Analyzing...
Sweta Srivastava
2026.05.29 16:31:29 +05'30'
“Whirlpool of India Limited Q4 Financial Year FY26 Analyst Conference Call” May 22, 2026 MANAGEMENT: MR. ARVINDUPPAL– CHAIRMAN– MR. NARASIMHANESWAR– MANAGINGDIRECTOR– MR. ADITYAJAIN– CHIEFFINANCIALOFFICER– MS. SWETASRIVASTAVA– COMPANYSECRETARY– MODERATOR: MR. DEEPAKAGARWAL– AXISCAPITALLIMITED Page1of27
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Analyst Call of Whirlpool of India Limited. Wewishtoinformyouthatallparticipantlineswillbeinthelisten-onlymodeand therewillbeanopportunityforyoutoaskquestionsafterthepresentationconcludes.Should you need assistance duringthisconferencecall,pleasesignalthemoderatorbypressingstar then zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. InowhandtheconferenceovertoMr.DeepakAgarwalfromAxisCapitalLimited.Thankyou and over to you, sir. DeepakAgarwal: Thanks.Goodevening,ladiesandgentlemen.OnbehalfofAxisCapitalLimited,wewelcome youalltoWhirlpoolofIndiaanalystcallforthefourthquarterfinancialyearFY26.Fromthe management side, we have the Chairman of theBoard,Mr.ArvindUppal;Mr.Narasimhan Eswar,ManagingDirector;Mr.AdityaJain,ChiefFinancialOfficerofthecompany;andMs. Sweta Srivastava, Company Secretary joining the call. Wethanks,WhirlpoolofIndiatogiveustheopportunitytohostthiscall.Now,Ihandoverthe floor to Sweta ma'am. Thanks, and over to you, ma'am. Thankyou,Deepak.Goodevening,everyone.IwouldliketowelcomeyoutotheQ4financial year 2025-2026 analystcallofWhirlpoolofIndiaLimited.Pleasenotethatthecallisbeing recorded and the audio callandtranscriptswillbeavailableonthewebsiteofthecompany. Also, the presentation to be made by the Managing DirectorandChiefFinancialOfficeris available on the website of the company as well as the stock exchanges. Before we moveforward,Iwouldliketoremindyouofthecautionarystatementthatforms part of the presentation. During this call, certain forward-looking statements maybemade. These forward-looking statements are based oncertainexpectations,assumptions,andother factorswhichmayaffectthebusinessresults.Pleasereadthecautionarystatementscarefully and the contents of this call should be interpreted accordingly. With that, I would now like to hand it over to Mr. Eswar. Thank you, Sweta.Goodafternoon,everyone.I'mNarasimhanEswar,ManagingDirectorof thecompany.I'dliketowelcomeyoutothisanalystcall.ThankyouverymuchtoAxisCapital for making this happen. Thank you to everyone for taking out your time to join us. Withoutanyfurtherdelay,I'llstartwiththeupdate.Sotheupdateasusual,wesplititupinto threeareas;thebusinessoverview,thestrategicimperativesandhowwe'redoingagainstthem, andlastly,thefinancialperformance.IshallcoverthefirsttwoandMr.AdityaJain,theCFO, will cover the last one. If you move to Slide6ofthepresentation,please,andyoucanseetheslidenumbersatthe bottom right-hand side of the page. We'd just like to start off with some key highlightsof 2025-2026Q4.ThisisfortheIndiastandaloneresults.We'rehappytoseethatwedelivereda revenue growth of about 7.4% versuslastyear.Happybecausethefirsttwoquartersofthis Page2of27
year, because of a lot of competitive pressure that happened in the market, which was extraordinary, we had a revenue drop versus ayearagoinQ1andQ2ofthisfiscal.Q3we made our way back and Q4 we've grown by 7.4% versus last year. We're also quite happy that even if temporarily, only for a month, but in March 2026, in refrigeratorsandwashingmachinescombined,inthemulti-brandoutletsvolumemarketshare, we secured the number two position. The reason why we're happy about this is not just because of the numbertwoposition,butbecauseitshowsusinourorganizationandpeople whobelieveinusthatit'spossibletogethereandalsogivesyoutheconfidencethatonceyou get here, you can aspire for even more. Now, how we got to that positionwasbasicallybecausewehadsomeshareleadershipina couple of different areas where we made some progress. In direct cool refrigerators, in multi-brandoutletsvolumemarketshare,wegotmarketleadershipstraightforthreemonthsin arow,infact,fourmonthsfromDecember2025,numberonepositionthere.Wesecuredafter a very long time the number two position in top load in quarter four market share for multi-brand outlets volume market share. And we also secured for the quarter the second position in semi-automatic washers. Now,thesewerethethreetopcategoriesinwhichwesecuredgoodmarketsharepositions.In front load washers, where our market shares are much loweraswelaunchedonlyin2022, cominginlateintothiscategory,we'rehappytonotethatourvolumeshaveactuallydoubled in thisquarterandweshowedatriple-digitincreaseinmarketshareconsistentwiththepast several quarters, again on multi-brand outlets volume market share. In our relatively smaller businessofaircon,andIknowthatmanycompanieshavedeclared very strong results of millionunitsandsoonandsoforth,butforus,weexceeded100,000 unitsintheMarchmonth,whichconsideringwherewewerethreeyearsago,isafairlygood achievement. And italsoshowsthepowerofwhatwecangoonandachieveinthecoming months and years because our quarter volume growth was more than 50%. Elicahadawonderfulquarter.Revenuewasup30%andprofitforElicawasup48%--PBT. Also,whatwasverynicetocapitalloffwasMarch2026markedthehighest-evershipment monthinthehistoryofWhirlpoolofIndiaLimited,handsomelybeatingthelastgreatrecord which was in April 2019. All-in-all, from a revenue and a volumegrowthpointofview,a much better picture than the previous months. Marginswereimpactedinthisquarterasyouwouldhaveseenalreadyfromthereportsdueto energychangeregulationsinrefrigeratorandaircon,whichwemovedintoquickerthanmost others because of our lower inventory, and also the incremental e-waste impact that we continue to accrue for in line with government mandates. Wecontinuetocloselymonitorthesupplysituation.Aseverybodyknows,thesupplysituation arising from the Middle East war is of concern to not only us but allindustriesacrossthe country. Both with respect to cost and supply of components, products, etcetera,itisquite challenging and we continue to work on that very, very seriously and diligently. Page3of27
Comingtothelastpartbeforewemoveintothedetail,we'rehappytoreportthateveninthis quarter,wegotanegativenetworkingcapitalinourrefandwasherbusiness.Anyincreasein ournetworkingcapitalwasonlybecauseofplannedinvestmentsinairconditioners,whichwas obviouslyonthepositivesidebecauseairconworksondifferentnumberofdaysofreceivables compared to -- and inventory compared to our ref and washer business. CouldwegotoSlidenumber7,please?So,thisisthechartthatIalwaysshare.I'mnotgoing to walk you through theentirechartbecausethere'salotofdetailinthere.Buttheindustry continuedtobasicallygrowwithverylowsingle-digitsinJan2026toMarch2026,sosubdued industrygrowth.Declineinrefrigeratorssofarforthewholeyear,drivenbydeclineindirect cool refrigerators. I'm now talking about the industry. In terms of big highlights for us in this quarter, which is the extreme right column, Q4 2025-2026,Jan2026toMarch2026,Ithinkthebiggesthighlightwasourbringinginthenew ranges of refrigerators both in direct cool and frost free into the market. So,forthosewhoareunaware,there'sabigenergychangethathappenedinJanuaryonboth refrigerators and air conditioners. What that reallymeansiseveryrefrigeratorandeveryair conditioner had to be replaced with new technical models, everysingleSKUthatwehave. And this is what we call as a phase-in phase-out. Andwhenyoudothisphase-inphase-out,thosewhoenteritataslightlyearlierstageendup havingtolosesomeamountofdisplayshareandstockshareinthemarketastheytransition theirproductstothenewproducts.Andthisisquiteamonumentalthingfortheentireindustry. We were into it a little bit earlier than the others because we had lesser inventory on refrigerators as we closed out the year and air conditioners. We also introduced some very exciting new products that I'll talk to you about later. We introducedthenewthree-doorProtton,whichisdoingverywellinthemarket.Weintroduced a new 9 kilogram withsteamoptioninthefrontloadwashingmachines,andweintroduced newmodelsinthedirectcoolauto-defrostpremiumrefrigerators.Wealsoaddedsomeamount ofretailexecutivestofurtherdriveourbusinessandourROI,andwehadaverygoodquarter in terms of air conditioner and front load washer scale-up. Our volume market shares for this quarter declined by double-digit basispointsversuslast year,predominantlydrivenbyrefrigeratorswherewehadthisphase-inandphase-out,aswell assignificantcompetitivepricingactivitystillhappening,whichwehavechosennottofollow completely, which is a deliberate strategy. But as we recover our phase-in phase-out, as we move faster than others on the phase-in phase-outinthemonthofApril,May,June,Ihopetobeabletorecoverthatmarketshareback again as we ramp up our display shares and our stock. Nextslide,please.So,thisisthebreakupthatIalwaysshareoftheshares--marketshareby segment. As you can see there, three reds mean --threedashesbasicallymeanstriple-digit basis points, two dashes means double-digit basis points. Page4of27
