Dreamfolks Services (NSE:DREAMFOLKS) Q1 2027 Earnings Call

0:01 Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Q1 FY 'twenty seven Earnings Conference Call of Dreamfolks Services Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in a listen only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Ms.. Thank you, and over to you, ma'am. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us. We appreciate your continued interest and engagement with the company. Earlier today, we announced our financial results for the quarter ended 06/30/2026.

0:51 The detailed financials and investor presentation have been made available on the stock exchanges as well as on our website, and we hope you had an opportunity to review them. As we begin FY 2027, I would like to reflect briefly on the journey we have undertaken over the past year. FY 2026 was a year of significant disruption and structural change, particularly in the domestic airport lounge ecosystem. While this transition had a material impact on our financial performance, it has also accelerated a transformation that had been preparing for from being predominantly a lounge aggregator to becoming a broader travel and lifestyle benefit platform. The most important change we are seeing today is in the way our banking and enterprise partners are designing their customer value propositions.

1:43 The focus is increasingly shifting from a single standardized benefit to a more personalized combination of experiences based on customer segments, spending behavior and usage patterns. An example of that is the launch of boarding pass based travel benefit program for one of the largest banks, premium credit card users. This enables customer to access relevant travel benefits seamlessly through their journey, while allowing our banking partners to deliver a more contextual and personalized customer experience. We believe such propositions are an important indication of how the card benefits ecosystem is evolving and where Dreamfolks can add value. This plays directly to Dreamfolks' strength given our ability to aggregate multiple services and configure them through our technology platform.

2:36 We are therefore increasingly positioning ourselves not merely as a service provider, but as a benefit technology platform that enables clients to design, distribute and manage differentiated customer propositions across travel and lifestyle categories. This evolution is supported by favorable structural industry trends. India's credit card transaction value is expected to grow from approximately 21 children in FY 'twenty five to INR 54,000,000,000,000 in FY 'thirty, representing a CAGR of around 21%. While transaction volumes are expected to increase to nearly INR 13,000,000,000, At the same time, global travel and tourism continues to expand, with the sector contributing approximately USD 11,600,000,000,000 to the global economy in 2025.

3:28 APAC remains one of the key growth engines for global aviation, while Southeast Asia's tourism market is expected to grow from approximately USD 35,500,000,000 in 2025 to $67,400,000,000 by 2031. These trends reinforce our conviction that the long term opportunity extends well beyond traditional airport lounge access. Against this background, we continue to broaden our service portfolio across the travel and lifestyle. During the quarter, we went live with several major banking programs covering global lounges, global meet and assist, airport transfer and premium members only clubs. These programs demonstrate how our platform is increasingly being used to create bundled and differentiated propositions rather than simply providing individual services.

4:25 Our core network also continues to widen steadily. As of the end of the quarter, we had 1,100 plus global airport lounges with more than 70 new outlets added during the quarter. Railway lounges remain an important growth opportunity for us with 100% coverage across the country. The acquisition of ten eleven Hospitality has strengthened our operational control over the segment and enabled us to participate more directly in the growing premium railway travel ecosystem. With the continued modernization of India's railway infrastructure, we see significant potential for railway lounges to become an increasingly important component of the broader travel and lifestyle benefit ecosystem.

5:14 Golf is another category where we continue to see significant headroom. We now provide access to more than 80 golf outlets in India and over eight sixty golf courses internationally, strengthening our ability to offer premium lifestyle benefits across geographies. Another area we are closely monitoring is our DS club membership program. The initial response has been encouraging. With number of memberships sold is showing steady quarter on quarter growth. While the initiative is still at an early stage and we remain measured in our approach, the traction so far gives us confidence in its potential to evolve into meaningful direct to consumer and lifestyle engagement channel over time. Importantly, the contribution from business outside our traditional lounge offering has continued to increase.

6:06 Our non airport lounge services contributed approximately 33% of the top line during the quarter. This is a significant milestone for us because it demonstrates that the diversification strategy is no longer simply a strategic intent. It is increasingly reflected in the composition of our business. At the same time, our focus remains on deepening relationships with existing clients. Rather than viewing our partnership only through the lens of traditional down taxes, we are working with clients to introduce multiple categories of benefits through the same technology and distribution infrastructure. This enables us to increase wallet share, improve engagement and create stickiness within our client ecosystem.

6:53 As we look ahead, our priorities remain clear. Scale our global lounge network and strengthen our position relative to global peers, expand the railway lounge network through our subsidiary ten eleven Hospitality, redefine credit card benefits in India by moving beyond the legacy domestic lounges proposition and offering a broader range of travel and lifestyle experiences. The journey from a travel focused aggregator to diversify travel and lifestyle benefit management technology platform is well underway. The progress we are seeing across global volume, new client programs, network expansion and the increasing contribution from non lung services gives us confidence that the foundation built during FY twenty six are beginning to translate into more diversified and resilient business.

