...Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Maharashtra Seamless Limited Q1 FY 2025 earnings conference call, hosted by Phillip Capital India Private Limited. 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 the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Vikas Singh from Phillip Capital India Private Limited. Thank you, and over to you, Mr. Singh.
Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Maharashtra Seamless Q1 FY 2025 conference. From management that we have with us, Mr. Kaushal Gangani, Deputy General Manager, Investor Relationship and Finance. Without taking much time, I'll give the guidance to Kaushal for his opening remarks. Kaushal, over to you.
Thank you, Vikas. Good afternoon, shareholders, and thank you for joining our earnings call. In Q1 FY 2025, while dispatches were slightly lower than previous quarter, our earnings was significantly impacted both on quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year basis. This is attributed to three key reasons. The first reason is a fall in sales realization, which has been on account of increased competition, lower raw material prices, and some dumping from Chinese manufacturers in certain segments. We are in discussion with relevant authorities to address the issue of Chinese dumping, but that is a long drawn process. Secondly, we had taken preventive maintenance shutdown in one of our mills. Based on the prevailing order book, most of the manufacturing of existing high-value orders and oil and gas sector orders were to be manufactured in this particular mill.
However, due to the preventive maintenance shutdown, these orders were not executed, thereby impacting the earnings profile for the quarter. This mill has since resumed production at the start of Q2 FY 2025, and normalization of dispatches is expected in the second quarter. The third reason was the dispatch of high-value orders, which was in limited quantity. The entire high-value inventory, which was purchased against the remaining high-value orders, had to be marked down when raw material prices fell during the quarter. This was done in order to comply with accounting standards. When these high-value orders are dispatched in subsequent quarters, the impact of marking down inventory will be nullified. I will now briefly summarize key financial indicators.
On reviewing our Q1 FY 2025 performance versus Q4 FY 2024, despite a revenue decline of only 4%, EBITDA fell by 54% to INR 126 crore, PAT and EPS fell by 40% to INR 136 crore and INR 10 per share, respectively. A comparison of Q1 FY 2025 performance with Q1 FY 2024 gives similar percentages for all parameters. The reason for the percentages being where they are, has already been explained earlier. Apart from financials, there are five key points which I would like to draw attention to. The first is our treasury. The treasury is at INR 2,203 crore as on 30th June 2024. It has improved more than anticipated and is generating good returns for us. In fact, in Q1 FY 2025, more than one-third of total earnings was from treasury segment.
The second point is the order book. Our order book has increased from INR 1,754 crores to INR 1,812 crores. The order book remains good as demand environment is conducive for manufacturing industry and oil and gas sector. The third point is regarding ICDs and corporate guarantees. In line with the commitment made to shareholders two years ago, there are no ICDs to unrelated entities or corporate guarantees outstanding. We have come a long way from the time when this used to be the main cause of concern, and that has been fully and completely resolved. The fourth point is regarding dividend. Dividend for FY 2024 has been quadrupled from what was distributed for FY 2022. While a specific dividend distribution plan has not been announced yet, we remain mindful to the points raised by shareholders.
Finally, I wish to reiterate that capital goods and infrastructure in general, and oil and gas specifically, continue to witness strong demand for medium term. This directly impacts the seamless pipes market, which remains buoyant, driven by capital expenditure and spending in oil and gas sector, as we are seeing our order book being replenished and improved at good levels. I would now request Vikas to kindly open for questions.
...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 touchtone phone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Pratika from Aequitas Investments. Please go ahead.
Good evening. I just wanted to understand what is the markdown on inventory that you mentioned. Can you just elaborate on that a little bit? I didn't understand why was there a markdown?
At the start of the quarter, we had high value orders, which was backed by inventory purchased for those high value orders. During the quarter, raw material prices fell. At the end of the quarter, the inventory which was not dispatched, which primarily comprised inventory which was purchased for high value orders because of the specific mill in which these high value orders were to be manufactured, that mill was under preventive maintenance shutdown, and so those orders could not be dispatched. The inventory that we had for those orders, that had to be marked down, and that is the main reason why the performance is where it is right now.
Okay. So this is basically inventory loss in the quarter because of raw material price that fell down, fell. So how would this quarter we would have similar situation of inventory loss?
