Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Borosil Renewables Limited Q4 FY 2026 results call hosted by Axis Capital Limited. This conference call may contain forward-looking statements about the company, which are based on the beliefs, opinions and expectations of the company as on the date of this call. These statements are not the guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. 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. Rohan Gheewala from Axis Capital. Thank you and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good evening. On behalf of Axis Capital, I'm pleased to welcome you all to Q4 FY 2026 earnings conference call of Borosil Renewables Limited. We have the staff and management represented by Mr. P.K. Kheruka, Executive Chairman; Mr. Ashok Jain, Non-Executive Director; Mr. Melwyn Moses, Chief Executive Officer; Mr. Sunil Roongta, Whole-time Director and Chief Financial Officer; and Mr. Dhaval Patel, AVP, Investor Relations. We will begin with the opening remarks from the management, followed by an interactive Q&A session. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Good afternoon and welcome to the Borosil Renewables Quarter Four FY 2026 investor call. This is P.K. Kheruka, Executive Chairman, addressing all of you. The standalone and consolidated financial results for the year ended March 31st, 2026 and for the quarter were approved by the Board of Borosil Renewables yesterday, Tuesday, May 12th. Our results and an updated presentation have been sent to the stock exchanges and have also been uploaded on the company's website. We will now discuss the operations of company on a standalone basis as well as on a consolidated basis. I'm extremely happy to announce that the company has, on standalone basis, achieved a significant milestone of sales of INR 1,500 crore for the year gone by.
The company recorded sales of INR 1,534.83 crore for the year gone by, versus INR 1,109.94 crore in the last year, showing an impressive growth of over 38%. I'm delighted to report that the company has achieved a robust EBITDA of INR 491.68 crore for the last financial year, which is 32% of sales, showing a quantum jump of 172% from INR 180.51 crore, which was 16% of sales in the last year.
The average ex-factory selling price realized during the year increased to INR 146.7 /mm as compared to INR 113.44 /mm in the last year, which contributed significantly to the dramatic turnaround in the revenue and EBITDA margin. The rise in selling prices has been possible only after the government's positive approach by levying anti-dumping duties on solar glass imports from China and Vietnam in December 2024. Sales in quantity terms were high by about 8% compared to last year. Exports amounted to about INR 113.29 crore, accounting for 7.4% of the turnover compared to INR 87.11 crore in the previous year, when exports made up 7.9% of the turnover. Coming now to the quarterly results.
The company recorded sales of INR 437.62 crore versus INR 327.23 crore in the corresponding quarter for the previous year. This has surpassed the previous all-time high quarterly sales of INR 386.5 crore in the previous quarter, that is to say third quarter of the current financial year. EBITDA for the last quarter at 33% of sales was INR 144.61 crore in quarter four FY 2026, showing a quantum jump of 88% from INR 77.03 crore, which was 23.5% of sales in the corresponding quarter last year. This has also exceeded the previous quarter EBITDA of INR 129.04 crore.
The average ex-factory selling prices during the quarter increased to INR 150.2 /mm as compared to INR 127.6 in the corresponding quarter and to from INR 149.97 in the preceding quarter, leading to a marked improvement in the margins while improvement in production efficiencies and cost reduction measures also contributed. Sales in quantity terms were higher by 15% compared to the corresponding quarter and 14% over the preceding quarter. Exports amounted to INR 12.32 crore, accounting for 2.8% of the turnover compared to INR 17.85 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, when exports made up 5.5% of the turnover.
The company's major export markets continue to face low demand. The ongoing war in West Asia has adversely impacted oil and gas supplies. The industries had to struggle to get fuel supplies. Fuel prices of imported gas more than doubled, and prices of furnace oil also rose by over 50%. In this difficult situation, the company had no choice but to request its customers to accept a fuel surcharge. We acknowledge the cooperation extended by all our esteemed customers. We did not curtail production and have been able to maintain full production throughout. Looking to this adverse supply situation, the company has further intensified efforts to improve efficiencies and cut costs. I'm happy to say that the rise in fuel cost has not so far made any impact on the margins.
The domestic demand for solar glass continues to be robust, led by a rise in domestic production of solar modules. The ALMM mechanism for modules has led to rush for capacity additions within India. These now stand at 193 GW as on May 1, 2026, and is expected to rise soon to exceed 250 GW. The solar installations in financial year ended 2026 have been at an all-time high at 44.6 GW, which means modules of glass consumption of 60 GW-62 GW as against 23.8 GW last year. Looking at the success of ALMM for solar modules, the government has introduced ALMM II with effect from June 2026, mandating use of domestically produced solar cells.
