Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Maharashtra Seamless Q3 FY 2026 earnings conference call, hosted by ICICI Securities 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 this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star 10 zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Vikash Singh from ICICI Securities Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. I warmly welcome all of you on Q3 FY 2026 conference call for Maharashtra Seamless. From the management side, today we have with us Mr. Kaushal Bengani, Deputy General Manager, Investor Relationship and Finance. Without taking any more time, I'll hand it over to Kaushal for his opening remark. Over to you, Kaushal.
Thank you, Vikash. Good afternoon, shareholders, and thank you for participating in our earnings call. This was a fairly regular quarter, with a slight increase in margin on the seamless pipes front, which was expected because we had communicated the same in the previous quarter. On the ERW front also, margins improved because of improvement in product mix. On overall level, our total EBITDA was also higher. The highlight for this quarter was the other income, which was boosted by improvement in market sentiment and in gold and silver sector. I would request, Vikash, to please open for questions so that we can go slide by slide as per the questions received.
Okay.
Noted. Operator, please open for questions.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may please press star and one on their touch-tone telephone. 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. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask questions, please press star and one now. The first question is from the line of Radha from B&K Securities. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, I wanted to understand what is the current product mix between the standard and value-added products for us, and how is the margin difference between these two?
We've already informed in earlier calls that we'll not discuss product-wise margin. The current product mix between oil sector and other sectors is already detailed in the order book, which is mentioned on slide 15 of the presentation. The current order book is at INR 1,302 crores, of which 33% comprises ONGC and Oil India orders. This order book, sorry, this order book is broadly similar to the order book which was present in the previous quarter. The only difference between these two order books is that the proportion of oil sector orders has increased in the most recent order book.
Thank you, sir. Actually, some of the peers are doing similar EBITDA per kg that we have reported with half of our volumes. So that is why this question, whether in our numbers currently, is the standard product mix higher than the value-added?
Which peer are you referring to? Because as per my understanding, there is no comparable company which is only focused on seamless pipes.
That is correct, sir. I'm only comparing with their carbon steel business.
So they don't report product-wise or division-wise margins. So I don't think it will be possible to do a comparison. Unless you have internal data of the company, then it's a different story.
Sir, ISMT is actually reporting.
But then they have different types of products. So the seamless pipe product mix that we have is not the same that is undertaken by Kirloskar Ferrous.
How is it different, sir?
They are more focused in the smaller size segment.
But sir, previously when we had a conversation, you said that in terms of diameter of pipes, we have the entire range that is required.
We have the entire range. Their proportion of smaller sizes is higher compared to our proportion of smaller sizes because we have a larger capacity and a larger size range.
What percentage of smaller pipe sizes do we have as a percentage?
We are not giving that. I mentioned at the starting of the response that we will not give you product-wise, segment-wise bifurcation. Every call, I believe this question is asked of me by you, and every time my response is the same that we will not give you that bifurcation.
Thank you, sir. Sir, in value-added products like casing pipes, tubing pipes, etc., can you help us understand the current market dynamics in terms of demand and supply, including the imports?
Casing pipes and tubing pipes are regular seamless pipes. We don't consider them value-added products. Value-added products are cold-drawn pipes, cylinder pipes, drill pipes, sour service subsea seamless pipes, and premium connections. I think these are the five key categories of value-added products, out of which we manufacture four of these. So in the previous quarter, there were no orders for drill pipes. Even now, we don't have orders for drill pipes. Cylinder pipes, we had a good order book in the previous quarter, and even now also we have a good order book for cylinder pipes. The same goes for sour service subsea seamless pipes and cold-drawn pipes. We do not manufacture premium connections right now. We have signed a royalty agreement with a foreign partner, and that work is under process. I think in about six months' time, we should be able to start production of premium connections.
Sir, any color on the capacity that you're planning to set up in this?
The capacity expansion plan that we have detailed in one of the slides in the presentation, out of that, we had started two projects: the cold-drawn pipes project, which has been completed, and the other one is the finishing line at Telangana, in which we have issued purchase orders of INR 90 crore, and we'll be able to start some portion of it in the current quarter.
Sir, I was asking about premium connections.
I've already told you about premium connections that we should be able to start in about six months' time.
Yes, sir. Capacity for Premium connections.
We will get back to you.
Okay. Sir, any color on the current bid pipeline or any new tenders that you are expecting in the near term?
We don't disclose that.
Okay, sir. Last question.
We have disclosed the order, just one second. We have disclosed the order book. If you have been tracking the company for some time, then you should be aware that the order book that we have is always for a period of three to four months. So the current order book is dated 20th January. So for the current quarter, we have disclosed our order book segment-wise.
