Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to LT Foods Q2 FY25 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. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Ms. Lavita Lasrado. Thank you, and over to you, ma'am. Thank you. On behalf of Mirae Asset Capital Markets, we welcome you all to the Q2 and H1 FY25 Results Conference Call of LT Foods. We have with us from the management team, Mr. Ashwini Kumar Arora, MD and CEO, Mr. Sachin Gupta, CFO, and Ms. Monika Chawla Jaggia, Chief Corporate Development Officer. We will begin the call with brief opening remarks from the management team, and then we will open the floor for the question and answer session. I would now like to request the management to share their perspective on the performance of the company. Thanks, and over to you, Ms. Monika. Thank you. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us on our half year and the Quarter Two Financial year '25 Earnings Conference Call. Before we start with the key highlights of the quarter and the half year ended thirtieth September two thousand twenty-four, I would like to highlight that certain statements made or discussed on the conference call today are forward-looking, and a disclaimer to this effect has been included in the results presentation shared with you earlier. Results documents are available on the company's website and have also been uploaded on the stock exchange. A transcript of this call will also be made available on the investor section of the company's website. I would like to begin by taking you through the key highlights of the half year financial year '25. Our consolidated revenue for the first half increased by 12% to INR 4,222 crores, versus INR 3,781 crores in H1 financial year 2023. This is on account of increased sales from the Basmati and the other specialty segments, as well as increase in the convenience and health segment. Gross profits stood at INR 1,428 crores, and the gross profit margins expanded by 160 basis points from 32.2% to 33.8%. EBITDA increased by 7% to INR 515 crores compared to, you know, INR 479 crores last year. EBITDA margins were 50 basis points lower at 12.2% on account of increased rate, rate. The profit after tax was higher by 4% at INR 306 crores versus INR 229-295 crores last year. The earnings per share increased by 3% to INR 8.71 versus INR 8.45 in the first half of the financial year 2024. The cash profit increased by 7% to INR 393 crores versus INR 366 crores last year, and the net debt reached to INR 546 crores versus INR 569 crores in the last half year. Moving on to the key ratios of our balance sheet, the return on capital employed stood at 20.8% in the first half of the financial year 2025, compared to the first half of 2024, which was 21.6%. Return on equity stood at 17.1% for the first half of 2025, compared to 19.5% for the first half of 2024. The debt-to-equity ratio maintained at 0.2% in the financial half year 2025 versus the half one of 2024. The debt-to-EBITDA ratio at 0.8 in the first half of 2025 compared to 0.7 for the last year. Current ratio improved from 2.4 in the first half of 2024 to 2.5 in the first half of 2025. Our net working capital days stands at 195 days versus the 174 in half one of the financial year 2024. Now, I'll talk about the quarter. Our consolidated revenue for the Q2 FY25 was up by 7% to INR 2,134 crores versus INR 1,992 crores last year on account of increased sales from all our segments. Gross profit grew by 17%, and the gross profit margin was 320 basis points higher from 30.9% to 34.1%, attributable to the higher contribution of premium products and also the growth in the organic segment. EBITDA for Q2 was flat on a year-on-year basis at INR 256 crores, and the EBITDA margins stood at 12%. PBT was slightly lower by 6% from INR 211 crores last year to INR 199 crores in the Q2 FY25. Tax for the quarter decreased by 4% to INR 151 crores compared to INR 157 crores in the previous year. EPS decreased by 5% to INR 4.3 versus INR 4.5 in the Q2 financial year 2024, and the cash profit for the quarter was higher by 1%, that is, INR 196 crores. Now, we will open the floor for the question answer. Thank you. 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. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles.... Our first question is from the line of Amit Doshi from Care Portfolio Managers Private Limited. Please go ahead. Yeah, thank you. So, this higher other expenses, would it be completely attributable to the freight cost, or is there anything else that we need to know? Hi, Amit. Yes, you know, this is attributed to the, you know, this Red Sea impact, the higher freight cost. Okay. I mean, so last time I believe you had, you know, shared, you know, what is the impact in terms of percentage. So can you share similar numbers just for the purpose of our analysis? Sure. Let me give to Sachin, he will. The impact of the Red Sea, the logistics cost increased by 1.8% as compared to the revenue this half year. So 1.8% compared to last H1? Yes, yes. So it is now 6.6% of my revenue, as compared to 4.8% last half year. Okay. And any, you know, trend that you would want to share on the freight cost? I understand that it will be difficult to predict, but general sense of, you know, how high, how much higher it is likely to go or anything on that? Actually, we have our inventory, so this impact, there will be impact in the third quarter as well. Yes, the freight costs have more or less normalized, and we are expecting it to come back in the fourth quarter and the later part the next year. So this will be normalized. Okay. In terms of our inventory, so just wanted to know what is the current, you know, market prices trend after the new prices open, which we understand, we believe that it has opened