This has already led to rise in the solar cell capacity to 30 GW, which is expected to rise to 75 GW by the end of this financial year as significant capacities are under installation. The announcement suggests that this could surpass 100 GW. The government has also announced introduction of ALMM III from June 2028, under which ingot and wafer will also be mandated to be locally produced. In view of this, many existing large module cell manufacturers have announced their plans to set up capacities aggregating to about 55 GW-60 GW. These measures will ensure building up of a local supply chain and ecosystem and ensure lowering import dependence for energy security need, for which it is felt more than ever in the current war and geopolitical situation.
Going by a scenario with a continued high level of demand and expected growth in demand from other emerging sectors like EV, data centers and green hydrogen, we expect a rise in installations to nearly 65 GW / annum on DC basis, leading to a high demand for solar glass. Present solar glass capacity in the country 2,600 tons / day. That is to say 18 GW. Currently, imports occupy about 70% share of the consumption of about 62 GW, leaving huge scope for capacity addition to substitute the imports and meet the growing demand.
Based on information available, we expect solar glass capacities of about 33 GW by multiple companies, majority of which is for captive consumption to be commissioned by March 2027, taking the total domestic capacity to 51 GW as against current level of demand of about 65 GW, still leaving a respectable gap to be filled. I'm pleased to say work on our ongoing expansion at our existing location is in full swing. All the orders or nearly all the orders have been placed. Building construction is proceeding as per plan, and we expect timely completion of the project. Once commissioned, this is expected to generate certain operating leverages. Company has decided to enhance the existing business by starting a new division for selling rooftop solutions with a view to offer superior products to customers by sourcing from outside and use Borosil brand and distribution.
The rooftop market, comprising of PM Surya Ghar Yojana and commercial and industrial sectors, is large, and the company will use appropriate strategy to tap the same. There is no CapEx spend at this time for the initial period. The board has also approved an enabling resolution to raise equity funds up to INR 750 crore subject to approval of shareholders. The relevant authority, that is to say the Directorate General of Trade Remedies, has issued final findings in the matter of CVD on solar glass imported from Malaysia, recommending CVD for the next five years. We expect the Ministry of Finance to issue a customs notification before the current duty is expired on June 8, 2026.
In the quarterly results for financial year 2026, which is to say the current quarter, a provision has been made for INR 325.91 crore towards the exposure in German subsidiary Geosphere and step-down subsidiary GMB in view of the insolvency filing by GMB. The company has received a copy of the report dated December 1, 2025, issued by court-appointed insolvency administrator of GMB, which was submitted to the insolvency court in Cottbus, Germany. As per the report, assets of GMB are insufficient for discharging its liabilities and creditors are unlikely to receive any amounts. In view of this, the company in its books of accounts for the financial year ended March 31, 2026 has written off the above exposure in Geosphere and GMB.
Since fulfilled provision had already been made in the books of account previously, it will not result into any additional loss in the books. Now I come to the consolidated results for the quarter and year for the subsidiaries, including the subsidiaries. The overseas subsidiaries, including the step-down subsidiaries, have generated net revenue of INR 2.3 crore and EBITDA of INR 0.82 crore for quarter four of the last year, as against net revenue of INR 3.96 crore and EBITDA of INR 1.90 crore in the last quarter.
The consolidated net revenue for the year stands at INR 1,555.84 crore and EBITDA of INR 465.96 crore as compared to net revenue of INR 1,479.33 crore and EBITDA of INR 92.84 crore in the last year. I am happy to report that the company has been able to surpass the consolidated net revenue of last year despite shutting down of production in Germany from July 2025. I would now like to open the floor to questions that you may have.
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 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. The first question is from the line of Sahil Sheth from Anand Rathi Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Hi. Congratulations on the great set of numbers. My first question would be if we were to look at our realization for the quarter, it is at around INR 150 /mm . What part of this realization would be because of the pass-through in increase of gas and what would be the realization if we were not, if we hadn't passed on the prices to the customers?
It's very minor amount. Very minor. Less than INR 1.
Okay. Sir, my second question would be, as you said in your opening remarks, that out of currently the demand stands at around 65 GW, upcoming capacity it is expected to reach, 51 GW. Do you see any pressure in realizations or margin terms in the coming year?
For the company, for domestic glass manufacturing, I do not see any pressure. You know, the demand is much higher than 51 GW, and most of these capacities which are coming up are for captive consumption. The capacity which will be available in the market will be very limited. That way the pressure will not be there, as per our understanding.
Okay. Sir, in terms of our export markets, apart from U.S., which are the other key markets, which has the most potential right now as per your calculations?
There are specialized demand centers in Europe which we are meeting for greenhouses and flat plate solar collectors and so on. There are still some module manufacturers who are continuing to operate in Europe. We meet their demand as well, plus of course the United States. The United States is not a very large market for us as of now, but it may become large because now the U.S.A wants the material which is not coming from Chinese origin. The customers are looking at India as one of the source country, and we might get some demand generated from U.S.A in the coming quarters.