Overall,ifyoutakealook,infrontloadwashers,wecontinuedtogrowtriple-digitbasispoints fortheseventh--sixthorseventhquarterinarow,andwecontinuetodoverywellthere.In top load washers, we were able to grow strong double-digit basis points in quarter four 2025-2026 behind some incremental initiatives that we've put in with respect to new products. In semi-automatic, we were able to report triple-digit basis points growth. So, overall in washers,wehadstronggrowthandinairconditionersaswellintermsofshares.Wedeclined triple-digitbasispointsindirectcoolrefrigeratorandfrostfreerefrigeratorinvolumemarket share in Jan 2026 to March 2026. LikeIsaid,theprimarydriverwasaregulatorychangeoverthatwemovedfasterthanothers, which we will make up for pretty soon. And thesecondarydriverwascompetitivepricing, which continued to be very aggressive and we didn't follow to the same extent to balance between market share and profitability. Nextslide,please.Slidenumber9.Let'snowtalkaboutthetopline.Intermsofsalesgrowth inthefirsthalfoftheyear,wehadaminus4%asyoucanseeontheleftsideofthechart.We started off with minus 3% and minus 5%, so it was pretty much tough betweenApriland October -- April and September because of very heavy competitive pricing on the one hand. Andonthesecondhand,theindustrywas--impactwasquitesignificantbecauseofadelayed onsetofsummerandearlymonsoonslastyear.So,itwasaverytoughyearfor--averytough firstsixmonthsoftheyearfortheentireindustry,whichanypartoftheindustrywhichrelies on cooling products like refrigerators or air conditioners. We started making a recovery in Q3 as you know witha4%growthinrevenueandinQ4 we've now made a 7% growth. And our second halfmomentumisactuallydrivenbythree things. One is a significant scale-up in our air conditioner business, which is fledgling compared to some of the big players. Significant scale-up in our front load,wecallitHA,HorizontalAxis,butit'sthefrontload washing machine business, and overall share gain in washers. We've also had significant accelerated growth in premium products across refrigerators and washers. So, this is what drove our top line. InH22025-2026,refrigeratorsremainchallenginglikeIsaidbecauseoftheregulatoryproduct changeoverinQ4thatwe'rerightnowgoingthrough,whichshouldendverysoonforus,and the competitive pricing impact. Next slide, please. WemovetoSlide10.Welookatmarginsversuslastyear.Thesearethe grossmargins.So,justtoremindyou,2022-2023,wehad27.6%margin,2023-2024,wewent to29%,2024-2025,weimprovedto30.6%.Thisyear,we'vearrivedata29.9%margin,driven by basically the air conditioner mix in our margin. So, just toexplain,ifairconditionersforusgrowsdisproportionately,thenouroverallgross margingoesdownbecausethegrossmarginpercentageofairconditionersislesserthanthatof refrigerators and washers, which we are fully aware of. Page5of27
However,airconditionerisabletoprovidescaletous,whichhelpsalleviatefixedcosts,and airconditionerisabletoprovidesignificantrevenuetous,bothofwhichmatteralot.So,it'sa very conscious choice that we took to drive the air conditioner business at the right time. Andsoyoucanseethatwithouttheairconditionermiximpact,ourgrossmarginwouldhave continuedtogrow.Andthereasonthatisthecaseonrefrigeratorsandwashersisbecauseof ourP4G,theProductivityforGrowthcostsavingprogramthatwedoandcontinuetodoand believe in extremely fiercely. Nextslide,please.Slidenumber11nowtalksabouttheprofitbeforetaxmargin.Ifyoulookat Q4, lastyearQ4,wehada7.6%PBTmarginin2024-2025.Thisyear,wewouldhavebeen slightly higherthanthatexceptfortwosignificantcoststhatIhadalreadyhighlightedatthe beginning of the year -- in January -- beginning of the calendar year. One is theenergycostupchargesbecauseoftherefrigeratorandairconditioning,whichhas not yet been compensated by pricing as of March 31. And the secondisaverysignificant incrementale-wasteprovisionthatwedotomakesurethatweareconservativelyaccruingfor potentiale-wastecost.Ife-wastecostsaresortedoutgoingforwardbetweentherecyclers,the producers, and the government, obviously, then that would be a help in the future for us. If IgototherightonthefullyearPBTmargin,lastyearPBTmarginwas5.6%.Ifyoujust takeouttheincrementale-wasteprovisionwehavemadeversuslastyear,wewouldhaveheld ourmargin.So,thisispurelytheincrementale-wasteprovisionthatwe'vemade,notthebase e-waste,theincrementale-wasteprovisionthatwe'vemadethisyearthatisbasicallyreducing the margin on a full year basis. Next slide, please. We continue to remain efficient in working capital. This is a slightly complex slide, so kindly stay with me. As you can seeonthefirstthreecolumns,theblue columns, in March 2022, March 2023, March 2024, as a companywewereoperatingona positive networking capital, which obviously is not the ideal way to operate. A negative networking capital is a wonderful way to operate. BySeptember2024,withaconcertedeffortacrossthecompany,wehadbroughtitdowntoa negative networking capital, kept itthereinDecember2024.InMarch2025,itwasslightly positive,butmuchlowerthanthepreviousyears.Juneagainitwasnegative.Andthenifyou seetoday,ifyoulookatMarch2026,thefirstcolumnisouractualnetworkingcapital,which hasgoneupversusthepreviousyear.Butifyoujusttakealookatthelittlepiecenexttothat in green ontherightthatisourrefrigeratorandwasherandourregularT2business.Thatis now operating on a negative networking capital. So,ifyoucompareMarch2026excludingACwithMarch2025,weareactuallybetteroffon networking capital on refrigerators and washing machines. The planned investment of air conditioners networking capital is what took our networking capital up in this quarter and obviously, it would be recovered in the coming quarter. Nextslide,please.Inowmoveontoourstrategicimperatives.WearenowonSlidenumber 14. Our strategic imperatives continue to be the same; one, inspire generations with our Page6of27
brands; second, win with product leadership; third, build a competitiveandresilientsupply chain; and lastly, excellence in execution. Moving to Slide number 15.Thisisjustabitofourhistory.Weintroducedpedestalstothe country. We introduced auto-defrost in direct cool refrigerators. We were one of the early pioneersinprovidingcolorsandfinishesinrefrigeratorsfromthedrabanddrearykindofonly steel, only gray or white refrigerators in the past. We were the first to introduce three-door refrigerators in the country. We were the first to introducedarkinteriorswiththePlatinarange,whichareextremelypremium,andwewerethe first to introduce heaters in top load washing machines. Net, a pioneer in the Indiandurablesindustry,we'vecontinuouslydoneinnovationsthatare made for India by Indian engineers,byourIndianworkforce,inspiredbyIndianconsumers withIndianconsumerknowledge.AndIhopetoshowsomeofthatagainaswegothroughthe next few slides. Our focus has been to premiumize our business. Going on to the next slide, please. Let's start with direct cool refrigerators. In direct cool refrigerators, the premium end of direct cool refrigerators, we have the auto-defrost range. Auto-defrost range we've rebranded to call it "No Tension" refrigerators becausethesingle biggestpainpointfordirectcoolconsumersistheicethatformsinthefreezersectionforany direct cool refrigerator.Anditcausesalotoftrouble.So,youcanseesomeofthecreatives that we put out there, but in essence, we introducedanewlaunch,ablacksteelthat'sbeen doingreallywellforusinVitamagicPro,whichisthebrandnamefortheauto-defrostrange. And that's doing really well for us. Next slide, please. Moving on to the top load washing machine business. In the top load washingmachinebusiness,youwillrecallthatinpreviousmeetings,Ihavebasicallysaidthat withinrefrigeratorsandwashingmachines,we'llmakesurethatwithinsomeamountoftime, we will cover all the gap areas that we have in our portfolio where we can add value to consumers, grow our market share, and grow it profitably. In the top end, the BloomWash series, wehadupto10kilograms.We'venowintroduceda high capacity top load washing machine in line with consumer demand. This is an 11 kg BloomWashandtherearesomeamazingnewfeaturesinthis.Thefirstoneisthatthisnew11 kg BloomWash has got a Quick Sense technology. Now, there are many top end top load washingmachinesthathavequickwashcycles,butusuallytheyareonewashcyclewhatever betheload.Thisonehasgot30minutecycleforasmallload,35minutesforamediumload, and40minutesforalargeload.Andthemachineautomaticallysenseswhattypeofloaditis and takes care of it. So, this is the Quick Sense feature. WealsohaveinthesamemachineSoftSense,whichautomaticallyreleasestherightamount of softener at just the right time. Lastly, we've brought this intoabrandnewandbeautiful Juniper Green CFM, which actuallybringsoutthepremiumlookinanevenbetterwayand offers an amazing new color to the premium top load washing machine consumer. Page7of27
