Kewal Kiran Clothing Ltd
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Q1-2026 Earnings Call
AI Summary
Earnings Call on Aug 8, 2025
Strong Revenue Growth: Consolidated Q1 revenue was INR 235 crores, up 54.5% year-on-year, driven by robust volume growth and improved realization.
Volume & Realization: Apparel volumes grew 46.4% YoY and average realization per unit rose 14.4% YoY, reflecting strong demand and improved product mix.
Profitability: EBITDA reached INR 42 crores, up 50.6% YoY, with margin at 17.8%, at the upper end of guidance.
Retail Channel Outperformance: Retail channel grew 86% YoY with same-store sales growth of over 25%.
Store Expansion: Net 14 exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) were added in the quarter, totaling 623 stores, with a plan to add 100+ stores in FY '26.
Brand Performance: Kraus grew 20% YoY on a stand-alone basis. Denim remained strong, making up over 50% of sales.
Guidance Maintained: Management reiterated FY '26 guidance of 18%-20% revenue growth, gross margin of 42%-45%, and EBITDA margin of 17%-18% on a consolidated basis.
Working Capital: Working capital cycle was higher this quarter due to seasonality and consolidation, but expected to normalize to 130–135 days.
The company posted strong growth with consolidated Q1 revenue of INR 235 crores, up 54.5% year-on-year. This growth was driven by substantial volume increases across brands, especially in apparel, and improved average selling price per unit. Both retail and non-retail channels contributed, with retail channel outperforming.
EBITDA rose by 50.6% YoY to INR 42 crores, maintaining a margin of 17.8%, which is at the higher end of the guided range. Gross margins dipped to 42% due to changes in channel and category mix, particularly with the addition of Kraus and a higher mix of lower-margin categories.
Retail channel was a key driver, posting 86% YoY growth and over 25% same-store sales growth. The company expects the retail and non-retail split to be 55%-45%. E-commerce is growing but specific figures were not disclosed.
Kraus grew 20% YoY on a stand-alone basis. Denim continues to be a core product, making up over half of sales. Newer brands like Junior Killer are also showing traction. The company is actively working on expanding store presence, adding 14 net EBOs in the quarter and targeting 100+ new stores for the full year.
The working capital cycle increased this quarter due to earlier manufacturing for the season and the consolidation of Kraus, which has a higher working capital requirement. Management expects normalization to the range of 130-135 days annually.
Management reiterated guidance for 18%-20% revenue growth, 42%-45% gross margins, and 17%-18% EBITDA margin on a consolidated basis for FY '26. They expect sustained momentum through the festive and winter seasons, driven by discretionary spending and ongoing store expansion.
The company currently funds growth through internal accruals and does not foresee a need for incremental debt unless there is an inorganic growth opportunity. CapEx for store expansion is managed carefully with a typical investment of INR 4,000–4,500 per square foot, split between CapEx and OpEx.
Management believes they are gaining market share and are not planning price hikes given intense competition. Focus remains on improving fresh sell-through rates and premiumization. Brands such as Lawman and Integriti are being repositioned, with growth expected to pick up in the second half of the year.
Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited Q1 FY '26 Earnings Conference Call hosted by Marathon Capital Advisory Private Limited.
Before we begin, a brief disclaimer. The presentation which Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited has uploaded on the stock exchange and their website, including the discussions during this call contains or may contain certain forward-looking statements concerning Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited business prospects and profitability, which are subject to several risks and uncertainties and the actual results could materially differ from those in such forward-looking statements.
[Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Hemant Jain, Joint Managing Director, Kewal Kiran Clothing. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. Welcome to the Q1 earnings call. I'm joining today Mr. Pankaj Jain, President Retail; and Marathon Capital and our Investor Relations Adviser. We are pleased to report a strong start to FY '26, with results that reflect solid operational execution and continued traction across our key brands. The quarter performance further strengthens our confidence in our Vision 2028 road map.
