Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Lloyds Metals and Energy Limited Q3 FY 2026 earnings conference call, hosted by Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers Limited. As a reminder, all participants' line will be in listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Parthiv Jhonsa from Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers Limited. Thank you, and over to you.
Thank you, Ikra. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. We at Anand Rathi are pleased to host Lloyds Metals and Energy Limited Q3 and 9M FY 2026 earnings conference call. We have with us today from the management, Mr. Rajesh Gupta, sir, Managing Director, Mr. Riyaz Shaikh , CFO, and Mr. Chintan Mehta, CIO. Without further ado, I would now like to invite Mr. Rajesh Gupta, sir, to initiate the proceedings for the call, which would then be followed by question and answer session. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Good evening, everyone, and a warm welcome to all the participants. Thank you, Parthiv and Anand Rathi, for hosting this call. We truly appreciate the interest and time from all our investors, analysts, and stakeholders. Let me start with the headline numbers before we go to the operative narrative, where we have got the highest INR 11,000 crore we have crossed in consolidated revenue, which is a very, very significant milestone for us. As you might have seen the presentation, the EBITDA and the PAT match that. I would like to express that this current bottom top line... current bottom line was our top line around two to three years back, and we hope to achieve the same in the future as well.
I will take a small deviation from my usual remarks today on the ferrous side and start with copper. Copper, as we know, is the new gold for the new age economy. Structurally, the world is entering a phase where copper demand will remain strong for decades, while supply will remain constrained. This is where we believe our entry, timing is right. The copper project in the DRC, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the Katanga area, will mark a very, important milestone in our history. When we expanded our operations in Gadchiroli, the region was considered difficult and impossible, and, we also had failed in execution, where we have now learned a lot. The market, as well as the local communities, have, appreciated the effort that we have put in, in developing the economy and therefore our business.
We generally believe that over time, the same narrative will emerge for Congo, Katanga, as well as other parts of the world. For this, I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the leader of the Congo team, Mr. Surya Narayan, as he's who's the leader and the director of the Congo team. Projects of this nature require not just capital, but deep operational leadership, which we already have with Mr. Surya, as well as other core colleagues from other parts of the operations. Now, let me come back to the ferrous operations. Execution continues at a breathtaking pace. Multiple projects are progressing simultaneously and more importantly, on schedule.
The second pellet plant is now commissioned, expected to be commissioned in Q2 FY 2027, and the 1.2 million ton wire rod mill by Q4 FY 2027. While operating our pellet plant, we are seeing the opportunity to unlock latent capacities, and optimizing similarly for our pellet plant number two will increase the capacities of both these plants by 10 million tons to 10 million tons from earlier 8 million tons. These projects will improve our value-added mix and enhance margin stability. Logistics remains one of our more critical pillars of our cost leadership. Our first 85-kilometer pipeline is running smoothly and has led us to plan our second slurry pipeline from Hedri to Chandrapur.
The key change in the introduction of a stockyard in Chandrapur will beneficiate ore also through the pipeline route. This will give us advantage for direct access to railways near Chandrapur and also obviously a saving of INR 800 for the sale material and around further INR 250 that is around INR 1,250 for the material that will be used for the pellet plant in Chandrapur. We are by this removing the inefficiency of the mine by which doesn't have a rail head. Details of this plan are covered in the presentation. Coming to our operational performance, iron ore dispatches have grown meaningfully supported by the slurry pipelines is working very well, very strong operational discipline and strong execution.
Pellet plants, we have achieved within 3-4 months of commissioning optimal utilization and are now looking at debottlenecking it. Our DRI plants, both of which are commissioned, and the power plants are operating at optimized levels and contributing steadily in a very difficult environment of DRI. On the demand side, both iron ore and pellets have witnessed strong demand in the domestic as well as international markets, and product has been very, very well accepted. We expect the buoyancy of the market to continue, supported by infrastructure, steel demand, and of course, the economic growth in the country. Let me spend a few moments of time on the MOU with Tata Steel.