lower, and what is our strategy towards it? And second, regarding inventory, like, you know, our. Is our higher cost inventory now kind of over? And if not, you know, trying to understand how the inventory are valued. So for example, if the current prices are, say, 20% down compared to last year, then do we, you know, kind of book loss for the, you know, updated market value of the opening inventory? So, Amit, one is that, you know, we value the inventory at a cost. The second thing is, you know, the new crop is good, so we are expecting the prices to come down, but it is not going to impact on the old crop. So, you know, the new crop is better by 10-12%, and we are assuming that, you know, the paddy prices is coming down, and that will improve our margin in 2025, 2026. Okay, okay. And so how much prices have opened lower? Roughly, it depends on variety to variety, but in the range of, you know, 10%-17% or so, that is the range. Okay, okay, okay. In terms of depreciation also, I note that, you know, there is a big jump in the depreciation cost, while our figures are broadly in the same. Of course, I noted that capital WIP has moved from 41 to 116. So can you just clarify on that part, depreciation as well as this capital WIP? Just a minute. Yes, yes, our depreciation, because certainly there has been certain capitalization that has taken place in the last year, so this depreciation has increased. So our current depreciation for this half year is INR 87 crores as compared to INR 72 crores. This is because of the capitalization of the fixed assets that have taken place in the year. Okay. Regarding the WIP, the major WIP that sits in my financials is the capitalization of the U.K. units. The U.K. unit, which is to be capitalized in the later part of this quarter, so that is there in the capital work in progress. That will be capitalized this quarter. Okay. And our other income has also gone up from INR 14 crore to INR 25 crore. What is that regarding? The other income includes certain charges that we charge from one of our associate, the Golden Star. So that, because its revenue is increasing, and we are getting that charge from one of our associates. Okay. And overall, I noticed that Jasmine Rice, we have launched even in the brand of Daawat. So is it launched at global level, India level? And, you know, what is the potential of this, the Thai rice, the long grain rice that we have acquired, you know, from Golden Star? So Amit, Jasmine is very popular, you know, across the world. In fact, you know, it is five times bigger in America, and that's how, you know, the Golden Star has become the number one brand in America. So as far as, you know, India market is concerned, we have launched Daawat Jasmine. That's a small market, but, you know, that's the portfolio we wanted to build, you know, where, you know, as a brand, you know, we are fulfilling the need of, you know, aromatic rice. So we have got a good response. We have launched in Israel also. Yeah, we are going to launch in the other part of the world also. So we are, you know, positive on adding the Jasmine rice to our portfolio.... Hello, Amit? Hello, Amit? Yes. My voice is coming, no? I can hear you. Is this Amit? I think you are speaking to some other Amit. The next question is from the line of Meet Jain. Please go ahead, sir. Hi, sir. Am I audible? Yes. Yes, Meet. Yeah. So my question is on the gross margin. We saw gross margin expansion on almost 320 basis points this quarter. However, in the base quarter, the margins were little subdued, and sequentially also our margin-- gross margin stayed a little flattish. And when we like rationalize that, we saw that this is because of the higher mix of premium products and organized segment. So how much further can we see a gross margin expansion from current level? Yes, Meet, you are right. Our gross margins have expanded in this half year. From 32%, it has increased to 33%. This has contributed because of certainly the mix of the premium segment. And secondly, our organic segment also has. If you look at our organic segment, there has been a growth in the EBITDA margins and as well as in the gross margin. So that has contributed in the gross margin increase. Yes, we are focusing on increasing as our brand spend is increasing, and we want to increase further this gross margins to 34%-35% levels going forward. Okay. Another question is on the macro environment, on the rice, basmati rice. So, we have been growing at a very good pace, around 15%-20% over the last few quarters. And this quarter, basmati rice growth has been around 10%. Demand challenges. Can you speak a little louder? I'm audible, sir, right now? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So I just want to understand, are we facing any demand challenges, like, any region, location, geography you can mention? No, you know, we are not facing challenge. Actually, you know, whichever part of the world we are present, the category is growing, be it USA, Middle East. Middle East, we have grown, you know, 34%. In USA, we are growing. In India, we are growing. So we are not facing any demand challenge. Rather, you know, we are expecting to, you know, further grow this category. In India also, you know, India is 100 million ton rice consumption, whereas, you know, basmati is just 4 million ton. And we expect, you know, the category to grow. And similarly, you know, in other part of the world, we are positive about, you know, the category growth. Okay, understood. And on this, Scottish partnership, so can we talk about that? How has been the progress on that part? So that's progressing well. You know, as told in the last meeting, we have appointed a distributor. And, you know, there's better news is coming, you know, we are in the process, you know, maybe