Let me now -- let me take you through the key highlights. Consolidated revenue for Q1 '26 stood at INR 235 crores, up 54.5% year-on-year, driven by strong volume growth and better realization. Stand-alone revenue grew by around 20% year-on-year, reaching INR 181 crores, supported by robust performance in both retail and non-retail channel. Notably, volumes growth of apparel on a consolidated basis came in at 46.4% year-on-year, reflecting strong consumer demand and improved market presentation. Average realization per unit improved by 14.4% year-on-year, driven by higher full price sales and increased shares of apparel in the product mix. Our performance reaffirms the strength of our portfolio and our ability to connect with aspirational consumers through compelling lifestyle positioning and trade forward merchandising.
On profitability, EBITDA for the quarter came in at INR 42 crores, a growth of 50.6% year-on-year. EBITDA margin stood at 17.8% at the upper end of our guided range of 17% to 18%. This is driven by operating leverage from higher volume, product mix optimization, including stronger contribution from Killer, Kraus and Junior Killer, continued focus on cost efficiency across the volume chain.
On the expansion front, we added a net 14 EBOs during the quarter, bringing our total count of 623 stores as of June 30, 2025. The stores rollout was focused on Tier 1 stores in malls, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in line with our strategy to expand lifestyle accessibility in underpenetrated markets. We also saw encouraging feedback from our recent Spring/Summer 2026 trade show across all our major brands like Killer, Easies, Kraus, Junior Killer and Integriti, which gives us strong visibility for H2 booking and channel confidence.
Looking ahead, the macro environment is showing signs of sustained recovery, and we remain well positioned to benefit from improving consumer sentiment. We expect to maintain growth momentum through the festive and winter season, supported by continued recovery in discretionary spending, product innovations and premiumizations, deeper retail expansion, ongoing EBO expansion with a target of adding 100-plus stores in FY '26. Category diversification, strong brand lead storytelling. We remain committed to drive profitable brand-led growth while driving superior shareholder returns over the long term. With that, I will now open the floor for questions.
[Operator Instructions] We take the first question from the line of Jai Gupta, an individual investor.
So I just wanted to check with you the key drivers for the growth for this. Has it been volume-driven or ASP growth driven?
It's a combination of both. So on a stand-alone basis -- and there has been a consolidation of Kraus also. So mix of all three.
But you've seen volume growth across both Kraus as well as on a stand-alone basis or it's primarily on the...
There has been a volume growth on stand-alone as well as Kraus.
So the reason why I asked this question, last quarter, you had talked about -- you're seeing renewed growth in the denim segment. So how has denim performed for this particular quarter specifically?
Denim has been above 50% for this quarter also.
So you've seen the renewed demand for denim coming back to the market, which has led to ASP growth? Or it's just a combination of all factors.
Volume growth has been there in all the categories of sales.
Including denim.
Including denim.
And sir, just one more question, primarily to do with the working capital. In the previous call, you talked about efforts towards improving the working capital across levels. Any overview on that?
Yes. So currently, the working capital, as I had mentioned last time also, the working capital limits are -- cycle is high for Kraus. That's one of the reasons in consolidation, the working capital cycle goes up. That's one. However, this time, the seasons are preponed. So the manufacturing cycle works up 3 months in advanced structure. So we have already put things in work in progress, and that's the reason the working capital was higher on the first quarter. I think it should streamline over the annualized basis, which we feel that it should stay effective between 130 to 135 days.
That's on a consol basis or it's primarily only on gross basis?
That's on a consol basis.
Okay. And sir, just last one question on the vision statement, which you had released last time. Just wanted to check any positive steps towards any of the initiatives which you have highlighted?
We already started working on EBOs. If you see that the first quarter, we already opened 14 EBOs. So our team is working on that, and we are -- we can say we will achieve that whatever we see.
The next question is from the line of Amit Agicha from HG Hawa.
What is the current blended cost of debt [indiscernible] or take strategic level of expansion?
Yes. Sir, my question is connected to the cost of debt. Like is there a plan to remain debt-free or take strategic leverage for expansion?
Right now, our growth can be achieved through internal accruals. So I don't think there is a need for a debt to -- for an increment of the debt. However, if there is any opportunity for an inorganic growth, maybe we may look into it.
And sir, what is the current inventory holding period? And how is the management balancing like fashion seasonality risk with inventory turnover?
As I said, okay, we feel that, okay, overall -- on an overall basis, our working capital cycle should stay anywhere between 130 to 135-odd days, okay? But during the quarter, it has gone up, okay? It should rationalize over the next 3 quarters.
