Good afternoon and a very warm welcome to everyone. Along with me, I have Mr. Anurag Jain, our CFO, and SGA, our investor relations advisors. I hope you have received our result and investor presentation by now. For those who have not, you can view them on our website. I hope you and your near ones are all safe and healthy. The last few months have been tough for everyone, and I'm sure all of us in our work and personal life have discovered a whole new way of living. For the company, during the first quarter lockdown, there has been significant loss in production and business. Our revenues have fallen due to lower production and reduced demand across domestic and international markets. We were at approximately 45% of last year corresponding quarter. Our expansion was also affected because of the availability of labor.
However, in August now things have picked up and we are still hopeful to commission the line in quarter one of next financial year. The Indian auto industry, while still reeling under the COVID-19 impact, saw a significant sequential improvement in July sales. Even for the tire industry, sales have increased over the last few weeks due to increased demand in the replacement market, and the trend is expected to continue in the coming months. The tire industry would witness better traction post-lockdown as the replacement demand would revive faster. The major demand driver for tire and hence insoluble sulfur is actually the replacement market. Also, in order to promote domestic manufacturing, the government has imposed curbs on imports of certain pneumatic tires.
This would lead to increased domestic production of tires, which will then drive the demand for insoluble sulfur further. Overall, putting the Q1 results into the context of the situation, I would say we have done quite well to break even at a PAT level. This was possible because our team put an immense effort and sacrifice to make the best of things that were controllable at our end, and I would like to thank all of them. Our ventures and other stakeholders have also contributed to this performance. Personally, I see these Q1 results in a positive light. To break even and have a cash profit at less than 40% capacity utilization actually shows how strong and resilient the company is.
This was literally the worst external scenario possible, and we withstood it while emerging even stronger. All the various initiatives as well as customer engagements have remained on track during this quarter. We have seen demand come back in July and actually currently projecting the performance in the nine months July to March, which will be similar to the corresponding nine months of the previous year. With that, I would like to hand over the line to Mr. Anurag Jain to update you on the financial performance of the company.
Thank you, Akshat. I would first take you all through the standalone financials of the company. Total income Q1 FY 2021 is INR 46.9 crores as compared to INR 95.3 crores in Q1 FY 2020. Revenues have been impacted on account of lower production due to shutdown of facilities and lower demand because of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Export sales were also affected due to low demand from global tire companies because of COVID. EBITDA for Q1 FY 2021 stood at INR 9 crores as compared to INR 26.6 crores in Q1 FY 2020. EBITDA margins for the quarter stood at 19.1% due to fixed expenses being spread over lower quantities.
Profit after tax for Q1 FY 2021 is INR 1.5 crores. Our PAT margins for the quarter stood at 3%. I would like to take you all through the consolidated financials of the company. Total income for Q1 FY 2021 stood at INR 51.5 crores as compared to INR 106.9 crores in Q1 FY 2020. EBITDA for Q1 FY 2021 stood at INR 8.5 crores as compared to INR 38.4 crores in Q1 FY 2020. EBITDA margins for the quarter stood at 16.5%. Profit after tax for Q1 FY 2021 is INR 0.6 crores with PAT margin for quarter at 1.2%. I would like to open the floor for questions- and- answers.
First question is from the line of Subramanian from IIFL Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, Mr. [inaudible] and Mr. Anurag. I will ask something if you don't mind. My question is not regarding financing, but mainly from a complete medium to long-term expectation from your behalf. One of your clients, Michelin, has recently announced that they have conceptualized the company airless tires. I just wanted to know if there would be any chemical composition change with Michelin, that's one. Number two, last conf call, we talked about expansion into the China and North American market. If you can give me pointers on these lines, it'll be really helpful.
As far as your first question is concerned, you are talking whether there is going to be any change in the chemical composition of the product. Am I right?
Correct.
Insoluble Sulphur is basically a polymeric form of Sulphur, and we mix it with oil to make the product. There is hardly any chemical composition change which we envisage. However, quality-wise, we keep on consistently improving the product and its performance to meet the latest requirements and the improved requirements of the tire companies. As far as chemical composition of the product is concerned, there is hardly going to be any change. As to your second question about our forays into the American market and the Chinese market, we are continuing our inroads, more into American market right now than the Chinese market, where we are going slow a little bit just now.
Okay. Any new additional capacity that has come in recently from our competitors, be it Michelin,
No. There is no recent capacity expansion that has come in, and we are not even aware of any plans for them to add any kind of capacity.
Okay. That's it from my end, sir. I'll connect on with you before our close.