in a month's time, you know, we will hear a good news, you know. Perfect, and my last question is on this inventory days. We have seen increasing inventory days. So can you throw some light on that? What is the main concern? Are you facing any inventory challenges or something on that part? Yes. Our inventory days have increased from 166 to 194 days, so that is increase of 28 days. This inventory days actually, in order to cater the increase in the demand that we are seeing in the different parts, as Ashwini-ji has said, in different regions in India, in U.S., we are seeing that kind of demand. So considering that kind of demand, we need to maintain that inventory day, inventory levels. So this is to have that increase meet up the increase sales. Can we expect this to come down in three Q and four Q? So yes, of course, we will be maintaining the ROC at a level of twenty plus, and the inventory days will be, of course, in line to that ROC level. So we will be maintaining the twenty plus ROC levels in the going forward quarters or years to come. Yes, inventory days, this September, because we had to build up for the increased demand, this will, in the March, we are more or less be at the same levels of the inventory days that we were in the previous March, four, five days here and there. So... Okay. Okay. Thank you so much, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all the participants in the conference, please restrict your questions to two per participant. If you have any follow-up questions, you can rejoin the queue. The next question comes from Sakshi Chhabra from Swan Investments. Please go ahead. Yeah, hi. So my first question was, I wanted to just understand that in the first half there has been an increase in the short-term borrowings to the tune of INR 285 crores. Can you just explain why that was? And just to- So, the short-term borrowings, yes, but if you compare our net debt now, so we have a balance, bank balance as on thirtieth September, and that is to the tune of INR 270 crores. So if you compare it with the, if we reduce that, our debt, debt balance has in fact reduced from the, the last September as well, and so that is, in fact reduced by INR 22 crores, in this. So we have. So there is a cash balance that is sitting in my financials. Okay, but this short-term borrowing was to meet working capital needs or? That was a working capital need, and actually that got transferred in the later part of this quarter. So, there was a cash balance as well as certainly this, the borrowings. Okay. And this degrowth that we've seen in the ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook segment, so is that only pertaining to one segment that has been discontinued, or has there been an overall degrowth? The ready-to-eat already has grown by 8%, so there is no degrowth in this. So the growth in H1 is 8%, but in Q2, there has been a degrowth of 15%. I'm just referring to the Q2 degrowth. So we have discontinued or, you know, rather, you know, our... We are going to discontinue the Daawat Sehat, the fortified rice. That we are in the process of, you know, but, you know, our ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook is growing, rather we are building another capacity in USA. Right. Good. Yeah. Okay. So, in the medium term, what is the expectation of growth from the ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook segment? So we are positive on ready-to-eat. Yeah. So that we are expecting, you know, in USA, you know, in H1 we have grown our 33%, ready-to-eat, and we are, we are positive, you know, in a three-four months we will be up by the new facility. So we are positive double-digit growth in ready-to-eat, and some products are, you know, in the pipeline. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from Yash from Stallion Asset. Please go ahead. Hi, thank you for the opportunity and, congratulations on a good revenue growth. So my question, so that, you know, in Middle East, we have seen a very good market share gain, almost three hundred basis points, you know, grown by. But, I'm just trying to understand that, you know, we just have added one distributor in Saudi Arabia right now, and, you know, given that our partnership with Salic has already been one and a half year, so what is stopping us from, going a little bit more aggressive in that region, given the pressures that the, our peers are facing, you know, when can we expect some more aggression in terms of adding more distributors, and expanding our market share over there? Sure. First of all, you know, thank you, Yash, for all your appreciation. On the Middle East, you know, it takes time to, you know, plan the things, and, as I said, that, you know, we are very positive in the next month time, you know, you will hear a good news. And, as LT, we are positive and, that, you know, we will have a good position in Saudi Arabia. Already, you know, in Middle East, we have covered, which is, you know, the lower Gulf, we call it, Dubai. In Dubai, you know, our share in premium segment as per Nielsen has grown to 9.8% from 6.2%. You know, we are improving our market share in Kuwait, in Qatar, in Muscat, and Iraq also. Now, you know, you know, the strategy is in place, so the distributor has been appointed, and we are hopeful that, you know, we will do good, you know, in Saudi Arabia. As you know, in a consumer business, it's not a trading business. Consumer business, you know, takes time to, you know, to build, yeah. Sure, sure, sure. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from Yash Mishra, from SKS Capital and Research. Please go ahead. Yeah, hi, this is Shubhank here. So, a few quick questions. With respect to your H1 number, does it have any revenue contribution from your UK operations? Yes. The revenue, there is a contribution from UK. I will tell you the number. There is 80 million contribution that has come from the U.K. office. 