Nextslide,please.MovingtoSlide18,wenowtalkaboutpremiumizationintwocategories, thisisthethirdone;semi-automatic.OurDynamixtechnologyinourmidandpremiumrange isdoingreally,reallywellanddrivingthesemi-automaticcategory.Thisisthetechnologythat promises and delivers on zero detergent patches for those who are using powder in semi-automaticwashingmachines,whichisthenumberonepainpointofIndianconsumers; the patches that stay on in the clothes after you use the detergent in the wash. Thisbusinessisdoingreally,reallywellforus.Itwasjustintroducedtwoyearsago,in2024in June,ifIrecallright,anditisnowasignificantproportionofourbusiness.Nearlyhalfofour business is in this technology and it's driving triple-digit basis points share gain in its segments. Next Slide, please. Continuing with thepremiumizationstory.Tripledoorsarethepremium end of frost free refrigerators in the middle to premium area. And here we've launched -- relaunchedourProttonthree-doormodelwiththeProttonNXTseries.We'venotonlydonea technological and design upgrade, but we've also done a capacity upgrade, providing even morevaluetotheconsumers.Thisisdoingreallywellforusandthemagicofthethreedoors isthatwiththistechnology,wenowhave43%lessercoldairlossversusthetoploadsthatyou normally get because of the three doors and the need to open each door much lesser. Second, your fruits and your vegetables stay as theyaresupposedtobecausethefruitsand vegetables have a separate drawer as youcouldsee,andthereisnoodormixingwithother thingsthatmightbethereintherefrigeratorcompartment.Andofcourse,there's360degree enhanced cooling with Fresh Flow. NextSlide,please.WegotoSlide20,ourfrontloadwasher.Now,thisispremiumbyitself, whether it's 7 kg, 8 kg, or 9 kg, or 10 kg. The front load washers accelerated for us in 2025-2026.Ourtotalbusinesshasgrownabout60%morethanlastyear.We'vehadtriple-digit basispointsmarketsharegrowthprettymuchthroughtheyear.Thisuses6thSensetechnology likeallofourpremiumproductsdo,andthisbusinessisdoingquitewellforusandwehopeto grow it more and more in the coming months, quarters, and years. Next Slide, please. And of course, ourACbusiness.LikeIsaid,maybeasmallnumberfor others, but a giantnumberforusfromwherewe'restartingout.We'vebeenabletobringin somereallygoodtechnologyanddrivesomereallygoodgo-to-market.Andforthefirsttime, we've been able to cross100,000unitsinmonthlysalesinMarch2026.Ourairconditioner business, even in a relatively tough year, has gone up by more than 40% versus lastyear, following quite a strong 80%-odd growth in the previous year. Next Slide, please. And of course, our fantastic Elica products. The new product ranges continue to drivepremiumization,whetherwe'retalkingaboutthefilter-lesskitchenhoodor we're talking about theductlesskitchenhoodthathasbeenlaunchedrecently,orindeedthis beautiful product, the built-in hob with four burners, which has got heavy duty full brass burners, multi-flame direct, with cast iron pan support. Page8of27
Andthiscastironpansupportisalsobackedwithaheatguardtomakesurethatyoudon'tfeel anyheatwhileoperatingtheknobs.So,allofthesewonderfulproductscontinuetodriveour premiumization strategy very strongly. This is probably the most exciting news of the lot.ThismightlooklikethecloakofDarth Vader, but what it is actually isablackcloakthatwe'vedeliberatelyusedtocoverournew productsthatwe'relaunching.Manyofyouhaveaskeduswhenarewelaunchingintothefrost freelargecapacityspace?Well,theanswerisinQ2of2026-2027,therebyfillingasignificant gap in our frost free portfolio. Pleasestaytunedforthis.Inthenextquarter,Ihopetoshowyouallofthedifferentmodels thatwe'rebringinginandthefeaturesofthis.Butthisissomethingthatwe'reextremelyproud of.We'vewaitedformorethantwoyearstodeliverthisandweareveryhappytoannounce thatwearegoingtobeinplayinthelargecapacityfrostfree,whichwasoneofthebigchunks missing from our portfolio. NextSlide,please.Wecontinuetofocusverystronglyondrivingexcellenceinexecutionwith visibility of our premiumlines,withaverystrongsalesandserviceincentivizationprogram that focuses on driving premiumization and value, focusing on very strong customer relationshipsthatwe'vebuiltoverthelast40years,andavery,verygoodmanagementofour supply chain in a very complex environment. Ontheservicefront,we'recontinuouslyimprovinginourserviceKPIs.Thechartthatyousee thereistheNetPromoterScore.Asyouknow,theNetPromoterScoreisthescoredifference betweenwhenconsumersafterinstallationorafterservicegiveyouascoreonascaleof10.9 plus10,whoevergivesyou--whatpercentageofpeoplegiveyou9and10scoresoutof10, minus the people who give you ratings between 1 and 7. So, this is continuing to grow for us very strongly. And this is despite the fact that we're starting to sell alotmoreairconditionerswheretherequirementforserviceandgettingNet PromoterScoresiseventougherbecausepeoplewantinstantaneousinstallation,instantaneous service,verydifficult,especiallyinthisDelhiheatthatwearefacingrightnowtolivewithout anairconditionerformostpeople.Despitethat,ourserviceorganizationisdoingatremendous job in keeping the scores up. Now,wemoveontooursupply,twobigthingsinthis;qualityandcost.Andquality,asyou know, we followtheworld-classmanufacturingpractices.Wecontinuetofollowthat.We've achievedaSilverinPuneandBronzeintheothertwomanufacturingsiteswithourPuducherry andFaridabad,andwehopetotakethemtoaSilveracrossthecourseofthecomingquarters and years. On cost leadership, basicallywehave,ifyouseefrom2022-2023totodayoverthreeyears, we've done a standalone gross margin improvement of 220 basis points across these three years.Andthat'sallbecauseoftheP4Gprogramthatwedo,ProductivityforGrowth,whichis averysystematicprogramthatcoversalllinesoftheP&L,involvesalmosteverybodyinallof procurement, engineering, innovation, and manufacturing, as wellassupplychain.Andthis Page9of27
programcontinuestodostronglyforus,coveringoffmanyoftheothercostimpactsthatwe get in other areas. Next Slide, please. And with that, I'd like to hand over to Mr. Aditya Jain. Aditya? Thankyou,Mr.Eswar.Goodafternoon,everyone.MynameisAdityaJainandIamtheCFO of the company and I'll take you through the financial performance of Whirlpool of India Limited. I'monSlide27.ThisslidecoversthefinancialperformanceonconsolidatedbasisforQ4,i.e., JantoMarch2026.Inthisquarter,wedeliveredarevenueofINR2,181crores,whichisahigh single-digitgrowthversuslastyear.AsweheardfromMr.Eswar,industrywasnotabighelp inthisquarter.Industrygrewinlowsingle-digits.Andontopofthat,theentirerefrigerators portfoliowasimpactedbythenewenergyregulationswhichcameintoforcefrom1stJanuary 2026. As a result of which, a massive amount of phase-in phase-out was supposed to be done. Despite thoseheadwinds,wewereabletogrowrevenueinhighsingle-digitsandthefactors whichdroveourrevenuegrowthareasfollows;A,ourwasherbusinessdidprettywellandwe grew share in the washer business.Weattainedanumbertwopositioninsemi-automaticas well as top load washers. And onHA,whichisasmallbusinessforusrightnow,wegrewmarketshare,whichisthe MBOvolumemarketshareintriple-digitsinthisquarter.Thiswasdrivenbythecommercial and the consumer-focused product innovations and our mantra of executional excellence. OurACbusinessdidprettywell.InAC,wegrewby50%inthisquarter.AndACbeingahigh ASV product, which is theaveragesellingpriceofACisroughly2xofothercorebusiness that also helps in driving your top line. Third big element was the segment premiumization. What it means is our focused interventionsandourROI-basedideasarefocusedondrivingincrementalgrowthinmidand premium segments of each of our categories, which again helps usdrivingpremiumization within the category and hence driving the revenue growth. Last but not the least, it wasafabulousquarterforourElicacookingbusiness,whichgrew revenue by 30% in this quarter. On theprofitabilityside,wedeliveredanEBITDAofINR121croresat5.6%.TheEBITDA waslowerby33.7%versuslastyear.AndourprofitbeforeexceptionalitemswasatINR110 croresat5%andourprofitdeclinedby29%versuslastyear.Thebigreasonfordeclineinour profitsversuslastyearwasonaccountofregulatorycostupcharges.Thereweretwobigitems which impacted our profitability in this quarter. One was the incremental e-wasteexpense, whichweaccrueasperthee-wastenotificationwhichcameinSeptemberlastyear.AndB,the aircon and the ref energy upgrade cost. Letmegiveyoualittlebitmorecolorwhywewerealittlebitmoreimpactedbythisenergy changecostimpact.Asyouwouldhavenoticedontheworkingcapitalslide,inDecemberwe Page10of27
