CHOICEINNSEQ1 FY26July 16, 2025

Choice International Limited

5,134words
77turns
9analyst exchanges
4executives
Management on call
Arun Poddar
GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Ajay Kejriwal
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR – CHOICE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
Ayush Sharma
HEAD INVESTOR RELATIONS– CHOICE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
Aashvi Shah
ADFACTORS PR INVESTOR RELATIONS
Key numbers — 40 extracted
Rs. 238
perational excellence and customer centric growth. During the quarter, Choice reported revenue of Rs. 238 Cr, with a PAT of Rs. 48 Cr; reflecting the strength of our diversified business model. I am parti
Rs. 48
customer centric growth. During the quarter, Choice reported revenue of Rs. 238 Cr, with a PAT of Rs. 48 Cr; reflecting the strength of our diversified business model. I am particularly pleased that we h
Rs. 63.5
to highlight our order win this quarter under our consulting business. We secured a project worth Rs. 63.5 Cr across Maharashtra and Odisha, including a Rs. 52.8 Cr World Bank- backed Maharashtra Government
Rs. 52.8
lting business. We secured a project worth Rs. 63.5 Cr across Maharashtra and Odisha, including a Rs. 52.8 Cr World Bank- backed Maharashtra Government project, to set up a district strategic unit in Chhatr
rs,
ent project, to set up a district strategic unit in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar Division over 5 years, enhancing data-driven, growth-focused governance. Additionally, we won a new mandate worth nearly
Rs. 67
enhancing data-driven, growth-focused governance. Additionally, we won a new mandate worth nearly Rs. 67 Cr for large-scale digitization across Bihar, Karnataka, and under the mandated Bharat Net program
60%
g investments in technology and people. Our broking and distribution business, which contributes 60% of our total revenue, continues to demonstrate healthy traction. During the quarter, the number o
11.5 lakh
tinues to demonstrate healthy traction. During the quarter, the number of demat accounts stood at 11.5 lakh, recording a growth of 29% on a YoY basis, driven by our digital onboarding capabilities, consist
29%
ction. During the quarter, the number of demat accounts stood at 11.5 lakh, recording a growth of 29% on a YoY basis, driven by our digital onboarding capabilities, consistent client engagement, and
Rs. 47,800
nd comprehensive product offerings. The total client assets in our stock broking business reached Rs. 47,800 Cr, a growth of 16% YoY, while our wealth products AUM stood at Rs. 4,769 Cr, making a growth of 4
16%
ferings. The total client assets in our stock broking business reached Rs. 47,800 Cr, a growth of 16% YoY, while our wealth products AUM stood at Rs. 4,769 Cr, making a growth of 443% YoY. Focusing
Rs. 4,769
oking business reached Rs. 47,800 Cr, a growth of 16% YoY, while our wealth products AUM stood at Rs. 4,769 Cr, making a growth of 443% YoY. Focusing next on our NBFC business, we remained committed to supp
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Guidance — 20 items
Aashvi Shah
opening
“On behalf of Choice International, I would like to welcome you all to the earnings conference call for Q1 FY26.”
Arun Poddar
opening
“As FY26 takes shape, we are seeing a steady improvement in the economic environment.”
Arun Poddar
opening
“Choice began FY26 on a strong note, building on a strong momentum we achieved last year.”
Arun Poddar
opening
“52.8 Cr World Bank- backed Maharashtra Government project, to set up a district strategic unit in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar Division over 5 years, enhancing data-driven, growth-focused governance.”
Ajay Kejriwal
opening
“At Choice, the first quarter of FY26 has been steady progress across our businesses.”
Ajay Kejriwal
opening
“At the end of Q1 FY26, our total loan book stood at Rs.”
Ajay Kejriwal
opening
“With 208 branches and 48 project offices and a team of in-house tech specialists, we are serving a diverse and expanding client base across the country.”
Ayush Sharma
opening
“While Arun sir and Ajay sir have provided a detailed overview of each of our business verticals, I will now take you through our financial performance for Q1 FY26.”
Ayush Sharma
opening
“238 Cr for Q1 FY26, marking a healthy growth of 16% on a YoY basis.”
Jai Chauhan
qa
“How much in-capital revenue are you expecting per new branch and what is the revenue per branch at FY25 and what is the target for FY26 for revenue per branch?”
Risks & concerns — 5 flagged
Focusing next on our NBFC business, we remained committed to support the aspirations of MSMEs and retail borrowers across semi-urban and rural India, while maintaining a disciplined approach to risk.
— Ajay Kejriwal
Your revenue grew by 16% YoY, but there is a decline in QoQ.
— Mandira
But until then, we don't see any particular challenge in our healthy growth, or we foresee to grow continuously as we are doing over the last five years.
— Ayush Sharma
It will help players like us to boost more in this business and in growth perspective we don't see any challenge.
— Ajay Kejriwal
We don't see major challenge in the receivable management from the government in this segment.