80 crore. 80 crore. Then what is it that you expect for the rest of the financial year? So we are expecting a revenue of 24-25 million GBP this current year. Okay. Secondly, so you said your freight cost will continue to be higher in quarter three, and then quarter four, you expect this to normalize. So basically the trend is we had 5% of revenue as freight cost in quarter one. Quarter two, it is you said 6.6%. 6.6%, yes. For Q3, we expect this number to be here, you expect to go up a bit, and then quarter four, you want to come down? Yes, it will be in these lines itself. So it will remain as such. Yes, we are focusing on improving other operational efficiencies, bringing in more operations, so that we deliver the kind of profitability which we are delivering. So yes, the freight cost will remain more or less around the 6.4%-6.6%, this level. Not going to go up from here, basically, you mean to say? No, this won't go up. Okay. Then, with respect to your ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook, so this basically has had a 9% high EBITDA, I mean, loss, I mean, negative. So H1, you had a breakeven at 100 crores of revenue. But for quarter two on a 44 crores revenue, you had a significantly lower OpEx, it seems like, right? I mean, what level will you again breakeven because you exited one brand. So what level are you going to breakeven? We will break even at a revenue of around INR 340-400 crores. So that will be the break even point. And that's what we wish to achieve. We have plans to achieve in a two- to three-year time frame. So that's the break even level. Okay. Okay, and finally, so with respect to the Supreme Court verdict for the insurance related matter, we thought that because it is already a couple of months, we thought that there'll be something final because after the Supreme Court verdict, you got it in writing, so the money should have hit your bank in a month's time. But it's been two months. There is no update on the same as of now. Yeah, that's true. You know, we have one in lower court, we have one in high court, we have one in Supreme Court. But, you know, executing court takes time, you know. You know, they will take date and all this. So we all know that, you know, the system. But, you know, I think everything is clear. It's a matter of some days only. Okay. That, you know. Okay. All right. All right. Thank you, and best of luck. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. The next question comes from Pradyumna Choudhary, from JM Financial Family Office. Please go ahead. Yeah, hi. So the first question is on why, like, last year was a year of higher paddy prices, right? So why have we really seen a decrease in input costs for this year? Ideally, it should have gone up, right? Second is- Can you please repeat the first question? You know, last year prices were high. Yes. Last year paddy prices were high, right? So, ideally, one year later, the input costs should have actually gone up, while in our numbers we can see that the input costs have fallen. So, why would that be? Has not fallen yet. So you mean to say you are referring to gross margin? Yes. Yes. But, you know, we have taken the price hike also. So yeah. So, then our revenue growth in Basmati in Q2 was only 3%, and volume growth was 7%. So, despite the price hike, the value growth, that is, as in the average realization growth, has actually been in negative territory, right? You know, let me check the number, but, you know, it depends on the mix, you know. You know, as you know, we play on a different price point. So, you know, sometimes the mix, you know, some quarter the mix changes. But, answering to your first question, the gross margin has increased because, you know, we have taken a price hike also, whatever the comparatively the input cost increase. Okay, maybe like, later in the call, if you can just double check on this, because I'm very surprised, 3% revenue growth in Basmati, which is suppressing our overall revenue growth as well, where in a quarter where we have taken price hikes, that somehow is not adding up. Just a minute, Sachin. The GP margin improved because as a percentage to the cost increase, we have increased the sales price. So our GP margin has improved as you can see in the quarterly or the half year results. Yes, if you have to compare our quantitative growth in this half year, the quantitative growth is almost as equivalent to that of the growth of my revenue. So we have increased by 12% in the quantity terms. The revenue, the price, it's just a mix that has changed. So that has increased my overall margin levels in this half year of this quarter. No, so just... Sorry, just, trying to clarify. Mm-hmm. I'm just talking about Q2. Our Basmati volume growth was 7.3%, our revenue growth was 3%. So the, like, roughly the realization was down by 4% for us. So you're saying this 4% decrease in realization is all because of- Uh, uh- mix change towards lower value? Because of the product mix. The mix in the product that has given. Otherwise, our GP margins have improved. If you compare the quarter and quarter basis, our GP margins have increased in this quarter. And why would that be, customer downgrade in that case? Because of the mix, actually, it depends upon the difference we have in a basket. If you, we have a three range, a $3, $2, and $1. $3 contributes around 40%-45% of the GP margin. To the $2 contributes at 30%, and $1, 20%. So a mixed change, of course, has a positive effect on my GP margins. That's what we were explaining, the GP margins from here as the marketing spends are improving and we are. So our GP margins, yes, will improve. Yes, our