Ladies and Gentlemen, good day and welcome to Q1FY26 earnings conference call of Himadri Speciality Chemical Limited hosted by MUFG Intime. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing Star then zero on your touchstone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Bhavya Shah from MUFG Intime. Thank you and over to you sir.
Thank you. Welcome to the Q1FY26 earnings conference call. Today on the call we have with us Mr. Anurag Choudhary, CMD and CEO, Mr. Shoames, EVP Tire and Strategy, and Mr. Kamlesh Agarwal, CFO.
This conference call may contain forward-looking.
Statements about the company, which are based.
On beliefs, opinion, and expectations.
As of today, actual results may differ materially.
These statements are not the guarantees of.
Future performance and involves risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Our detailed safe harbor statement is given on page two of the investor presentation of the company, which has been uploaded on the stock exchange and company website.
With this, I now hand over the.
Call to Mr. Anurag Choudhary.
Over to you sir. Thank you Bhavya. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of Himadri Speciality Chemical Limited, I am pleased to welcome you all to our Q1 FY2026 earnings call. We deeply value your continued support and engagement. We are delighted to say that Q1 marks a strong and focused start to the new financial year. It reflects the strategic direction we have undertaken, one rooted in capacity expansion, technology-driven product development, and deeper global integration. These initiatives are aligned with our commitment to build a future-ready, diversified, and sustainable organization. This quarter was particularly significant as it reflects the core spirit of Himadri Reloaded. The Next Chapter, this phrase is more than just a theme. It captures the mindset driving us forward, reimagining what's possible through innovation, resilience, and sharp execution.
From a financial standpoint, we are pleased to report our highest ever EBITDA and PAT, underscoring the strength and stability of our operations. EBITDA stood at INR 234 crore while PAT came at INR 186 crore. On a standalone basis, this performance was led by increase in sale of high value-added products, better operational efficiencies, improvement in yield, and strong waste heat recovery systems. While the revenue growth was marginally impacted due to correction in raw material prices, our profitability trajectory remains on a firm, sustainable upward path. At the core of our business lies a deep commitment to developing innovative solutions that drive customer satisfaction, powered by our robust in-house research and development. Much like our highly integrated manufacturing capabilities, this enables us to effectively cater to the evolving demand of sundry sectors.
We deliver high-performance products across diverse segments including lithium ion batteries, paints, plastics, tires, technical rubber goods, aluminum, graphite electrodes, agrochem, defense, and construction chemicals. Our sharp focus on quality, process control, and innovation continues to keep us ahead in a rapidly evolving global landscape. Post the successful acquisition of Birla Tyres Limited by Himadri Speciality Chemical Limited, strategic partner along with resolution applicants Dalmia Bharat Refractories Limited in October 2023, significant efforts have been directed towards modernizing and revamping the Birla Tyres plant at Balasore. During the quarter, tangible steps have continued to be taken to advance the transformation agenda, with operations now having commenced at Birla Tyres, making a pivotal milestone in the journey to establish a high-performance, future-ready specialty tire brand. A refreshed brand identity was introduced, featuring a modernized logo and a redesigned corporate website to reflect this strategic shift.
We.
Are pleased to inform there has been huge brand recall we have seen from the market. The focus is on building a comprehensive product portfolio of specialty tires catering to off the highway tires, commercial vehicles, agricultural, industrial and electric vehicles. Progress on commissioning the passenger car radial remains on track. This unit is designed to meet the specific requirement of EV and SUV segments, supporting expansion in both domestic and export markets. Additionally, a targeted multi platform marketing campaign is being developed to enhance brand recall and engage effectively with contemporary consumers. In parallel, we made significant progress in building our clean tech and new energy material vertical, a pillar that will define Himadri's next growth wave. We entered into our exclusive technology licensing agreement with Sicona Battery Technologies, an Australian innovator in silicon, carbon and anode materials.
Their SICX technology, proven to enhance energy density by 20% and charging speed by 40%, gives a strong edge in the evolving EV and storage market. With this agreement, we have taken strong steps towards localizing this technology and bringing it to scale in India. In addition to that, we invested in International Battery Company, a U.S. headquartered technology developer and manufacturer of chemistry agnostic prismatic lithium ion cells, acquiring 16.24% equity stake. IBC has an established manufacturing facility in South Korea which began operation in 2023 and is coming up with a gigafactory in Bengaluru through its joint venture with Mahanagar Gas Limited subsidiary. This gigafactory is expected to be operational by Q4FY26. Our advanced materials jointly tested with IBC have demonstrated outstanding results fulfilling their stringent requirements for high performance battery manufacturing.
This is a significant milestone for the company as it marks the start of commercial deployment of Himadri lithium iron phosphate cathode active and anode materials, with IBC presently developing its LFP based Prabhal 2000 cells using Himadri battery materials. This partnership also opens doors to IBC's global customer base across U.S., India and East Asia. While these initiatives shape our future, we continue to strengthen our core. With an established high temperature liquid coal tar pitch terminal already operational at Haldia, we have now commissioned a new terminal at Mangalore. This expansion significantly enhances our logistic capabilities and export competitiveness. In parallel, we are setting up a unique facility, the first of its kind in India, to extract high value-added chemicals like anthraquinone and carbazole from our existing polta distillates, which is expected to be commissioned in Q2FY27.