So it is not, it is not inventory loss in the sense that people perceive it, because when you say inventory loss, one imagines a speculative position which has been taken, and, loss has been incurred on account of that speculative activity. In our case, we had earmarked the order with inventory. However, raw material prices fell against that order, and that order was not dispatched in that quarter because the mill was under shutdown. So when these orders... Now, the mill has resumed operations in the first week of July, and when these orders will be dispatched during the current quarter and the next quarter, the inventory markdown will be nullified.
Okay. And would we have a similar situation for the raw material that must be procured for the current order book?
It depends. If raw material prices fall further, then we will have a same situation. If they don't, then we'll have the reverse situation.
So while there is a possibility of reversal for the existing dispatches that were delayed, we could also have a situation on the current order book where a similar situation of raw material price can come across, right?
I don't know, because it depends on whether raw material prices will fall or not, because all of our orders are backed by raw material.
Okay.
Raw material purchases.
Understood. This shutdown that we had, what was the production loss because of the shutdown?
Production loss in terms of production facility would be around 15,000 tons. However, what we had done was, there was quite a bit of WIP, which was with us, which we managed to finish and dispatch.
All right. In terms of order book, what would be the execution period for the drilling pipes that we have order book of drilling pipes?
Very long execution period.
Okay. And, when it comes to, cylinder pipes, the order book has risen significantly. Is the margin profile any better for this, segment, relative to the other, and the other products that you have?
Yes, margin profile for all high value addition pipes are better than regular pipes. So cylinder pipes are a high value addition product that we manufacture. We are one of two manufacturers of cylinder pipes, and we want to increase the contribution of the value addition pipes as a percentage of total dispatches. We've communicated this many times earlier as well, and it is encouraging that what has been communicated is transpiring into reality.
Okay. Okay, and in terms of the segment where you mentioned that the Chinese imports are affecting us, can you just elaborate what are the, you know, what, what areas of the business or sectors are, where you are seeing maximum impact?
I don't want to do that right now.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Radha from B&K Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. So my first question was, you mentioned that there is some pressure on the pricing. So, do you expect the pricing to remain stable for the rest of the year, this part of the year, or how do you expect the realizations for the cylinder pipes?
... The raw material pricing is something which I will not be able to comment about, but I don't think selling price is expected to fall significantly from where it is right now.
So you mentioned that we are seeing more imports from China, and we are taking some measures, but that could take some time to pan out. So on the basis of that, could there be more fall in realizations in subsequent quarters, considering raw material prices remain similar?
It is difficult to comment because what is under process is not controlled in a manner in which a reasonable forecast can be made. So we will just have to wait and watch as to how things pan out, since a lot of various entities and a lot of various processes are involved.
Okay. So secondly, if you got us back, when we had a discussion at that time, it was mentioned that a percentage of order book is actually hedged and some portion is kept open. So, could you specify broadly what percentage of order book is usually hedged with raw material?
Almost the entire order book is hedged with raw material, and insignificant portion is kept open.
Okay. Just last, in the export front, so U.S. and Canada remains our key markets. So out of the 10 million ton global demand, could you specify or give us some highlights as to what would be the market size in U.S. and Canada? And, any increase in opportunities are we seeing in the Saudi region as well?
We don't export to the Middle East. Exports have not revived. Exports have been slow for more than a year. Market size in U.S. and Canada is very big, but they have not revived for us.
U.S., Canada would be 20% of the global 10 million ton demand?
I don't know. I think you'd asked this question in the earlier call, and I said that you have access to more databases than I do. So exact percentages is difficult for me to communicate without having seen specific data.
Okay. So last question, what is the quantum of imports happening from China to India for the seamless pipes in tonnage term?
It is impacting us, which is why our realizations have fallen so significantly.
Okay, sir. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pradeep Rawat from Yogya Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good evening, and thank you for the opportunity. So, I would like to know about, like you mentioned three reasons why our EBITDA dropped. So can you broadly give weightage to all the three reasons why our EBITDA fell drastically this quarter?
Equal weightage for all three factors.
Okay. Where are we in terms of making seamless pipes for hydrogen market, and how big the opportunity could be?
We are not supplying pipes for the hydrogen segment. I think those pipes are not being manufactured in the seamless segment in India.
Okay. What was the production from the Telangana unit for this quarter?
The Telangana unit is a part of Maharashtra Seamless. Specific mill-wide production details are not given out.
