VERANDANSEAugust 08, 2025

Veranda Learning Solutions Limited

9,058words
123turns
14analyst exchanges
4executives
Management on call
Suresh Kalpathi
Executive Director and Chairman – Veranda Learning Solutions Limited
Aditya Malik
Chief Operating Officer – Veranda Learning Solutions Limited
Mohasin Khan
Chief Financial Officer – Veranda Learning Solutions Limited
Soumya
Go India Advisors LLP
Key numbers — 40 extracted
INR357 crore
sted by Go India Advisors. So we have successfully completed 2 landmark strategic milestones, the INR357 crores maiden QIP, which helped us bring in marquee institutional investors and at the same time, signi
rs,
hrough election-related -- even though election-related disruptions temporarily softened the numbers, we maintained strong engagement through mock tests, [success meets 0:05:58] and social campaigns.
INR195 crore
y aspects that we think will take us forward in the next set of years. Deleveraging the remaining INR195 crores of debt in a non-commerce vertical through operational accruals, accelerating our monetization a
17%
strong revenue growth and a sharp improvement in profitability as such. Consolidated revenue grew 17% year-on-year to INR139 crores, driven by broad-based growth across the segments. EBITDA nearly do
INR139 crore
h and a sharp improvement in profitability as such. Consolidated revenue grew 17% year-on-year to INR139 crores, driven by broad-based growth across the segments. EBITDA nearly doubled year-on-year to INR55 c
INR55 crore
9 crores, driven by broad-based growth across the segments. EBITDA nearly doubled year-on-year to INR55 crores and we continue our profitable trajectory with a net profit of INR6 crores, up 123% year-on- ye
INR6 crore
ubled year-on-year to INR55 crores and we continue our profitable trajectory with a net profit of INR6 crores, up 123% year-on- year, reaffirming our shift to sustainable performance going forward. Coming
123%
ar to INR55 crores and we continue our profitable trajectory with a net profit of INR6 crores, up 123% year-on- year, reaffirming our shift to sustainable performance going forward. Coming to balance
INR510 crore
reaffirming our shift to sustainable performance going forward. Coming to balance sheet, we had a INR510 crores debt as on March '25, we are able to -- by raising QIP funds of INR357 crores. Now we carry a de
INR18 crore
in Khan: I'll take this. So the balance debt for the finance cost for the next 3 quarters will be INR18 crores. Darshil Pandya: INR18 crores per quarter, you're saying? Mohasin Khan: No, no, for a full
INR140 crore
, expected not only to grow its margins going forward significantly from potentially an EBITDA of INR140 crores to a possible INR500 crores of EBITDA by FY '30 under the leadership of Professor JK Shah himsel
INR500 crore
its margins going forward significantly from potentially an EBITDA of INR140 crores to a possible INR500 crores of EBITDA by FY '30 under the leadership of Professor JK Shah himself. That's the first unbund
Guidance — 20 items
Suresh Kalpathi
opening
“So we have successfully completed 2 landmark strategic milestones, the INR357 crores maiden QIP, which helped us bring in marquee institutional investors and at the same time, significantly strengthened our balance sheet, the demerger of our high-growth commerce vertical, which will be almost debt-free, independently listed entity.”
Suresh Kalpathi
opening
“This is the fabric on which Veranda 2.0 is being designed and will be used to scale.”
Mohasin Khan
opening
“EBITDA nearly doubled year-on-year to INR55 crores and we continue our profitable trajectory with a net profit of INR6 crores, up 123% year-on- year, reaffirming our shift to sustainable performance going forward.”
Mohasin Khan
opening
“Now we carry a debt of INR195 crores, which we are planning to repay through our operational accruals and no additional debt will be planned as such.”
Mohasin Khan
opening
“Going forward, we remain focused on strengthening operating leverage, capital efficiency and margin expansion while executing on Veranda 2.0 strategy, as explained by Suresh and Aditya.”
Darshil Pandya
qa
“Sir, first question would be what will be the interest cost for this fiscal?”
Mohasin Khan
qa
“So the balance debt for the finance cost for the next 3 quarters will be INR18 crores.”
Aditya Malik
qa
“So from going forward, as we had shared in the call earlier, we are in talks with a couple of schools to take them over in an asset-light model.”