Take the next question from the line of Rajmohan from Insight Advisory.
Congratulations on a very good set of numbers. I have a couple of questions. First is on the gross margin. Y-o-Y, the gross margin has come down a bit, though Q-o-Q, it is looking good. So if you can please guide us what gross margin on a full year basis we should look forward to? And also why is the dip?
The gross margin -- see, you are comparing the gross margin on Q1 FY '25 to Q1 FY '26. If you look at the overall number of the last year, the gross margins were at 42%. We feel that, okay, the gross margin should steadily be somewhere between 42% to 45%, okay? Currently, the gross margins have gone down because of the change in the channel mix and the category mix.
Okay. Category by category, we mean because of the addition of Kraus, is the gross margin coming down because of that? Or...
It's on a consol basis. It's because of Kraus and it is also because of the category mix. So if -- okay, denim contributes the highest. So if the margins -- if the growth in denim is lower as compared to the other categories, definitely, there will be a little bit impact on the gross margin.
Okay. Secondly, can you just -- since you talked about channel performance, what has been your channel-wise performance? Your retail channel, I understand, has improved significantly. So if you can just throw some light there.
So retail -- both the channels have -- generally, we give the bifurcation on retail to non-retail, okay? Retail has grown 86% on a year-on-year basis and 29% has been on a non-retail category. Basic reasons has been, okay, one is the higher growth from EBO channel. The SSG growth during the current quarter was around 25%. And acquisition of Kraus, which was primarily in LFS channels. And last year's numbers were only on a stand-alone basis. So on a like-to-like basis, we feel that, okay, there will be a healthy growth across all channels, which includes the LFS, EBOs and MBOs as well as e-commerce. And we feel that, okay, the retail as well as non-retail channel should contribute to 55%-45%.
That's great to hear. My other question was on Kraus. As you mentioned that last year, the same quarter, Kraus was not there. So what has been the performance of Kraus? And a related question, post that is considering that now Killer Junior is almost 2 years old. So if you can throw some light on Killer Junior performance and where do we see for the full year basis?
On a stand-alone basis for Kraus numbers, it has been on a growth, okay? Growth has been -- on an overall basis has been around 20%. That's one. Second, Junior, okay, generally, it's not been 2 years, okay? Quarter 1 of FY '25 was the first year for Junior Killer, okay? Since the bases are lower, okay, we don't give absolute number structures, but there has been a growth in this season also. We have already come from a roadshow where the dispatches should start from fourth quarters of this year, okay? And we see there is healthy attraction in Junior Killer also.
Okay. On the roadshow front, I understand that typically, you do a sales conference around this period. Can you just guide us how has been the response there? And considering that the season would be a little early because of Diwali getting preponed. So how do we see quarter 2 performance there?
[Foreign Language]
[Operator Instructions] The next question is from the line of Amit Agicha from HG Hawa.
What are the top 2 or 3 learnings from the last 2 or 4 quarters that [indiscernible] changes?
[Foreign Language]
[Foreign Language]
[Foreign Language] because we are not doing any labels. We are doing our own brands only, so around 3% to 4% [Foreign Language]. Majorly we are expansion in India, not in abroad. [Foreign Language].
[Foreign Language]?
[Foreign Language].
The next question is from the line of Pavan Kumar from RatnaTraya Capital.
[Foreign Language].
Sorry, your first question was related to other income? The other income was around INR 13.9 crores. Most of the investments are in mutual funds, and it is linked to the NAV of the mutual funds, that's one. And secondly, okay, some of the investments have been done -- a little bit of investment has been done in [indiscernible], okay, where there has been a growth in the absolute value. Overall basis, annualized figure, I think the other income should stay somewhere between INR 30 crores, INR 35 crores.
Annualized basis, [Foreign Language] INR 30 crores, INR 35 crores?
Yes.
[Foreign Language] at a denim level or shirt level, [Foreign Language]?
We have already given the overall numbers that -- okay, there has been -- on a stand-alone basis, there has been a growth of 19.9%. That includes volume as well as value.
[Foreign Language]?
More than 10%.
Sorry?
More than 10%.