Okay, sir. Sir, in the last quarter, you had mentioned that imports is around 20%-25% of the domestic industry size of 90,000.
Correct.
So has it reduced in this quarter?
No. No. It has not reduced. Despite the unabated dumping from China, we have managed to maintain and improve upon our margins, and the tonnage that we have dispatched has not declined despite the challenging economic environment.
Primarily driven by product mix?
Product mix is not relevant for total dispatches.
Sir, you said the margin has improved despite the continued dumping.
I've said this again at the start of the call that the increase in margins was on account of reversal of the inventory markdown, which was done in the earlier quarter. And that also I had pointed out in the previous quarter's call that there will be an improvement in margins in the subsequent quarter.
Okay, sir. Thank you and all the best to you.
Thank you.
Thank you, ma'am. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask questions, please press star and one now. Participants who wish to ask questions may please press star and one at this time. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask questions, please press star and one now. Participants who wish to ask questions may please press star and one now. The next question is from the line of Ritesh from Girik Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thanks a lot for the opportunity. Sir, I just wanted to know about your INR 852 crore capital expenditure. By when you will plan to spend this amount?
We have started two projects. Once the Telangana finishing line project is completed, then we will take up other items mentioned over there.
Okay. So Telangana finishing line, that will increase the capacity by 100,000 tons, right?
Yes.
Okay.
I'll just clarify. It will not increase the production capacity. It will increase the finishing capacity. We already have production capacity of 200,000 tons, which is currently unutilized because the commensurate finishing facility is not in place. That bottleneck is being resolved by the finishing line, which is currently being implemented.
Sure. But even though if I take FY 2025 numbers, your production was 440,000 tons and capacity 600,000. So now from that 500,000, the entire 600,000 can be utilized. Is that understanding right?
Against 441,000 tons for FY 2025, capacity is 550,000 tons, which is active and utilizable. The additional 100,000 tons is not active and not utilizable because the commensurate finishing facility for that 100,000 tons is not in place right now. This issue is being addressed by putting in a finishing line at Telangana.
Okay. That clarifies a lot. Also, if you can give an outlook on how are the ONGC and Oil India tendering happening, like you have mentioned that drill pipe order is awaited, what will be the order size of that?
Very small because the drill pipe annual market is around 8,000 tons-9,000 tons for the entire country. But these are high-margin orders. That is why they are specifically pointed out in our order book.
Sir, in recent IIP numbers, the base metal sector has seen a good growth. In the press release also written that steel tubes market growth has been encouraging. What are your comments on that and how that impacts our company?
Who has given this view? I couldn't.
In yesterday's IIP numbers, base metal has grown by some 10%. In the commentary, it's said that within base metal, the metal tube industry has done well. So is our company considered in the metal tubes company?
We are part of the metal tube association, but our market is a niche market because it is used for our products are used for a specific purpose, and it is dependent on government expenditure in the oil and gas sector rather than for general consumption.
Sure, sir. Thanks. That will be from my side.
Thank you, sir. The next question is from the line of Niraj from Pransh Group. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thanks for the opportunity to ask the question. Is my voice audible?
Yes.
Yes, sir.
My question is, you have about INR 3,500 crore of liquid investment. Out of that, close to 2,957 is into the mutual funds. Can you give the bifurcation? How much is your portion to the equity mutual fund? How much is into the gold, and how much of this liquid scheme?
We are not giving that bifurcation out, and it is not required.
Okay. Okay. So you don't want to disclose this information? The reason for this is I just wanted to know what kind of a risk capital the company is carrying in their treasury operation with regards to investment into the equities market. How much is the person, or even a quantitative number with regards to how much of the money of this has been invested into the liquid scheme might be helpful?
The total portfolio return for the nine months ending December 2025 is in excess of 24%.
Okay. Okay. Thank you. No issues.
Thank you, sir. The next question is from the line of Ankur Agarwal, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Good evening, sir. My question is, yeah, my question is regarding, sir, as of what we understand is that the demand of seamless pipe is something that you cannot create. You are dependent on the requirement of the government agencies. And as I understand, the export sector is not viable as of now as far as the seamless pipe is concerned. Am I correct?
Carry on, sir. Anyone?
Sorry to interrupt you, Ankur, sir. There's a lot of disturbance from your side. Can you please use your hand, sir?
Yeah. Sure. Hello?
Yes.
Yeah. So my question is, sir, we are sitting on a lot of cash. Company has already decided that we will not diversify in other segments. So what do you see our future growth prospects in the next 2-3 years? What is the management deciding about future course of action, sir?
We are conserving cash as of now, and we are on the lookout for any inorganic opportunity that may arise. That inorganic opportunity should be at a cost level at which we are comfortable. We will not buy assets at full value. We will buy only distressed assets because that makes the most sense for us in our industry, which is cyclical. In addition to that, we are focusing on treasury management and on improving our operations internally. Right now, that is the position that we can communicate.