Suresh Kalpathi
qa
“So the first unbundling as part of 2.0 is our commerce vertical, which will be vertically split through a scheme that is expected to be filed shortly, which will list as a separate entity.”
Suresh Kalpathi
qa
“And as we had sort of projected, expected not only to grow its margins going forward significantly from potentially an EBITDA of INR140 crores to a possible INR500 crores of EBITDA by FY '30 under the leadership of Professor JK Shah himself.”
Q&A — 14 exchanges
Q
Sir, first question would be what will be the interest cost for this fiscal? As you know, we have substantially been brought down the debt?
Suresh Kalpathi
Mohasin? I'll take this. So the balance debt for the finance cost for the next 3 quarters will be INR18 crores. INR18 crores per quarter, you're saying? No, no, for a full year. For full year, it will be INR18 crores. Yes. Okay. And the second question would be on the academics segment side. So as we see that academics segment is doing pretty good. So I just wanted to understand, can you break down how the business model is working here? And also where do we stand on making it asset-light? Because kind of in Jan or Feb, we had mentioned about making it some asset light. So just wanted your tho
Q
Yes. So I'm new to the company. Kindly explain as to what the Veranda 2.0 strategy is?
Suresh Kalpathi
Let me take this. This is Suresh. So the first part of the strategy was really to assemble together profitable brands with pedigree, which will go from K-12 all the way to academics to masters to doctoral programs. That was really Veranda 1.0, largely funded through debt and some amount of equity that we raised a couple of times, one through the IPO and subsequently through an offer that we made. Veranda 2.0 strategy really focuses on 4 key pillars into which these acquisitions have been quite carefully made. The first is the academic that Aditya just spoke about, which is our K-12 segment, co
Q
I actually would request some more clarity on the non-commerce vertical. So if you see most -- in the Q1, most of the EBITDA actually comes from the commerce vertical. So in the non- commerce vertical, if you could explain when we've got about INR195 crores of debt, how will we servicing -- how will we be servicing it through the current revenues and the current EBITDA? And also, if you could also explain on the seasonality of the revenues for the vocational and the government test prep vertical?
Suresh Kalpathi
Mohasin, do you want to take the first part and explain the EBITDA for the non-commerce space? Yes. So the balance in the book is INR190 crores, where the promoted debt is INR70 crores out of that and the balance comes from the NCDs which we are having. So the first year of the -- so numbers will be servicing the interest coupon, which the internal accrual is sufficient. And as I was saying that in the main school segment, we wanted to add a school on, call it, schools in the school segment. There we are projecting to add another 5 to 6 schools, which can bring an EBITDA of above INR10 crores
Q
You have stated INR195 crores debt over immense post-QIBN demerger. So can you give me a breakdown of the time line for repayment and the internal accruals are sufficient in high capex year?
Suresh Kalpathi
Mohasin? Yes, sir. Go ahead, please. So the INR125 crores debt is split into 2 things, Sahil. So INR125 crores was of bearings debentures, which are there in the affected credit and the balance is from the promoters. So the amount of debt is there we will be paying as per the requirements in the company. On the debt from the bearing, these are per the schedule. So there we have still 4-year tenure to repay the debt. So we have time to pay that debt 4 years... And whether internal accruals are sufficient in high capex year? Yes. I think a couple of points to add to what Mohasin said. The Ascert
Q
So my first question is last time you said in our con-call, you said headwinds in non-commerce vertical. So can you please explain which are these headwinds which you were facing last time and now you are facing these headwinds or not?
Suresh Kalpathi
Mohasin, could you understand that question? No, sir, there's a lot of disturbance noise.
Q
Hello, now am I audible?
Management
Q
Hello? Yes, yes. Now I'm at ease, there is no disturbance. Now my first question is related to last time, sir, you said you faced a lot of headwinds in the non-commerce vertical. So can you please explain these headwinds and what are these headwinds like are you still facing these headwinds or not?