This will help us to reduce dependence on import and unlock greater value from our integrated operations. We are also entering the consumer segment with the launch of Durofresh, our high-purity naphthalene balls retail brand, backed by 99.5% purity and stain-free performance. Bureau press sets new benchmarks in vapor strength and long-lasting freshness, reinforcing our technical leadership in the refined naphthalene market. Meanwhile, our brownfield expansion of 70,000 metric tons per annum in specialty carbon black is progressing well and is on track to be commissioned by Q3FY26. With this, our specialty carbon black capacity will more than double to 130,000 metric tons, making it the single largest specialty carbon black site in the world and placing us amongst the top five specialty carbon black producers globally.
As part of Himadri's vision to become a global frontrunner in production of lithium iron phosphate cathode active material powering 100 gigawatt of lithium ion battery capacity, we are making steady progress on phase one of the journey. This phase involves setting up the world's first commercial LFP manufacturing plant outside of China, with a planned capacity of 40,000 metric tons per annum. The project is progressing as scheduled and is expected to be operational by Q3FY27, with full-scale operations commencing in FY28. This facility marks a significant milestone not only for Himadri but also as a step towards, as we look forward, we are entering a new phase, one that is bold, transformative, and purpose-driven. With a robust pipeline of technologies, disciplined execution, and clear roadmap, we are confident of delivering sustainable and profitable growth.
The next three years will be defining years to develop new age materials, deepen our global presence, and capture opportunities across energy transition, especially the chemicals and downstream value chain. We thank you for your continued trust and support as we script this new chapter of Growth Himalayan Reloaded. With that, I would like to hand over the proceedings to our CFO, Mr. Kamlesh Agarwal, to walk you through the financial performance in detail. Thank you, Anuragji.
Good evening everyone and thank you for joining us today. Hope everyone has had a chance to review our financial results and the latest investor presentation which have been made available on both the stock exchanges and our company's website. We have commenced the financial year with a clear focus on execution, operational excellence, and disciplined financial prudence. Let me begin with the key financial highlights of the quarter. Sales volume have increased to 140,090 metric tons as compared to 139,175 metric tons a year ago. Consolidated revenue for the quarter stood at INR 1,118 crore as compared to INR 1,200 crore a year ago. The revenue was marginally impacted mainly because of correction in raw material prices which led to the reduction in the finished goods prices. Our EBITDA stood at INR 235 crore as compared to INR 188 crore a year ago with a growth rate of 25%.
Our PAT has significantly increased to INR 179 crore from INR 123 crore a year ago with a growth rate of 46%. On a standalone basis, the revenue for the quarter stood at INR 1,100 crore as compared to INR 1,200 crore a year ago.
Our EBITDA stood with INR.
234 crore as compared to INR 188 crore a year ago with a growth rate of 25%. Our PAT has significantly increased to INR 183 crore from INR 123 crore a year ago with a growth rate of 48%. The company has net debt of INR 107 crore for Q1FY26 while ROCE was 32% excluding investment and capital work in progress as of June 30, 2025. We remain committed to delivering strong value through our strategic priorities and operational results. That's all from our side. We will now open the lines for question and answer.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchstone phone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. The first question is from the line of Sandesh Jain from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Thanks for this opportunity. I got few questions. First on the graphite. Today there was a news article telling that U.S. has put some 93.5% EDD or has proposed to put a 93.5% EDD on Chinese graphite. We intend to be in the anode active material. How do we see this as an opportunity? We have generally spoken about cathode, not so much on the anode. Are we looking to harness this opportunity as well?
Yes. Good afternoon, Sanjay. The effective duty will be 165%. Already there is duty on Chinese anode with this additional duty coming in. This is a great opportunity for us to supply material to us. It's open up. Yeah. What.
What exactly are we looking to export? Because in anode we have not spoken much about and we have not announced any cathodes. Can you give more color on the anode side of the business?
Anode, we have been doing a lot of research and development and our work is progressing very strongly. At the right point of time, we will announce the CapEx once the engineering, and now we are working on the engineering part of it. Once the engineering is completed, we'll announce the CapEx and time frame with capital investment.
Got it.
Right now we have not announced anything on anode. Right now we have not announced anything on anode.
No, no, no.
Nothing.
Nothing.
We are making a lot of groundwork for that in terms of customer approvals, sending samples across geographies to OEMs. All those things are already moving very fast.
Got it. My second question is on the volume growth. Last year we had a very healthy volume growth, upwards of 15%, 16%. Now that volume growth looks to be tapering down. How are we planning to see that we sustain the volume growth at at least 8%, 10%?
Definitely we are looking forward. From Q4 onward you will see a strong volume growth. Once the capacity is, like carbon black capacity, will come in place in Q3. From Q4 you will see that capacity coming up. In addition to that, we are debottling some coal tar pitch capacity also. That will also come into play. From Q3, Q4 you will see volume growth also coming up, how much.
Debottlenecking and quota distillation, are we looking at right now?
Currently we are at 500,000 metric tons. We are looking at debottling another 100,000 metric tons.
From 5 we will go to 600,000 metric ton. Right. This would be commissioned by.
By Q3?
By Q3.
It is not commissioned, this is just debottling. There is no assets commissioning at a one go. It means you will see quarter on quarter improvement in the numbers from next quarter onwards.