More than 10%, okay. And going forward [Foreign Language] this year, can we do 20% kind of growth in terms of top line? [Foreign Language]
We are optimistic for the entire year, but we'll stick to our guidance, where we say that, okay, growth will be somewhere between 18% to 20%.
18% to 20% on the base of last year FY '25 numbers, correct?
Yes.
We take the next question from the line of [ Varun Singh ] from PMS.
Sir, my first question is, can you comment -- provide some commentary on the Kraus brand? How has the growth been in this quarter compared to last year?
So on a stand-alone basis, Kraus has grown at 20%.
It has grown at 20%. And like how much of the growth would be on a like-to-like basis?
For Kraus, I'm talking it was on a like-to-like basis. So if I compare their numbers, since it's an uncomparable number, okay, we had bought out -- the merger happened in the month of -- second quarter of the last year, okay? So first quarter is not comparable. But if you compare it to their numbers to their absolute numbers, okay, the growth was around 20%.
And even EBITDA growth would be 20% in Kraus?
It would be higher.
It would be higher than that. Understood. And sir, my second question is like in our own business or the stand-alone business, we have recorded quite good growth. So this growth is because -- I mean, what's the possible reasoning that you see behind the strong growth for us? Is it because of good inventory loading at the dealer distributor level because of expectation of better festival? I mean, what explains that?
We have optimized our inventory management for this quarter, and we -- and the season also looks positive. That's the reason, okay, I think we have been able to capture the growth properly. Also, the SSG during the quarter has been more than 25%.
[Foreign Language] So we do our best. [Foreign Language]. So it's a lot of things [Foreign Language].
Understood, sir. And just one last question that the good -- extremely good amount of hard work that you have done on the inventory level. Can you explain a little bit more with regards to what are the changes that we made? And how much is the benefit that we have enjoyed because of that? Anything measurable?
Not much changes, okay? Last year, which we felt that, okay, we should work on a real-time basis, we scrapped that working structure and came back to the old strategy.
Why did we scrap the new method?
We tried to optimize the working capital cycle as compared to the old structure. Okay. We felt that, okay, that was working. We tried it, okay, failed, that's the reason we came back to the old strategy.
We take the next question from the line of Yogesh Bhatia from Sequent Investments.
Yes, sir. Congratulations on good set of numbers. I have two questions. One, currently, we have 623 EBOs spread across Killer and Kraus and everything else. So one, I wanted to know, we have 47 under development is what you've mentioned in the presentation. So can you guide us they are under which category like Killer [Foreign Language] and Kraus [Foreign Language] something like that?
I don't have it upfront in front of me.
What would be the largest probably? We focus more on Killer...
Some store is in the Kraus, [Foreign Language] majorly is Killer store. Out of 40 stores, [Foreign Language] 35 to 40 [Foreign Language] Killer [Foreign Language ].
[Foreign Language] Kraus base is 15 stores. So we are planning to 5, 7 more stores in Kraus, is that correct?
19 stores already operational till date. [Foreign Language].
Okay. And so basically, Kraus is also doing well is what I wanted to understand, and we are looking to grow that segment also. Now my second question is, if I -- the stand-alone number is INR 181 crores and the consolidated sales number is INR 233 crores, correct?
Yes, yes.
So the difference in this number is the Kraus sales, which is INR 52 crores.
Yes.
So on a like-to-like basis, INR 52 crores would be how much last year in Q1 for Kraus?
Around INR 42 crores, INR 43 crores because it's not in our balance sheet. [Foreign Language] acquisition is on the July 18. [Foreign Language].
Okay. And we have managed to get them at similar EBITDA margin levels as our...
Not similar, but close to similar.
Not similar or close to similar, okay. And we are confident that the blended margins would not get diluted even when we grow Kraus. [Foreign Language].
Branded margins will not get compromised.
We take the next question from the line of Shaurya Punyani from Arjav Partners.
Am I audible?
Yes, yes.
Sir, what has been our same-store growth in Q1?
Sorry?
What has been the growth on the same stores like...
SSG growth was more than 25%.
More than 25%. And what do we expect like this year?
Okay. Evenly when we plan out, we generally plan that annualized basis, it should be between 7% to 8%.
7% to 8%. So for 20% growth, you are saying like additional 12% growth will come from the new stores?
