The defining industry shifts and key management takeaways
Welcome to this week’s edition of TOPICAL WEDNESDAY! Today, we’re covering the key trends in Q4FY25 across sectors and insights from management.
The Q4 FY25 earnings season is wrapping up, and the good news is, most sectors are reporting positive results! This momentum clearly contributed to India’s 7.4% GDP growth YoY for Q4 FY25, making it the fastest-growing quarter of the fiscal year. This impressive performance helped achieve an overall 6.5% GDP growth rate for the full year.
As the flurry of earnings calls subsides, we’ve distilled the key takeaways. We’ve gathered major trends, patterns, and shifts across the industries we cover, along with crucial management insights shared this quarter.
Consider this your go-to resource for a quick pulse check on what shaped various industries in Q4 FY25. Whether you need an update today or a refresher down the line, this newsletter provides a concise knowledge base.
Save this one – you’ll want to refer back to it!
Now, let’s dive into the major industry updates and management highlights.
Diagnostics Industry
Industry Trends
Economic & Seasonal Fluctuations – Some companies noted lower-than-usual revenues in specific months (e.g., February 2025) due to seasonal weather changes, festivals, or general market dullness. Increased input costs for consumables due to international trade was seen.
Increased Focus on Preventive and Wellness Testing: There is a rising demand for wellness packages and preventive diagnostics, particularly among the 30-50 age group, and these programs are contributing meaningfully to overall performance. Companies are leveraging this trend to enhance patient engagement and scale.
Shift Towards Tier-2, Tier-3, and Tier-4 Markets – There is an expectation that Tier-2, Tier-3, and Tier-4 towns will account for a larger share of diagnostic demand in the coming years, leading companies to expand their presence aggressively in these regions.
Double-Digit Growth in Diagnostics – The diagnostic sector is witnessing steady expansion, growing in double digits annually, with estimates ranging from 10- 11%
Concall Highlights:
Dr Lal Pathlabs Ltd
Wellness Packages – “Our bundled test program, SwasthFit, also delivered robust growth of 22%, contributing meaningfully to the overall performance…Our bundled test program, SwasthFit, is a potent instrument to gain scale while providing value to patients. We are extending the bundled test philosophy into the illness segment, ensuring we provide comprehensive and cost-effective diagnostic solutions across the healthcare spectrum.”
Shift towards Tier 2,3, and 4 Markets – “During the year, we added 18 new labs, expanding our presence in Tier-3 and Tier-4 markets, while strengthening our network in Metro and Tier-1 cities.
Metropolis Healthcare
Economic or Seasonal Fluctuation – “In terms of quarter 4 operating performance, we observed lower-than-usual revenue in February, particularly in our focus markets. This quarter also witnessed a decline in acute testing volumes due to seasonal weather changes, which impacted hospital footfall and diagnostic demand. Having said that, the positive development is that March saw a healthy recovery and April followed normal trends. Based on current indicators, we anticipate that quarter 1 revenue buildup will be in line with expectations.”
Wellness Packages – “Our TruHealth segment registered a 24% year-on-year revenues increase, now contributing to 19% of the total revenues, considering the exit run rate of quarter 4.”
Shift towards Tier 2,3, and 4 Markets – “We have added almost 90 labs and 2,000 centers in the last 4 years…We are now present in 750 towns, up from 350 just a couple of years ago. We have added 29 labs at a gross level in financial year ’25 and have added more than 400 centers. Over 85 labs have been added in the last 4 years with 51 of these getting added in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns…Tier 3 towns, in particular, have seen 18 percentage year-on-year revenue growth and now contribute 26 percentage of our domestic revenues”
Thyrocare Technologies Ltd
Wellness Packages- “Aarogyam has been our flagship brand in the preventive healthcare segment, and we have 2 more brands, Jaanch and Her Check. Jaanch, as I have said before, is targeted towards lifestyle challenges or for you to better understand your health…Our Aarogyam revenue share is almost 35% on…has individually also grown upwards of 20%…Jaanch has actually grown 25% year-on-year and is doing very well in our portfolio as well”
Shift towards Tier 2,3, and 4 Markets – “During FY ’25, we acquired Polo Labs in July 2024, which is based out of Punjab with a wide presence in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. This allows us to expand our footprint in North India. We also acquired the Clinical Diagnostics business of Vimta Labs in October 2024. Vimta’s Clinical Diagnostics division, with its established presence in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, offers us an excellent opportunity to further strengthen our presence in South India. This is in line with the pockets of white spaces strategy where we were looking for acquisitions in regions…We are deepening our presence across India by going deep into the country with our franchise network and through our acquisitions as well. We have moved to a transacting base of franchise of upwards of 11,000, and at the same time last year we closed this number at 9,400.”
Hospitals Sector
Industry Trends
Aggressive Capacity Expansion (Organic and Inorganic) – Across the board, healthcare providers are actively expanding their bed capacity and geographic footprint through new greenfield hospitals, brownfield expansions, and strategic acquisitions. This indicates a strong long-term growth outlook based on rising demand.
