Thomas Scott's receivable days don't add up across three calls
Q4 revenue grew 63% to ₹78 cr, but management's own numbers on receivables and SKU count have shifted meaningfully since November.
What's new
- Q4 FY26 revenue rose 63% to ₹78 cr; EBITDA margin expanded 105 bps to 14.1%.
- FY26 revenue hit ₹255 cr, up 58%, with EBITDA up 72% to ₹33 cr.
- Receivable days reported at 21, down from 25, despite a shift to B2B wholesale with 45-60 day terms.
Themes from the call
Receivables
The shift to a B2B wholesale model with marketplace distributors should lengthen receivables, yet management says days are shrinking and never crossed 25.
Metrics Volatility
Brand and SKU counts have been unstable across three consecutive calls, making it hard to assess the underlying portfolio.
Margins
EBITDA margin hit 14.1% in Q4 and 13.1% for FY26, but raw material cost headwinds from West Asia require partial consumer pass-through.
Guidance watch
- Management expects to 'continue similar pace of growth' in FY27, implying 60%+ revenue growth, but offered no specific guidance.
- Insurance claim for the ₹22 cr fire-related inventory loss is pending; recovery would reduce short-term borrowings from ₹45-46 cr.
Risk flags
- A B2B wholesale shift with 45-60 day settlement terms should increase receivable days, not decrease them. The numbers don't reconcile.
- The sharp, unexplained drop in SKU count from 22,000+ to 15,000+ suggests either a major rationalization or inconsistent reporting.
- Working capital pressure from the fire incident remains unresolved pending insurance recovery.
Key quotes
-
"Receivable days have actually come down this year compared to last year, from 25 to 21 days."
— Vedant Bang, CEO, June 2026 call -
"We believe that long-term receivable days would settle at somewhere around 60-days."
— Thomas Scott management, Feb 2026 call
The brief
Thomas Scott is growing fast. Revenue compounded at 60% over three years, and Q4 marked the 10th straight quarter of growth. The business is real. But the numbers management is giving investors don't hold together across calls. In February, management told the street receivable days would settle around 60. In June, CEO Vedant Bang said they'd fallen from 25 to 21. The gap between 21 and 60 is not a rounding error. It's a different business model. The shift to B2B wholesale with Amazon and Myntra distribution partners, where receivables run 45-60 days, should be pushing days up, not down. Meanwhile, the SKU count has swung from 22,000+ in February to 15,000+ in June, a 32% drop with no explanation. The brand count moved from 12 to 15 to 14. These aren't small variations. They're the kind of inconsistencies that make it impossible to build a clean model of the business. The operational story has real momentum. Footwear entry showed healthy sell-through, premium brands are driving mix shift, and the zero-capital model for new categories is a smart structural play. But none of that matters if the basic accounting of who owes whom, and how many products are in the portfolio, changes every quarter without comment. Management needs to reconcile the receivable numbers before the growth story can be fully underwritten.
Thomas Scott is a fast-growing business. Its own numbers make it hard to verify.