Okay. And when could we expect the Telangana unit CapEx to be finished? Like, when could it be commissioned, and also for the hot mill upgrade in our main facility?
The Telangana finishing line was expected to be completed by March 2025, but, I don't think that will happen. In all probability, it will get deferred by at least 9 months, because we've recently placed order for some equipment. Those orders have been finalized, purchase order has been issued. However, the gestation period for that order is 12 months. So I think, reasonably speaking, the Telangana unit expansion should get completed by December 2025. However, we will update you as and when material developments take place. So please do not consider December 2025 to be a hard stop, but rather, outcome of where things stand right now. It can also be sooner. It depends on how the suppliers act, because we've also been incentivized at least one supplier to deliver quickly.
Yeah, understood. And for the hot mill upgrade?
Hot mill upgrade will only happen once the Telangana finishing line is in place, because we will have a loss of production whenever we take the hot mill upgrade. So in order to compensate that loss, we need the Telangana unit to be active in full capacity.
Yeah, and my last question?
The sense which I'm getting from your questions is when will volume growth come in? So I don't think-
Mm-hmm.
-there'll be any volume growth in FY 2025. And in FY 2026, volume growth will only happen once the Telangana finishing line has been completed and is open for commercial production.
Yeah. Understood. Understood. Thank you, and I will join back the queue. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Jatin Damania from Svan Investments. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, sir, and thank you for the opportunity. So carry on the further participant questions in terms of the CapEx. So as you indicated that the Telangana plant has been likely be postponed to FY 2026 commencement. So is it fair to assume that of the 85.2% of CapEx that we are going to spend, major portion of the CapEx will be spent in FY 2026, and it will be a margin in FY 2025?
Yes, that is correct.
If you can quantify the number that we are likely to spend in FY25 and FY26.
I don't want to do that right now because, quite a significant period in the year is still remaining.
Mm-hmm.
Maybe in the earnings call for the next quarter, I will give you a definitive figure.
Yeah, because what I was learning, because of the INR 852 crore, which as per presentation, we decided from FY 2024 to 2026, but the CapEx in FY 2024 was very minimum. So that's what I wanted to check, how the cash flow or the CWIP will flow from 2025 to 2026.
You, you are right. I will update you in the next earnings call.
Sure. And secondly, in your opening remarks, you indicated because of the inventory write down, there was a hit in the operating performance. Now, assuming that your capacity, which was under the preventive maintenance shutdown, is back into operation in the first week of July. So as soon as you start executing that order, is it possible to reverse the entire inventory write down that we had taken?
Yes, yes, definitely. That is, what will happen, but whether it will happen entirely in the September quarter or in the December quarter, depends on when the order is executed.
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Some of that will definitely happen in September quarter, and we would want all of it to happen in September quarter, so that a normalized level of EBITDA per ton is reflected going forward.
Okay. That helps because if you look in the first quarter, other than the high value order put, execution of the high value order, our performance got impacted because of the execution of the low margin, because the preventive maintenance shutdown. So I was just wondering that if at least some portion of the high value order we getting through to, there could be a normalized margin you can probably start getting in the month of September or the October onwards. So just wanted to clarify on that.
Okay. In my assessment of where things stand right now, as and when the high value orders get dispatched, the impact of the inventory markdown will get nullified. I hope it happens in the second quarter itself, but, we'll just have to wait and see.
Sure. Thanks a lot, sir. Thanks for the answer and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vinay Nadkarni from Hathway Investments. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Just wanted to know what is the average drop in raw material prices this quarter, if you can quantify percentage?
It is significant. So significant that our EBITDA per ton fell from INR 22,000 a ton to INR 9,000 a ton.
Because of drop in raw material prices? Because your top line could have gone at the lower raw material prices, is it?
No, no, no.
Because of pass through?
No, no, absolutely not. There were three factors which impacted EBITDA per ton, which I have already communicated earlier.
Mm-hmm.
One of those factors was the write down in the inventory that we had taken in order to comply with the accounting standard.
I understand that.
I don't want to-
Quantify it?
-specify a number.
Okay.
It is irrelevant to what you want to calculate. What is relevant is that the entire inventory write-down will get reversed when this order is dispatched.
Then my worry is that 1,500 tons loss that you are saying you have incurred because of the shutdown, that will impact the quarter two performance, because your WIP carried you in the quarter one. In quarter two, will it be impacting? Because I don't see any impact in quarter one.