Focus on High-End Specialties and Improved Case Mix – Companies are increasingly prioritizing complex, high-value medical and surgical procedures across specialties like oncology, cardiology, neurosciences, orthopedics, and transplants. This strategic shift is aimed at driving higher Average Revenue Per Occupied Bed (ARPOB) and improving overall margins.
Favorable Payer Mix Trends and Increased Insurance Penetration – The increasing proportion of revenue from insurance and cash-paying patients is a positive trend. Companies are adapting their strategies to optimize their payer mix, including making conscious choices about participating in government schemes to ensure better realizations and focusing on segments with higher profitability.
Geopolitical Issues and International Patient Flows – A significant and widespread challenge was the reduction in international patient footfalls, primarily due to geopolitical issues and stricter visa regulations, notably impacting patients from Bangladesh. A lot of companies cited this as a contributing factor to slower revenue growth or lower realizations in the international segment.
Initial Losses from New Facilities – Many companies are undergoing aggressive expansion, but new greenfield hospitals or recently acquired units often operate at lower profitability or incur initial losses during their ramp-up phase.
Concall Highlights
Max Healthcare Institute Ltd
Aggressive Capacity Expansion – “After acquiring hospitals in Nagpur and Lucknow in the last quarter of the previous year (FY ’24), we acquired the 500-bed marquee Jaypee Hospital in Delhi NCR this year. As part of our asset-light expansion strategy, we commissioned Max Dwarka and signed up contracts for built-to-suit hospitals to be set up by our partners in Mohali, Thane and Pitampura (Delhi). During the year, in what could have been a year of moderate growth otherwise, we initiated multiple long-term growth plans, including the announcement made last week regarding acquisition of approximately 1 acre land parcel, adjoining our fully occupied 400-bed hospital in Vaishali.”
Geopolitical Issue and International Patient Flow – “International patient revenue stood at INR 202 crore, registering a growth of 28% year-on-year, despite contraction in patient footfalls from Bangladesh and Yemen due to continuing political unrest.”
Initial Losses from New Facilities – “Additionally, our newly operationalized asset-light hospital in Dwarka achieved EBITDA breakeven in 6 months – a new record. The hospital clocked a revenue of INR 171 crore and an EBITDA loss of INR 29 crore for the entire year FY ’25, since becoming operational in July ‘24…On top of that, you have got three brownfields that are coming. And the one greenfield, which comes at the end of the year will produce some operating loss, but like Dwarka did, it should more than get set off or absorbed by what we are doing on the brownfields and the momentum of others. That’s where we are. We are probably going to be entering, if I was to look at it, the strongest year in the last 5 years that we have had.”
Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) Ltd
Aggressive Capacity Expansion – “With the addition of 2 new units in Guntur in Andhra Pradesh and Sangli in Maharashtra, we are expecting a direct addition of INR10 crores for the financial year ’26. You will be very happy to know that during financial year ’25, we have opened our hospital at Nashik and Sangli in Maharashtra; Kannur and Kollam in Kerala and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh…During the year, we opened an exclusive foot care center and also a rehabilitation center in Hyderabad. We did the soft launch of our prestigious Thane, Mumbai unit in April, and it will become full-fledged in the next 5 to 6 months. We’ll also be opening our 2 hospitals in Bangalore in the current year, which are in the final stage of completion…But overall, we’ll try to maintain that number. As the net debt tapers down, we have identified more projects. We will continue to add more capacity for long-term growth.”
Focus on High-End Specialty and Improved Case Mix – “average revenue per operating bed grew by 22.7% on a year-on-year basis…(driven by) good 20% plus growth in ARPOB (due to) “Price revision in Telangana cluster,” a “good decline in the length of stay” and “a lot of the incremental business that came in from cash and insurance…We onboarded a new liver transplant team in Secunderabad because of which there has been significant growth. So I think Telangana will continue to grow at similar growth rates for the next few years, given that there is additional capacity in Sunshine and the new Kondapur hospital is going to come. The margin will sustain and further expand…It will be a steady growth in Andhra. We are now doing a lot of transplant work. We will start oncology pretty soon in most of our hospitals. So it will definitely improve.”
Initial Losses from New Facilities – New units contributed an “EBITDA loss of INR18 crores” in FY25147…(Nashik unit is expected to incur) around INR15 crores of losses for the full year, with a slightly delayed ramp-up on account of insurance empanelment…(Management expects the) INR18 crores drag will expand a little further given the size of the 3 new hospitals that are getting commissioned”
Favorable Payer Mix Trend and Increased Insurance Penetration – “A lot of the incremental business that came in from cash and insurance as of the year.”