This volume constraint we are seeing is purely because of the capacity utilization, not that we have seen any softening in demand.
No, no. We are like carbon grade. We are running at 99%.
Hello.
Yeah, we are at very high capacity utilization. This is because of the capacity constraint, not because of demand issues. If you look at the turnover, also the top line compared to the previous corresponding quarter last year came down by INR 1.00 billion, whereas the volumes are more or less same. The reason is the raw material price has considerably corrected, and because of that the finished price has also come down.
It's the effect of that that we appreciate. I got when you initially made that remark, but purely on the carbon black, we have seen SNF and carbon black announcing a planned shutdown in Europe region. Is it more of a specialty or it's more of a rubber carbon black? The question is that, do we see that as an opportunity as well for Himadri?
Yeah, definitely. Since we are strong in Europe, we definitely look forward to that as a great opportunity.
How much of a carbon black today sold in Europe?
You can say currently we are exporting around 20% of our carbon black, 15% to 18% of our carbon black to European market.
The export contribution of Europe in carbon black is almost 15 to 20%. Got it, got it. The last one is on the gross profit per kilogram. That looks like improving secularly. Now we are 15% YoY growth or 16% YoY growth. What is driving a consistent steady increase in the gross profit per kilogram? That's number one. Number two, sir, when you say that you have seen favorable product mix, when you say favorable product mix, can you elaborate which product has grown faster where the margins are higher and which product we are curtailing where margins are lower? Some color on the mix would help us appreciate this improvement in the gross profit and EBITDA per kilogram.
Sure.
So.
The product mix has changed like we were doing more % of crude naphthalene, now the % of refined naphthalene has significantly improved. Second, in terms of specialty carbon black, we are moving up in the ladder of specialty carbon black. With that, the margin per megaton margin keeps on improving. Regarding the gross margin, we have been able to improve on the gross margin basically because of operational efficiencies, improvement in yield, and reduction in wastage. We have also installed the waste heat recovery system, which helps us to recover all the high temperature gases that can be used and used in the heating back in the process. All this together has been helping us to improve on our gross margin, plus high value-added products.
Like I told, refined naphthalene, high quality means high, very high grade of refined naphthalene that has higher value addition, high grades of specialty carbon that specialized purchase going to defense. All these things are helping us to improve on the margins and these are sustainable.
How much more can we grow from here on the EBITDA per kg? We are already at INR 17 EBITDA per kg. How do you see this number going in, say, FY 2026 and FY 2027?
We are confident of this number being maintained. Gradually you will see upward movement in these numbers. I don't want to give specific numbers, but yes, for sure you will see upward movements.
Very clear. Sir, some questions from the tag business. Now that we have started branding and all, have you started the production and sales as well? Right now we are focusing on the softer side of the market.
No, no, we never did any softer side. Nothing went free from day one. We have been selling with consideration. June quarter we did sales of INR 18 crore, INR 5 crore from tire business, and it just started on the 29th of May. In the current quarter you will see a good slight ramp up, and quarter on quarter you will see improvement. One thing is there, when we are going to the market, we have already appointed 20 distributors, and below this distributor there are many dealers. Every distributor has ranging from 8 to 20 dealers. We are getting very strong brand recall from the market. People are highly appreciating our brands like BT112, Ultra Mileage, Kalapattar. All these are very well appreciated in the market, San Plus, all these are very well appreciated in the market.
When we are going to the customers, when they are saying Birla Tyres is back, we are getting very, very good response.
We have appointed the distributor dealers, and this is mainly into the east region.
No, no, no.
We already have appointed in 11 states. Every quarter this will be increasing without increasing production. Every quarter you will see increase in production and higher capacity utilization. With that you will see more and more step being.
Got it.
Just one last bookkeeping question. If we have this first time purchase of stock of INR 57 million or INR 5.7 crore, what is this? What purchase of stock? In our cost of goods sold, there is INR 5.7 crore of purchase of stock which we have sold. This.
It's a 100% subsidiary of Himadri. Himadri Clean. That is buying from Birla Tyres. If they are making and selling, it's the marketing arm of Himadri. That is what the stock market.
Okay, okay.
At the console level, that gets knocked.
That should get knocked off, right? I'm seeing this in Consolidated.
will come because we are buying from the outside entity. We are buying from Birla Tyres. That's why it is coming in the console as a separate entity, a separate line item.
When is this entity expected to come within Himadri? Because I thought that manufacturer.
There's no intention as such now as of date of its coming into.
Okay, I will take this offline for more clarity. This is very clear. Thank you very much, sir, and best of luck for the coming quarters. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir. The next question is from the line of Rehan Syed from Prinetra Asset Managers. Please go ahead.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity. Sir, I have a couple of questions regarding the business. First of all, can I please elaborate on how inverting inverted product. Am I audible? No.
No, you're not audible. Please, your voice is cracking.
Okay, I'm on. Am I audible now?
Sorry to interrupt you, sir. Can you please use your handset?
Ma'am, I am already on handset.
Okay. Sir.
Yeah, now it's clear.
Yeah, it's better.
Sir, could you please elaborate on how, what is product integration and revenue synergy, and out in quarter one 2026? Any visible contribution or pipeline build up from this acquisition for paying forward?