spends will also improve, and yes, it will have a long-term effect. Fine. Fine. And second was, I understand- Sorry to interrupt you. No, this was first question. Sorry, this was just a follow-up because I couldn't get the clarification. My second question is remaining. So on the second question, yeah, I understand that freight increase was there, and we've previously spoken about INR 4 crores a month of freight cost increase. But if I look at other expenses, YOY, it's gone up by 96 crores, right? So what would explain the difference? I know the freight cost increase would add up to around 12 crores and digital spend would add up to another 12-15 crores. But that should be maximum 25-30 crores of increase, whereas other expenses have gone up by around 96 crores. So what explains the remaining? So if you compare it with the half year numbers, other expenses in this half year is INR 676 crores as compared to INR 523 crores in the last half year. So in that, the major spend increase is the logistic cost. The logistic cost from 27 it has increased by almost 100 crores in this territory. Yes, there has been a certain increase in other costs as well as the scale of operations, and that is in the percentage terms has remained the same, more or less, or as the revenue. The major increase has come as a change in the percentage that has come in the logistic cost. But earlier we were guiding for INR 4 crore increase per month, right? In logistics cost. No, no, that's how that all depends upon the business also, no? The business has increased and, that has resulted. But, yes, the business overall has increased. The cost, as a percentage, if it's, I've just told you that it has increased by more than 1.8%, in the logistics cost. An increase of almost INR 100 crores, so that's, 40-45 crores a quarter increase. Uh- The business that has because of the two factors: the business increase and as well as the rate fee effect. All right, I'll join the queue. I'm not very clear on the answers given, but I'll join back the queue. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from Yash Mehta, from R2 Ventures. Please go ahead. Sir, I wanted to ask that the decline in EBITDA basis points of the EBITDA margins, sir, how much of this is attributable to the Red Sea crisis? You mean to say the decrease in the EBITDA margin? Yeah. Yeah. Yes. So, you know, as we said, that, you know, our logistics cost has increased to the revenue 1.6% as compared to, you know, last year. You know, I will say half it will go because the natural, you know, freight cost has increased, that we have already taken in our pricing. But roughly, I will say in the range of 1% has really attributed to the Red Sea. Okay, 1% of the Of the Red Sea. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. So roughly, you know, we have impact of INR 27 crore-INR 28 crore on our budgeted numbers. The Red Sea, that counts for 1.2%. Okay. And what is the volume growth that you see that you will be able to achieve in FY 2025? And what are the margins do you see that you will be able to achieve at the end of the year? As per, you know, our earlier guidance given, you know, we will be having a growth of about 10%, and the EBITDA margin will be in the range of 12%. 10% is the volume growth, right? 10%, yeah. Yeah, 10%. 10-11%, whatever we have done in H1. Okay, and this is for the full FY twenty-five? That's correct. Okay. Thank you, sir. Thank you. The next question comes from Hitesh Goel, from Ritesh Advisers. Please go ahead. Thanks, sir, for taking my question, sir. I just want to understand in 2Q, what was the basmati revenue growth in India and exports, because it's only 3%. So basically, is there a big decline in the export segment? In 2Q only I'm talking about. As compared to last year? Yes. So I think we can explain that, but the good thing is to measure, you know, H1, you know, so that we have grown, you know, 11.7%. No, no, I understand that, but I'm just trying to understand, is there some one-off because of Middle East crisis or, you know, some kind- Nothing is, you know- Can you give those numbers so that we have some sense on? Sure. India and exports, on 2Q only? So, in the growth in the India market is 9%, whereas the international market, we have grown by 5%. No, but the overall revenue growth is only 3%, no? So how are those numbers on quantity and growth? So quantity-wise, we have grown in this. If you compare it with the overall market revenue-wise, so we have grown better in India. The value terms, that is, at 10% growth that we have witnessed in the revenue terms. And in the- In the international market, there is a growth of 2% on a year-on-year basis in the brand. No, but this is not adding up, sir, because your growth overall is only 3% of revenue, which you've given in slide. In the Basmati category, the specialty in the Basmati category- I'm talking about only Basmati. I'm not talking about the organic. Internationally, is there a decline in Basmati? That is what I want to understand on a Y-o-Y basis. So the basmati market, we have grown by 4%. 