All that we can do now is hope for the demand to somehow increase, and then only our revenue can increase. Is that it, sir?
Yes.
Okay. And still, the management is of the view that you do not want to increase the dividend or somehow distribute the cash to the shareholder?
We have quadrupled the dividend, which is being paid out to the shareholders in the period from FY 2022 to FY 2024. In FY 2025, even with a lower profit, we maintained the quadrupled level of dividend, which was paid out.
So that is absolutely correct. But the only issue that I have is that since approximately 50% of our market cap is in cash or cash equivalent with the company, now I'm also of the opinion that since you cannot increase the demand of the seamless pipes to increase the value of the company, I think you only have two or three options with you, sir. If in case you are not able to increase the demand, you have ample cash, you can also increase the dividend in the proportion of the cash that you are reserving with the company. We are not saying that you are not taking right decisions or something is in your hand and you are not doing that. But either if in case you have ample cash, you can distribute to the shareholders.
At least as a shareholder, we should also enjoy the effort that you have put in the company and manage so much cash in such a right way, sir.
Okay.
Am I making sense, sir?
The interest of the equity shareholder does not necessarily have to align with the interest of the management in running an organization. So we focus on long-term value creation. And when you do make the point that 50% of our market cap is backed by cash on the books, you should also bear in mind that in this seamless pipe industry, every one of our peers, without exception, have either been bankrupted or gone to bankruptcy courts. We are the only player in this industry who has consistently remained a market leader for the past 35 years. So our thought process would be different from that of our peers, and it has benefited us, which is why we remain aligned to the thought process which has benefited us.
Sir, you are absolutely correct, sir. Kudos to the management that have accumulated so much cash, and you have also dealt it in the right way. There has to be a cap on the amount of money that you think you need to reserve because you're saying that.
There is no legal requirement that there has to be a cap.
Absolutely correct, sir.
There is no cap, and we want to follow those business principles which have ensured survival and prosperity of our organization. Rather than those business principles which appear good maybe in the shorter or medium term, but which may not be so applicable in the longer term. We are the oldest player in the industry, and we have remained a market leader. You may not like what I am saying, but the points which I am making are clear facts which are easily verifiable.
Sir, I myself have been a shareholder in the company for the last 4-5 years, and I have followed the company, joined each and every call. It is not that you are misguiding us or what you are saying doesn't make sense to us. We are also one of the shareholders who are happy to see the growth, if not in terms of revenue, but the value of the company. But I'm sure you will understand as a shareholder, we also look forward to.
I interrupt you, sir. So may I request you to come in the queue for follow-up questions?
Sure, sure. Thank you for answering my question, sir.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, to ask questions, please press star and one now. Participants who wish to ask questions, may please press star and one at this time. The next question is from the line of Tanmay Roy, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Am I audible?
Yes.
Yes, sir.
Yeah. So right now, what I could see is that our current capacity is not fully utilized, as you know, and then the demand is also not that high. So even if the Telangana plant comes into effect, so if the demand stays the same, is it fair to assume that it will go into impact our profitability in coming quarters?
Since the Union Budget is only a few days away, maybe I'll be able to address your query better after the budget because we are dependent on government expenditure for.
Call in, sir.
government expenditure for expansion and growth. So if government expenditure does not improve, then the market will not grow, which will directly impact us. So let us see what the budget puts out, and accordingly, you can decide.
Government expenditure can improve in other sectors. It may not be necessary for oil and gas. So even if that stays the same, oil expenditure, if that goes up, then it will be same that.
Because sustainable level of expenditure in oil and gas sector is there. But your question is in terms of growth. So for growth, we will require more expenditure in oil and gas sector.
Okay. Okay. Fine. The next one is, given that we have now that FTA in place with Europe and also which might get activated in next year, 2027. So will that in any way affect or help our business to grow in European countries?
We are still reviewing that. Exports have seen some improvement in the previous quarter. Maybe in the next quarter's call, we'll be able to update you better on this FTA point.
Okay. Yeah. So any guidance in terms of EBITDA pattern for next quarter or something for next year?
We do not give out guidance specifically, but the only thing that I can tell you from some experience is that we don't see margins to decline materially from here. I think it will remain in the range of INR 10,000-INR 15,000 per ton.
Okay. But after the anti-dumping duty, which has been put some days back, then we could see that the gas prices are going up, I mean, slightly.
No anti-dumping duty has been put. It was only.
It was an extension.
Sorry?
That extension, which they have considered.
Extension.
12%. 12%. 12 or 12.5%, something like that.