Shalby Ltd
Aggressive Capacity Expansion – “We’ll focus on local partnerships across different countries to expand our footprint. We plan the global launch of two new products this year. We are advancing robotic partnerships with Curexo and Monogram, Curexo being a South Korean, Monogram being an American company, which is listed there to integrate cutting-edge technology into our surgical solutions…Last 15 months has seen one large acquisition to the tune of almost INR300 crores. So I would not say we are not in the expansion spree. We are also expanding. We are also adding a hospital in Mumbai. We’ll be investing a little over INR250 crores in that asset”
Focus on High-End Specialty and Improved Case Mix – “So the addition are a few units, a few big units, say, at Indore, we have hired a big GI team who is well known at Indore and at Asia level also. So there are 8 doctors who are hiring in GI team, and we have started that vertical of GI and hepatobiliary disease as well as liver transplant department. So it is on high-end procedures and super specialty work. That is how we are going and hiring and it is a strategic decision to go in with high-end procedures and high-end surgeries. So same way is with Surat, same way is at other hospitals. So if you see in this quarter, say, Jan, Feb, March, we have hired 40 doctors at different hospitals, which are into super specialty work.”
Initial Losses from New Facilities – “ And there is a slippage of around 11% on Y-o-Y basis in terms of the EBITDA margin. The down in EBITDA is mainly because of our strategical movement towards the investment into the doctor, which if you can see on the Y-o-Y basis, there is an increase of around 2% to the doctor…On the hospital front, some losses — I will not say the losses, because once the doctor is getting onboarded, it took around 3 to 6 months of time to deliver on the pace. And again, I don’t want to commit anything in terms of the forward-looking point of view. But definitely, FY ’26 looks promising on the hospital front.”
Wires & Cables
Industry Trends
Strong Underlying Domestic Demand – This is the most significant tailwind, driven by government initiatives in power, infrastructure, and housing, leading to sustained demand for cables and wires. The industry experienced robust demand and significant volume growth in Q4 FY25. Companies generally project continued high growth rates.
Capacity Expansion – Multiple companies are undertaking substantial capital expenditure (CAPEX) to expand manufacturing capacities.
Favorable Export Positioning for India – Despite global trade tensions, some companies believe India is well-positioned to benefit from changing global trade dynamics or is less adversely affected by tariffs compared to other major exporting countries.
Commodity Price Volatility – Although most companies operate on a pass-through model for raw material costs (like copper and aluminum), volatility still presents challenges for margins and sales value reporting.
Competitive Landscape – The industry is highly competitive, with existing players and new entrant.
Concall Highlights
Polycab India Ltd
Favorable Export Position for India – “Since February this year, we have witnessed a sharp escalation in global trade tensions. What began as targeted US tariffs has quickly broadened into sweeping measures, prompting swift retaliation from key trading partners. By early April, tariffs were nearly across the board… Despite these global challenges, India’s growth story remains fundamentally strong. Our structural drivers, expanding workforce, rapid digitization and a resilient domestic economy are laying the foundation for sustained growth. Unlike many others, we are relatively insulated from global tariff actions.”
Capex – “the annual capex reached almost ₹ 10 billion, underscoring our long-term commitment to growth. We remain on track with our Project Spring capex roadmap of ₹ 60 to ₹ 80 billion over the next five years, which will power our capabilities, scale and innovation.”
Competition – “As far as the entry of new players is concerned, see, I mean this is an industry which has done consistently well over the past three to four years and we have very good visibility of it continuing to do very well in the near future. The entry of new players just reaffirms our thought process that this industry can continue to grow at a very good rate in the longer-term and that is why it makes sense for newer players to look at and the larger players to look at this as an industry. The positive impact of this also is that we will see the best practices of those players coming into this industry and hopefully the existing players can replicate that and improve on their businesses as well. What will also happen is that there will be an acceleration as far as the market share gain for organized players is concerned.”
RR Kabel Ltd
Strong Domestic Demand – “A key part of our strategy is to grow domestic Wires & Cables business to 1.6x by leveraging the resurgence in real estate, increasing demand from the data center, renewables and industrial capex. We aim to scale our cable business while maintaining a high-quality, value-focused portfolio.”
Capex – “We have already begun executing our INR1,200 crores capex plan in FY ’26 to FY ’28, primarily aimed to increase cable capacity to support a 15% to 20% volume growth and margin improvement. These initiatives reflect our commitment to delivering high-quality, environmentally competent product while building a robust scalable platform for the future. Looking ahead, our long-term growth will be supported by structural drivers and expanding share to the organized market and government initiatives.”
Favorable Export Position – “Our export business contributed 26% to our total revenue in FY ’25, stable compared to FY ’24. In absolute terms, exports grew by 11% year-on-year despite global uncertainty, a testament to our strong international strategy…We are also strengthening our export business, targeting 1.8x growth by leveraging our strong brand equity and India’s favorable trade dynamics. Entry into new markets and categories will further enhance our global competitive edge.”