Thank you very much. Next question is from Krishna Parekh from Samriddhi Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. I just wanted to know when is the commissioning of the phase 1 of the 1,700 ton capacity happening, and how the scope is?
I had addressed that in my opening remarks.
Oh, sorry. I joined the call a bit late.
No issue. We expect it to happen in quarter one of next financial year. The progress has picked up in August, and if it continues with the same pace of order, then we are well on track for quarter one of next year. The only challenge that has been there in the last few months has been the availability of the labor who actually do the construction. Now they're coming back.
Okay. Thank you. That's it from my side.
Thank you very much. Anyone who wishes to ask the question, you may press star then one. Next question is from Anubhav Rawat from MMCL. Please go ahead.
Hello. Yeah. Hi. Good morning, sir. Thanks for taking my question. Sir, recently there was a news flow on Yokohama increasing its capacity in its Haryana plant. I just wanted to know if any of our clients are also expanding right now in domestic or foreign markets, or is it status quo for them?
What our understanding is that everybody who had planned capacity expansions is continuing with them. No one has put anything on hold or stopped anything midstream. We are not aware of any fresh announcements apart from that has already been announced.
Okay. Understood, sir. Sir, is there any plan of diversifying the top line? Because we are predominantly a single product company. Is any thought being given to that right now?
Thought has been given, and there is no plan to get into any other product right now.
Okay. Just one last question?
We have reviewed, analyzed the situation, and decided that right now we will remain a single product company.
Okay. Understood. Sir, right now, what would be our short-term and long-term debt and the cash position?
Yeah, we have.
It is same as.
Long-term is around INR 100 crores and short-term would be around INR 40 crores.
35.
How much, sir? Short-term is INR 40 crores. Okay. The cash position, sir?
The receivable, immediate cash sitting in outside deposits and all would be around INR 150.
150 crores. Okay.
Roughly. Basically, let me put it this way, that the cash available is more than the long-term and short-term debt combined as such.
Understood. Thank you. I'll be happy with it. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Anyone who wishes to ask the question, you may press star then one. This question is from Abhisar Jain from Monarch Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. I must recommend that the performance has been quite good as you mentioned in your opening remarks with the kind of utilization we saw. Sir, just wanted to understand that the demand visibility now, is it better in certain markets versus others or better in export versus domestic? Could you give any color on that?
We've actually seen a revival across all markets, and that's why we expect that the sales in these nine months, July to March, will be similar to the sales that took place in the corresponding previous nine months. Domestic has certainly revived much more because domestic had also fallen more. The uptick in domestic has been more. I think all markets are recovering, and I think we're going to closely watch the situation and by October, we should have a better idea of what will be the outlook in the coming financial years. Right now, we have an outlook for this financial year.
Right. In that sense, Akshat sir, we believe that the last indication that we had given on the expected negative impacts on this year's profitability, that would be less than that, right? Considering that the nine months can be similar to last year.
We have these kind of positions now you can all do yourselves.
Keep on changing. Yeah. Understood
Earlier when we had given that was based on the situation in April.
Right
The June conference call, I had said the situation is better than that indication that we had given. Now, this is this latest indication, it is easy for you all to calculate.
Right. Understood. One last thing is that in our effort of basically continuing to build market share at a digital level in this business. How would you kind of see this effort now, sir, if you look a little bit medium term, three to five years, where would you think that OCCL would like to be in terms of not asking for specific numbers, but in terms of its own standing and market share, if at all, if you can give any color.
In three to five years we'll also have significantly more capacity than what we are selling today.
Yes.
We would basically like to be present and have a reasonable market share in all markets that we are not present. In markets that we are already present and well entrenched, we would like to maintain and maybe incrementally increase the market share. I don't expect a huge jump in market share in areas that we are well entrenched. There is plenty of places where we are not there, and there we should have a decent presence, which will then result in overall market share also going up.
Okay. Understood. Sir, just to follow up on this, out of the total market, how much percentage we will make or be there, say, like, in the global market, would we not be there today in, say, 20% or 30% of the market at all?
I would say that I don't have these figures offline, but in a very significant portion of the world market, our presence would be very limited. I think in more than 30% of the world market, maybe even 40% of the world market, we would have very limited presence today.
Right. Which you would aspire to have a meaningful or similar presence in five years, right?
Yeah. We would want to have a reasonable presence. That is how all the capacity would also get sold out.
Great. Thanks for the clarity, Akshat. Thank you, and best of luck.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, you may press star and one to ask the question. Next question is from [inaudible] from Eastwind Securities. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Sir, my question is, what are the cost reduction initiatives which has been taken in this quarter?
