This article was written by

Simon Pryce
CEO & Executive Director

So good morning, everybody. Welcome to the RS Group Preliminary Results Presentation for the year ended 31st of March 2026, which was a year for us of good progress and building momentum. Thanks for joining us here today at the Teneo offices and thank you for your continuing interest in RS.

Our presentation should take about 30 minutes today, and we’ll leave some time at the end for questions, but we’ll try and make sure everybody gets away by no later than 10:00. The presentation materials are already available on our website. There are some hard copies in the room and a recording of this presentation, and the Q&A will be available on that website later today.

But before we start, we always begin our meetings at RS with a health and safety moment. So, there are no planned fire drills today. The fire exit is through the door on my right. Don’t take the lift, take the stairs to the left of the list and assemble outside the building. At RS, we also start each of our meetings with a values moment. And I’d just like to take this opportunity to call out that as one team delivering brilliantly, doing the right thing and making every day better, recognizing the efforts of our RS colleagues across the world who, for the last 2 weeks, have taken part in an Active for Change Challenge. And in

Pure-play electric two-wheeler maker Ola Electric Mobility reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 500 crore for the March quarter, marking a contraction of 42.5% from Rs 870 crore reported in the same period last year. This is attributable to the owners of the company.

The company’s revenue from operations came in at Rs 265 crore, down 57% from Rs 611 crore it posted in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

The company reported an EBITDA loss of Rs 281 crore for the quarter under review versus Rs 630 crore in the year-ago period.

Consolidated gross margin stood at 38.5% in Q4FY26 compared with 34.3% in Q3FY26 and 13.7% in Q4FY25.

The company said this now represents an industry-leading gross margin profile, significantly ahead of most two-wheeler OEMs, including established ICE players.

However, Ola cautioned that gross margins could moderate in Q1 and Q2FY27 due to commodity inflation and pricing measures aimed at accelerating growth amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainties. Despite this, the company said it has sufficient margin buffers to remain aggressive on pricing and customer value propositions while continuing to maintain strong unit economics.
The company said Q4FY26 marked its first quarter of positive operating cash flow despite being a relatively low-volume quarter.Consolidated cash flow from operations (CFO) stood at Rs 91 crore during the quarter, supported by PLI inflows, stronger gross margins, lower operating expenses and tighter working capital discipline. Consolidated free cash flow (FCF) improved to negative Rs 131 crore.

The Auto business generated cash flow from operations of Rs 213 crore and free cash flow of Rs 173 crore in Q4FY26. Meanwhile, the Cell business continued to remain in investment mode as the company ramped up its Gigafactory operations and prepared for the next phase of cell and energy storage product launches.

Ola said FY26 was also a year of cost rationalisation and tighter operating discipline. Consolidated operating expenses, including lease rentals, declined sharply to Rs 428 crore in Q4FY26 from Rs 844 crore in Q4FY25.
According to the company, the reduction was driven by network rationalisation, tighter control over sales and service costs, lower fixed overheads and improved operating governance.

The company added that operating expenses are expected to decline further towards Rs 350 crore per quarter over the next few quarters as the full impact of FY26 cost measures begins to reflect in the business. It said the leaner cost structure positions the company better as volumes recover.

Ola Electric outlook

Based on current trends, the company expects Q1FY27 orders to be in the range of 40,000-45,000 units, nearly double the levels seen in Q4FY26.

As volumes improve, the company expects its auto business to move towards adjusted operating EBITDA and free cash flow positivity during FY27. It said this transition will be supported by strong gross margins, further reduction in operating expenses over the next few quarters, disciplined working capital management, supplier and factory ramp-up, and better utilisation of the existing gross block.

Ola Electric shares ended at Rs 36.94, higher by 1% on the BSE on Wednesday.

Indian stock market recovered all morning losses, with Sensex rebounding nearly 790 points and Nifty jumping over 260 points from their respective intraday lows to close in the green as oil prices cooled down below $110 per barrel, and bond yields inched lower after soaring to record high levels.

At close, Sensex was up over 117 points at 75,318 while Nifty 50 was up 41 points at 23,659. This came as India VIX, which measures volatility in markets, declined around 2% to 18.31 in the afternoon.

The sharp reversal in investor sentiment was broad-based, with Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 indices gaining around 0.6% and 0.07% respectively. Sectorally, Nifty Oil & Gas gained around 1.7% to lead gains, while Nifty Media fell over 1% to lead losses. Around 1,722 stocks advanced on NSE, while 1,543 stocks declined and 107 remained unchanged.

“Markets recovered from intraday lows, supported by selective buying in largecap stocks across autos, financials, and oil & gas. Autos and financials gained on relatively better Q4 earnings, while recent fuel price hikes supported sentiment for OMCs and refiners. Realty stocks also witnessed value buying after the recent correction,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments.

Bond yields inch lower

After a skyrocketing rally to record high levels, bond yields slightly declined. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield hit a 16-month high of 4.687% overnight, while the 30-year yield climbed to 5.198%, levels last seen in 2007. Both have since eased slightly to 4.65% and 5.17% respectively. While the bond yields have slightly cooled down on Wednesday morning, the yields remain elevated.

High bond yields typically make bonds attractive to investors, which in turn can lead to some downturn in equity markets.

Iran-US conflict

US President Donald Trump told lawmakers at the White House that the country will “end the war very quickly” with Iran. “There’s so much oil out there, they’re going to come plummeting down..We’re going to end that war very quickly. They want to make a deal so badly…You are going to see oil prices plummet. They’re going to come down. There’s so much oil out there, they’re going to come plummeting down,” he said at a press conference. This came after he threatened Iran, saying the US may launch new attacks if Tehran fails to agree to some of the terms of the peace deal.Meanwhile, US Vice President JD Vance said that the Iran conflict will not become a “forever war”. “We’re going to take care of business and ⁠come home,” he said during a White House briefing.

Oil prices fall below $110/barrel

As a result, oil prices cooled down. Brent crude fell nearly 2% to close at a little over $109 per barrel. WTI Crude also fell around 2% to $102 per barrel. Oil prices, however, continue to remain above the $100 per barrel level amid the prolonged blockade over the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow 33-kilometre waterway connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman that handles over 20% of the world’s daily oil and gas shipments.

Global markets

Asian markets mostly closed in the red, with Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi dropping around 1% each. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.7% while China’s Shanghai Composite recorded marginal losses.

European markets moved into the green with the UK’s FTSE, France’s CAC and Germany’s DAX recording marginal gains. Wall Street closed in the deep red yesterday, but Dow Jones futures are currently in the green, indicating a positive start for the American stock market later today.

Rupee hits fresh record low

Despite the optimism, some caution is warranted. Indian rupee extended is free fall, ending at a record closing low of 96.82 against the US dollar. Rupee’s weakness comes as elevated crude oil prices and continued pressure on capital flows kept the currency under stress, said Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst of Commodity and Currency at LKP Securities. “Sustained higher crude prices are increasing concerns over India’s import bill and widening trade deficit, which is keeping sentiment weak for the rupee,” he said.

“Market participants continue to prefer dollar buying and rupee selling as a hedge against ongoing volatility and external sector pressure. The broader trend remains weak, with the rupee expected to trade in a range of 96.25–97.00 in the near term,” according to the analyst.

FII selling resumes

Foreign investors remained net sellers of Indian equities on Tuesday, selling shares worth Rs 2,457 crore on Dalal Street. This comes after a three-session buying streak during which FII bought Indian shares worth Rs 5,240 crore.

However, foreign investors have mostly remained bearish on Indian markets this month so far, remaining net sellers of Indian equities in eight out of 12 sessions so far in May.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times.)