Thank you. Lots of business. Very helpful. Thank you, and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Anuj Jain from Globe Capital . Please go ahead.
Hello. Good afternoon, sir, and congratulations on the great turnaround. Just to understand, sir, I missed your in your speech, opening remarks, that there is some deadline which is on June 8, 2026 , that government will come with some notification. What was that, sir? I missed that part.
You see, we had applied for extension or variation in the CVD, which has been imposed on imports from Malaysia, that's a countervailing duty. The Directorate General of Trade Remedies has heard our application and has put forward his recommendation for continuation of the CVD which had been previously imposed. The date for expiry of the previous CVD is of June 6th. We are saying that we are hopeful that before the expiry of that June 6th deadline for extension of the old CVD, the new announcement should come to continue.
Okay, sir. Got it. Sir, just want to understand one more thing. I mean, like, in terms of realization, in the subsequent quarter, it was INR 149, and it's in this quarter, like it was INR 150 something. I mean, what kind of headroom is available for this pricing? I mean, what kind of differential is available in the international market as well as in the Indian market? I mean, kind of headroom for the, for the coming period. I mean, what room do we see?
See, you see, the only other I mean, fundamentally, solar glass supply is coming from China, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia. The companies in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia are 100% owned by China. Therefore, in the eyes of most of us, including the government, these are seen as Chinese companies. Other than these Chinese companies, we have Borosil as a manufacturer today, together with other Indian manufacturers. Internationally, there is just one manufacturer called Şişecam in Turkey. Because of the current hostility in the Red Sea area, any import from Turkey for India would have to go across the Mediterranean, around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, and then come to India, so the shipping charges would be exorbitant. We do not really see any challenge from any other producer as of now.
There was a factory now coming up in U.A.E, which would have been ready for firing anytime. Because of the very adverse conditions prevailing currently in the Straits of Hormuz, I do not see how glass can come from U.A.E to India, even if they decide to start the furnace production.
In regard to the headroom available, you know, the exchange rate has been rising continuously. The dollar has been strengthening against rupee, which allows certain headroom, but it will not be significant. We are already at almost peak of the pricing.
Right. Right. That's what my understanding. Okay. Sir, one more thing. I mean, like you have said that in this quarter, you have passed on certain enormous fuel cost pricing in fuel costs increased prices to the customers. What is the scenario, you know, in this current quarter? Like, we are already in the middle of the current quarter. I mean, do we see that the passing on of the fuel, higher fuel costs is possible?
The fuel surcharge which was levied has been continuing ever since it was levied on, say, March 10th or so. The prices have been fluctuating in the meantime of gas and oil. We will have to take a stock at the end of June 30 that what has actually happened over a period of three months. On balance, we feel that it will even out. As far as we see the data, the pricing difference and the cost difference would eventually even out at the end of June 30. That's our feeling.
One last question, sir. Like, in the history of Borosil, we have seen the, you know, in like FY 2026, 28% kind of EBITDA margins we have seen, which is highest in the history. What sort of, you know, margins we can expect going for this financial year and onwards?
I think we already said that, 30%-33% margin is something what we consider as achievable, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
Right. Got it, sir. That's it from my side, and, all the very best, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Mehul Panjwani from 40 Cents. Please go ahead.
Sir, congratulations on a great set of numbers. Sir, in view of the current West Asia crisis, let's say if this crisis was to extend further, do we see apart from the fuel impact, do we see any other impact in terms of raw material or any other impact which can adversely impact this?
Yeah, you're right. There are several raw materials, which are affected by oil and oil prices. Obviously, there has been cost pressure and the vendors, there is some disturbance coming. And the vendors are talking to us to pass on certain cost increases, which we have been negotiating with them. So far the impact has not been very high in terms of the rise in input cost. Should the conflict continue for a long time, there may be additional burden on the cost of certain inputs, which we'll see how to mitigate in terms of whether we can mitigate through the cost savings and the production efficiencies, or we'll have to look at some price increases. So far it is the cost pressure is not high.
You asked a very interesting question, interestingly, for some companies, the problem has not been faced in the shape of increase in cost of inputs or raw materials. The problem has been faced in a very, very unexpected direction, which is that workers have been leaving their jobs and going home. The reason for that is that the workers in their homes are not able to get LPG to cook food, so they are not able to continue. I want to say in the case of our company, we are very fortunate because we are running on natural gas. We have piped natural gas, in which though the price might have been fluctuating, there is no fluctuation in supply.
As far as we speak today, we have not had one single hours of loss due to non-availability of food for the workers. Food is fully and plentifully available, which is in a way a kind of a positive for our company, that the workers are happy to stay there and, you know, they're able to cook their food. Thank you.