There have been some short-term cost reductions in terms of salaries, in terms of repair and maintenance. Obviously, that did not happen. Traveling was down a huge lot, nearly zero. That was a significant cost reduction. Then on other overhead also, initiatives have been taken. Some are short-term, some are long-term, which are going to keep us in good state on a long-term basis. The major heads, as far as this quarter is concerned, where we have saved costs, other than those which are directly related to sales, for example, packing, electricity, et cetera, freight.
These are directly related to sales. Other than that's in repairs and maintenance because the plants operated for a lower number of time and on salaries and travels. Travel and other overheads, printing, stationery, et cetera, is also a very significant cost. One of the way to look at it is that all our costs have come down in proportion with the reduction in turnover. The only cost that naturally could not come down in the same proportion is salary and wages. Apart from that, all costs have come down in the same proportion of that. That's why EBITDA margins are close to 19%-20%, even for this quarter at this low utilization.
Okay, sir. Sir, can I get a breakup of the power and fuel cost also? How much it would be on coal and how much it would be on electricity purchase?
We cannot give the breakup on coal and electricity. I can tell you the major part is electricity. Coal is not a very huge part of it because we use coal as a fuel only in Mundra and not in Dharuhera.
Okay, sir. Thank you, sir. That's all from me.
Thank you. Next is Dhruv from HDFC Asset Management. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir. Thank you. Sir, a few questions. Firstly, if you can share any comments on the June and July run rate. The objective is I'm just trying to understand how the run rate has been, just to probably forecast if the remaining six months can be probably better than the last year. You mentioned that it will be similar, but just to understand probably could be better from that angle. Any thoughts on the June, July run rate?
July has been similar to previous July. Almost the same, I would say.
Okay. You have breathed almost this in now. Is there any sense on how the realization and the raw material cost moving in terms of spreads? How are we seeing? Any pressures there or any upside sense?
Realization, there has been a slight upside because of the country. As far as raw material costs are concerned, some of our raw materials were lower than last year, mainly Sulphur. Sulphur has now steadily started moving up. For the quarter it was lower and still continues to be lower than last year.
Okay. Spreads broadly should be marginally higher or better. I mean, marginally higher only. RM minus the raw material cost should be better versus what they were last year.
Yes.
Okay. In your comments you mentioned about the plan for some of the tires. Is it possible to quantify what the benefit would be if all the existing material is manufactured in India, given that you have dominant share, in some sense on what the upside could be in terms of volumes?
We did a very rough ballpark calculation, and it appeared to be the benefit to tire industry to the tune of around 5%.
Okay. This means of the production of tires in India, upside of 5% from that.
Look, we are not experts on this. This is a very ballpark.
Yeah, of course, I understand. Just some sense on this. Hello.
Yeah. Go ahead.
I think I missed you there. I was saying broadly 5% upside to what the existing numbers were. What the existing run rate was in terms of tire production in India.
Yeah, that's about right.
Got it. Sir, one probably a more broader question is as I look at the numbers over the last many years, say five, seven years, we have seen a significant increase in production from about, say, if I take from FY 2014, about 18,000 tons to, I'll be assuming some utilization number now, FY 2019 about 30,000 tons in terms of production. The other expenses have broadly remained flat. If I go particularly deep, it seems the power and fuel expenses have declined. Despite a significant increase in production, there is a sharp decline in the fuel cost. What's driving this and what is the further optimization that we can keep doing here?
What has happened is that, obviously, if you're looking from 13, 14, most of the production has been from Mundra. There, our power cost is less than Dharuhera. Secondly, we started utilizing more steam from our Sulphuric Acid plant, eliminating the cost of fuel. Thirdly, we have shifted to gas in Dharuhera, again, driving down the cost. Earlier we used to do HFO and LDO. Now we are also planning to shift to gas in Mundra when that happens.
Okay.
During last year, we have started rooftop solar in Dharuhera as well as the fact that we have now entered into an agreement for captive consumption of solar power in Dharuhera also. These two items, that is gas in Mundra and the captive solar power consumption in Dharuhera. These are the two new cost-saving initiatives. These are two cost initiatives which are now on our pipeline. The solar one is pending approval from the statutory authorities. There is some approval which needs to be done. We are hopeful that we should get these advantages starting next year.
Got it. On an incremental basis, it will be gas in Mundra and the solar consumption in Haryana.
Yes.
Got it, sir. Thanks a lot, sir.
Thank you very much. Next participant is Anupam Agarwal from Lucky Investment Managers. Please go ahead.
No question at the moment, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Anyone who wishes to ask a question, you may press star and one. Next question is from Shekhar Mundra, individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hello. In your initial comments, you talked about the demand coming back into auto and tire industry sequentially. Can you quantify that numbers? Do you have the data for that?