Mill has started in first week of operation, first week of July.
So where does the 1,500 go? Because your production in quarter one has not been impacted at all because of the shutdown.
No, no, one second. We would earlier manufacture INR 110,000. We would earlier manufacture and dispatch anywhere between INR 100,000 tons-INR 115,000 tons per quarter.
Yeah.
In March quarter, we dispatched around 95,000 tons. The reason for lower dispatches in the March quarter was the delay in an order which was expected in the month of March, but it was received in the second week of April. That was for the March quarter. For the June quarter, we had taken maintenance shutdown in one of our units. That maintenance shutdown caused a loss of production of around 15,000 tons.
Okay. Thanks. And then the only question I had was on the bit that you have answered already, the bottlenecking of units. Thanks. That's all from me.
Okay.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Satyan Wadhwa from Profusion Investment Advisors LLP. Please go ahead.
Hi, Ajay, what was the actual inventory loss or inventory markdown on the high-value order? Just the amount in rupees if you could clarify.
There was no inventory loss in the traditional sense of the term. I will have to just reiterate what I said earlier. There has been no inventory loss, as is traditionally understood. All of our orders are hedged with raw materials. Most of those orders were high-value orders that we had, and they were manufactured in a mill which was under preventive maintenance shutdown. Because those orders could not be dispatched, the inventory remained with us. During this period, what also happened was that raw material prices fell. Therefore, in order to comply with accounting standards, we had to mark down the inventory to what the raw material prices were at the end of the quarter. This will reverse itself once the raw material... sorry, once the order is executed.
Correct. That, that's fine. I was just checking what is the actual mark-to-market loss. That will reverse next quarter or the quarter after once you ship anyway.
I am not quantifying that. There were three factors. All three factors had equal weightage, and that impacted our earnings profile.
Ah, okay. All right. Thanks.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Deepak Mandhana from Avighna Investments. Please go ahead.
Mr. Deepak, you may go ahead with your question.
Hello, am I audible?
Yes, sir.
Yeah. Thanks for the opportunity. One of the question has already been answered, so I have two more questions. One is that you have mentioned in your presentation that you are actively penetrating the newer regions in terms of export for subsea service seamless pipes. Can you tell us which countries or which regions would be these?
We are marketing our subsea service seamless pipes in the export market. However, we have not yet been successful. We have had encouraging inquiries, but none of those inquiries have actually crystallized into orders yet.
Okay. Geographically, where are those inquiries coming from? Is it Middle East, U.S., which side?
We don't want to disclose, because, competition is also there in those sectors.
Okay. And secondly, in terms of the large tenders for the ERW pipes, which are for the gas and city distributions, what would be the quantum of, the quantum of revenue that you would foresee, for this in the coming year?
Generally speaking, ERW pipes would be dispatched in the range of 80,000-105,000 tonnes every year. Since we are not expanding any ERW pipe capacity, our dispatch would remain within this range at all times.
Okay. And the realization on the ERW pipes are, have also gone down, or is it substantially holding up against the seamless pipes?
They have gone down to a lower extent than in the seamless pipe segment.
Okay, okay. Okay, and do you foresee any chances of this improving in next quarter or six months?
The way our earnings have panned out in the June quarter-
Mm-hmm.
Especially the impact on account of the inventory markdown, that will reverse itself. I don't think realizations are expected to fall further in a material manner beyond what they already have.
Okay. Okay, fair enough.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ajay.
The next question is from the line of Shruti Mulchandani from Unifi Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, am I audible?
Yes, ma'am.
Hi. Thank you for the opportunity. I wanted to know about any update on buyback.
There is no update on buyback. For shareholders, what we have done in the past two years was quadruple the amount of dividend that was paid out in FY 2024 versus what it was announced for FY 2022. As of now, there is no further update, either on dividend or on buyback for the current financial year.
All right, thank you. Also, if you could give me the mix of oil and gas and water in ERW pipes for this quarter, it would be great.
For the first quarter, around 20% of dispatches were in the oil and gas sector, and 80% of dispatches were in the water sector. This is-
Airtel number, Airtel call hold.
Hello?
Kaushal, you may continue.
In the first quarter, 20% of dispatches in the ERW segment were in the oil and gas sector, and balance was in the water sector, which has led to lower margins in the ERW segment.
Also, do you see this reversing in the coming quarters?