Sorry?
So we are guiding for like 20% growth this year. So 7% to 8% from the -- from SSG. So from where the additional 12% I'm trying to understand.
It will be organic also. It will be in retail as well as non-retail, the number of counters, opening of new stores, new shop-in-shop counters.
[Operator Instructions] The next question is from the line of Pavan Kumar from RatnaTraya Capital.
Sir, on Kraus, basically [Foreign Language] I understand we are doing some INR 50 crores per quarter right now, but [Foreign Language].
[Foreign Language].
[Foreign Language]?
[Foreign Language] last year only we launched in April or May, something [Foreign Language] any brand need at least 1,000 days. [Foreign Language]. And we are getting very good response.
[Foreign Language]?
Slowly, slowly we have come down to metro 1. [Foreign Language].
[Foreign Language].
Yes.
[Operator Instructions] We take the next question from the line of Ankit Babel from Subhkam Ventures.
Sir, if I had -- in the last 30, 40 minutes of your commentary, I mean, you seems to be very positive on the market sentiments and the growth rates, which you foresee in the coming quarters. But when I see your commentary on the growth rate, I mean, the 15% growth rate for Kewal Kiran seems to be very mediocre guidance because considering your brand value, your overall base, I mean, the size of the company, 15% growth seems to be very mediocre. Just wanted to understand, is it possible for you to grow at 25% consistently for next few years, considering the demand trends and the product categories where you are?
[Foreign Language] If I get good orders -- number of orders [Foreign Language] I have to face your -- when I want to commit on my statement. [Foreign Language].
I understand, sir. Two points. First of all, the growth in this quarter of 20% on stand-alone is on a low base. If you compare the 2-year CAGR, it is actually flat, right? And secondly, historically, also, we have never seen 20%, 25% growth from your side. Why I'm asking you this question is because I can see that potential in your company, but somehow that growth rate is not coming in. So I mean, internally, I believe you should target that your FY '28 vision should be achieved in FY '27, then there will be a meaningful shareholder value creation, which I can see in your company.
[indiscernible] where are you getting it to, okay? See, it's a combination. KKCL being a house of brands, okay, every brand strategy works differently, and we have to restrategize yourself. As you saw that Lawman, we restrategized for last year. Integriti, we are repositioning also. So both the aspects have to go hand-in-hand and the market should have an uptick during the quarters itself. If it doesn't happen, it gets postponed, and that's why you lack on. It's a combination. It's a blended margin structure, right?
So one more point here, I mean...
It's not on an autopilot mode where you can actually just scale it and...
So one more point here. You mentioned that denim is the most profitable product category in your company. So the denim growth will be higher than the overall company's growth or lower than the company's growth?
Sorry?
Denim category is the most profitable category in your company, right? I just wanted to know the growth in the denim would be higher than your overall company's growth or lower than the overall company's growth rate?
It will be on a similar percentage. It will not be on a higher percentage.
Okay. Then sir, how you'll be able to improve on the margin side?
Margins -- EBITDA margins as our guided margins, we have given it around 17% to 18%. We have been on the upper side structure, okay? And if we scale, okay, we'll get that additional margin through operating leverage only.
Okay. Have you taken any price hikes in your product categories recently?
The average realization for the products have increased during the quarter.
No, was it on account of price hikes?
It was because of the lower discounting.
Okay. But any potential price hikes possible in the near future?
We haven't taken a price hike for the current quarter.
No, I understand. But in coming quarters, do you foresee any price hikes?
[Foreign Language] because you know the market is very tough and competitive. [Foreign Language].
There will not be any price hike, but definitely, we'll try to improve our fresh sell-throughs to improve the ASPs.
Okay. And sir, my last question is on the -- again, the competition part. How is the competition environment as of now? Any players which are becoming aggressive? Are you losing market share to any channel or you're increasing market share? How is it going on?
Looking at the scenarios or maybe to the B2B partners, I think I'll be on the gaining side -- that I'll be gaining some percentage of market share. They are not nationalized numbers -- the published numbers, which I can give you. But looking at the scenario, I can just tell you that I think that I have been gaining market share.
Gaining market share. And sir, the Integriti, Lawman and all those, [Foreign Language] I mean, are they now on the growth path?