had a negative working capital, which meant that we were managing our inventories very efficientlyandtherewasverylimitedquantityofinventorieswhichwecarriedforwardfrom 2025 into 2026. Andasaresultofwhich,mostofourQ1businesscameinfromtheproductionofthecurrent quarter,whichwasBEEupgradedrefrigeratorsproductiononwhichwehadtoaccountforthe newenergycost.AndthiswasnotsupportedbycommensuratepricinginthemarkettillMarch becauseofmultiplicityoffactorsandthevaryinglevelofinventorieswhicheveryonewould be carrying. And just for perspective, outside of thesetwoitems,whichistheenergycostupchargeand incrementale-wasteprovisions,ourprofitwouldhavebeenhigherthanlastyear.OurElica,as Isaid,hadafabulousquarterandtheydeliveredarevenuegrowthof32%andaprofitgrowth of 48% in this quarter. Next Slide. I'm on Slide 28. In thisslide,I'llcoverthefinancialperformanceonafullyear basis. We crossedtheINR8,000croresnumbersfromatoplineperspectiveanddelivereda top line of INR 8,034 crores, which is a growth of 1.4% versus last year. Justtogiveyoualittlebitofcolor,thiscameonabackdropofaflattishoramutedindustry because the industry for the whole year was roughly flattish. And in fact, the ref industry declinedlargelyduetothedirectcoolastherewasdelayedonsetofsummerandthemonsoons gotadvanced.Sowehad--theindustryhadaprettybadseason.Andontopofthat,therewas a big energy change in the back half of the year, which again impacted the refrigerator business. So, despite those headwinds, we were able to offset those headwinds and still grow our revenue by1.4%.ThevariousfactorswhichledtothisgrowthwasA,ourwashersportfolio whichwespokeaboutdidwellevenonanannualbasis.Airconcontinuedtobeagoodstory onanannualbasis.Wegrewairconbusinessby40%despitethatthesummerwasprettysoft and not conducive to the aircon growth, but then we managed our business very well. And Elica again did well on an annual basis withthedouble-digitrevenuegrowthof12%. Other factors were segment premiumization, which isahighfocusareaforusandourROI based investments continued to deliver good returns. Comingontomargins,wespokeaboutourP4Gprogramthat'srunningthroughthelengthand breadthoftheorganizationthatislifelineoftheorganizationinwhichwelookatcosttakeouts across all lines of the P&L. That continued to generate cost efficiencies and as a resultof which, we were able to offset the commodity cost headwinds as well as the impact ofthe currencydepreciation,whichwehaveseenduringtheyear.AndbecauseofthisP4Gprogram, our core T2 business margins, which is ref and washers business, improved versus last year. Ouroverallreportedgrossmarginsstrokematerialmarginswerelowerversuslastyearby50 basispoints,largelyonaccountofairconmixbecauseatamaterialmarginslevel,theprofile ofaircon--themarginsofairconarerelativelylowerthantheT2business,butthenyougeta lot of leverage both on revenue growth as well as fixed cost leverage. Page11of27
On profit side, we delivered an EBITDA of INR481 crores at 6%. It was lowerby12.6% versuslastyear,roughly100basispoints.Andourprofitbeforeexceptionalitemscameinat INR426 crores at 5.3%, lower by about 12% versus last year and80basispointsversus-- lower by 80 basis points versus last year. The single biggest factor which led to the decline in profits versus last year was the incremental e-waste provisions. And let me just remind you that the new notification for e-waste came in middle of September last year -- middle of September 2024, correct. Last year had pre-September rates which were based on market-driven rates and the post-September 2024 e-waste provisions based on the new circular whichcameintoeffect. Andinthecurrentyear,weareaccountingforthee-wasteaspernewcircularandhencewe have an incrementalmaterialyear-over-yearimpact.Andoutsideofthate-wasteimpact,our profit margins were flat to last year. Our reported PBT declined by 19%asweaccountedfortheone-timeimpactofwageCode provisionsofINR38.8croresonaconsolidatedbasis.Elicacontinuestodowell,grewrevenue indouble-digitsat12%anditsprofitonanannualbasisgrewaheadofrevenueat15%.That's it on the results. With this, I will pass it back to Sweta for the next session -- for the Q&A session. Thank you, Mr. Eswar and Mr. Jain. I would now request themoderatortoopentheQ&A session. Thankyouverymuch.Wewillnowbeginthequestion-and-answersession.Thefirstquestion comes from the line of Priyank Chheda with Vallum Capital. Please go ahead. PriyankChheda: Yes, hi. Thank you, Eswar and team. Firstly, keeping your promise to do the call and handholdingtheminoritiesalongwithyouandwhatawonderfulperformance.First,clarifying for the incremental regulatory e-waste provisioning and whatever the electric energy upcharge. So,whatwasthis,ifyoucanquantifyforthecostforQ4andFY2026?Andalsotherationale behind doing it, would it be a incremental means that would it be it for the whole of the followingyearbasedonthevolumeassumptionswehaveaccountedforthefollowingyearor would it be repeated also, the cost would get further repeated for FY 2027? Andhaveyouseenthischannelinventorynowmatchingupwiththenormsandtheregulatory on the ground so that you can recover that cost because everyone would also have a like-to-like impact on the cost? Sure, thank you. I'll take that one. So, we're not giving any further breakups within the regulatory piece on whatistheincrementale-wasteandwhat'stheenergyupchargebecause that would be a very, very high level of getting into the detail which we're not keen on doing. But to answer your question, sir, Mr. Priyank, on the e-waste, let me take each of those separately.One-waste,weareprovidingatthehighestpossibleratethatwecanprovidefor. Page12of27
AndthewayIwouldlookatthisisatthispointintime,there'salotofdiscussionbetweenthe Ministry,producerslikeourselves,andtherecyclersintermsofwhatwouldprobablymakethe most sense. And there's quite a bit of discussion on this topic. If there was any rationalization of these costs,thenobviouslywewouldstandtobenefit.If therewasnorationalizationofthesecostsgoingforward,thenwewouldn’tloseanything.So, that’s the best way that I can put it and the magnitude obviously depends on what the rationalizationis.Andthosekindofrequestsanddiscussionsareongoingaswespeakbecause theindustry--theentireindustry,notonlythisindustrybutallindustries,butspecificallythis industryisfeelingtheheatalotfromthisincrementale-wasteprovision.So,that'sonthefirst part. On the second part, if youlookattheenergyupcharge,theenergyupchargeisapermanent upchargetotheBOM,right?Andthisisbecausethebillofmaterialscostgoesupwhenyou go -- basically what happens is last year's three-star becomes this year's two-star. So, in essence,whatyouhavetodoisifyouwanttohaveaonetofive-starrangeinyourportfolio, youhavetobasicallyupgradeeachofthelevelsonestar.Andwhenyoudothat,youhaveto usemoreexpensivecompressors,moreexpensiveinsulation,moreexpensivevacuumpanels, andetcetera.Andtherefore,basicallywithregulatorychangeslikethisenergyupgrades,cost goes up unit-by-unit. Thelogicalthingwouldbethatwhenthecostisactuallygoneup,thatlogicallyifitwasone companythatwasjustdoingthisandtherewasonlyonecompanyinIndia,thenthatcompany wouldtakeupthepricebecauseitisacostincrementaltoyourbusiness,right?Andyouwould recover the price. It's a very competitive market. And while I'm saying that, let me alsoaddonthatIhadkindofsaidthatthecostsituation wouldbechallengingthisyearfortheentireindustryandalsoforusbecauseoftheregulatory upchargesbecausetheenergychangeseveninthelastquarter.Butofcourse,ontopofthis,we now have the impact of the war effect basically on costs as well as supply. So, yes, I believe the industry has taken whatever actions it has to take. Each individual company obviouslydoeswhattheydeembest.Wehavedonewhatwedeemedbestandyou canfigureitoutfromthemarket.Idon'twanttotalkaboutwhatwe'vedoneinAprilandMay because that would not be appropriate, but it's out there in the market. Andwewillhavetoseewhathappenswiththemarketandwhatthemarketdoes.Wealways havetokeepinmindthatwehavetocoverourcostsandkeepourselvesprofitable,atleasttoa reasonable extent. Atthesametime,we'reinaverycompetitivemarketandweneedtomakesurethatwe'renot outpriced.So,ifitcomestoaplacewherewe'reoutpricedandwestarthavinganimpacton volumesinamaterialway,thenwewillhavetodowhatweneedtodotoprotectourbusiness. So,it'salwaysthatdelicatebalancethatweneedtodobetweenmanagingourvolumeandour market shares and our value and managing our profits. Page13of27
So, I hope I answered your question. The energy upcharge is here to stay.Ithinkthenext energy upcharge is supposed to be three years from now.So,everytimethereisanenergy upcharge, there will be a cost upcharge. Andtheoretically,thebestwaytodothatistorecoveritbypricing.Practically,thatisdecided bywhatindividualplayersdointhemarketandwhatotherindividualplayersdoinresponseto what, you know, their competition does. PriyankChheda: Perfectly.So,hencemyfollow-upquestionandIthoughtso,Iwilltakeyourperspectivewhat can be the scenario that can playoutwiththeMiddleEastrawmaterialandfreightcharges going up as well as regulatory cost further loading up. So,thetwoscenarioswhichwecanthinkofitcanhappenismaybeacompetitionrationalizes andthepressureeasesandthenthisisfollowedwiththepricinggrowthandthenthisscenario would lead to maybe a market share consolidation within -- gains to the incumbents. Or do you think that there can be adowntradingitselfbyconsumerwherethecostloading happens so high and itwouldovertakesalltheeffortsthatwewouldbedoing?Imean,just your thoughts on whatcanbethepossiblescenariothatyouthinkcanbeplayingoutinour industry? Yes,it'sagreatquestion.IwishIknewtheanswertothisquestion.Anythingcouldhappen.It's very difficult to predict the macroeconomic environment.Whatwearefocusedonisnotso muchonwhat'shappeningatatoomacrolevelbecauseobviouslywehavezeroinfluenceon anything. Weasacompany,I'lltellyouwhatwearefocusedon.Wearefocusedonfiguringoutwhat's happening on the supply situation from two points of view. One is what's happening with respecttoavailabilityofproducts,right?Quiteafewoftheproductsaredependentoncoming throughtheStraitsofHormuz.Oilisdependentonthat,whichisrequiredforalotofthings thatwedoinourindustry.Manyofthematerials,plasticsarebuiltonbasedofoil.EPSthat we use for packing is based on oil. Methylisocyanatethatwemayuseisbasedonoil.So, there's a lot of things that's based on that. Andthesecondthingthatobviouslyisaverybigimpactotherthanthepriceofoilisobviously theforexrate.Andthatisalsoimportantbecausetypicallyinthisindustry,wemakealmostall ofourproductsinIndia,whichisincredible,butobviouslythereissomeamountofimported componentsforallindustryplayersbecauseallthecomponentsarenotmadeinIndia,right? So, typically between, depending on the company, between 20% and 35% of products components may be imported, right, depending on the company. And so that part of it is subject to forex. So, both of these iswhatwearemonitoringonadailybasis,makingourplansagainstthat, makingsurethatwe'retalkingandworkingvery,verycloselywithoursuppliersonanhourly basis because what you actuallyhavetodoismakesurefirstofallthatyouhavesupplyof components to be able tomakeyourproducts.Ifyoudon'tmakeyourproducts,thenthere's nothing to sell. So, this is the first point. Page14of27