It is a function of product mix. It is difficult to predict at the start of the quarter.
Okay.
The EBITDA per ton in the ERW segment will generally be between the range of INR 6,000-INR 11,000 per ton, ±1,000 at both ends.
Okay.
Depending on the product mix.
So is there lower demand from the oil and gas side or any particular reason why the contribution was less?
I don't understand why ERW segment is that much of an area of interest, because it contributes only 6%-7% of the total EBITDA that the company will generate.
Just wanted to get an idea about the demand from the oil and gas side, in general.
I think a better indicator would be the position of our current order book, in which 51% of our order book is from ONGC and Oil India, and of the balance 49%, quite a bit is from the oil and gas sector.
All right, understood. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pradeep Rawat from Yogya Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for the opportunity again. So my first question is regarding our exports. So we don't sell to Middle East. Is that understanding right?
Yes.
So why don't we sell to Middle East? Some of our peers are selling there, and they are like benefiting from that market. So why aren't we exploring that market as of now?
Our peers are selling different products in the Middle East. They are not selling seamless pipes. Secondly, in the Middle East market, there is an absence of anti-dumping duties on China. China being present in a large manner in the Middle East market means that there is no scope of supernormal margins there. Therefore, we don't divert our energies to a market where good margins are not available.
Yeah, yeah, understood. And my next question is regarding the oil and gas market. So how big this market could be for seamless pipes? And, I know you have written in 100,000 ton per annum demand from seamless pipes, but that is for exploration. So what could be the total demand for exploration as well as for drilling activity for seamless pipes?
Globally, based on certain-
Airtel number, Airtel call hold.
Hello?
Yeah, you are audible.
Yes.
Sorry, I didn't get the answer. Yeah.
Globally, the seamless pipes market, based on certain databases, is around 10 million tons. In India, the market is around 0.9 million tons.
100,000 ton is for the exploration activity, right?
From ONGC and Oil India.
Okay. With respect to our capital allocation, so we have quite good cash balance, and ERW pipe segment is quite lucrative as with respect to demand, and our utilization is close to 80%, annualized utilization. So why aren't we planning to expand in this segment?
No, I'm sorry. Can you repeat that again, please? We've already announced a capital expenditure plan of INR 852 crores.
For ERW pipes?
Oh, sorry, no. In the ERW pipes, we are not expanding because we are a seamless pipes manufacturer. ERW was a small segment that we had set up, because when we started expanding in the seamless pipes segment, the same customers were also interested in procuring ERW pipes. So we set up ERW pipes unit in order to service those customers, but again, that is not an area of focus right now.
Yeah, yeah. Understood. And my last question is regarding like, one of our, one of the player in the industry has said that large diameter welded pipes in infrastructure and building is being increasingly used against seamless pipes and in auto segment also. So are you seeing such kind of trends or is it, like, nonexistent?
Large diameter welded pipes will always be used in various segments against seamless pipes. That's a good way of presenting the data, because seamless pipes are not manufactured beyond 22 in, and large diameter pipes are manufactured above 22 in, and they go up to, I think, 36 or 40 inches. Like, these are completely separate segments, and seamless pipes are primarily used in the oil and gas sector and not in infrastructure.
In auto segment, are we seeing such trend, such kind of trends?
No. Large diameter pipes are not used in the auto segment.
Not large diameter in auto segment, but welded pipes.
We don't supply significantly to the auto sector because the demand for auto sector is primarily for low diameter seamless pipes or cold-drawn seamless pipes.
Yeah, sure. Thank you, for answering all the questions. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The last question is from the line of Vinay Nadkarni from Hathaway Investments. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Thanks. Just two questions more. One is on CapEx for quarter one. What is the amount spent in quarter one on CapEx?
There wasn't any significant expenditure on CapEx in the first quarter. However, what we have done in the first quarter is placed orders for certain equipment, which was pending for some time.
Right.
They were under negotiation, and those negotiations have concluded, and a purchase order has been placed on to them now.
Thanks. Can you give us some data on capacity utilization in this quarter?
Capacity utilization, 1 mil was under shutdown, so capacity utilization-
Okay
... was on the lower side.
Other than that, there's no number that you could share?