Suresh Kalpathi
We have not understand. Okay. So just to repeat from what I understood I think he was asking saying that in one of our previous calls, we had mentioned that we were having some headwinds in the occasional part of the business, in the non-commerce part. Yes, correct. And wanting to understand as to what we are doing about it and if those headwinds have gone. So I'll talk of a couple of them, which we had highlighted the last time. I think the first was relating to the changes that are happening, especially with AI coming. So as Aditya mentioned, we are making quite a bit of change in our occasi
Q
Okay. Is there plan to raise equity or take on any structured debt in the non-commerce vertical post the demerger?
Suresh Kalpathi
The only thing that we are currently looking at is to refinance the high-cost debt that we had taken from Ascertis, a part of which in the commerce vertical got closed. The balance is being carried in the non-commerce vertical. As I had mentioned earlier in the call, it's at a coupon of about 17.2%. We expect to refinance this by March when the make-whole period gets over. And given the strong land and building asset that's already owned by the company, we expect to be able to get a high single-digit coupon or a very low double-digit coupon debt. But that will be a refinancing of the current d
Q
First of all, congratulations to the entire management team. I think they've done a wonderful job. As we can see the green shoots from the Version 2 that we are embarking upon. Quick question from my side. Basically, it would be good if you can get some numbers on how has been the June -- July month in terms of commerce and non-commerce collections.
Suresh Kalpathi
Mohasin, do you want to share? Yes, I can share, sir. So we are able to -- so collected INR65 crores in the current July, where the INR45 crores came from the non-commerce segment, INR40 crores and INR25 crores came from the non-commerce, this is without GST.
Q
Sir, congrats for the good result. Regarding the recent dynamics in the overall industry, particularly, you could see like upskilling has become a primary objective and also people shifting towards the government jobs. So with this recent change, like are we restrategizing in terms of our upskilling and also government test preparation and also into the new area geographies as well and also restrategizing with more students onboard to this?
Suresh Kalpathi
I think that government business has found Favor with a specific category of people who value long-term job commitments and who are fairly resilient to any changes in the environment. So for instance, when COVID happened, I think our government test prep programs did extremely well because the government was the only one which did not do any retrenchment or salary reduction during the COVID period. So I think a segment of people look at the government test prep and government jobs as something that's very secure. That's continuing to do well. Off late, what we have seen possibly in the last 4
Q
Yes. So my question is, sir, what are the new markets where you're seeing traction? And what are the cost efficiency levers that gives you confidence towards your EBITDA margin improvement? So those -- that are my questions.
Suresh Kalpathi
Aditya, why don't you take it/ Yes. So from 2 or 3 things happening, very interesting things happening in our commerce vertical, apart from CA Coaching, which has been our mainstay and a core product, we are seeing a significantly higher traction in global certifications like ACCA, CFA, CMA, etcetera, across the country. We had started and piloted that in a couple of regions. Now as we roll it out nationally, that's seen a significant traction. Similarly, in our online commerce coaching business as well, a similar trend under the brand BB Virtuals, we are seeing where all courses are seeing a
Q
Sure, understood.
Management
Q
Sir, I would just like to ask, sir, what is the capital expenditure that we do in terms of our content cost across all the 4 verticals? Sir, as you alluded that you've entered into the new market in case of Karnataka for the government test prep business. So I mean, what part of the capex -- capital expenditure also goes into, say, entering into a new geography? Because I think so Karnataka government exams will be different and you will have to significantly build up on your existing content.