Andthesecondpointishowdoyoumanageyourcosts?Botharesignificantchallengesforall playersinnotonlyinourindustrybutprettymuchineveryindustryandprettymucharound theworldbecausethisissomethingthataffectseveryone.Andit'suptoindividualpeoplehow individual companies how this is being managed. We're working a huge amount onthisto make sure that we can keep our factories going, produce great quality productsatthebest possible cost that we can make it. Thenthesecondpartisobviouslythereisacertainamountofpricingthatmaybethemarket will bear. It's a very competitive market. And beyond that, also the question is what the consumerwilldo.So,therearesomanyvariablesonthisthattoactuallyguesswhatisgoing to happen, I think it's like a roll of the dice. So,whatwearedoingisfocusingonwhatwecancontrolandwhatweshouldbedelivering, whichisoureverydayworkandstayingclosetothegroundintermsofmanagingoursupply, lookingandtakingtherightdecisionsthatwefeeloncostsandonpricing,andthenmonitoring the market very closely and we will keep on modifying dynamically our actions as wego through because it's an incredibly dynamic time. Priyank Chheda: No, wonderful. One-- Just a moment Priyank. We request you to please rejoin the queue if youhaveanyfurther questions.Thankyou.OurnextquestionisfromthelineofNaushadChaudharywithAditya Birla Mutual Fund. Please go ahead. Yes, hi. Thank you for the opportunity and congrats for a decent set of number in a very challenging time.First,wantedtounderstandontheACpieceofbusiness,whatwouldhave been the full year revenuecontributionfromAC?Whatisouraspirationfornexttwo,three years in this category? And how much capital it would require toreachtoouraspirational number? Thankyouverymuch,Mr.Chaudhary.IwouldnotbeabletosharetheexactACcontribution becausewedon'tlayoutthatnumber,butACisstillasmallproportionofourtotalbusiness. Asyouknow,refrigeratorsstillcoversmorethan50%ofourtotalbusiness,washingmachines coversabout25%,30%ofourtotalbusiness.ACwouldbethenextbigplaybasicallyalong with Elica. That would be the kind of thing. OuraspirationonACIcancertainlyanswerthat.IthinkwewouldliketogrowinACacross theyearsstrongly,butresponsibly.AndwhatImeanbythatisthatwewouldobviouslyliketo increaseourmarketshareinthisverydynamicandfast-growing--andI'mtalkingaboutthe lastfiveyears,fast-growingindustryofairconditioners.It'ssomethinginwhichwehavelow shares and therefore for us the sky's the limit. Buthavingsaidthat,wearevery,veryconsciousthatthisisalsoacategoryinwhichworking capital is very heavily utilized, at least in certain quarters. And it's also not at the margin profile--evenforthemostestablishedplayers,it'snotatthemarginprofileofourrefrigerators or washing machine business. Page15of27
And therefore, I would say that we would like to grow this business very responsibly.We wouldliketogrowthisbusinessverystrongly,butfocusedonofftake,focusedonmakingsure ourproductsaresellingoutandweareputtinginasmuchproductsasaresellingout.So,the focusisnotsomuchonloadinghugeamountsofinventoryintothemarketandhopingforitto sell. We are trying to sell much more to offtake, a closer relationship to offtake. Andthatwaywecanmakesurethatwewillgrow,wewillgrowresponsibly,andwewillmake surethatwearenotstuckinasituationwherewe'resittingonalotofinventorywhichwethen have to liquidate with, you know,takingwhateveractionswhichmaynotbehelpfulforthe P&L,ifthatmakessense.That'swhatIwouldsaywouldbeourstrategy;responsibly,strongly growing the AC business. Naushad Chaudhary: Any specific market where you willbe more aggressive on the AC business? Oh no, we love all of India. So, we are actually just to be very straightforward on that, Whirlpoolisacompletelypan-Indiabrand.So,wedon'thaveanyparticularplaces.Thereare some places where of course we are stronger than in other places, but the split of theAC business is also slightly different. And therefore, we are focusing where we needtofocus. Obviously, we focus where the markets are strong. And the second type of area that we focus, forexample,arethemarketswhereourmarket shares are very strong in other categories.So,A,wherethecategoryitselfisstrong,andB, thosemarketswhereourmarketshareisverystronginrefrigeratorsandwashers,whichmeans wehaveverystrongbrandprofile.Thosearethetwokindofareasthatwefocuson,butthatis a significant proportion of the country, it is not three or four states. Thesecondquestiononthecashbalancewhichwehaveonthebalancesheet,anythoughton thatintermsofutilizingthatcasheitherfor,youknow,buildingoracquiringsomeadditional category or if at all any buyback plans to use that? Yes, I'll pass this on to Mr. AdityaJain. Aditya? Yes, thanks for your question. From a cash perspective, the first thing I'll say, it's a good problem to have, you know. So, it's good to have good cashonthebalancesheet.Andthe second piece is like our approach to investments is a little different since the time we've become an Indian origin company wherein now we don't have any budgetary constraints, etcetera,andourdecisionsarepurelyguidedbytherightprojects,therightROIs,andtheright paybacks. So, there's no constraint given that we don't have a constraint on cash and no budgetary constraints, so that's the only factor which drives the decision making. Andcoupleofareaswhereinwe'relookingforwardtoinvestingalittlebitmoreaggressively than we've done in the past.A,itisontheongoingbusiness,especiallydrivingtheproduct innovation.Weinvestedalotofmoneyinsettingupafrontloadfactoryafewyearsback.Mr. Eswar spoke about the premium frost free refrigeration, so a largecapexhasbeenspentin settingupthatfacilityaswell.Andasyougetintothefuture,havingthecashonbalancesheet gives us that flexibility to bridgealltheportfoliogapswhichexisttodayandaccelerateour innovation pipeline. Page16of27
Thesecondareawhichwe'relookingatrightnowistheentireautomationinourfactories.It notonlyhelpstheprocessandthequality,butwouldhelpusgiveusalotofcostsavingsas well.Andhence,thatistheotherareaiswhatwe'reevaluatingtoseethathowcanweutilize our cash. Thirdimportantareaistheentirecostmanagementandtheprojectswhereinwecantradeoffa little bit of capexwiththecostwiththerightlevelofpaybacks.Aswe'veseenthatthecost environment is going to get more and morechallenging,whilewehaveP4Gprograms,but thenthisregulatorycostandotherpiecesheadwindskeepscomingin.Andhence,findingout lotmoreprojectswhereinwecaninvestincapexandgetourcostdown,beitfactories,beit product, be it network optimization, etcetera, etcetera. Fourthareaforuswhichwe'reevaluatingisallabout,youknow,asyousaidaboutgettinginto adjacentcategories,lookingatbackwardintegration.Andwhyarewelookingatthosekindof optionsisgivenIthinkthegeopoliticalsituationandsupplychainuncertaintyisgoingtostay insomeortheothermanner.AndthendoingthatpieceAnotonlyhelpsusgetusalittlebit more certain from a supply chain stability point of view but again can get usalotofcost efficiencies as well. Now, outside of this, there are always options to go into the market and look atinorganic opportunities like we did Elica aboutsix,sevenyearsback.Andprobablyjustfromasheer cashpointofview,itisjustsufficientenoughtolookatacompanyofasimilarsize.So,these are some of the options. Now,dowehaveanexacttimelineintermsofwhatwe'redoing?Ongoingbusiness,wedoit in day-in and day-out and we're looking atallthoseopportunitiesonanongoingbasis.But whenitcomestoalittlebitmoreinorganic,we'relookingintoallthoseoptions,we'vestarted work,andalongwithguidancefromourboardmembers,we'retakingappropriatestepsinthat direction.Weassureyouasamanagementandwiththeinputsfromtheboard,we'relookingat investing cash in a manner which generates the long-term value for the shareholders. Butonethingonthecashisverycleartoourheadthatwearegoingtousethisinthebusiness in either of these forms, either organically or inorganically, but this is not going to the shareholders in either form of dividend or buyback. So,buybackissomethingthatwe'venotlookedat,atthispointintimebecausewethinkthere is lot of opportunity that we can actually take.LikeIwassaying,especiallyoninnovation, thereissomuchmorethatweplantodoacrossthenext12to18monthsintermsofbringing innovative products to the market -- and I would say 12 to 24 months actually as we invest. Plus,likeAdityawassaying,weareveryinterestedinlookingatotheropportunityareasinthe marketwhichcanaddoverallvaluetothecompany.Andobviously,ifthoseopportunityareas comethrough,thenitwouldbeareallygooduseofcash.Ifthoseopportunityareasarenotto befoundacrossthenextyearorso,thenobviouslythenthatisnot,youknow,incrementally available. Page17of27
