premium ranges in terms of the waterproofing possibly have not gone to a desired level to that extent. The premium luxury emulsions, while they have grown us for relatively at a decent level, possibly, I think the overall value which we could kind of look at them could be much higher in terms of what we see in terms of the overall product mix to that extent. I think that's the story where possibly the economy story comes out in terms of some of these products which I have mentioned. Definitely the economy emulsions, out of the whole lot of emulsions, is the one which is not doing well. Okay. My second and last question on the other businesses. So we have our 61 Beautiful Homes. So when I look back two years, we have taken a lot of steps to improve, throughput. We have launched many new categories. What stops us? Is the model still under reconstruction or getting the unit economics right? Or we think the economic conditions are not ripe, and that's why we are going slow? No, actually, see, we are adding about, you know, 18-20 stores every year. To that extent, the whole area. Our model is very different in terms of where we align with a retailer, and it's not a model. It's a fairly unique model in terms of what we have launched. So it takes a certain point of time to really add the real estate and add to the entire store in terms of the design, because it's a phygital design with lots of technology put into that extent. So I think the endeavor is that we keep on looking at about 15-20 stores in terms of what we put every year and look at the newer categories which we can add. We have just added a category which is automated blinds, which have kind of come in, which is a new factory which has come up in Chennai in terms of what is there to kind of focus on that category of home decor. So I think we are firmly kind of entrenched in terms of taking the overall home decor endeavor, because we feel that from a consumer decor life cycle, it kind of really enhances the core category of paint, because you start owning the homes far more strongly as you kind of go forward. So I think we are pretty strong and bullish on this category as we want to kind of go ahead, and we are putting the adequate pace in terms of what we want to. Just one quick follow-up. What kind of gross margin or burn we would be having quarterly on this business? So overall, I think the total business is fairly diverse today in terms of a lot many categories which are there. Some categories are in a nascent stage, some categories like a kitchen are this stage. So overall, if you look at the gross margins, a pretty big band. And for some categories, take some time to kind of really come to a certain level to that extent. So difficult to really put a one number in terms of putting it, saying what they will be kind of at. So I think it's a band which is there, which is pretty good in terms of from the point of view of overall realizations as we kind of go forward. Okay. Thank you, and all the best. Thank you, sir. I would now request Mr. Amit Syngle for his closing remarks. So, great. I think, speaking to all of you, I think, it's good that we have been able to kind of address some of the questions in terms of what you're having. Overall, definitely we are looking forward to a, a much better quarter as we kind of go forward. Thank you all for coming and joining us. Thank you.