Sir, this was very insightful. Sir, second question is on, you know, the, because of this, the demand for renewable energy is going up across the globe now. In view of that, are we planning any expansion which we have not, or are we in the discussion process of expanding further, so that, you know, we can capitalize on this excess demand which will come our way?
As you know that we are already well on way to set up new production of 300 tons / day, two furnaces. That is 600 tons / day, which we hope to see in production within this financial year. That could increase our production capacity by 60%, which is quite sizable. In addition to that, we have taken a further step forward, which is that, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, we have started marketing rooftop solar installations and solutions under the brand name of Borosil. For the time being, we shall be procuring very high quality modules made under our strict term strict guidelines and specifications from very reputable manufacturers, which we shall supply to the public at large under the Borosil brand.
This could have a signature impact on our operations because we do have a good brand and in time, we have no doubt our brand will be well established as a leading, dependable supplier for rooftop solutions by the citizens of our country. That should give us further improvement in our margins.
Sir, by when would this, both these initiatives start, contributing to our top line?
We have made our first sales in March already. The current turnover already includes a very Well, it actually doesn't include anything yet because we booked the business, but we're gonna start delivering now. It's very difficult to say to, you know, what extra, but let's say we might be aiming for about INR 75 crore sales for the first year, which is very modest. In time this could become very significant.
Sir, that is for the rooftop, right? I'm talking about the two furnaces which we have planned and which will be operational in this financial year. When would they contribute to our top line?
Sensibly, we should take it from the next year.
Q1 of next year, sir?
Q1 of next year.
Thank you.
We expect that there might be some sales in this year, some.
Right.
Too early to hazard a guess.
All right, sir. Sir, thank you so much, and wish you the very best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Kaushal Sharma from Equinox Capital Venture Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Yes, ma'am. Actually my question has been answered. Thank you, sir, and congratulations on set of numbers.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next question is from the line of Vanshita Amlani, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Sir, in this quarter we have recorded tax benefit from German-
I'm sorry to interrupt, Vanshita. We are not able to hear you properly. Can you use your handset mode, please?
Sir, this quarter we have recorded tax benefit from buyback of German company. Can you please guide what tax bracket can we consider going forward?
Actually, next year we are going to capitalize our expansion. That way our next tax outflow would be very minimal because INR 950 crore capitalization we'll be doing in the current financial year. It is difficult to predict as of now what would be the tax percentage.
Okay.
With deferred tax it would be same. With deferred tax it will be same, 21% or so.
Okay. We can consider around 21% on PBT.
Yes.
Sir, as you said, LNG prices are passed on to the customers. Sir, it is not reflected in the realization. It is, more or less flat, and gross margin is also around 1.2% less. Can you please explain this?
Yeah. This impact is only for about 20 days in the last, say, quarter or even financial year. The impact of this fuel cost rise was less than INR 1, as I said, maybe about INR 0.70 or INR 0.75. Similar amount of increase you can see in the net realization also between the last quarter three and quarter four. This figure is not very significant and in terms of the realization, it is not impacted greatly.
Okay, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Deepak Purswani from Swan Investments. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Good evening, sir, and congratulations for a very good set of numbers, especially in the challenging environment.
Thank you.
Sir, firstly, wanted to check it out. If I were to check it on the sequential basis, our revenues has grown 13%, whereas our realization is flat, largely flat on the sequential basis. There seems to some volume gain in the last three months. Just wanted to check it out. Is it primarily a 10% efficiency gain, which we have seen that's the reason there is a sharp improvement in the volume, or how should we read into it?
Deepak, it's a mix of the two actually. There has been a increase in the production. That is one thing. The second thing is the impact of Ind AS. In the last quarter of this financial year, the inventory which was or the sale which was in transit was much lower compared to the earlier periods. There has been incremental sale coming in this this quarter, which is which has shown up as increase in sales. It is almost 50/50, you can say, out of the 15% or 14%, 7% would be the production gain and maybe similar amount due to the Ind AS. There's another matter, which is that at the end of the year, there were many module makers who were very keen to complete their sales and their production.
We literally had to sweep our warehouse, and we had virtually, I think, the lowest stock of glass we've ever held in our lives was on the March 31st, 2026. We had, I think, one shift of production or something like that in stock. Everything was sold out.
Okay. Okay. Secondly, sir, wanted to check it out on the fuel cost. From the gas supplier point of view, how should we see on the incremental basis? Is it completely secure at this point of time? What is the kind of arrangement we have in terms of the long-term contracts and spot pricing basis?
We have contracts for medium-term as well as the short-term, which is on a monthly basis. The quantities are broadly secured. The price is a problem, which is the current market price we have to pay for certain gas. As per the government directive, even the past, the gas cut has been applied, which is related to the past six month usage, average usage. Whatever the quantity we were using in past six months, or rather say buying from our source, that is the quantity available at agreed price. The rest we are buying from the same vendor or different vendor at market related price. Only price is a challenge as of now. The quantities are secured.