So if we, against the capacity of 550,000 tons, we manufactured and dispatched 400,000 tons. But, in terms of capacity, what is also important in the pipe sector is the-
Mm-hmm
way it is, impacting the capacity utilization figure. Because if you have a product mix in which, large diameter pipes are in higher proportion, then you will end up with higher tonnage as compared to a product mix where large diameter pipes are not in a higher proportion.
Yeah. That you have mentioned.
So actually, mills running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the capacity which have actually been utilized would be different in both cases. Generally speaking, we remain in the range of 70%-80%.
Okay, just last one bookkeeping question. On other expenses have grown significantly in this quarter, around INR 16 crore. Any particular one-off expense that has been incurred, or is it a normal?
The preventive maintenance shutdown which was there, that had-
Okay
Some impact on the increase in other expenses.
Okay. And lastly, I know you have refused to comment on the markdown that you have taken in the mark to market for inventory, but your cash addition for this quarter is around INR 344 crore, and your cost cash profit looks at around INR 150 crore-INR 152 crore. I'll presume that the difference would be that, right?
I'm sorry, I could not hear you very well. Could you repeat that, please?
Yeah. I'm saying your cash accretion to the, cash on hand is around INR 344 crores this quarter, and your cash profit, that is your tax, added back, depreciation is around INR 150, INR 154. So would it be fair to assume that that INR 190 crores would be your rough, markdown on your inventory?
No, no, no. It is not.
Okay, fine. Thank you.
Um.
Thank you. The last-
Shlok, one request from you. A few investors have messaged that they are unable to connect. Can you please check the queue again, and if there are any interested participants, maybe connect them?
Okay, sir. I'll take that question after. So, the next question is from the line of Pratika from Aequitas Investments. Please go ahead.
... Yeah, just one follow-up. I wanted to clarify, when you say that 51% of our order book is from ONGC, Oil India, we are talking about the total order book and not just ERW, right?
Correct, correct. We've detailed the split in, the-
Right, right.
Slide of our presentation.
Got it. And just one question, any significant reason that you want to highlight for fall in order book of ERW segment?
There is no significant reason. It is just the time of the way order confirmations were issued. So maybe there are orders in the process of being finalized, but only order confirmation has not been issued. The way we calculate order book is those orders for which order confirmations have been issued by us, but those pipes have not been dispatched from the plant. So maybe it's a lag issue. There is no dearth of demand or any such thing on the ERW pipe front.
Okay. So, is it safe to assume that the pipeline order pipeline for both the segment is equally strong?
That is correct. And, if you take out the ERW segment and the Telangana unit, then the composition of ONGC and Oil India and other oil sector orders, as a percentage of the total order book, will probably shoot up to 70%-75%.
Got it. Okay. All right. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Amit Kumar from Determined Investments. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you so much for the opportunity, sir. Just a couple of questions. You know, this maintenance shutdown, this preventive, you know, maintenance, you know, shutdown, was it planned or unplanned?
It was planned. It was communicated in the month of May, when we did the earnings call for the fourth quarter of last year. And on the twelfth of June, we communicated it to the stock exchange as well.
Okay, understood. That's it from my end. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Vikas Singh from Philip Capital India Private Limited for closing comments. Please go ahead, sir.
Thank you, everyone, for joining the call. On behalf of Philip Capital, I want to thank Maharashtra Seamless Limited for giving us the opportunity to host the call. For closing comments, I'll again hand it over to Kaushal for any closing remarks.
Thank you, Vikas. Thank you, shareholders, for joining the earnings conference call. Our earnings profile has been impacted for the reasons which have been communicated. At least two of those reasons are temporary and one-off in nature, and may be a function of the accounting standards that we follow, rather than a question mark on the operations of the company. Operations of the company are very good. It is also reflected by the way our order book has improved quarter on quarter. Domestic demand is very good. We are one of three manufacturers of seamless pipes in India.
We've been market leaders for the past 35 years, and while there has been a decline in margins from the third quarter of last year to where it is right now, I can say with the fullest of confidence that there is no problem in operations and no problem in execution. It has just been a function of quite a few things amalgamating at the same point in time, and thereby causing a disproportionate effect. I hope that quite a lot of these factors will normalize in the coming quarters, and it would be good to be vindicated later on. Let's just wait and watch for that, and thank you for your patience. Thank you to Vikas for organizing, as he does every time, and I hope to connect with you in the next quarter.
Thank you. On behalf of Phillip Capital India Private Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.
Thank you.