Please speak clearly. Your voice is not clear at all.
Now I am clear, sir.
Please tell me.
Yes, sir, can you elaborate on how invert is possible? Product integration and revenue synergy panned out in quarter one. Any visible contribution or pipeline build up from this equation for going forward?
Invati has developed nanotechnology for battery material. This is in development stage, looking forward once it materializes and the technology matures. Then we will have, you know, very big difference in terms of what we'll be able to produce in terms of raw material component for lithium ion batteries. Currently they are selling some product in.
Terms of.
Animals and agriculture products, out of which the top line this quarter was INR 3 crore and INR 1 crore of packed.
Okay. Okay. My next question is towards your B2C brand Durofresh, how it's performing quarter one in terms of distribution, revenue or contribution, or any early customer feedback you get. Priorities for going forward, are you targeting this segment aggressively in FY26 and 27?
You please speak clearly which company you are asking for.
Sir, I am from Trinitra Asset Manager. Sir, now I am clear. No, sir, I'm talking about B2C brand, your Durofresh.
Okay.
We are the largest manufacturers of naphthalene in India with 68% market share. Historically, we have been selling crude naphthalene and now we are selling the fine naphthalene in a big way. The next step is mothball, which is a significant value addition to the refined naphthalene. This is the first time Himadri is going to the B2C segment. We are launching this brand Durofresh and looking forward, we look for very.
Strong.
Demand from the entire country and from export market.
Okay. Sir, as a last one question, any future guidance regarding EBITDA margin or revenue growth you are targeting for two to three years down the line?
As we have already told in our last con call, we expect our net profit to double from FY24 to FY27.
For EBITDA margin.
We don't look at EBITDA margin. We look at more EBITDA per metric then because raw material prices and finished product prices fluctuating, the margins can always fluctuate. Like 21% last quarter, 17%. This can fluctuate. Margin is around INR 16,500 now.
Thank you for. Thank you for.
Thank you. Sir, the next question is from the line of Bhavya Shah from SAS Capital. Please go ahead. Hello, thank you for this opportunity. I have a question. Can you please use your handset? Hello.
Am I audible? Ma'am, please. Are you audible, please?
Yeah.
My first question is that how are we positioned against global competitors in the high margin specialty carbon and battery material segment, see Himadri.
Has an inherent strength that for specialty carbon black we have our own raw material. When we do coal tar distillation we produce oil which is very clean oil-like and very consistent in terms of quality. Our sulfur content is 0.002% plus there is hardly any impurities in the oil. This gives Himadri an inherent edge in terms of specialty carbon black compared to any of the peers globally. Regarding lithium ion battery component materials, we have developed technology for LFP in house and the product is pilot scale product. We have supplied to many customers and have got very good response from them. One clear evidence is from IBC. We have supplied samples to International Battery Company for LFP and anode. After doing a diligence test of one year, with the quality of Himadri LFP and anode, they themselves came forward for a collaboration.
Okay.
Himadri being the only company outside China who is coming out with the first plan for lithium iron phosphate is a big advantage. First mover's advantage, same in anode also. Anode, we have done lot of groundwork now. Only thing is that at that point of time we will announce the capacities also and CapEx with the timelines once the engineering and everything is completed.
Okay. Okay. My second question is what % of your revenue now comes from export, and how are global carbon black and advanced material marketing behaving?
34% of our revenue is coming from export. There is huge opportunity in the global market. With the current geopolitical situation, India is at a much preferred stage compared to any of the country we are competing with.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Ma'.
The next question is from the line of Vikas Gupta from RG Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello. Am I audible?
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes. Thanks for taking my question. My first question is can you shed some light on the LFP based Prabhal 2000? What stage is it currently at, and what kind of demand outlook do you foresee for this product in the near to medium term?
Battery Company has already launched one prismatic cell with the branding Prabhal 1000. Prabhal 1000 chemistry is NMC. They are going to launch in the next one year Prabhal 2000, which will be with LFP chemistry. This LFP chemistry and anode material is being built around Himadri raw material. The market for this is huge. You know the market for lithium ion cell is very large. LFP now being used in both the segment BSS and EB has huge market potential.
Understood, sir. My next question is that there was a noticeable increase in the other income in the profit and loss statement this quarter. Could you please provide the clarity on the key components or sources of this increase?
Other income has increased basically because of what we have taken loans, issued commercial papers and deposited as fixed deposit in bank. The delta between that has helped us to improve on our other income. In addition to that the investment what we have made, some change has happened in the fair value of that, minor changes which has also helped to increase the other income.
Okay. All right. Understood, sir. My last question is that with your recent foray into the refined naphthalene ball segment under the brand Durofresh, could you elaborate on the pricing strategy and what differentiates this product from existing offerings in the market that would drive consumer preferences.
One thing which will really drive this is the purity of the naphthalene. We produce the highest purity grade of naphthalene in India, and I can rather say one of the highest in the world. We are supplying already. We are the largest supplier to the mothball market in the U.S. There is a company called Villette where they're market leaders in mothball in the U.S., and they buy more than 70% of the requirement from Himadri only because the reason being that our quality and our purity levels are very high. With this and Himadri being backward integrated, being the largest player in naphthalene, we have a natural edge compared to anyone else who is buying naphthalene and then purifying it and then selling as mothball.