Butwedobelievethatweareatthattypeof--atthattimeofourexistencewhereaggressive investmentacrossthenext12to24monthscanreallytakeusintoadifferentlevelofgrowth on both revenue and profitability. Naushad Chaudhary: Sure, sure. Wish you all the best. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you. OurnextquestioncomesfromthelineofAtulMehrawithMotilalOswalAsset Management. Please go ahead. Yes,hisir.Goodeveningandthanksfortheopportunity.Sir,firstlywantedtogetasenseof now that we are an independent company away fromtheparent,whatisthevisionthatwe have aligned out for the next three years, five years? Because like I think Aditya was mentioning,wearenotconstrainednowlikehowwewereinthepast,right?SoI'msurewhen youarelookingatthedrawingboard,youguyswouldhavehadathree-year,five-yearstrategy roadmap. So, if you can outline that, that is my first question, sir. Absolutely.So,Ihavenotoutlinedthatexcepttotheboard.I'lltrytogiveyouaverytoporder thingwithoutgoingintothenumbersandstufflikethatbecauseIthinkthat'slesscritical.As you might haveseenatthebeginningofthepresentation,sir,wearequiteexcitedaboutthe factthatevenifit'sforamonth,wearenumbertwointherefrigeratorandwashingmachine space. Ifyouweretoaskmewhatismydream,whichIthinkisabetterwayofputtingit,Iwouldsay thatobviouslyholdingthatpositionforalongspanoftime,anditmaynotbethenextmonth, it may notbethenextthreemonthsorfourmonthsbecausethisisahardfoughtbattlewith very tough, very well-established competitors. But for me, it's wonderful to be number three, it'sevenmorewonderfultobenumbertwo, whetherit'sforamonthorforaquarterorformore,letussee.Butwewillcontinuetokeep fightingtobeinthatpositionandhopefullyimproveonit.Butallofthisisonlyastoptowards the eventual position. So,wewouldliketobethebestinrefrigeratorsandwashingmachines.Andweknowthatit's going to take us years to dothat.Wearehumbleenoughtorecognizethat,butwearevery clear in our visiontobethebestinrefrigeratorsandwashingmachines,whichissomething thatwe'vedonegloballyformanyyearsacrosstheworldinmanymarkets.So,it'snotlikeit's the first time, but we need to do that in India. And that iswhyallthemenandwomenof Whirlpoolgetupeverydayinthemorningandcometooffice.It'snotforthisquarter'sresults, it's not for today's results or tomorrow's results, it's for what we eventually want to become. Andwouldittakefiveyears,wouldittakeeightyears,wouldittake10years?That'sagood question.Iwouldhopetosaydefinitelylessthan10years,butthat'swhywecometooffice,to behonestwithyou.We'veneverpubliclysaidthatbefore,butIsaytoday,that'sourdream:to basicallybecomethenumberoneplayerinrefrigeratorsandwashingmachines,whichiswhy we need to be there across all the segments. Page18of27
While doing that, we will hope to have a healthy business in other aspects as well. For example,intheairconditionerspace,andI'mnownotgettingintothedetail,butIdon'tthink rightnowwehaveanaspirationtobenumberoneinairconditionersbecauseit'stoomuchto chew on. Butforme,refrigeratorsandwashingmachines,whichwe'veplayedfor40years,knowthis space very well, have the ability, have the knowledge, have the experience, now have the resources,theenergyforsure,andhavetheorganization.Weneedtomarchsteadilytowards that goal across the next few years. Havingsaidthat,wealsoneedtodothatinaprofitablemanner.It'snotaboutjustgettingto marketshare,spendingmoneyleft,right,andcenter,andwedon'thaveanybodytosupportus, youknow,onthefinancialsoranythingofthatsort.So,it'sallgottobeself-generated.Wewill do that in a responsible way. So,itmaytakeusalittlebitlongertogetthere.Itwillnotbefiveyears,itwillprobablybe more than five years togettotheleadershippositioninrefrigeratorsandwashers,weknow that, but one day we hope to get there. And we hope to get there while improving our profitability across time. I've already mentioned that this is not the short-term, this is more the long term thingI'm talking about. I have already said to youthat2026-2027willbedifficultfinanciallyforthe entireindustryandalsoforWhirlpoolbecauseofalltheenergychanges,becauseofallthewar impactsthatarehappening,whicharevery,verysignificantandkindofcontinuingtobenotso clearaswegoalong.Butallthesethingswillendoneday.Whatwillnotendisourpassionto be the best at what we do. Wewouldthereforeliketogrowourbusiness,growourairconditionerbusiness,maybehave some associated other business which are synergistic in a go-to-marketperspectivebutadd value to us frombotharevenuegrowthandaprofitabilitystandpoint,whichisIthinkwhat Mr. Chaudhary's question was, which we answered. We would absolutely love to have businesses like we acquired Elica. Therecouldbeother businessesthatcouldbeveryinteresting,butit'sgottobealsosimilarongo-to-marketideally, though we're not closed to other options. And we want to do that profitably over time. Gotit.Sir,secondlymyquestionis,youknow,inthisthoughtprocessofutilizingcashtowards potential synergistic acquisitions, etcetera, etcetera, my only apprehension on this is, you know,youhaveastockwhichisaccordingtoyoutradingatattractivevaluationsbecauseyou have bought stock in the open market, right? So, as a CEO, you believe the stock is undervaluedandyouhaveboughtitintheopenmarket,butforsomereasonitappearsthatyou don't want to deploy that cash for a buyback. Soitisverystrangefromtheperspectivethatyouhaveastockwhichistradingat,youknow, one-thirditsvaluationitwastradingatinthepast.Themanagementbelievesit'sundervalued, youguyshaveboughtthestockinyourownpersonalportfolios,right?Butdespitethat,you arenotconsideringabuyback.So,itisverystrangeandbizarrewhydespitehavingnouseof Page19of27
cash and despite a very attractive in terms of valuation on the stock, the Board and the managementisnotconsideringabuyback.It'sreallynotunderstandableifyoucanelaboratea little bit on that. No,thankyousirforthatandI'lljustgivemylittleperspectiveandthen,youknow,Iwillask Aditya who understands this topic alotmorethanIdo,Icanassureyou.IthinkIcertainly believethatWhirlpoolIndiahasabrightfuture,there'sabsolutelynodoubt,whichiswhyas you might have noticed--andthankyoufornoticing,someofusdidpickupwithourown money basically the stocks, Whirlpool of India stocks basically. Having said that, I think there are quite a few opportunities in front of us that we're considering.Andtheseopportunitiescanaddalotofvalue.It'searlydays,I'mnotsayingwe areanywhereclosetoanythingsignificant,butit'searlydaysandthereareopportunitiesthat wethink,andIthinkasabusinessman,thatcouldaddsignificantvaluetoWhirlpoolofIndia without going into the detail of what those opportunities are. And we continuetoevaluate those opportunities. It would be remiss of me not to really play that out. And please keep in mind that it's November when the transaction happened where Whirlpool Corporation went below 50%. Followingwhich,we'vehadoneenergychangewhichhasprobablytakenalotofenergyout of all of us, and we've also had impact of war. Andinthemiddleofallofthis,youcanimaginetheamountofworkrequiredtokeepthings going,weneedtodoourdayjobsandthenlookatotherthingsaswell.It'sgoingtotakeusa little bit of time to consider that. I -- obviously,wewanttodowhat'sbestforourshareholders,butwereallydothinkwhat's best for our shareholders in the long run, and we're not looking at today's share priceand feeling depressed or demoralized at all. We are looking at what we're doing and saying if everythingwastocomebacktostatusquoinotheraspects,weshouldbe,whentimesgetright withthekindofmomentumthatwearetryingtobuild,withthekindofdisciplinethatwe're tryingtoworkwith,weshouldbeabletoachievequiteafewofourgoals.Andtherecouldbe significant opportunities thatwewanttopursue.Wewillnotbeabletopursuethatifwedo some things in a rush or in a hurry under pressure. So, I'm going to ask you to trustusalittlebitmoreonthis.Wehaveaverywell-informed Boardthatisalsolookingatthesethings.Andwe'venothadahugeamountoftimepostthis acquisition--postthistransaction,asyoucanimagine.ButIthinkWhirlpoolIndiacandoalot moreinthecoming12to24monthsintermsofutilizingquiteafewoftheassetsthatwehave thatyoumentioned.AndIwouldliketohelpgrowthisbusinessasmyprimarykindofsource ofexcitementandhappiness.That'swhatwewouldliketodo.HappytolistentoAditya'spoint of view on this if you have anything more to add. No,IthinkMr.Eswaryousaiditall.Ithinkthelimitedpointhereisthatwehaveavision,we haveavisiontogrowandwehavethevisiontobethenumberone.Andinthatvision,there Page20of27