7:45 Turning to our financial performance for the quarter ended 06/30/2026, the company reported revenue of INR 39 crore. Gross profit from the quarter stood at negative INR 0.9 crores, primarily impacted by the upfront minimum guarantee payment made to support the expansion of our global launch business. We expect these investments to be recovered through increased transaction volumes and scale up the global business over the coming quarters. Registered EBITDA after adjusting for noncash expense stood at negative INR16.4 crores. While near term profitability has been temporarily affected due to the reset and efforts to expand globally and enter new geographies, we believe the rapid adoption of new age lifestyle services and deeper integration in the global and railway lounge business segment, we should be able to grow bigger than ever.

8:40 Despite these headwinds, our balance sheet remains strong and resilient. We closed the quarter with cash and cash equivalent of INR193.3 crores, providing significant financial flexibility to execute more strategic initiatives. Our network as on 06/30/2026 stands at a healthy INR 300.4 crores, a position that underscores our ability to invest in growth while maintaining financial discipline through this period of transformation. We remain confident that the investments we have made in platform, people, partnerships and geographies will translate into meaningful value creation as industry conditions normalize and our newer revenue streams gain scale.

9:30 I would now like to hand over to Shekhar for a detailed financial update. Thank you, Ivita. Good evening, everyone. I will now take you through our financial performance for the quarter ended 06/30/2026. We reported revenue of INR 39 crores compared to INR 52.6 crores in the last quarter and INR 348.9 crores in Q1 FY 'twenty six. While the adjusted EBITDA came in at a negative INR 16.4 crores compared to a negative INR 14.4 crores in the last quarter and INR 30.5 crores in Q1 twenty twenty six. Profit after tax stood at negative INR 13.8 crores against negative INR 13 crores last quarter and INR 21.3 crores in Q1 twenty twenty six.

10:23 The recent impact on the profitability is primarily a result of lower revenue against our existing operating cost base. Once the high revenue contributing businesses in which we are currently investing begin to scale and unlock their full potential, we expect the incremental contribution to help us absorb our fixed overheads and improve the operating leverage. As of 06/30/2026, our net worth stood at INR 300.4 crores, while cash and cash equivalents increased to INR 193.3 crores from INR 149 crores in the previous quarter, reflecting our continued focus on efficient working capital management. Our strong balance sheet and healthy liquidity position provide us with the financial flexibility to pursue our growth opportunities while maintaining prudent capital allocation and financial discipline.

11:21 With that, I open the floor for questions. Thank you. Thank you, sir. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you wish to withdraw yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handset while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Our first question comes from the line of with Provincial Capital Advisors. Please go ahead.

12:10 Hello. Am I audible? Yes, sir. Yes. Thank you for this opportunity. So my first question is regarding the unit economics on a railway lounge. I wanted to ask how much does it cost for us to open one and how long before it earns that back? So in terms of the CapEx, if you're asking, then it depends from lounge to lounge because every city has a different cost. Secondly, it also depends on the size of the lounges because not every railway station, we actually get same cost, I mean, same size.

12:56 But however, on average, I would say that, you know, right now, starting from a 2,000 square feet lounge, what we have, where we also have a 14,000 square feet lounges. So it depends on 1.5 going up to maybe five to six CR is the CapEx investment right now. It is just the CapEx investment what I'm talking about. But apart from that, there are other investments, which is the security deposit and the initial advances, which are also been given to the railways. Okay. Got it. And also, you mentioned that railway launches could be a 500 crore opportunity over five four, five years. Could you like walk me through what needs to happen for that number to be here? Like how many stations and how many customers per station are we expecting?

13:48 So if you were to look at our Prime Minister's speech, the kind of investment that they have envisaged, if that is happening over a period of next three to four years, I think we are confident and that is the number that we have actually calculated. And this INR500 crores in the next five years is very much possible considering that kind of investment. Okay. Got it. And one last question. How did the margin economics of ETT compare to what you historically earned in the India lounge business? Are they, like, structurally bet... Better? Yeah. So almost they are in similar range.

14:40 Okay. So presently, actually, if you look at it, it is at a similar age. But however, as we mentioned to you that, you know, there are investments in terms of advances or we are also trying to ensure that, you know, because of the pricing, price benefit, we are also giving them in advance amount to the launch operators. So I would say that all that cost right now is considered. And I would say presently, you would not see a better margin compared to what it was earlier. But eventually, I would say that, yes, the margins would get better for Global. Okay. Got it. Thank you. Thank you.