— Ayush Sharma
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Q&A — 9 exchanges
Q
I just had a question. How much in-capital revenue are you expecting per new branch and what is the revenue per branch at FY25 and what is the target for FY26 for revenue per branch? if you track that, can you please give some insights on that?
Ayush Sharma
It all depends on the seasoning of the branch, how much know vintage has been there for a branch. Of course, we track the profitability at each branch level. From the revenue perspective, it will largely depend on the seasoning. Based on the geography of the branch, there are various categories for each branch, A, B, C, D, etc. Accordingly, the revenues vary from geography to geography. On a general mindset, to comment on, there is a six-month timeline for a branch to reach break-even levels. Understood. Actually, I wanted to get more insights on the unit economics. But sir, as you mentioned,
Q
Thank you for the opportunity. I have two questions. Your revenue grew by 16% YoY, but there is a decline in QoQ. Is this a seasonal or one-off event, and what led to the dip?
Ayush Sharma
This is a general trend in business because Q4 is always heavy because of various contests and various other business growth activities which we do in Q4. Moreover, generally, in the investment segment also, people tend to plan their investments in Q4 because of tax planning as well. These are the kinds of reasons why Q4 is higher and Q1 is usually lower. So, it's a cyclical kind of thing. There is no one-off event in this particular quarter. Got it, sir. What's the growth roadmap and which vertical will be the key focus area in the coming future? On the growth perspective, we expect on a YoY
Q
Thank you for the opportunity. First of all, congratulations on a very good set of numbers. I had a couple of questions regarding the consultancy business which is doing quite well. Firstly, the advisory segment order book stood at Rs. 586 Cr. Can you share the execution time period and revenue conversion plans for this order book? Also, this quarter we have won two orders worth Rs. 63.5 Cr, including the World Bank-backed MahaSTRIDE project and a top-rank bid in Odisha. If you could elaborate on the nature of these projects and their potential margins and execution timeline. Do we have plans
Arun Poddar
Nakul, as far as revenue is concerned for Rs. 586 Cr order book, normally it takes around 24 to 36 month time to book the revenue. In terms of Maharashtra and Odisha projects timeline, \Maharashtra project will take 5 years of time as it's a 60 month project and Odisha is 2 year project. So, total revenue for Maharashtra project will be booked in next 5 year time and Odisha project will take around 2 to 3 year time. As far as the demerger of this activity is concerned, as of now, it's not in our plan. We are purely focusing on business growth and getting the major numbers. As of now, there is
Q
Yes. Thanks for the opportunity. I have one question. I actually wanted to understand the way forward for the stock broking business. There is a lot of competition now from discount brokers and even other large traditional brokers. So, how do we plan to grow this vertical and retain our clients and also expand or get more clients on this?
Ayush Sharma
Thank you, Nikita, for asking this question. This is very important to understand that, as you rightly pointed out, there are discount brokers, physical brokers, full-service brokers like us, as well as the bank brokers in the market. As the regulator has started being more strict on the compliance perspective, the cost of operation for the discount brokers has started increasing. We have seen instances where discount brokers have also started increasing the charges. So, this clearly lays out the way forward that ultimately everybody will start charging the cost. Now, it will be the game of se
Q
Thanks for the opportunity. Can you elaborate on the Choice Business Associates network? We have not seen something like this in other brokers. I just wanted to understand how this works. Do we give them a fixed commission or how it works? How do we manage receivables from the government business?
Ayush Sharma
Thank you, Shashank, for joining in. We started this network in 2019 and our larger focus is again in Tier 3 and below geographies where we onboard Choice Business Associates. Think of a situation of a Tier 3 city where one individual is doing a practice of, let's say, GST consulting. He has clients for whom he is filing the GST returns. Now, we onboard them as CBA. We train him and we equip him to be able to sell the financial services products, and he starts selling these products to his existing clients and gradually starts onboarding new clients. This is just one of the examples. Think of
Q
Thank you for the opportunity. Just had a couple of questions. One was from the NBFC business point of view, just wanted to understand on the outlook of the business. Also, which states we are currently present in and how do we plan to expand our reach in terms of the number of states? What is the strategy to acquire more clients under this vertical?
Ayush Sharma
Currently, we are operating across Rajasthan, Gujarat, MP, Delhi NCR, and some part of Maharashtra as well. There are 75 branches across all these states through which we are doing the business in the NBFC vertical. In NBFC, there are three major products where we are focusing on. First and foremost is the MSME focused Micro LAP where the average ticket size is around Rs. 8 to 9 lakh and average rate of interest which we are charging is around 20%, 20.5%, 21% kind of number. Second is rooftop solar and third is vehicle. So, these three products contribute largest to our current AUM. As far as
Q
Good evening. Sir, just had three questions. First one is, what is the current breakdown between retail and institutional clients, and what was it last time that will give the comparison?