Understood sir.
Thank you. That's all from my side, sir. Thank you.
Thank you, sir. Participants who wish to ask questions may please press star and one at this time. The next question is from the line of Prathamesh Diwar from Tiger Assets. Please go ahead.
Yeah, most of my questions are answered. Just one thing, I think we.
Mentioned we are going to double our.
Pad by for 27.
Around INR 1,000 to 1,100 crore.
Of PCE we are targeting by FY 2027. Is it right?
No, I told we are doubling from FY 2024.
Okay, got it. Got it, sir. Thank you.
Got it.
Thank you, sir. The next question is from the line of Vivek Gupta from Star Investment. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Hi. Am I audible? Yes. Yes, please. In your presentation, you have indicated that additional CapEx is planned for the Birla Tyres segment beyond the INR 300 crore already outlined.
Could you please share an estimate?
The incremental capex involved and the expected revenue contribution from this additional investment. We are in, you know, we are doing it in phases. It will be done over a period of next three years. In total we have yet to, you know, come out with a total number. A ballpark figure as of now during the current year will be around INR 250 to 300 crore additional capex compared to what we have invested.
Okay.
This will continue for next two years since we will be ramping up the capacity and modernizing, and idea is to convert the existing bias capacity into OHT and OTR and to modernize and restart PCR. I think for next two, three years, this capital deployment will continue in this manner only.
Okay.
the upcoming lithium iron phosphate cathode.
Plant which is scheduled to commence operation in the third quarter of FY27. Will the initial production primarily cater to domestic demand or exports? Also, could you provide a ballpark pricing expectation for the LFP product?
See, LFP product pricing keeps on varying depending on the raw material prices, where the lithium prices goes. On a ballpark figure, it will be between INR 600,000 to INR 700,000 per tonne as of what it looks today. We will be basically targeting export market with some domestic because not much capacities are coming up in India whereby Q2 or Q3 FY2027. The capacities which are coming out definitely will supply to them. In addition to that, whatever capacity will be there will be supplying to the global market, particularly Europe and U.S.
Okay, thank you.
Thank.
Thank you, sir. The next question is from the line of Anubhav Sahu from MC Pro Research. Please go ahead.
Hello, thanks for this. My question is regarding competitive landscape within the domestic end market for the carbon black. I mean we have been doing quite good on the export side, but how is it indeed on fixed side given that there's a bit of a muted auto end market scenario. Secondly, there have been slow offer dumping of carbon black from Russia. Any comments on that, please.
See the advantage Himadri has. We don't have huge volumes to sell. Like you know, we have only 180,000 tons and we'll go to 250,000 tons. With our limited volume, we choose our customers very prudently and we only look at customers who value quality and who value, you know, the delivery quality, consistency. Our process control system is very strong. All those parameters who value, we focus that those customers. Over the years, because of this focus, we have developed a very niche basket of customers. These basket of customers are not import agnostic, means they don't depend on import, they don't really look on imports. That gives us a big advantage even being a carbon black player within the group. We don't supply to Birla Tyres even.
Oh yeah, that I got it from last call. In fact, if it's Birla Tyres copy actually comes from other places and it cost probably because of the cost advantage you mentioned. Secondly, how do you see the volume growth for fiscal 2026 given that we would have a bit of a constraint on the carbon grade till Q3? Would it be fair to assume that the last part of the volume growth for the fiscal would actually come from Birla Tyres and this initiative on the naphthalene business?
Yes, last, but our volume growth will come from three segments. One is Birla Tyres. Second is specialty carbon black from Q4. Q3 it will commence production. Q4 you will see the PF and volume growth, and existing coal tar pitch business where we are going to debottle, and that additional capacity will come also from Q3.
Q4.
Got it.
Sir, last bit. Would it be possible for you to share what revenue contribution or volume contribution we get exported?
We don't give product wise contribution or cost. Everything comes in the carbon chemicals, so we don't do product price accounting.
Thanks for this. Thanks.
Thank you, sir. The next question is from the line of Bharat Shah from ASK Investment Managers Ltd. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi Anurag.
Good afternoon, Anurag.
First of all, a hearty congratulations. Very significant journey has been evolved over a period of time from a kind of a commodity product portfolio to evolved and specialty portfolio. It has been many, many years of hard work. So many congratulations to Himadri, yourself and the entire team.
Two questions.
One.
Many of the acquisitions fit in well with your strategy of specialty and moving up on the value chain. That is quite understandable.
I was just wondering whether.
Birla Tyres acquisition, is it going to be more an advantage or is it going to be a distraction? Because at the end of the day, you may use a lot of your material in tires, but tire is a very different business than the specialty chemicals business that you are in.
Thank you so much. One thing for us, Birla Tyres for Himadri is not a customer. Himadri is not supplying any carbon black to Birla Tyres because Himadri is able to sell its carbon black for a niche application at a much higher price than what a tire can get from outside. Birla Tyres is a standalone business and why we have achieved. Fifteen years back I ventured into carbon black. That time I was knowing nothing of carbon black. I was supplying oil to carbon black and then the big question was whether I would be able to get the technology right, whether I would be able to make the product. The day we started, we were bang on the product the first day itself.