16:06 The next question comes from the line of, an individual investor. Please go ahead. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. Good evening to the management. My question is regarding how many quarters we are looking at to be neutral as far as the bottom line is concerned. I mean, that breakeven level, when are we expecting... How many quarters it it is going to take? And if you can just explain in detail, you know, how we are going to reach over there. So I would say that, you know, by next year, you know, we will actually come to the breakeven thing. Okay? Now if you actually ask me that what the model would be, but I... You know, the model is that, you know, we are focusing more on the global lounges right now. Okay, the focus is on global lounges, the focus is on golf and also the other services which we have introduced.

17:07 Now as we all know that any new services which actually get introduced in the market, it takes time for the awareness to be built up. So I would say, now if you see the one of the largest banks which has actually introduced the other services. Now these services were introduced in the month mid of May. So initially when it was launched, would say that there was communications from the bank, but I think the communication from the bank is not on the regular front, but it is only a word-of-mouth which actually spreads and it takes time. So I would say that this particular service itself will take at least a year to pick up and we start seeing numbers coming from there. Similarly, it would be for the other services as well. Now coming to Global Lounges, now the impact of the war has actually impacted our business and that's the reason the Global Lounge, the numbers have dropped drastically compared to what we see in the last quarter. Otherwise, I think we could have actually made I mean, I would say that in terms of the transactions, the number and the top line would have been much better if there was no war. So I would say that these are the impacts which had happened. But, yes, Global Lounge, Golf, other services would be the one which will grow eventually in couple of quarters.

18:32 And by next year, I would say that, yes, we would be in the breakeven. Okay. My second question is in respect of the employee cost. I believe that in the current quarter, we had E swap expenses. So can you just give me the breakdown? And will it continue in the and seeing quarters as well? So like when we talk about the ESOP cost, so frankly, its impact is very minimal. So if we talk about on full year basis, the impact of those resource which are issued is only INR 14 lakhs. That is not at all impacting. So if you see basically the variance that is appearing, if you are comparing the current quarter number, so this will be more or less equivalent to what we have been doing in the previous quarter. So payroll cost, it almost ends there.

19:24 In the last quarter, you could have seen our commentary, then there was the reversal of the variable pay. So as a result, the number for March quarter was looking quite low. Okay. Okay. So we can we can we'll be continuing with the current quarter's number in the in the forthcoming quarters as well. Right? Right. Yes. Almost in the similar manner. Yes. Okay. Okay. Okay. And can I just throw some light on the data? Like, you know, we had quite a big chunk outstanding at the end of previous quarter. So right now, what is the situation? And do we have anything which is more than ninety days old? So yes, there has been a lot of effort in terms of collecting dues from the receivables.

20:13 So that's why you see the cash position of the company has quite improved. So that's what I said, nearly INR 190 plus crores is there as compared to the previous numbers of nearly INR 148 crores. So there has been a lot of work which is being done in that aspect, yes. So what is the current details number at the end of June quarter? So, Praveen, it's the balance sheet number. So we have just published only P and L numbers. Okay. All right. Thank Not to forget that we are dealing with all the banks. So frankly speaking, over a period of time, whatever you see, the collection that is absolutely from these institutions, and we don't see any risk here.

21:01 Just to answer your question, if there is in your mind. Yes. You. Thank you for clarification. Thanks. Thank you. Participants who wish to ask a question may press 1. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, you may press 1.

22:21 Yes. We have a follow-up question from the line of Prajeet Bhadwatam with Procational Capital Advisors. Please go ahead. Hello. So I had one more question regarding the club two point o. Like, what's the paid membership count or average revenue per user, and how's the rate and retention so far? So, yeah, it's a relatively new. I'll tell you why relatively new because while we launched it, you know, a few months back, the real effort in terms of, you know, broadcasting it and using social media has just started, point number one. In terms of average cost, I think if you were to look at it, we have three, which is white, orange and black. So we are selling more of black, which is the high end model where the cost is 50,000 to the consumer.

23:13 To answer your question, what would be the average? The average among all the three would be ballpark 30,000. And we have just started. In fact, you will soon see the numbers getting published. We are significantly improving the numbers. So what we were doing versus what we have done even in the month of July or for that matter, June are significantly up. But yes, it's very miniscule as compared to the total revenue. But we will start publishing as and when we feel that it is significant impacting on the revenues. Okay. Got it. Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Maruti Landansarda, an individual investor. Please go ahead.

24:34 My my... This question belongs to the promoter holding that since the share price is is hovering around very low level, so does promoter have... Promoter have any plan of increasing their shareholding considering that, you know, in next couple of years, they are looking at a very bright future for the company? So presently, I think there is no such plans in the promoter group because presently, I think the focus is completely on how to bring the business back into where we were. So I think the focus is completely on that. And I think it is also important that once we grow the business and to actually have the right strategic investors with us. So I would say that, you know, that is where the focus is.