Paramount Communications Ltd
Capex – “You see, we are looking at roughly Rs. 150 crores of CAPEX in Phase-1 for the Narmadapuram facility. Asset turn could go up to 6 roughly because we will be looking at getting revenues of around Rs. 1,000 crores from this facility within the next 3 years. It won’t happen immediately, but we hope to get around Rs. 1,000 crores within the next 3 years from this facility…We have been allotted recently 31 acres of land in the industrial area of Narmadapuram in Madhya Pradesh by MPIDC. This land will be utilized by us to set up our new Greenfield manufacturing facility for manufacturing of wires and cables aligning with our growth targets”
Commodity Price Volatility – “You see, metal prices have shown a downward trend in the past 2 years. Not only this year, in the previous year also, the metal prices have been coming down, basically commodity prices that test their peak during FY ’23. So as the reduction happens, we have to produce more to sell the same amount, right, so now if I consume 57% more of metal, I have been able to bring up my value of sales by only 47%. So this means that there has been a slight reduction in the metal prices or commodity prices. It is not that heavy a reduction, but still it is there because there is a gap between 57% volume and 47% revenue increase.”
Export – “The export to US during this quarter was Rs. 146 crores against Rs. 63 crores in the same quarter last year. That is achieving the growth of around 133%. Export still constituted 28.9% of our total sales as against 19.4% in the previous year same quarter. During the year FY ’25, the total export sale was Rs. 483 crores as against Rs. 276 crore last year, showing a growth of 75%. And out of the total sale, the export sale constitutes 31% of our total sales in FY ’25 as against 26% in the last year. All our export sales were through our established distributor network spread across the USA.”
Plastic Pipe Industry
Industry Trends
PVC Resin Prices – There was high volatility and a continuous downward trend in PVC resin prices for much of FY25, with prices falling by 18% during the year. This severely impacted realizations and led to significant inventory losses for companies. However, by Q4 FY25, some companies observed that PVC prices had bottomed out and started to recover, with a slight reversal noted in May.
Channel Inventory – The weak demand and falling prices led to inventory destocking by channel partners across the industry, with dealers and distributors holding very low inventory levels, in some cases less than one week compared to a normal of 3-4 weeks. This situation is expected to normalize with stable PVC.
Intense Competition/Price Aggression – The challenging market environment led to aggressive pricing strategies from competitors, putting pressure on margins.
Demand Scenario – The industry faced a weak and muted demand scenario during Q4 and FY25. This was compounded by unseasonal rainfall in several parts of the country4. However, April and May 2025 showed strong demand for both agri and non-agri segments, with companies reporting being fully sold out on inventory due to pre-monsoon buying and end-user purchases.
Anti-Dumping Duty (ADD) & BIS Standards – The implementation of anti-dumping duty on PVC remains a significant discussion point. The Supreme Court scrapped a high court verdict, allowing ADD to be placed on the entire PVC basket, which is seen as a positive for local manufacturers. While the exact timeline is uncertain, companies are confident it will eventually be implemented2627. ADD on CPVC has already been extended until FY29. Additionally, BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) implementation is expected to standardize norms, remove carbide-based PVC (a cheaper, lower-quality polymer) from the system, and shift business from unorganized to organized players, potentially increasing polymer prices.
Concall Highlights
Supreme Industries Ltd
PVC Resin Price Volatility – “The year concluded had normal business in all it’s segments for the Company except Plastic Pipe System business principally due to much lower spending by Central and State Governments on infrastructure compared to the year 2023-24, unseasonal rainfall in several parts of the country and extreme volatile situation of PVC Resin prices, principal raw material used by the Company. The prices of this raw material changed 14 times since July’24 and severely impacted the Plastics piping industry… We can tell on a full year basis, we believe that the company might have lost INR150 crores in the Piping division due to the fall in PVC prices. And there was a fall in polythene pipe price also. So, across the board, all the polymer prices have gone down.”
Channel Inventory – “because of the falling prices continuously for last 8 months, the market sentiments were very negative…Last year the price was falling. It fell by INR22 a kilo between 2nd of July to March end. The price was dropping. So, there was huge de-stocking taking place throughout the chain at each seller, semi-wholesaler, wholesaler.”
Anti-Dumping Duty (ADD) & BIS Implementation – “ I can’t forecast anything about anti-dumping duty. It is between DGTR and Ministry of Finance and the High Court and Supreme Court of the country. I can’t talk anything. I don’t know anything. But definitely PVC prices have dropped too much. It has become very uneconomical and we believe that it will come close to bottom or it might have gone to bottom. May rise also after some time.”
Finolex Industries Ltd
PVC Resin Price Volatility – FIL has registered a modest growth in pipes and fittings volume in spite of weak demand scenario during the quarter and the year. The operating performance of the company is muted, mainly due to weaker realization on account of volatility in PVC resin prices.
Competition – “In fact, I don’t know whether you attended the last analyst call, but in that I had mentioned that there was, to use a bad word, price war kind of a situation in Q2 and Q3 and because of which the margins had taken a massive beating. And then that time itself, we declared that we would steadily take the margins up.”