Suresh Kalpathi
I can take that. So in the government test prep, apart from the language, the content is 75% to 80% the same because that relates to the national history and the national geography. There is a state dependency on the curriculum and specifics on the state and the language, which is about 20%. Having said that, with the advancement and as I mentioned, the advancements one is seeing, translating into local languages is now a lot faster with the AI tools that are already there and the time to market can be very quick. So it is extremely cost efficient. It is extremely time efficient for us in term
Q
Thank you. First, thank you for all for participating in this call, spending a good 1 hour on the call. For us, it has been a satisfying quarter, essentially because, first, this is our second consecutive quarter of being PAT positive. I think clearly, we are demonstrating -- with an EBITDA in excess of INR50 crores for the quarter. We are clearly demonstrating that our projections as part of a Veranda 2.0 strategy that we sort of spoke about early part of this year is well on its way to being delivered. With the debt that we just closed, we expect our cost of money, interest cost to significa
Management
Speaking time
Suresh Kalpathi
33
Mohasin Khan
25
Moderator
16
Deepesh
10
Aditya Malik
7
Henil Bagadia
6
Athar Sayyed
6
Darshil Pandya
5
Sravan
4
Sahil Bohara
4
Opening remarks
Soumya
Good evening, everyone, and welcome to Q1 FY '26 Earnings Con Call of Veranda Learning Solutions Limited. We have on call with us Mr. Suresh Kalpathi, the Chairman and Executive Director; Mr. Aditya Malik, the Chief Operating Officer; and Mr. Mohasin Khan, the Chief Financial Officer. We must remind you that the discussion on today's call may include certain forward-looking statements and must be therefore viewed in conjunction with the risks pertaining to the business. I now request the management to take us through the quarter gone by. Post that, we will open the floor for Q&A. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Suresh Kalpathi
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. It's a pleasure to welcome you all to Veranda Learning Solutions Q1 FY '26 Earnings Call. As we begin a new financial year, I want to take a step back and reflect on the transformational journey that Veranda has undertaken over the past few quarters. FY '25, the year gone by was a very defining year for the company, not just in terms of performance, but more so in how we reshape the Veranda platform for sustainable and long- term growth. Just want to take a moment and thank you all for the consistent support in this journey. By now, many of you might be knowing the Veranda 2.0 journey that has already begun. We started with acquiring profitable brands across all our segments to monetizing those assets and cross-selling synergies to now deleveraging our balance sheet, it's been a pretty significant journey. Just to recollect quickly, as a part of our restructuring and unbundling businesses, we discussed the process strategies followed and the growth
Aditya Malik
Yes. Thank you, Suresh. Good afternoon, all. We'll walk you through each of our 4 verticals and their performance for the quarter. In academics, which is our K-12 vertical, we are seeing a solid traction. Over 5,400 students have been onboarded in the new academic year. We have launched integrated courses with NEET and JEE with accelerated programs, a stronger market vision, a full rollout of LMS as well as the technology platform across schools and multiple centers. We have also taken important steps in teacher training, principal appointments to ensure delivering quality scale with growth. In our vocational vertical and vocational business, it continues to evolve into a multichannel globally scalable unit. Apart from our very strong B2C business, we had 25-plus active enterprise accounts, including top names like Deloitte and PwC. And not only that, these are very strongly outcome-focused programs, and we have delivered more than 150 placements in this quarter alone. In our Governmen
Suresh Kalpathi
Thanks, Aditya. So what comes next? I think we are now shifting gears into an execution- focused growth with a very sharp eye on profitability and free cash flow. Our internal strategy road map focuses on a few key aspects that we think will take us forward in the next set of years. Deleveraging the remaining INR195 crores of debt in a non-commerce vertical through operational accruals, accelerating our monetization across B2B partnerships, global online offerings and high-ticket professional programs. And last is institutional synergies is in cross- selling, sharing of needs across platforms and technology integration to reduce the acquisition costs and improve the learners' long-term value. These are not really onetime activities. This is the fabric on which Veranda 2.0 is being designed and will be used to scale. I'll sort of just quickly request Mohasin, Chief Financial Officer, to walk you through the financial performance in more detail, including our revenue, EBITDA, margin move
Mohasin Khan
Thanks, Suresh, sir. Hi, everyone. Good afternoon, and thanks for joining. We are pleased to report a solid start to FY '26, marked by strong revenue growth and a sharp improvement in profitability as such. Consolidated revenue grew 17% year-on-year to INR139 crores, driven by broad-based growth across the segments. EBITDA nearly doubled year-on-year to INR55 crores and we continue our profitable trajectory with a net profit of INR6 crores, up 123% year-on- year, reaffirming our shift to sustainable performance going forward. Coming to balance sheet, we had a INR510 crores debt as on March '25, we are able to -- by raising QIP funds of INR357 crores. Now we carry a debt of INR195 crores, which we are planning to repay through our operational accruals and no additional debt will be planned as such. Going forward, we remain focused on strengthening operating leverage, capital efficiency and margin expansion while executing on Veranda 2.0 strategy, as explained by Suresh and Aditya. Thank
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