Ayush Sharma
The current revenue which is coming from retail amounts to around 93% to 94% and institutional is around 6% to 7%. The institutional business has expanded from the last year by 100 to 200 bps on a rough estimate. Okay. That's very nice. Second question would be what would be the brokerage charges and do they vary by customer segment? Ayush Sharma: The brokerage is 0.02% and 0.20% for cash and delivery, and these are standardized, fixed. For delivery and intraday, depends on the segment, and these are the basic pricing, and it will vary depending on the client segment. All right, sir. That give
Q
Hi. Just one question, if you could just elaborate and explain a bit about your plans about the insurance business, what stage that it is according to you and anything new you're focusing on over there?
Ayush Sharma
For insurance, there are two segments on which we are working on. One is corporate and the second is retail. We have dedicated teams who are specifically focused on corporate, as well as retail. We foresee a huge opportunity in both segments equally. However, the corporate is more lucrative for us. So, we are expecting to grow higher in the corporate insurances piece as well along with the focus on the retail insurance. So, take an example. There are specific clusters of industrial zones across India. We are expanding to those industrial zones where we can reach out to those customers, those l
Q
Thank you for joining us today. The first quarter has set a steady start to the year, and we remain focused on maintaining this momentum while serving our customer and building on our strength. We value your continued interest in Choice International Limited and appreciate the trust you place in us. We look forward to connecting with you again next quarter and if anyone wants to connect one on one, we are very much positive. Wishing you all a very good day ahead. Thank you.
Management
Speaking time
Ayush Sharma
22
Moderator
11
Nayan Gala
8
Arun Poddar
7
Jai Chauhan
5
Nikita Shah
5
Manoj Rajani
5
Rahil
4
Ajay Kejriwal
3
Mandira
3
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Opening remarks
Aashvi Shah
Thank you. Good evening everyone. On behalf of Choice International, I would like to welcome you all to the earnings conference call for Q1 FY26. I would like to mention that the earnings presentation has been uploaded on the exchanges and the company website, so you can access it as we take you through the opening remarks. Today on this call, we have with us from the management, Mr. Arun Poddar, Group CEO, Mr. Ajay Kejriwal, Executive Director, and Mr. Ayush Sharma, Head Investor Relations. We will begin the call with brief opening remarks from the management, followed by a Q&A session. Please note that certain statements made during this call may be forward-looking in nature. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results or our projections to differ materially from those statements. Choice International will not be in any way responsible for any actions taken based on such statements and undertakes no obligation to
Arun Poddar
Thank you, Aashvi. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for Q1 FY26 earnings conference call. We are glad to interact with each one of you today. As FY26 takes shape, we are seeing a steady improvement in the economic environment. The first quarter reflected a gradual pick-up in market sentiment, supported by RBI's rate cut, stable macro indicator and a supportive global context. Foreign portfolio flow has started to return and retail participation has remained constant, leading to a broad-based recovery. This provides a stable backdrop as we continue to focus on our priorities for the year ahead. Choice began FY26 on a strong note, building on a strong momentum we achieved last year. This quarter, we saw encouraging progress across all our business verticals, driven by our commitment to operational excellence and customer centric growth. During the quarter, Choice reported revenue of Rs. 238 Cr, with a PAT of Rs. 48 Cr; reflecting the strength of our diversified busi
Ajay Kejriwal
Good evening, everybody. Myself, Ajay Kejriwal. At Choice, the first quarter of FY26 has been steady progress across our businesses. This reflects the strength of our business model and the consistent efforts of our teams, along with our ongoing investments in technology and people. Our broking and distribution business, which contributes 60% of our total revenue, continues to demonstrate healthy traction. During the quarter, the number of demat accounts stood at 11.5 lakh, recording a growth of 29% on a YoY basis, driven by our digital onboarding capabilities, consistent client engagement, and comprehensive product offerings. The total client assets in our stock broking business reached Rs. 47,800 Cr, a growth of 16% YoY, while our wealth products AUM stood at Rs. 4,769 Cr, making a growth of 443% YoY. Focusing next on our NBFC business, we remained committed to support the aspirations of MSMEs and retail borrowers across semi-urban and rural India, while maintaining a disciplined app
Ayush Sharma
Thank you very much, Sir. While Arun sir and Ajay sir have provided a detailed overview of each of our business verticals, I will now take you through our financial performance for Q1 FY26. Choice reported revenue of Rs. 238 Cr for Q1 FY26, marking a healthy growth of 16% on a YoY basis. Our EBITDA for the quarter stood at Rs. 87 Cr, reflecting a robust growth of 49% YoY, while the EBITDA margins improved to 36.48%. PAT for the quarter came in at Rs. 48 Cr, registering a growth of 50% YoY, resulting in a PAT margin of 20.16%. This has led to a notable improvement in margins by 462 basis points YoY, underscoring our focus on operational efficiencies and prudent cost management. On the segmental front, our Broking and Distribution business recorded a total revenue of Rs. 136 Cr, reflecting a strong growth of 5% YoY, with PBT for the segment at Rs. 30 Cr, demonstrating the resilience and scalability of our platform-led approach. In our NBFC business, we reported a revenue of Rs. 39 Cr, wi
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