That is a Safeguard Duty on steel.
Correct. Correct.
But that is not applicable on our industry.
No, that's what I'm saying. After that, the gas price started going up, will it affect anything onto our industry so that the price can go up?
Our order book is supported by back-to-back booking of raw materials. If raw material prices will increase, then the same will be passed on to the customer. For orders which were in place prior to the implementation of Safeguard Duty, we had already covered those orders with raw materials.
Okay. And right now, our oil and gas order book is around INR 400 crore, right? Which generally gives high EBITDA pattern.
Yes. 33%. So 33% of INR 1,302 crores is around INR 400 crores.
That excludes the anticipated drill pipe order. Correct?
Yes.
Okay. Okay. Thank you so much. And maybe next quarter, I'll ask for that now after the budget.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir. The next question is from the line of Yogesh Mittal, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Yes, sir.
Sir, thanks for giving me the opportunity. I have a question regarding as we are hearing and seeing the reports like the shale gas and the oil and the peak oil output has just passed and now more drilling is required to get the same amount of oil and gas. Sir, can you please throw some light on your acquisition about the United Seamless Tubular that was done some time back? And how are you getting the feelers in the market, or do you see that CapEx is coming by large global conglomerates in this space? Thank you.
Regarding United Seamless Tubular, what is it that you would like to know?
Sir, I would like to understand the means like we acquired it on some basis. Is the thesis playing out? Are we getting some traction in North American or the European market where we wanted to compete with the other large players?
I am confused. We never said that we want to compete in European and North American market from our mill in United Seamless Tubular. That mill is working very well. We acquired it for INR 477 crores, and we invested an additional INR 73 crores to reactivate the mill. So against a total capital expenditure of INR 550 crores, that mill generates between INR 100 crores-INR 200 crores of EBITDA every year depending on the margin profile. In addition to that, there were accumulated losses and unabsorbed depreciation in excess of INR 1,500 crores in United Seamless Tubular Private Limited. Subsequent to merger of that company with Maharashtra Seamless, we were able to set off the profits of Maharashtra Seamless with the unabsorbed depreciation and accumulated losses of United Seamless Tubular, thereby saving tax of around INR 375 crores.
Yes, sir.
So the entire project was paid back in maybe two years. So yes, the thesis did play out, and that is the position today.
Sure, sir. Sir, thanks for the elaborate answer. Sir, regarding the investment by large companies in who are the users for our pipes, though we are mainly focused with ONGC and some other players, are we getting some traction with other large consumers in terms of the seamless pipe for new drillings in oil and gas space?
We have been able to replenish our order book without compromising on the tonnage that we have dispatched. In the second quarter, we dispatched 103,000 tons of pipe. In the third quarter, we dispatched 101,000 tons of pipe. In spite of a challenging economic environment in which government expenditure was also muted, we have managed to replenish the order book.
Yes, sir. Sir, if I can ask something more. Sir, in the last four years, we have seen there have been frequent changes for the CFO, Chief Financial Officer in the company. Is the company taking some steps that there will be more consistency going forward?
The changes in the CFO was on account of various factors which were unique to each CFO. So right now, Mr. Arup Mandal is the CFO, and he's been with us for about a year and a half.
Yes, sir.
But in addition to the CFO point, I would also like to mention that I have been with the organization for 14 years. So I think that should give you some comfort.
Yes, sir.
Thank you, sir. The next question is from the line of Vikash Singh from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi Kaushal. Just one question on our premium connection side. Can you just tell me what is the current market size for that premium connection in India and what kind of markets we are looking to acquire on that segment?
Premium connections would be between 50,000 to 1,000,000 tons per annum, depending on the amount of capital expenditure that takes place. Right now, this product is being supplied by Jindal Saw and through imports. We will have to take some of their shares in order to compete in this environment.
Noted. My second question pertains to six months back, we heard a lot of news about ONGC needs to drill almost 500 wells, and accumulated demand expansion for these wells could be 100 KT in tonnage terms. So just wanted to understand, is there any progress on those stated 500 wells at all, or if you have any idea that what's happening there, it would be relevant for you?
There is regular requirement of seamless pipe. However, we would have preferred if there was maybe a 5% or 10% increase because then it gives us more assurance on pricing and on replenishment. So despite a challenging economic environment in which government expenditure was low, we have managed to replenish our order book without compromising on the tonnage that we have dispatched on quarter-on-quarter basis. I think in the budget, we should expect some improvement in government expenditure, and then that will have a multiplier effect on the rest of the economy.
Noted. That's all from my side.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to management for closing comments.
Thank you, shareholders, for participating, and thank you, Vikash, for organizing the call.
Thank you, sir. On behalf of ICICI Securities Limited, that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.
Thank you.