Anti-Dumping Duty (ADD) & BIS Implementation – “ADD and BIS remain a question mark. We are confident that both of them will come. Only thing, unfortunately, from the government side, there has been a considerable delay. Now the court also has told the government to speed up the process”
Prince Pipes
PVC Resin Price Volatility – “The PVC pipe industry navigated a challenging macroeconomic environment during the year, marked by muted demand across key end user segments. Furthermore, subdued government spendings in infrastructure and allied sectors led to demand softening and inventory destocking by channel partners in major markets. These challenges were compounded by high volatility in PVC resin prices impacting both volumes and margins across the sector. So it is around INR25 crores for this quarter, the inventory loss…(For full year) INR85 crores to INR90 crores.”
Channel Inventory – Channel inventory as we speak is low for my channel partners because of the reluctance to stock material. So channel inventory is low. So usually, I think channel would be keeping around depending on market to market, but around 3 to 4 weeks of inventory. I think that today would be around less than 2 weeks. So that’s how we see it in terms of channel inventory.
Demand Scenario – “Our volume for the quarter stood at 50,454 metric ton as compared to 51,444 metric ton same period last year. It de-grew by 2% year-on-year. EBITDA for the quarter stood at INR55 crores, degrowth of 41% year-on-year, while margins stood at 7.6%. Profit after tax for the quarter stood at INR24 crores and PAT margins for the quarter stood at 3.4%. For the full year highlights, revenue from operations stood at INR2,524 crores, degrowth of 2% year-on-year. Our volume for FY ’25 stood at 177,202 metric ton as compared to 172,793 metric ton same period last year.”
EMS Industry
Industry Trends
Government Support and Schemes – The Indian government’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for PCBs and component manufacturing are significant. These subsidies are expected to support capacity expansion and localization efforts.
Supply Chain Diversification – Global customers are increasingly looking to diversify their supply chains, with sourcing decisions moving towards India’s favor. This includes a “China Plus” strategy, where large Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are considering alternatives to China for new products.
Dual Manufacturing Presence – Companies with manufacturing facilities in both India and the US, like Avalon, are uniquely positioned to navigate global shifts and offer strategic flexibility to customers. Kaynes is also strengthening its North American footprint through acquisitions
Focus on High-Margin Verticals – There is a consistent strategic shift or continued focus towards higher-margin, high-value business segments such as industrial, automotive, healthcare, aerospace, rail, and clean energy. Companies are actively reducing reliance on lower-margin, high-volume consumer businesses.
Tariff Uncertainty – While viewed differently by some companies, tariff uncertainties have led to a degree of caution among customers and have muted exports in FY25 for some, with the situation still described as fluid.
Concall Highlights:
Kaynes Technology Ltd
Government-Supported Scheme – “Our construction for OSAT plant in Sanand, Gujarat has already started along with construction for HDI PCB plant in Chennai. Both the plants’ construction is in full swing, and we are in line with meeting the deadlines of completing the construction by year-end…As far as the high-density PCB is concerned, we have applied into the ex 2.0 as it were, and we are likely to get the PLI there.”
Supply Chain Diversification – “a lot of big OEMs are seriously considering alternative to China… But all the new products, etcetera, they will bring to places like India because I think U.S. is very much cautious in providing new technology to Chinese vendors.”
Dual Manufacturing Presence – “With our recent acquisition of August Electronics in Canada, we have strengthened our North American footprint, added manufacturing capability in Canada and large high-margin customers…So this is like China plus U.S. will become India plus U.S. kind of strategy, and we will certainly acquire…possibly an additional facility in the U.S. in addition to already we have Digicom.”
Focus on High-Margin Verticals – “As we move forward, we expect on all-round growth in all business verticals, especially with newer clients in EV and aerospace vertical. Our majority stake in Sensonic, a global AI-based rail network safety solution company, positioned us to capitalize on the electronics and technology upgrade in the railway sector.”
Avalon Technologies Ltd
Government-Supported Scheme – “Now with the PLI scheme for the PCBs coming out, our endeavor is to do more and more India. Only when we can’t do India, we go outside.”
Supply Chain Diversification – “India continues to benefit from strong industry tailwinds, and we are seeing sourcing decisions increasingly moving towards India’s favor…higher tariffs on imports from select countries are driving opportunities to India to emerge as a preferred manufacturing hub, resulting in an increased engagement from global customers aiming to diversify their supply chains.”
Dual Manufacturing Presence – Avalon’s dual manufacturing presence in both US and India positions us well to navigate these shifts…At the same time, our US Manufacturing facility offers strategic flexibility to support customers looking to localize production and meet regional requirements.”
Tariff Uncertainty – At the same time, we are closely monitoring evolving global trade dynamics including tariff negotiations and macroeconomic developments which could influence manufacturing flows worldwide…On the other hand, policy uncertainty and its impact on US economy call for continued agility and disciplined planning… (On tariff pass-through) It’s 100% pass through. Okay. And in the US, we have also been dealing with the Chinese tariffs for US customers which is 35%-40%, for the last couple of years we have been passing it through.”