25:33 Okay. So are you looking for any strategic investors right now to invest in our company? As I presently told you that, you know, right now our focus is completely on building and getting back into action where we have started. And I think it is not the right time for me to actually meet up, but it is always better that, you know, firstly perform and show, and then it would be better for me to go and meet the investors. So right now, I would say that the complete focus is on building the business and nothing on this. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of with Investment Advisors. Please go ahead.

26:23 Hi. I missed the opening remarks. Please clarify why there is a drop in revenue q o q. Is there any... Is it due to any decrease in revenue from domestic side or the... Any other raise? As I told you that if you look at it, it is the drop in the global lounge business, and the drop is basically because of the war which is happening. So yes, internationally, the traffic is down, and that is one of the biggest reason that why there is a drop in the revenue. Okay. So under any other further deals we finalized during this last quarter in this international in addition to the third deal which we are running with Q1?

27:09 Sorry. Your voice is not clear. Can you please repeat the question? So internationally, have you gained any new customers in this last quarter, the Q1? Or similar to the Q4? No. So we have gained customers, and I would say the clients in APAC. So we have a very large network in Singapore where we have already signed up, and our program would be going live hopefully by end of this month or early next month. Our second one is in Indonesia, one of the largest bank in Indonesia. Also, we have also gone live there. There is also one of the bank in Singapore as well where we have signed, and there is integration right now with that bank going on. So yes, these are the three large clients which have signed up for APAC.

28:06 Yes, that's been great news actually. From The Middle East, do you have any pipeline, Dubai, Oman, Saudi, Qatar? So these are some some other competitors are very dominant in these countries. So do you have any pipeline or discussion with any other banks or coordinator for any? So as you're aware that we have acquired a Dubai based company, which is ETT. Now because of the war, yes, the business is down in The Middle East. So that is one of the reason that, you know, we are not able to move in the Middle East region right now. Okay. Finally, on the EBITDA breakeven, I think we are planning where the h two of FY twenty eight. So do you speak to that? Are the... This is the... They are coming in line. So do you think that we can do that a little bit earlier also?

28:59 Presently, I would say that I would stick to what we have committed last time. If it happens earlier, for sure, we will also announce the same. Okay. Thank you. That's so much. The next question comes from the line of K. Sahu with K. Investments. Yes. Yes. I have two questions. First, on cash part. What explains the cash appreciation in the books by around INR 44 crores? Is it a better realization that we had from the previous services we had provided? Because last quarter in the March, we had a data position of $1.34 crore, I guess.

29:54 So has there been any significant realization from there? And second would be on... Actually, I saw that generally q one is a season where we have a better q on q growth. Like most of the in the past three, four years, I saw that against the Q4, you have a better Q1 on Q on Q basis. What explains this particular drop of INR 56 crores to INR 39 crores in revenues this quarter? Okay. So regarding your first question about the bank balances. So yes, as I explained earlier, there has been significant efforts in terms of collection.

30:41 So you are right, there has been like collection of nearly INR 40 plus crore, which is there from different customers. Okay. Yes. Sorry. And regarding your second question on drop versus Q4, yes, relatively, yes, Q1 has been better as compared to Q4. But I think Liberica did explain that a significant portion of our business is global now and India outbound to Middle East contributes significantly in terms of traffic, overall traffic, we all are aware of it. So that has dropped because of the war and that has impacted the volume. Okay. Okay. So Indian business is not there and the international business is impacted by Middle East, West West West Asia War. Is it the case?

31:40 Yes. So in fact, our India business is, to an extent, compensating for the loss that is happening in Middle East. So Okay. Yeah. If I may have one more follow-up question. I see that there is significant reduction in cost and the cost of services provided is approximately making the revenue this particular quarter. So will it be the run rate we will be going forward in q two, q three? So even if we are not EBITDA positive, our cost of services would be matching our revenues at least? Yes. See, cost of service is a derivative of revenue. So yes, there is a drop in revenue and hence, of course, there is a drop in terms of cost.

32:29 And if you are aware that our margins, gross margins are going to be what they are. So the cost line and the revenue line will be in line. Yes. And as we explained this time, we have done like a few of the payment for MMG. However, going forward, like, there will be no such payment. So anyways, you will see positive margins. Okay. Okay. Okay. Thanks, guys. This is the questions from my side. All the best for the future. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

33:35 As there are no further questions from the participants, I would now like to hand the conference over to Ms. For closing comments. Thank you all for joining our earnings conference call today. We hope your queries have been answered. For any further information, please reach out to our Investor Relations team. On behalf of the entire Dreamfolks family, I want to express our gratitude for your continued trust and patience to what has been a year of meaningful transformation. We look forward to sharing our progress with you in the quarters ahead. Thank you. Take care, and goodbye. Thank you. On behalf of Dreamfolks Services Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.