I don't have the data for auto and tire sales offhand. We also access it from public sources.
Akshat, auto sales in July has been the same as July last year. In fact, one or two thousand cars more. That is a promising sign.
Wholesale, retail.
I'm talking about wholesale numbers. Yes.
Okay. What gives us the confidence is, this a sustainable demand coming back, or it can be just a pent-up demand for making up the sales from May, June, and we might see a dip further? What gives us the confidence that this is a sustainable demand?
Look, we derive our confidence from our customers.
Okay.
We don't form a view on pent-up demand and all that. That is for our customers and their customers to evaluate. Our conversations with our customers tell us that this looks to be how it will perform in the coming months and quarters. That's where we derive our confidence from.
Okay. Confidence is from there. Thanks.
Thank you very much. A reminder to all the participants, you may press star then one. Next question is from Saravanan Ramakrishnan from Leah Capital Partners. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the follow-up, Mr. Goenka and Mr. Anurag. I have questions regarding this competitive landscape. What are you trying to understand is, like Solutia and Eastman in terms of their capacity. Earlier they had expanded like 40 MTPA approximately, and they are also like expanding that way. Like, is there any, again, it's a large capacity and then there is again a pricing control that comes from the largest player. Is there any, like, in terms of product mix change that comes where customers migrate from Solutia to Oriental Carbon, that is one.
The second question is, in terms of the product mix, like Eastman currently, like they have the Crystex grade where over a long duration period of almost five years, products like core, like insoluble sulfur. In this case, any different section or a niche product which again Eastman is the stretching of customers that migrates to OCC in terms of the new purchases compared to the other OEMs.
If I'm to understand your question, your first question was whether because of capacity expansion, there has been any contraction in the selling price. Am I right?
No, actually, my question was with regard to the one again, Eastman has large capacities. What I'm trying to understand is that now is there any possibility there due to this expansion, like there is a complete switching of customers from Eastman to Oriental Carbon due to this capacity expansion?
See, Insoluble Sulphur is a product which caters to the requirement of the tire industry. It's not like you have a different product and again go through the channels. The tire industry like to have a product which runs with them and which is as per their recipe of the tires. This is what we need to supply, and that is what we have been doing. The thing is that whenever there is a demand for a better product because of the tires getting better, we need to come up and meet that demand of the tire industry. Whether Flexsys is expanding, Eastman is expanding, does not have any impact on this metric set to this.
Got it. With capacity expansion, I heard that earlier due to limited capacity, we dedicated to certain OEMs. With this capacity expansion, will we also expand the base of existing portfolio?
We are, as Akshat already pointed out, there is about 30%-40% areas where we are less. These are geographic areas as well as some major tire companies. We have a plan on how to progressively enter those markets, and accordingly we will do that.
Got it. Thank you so much.
Thank you very much. Next question is from Nav Bhardwaj from Anand Rathi. Please go ahead.
Thanks for taking my question. Sir, just for viewer's note, how do we usually go about a contract? Are they more of spot or are they more of long-term rolling contracts? Do we have pass-through mechanisms built up in our contracts?
Do we have what?
Pass-through mechanisms for the cost, like any surge in Sulphur prices or any for raw materials.
Okay. We have long-term contracts. We have annual contracts. Normally, a tire company, once they start consuming from one producer of Insoluble Sulphur, they like to continue with the same product. In many cases, we have long-term understanding, but the prices are revised either quarterly or six-monthly or annually. In some places, we have a pass-through formula. In other places, there is a revision on a quarterly or a six-monthly basis where all these things are considered and they are not a part of the formal understanding or formula that is with them. I hope that answers your question. Hello?
Nav, are you able to hear us? Can you hear us?
Yeah, I can hear you. Am I audible?
Yes, sir. Go ahead.
Yes.
Another follow-up question for this question would be that the orders that you get from the tire manufacturers, usually they are on a rolling monthly basis, like even though we have a contract, or is it like they give us a vision for the next quarter or that this is what we usually get?
Again, normally they are on a rolling monthly basis, but in some cases we get for two months also, in some cases we get for three months also. Normally they are predominantly on a monthly basis that we get the actual dispatch. When we say order, we mean the dispatch schedule.
All right. Right now it is looking up for us.
That is looking good. I mean, as Akshat has pointed out, our confidence that we are on the same basis rises out of those orders only.
Great. Thank you so much. All the best going ahead.
Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question coming in. I will now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
I take this opportunity to thank everyone for joining on the call. I hope we have been able to address all your queries. For any further information, kindly get in touch with growth Advisors, Investor Relation Advisor or [inaudible] . Thank you once again.