4%. So, there is a mix, there is now. So international contributes almost 65% of my revenue. So there the growth is almost 1.5%, whereas the India market has grown outpaced. So there is the difference. And mix you said is adverse, right? Because revenue in two only, I'm not about one edge. I'm also talking about the Q2 year-on-year basis. But then, how did the gross margin improve if mix is adverse on a Y-o-Y basis? In the mix also now you have different categories of products. So, we have a premium product. And in that also, there are certain products which give me a higher margin. Under $2 also there are certain products which give me a higher margin. So we are focusing on the products which give me more margins. So, in fact, that's the reason in spite of having lower, not increased margins, we are able to increase the revenue growth. We are able to have a higher GP margins. So our focus is bettering our GP margins. Yeah, that's fine. So my second question is, in the international market, Middle East, if you look at Oman also, your rest of the world growth is only 7%. So Middle East is growing fast, so which market has got impacted? That our revenue growth has got impacted? So the European market that has impacted, and that too, because again we are going to focus on more margin where the margins are growing. So that is also we want to focus on high margin markets, so that's the reason. So is there a stress in exports that... Are you seeing revival in second half in terms of growth? No, no, there is no stress. In fact, we are growing in the different markets. Yes. But can we achieve 10% kind of growth in exports in second half? Are you seeing that kind of orders? Yeah, that's what we are expecting, and that's, you know, guidance we have given in full year basis, you know. Okay. Okay, sir. All the best. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from Resham Jain, from DSP Asset Managers. Please go ahead. Yeah, hi. Good evening, sir. Good evening. So, I have a couple of questions. The first one is on organic business. Last, I think five, six quarters after some issues last year, we have seen a continuous growth in that business. So if you can just explain what is driving the growth in the organic piece. So, you know, every product is contributing, rice, of course, and then, you know, soya also, and, you know, other product portfolio, which is, you know, the oilseeds. So all these, all categories, participating, but bigger is the rice. And this business, how are you seeing the growth here? Because we had this import-related issues from India, and then we have set up our some of the sourcing from African region. So from the growth perspective, how are you seeing the visibility here in the next one, two years? We are positive on, you know, we are expecting again, you know, 10%-12% growth in organic also. You know, our stock and sell in Europe and America is really helping us in strengthening our organic business. What we are doing is to the main growth drivers, you know, we are adding it to source from the other part of the world also, like, you know, we are sourcing from Africa, we are sourcing from Brazil to add more products in our, you know, stock and sell portfolio. So, we are expecting, you know, with this incident of soybean, we have learned that, you know, we should not, you know, get into very commoditized organic business. So we learned from there. We have, you know, again, we have catch up. Now, this year, we are expecting to do more than INR 1,000 crore in organic. So that's building up. We are expecting- Okay. In terms of the growth and margin expansion? Right. And sir, recently there's a non-basmati rice export. There has been some relaxation. In the past, I remember that there were, like, certain opportunity on that front, and which you cashed in two, three years back, if I'm not wrong. Are you seeing that also as an opportunity from the export market perspective? Definitely, Resham, you know, we will evaluate, you know, the opportunity. And normally, you know, we are not into non-Basmati business and business which is not sustainable in nature. But in a branded segment where, you know, the sustainability come, we will definitely evaluate. But this is positive news for overall, you know, the industry, you know, thank you. I understand. Okay. All the best, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Resham. Thank you. The next question comes from Shivam Dave, from Prodigy Investment. Please go ahead. Yeah. Hello, may I talk to you? Yes, Shivam. Yes, yes. Hi. I wanted to understand on that disclosure that we had a substandard quality rice. Any color on that, anything that you have? No, so this is a very normal thing, you know. So I keep collecting samples, so they have not awarded any listing to us on any. So they have picked up on the basis of this, and then it will get to the lab, and then the final result will come. So, the weight and measurement and precision, you know, everything. Okay. Yes, sure. So nothing. No, no, no harm, nothing, you know, all is in control. Okay. Fine. Good. The second question I had on the is on the ready to heat and ready to cook segment. Now, when I look at the last three quarters, we have grown about 30% in terms of volume growth. But then this one quarter, I think we've de-grown by 15%. You know, what is the reason for this sudden sharp decline in volume growth? As you know, our RTE and ready-to-cook business is growing. So only one product, you know, we have discontinued, in the phase of discontinuing is Daawat Sehat, which we were selling in India. But, you know, the main business is growing, which is RTE and ready-to-cook business. Okay, so I think... So one, can one product make such a big impact on the volume growth? I mean- It's just, it's a new business for us. We are learning also from there. And, Daawat was- INR 18 crores, INR 18.5 crores of business. Right. Okay. So 18.5 crore business we lost. Lost, we have not lost, but, you know, we have discontinued. Yeah. Just one follow-up on the ready-to-cook segment. How is the working capital cycle for that? Is it lower than our basmati business, or this is on the same lines as it? Ready to cook? Yeah, yeah. So that's. Like- But we must be 90 days working capital cycle. The whole cycle myself, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay, that is all. Thank you. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. The next question is from Mohammed Patel, from Care Portfolio Managers Private Limited. Please go ahead. Yeah, hi. So my first question is, so how much more in volume terms you'll be buying inventory as compared to last season? How much we will buy? Inventory. How much more? Yeah, that is as per, you know, the growth. We will buy as per our demand here. So we are growing in volume terms, you know, 10%-12% year on year. Accordingly, we will source the- I was just trying to understand if you will take the advantage of lower prices and buy more? We don't, you know, we will. We may, you know, it depends. The season has just started. We will see that how the pricing behaves. Maybe, you know, we will source more, but it depends, you know, it's too early to say that, and we don't want to speculate on that. Okay. My second question is, we have, we have relaunched the Royal Atta. So what are your thoughts on the same? You know, that's doing good, you know. So we have launched Royal Atta six years back, you know, because but, you know, this in India little disruption on the wheat flour. Again, you know, we have started importing wheat and then processing and selling it again. So we have relaunched it kind of thing. Where are we importing it from? That's not. That's adding on. That's not a big ticket to our revenue. Okay, thank you. Thank you. The next question comes from Abhishek Maheshwari, from Skyrich Wealth Management. Please go ahead. Thank you for the opportunity. Good numbers, considering all the challenges. Just two questions, sir. Regarding the insurance claim, you mentioned that you have partnered with Tradeclove Tyco. ... Yes, Abhishek, you know, just explain that, you know, we have won in all courts, but, you know, in the executing court, you know, it is taking time, you know. Sometimes judge is not there, sometimes, you know, the other party takes date, but it's a matter of few days. I think, you know, we should get our money. So is it that you will only once you get the money in the bank, then only you will recognize successfully, you know? Will you wait for the return order from the high court, from the relevant court and then recognize it? No, no. The court has already awarded in our favor. Okay. Now is the matter of execution. And, you know, execution court is taking it up, but it is taking, you know, as usual, you know, in judiciary, two, three months. So hopefully, you know. So October to December, probably we should see the exceptional gain in our- Yeah, yeah. We are hopeful. You know, now the next date is fifth of November. Okay. you know, we are hopeful, you know, for the resolution. Okay. Thank you. Lastly, regarding the freight cost, I think as Sachin Sir mentioned that Q3 obviously, you know, because of shipments, the cost will be higher, but Q4 on what should we expect normalization or only from first quarter FY 2026, should we expect this cost? Quarter four to quarter one, you know, you will see a better performance. You know, there will be some leftover because it takes for us to reach always in water. In store, we have a five- to six-month inventory. So hopefully quarter four will start improving. Okay. Quarter one, we are positive, yeah. So but freight cost- You know, but we... Yes. Yes. So I said, you know, as per today's situation, we are in freight market. No, no, no, no. It's coming down. But we are- What I'm trying to say is as is, so the freight costs have come down to pre-Israel crisis level, Israel attacks level, right? Because, it had moved up, it has come down again. So six months of inventory you have, so probably from Q1 onwards, we should expect, Q4 to come- Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, little bit improvement should come in quarter four, and then quarter one may be more clear. Understood. Thank you very much, and, all the best to you. Thank you so much, Abhishek. Thank you. The next question is from Rohan Patel, from Turtle Capital. Please go ahead. Hello. Yes, Rohan Ji. One of your opening remarks, you said that we are having good crop this time. The crop outlook is good by 10-12%, and paddy prices are down. So can we expect that we maintain our gross margin, or we are going to also expect the gross margin to be coming down as well? No, no, we will definitely maintain and improve, and that's what we are expecting this year, because it's another two months, three months in the months we will source. But we are optimistic that, you know, if the sourcing price remain the same, which has been, you know, open up, then we are expecting to have a better margin in twenty-five, twenty-six. That's the, you know, kind of what we see. So we can expect that your EBITDA margin, if you can provide any guidance to be somewhere in between in the lines of 12% to 14%? Yes, that's the guidance, you know. Twelve is already there, so we will improve from there. Yeah. Second thing that I wanted to know as an investor, so how are you testing to the U.K. market? Like, I'm asking from sourcing point of view, because if you see, sale of Basmati rice was banned from India to U.K., Europe due to pesticide residue issue. So can you just explain me how are you sourcing from this geography? No, no, it is never banned, you know. But, you know, there were some issues where, you know, the Indian product was not matching to the MRL level of, you know, U.K. or E.U. But, as an LT, we, we have a big farmer program, where, you know, make sure that, you know, the, we, we have a product of compliant product, and we are doing our regular export to U.K. and E.U. Sometimes our E.U., you know, units, source from Pakistan, if, you know, India is not competitive. But, as an LT Foods, we are regularly exporting our brand from India, Daawat, you know, both U.K. and E.U. Even if we have to see the international operations that you have in America as well as in U.K., so all the rice are