Okay. Thirdly, sir, wanted to check it out from the rooftop solar point of view. If you can share the roadmap over the next three years, how should we see scaling up of this business, and what would be the kind of investment we would be looking, whether, we would be putting manufacturing capacity for this going ahead, or this would be purely outsource kind of model? What would be the kind of investment we would be making in the marketing and distribution network in this?
It's little early for us to give you all the details, but broadly, we are not envisaging any capital investment for next 1.5 years. That is one thing. Second thing is that we are going to outsource all the three components or the kit which we are going to supply will have three items: solar module, inverter, and battery. All those items we are going to outsource from other reputed vendors and supply as a part of our offering. In terms of the manufacturing, we will take a call after one year or so, as to what amount of manufacturing we can do. We are surely looking at inverter for the purpose of manufacturing or assembly, but not the modules and other things.
We don't envisage a very large CapEx to be incurred on this business at this point in time. We can only review the situation after, say, six, eight months and then come back to you further on this.
Okay. Finally, sir, one bookkeeping question. Depreciation for the year as a whole has come down versus the last year. How should we see this in this year? I mean, if you can give some explanation for this, sir, and how should we see this going ahead? On the existing facility, I do understand for the new capitalization there would be incremental depreciation. For the existing facility, how should we see it going ahead?
We should take the run rate, current run rate of the depreciation because the past CapEx, which was on earlier furnaces, SG-1, SG-2, the period is expired for their, you know, life over which we were to depreciate those furnaces. After that period is over, the depreciation has dropped considerably. Current depreciation mainly belongs to the last expansion, which we did in 2023. Which is a continuing CapEx. I can add here is that the old furnaces, SG-1 and SG-2, will have certain CapEx when we rebuild them, which will be almost INR 100 crore on two furnaces. Which will get incurred whenever we are taking these furnaces for repair and rebuild, which might happen in the next calendar year.
Okay. Got it. So finally, on the enabling resolution of INR 750 crore for the fundraise, if you can give a broader sense on that would be really helpful.
This is just enabling resolution taken by us for any eventuality. As of now, we don't have any plans. Rather, we don't have any need also to raise any capital. Should there be any opportunity or need, then this is an enabling resolution taken by the board.
Okay. Thank you. Thanks a lot, sir. Wish you all the best.
Okay, Deepak. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Sidhaant Lodaya from Sanshi Fund. Please go ahead.
Yeah, just wanted to understand what the trend is regarding the ex-factory selling prices and how do you look at it from the street performance perspective?
Can you say again? You're not clear.
Just a second. Just wanted to understand what will be the trend of the ex-factory selling prices.
Well, it is difficult to predict the trend, but we are selling against the landed cost of imported Chinese glass and that is also benchmark based on the reference price, which is already determined. If nothing goes wrong, the prices should continue at this level. We don't foresee much challenge in maintaining the prices.
Understood. Any guidance on EBITDA margin? Are these current margins sustainable at around 30%-33% for the next year?
The same reply was same question was asked and reply is already given that on normal basis we expect 30% - 33% margin in this business.
All right. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of [Vijesh Gupta] from [Panthecon] Consultants. Please go ahead.
Hi. Congratulations on a good set of numbers. My question comes around, like, attending your Q3 con call, the management said that they are not currently looking for capacity expansion of your Bharuch plant and they're working on 100% capacity. Coming on down to the Q4, does the view remain intact or there's a change in view currently?
Unless expansion gets commissioned, there is no additional capacity coming in between. Your question may be that in the coming quarters whether there will be any capacity expansion. Our expansion will get commissioned only in the Q4 of this current financial year. Before that, there will be incremental improvement in the production because of our efforts to bring in more efficiencies or increasing productivity, which will be incremental in terms of, say, 3%, 4%, 5%. Other than that, there will not be any substantial increase in the production or sales volume.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Amit Mehta from Sunidhi Securities. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Yes, you're audible.
Hello. Yeah, congratulations for good set of number. Regarding the CapEx which we are doing about 600 tons / day, I was told earlier that we are doing two furnaces of 300 tons / day each, and probably the first furnace might go live in the month of January 2027. Is the timeline the same for the first furnace?
As of now, yes, that's what we are looking at.
Okay. This margin which we have reported about 33% in this quarter, and in the opening remark, Mr. Kheruka Ji has said that, you know, once the expansion comes, there would be the benefit of operating leverage coming in. Since we are adding almost 60% capacity from 1,000 ton/day - 1,600 tons / day, okay, and the new furnace may have the higher output yield. Is it safe to assume that, you know, the combined margin would be much better considering the benefit of new furnace and the benefit of operating leverage?