Syrma SGS Technology Ltd
Government-Supported Scheme – “We would, as I said, in all probability, seriously, we are evaluating to participate in the component PLI. So to make India an electronics hub, we would like to participate in that scheme of the Government of India and the Honorable Prime Minister with all our sincerity and efforts.”High Margin Verticals – “recalibrating of the business strategy to bring Consumer business down to about 35%, which also means accretion in the business, high-margin business of Industrial, Automotive and Health care.”
Tariff Uncertainty – “Exports in the current year have been subdued…largely driven by the tariff uncertainties and a muted EU environment…Tariffs are still in a fluid and a nebulous stage. How would it pan out, no one knows. So despite that, we are expecting a growth of about 20%, 22%.”
Value Retail
Industry Trends
Aggressive Store Rollout – A dominant pattern is the commitment to rapid store network expansion.
Subdued Consumer Discretionary Spending – A persistent macro headwind noted across the board is the strong macro headwinds with sustained impact on consumer discretionary consumption and a subdued overall consumption environment. This suggests that while value retail is relatively resilient, it’s not entirely immune to broader economic pressures.
Competitive Landscape – The value fashion space very competitive, requiring continuous differentiation and efficient operations.
Seasonal Fluctuations & Discounting Pressures – The late arrival of winter in Q4 FY25 led to the need for huge discounts on winter stocks in January and February, negatively impacting profitability for some retailers
Strong Emphasis on Private Labels/Own Designs – This is a universal strategy to drive better margins, offer unique fashion, and reduce reliance on discounting.
Concall Highlights
Baazar Style Retail Ltd.
Seasonal Fluctuation and Discounting Pressure – “Historically Q4 is always a dull month for our Company. But because in March it was Eid and the Holi put together, so March month was very good. But January and February, because of late arrival of winter led to a huge discount in winters in the month of January, because we do not want to carry winter stocks for the entire year…the discounts which were supposed to start from maybe 10th or 12th of January, we had to start from the 1st January itself, because of the late arrival of winter. As a result, January was, I can say, EBITDA killer”.
Emphasis on Private Label/Own Design – “our focus on growing private label shares, speaking of which, I am pleased to announce that our portfolio of 10 private level contributes 45% of our total revenue.”
Aggressive New Store Opening – “highest ever store addition of 52 stores versus initial expectation of 35 to 40 stores to make it to a total of 214 stores…highest ever store addition of 52 stores versus initial expectation of 35 to 40 stores to make it to a total of 214 stores…we do not need to have any borrowings further on account of opening new stores. I think the internal accrual will be sufficient for that once we receive the insurance fund.”
V2 Retail Ltd
Competition Landscape – “V2 stands for value and variety. So, we feel we give maximum value to the customer. So, in a sense that means that we are the cheapest in that quality benchmark. And the second is variety, in terms of number of options, we are the leading retailer…our per square feet sales are at least 25% to 30% higher than our nearest competition… wherever we are entering because of the value proposition that we offer to the customers, we are getting an amazing response because we don’t really have much competition in these new areas in the price segment that we operate in”.
Seasonal Fluctuation and Discounting Pressure – “Q1 has the main wedding season, of course the Eid was preponed and it shifted to Q4. So, there will be a slight impact… it’s because of the end of season sales for winter and pre winter goods. So, winter and pre winter season is only for 3 to 4 months. And if we don’t clear out that inventory in January then we have to carry it for another 9-10 months. So that is why always the 4th Quarter has the lowest margin…the gross margin “drops by more than 6%-7%” during end-of-season sales.”
Emphasis on Private Label/Own Design – “85% of our business is private label and we are doubling down on it. Our own design products contributed about 35% to 40% this year and we target it to reach around 60% by the summer of 2026 and 80% by 2027″. This strategy aims for “better margins, unique fashion, less discounting and customer loyalty.”
Aggressive Store Opening – “Added 74 stores and closed two during the year reaching 189 stores by 31st of March 2025. As of today, we have already crossed the 200 stores mark with 207 stores live…on track to open 100 stores this year…The scope to grow is much faster than this also. But like I said, if our performance keeps improving like it has in the last 2 years and the new stores keep giving encouraging results then we might accelerate the store growth and it might be 50% to 60%.”
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd (ABFRL) – Style Up
Competitive Landscape – “The value fashion space obviously is very, very competitive right now.”
Emphasis on Private Label/Own Design – “Improved private label share.”
Aggressive New Store Opening – “expanding its footprint to 46 stores with 7 new additions during this quarter…The recent fundraise will be partly deployed to expand the network to over 300 stores in the next 3 years…This year in FY ’26, we plan to open about another 50 stores. Over the next 2 to 3 years, we plan to open about close to 150-odd stores…you will see much steeper acceleration going forward…a large part of our capital allocation in the preceding fundraise is meant to drive Style Up expansion.”