We have restrategized it, repositioned it, okay? We should -- we feel that, okay, the growth for them should start coming from second half of this year.
[Foreign Language]. I'll be happy if you achieve your FY '28 guidance in FY '27.
We take the next question from the line of [ Shreyans ] from Svan Investments.
Yes. Sir, I'm just looking at your gross margins for Q1 over the last 2 years, Q1 FY '24 [Foreign Language] 43% gross margins. Q1 FY '25, 45% and [Foreign Language] 42%. So I'm just trying to understand lower mix of denims in the business is impacting this number?
If you look at the annualized number for FY '25, it was around 42%. Our guidance is around -- that our gross margin should stay anywhere between 42% to 45%, okay? It's -- there could be -- the gross margins have been dipped because of change in category mix as well as channel mix.
So sir, when you do higher retail sales, that is EBO sales, so my understanding is gross margins typically are higher, right, because you don't have to give a lot of commissions and discounts, right?
So on a retail to non-retail basis, okay, the composite margins for retail as well as non-retail is almost similar.
Okay. Okay. With other retail players say, when I do higher share of EBOs, my gross margins tend to improve.
Also because, okay, they do -- maybe most of them do more FOCO-driven businesses, okay? Mine is a FOFO-driven business.
Okay. We do FOFO EBOs.
Yes.
Okay. And sir, second is when I'm looking at our product mix, 8% of accessories and others from last year has become 12%. So what has driven this change, the 4% swing?
Okay. So if you're looking at the numbers on a consol basis structure, okay, Kraus does more of the categories on others. We'll have to regroup that maybe, okay, going forward in the [Foreign Language] coming quarters.
No. But what is that others in Kraus?
It will be leggings, treggings, shots...
Okay. Okay. And sir, just last question. I'm looking at your PBT because it has not improved that much. So -- and if I exclude the other income, there is hardly any change in PBT from INR 24 crores last year to INR 25 crores this year. So I'm excluding the other income. So any reason in spite of growing 20% EBITDA, the flow is not happening down there? And you said EBOs is mostly INR FOFO, right? So the lease rent also is not a part of the interest and depreciation.
The comparison should be done mostly on an EBITDA level, not at PBT level, mainly because after the Kraus consolidation, okay, there is amortized...
I'm looking at stand-alone, sorry. Stand-alone numbers, I'm talking about.
You're talking about the stand-alone numbers.
Yes. So INR 24 crores of PBT is just INR 25.5 crores this year, excluding other income, which is actually we earn from mutual funds, right? So excluding that portion of other income.
PBT is around 20.1% on a stand-alone basis as compared to 21% of last year.
No. Sir, you exclude the other income? Okay. I'll take this offline probably. I'll take this offline.
No, no, hold on. Okay. I'll just complete that. Okay. You compare it on the EBITDA level also, EBITDA level, it is similar. At a 19.9% revenue growth, there has been EBITDA growth of 19.4%.
Yes. So that's what I'm saying, sir, EBITDA growth of 19% is not flowing through when I compare the PBT. PBT has just grown by 6%.
Yes. PBT has grown by...
6%, sir, because your depreciation has gone from 2.8% to 4.2%, and interest has gone from 0.7% to 3.5%. So I'm just trying to understand because you're doing more EBOs on FOFO, component of rent is not there, right? So what is this -- which is driving increase in depreciation and interest?
So there are some stores, okay, of Lawman we have done on COCO basis. And that's the reason there will be an increase in depreciation, and there has been an increase in finance cost also.
Okay. So just to summarize, if I'm trying to understand, stand-alone, if we are targeting 15%, 20% kind of growth rates on top line, what is the kind of growth rates that we should envisage on the PBT basis?
It should be same, excluding other income. Should be same.
Okay, sir. My calculation says it will be a little lower because you're incurring some...
Marginally lower because if the finance cost is there and depreciation cost will be a little bit, but it will not be to that extent of what you're asking -- saying for.
We take the next question from the line of Sahil Doshi from ThinkWise.
Apologies if I repeat -- this question has been asked. I just joined late. My question pertains to Kraus. For the last 3, 4 quarters, at least, I think the revenue number seems to be in the same range. So I just wanted to understand what is the growth plan there? And what kind of growth should be [indiscernible] in particular?