I think, as far as we are concerned, that is certainly our expectation, that is our hope. So far, things have panned out as we had expected. The new installations are going to be an upgraded version of what we have now. I hope that will show its colors. Borosil typically works at the cutting edge of technology. Our expectations are much better. Now we have to wait and see what we can realize.
Okay. The last question about our rooftop solar, the new venture. You have said that the first year you are targeting INR 75 crore of revenue, okay?
Yeah.
Without any further, major CapEx, as most of the things will get outsourced. Currently we are doing about 30%, more than 30% margin in our existing business. Can we assume that this kind of business is an asset-light model, and, since this is an extension of what we are doing, can we assume the margin will be in the similar line.
I would be very surprised if it is similar line. It would be a lot lower than this. Part of the reason that we have this high 32% margin, also, I must say, that the asset to turnover ratio in setting up a glass factory is very adverse. The total turnover is much less than the value of the asset that we have installed. For that, the margin has to be very high to be able to repay debt and so on.
Yes.
At this rate, it's all of course, very profitable. In the case of bought out item with virtually no asset, the rate of margin would be a lot lower than this, but should still be profitable. Because of the fact that once we take up a job, we try to do it well, hopefully we will have a good reputation and Borosil rooftop solar installations will become the preferred choice for many householders, as they are in other things that we do work with in household goods and so on. If that happens, then yes, it should be a business worth having.
Actually the scaling up is the key here in terms of this kind of business. Initially, you may spend a lot of money on the brand building, which fortunately in our case, the brand is already existing. It's a very robust and good brand to deal with. In terms of the volume, once we build up substantial volume, where even a smaller percentage would work out to be a good overall absolute EBITDA numbers. Initially, we may expect less than 10%, just to give you a number.
Okay.
Eventually it will work out better once we have certain volumes.
Okay. you know, this may not require any CapEx in terms of the capital investment, but normally, what kind of working capital will get locked to do the INR 75 crore of turnover?
Well, we are trying to ensure that it does not become adverse on the other business, and it is self-financed business as of now.
Okay.
We are negotiating terms of sale and purchase in a way that it does not need lot of working capital.
Okay. Whatever is come is incremental profit to the existing profit pool, correct?
That's the expectation.
Okay.
In the initial year, we don't expect profit actually. Maybe one year we have to allow it to gather steam, and then we can say that how much we can really generate on this business.
Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is on the line of Dhiral Shah from PhillipCapital PCG. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good evening, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, as we are running at full capacity, do we expect, you know, the current sales momentum based on the ex-factory, price which is there, that will continue for next few quarters?
There is no reason to expect otherwise. See, the whole world is full of uncertainty. Nobody knew on February 27th that there will be a big attack on Iran on February 28th and all these problems will happen. We just were sitting normally at home, and 28th suddenly there was this big warlike situation, and that has had a major impact on oil supply for people around the world. Nobody had expected. Just as it came from nowhere, who knows, it might disappear into nowhere. If there's a settlement between these two nations, then maybe things will resume to normal very quickly. Nothing is very certain.
Paul, just, sorry, just to bring in caution here is that about 6% of the sales impact in Q4 is on account of Ind AS impact, and that is exhausted. Now to continue to expect the same amount of sales will not be right. This 6% will go off. So on a run rate basis, if you want to look at maybe INR 400 crore or thereabout is a good, INR 400, INR 410 is a good amount to look at.
Sir, if you can explain what is the 6% impact because of the Ind AS adjustment?
As you would know, the Ind AS accounting requires, the accounting standards require you to recognize sales only when it is delivered as per the terms, Incoterms. There are a lot of customers whom we have dispatched the goods in the, say, last 10 days or 15 days of the month of the quarter. And if those goods are dispatched to far off places or exported, those sales have to be reversed and it has to be shown as inventory. In this quarter, particularly the Q4 of last financial year, such sales were very limited and opening sales were very high. There is a positive addition to the sales for the quarter, which was earlier recorded as sales in reverse. That way, sales have become higher-
Higher.
-in this quarter. Although these were sales earlier, they were not included as sales earlier. On a quarterly basis, if you see, this quarter has received that credit, which is why the sales are higher in this quarter to that extent.
Okay. Normal run rate would be around INR 400 crore.
INR 4, yeah, INR 400, INR 410, as I said.
Okay. Sir, what kind of drop you have seen on the import side after this basic custom duty and anti-dumping duty that we have seen on the solar glass?
Are you looking at the volumes or how?
Yes, on the volume side.
No, as the country is producing only 30% of the solar glass required, the rest glass is coming by way of imports only, which continue to happen despite the duty because the Indian producers cannot supply extra quantity. In the past, there were some inventory built up because of the prices were lower from the imports. From December 2024 onwards, that situation has changed. Now domestic producers are able to sell their entire production. On top of that, almost 70% of the demand is still outstanding to be made, which is filled by the imports. Imports are continuing at a higher price. That's the impact of the duty. The Indian producers are able to seek a higher price to the extent of landed cost of imports, which is allowing them to show good performance, good results, which is required for this kind of business.