being sourced from India, or you have some more diversified geography, you want to keep diversification on geography for sourcing? We call it specialty rice. We have... In specialty rice, we basmati, we do jasmine rice, and we do the original specialty, which is Sona Masoori and Indian. The Sona Masoori and basmati for America, we only source from India. As far as Europe, we call it EU and UK, partly we source from India and partly we source from Pakistan. But all other brands in UK and EU goes from India. So the rice we do the private label for the stores, that is done by India and Pakistan. I hope that clear your question. Definitely. And now you have- Sorry, Mr. Patel, may we request you return to the question queue for follow-up? Just last question. There are many other participants waiting for their turn. Extremely sorry, sir. The next question comes from Tom A. Kadavil from Geojit Financial Services Limited. Please go ahead. Yes. I just wanted guidance on the depreciation for FY twenty-five and also the share of associate profit for FY twenty-five. So the share of profit for the associate in this quarter, this half year was INR 19 crores. And for... That's what your question was, no? Yeah, I for the entire year. That will be in the range of around INR 30 crores profit that will be coming from the associate. 30 crore profit? Yes. On the depreciation front, what would be... Can you give a guidance on the entire annual figure, FY 2025? Look, it will be more or less in the same range that is there, the half year, the INR 87 crores. It will be around 175 to 180 crores. INR 175 crore-INR 180 crore. Okay. Yes. Another question that I have is on the Basmati. What is the Q2 volume, India and international? So the Q2 volume in India this quarter, the volume is, that is, India is eighty-nine thousand tons, and the international is eighty-two thousand tons. 82,000. Okay, and realization for Q2? The realization, the average realization in the Q2 is INR 102. 102 is the average, and can I get a breakdown of India and international? Sixty-four and one forty-four. Could you repeat? Sixty-three and four, one forty-four. 63 and 144. Okay, that's it. Thank you. Thank you. The next question comes from Raman KV from Sequent Investments. Please go ahead. Sir, I just... Can you hear me? Yes, yes, Raman. So yeah. So you are setting up a plant in UK as well as you are setting up a plant in USA, wherein, with respect to US, the new plant in USA, the production capacity is gonna double. And at the same time, you're, From what I understood from the presentation, you are setting up a manufacturing facility in Uganda as well. So can you give me an estimate about when will this plant or setting up of the plant will be done, and from when they will start contributing towards the revenue? Sure. So U.K. plant has already been set up, and we just done an inauguration in July. Okay. And that has started contributing. Regarding USA, you know, we are doubling our capacity of ready-to-eat plant. You know, right now we are producing 15 million pouches, which is totally sold out. Now we are doubling to 35 million. So, you know, of course, you know, whatever the growth will come year-on-year, that will be serviced from that increased capacity. Then Uganda is a small investment, very small investment that is mainly for our organic business, where they are putting the soybeans. No, but, when will the U.K., U.S. plant will be, like, start? So it's like value addition plant or what? Already, you know, we had a plant, which is producing ready-to-eat product, you know, which is microwave rice. Mm-hmm. We have set up the plant five years back. Now, the capacity is fully sold out. Now we are expanding our capacity to double. So when will this expansion be? Service the service, that's a continuous process, you know? Okay. To service the continuous growth of the market. Sir, also, you said that you're discontinuing the Daawat fortified rice? Ah, fortified, yeah. I didn't understand. Can you give some more clarity on that? Sure. So what we have done, you know, four years back, five years, approximately, we have launched in India, Daawat Jasmine Rice- Mm-hmm. which is the fortified, you know, because government was promoting, the trend was coming, the fortification. But, you know, that, you know, has not met our expectation in terms of growth and market share, so we decided to discontinue that product. Okay. Sir, I just have one question with respect to inventory management. Sure. Whatever we produce, we pack it and sell it to the retailers. Like, they either like a big shop, a big chain of retailers or shops at the local level, and there is a freight cost in there also. If there is any damage during the freight, are we supposed to pay for the damages, or it's based on a contract basis? If I understood your question correctly. Mm. Then we operate like any other FMCG company operate. We are accountable, responsible till, you know, consumer consume it. Okay. You know, so, regarding, you know, the whatever what you call is replacement, that is very small. You know, sometimes, you know, package get damaged. Sir, can you give a figure about what might be the replacement? That's very less, you know. I don't have right now. Okay. But that's very less, you know. Okay. Not even in percentage, you know. Okay. Very less, yeah. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we would take that as our last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Yeah. Thank you so much, you know. If any question, you know, is left or not clear, I request, you know, everyone to send your questions to our IR department. We will definitely, you know, clarify all queries, you know. Thank you. Thank you. On behalf of LT Foods Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.