So firstly, okay, the Q1 number for them last year was at INR 43 crores. So the first quarter, they have grown by 20%, okay? You will feel that, okay, the entire year, it has been even out business, okay, the quarter 2 and quarter -- since quarter 2 becomes a comparable number, you'll see a higher growth digit in the current quarter itself. We envisage that on an absolute basis, the stand-alone number should grow above 20% for the financial year '25-'26.
Okay. Okay. Understood, sir. I appreciate that. Sir, second, I think we used to give the split of the EBOs. I think we've stopped given that. And first thing, you had also called out in the last quarter that we'll be talking more about our ambition for different brands and different pilots which we are doing. So could you talk a little more on each of those brand strategies? And how do we think about the various verticals and the various pilots and other things which we are running, any extensions, any other new projects we are working on?
So pivots are at lower stage structure. We have not yet actually put it in under discussion, okay? But if you look at the retail strategy, okay, Killer is an auto mode structure, and it has been growing very well, okay? Kraus, we are trying to scale up very well, okay? We are restrategizing our strategy for [indiscernible]? Lawman, we have repositioned. And Integriti, okay, we are engineering the -- in terms of the price bracket.
Okay. Any milestones in terms of stores for this year and next year, if you can possibly call out for each of these brands...
The strategy has just been done a year before, okay, to scale that up, I think the growth on Lawman and Integriti will be able to see from quarter, half yearly of this current year -- second half of the current year.
Okay. Okay. Okay. And also, sir, anything you can talk about the extensions about getting into different like the house of brands. So the various pilots which will be running in the company, what stage they are in, and anything which we should expect over the next 1 to 2 years, which can be scaled up?
It's still early to talk about it, okay? Let our pilot get executed, implemented. And we feel that, okay, when it is the right time to scale up, definitely we'll inform the investors.
We take the next question from the line of [ Priyam ] from Antique Limited.
Just wanted to check with the guidance which you have made on revenue, gross margin and EBITDA. So revenue of 18% to 20% and gross margin of 42% to 45% and EBITDA of 17% to 18% is on stand-alone or consol?
I didn't get your question. Can you repeat that?
Yes. So just wanted to check with the guidance on revenue. So 18% to 20% you have mentioned is on the stand-alone or a consol basis?
On the consol basis.
On a consol basis, right? At the same time, the EBITDA margins as well, right, 17% to 18%.
We take the next question from the line of Amit Agicha from HG Hawa.
[indiscernible] currently?
Your voice is cracking a little bit.
So the total number of employees, this is my question.
The total number of employees, in stand-alone or consolidation?
Sir, both, if possible.
1,800 is in the KKCL.
Consolidated, sir?
So 1,800 is on KKCL. 1,300 in Kraus. So all put together, INR 3,100.
And sir, would it be possible for you to give approximate CapEx like for each COCO, FOCO store? Like is it on a per square feet basis or how is it?
It's on a per square feet basis. So whenever a franchisee comes, we envisage that, okay, the investment should be around INR 4,000 to INR 4,500 a square feet, okay, where INR 2,000 is CapEx and INR 2,000 is OpEx.
That is for the franchisee, right, sir?
Yes. That -- if it's a franchisee investment, that's the same. So is for COCO, where the investment. So it's just that, okay, the value remains the same, the investment value either is done either by the franchisee or by the company.
For the company also, it is the same, right?
Yes.
And sir, would it be possible for you to give the proportion of sales from e-com?
We generally give bifurcation of retail to non-retail, but that channel has been growing, I can tell you that at least.
As there are no further questions from the participants, I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Hemant Jain for closing comments. Over to you, sir.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you once again for joining us. Q1 has been strong start to the year, marked by a healthy volume growth, disciplined margin execution and continued progress on our Vision 2028 priorities. We are well positioned to capture growth across both urban and semi-urban consumption centers with our differentiated brand portfolio and retail-first approach. We appreciate your continued support and confidence in our journey. Should you have any further questions, please reach out to our Investor Relations team. Thank you, and have a great day ahead. Thank you so much.
Thank you. On behalf of Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.
Thank you.