Now we are far ahead in terms of specialty carbon black, which many of the companies in the world have not been able to do after so many years. Same thing with Birla Tyres. We have been supplying carbon black to the tire companies for the last fifteen years now. We know the industry in and out very well. We know the people, we know the people who are great in this business. It's much easier for me to make my team and I'm telling you the kind of team within a short span of time we have been able to build is unreal. When we started Birla Tyres, our rejection rate is minimum with old machinery. We are ramping up very fast and the entire business from bias tires will be converted into OTR and OH2 tires and we will again be launching passenger car radial and EV.
The rock that Himadri will be delivering in this business will be unimaginable. Basically, our investment has been only INR 300 crores for assets worth INR 3,400 crores. We have got at less than 10% asset. After the CapEx we are proposing, the RoC will be significantly higher than any of the peers. With our relationship in the industry for the last fifteen years and the way we have been able to build up the team and I still continue to build up, I am 100% confident of amazing results from Birla Tyres.
Which I deeply appreciate. My only limited point was, is a specialty chemicals company starting from supplying to carbon black industry to becoming a full-fledged carbon black player to becoming a specialty carbon player and now many other offshoots from that into a specialty chemical journey. All of that is a B2B kind of a business, where tires is a B2C kind of an activity. Even if it is in specialty area like off the road and commercial vehicle and agri and other applications that you narrated, it still remains kind of a B2C business sales organization, overall organizational mindset. All that needs to be different for a tire business than what are specialty chemical operations. It was just from that point of view whether this is a risk of causing distraction in the strategic footprint of the company or strategic management bandwidth of the firm.
One thing you know what has happened, what really we did over the last few years, what we did from being a chemical company. Now I started focusing on building management bandwidth. That is what I did. I started building last six, seven years I was only focusing on building management bandwidth and strengthening each vertical with a business head. Today if you look at me, I am hardly engaged in any operations. Birla Tyres like that only also it's a separate vertical with business head looking into it with complete independence, but strong reporting systems and processes clearly defined. With the increased bandwidth that I am able to develop over the last few years, that is the reason today, you know, if you look at our annual report also, we have given the team Himadri rent the next chapter. Why?
Because we have done the groundwork for the future and now we are ready to take on many assignments at the same time and with 100% confidence to deliver value to our stakeholders.
Got it. Really appreciate that does require material change in the mindset too.
Sir, one more thing I just wanted to tell you. I don't want to remain only a product-specific company for life, that I have been making a coal tar distillate product, so I end up doing that only. With my years of experience, we have expertise in processes. Over the years, 35 years, we have expertise in doing acumen ship of doing business. Now, to increase our foothold, we cannot get a better launching pad than Birla Tyres. If today or tomorrow I have to go into B2C, I will not, from what I want in my for future of the company, I don't want to be only B2B business. I want to look at several B2C businesses also. For that, if I have to restart and make a brand, it will take 20, 30, 20 years minimum to build up a brand.
By God's grace, we have got Birla Tyres brand with 40 years of legacy and water recall. That is the game changer today. With Birla Tyres brand with you, the B2C business looks like a cakewalk.
One last point on this particular thing before I move to the second part. I'm sure you would have analyzed the reasons for a 40-year-old well-known brand to fall into the kind of state of disrepair that it fell into, which is why you acquired a business like that for 1/10 of the underlying assets value. What in your opinion went wrong and what are lessons which have been built into the acquisition footprint in order to ensure that the matrix doesn't suffer so many consequences.
We did thoroughly before taking of the unit. I got in touch personally with most of the CEOs, ex-CEOs of Birla Tyres, and I did a deep dive. I talked to the lowest level people who were working there, and mid management and top management. We did the thorough analysis of what really went wrong because of, you know, some constraints. I'm not able to explain that online at a conference call, what really went wrong, because it's not right on my part to tell something negative about some other management or something which I don't feel like doing. We did a deep drive and clearly articulated our strategy, and we made a full video. We made 10 guiding principles for this business, learning from the failure of Birla Tyres, we call it. Those are our founding pillars for success. This is going to be our founding pillars for success.
We have clearly identified what was the loophole, what went wrong and everything. I'm giving you a very small example. Like when we took over this unit, 13 unions were there. Now we have no union. I don't want to go into details, but from that you can understand our capability matrix.
Sure, sure. All the very best on a very major step, not in terms of the CapEx amount involved, but in terms of the direction of the firm in the business. Coming to the second part, if you look at the five-year period, that is financial year 2021 up to last year 2024, we have made remarkable progress. Our volumes have gone up about one and a half times, our top line has gone up about three times, our operating profits have gone up six times, and profit after tax has gone up about 12 times. You also narrated that from 2024 to 2027 the bottom line is likely to double. What is the picture to be expected from after 2027 to, say, a further three-year period or from 2025 to the next five-year period, till fiscal 2030?
Yeah.
I'll tell you this, if you ask me on a scale of 1 to 10, according to me where we are ranked now, I'll rank it a little less than 1. I think that is what we have achieved till now. The real story will unfold in the next five years and I am very confident of it. If I request you to kindly go through our annual report very carefully, you will find there a page called Future Growth Drivers. You go through that and read carefully each item and you will have the answer. Every quarter or six months when we come up with new things, you will see the things unfolding. I can tell you that things are going to be very different from what it is today. I don't want to put a number to it.