Okay. Okay. Got your point, sir. Thank you so much, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vikram Sharma from Niveshaay. Please go ahead.
Hello. Hi, sir. Congratulations for good results. Sir, I wanted to hear your views on rooftop solar business side. Like we have very good market share in solar side, and solar glass is more of B2B business. We don't have any like sales distribution channel like Borosil Limited. Why we are like trying or focusing on a very highly competitive rooftop market?
Borosil as a group has a lot of marketing experience across different market segments. There has been a very strong representation by many different people who have come up and said, "Why don't you sell Borosil branded modules and give Borosil solutions to rooftops?" There is a certain amount of demand over there because if we were to give a solution which includes the module and the inverter to begin with, and maybe later migrate to installation as well, people would have faith in that and they would give us a little bit of a premium over other people who are unknown. This could become a very interesting business for us.
As you may perhaps know, Tata Power itself is an EPC, and they are a contractor who agree to set up installations for various customers. We are looking at that possibility. It could be very interesting for us going forward.
Sir, like don't you think this is very competitive market, like player like Havells, Luminous or Tata, all are in the market and they are doing very aggressive marketing this side?
Everything nearly in the world that you do is subject to some competition. This is kind of useful for us because we do manufacture the glass. Now we are developing new solutions. For example, we have a new solution which is an anti-soiling solution, where we apply the coating on the glass and that cleans off any dirt accumulated there with a little bit of water. The output from the entire installation rises. These are things which if we sell the glass to a module manufacturer, then he sells to an EPC, then the EPC sells to somebody, then these features are lost to the customer. In case we are able to sell our own product, our own branded glass, then we would have, we would be able to offer such solutions to customers who might find value in what we are offering.
Okay. Like do we have plan to manufacture module plus batteries as well?
Yes. The idea is to be able to meet customers' demands, including batteries.
Okay, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Daksh Malhotra from Aadriv Global. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good afternoon, congratulations on the good set of results, sir. Most of my questions have been, you know, answered already, just to take hint from the previous This thing. On the rooftop, apart from this anti-soiling solution, do we have any other unique selling points or what is the, you know, larger trend or the larger thought behind going for rooftop? As you mentioned, we might venture into manufacturing inverters as the second phase. Is this something to do with the ALMM III, or are we looking at something else in the future as Borosil Renewables?
See, the thing is we are in this business. We've been here for the last 16 years. People know us, and people rely upon us. There is no doubt that we are as a component manufacturer, we end up making a commodity product which people would buy and price it along with the commodity. Because our customers, who are the module makers, are in turn selling their products to people who are either EPCs or people who are owners of projects and so on. The only thing in our country that works is the price. What we are seeing in recent years, that when that a lot of high value products are also being sold in the country, it's no longer the company that buys the cheapest car, the cheapest home, the cheapest furnishings.
People are now ready to pay for quality and, unfortunately, we are not able to tap into that market. We are just migrating outward to see where we would end up, what would be the expectation customers have from their systems. I foresee in the years to come, a growing dependence on self-generation across the whole nation. The era of very large plants which are providing power, to not be growing as aggressively as domestic personal generation. If you are coupling that with battery standby, you're giving people a taste of self-sufficiency at an predictive price. Today there is the price of power is not predictive. You don't know what you're gonna be ending up paying for your power.
There are many reasons to consider going into this, where you're coming face to face with the consumer, where, you know, we are very comfortable with that. We make domestic appliances. We make so many products which are directly used by the consumer. This is an area where we have comfort.
Fair enough. [Chalo], let's, as long as we are not investing too much capital behind it, let's see where it goes. Sir, you mentioned in the last call there was some plant in Indonesia also, which had fired up a furnace. Now that we are, you know, talking to the government and have initial nod from the Director General for countervailing duties on Malaysia, are we, you know, expected to foresee some imports from Indonesia where we can have some price troubles or?
I'll tell you something. A lot has changed in India so far as our customers are concerned. The domestic manufacturers of modules have undergone a significant change. And where is the change? The change is that the speed at which the modules are being made by the manufacturer has really gone up several times. They are making a module every few seconds. They cannot take risks with new suppliers who are giving them a product they're not so sure about. To some extent, like pharma producers, when they buy packaging, they buy ampoules and vials, which by the way Borosil also manufactures, and we sell to pharma producers. They are very finicky.
They're very particular about the vials and ampoules that they buy because they don't want to lose any of production because of the breakage of the packaging. And these are all done at high speed packaging lines. In a similar way, a company which is manufacturing modules is dependent upon its profitability if it is able to make the desired number of modules every hour. They have started valuing dependability and quality, et cetera, so that their production lines are not unnecessarily disrupted and they don't have to lose production. With us, the customers who buy from us, they buy large volumes, and they are happy with us. To answer your question about Indonesia, their market, their glass has come into the market. So far it has not made any very great impact. It'll take a while before they can actually break into large scale.