areopportunitiesonthewaytodeploythiscashinamannerwhichcantakeourcompanyto the next level. So,itisaquestionofalittlebitofshort-termversuslong-term.Andwebelievethatwithour vision to grow, we would needthatonthewaytomakeourcompanysuccessfulandwhich wouldultimatelyleadtoalong-termvaluecreationfortheshareholders.Andthat'swhereour thoughtprocessisasofnow.Andwewillevaluatethatinalittlebitmoredetailinthenext12 to 24 months and take the right decisions. Right.Thankyouverymuch.Myonlyfeedbackisthefocusshouldbeonshareholdergrowth and not just business growth, right? At the end of theday,shareholderswantreturnonthe company's investment, right? So, do consider a buyback in terms of as part of the many avenues that you are considering, while you are considering many other potential M&A, etcetera. Do also keep in mindthatapotentialacquisitionisjustacquiringyourownshares which could be undervalued. So, just keepthatinmindasasuggestionandthankyouvery much. Sure, sir. Thank you. Thankyou.OurnextquestionisfromthelineofUmangMehtawithKotakSecurities.Please go ahead. Hi, thanks for the opportunity. My first question was onyourcapitalworkinprogress.We heard that premiumreffrostfreeissomethingwhichisoncards,butanythingelsewhichis ongoing intermsofcapacityexpansion?AndanyplansofanycapexforroomACsbecause whatweunderstandisgloballybecauseWhirlpooldidn'thaveanymanufacturing,wealways werekindofonthebackfoot.IsitpossibletocommitanycapexandstartproductioninIndia in the near future? That's the first question. Sorry,Mr.Mehta,yourvoicebrokealittlebit.Couldyoujustrepeatinbrief,thequestion,I'm so sorry. Your voice broke. No worries. Sorry. I hope I'm audible now. Just whatever capacity expansion plans are currently [inaudible 1:06:56] CWIP of INR200 crores. Can you share some thoughts or insights? And any plans to expandACcapacityorputupACmanufacturinginIndiainthe near future? I'll take the first question which your questionwasonbasicallytheCWIP.TheCWIPright nowpertainstothepremiumrefrigeratorswespokeabout.Sincewe'venotstarted--sinceit's going to come in the next quarter, so the capex is still lying in CWIP and has not got capitalized. Just want to clarify that piece. Yes.Sorry.So,basically,Mr.Mehta,wehopetobringinafewthingsacrossthenext12to24 months.AndIsay12to24monthsbecausesomebuttonshavebeenpushed,butasyouknow, thisisahighengineeringbusinessandit'snotveryeasytobringeverythingintomarketin12 months. Page21of27
There'squiteafewbuttonsthathavebeenpushedbytheBoardwiththeBoard'sadvicebyus in terms of whatwewilldo.AndlikeIsaid,ouraccentwillbefirstlytomakesurethatwe cover all portfolio gaps that we have in refrigerators, washing machines. We are also open to looking at other areas of investment where there are significant opportunities in the nearfutureintermsofexpansionintothosecategories,right,associated categories. Intermsoftheairconditioninginvestmentintocapex,thiswillbeacommercialandstrategic decision. ThereasonI'msayingthatisbecausethereisquiteabitofcapacityinthecountry availablewith3PLplayerswhocansupplyairconditionerstoyouwithyourdesign,toyour specification, to your technical requirement. And you've got to balance that off with investment into capex of your own plant. Now, that does makesenseatacertainvolumepossiblyandwearecontinuouslyevaluating thatdecision.Andwhenweneedtomakethedecision,weabsolutelywilldothat.Butforme, I just need to make sure that if I get into a new plant, then I should make sure that the depreciationdoesnothurtmyP&Lanymorethanitneedsto.So,theshortanswertotheAC questionisittotallydependsonhowwegoacrossthenextfewyearsanditdependsonwhat happens with the 3PL manufacturers that wehave,whatkindofpartnershipswecanstrike, what kind of deals we can strike, and what economics would make sense for us. So,longaseconomicsismakingalotofsenseforus,wearefine.Ifatsomepointintimethe economicsofsettingupyourownplantisbetterthantheeconomicsofsourcingitfroma3PL, then we certainly would not hesitate to take the decision at that point in time. Gotit.Andthesecondquestionwasonyourmargins.So,twopointstoit.Onewaswhatisthe e-waste expense absolute number in 2026 and where is it likely to land in2027?Andany crystalballgazingyoucandointermsofwhatmarginscanwelookateitherintermsofgross orEBITDAinFY2027?Iknowtherearemanymovingpieces,butasofnow,whatwouldbe your best assessment? Yes,sir,asfarase-wasteisconcerned,we'renotgivingout--youwillseethee-wastedata, youknow,Ican'trememberitoffthetopofmyhead,butyouwillactuallyseeit,youknow, when we're publishing our annual report. It'll all be there because it's statutory to declare that. Margins, to be honest, we can't give any guidance right now. Like I saidbefore,thisisan incrediblyunusualtime.Ifithadbeenanormalyear,eventhenIprobablywouldbeloathto give any guidance on margins because it's so -- it's such a competitive market, right? It'snotlike,youknow,Idon'twanttosaywhichcategory,buttherearesomeindustrieswhere youtakeapriceincreaseforoneyearandthen,youknow,everybodyisclear.Thisisthekind of businesswherethepricelistchangesonamonthlybasis.So,thisisnotthekindofplace where we can just give out any margin guidance, honestly. I wouldn't do that. Alsointhiscurrentcontext,Iwouldsayit'salmostimpossibletopredict.LikeIsaid,weare focusedonmakingsurethatwe'redoingtherightthingsfortheshortandthelong-term,taking Page22of27
allofcostandallofrevenueintoaccount.ButanyguidanceIwouldabsolutelynotbeableto give on margins. I will say that as I said before, before thewarimpactstarted,Isaid2026-2027wouldbea challenging year because of energy regulations coming in, because of these incremental e-wasteprovisionsthatallpeoplehavetomake.Itwouldbeachallengingyearbecauseofthe competitivething.Thewaristhereontop.So,we'rejustprayingforgoodoutcomesandwe're workingincrediblyhardtomakesurethatwemakeasbestanoutcomeaspossibleoutofwhat we have in front of us. Umang Mehta: Sure, sir. Thank you and all the best. Thank you, sir. Thankyou.OurnextquestionisfromthelineofNattashaJainwithPhillipCapital.Pleasego ahead. NattashaJain: Thankyoufortheopportunity.Sir,firstquestionisonrefrigerator.So,thepastcoupleofyears we'veseenthattheindustrygrowthherehasbeenprettymuchflatdespiteitbeingacooling product and summers being good. Socouldyouthrowsomelightastowhat'shappeningin this category? I understand even penetration is not thatgreathere.So,whyisthiscategory being a laggard in terms of appliances? Yes,ma'am,it'sagreatquestion.I'dsayIcan'tgiveyouadefinitiveanswertothisquestion, but whatyou'veobservedistrue.Attheentrylevel,thedirectcoolrefrigeratorbusiness,the industry has not done well in the last five years. I'm not talking about market shares and movement between players, I'm talking about the entire industry. Ithinkpost-COVID,intermsoftherecoverythat'shappenedfromtheeconomy,Ithinkthat's one of the factors that you hadasituationwhereit'salittlebitlikeaK-curve.It'snotbeen one-sidedkindofgrowthforeverybody.It'sbeenabitofaK-curve.Thedownwardpartofthe K-curveisbasicallyimpactedDC,thedirectcoolbusiness,andthesemi-automaticbusinessas youknow,becausetheseareentry-levelproductsattheentryofDCandthenofcoursethere's a middle and a premium as well. Now,youalsohaveasituationwhereifthebottompartoftheK-curveisnotmovingasfast, and I'm really,reallyhopingandlookingforwardtothatmovingupfastbecausethattrickle downhastohappen.Plus,youknow,withalloftherecentactivitiesthathavebeenopenedup, you know, with income tax slabs openingup,GSTbeingbroughtdownonproducts,notso muchforrefrigeratorandwashingmachines,butcertainlyforairconditionersandpanelsand carsandsoonandsoforth.There'salotofhousingprogramsbeingdonebythegovernment.I thinkit'saroundthecorner.Now,isitthreemonths,sixmonths,12months,18monthsfrom now, I do not know, but it's certainly not three years away where penetration should start growing again. Page23of27