Sure. Now I have read about various initiatives and various plans which are there in this quarterly. Also, you have laid out some of them in the various. Clearly, hunger for strategic initiatives has gone up in Himadri than ever before, given the success and the strength of the balance sheet. If you like you mentioned, or as I mentioned, in 2021-2024, 2025, we have had a very strong journey on volume, top line profits, and the bottom line. 2024 to 2027, also you mentioned about roughly doubling our bottom line. I was just wondering from 2027 to 2030, if we take the next three-year block, what do you think will be the key initiatives which will play out and what kind of an outcome? Possibly not in terms of numbers, but qualitatively, what kind of picture can be envisaged?
See, you look at the broader picture. Today we are into coal tar pitch, which we are expanding. The business is expanding, specialty carbon black is expanding, naphthalene is expanding. Tire, you will see the story unfolding in the next four to five years completely with full capacity, full margins coming into play. That will give a big top line to the company and big bottom line to the company. You have raw material components from lithium ion battery. You know, we have been talking about lithium ion components for the last 12, 13 years. It's not that today everyone is talking, so I have started talking. No, no, I remember. Yeah, you remember. You have been associated with the company for the last 20 plus years.
You have been an investor.
We have been early. You know, we had full confidence when no one used to look at lithium ion that this is going to be a game changer in future. That has really happened today. Himadri is doing wonders in terms of how we are going to position ourselves. You talk of anode. There are three types of anode: natural, synthetic, and silicon carbon. That makes a hybrid anode. If you look at my reports and everything, I am working on all three of them. Only company which is working on all three of them as a customer. You see, you come to Himadri, you have a host or you have full product basket. Where else will you go? Where you will get silicon carbon, where you get natural. At the same time, this hybrid material will change the entire chemistry. Suppose you are getting a capacity.
I'm going little technical at 350, with little silicon you will go to 370, it gave changes. That is something which will come into play. Lithium iron phosphate. First company in the world outside China to have a commercial plant. We are setting up, we have a huge expansion in that capacity. I have clearly outlined 100 gigawatt capacity in next five to six years. Other than that, if you look at our presentation, we are going into backward also, we are going for lithium carbonate influence on which research and development is going on in full scale now. Currently, lithium carbonate is made through a leaching means. Today, lithium is extracted from rock through a leaching process using acid. We are going to do it through carbon dioxide, which is game changer in the world. It will be a green lithium. This itself will make revolution in the world.
Like this, every product like we are working on, you know, have also outlined waste from waste to energy. There we are working on lot of waste products which will be converting into finished product and energy in future. If you look at my current portfolio, current oil ancestry oil or the carbon black oil we are just using to make carbon black. Now we are setting a plan for encyclopedia on carbazole and 13 on carbazole. The selling price is 7x of the oil with hardly any processing cost. All these are game changers to outline a few of them. Other than that, there are many things which are happening. I am confident that looking forward, things will unfold in a big way in Himadri.
If I just allowed to put one last point on this, we have seen a journey which has been multifold over 20 to 25. You have already outlined from 24 to 27 another phase of the journey.
Can you.
Will you say that from 2027 onwards the third phase of the journey will be equivalent or better or similar to the phase one and phase two? Phase one is over. In phase two that we are experiencing, will you say phase three will be superior, equal, or lower than the phase two that we talked about, both in quantitative or qualitative terms?
Phase three. With phase three, I believe the real journey will start.
Which is why you said on a scale of 1 to 10, you are just at 1, right?
With phase three, after 2027, the real Himadri journey will start and time will only tell what we will achieve. I don't want to put any word or number to this.
Appreciate. Thank you. Thank you Anurag and real best wishes to you and Himadri and the Himadri team.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Thank you, sir. The next question is on the line of Vignesh from K Sima Wealth. Please go ahead.
Am I audible?
Yes, yes, please.
Hi, I just want to understand what.
Is the revenue potential of the phase?
One of the LFP, just on approx., just to understand how was the potential.
lithium iron phosphate between 2,500-2,700 years.
Okay.
Another one is regarding the anode.
Development which you spoke of.
Any timelines or when we are planning to put a CapEx or announcement regarding the materials?
I don't want to announce now, means I don't want to disclose now.
Okay, thank you.
That's it for my paper.
Ahead of a schedule means two and a half years, three years before only I announced that it will happen. This time I'll not give so much.
That only I can say. Okay. Okay.
One more regarding are we.
planning to go into a mining kind of thing? We are looking at some mining thing and already made some investments. Yes.
Okay.
This will be mostly for backward integration.
Integration of the LFP.
It will be in various aspects. Experience will do some minerals and then we'll see how the things are hold.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, due to interest of time, that was the last question.
We can have more questions. Bhavya, we can have more questions, no problem.
Okay sir, the next question is from the line of Preeti Agarwal from SK Associates. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Am I audible?
Are you audible?
Please.
Thank you so much for the opportunity. My question is that we've seen a margin uptick. How much of this is attributable to value-added product contribution? Is there any structural change in product mix under consideration?
Everything is attributed to value-added products only. Nothing changes structurally.
Okay.
there any structural, any product mix under consideration?
It's a product mix, blended products.
Okay. My second question is what gives Himadri a technological or R&D edge in advanced carbon material versus peers?