Life Insurance
Industry Trends
Shift to Guaranteed/Traditional Products – The macroeconomic environment, particularly market volatility, is driving customer demand towards non-PAR and participating products that offer guaranteed returns, which is seen as a positive for companies with strong traditional product portfolios. Volatile equity markets in Q4 FY25 led to a degrowth in ULIP sales for several players and a general shift in customer preference away from market-linked products.
Shift to Guaranteed/Traditional Products – The macroeconomic environment, particularly market volatility, is driving customer demand towards non-PAR and participating products that offer guaranteed returns, which is seen as a positive for companies with strong traditional product portfolios. Volatile equity markets in Q4 FY25 led to a degrowth in ULIP sales for several players and a general shift in customer preference away from market-linked products.
Focus on Protection & Riders – The strategic focus on increasing protection sales, higher sum assured, and higher rider attachment rates is positively impacting margins and providing value to customers.
Distribution Channel – Agency channels are a major focus for investment and expansion, with companies adding new agents and branches while also working on improving agent productivity. Bancassurance remains a crucial channel, with efforts to enhance profitability through product mix optimization and leveraging digital resources. Online business channels are also experiencing significant growth, especially in protection.
Regulatory Environment – The implementation of new surrender charge regulations in FY25 led to product interventions and adjustments in strategy across the industry. There is recurring “noise” or informal discussions about potential bancassurance regulations, though no formal guidelines have been issued.
High Base Effect – Companies reported strong growth in FY25, particularly in the first half, leading to a high base that is expected to moderate growth in H1 FY26.
Concall Highlights
HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd
Shift to Guaranteed/Traditional Products – “softening interest rate cycle and volatile equity markets might lend support to traditional savings product offerings…strong traction led by the launch of Click 2 Achieve PAR (and grew) upwards of 40% odd…(Non-PAR savings also showed) robust growth of 25% for the year (and are expected to) continue going forward as well as the interest rate environment becomes more conducive.”
Distribution Channel – “All channels registered double-digit growth”…(Bancassurance) counter-share within HDFC Bank has remained steady at about 65%…enhance the profitability of HDFC Bank channel through a multi-pronged approach, encompassing product mix optimization, heightened focus on cross-selling and up-selling initiatives, strategic leveraging of the bank’s digital resources, and a commitment to superior customer service…(Agency channel) healthy growth of 15%…ranked #1 in the private sector in terms of total agent count as of February 2025, with close to 30,000 new agents added during the year…They “continue to invest in building the agency franchise, adding over 200 branches in the last 24 months, of which 117 branches were added in FY25,”
Regulatory Environment – “successfully managed to contain the impact of the new surrender charge regulations…We have spoken about sharing the burden with the distribution, we have done that. We have taken a hit of 30 basis points. We have obviously adjusted some of our distribution commercials to support the rest of the burden…bancassurance is an extremely important channel to get to the objective of insurance for all by 2047…throwing the baby out with the bathwater… is not the intention of the government”
High Base Effect of H1FY25 – “FY’25 was characterized by front end delivery on topline and VNB with a 31% growth in topline and a 17% growth in VNB in the first half, followed by a relatively softer second half. As we step into FY’26, this base effect is likely to result in a moderate first half with growth momentum expected to pick up in the second half, leading to a more balanced full year outcome.”
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd
Shift to Guaranteed/Traditional Products – “customer preference tends to shift to products that offer guaranteed returns while ensuring wealth preservation. Through the addition of GIFT Select in Q4, we strengthened our guaranteed portfolio to cater to this shift in customer preference.”
Distribution Channel – “Well-diversified distribution mix, (with) more than 200,000 agents, (partnerships with) 48 banks and access to more than 23,000 bank branches and 1,300 non-bank partnerships…Agency business APE grew by 14.2% year-on-year…Bancassurance business APE grew by 18.2% year-on-year…continue to strengthen our Partnership distribution channel and have added more than 200 partners in FY2025.”
High Base Effect of H1 FY25 – “decline in proprietary business primarily because of two factors: one, the high base of annuity in the previous year and second, customer preference shifting away from ULIPs…endeavour would be to continue to build upon the numbers that we have and build growth on top of that.”
Increased Competition – “group term business was impacted due to increased competition…MFI segment was impacted due to continued challenge…some pressure to continue in the MFI segment in coming quarters”
SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd
Shift to Guaranteed/Traditional Products – “added 4 new non-ulip products to our portfolio…”sold more than 1.5 lakhs policies and collected more than INR1,100 crores of new business premium…(Product mix for FY26) 65% of ULIP and 35% of our traditional policies.”
Focus on Protection and Riders – “Individual new business sum assured registered a growth of 43% over corresponding previous period and for the quarter growth was at 67%…Individual protection new business for Q4 FY ’25 has grown by 40% on NBP basis as compared to quarter 3 FY ’25.
Distribution Channel – “SBI branch productivity on individual APE terms stands at INR5.4 million for the year and registered a growth of 9%…impressive strides in agent activation, agency channel productivity and onboarding of new agents and better collaboration between agents…Agency registered individual new business growth of 28% over corresponding previous year and contributes 27% (and) Agency channel individual APE showed a growth of 23% over last year….(online channel) Individual rated premium through this channel has grown by 66% for the current year…and protection business through this channel on IRP terms grew by 31%.”