Sir, is it coming at lower prices or is it in the ballpark of?
It's not coming at that much. You see, it's like this. The Chinese company based in Indonesia is very keenly aware of the prices at which glass is being sold in India. They're also aware about the price at which glass were being sold from China and even continue to be sold from China. Since they are an independent company in Indonesia, there's no need for them to go down to that, to the Chinese price level. Their selling prices are very much higher than what they would have been if they're selling from China. The price pressure is not that high as we see at this time. We don't know about going forward. At this time, the price pressure is not so high. They're trying to keep their price at a level where it's just enough sufficiently attractive to their customer in India to buy from them.
All right. What is the capacity of their production? Just if you have any idea how much?
The Chinese, the Chinese factory in Indonesia has been order, I think 1,500 tons / day. The shortfall in India is 7,000 tons / day. Even if they were to sell everything in India, it would still not make any impact on the domestic supply or demand for domestic glass. The prices might come under pressure, but we wait and see.
There are limited customers who would potentially get the material from Indonesia in any case. Today there are multiple options available to the company in terms of the customers, and also the demand is quite high. There is no great pressure in terms of the prices. We are also working with the government to introduce BIS and get quality control order on the solar glass in course of time. If the situation worsens in, say, next one year or six months, we will make an-
Options are available, yeah.
Make an attempt to get these measures introduced in by way of intervention from the government. Government is quite positive on the domestic production of solar components and entire solar value chain. We expect the prices not to come under so much of pressure because of entry of Indonesia in the production.
You must also keep in mind the ocean freight rates are very fluctuating quite wildly because of the, you know, uncertainty about supply of oil for their ships, of oil fuel. The export prices are also subject to that variation.
Yes, sir. All these are short-lived, maybe. As you said, you know, this can end in a jiffy. We, if we get the BIS or some sort of a government, you know, confidence that the minimum price level will be maintained and Chinese companies, doesn't matter where they you know, set up shop, should not be undermining our prices. That will be a longer term comfort for us and the Indian glass manufacturing community.
Something very positive which has emerged in the last two or three years, four years, is that Indian industry's very dramatic response to the government's dictum to manufacture in India. Once these incentives have been given for Indian manufacturing, the increase in domestic manufacturing is staggering. As you can see, solar modules are well over 150 GW. That's a very large capacity that we have in our country. The value chain, even for glass, every aspect of solar component is being enhanced in an exponential way. The government can see that we are developing as a manufacturing power in solar as well. I think they will be maintaining their stand to protect the industry.
Right, sir. Lastly, on the, you know, quarterly exit run rate, sir had pointed out that we can consider for the first three quarters the given run rate. For Q4, do we anticipate maybe a 300 ton furnace getting fired up somewhere in December, early January, and that giving boost to our Q4 numbers or?
That is certainly our objective.
Obviously.
That is our objective, but we are not saying so.
Understood.
I mean, we are not saying.
Okay. In the Q2 con call. Q2 con call.
We'll see. Probably Q2 con call we'll have a better, we'll have a closer picture at that time.
Thank you very much, sir.
We work very hard.
All the very best.
We hope that we can satisfy all our own demands and our investor demands.
Sir, if the demand is so good in the and the solar manufacturing is increasing, and especially after this West Asia war, why don't we, you know, plan to set up one more furnace and venture in our core competence, if we anticipate there's a growing demand here?
It is not at all out of the realms of possibility, let me say that. We'll have to see how it goes. I've spent my life trying to make sure that I don't disappoint, you know. I try to bite as much as I can chew. Getting a 60% higher output, this is skilled job, making solar glass. It's not that by throwing money at something. It's not like buying a car which is ready to be driven on the road, you know. It is, you have to fine-tune it every single installation. Having spent the last nearly 60 years of my life doing it, I'm fairly confident that I should remain within my bounds.
Noted. there's, you know, if we announce and plan for it, the sooner we do it will take whatever time, let's say a year and a half to set it up. if we foresee that, maybe you see. Okay. Understood, sir. Yeah. If it's on the cards.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir. You'll take the right call. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
If I may, sir, just interrupt at this point and say that can we stick to one last question, please, because it's been an hour and 15 minutes now.
Sir, that was the last question.
Okay.
The management can proceed with their closing comments.
Thank you very much, dear investors for your searching questions, which show that you have been following the operations very closely. We continue to work for all our stakeholders, and investors are very important part of a very important stakeholder for the management of this company. Thank you very much. Good day to you.
Thank you, members of the management team. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Axis Capital Limited, that concludes this conference call. We thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.