We have been in this field for the last 12 plus years. We have done a lot of investment in research and development, building our teams and capabilities from ground zero. We know the product in and out. You can never say that you know everything, but we have done our homework quite well. We have a very strong team who knows the subject, and that is the kind of development we have done over the years. If you look at any other companies, they are talking of this over the last two, three years or one year only. If you open my 10 years back annual report, you will find lithium ion battery. We know the subject very well, and being in China, like China is the leader in this space, and we have our manufacturing facility in China since the last 15 years.
I have seen very closely the development of this industry, very closely. That gives a unique positioning to Himadri and the edge compared to anyone else globally.
Okay, understood. Thank you so much, sir, and all the best. Thank you, ma'am. The next question is from the line of Ashit Koti, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Thank you, sir.
Thanks for the opportunity, and congratulations on the numbers.
Just two things.
One is with regards to the current quarter numbers where we don't see much of a volume growth as well as revenue growth. Our profitability is increasing. Is the same trend would continue, or you see volume as well as.
Top line and bottom line growth also along with a higher margin. See, I clearly explained the top line has not grown and has come down basically because of raw material prices. Looking forward, as I told from Q3, actually from Q4 you will see the specialty carbon black new capacity coming in place. You will see the bottleneck capacity of Himadri Speciality Chemical Limited coal tar pitch and you will see ramping up capacity of Birla Tyres. All this will help to increase the top line and bottom line at the same time.
Okay, with regards to the lithium ion batteries, I mean do we.
Consider that Birla Tyres is your first.
Step towards B2C is what Bharat Rai was asking.
From there on you would want.
To move on to within battery systems and all related products in B2C manner.
We have clearly outlined our growth plan and where we want to play in this segment. We don't want to be a cell manufacturer. B2C we are launching with Birla Tyres and we will strengthen our position next three years means B2C and then we will see what product to launch. We have a product portfolio for B2C which we are preparing and at the right point of time we'll disclose and launch. Yes, cell is not in our portfolio. We want to be a component manufacturer for lithium ion cell, not a cell manufacturer. Okay, sir.
What is our exposure to graphite?
What are our plans on that?
Something which was mentioned in the presentation.
This is about anode material. I have told in the conference call about what we are doing in anode material. What is our plan? Everything I've told already.
I'm talking about graphite electrodes.
No, I have to do nothing with graphite. We are supplying coal tar pitch to graphite loader. That's the only relation. Okay, so further value addition or moving on those lines is not the case right now. Not at all. Not at all. Right, thanks a lot. Thanks a lot.
Thank you. Sir, the next question is from the line of Jay Prakash Kumhar from Command Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, am I audible?
Yes, you're audible, please.
Yeah. My question on the depreciation, sir, from the last 10 years, I'm looking at depreciation. Ten years back also it was INR 57 crore and now also it is INR 57 crore only, and the gross block is INR 2,500 crore. Ideally, I'm not sure what kind of plant and machinery level with plant life and all that, but depreciation looks very low and for the last 10 years it has broadly remained.
No, I think you are mistaken with the figures. It has come up over the years. If you look at 10 years back and depending on, because we have not done much CapEx in the last seven, eight years.
So.
Whatever CapEx we have done, corresponding to that, depreciation has definitely gone up. It is on written down value, straight line.
It's a straight line, right? Not written down straight line. On the INR 2,500 crore, this is just INR 50 crore of depreciation. This.
Not even.
I think it's a very small %. I think can you highlight why the depreciation is so low on such a high cost.
This is directly correlated with the life of the plant. Depending on what's the lifespan of the plant, the depreciation rate item wise has been calculated and that is what it is.
Depreciation will include the maintenance expenses.
Also, because CapEx, we don't put in CapEx, we take it through P&L only.
Through PNDL only. It is part of depreciation, right?
No, no, it's not part of depreciation. It's part of PCE maintenance CapEx.
Okay, understood. You are saying the life of the plant and machinery is very high, like maybe 30, 40 years. That's why the depreciation is low.
We got a detailed study done and basis that we have identified life of each and every equipment, and basis that we have charged the precision. You will get in the audit report in details.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you. Sir, the next question is from the line of Anand, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Hello.
Am I audible?
Yeah, you are audible, please.
Yeah, I just wanted one question on Birla Tyres.
How do you expect to maintain pricing power in such a competitive industry? Yeah, industry is competitive. You know, the EBITDA margin ranges from in normal case tires from 10% to 15% and for OTR it is 25% plus. We are playing within this and Birla Tyres has a good brand recall. As a brand, even being a re-entry after three years, we don't have to give any special discount or something like that for positioning Birla Tyres.
Okay, very good. Thank you very much, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir. As there are no further questions from the participants, I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Thank you. Thank you so much. I would like to thank everyone for taking out time and joining us on the conference call today. I hope we have been able to respond to your queries adequately. Your continued interest and feedback play a vital role in our journey forward. This quarter marks the beginning of what we believe will be a transformative phase for Himadri. With a clear strategy, strong execution, and an unwavering focus on innovation and sustainability, we are confident in the road ahead. We remain committed to delivering long-term value and are pleased to have your support as we scale new frontiers and shape the next chapter of Himadri growth story. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to our investor relations partner MUFG Intime IR. Thank you once again for joining the call today.
Good day.
On behalf of Himadri Speciality Chemical Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us and you may now disconnect your lines.