As the trickle down happens, the penetration starts growing again alsobecauseofallthese other events that I mentioned.Andwhenthathappens,IthinkDCwillstartpickingup,SA will start picking up. These are not sunset categories, absolutely not in this country. What actually I think, ma'am, practically speaking in my view is happening is alotofthe peoplewhohaverefrigeratorsthatareeightyearsoldor10yearsoldor11yearsoldandyou would expect them to upgrade to a new model are potentially saying, hang on,letmejust maybecarryonforanothertwoyearsbydoingsomeamountofrepairingandsomeamountof managing somehow because we do a lot of jugaad innovation in our country. AndIthinkthat'sprobablyhappeninghereaswell,wheredecisionmakingonbuyingthenext refrigeratorisgettingpostponed.Itcannotbepostponedforeverbecauseatsomepointintime, youknow,machinesthatyoubought15yearsago,14yearsago,20yearsago,youknow,for sure, you know, you can't repair it beyond a point in time, all machines have a life. So,Ithinkit'samatteroftimebeforeitcomesin.So,therearetwobigthingsthatIthinkare goingtohappen.IthinkthebottomhalfoftheK-curveisgoingtostartliftingbecauseofall theimpactthatthegovernmentisputtingin,butalsobecauseofthefactthat,youknow,the trickle-down effect has to happen. Andthesecondpartofitisthataspeoplehavepostponedtheirpurchases,butnowthereisa point beyond which you cannotpostpone.So,whenitcomesback,youshouldhit--Ithink mathematically you should get a double whammy help, which would be very nice to see, especially for somebody like us who's very stronginDCandinsemi-automatic.Wewould love to see that take up. Nattasha Jain: Got it. So do you think a BEE ratingkind of a thing in refrigerator could pump up the demand? Ma'am, it's a very nice question, it'saveryprobablyatrickyonetoanswer.Ithinkwhatis reallyimportantinDCandsemi-automaticismakingsurethatthepricepointmakesalotof sense for the consumer for the value that they're getting, right? On the one hand, you know, having more energy efficientproductsisverygoodbecauseit helpssave,youknow,energy,ithelpsconserveenergyforthecountry.It'sawonderfulthing. Ontheotherhand,ifyouincrease--keeponincreasingstarratings,thenthecostalsogoesup, right?Therefrigeratorwillnotbethesamecostforatwo-starandathree-starandafour-star. Basically, it's impossible to be at the same cost. So, energy ratingcannotincreasewithoutacommensurateincreaseincost.Andifthereisa commensurate increase in cost, then over time there has to be a commensurateincreasein pricing. It may not be immediate, but over time it has to happen. Andtherefore,asweknow,whenpricegoesup,demandcouldpotentiallygodown.Sothisis a very complex relationship. We are doing the right thing as a country, as an industry by upgrading our energy-efficient machines and so on and so forth. Page24of27
Itmighthavebeyondapointintime,ifoverused,thenitcouldpotentiallyhaveanimpactof pullingdowndemandinsteadofpushingitup.Andthat'swhereIthinkthattightbalanceis, which is what industry is always speaking with to the ministries about. NattashaJain: Understood.Sir,onelastquestionandonefeedback.So,intermsofwashers,thequestionis, youknow,fourthquarterandthefirstquartercontinuestobeagoodquarter.Couldyouthrow somelightintermsofhowWhirlpool'sperformingthereandespeciallyyourfrontloadfully automaticfrontloadcategory?Andafeedback,sir,sawverystrongtractionforyourRACon thegroundandgoodfeedbackintermsofbothproductqualityandcooling.So,justwantedto leave you with that. Thank you so much. Thankyouverymuch,ma'am.Onwashers,likeIsaid,ourfrontloadwashers,washersoverall we'vehadsomeprettysolidresults.We'vehadshareincreasesinthelastquarterasIsaidinthe presentation. There's been volume market share increasesandobviouslyvaluemarketshare increasesinallthreecategoriesinthelastquarter:infullyautomatic,insemi-automatic,andin front load. Specifically on ourfrontloadwashers,asyoumighthaveseen,wehavestrongdouble-digit sharesintopload,nearlyclosetoourDCsharesactually.We'vegotprettystrongdouble-digit growthinsemi-automatic,butourfrontloadwashingmachineshareisstillonlysingle-digit. So, we have tremendous opportunity in that because we are known as a washing machine company, we invented the washing machine globally. So, I would say it would almost be an unfulfilled potential if we don't take ourfrontload washing machine to where it needs to be, which is the top echelon of front load washing machines. But it's an incredibly competitive market.Alotofexisting--verystrongplayers have big stakes there. So, it's not going to be easy, but we are moving ahead one step at a time. And like I said, in the last six or seven,probablyeightquarters,whichisoverthelasttwo years, we've had either high double-digit or triple-digit basis point share growth in every quarterversusthepreviousyear.Andthankyouforyourcommentontheroomairconditioner. Much appreciated. Nattasha Jain: Thank you, sir. All the best. Thank you. Since we're nearing the closing time for the meeting today, we'll take onelast question from Mr. Achal Lohade with Nuvama Institutional Equities. Please go ahead. AchalLohade: Yes,thankyoufortakingmyquestion,sir.Justtwoquestions.First,Iknowtheindustryand thecompanyhasgonethroughlotsofupsanddowns,butifyouweretolookatfromasteady state perspective, what is the margin range one should look at for Elicaandforrestofthe business? That's my number one question. Page25of27
Andsecondly,youknow,intermsoftheadjacency,isitfairtosaythatitwillbeinthekitchen appliances or you couldalsoevaluatesomethinginthesmallappliances?Thosearemytwo questions. Thank you so much. Thank you very much, sir. Like I said, you know, we're not really giving out any margin guidancesnowforthefuture,butjusttobevery,verytopline,Ihadsaideventwoyearsago, our intent over the long run would be to grow the business high single-digit, you know, year-on-yearcompoundgrowthrate.Ithinkmaybewecanupthatalittlebitandgointoearly double-digitsaswethinkaboutthefuture.Atleastthat'sourambitionandlet'sseewherelife leads us on the base business. Now,margins,Ithinktobehonestinthelongruninthiscategorybecauseofthemodelingthat --youknow,ifyoudoyourmodelingontheregulatoryimpactsandifyoudothemodelingon the competitiveness of this industry, you canseetodaythatthere'shardlyanybodywho'sin double-digitmargins,right?Itwasnotthecasesix,sevenyearsagoinwhatwecall'thegood old days', right? Those were the days where you would be sitting on 11%, 12%, 13% margin. Honestly,Ithinkthat'sgoingtobevery,verydifficultforanyplayertodo.Whetherornotyou aresittingondouble-digitmargintoday,Ithinkisnotthatrelevant.Whatisrelevantisit'san incredibly competitive market in which there is a significant regulatory cost component, energy changes that are kind of slated to come, you know, across the years. Andtherefore,overalongspanoftime,Ithinktogettoahighsingle-digitmarginisprobably whatislikelyintherefrigeratorwashingmachineairconditionerspace,right?AndIthinkthat kind of is probably the best that I can tell you. Now,whatWhirlpoolwilldoorwillnotdo,wewillseeaswegoalong,butthat'skindofin line with what I said and that would be long-term, it's not definitely not -- I'm notsaying medium term at all. AsfarasElica'sconcerned,asyouknow,it'salreadyinastrongdouble-digitkindofrange.I thinkwithElica,thekeyforusisElicaissuchanincrediblebrand.AndIwouldsaycompared to Whirlpool, it's not, you know, nowhere nearthatlevelofdistributionbecauseit'samore nichecategory.AndIthinkthere'splentyofpotentialforElicaacrossthenextdecadetobein many, many, many more homes as India premiumizes, as India aspires more. Elica is this incredibly, incredibly designedproduct,madeinIndia,conceptualizedinIndia, deliveredinIndia,inspiredbyItaliandesign.AndthatissomethingthatIthink,youknow,as welooktothatbusiness,Iwouldalwayshopetokeepitinthedouble-digitmarginrange,but overthenextmaybefivetosevenyears,Iwouldlovetotakealittlebitofthatmarginandput it into driving revenuegrowthbecauseIthinkthereisasignificantopportunitytodrivethat category whose penetration is probably less than 5% today, much less than 5%. AndIthink,youknow,togettoawashingmachinelevelofcloseto20%ortoarefrigerator which is inthemid-30stosub-40level,Elica'sgottremendouspotentialforgrowthaswell, like ACs have in this country, like washing machines have in this country, and like refrigerators have in this country. So, I hope I answered that question. Page26of27
Ontheadjacency,IthinklikeIsaid,westartedlookingatitearlydays.Wehavetolookata lot of factors. I think the overall obviously any business that we get into, whether it's an adjacencyoranacquisitionorwhateveritis,amerger,wehavetobecomebetterownersofthe business than the current, you know, business. And that I think is what is going to be the key. Sotheobviousthingstolookatiswherearethesynergieswithrespecttogo-to-market,where are the synergies, you know, with respect to what kind of business you want to get. For example, we've not been really interested in very low margin businesses. That'snotofany interest to us because Elica is a classic example of the kind of business that we would definitely like to have, which is really good margin business, capable of growing very strongly. Wehave,youknow,alotofpotentialtogrowthatbusiness.Wehavethemarginswithwhich we can invest intothatbusiness.That'saclassicexampleofthetypeofbusinessandbythe way,similargo-to-market,similargo-to-market,notthesame,butasimilargo-to-market.And therefore,that'sthekindofprofileofadjacencyoracquisitionorwhateveryouwanttocallit thatwewouldliketolookat,notsomethingwhichiscompletelyoffthewall.So,isitlarge?Is it small? I think that's less importantthanisitbeautiful?Isitprofitable?Isitsynergistic?I hope I answered your question. Achal Lohade: Very well, sir. Thank you so much. Wishyou all the best. Thank you, sir. Thankyou.Ladiesandgentlemen,thatwasthelastquestion.Inowhandtheconferenceover to Ms. Sweta Srivastava for closing comments. Thankyou,everyone,forjoiningthecall.Withthat,wewouldliketodrawthiscalltoaclose. Aditya Jain: On behalf of Whirlpool of India Limited, that concludesthisconference.Thankyouallfor joining us. You may now disconnect your lines. Page27of27