Increased Competition – “witnessed some headwinds in group business, particularly with our group savings product.”
Music Industry
Industry Trends
Rapid Growth of Paid Subscriptions – This is the most significant tailwind, with both companies expressing strong confidence that paid streaming will be the primary growth driver for the Indian music industry in the coming quarters/years. This transition is expected to increase yields per stream compared to free services and lead to a more sustainable business mode.
Exploding Digital Consumption – The sheer volume of content consumption across various digital platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, and other streaming services, provides a vast audience for monetization.
Value of Back Catalogs – The continued performance and viral resurgence of older songs demonstrate the enduring value and consistent revenue generation potential of existing music libraries.
Diversification into New Verticals – Expansion into artist management, live events, and varied video content formats creates new revenue streams and leverages synergies across different entertainment segments, reducing risk and fostering overall growth.
Regional Market Growth – The growing consumption of content in regional languages is seen as a profitable and expanding market segment.
Improved International Licensing Deals – India’s share in the global music label revenue is currently about 2% of the $29 billion global market, indicating substantial room for growth. Leveraging partnerships with global entities for international publishing exploitation opens up new avenues for significant revenue growth.
Shift from Free to Paid Streaming – There is a significant industry trend towards paid subscription models for music streaming. This is viewed as a healthy and sustainable sign for long-term growth, despite causing short-term revenue pain due to the closure of some free services.
Focus on Quality over Quantity – Companies are prioritizing the acquisition of high-quality, film-based music content over sheer volume, with the aim of increasing the hit rate and ensuring higher monetization.
Concall Highlights
Saregama India Ltd
Rapid Growth of Paid Subscription – “Let me start, as always, with the music business, which comprises of music licensing and artist management. This vertical remained flattish on a year-on-year basis during the quarter, primarily because of Wynk shutting down… Good news was that this fall was countered by increase in revenue coming from paid subscription and also from the YouTube premium channels. In fact, for us, the revenue made from paid OTT and YouTube services grew by a very high double-digit percentage. But remember, the base is still very, very small. In the next few quarters, we believe paid subscription to become the single biggest growth driver for Saregama”
Exploding Digital Consumption – “The other big highlight of the year for us was that our digital footprint across YouTube, Instagram and Facebook grew from 239 million as of last year to 350 million during the year. That’s a massive growth right now by any yardstick…We, as a company, when we look at our India, we look at 750 million to 800 million people with a smartphone in their hands. If we start counting some of the other parts of the world where, music that is coming from India or the video content coming from India is consumed, we are looking at a huge number of close to 1.8 billion to 2 billion people who consume our content. This makes us very excited about how rosy the future is going to be.”
Value of Back Catalogs – “Our focus on keeping our catalogue relevant is growing practically every quarter onwards. We have a dedicated team whose only role is to maximize the revenue that is coming from the older content of ours.”
Diversification into new verticals – “we want to future-proof our company through aggressive new IP purchase, but at the same time, we are hedging our risk by diversifying our IP portfolio across music, live events, long-format video, short-format video and management of the content creators”
Focus on Quality over Quantity – “If we see the track record in financial year ’25, we have the best hit rate ratio. Yes, some of that is fate and I won’t run away from it, but I give a lot of credit to our data based acquisition approach that we people have been able to instil within the system. This is good predictive model that is allowing us to buy the right content at the right pricing”
Tips Music Ltd
Rapid Growth of Paid Subscription – “Every year-on-year basis, the paid subscriptions are increasing. If you see the platforms like Spotify, they are putting in more restrictions and they are pushing the consumers towards paid model. So overall, it’s a very promising and a positive thing for the entire industry”
Exploding Digital Consumption – “We have seen a healthy consumption of our content across YouTube, Spotify, Meta, Amazon, Apple, Gaana, Saavn, Snapchat, public performance and witnessed new partnership deals via our newly created brands division…Additionally, we now have 117 million subscribers on YouTube with a cumulative aggregate growth of 22% over the last 3 years.”
Regional Market Growth – “The content cost during the quarter have increased by 25% on a Y-o-Y basis as we had huge releases in regional languages such as Telugu and Punjabi.”
Improved International Licensing Deal – “In Q4, we announced an extension of our deal with Sony Music Publishing, adding YouTube as a platform for international publishing exploitation…Now in Q4, we have renewed this deal, given them YouTube and the deal size is 4x bigger now for us.”
Focus on Quality over Quantity – “See, we are acquiring films, and we are focusing on a quality content… we are targeting to release 100 -125 songs but we’ll invest 25% to 28% of our top line. That is our updated thinking — we should do that for quality over quantity…Our focus is on getting more hits… we reduce number of songs, but we want the quality, maybe 50% of our success ratio should be there. That is our target, you can say.”
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