We have signed a non-binding MOU with Tata for multiple collaboration to strengthen the ecosystem in the Gadchiroli area, in the eastern coast, eastern belt of India. And of course, we have also signed a shareholder agreement for BRPL pellet plant, along with a conversion pellet agreement, which gives us a steady cash flow in BRPL. To summarize, we remain very buoyant on our ferrous operations. Iron ore volumes are expected in line with the EC to grow in Q4, as well as FY 2027, and value addition plans continue, and FY 2027 will mark our formal entry into steelmaking. And lastly, but not the least, copper will act as a strong growth engine over the medium term.
Now, I hand over the call to Riyaz ji and Naredi ji, who will take you through the detailed figures.
Thank you, Rajesh. Good evening, everyone. I'll start with a quote that we, that we strongly relate to at Lloyds Metals. As Satya Nadella says, "Growth is not just about size. It's about mindset, learning, and execution." This philosophy resonates very well with what we are seeing in our business today: scaling responsibly, improving structurally, and executing with discipline. With that context, I will take you through the standalone financials and operating performance for Q3 and the nine months ended FY 2026, focusing on numbers, margins, and CapEx. This has been a very strong quarter and 9M period for us on a standalone basis. In fact, Q3 and 9M FY 2026 are the best we have seen so far in terms of revenue, profitability, and margins. Q 3 FY 2026 standalone, the total income came in at about INR 2.
INR 3,875 crore, up 129% year-on-year. EBITDA was INR 1,317 crore, which is a 137% year-on-year increase. PAT stood at INR 888.89 crore, up 128% year-on-year. For the nine months FY 2026 standalone, the total income was INR 8,859 crore, up 59% year-on-year. EBITDA came in at INR 2,994 crore, a 74% year-on-year growth. PAT was INR 2,129 crore, up 71% year-on-year. With regard to the margins, margins have remained very healthy and stable. Q 3 EBITDA margin was about 34%. Nine months EBITDA margin stood at roughly 33.8%, which is almost 280 basis points higher year-on-year. This improvement is not one-off, it's structural, and it's coming from higher share of value-added products, especially pellets.
Benefit of the slurry pipeline, which has started flowing into the pellet plant. Better utilization across mining, pellet, and DRI operations. Operational highlights. On the operational side, iron ore, iron ore production was 5.49 million tonnes in Q3 , and 12.87 million tonnes for nine months FY 2026. Dispatches were largely in line, which is 4.1 million tonnes in Q3 , and 10.1 million tonnes for the nine months. EBITDA stood at INR 1,825 per tonne in Q3 , and INR 1,951 per tonne for nine months FY 2026. Pellets have been a key positive this year. Pellets production was 1.14 million tonnes in Q3 , and 1.95 million tonnes for nine months FY 2026.
What's encouraging is that this run rate was achieved within just 3-4 months of commissioning. Realization in Q3 was about INR 10,289 per tonne, and whereas EBITDA per tonne was roughly INR 4,535, supported by captive iron ore, slurry-based evacuation, and strong demand, domestic demand. DRI volumes were around 0.12 million tonnes in Q3 , and 0.29 million tonnes for the nine months. DRI expansion was commissioned during Q3 , and operations are now stabilizing. Value-added mix. Value-added products are now forming a meaningful part of our revenue mix. For nine months FY 2026, value-added products accounted for roughly 35% of standalone revenues. This mix shift is central to improving margin stability, reducing volatility, and enhancing overall return metrics. Now, coming to the CapEx update.
On a standalone basis, let me quickly touch upon CapEx. Standalone CapEx during 9M FY 2026 was about INR 4,236 crore. This was largely towards pellet plant, 2 DRI expansion, the 1.2 million tonne steel plant at Chandrapur, the first module of the beneficiation plant. Importantly, CapEx execution is on track and within approved budgets. Touching upon the balance sheet and cash flow. Despite the high level of CapEx, the balance sheet remains comfortable. Strong EBITDA generation has supported internal accrual-led funding and controlled leverage. Working capital continues to be well managed, helped by faster dispatch cycles and healthy demand conditions. Looking ahead, the outlook looking ahead, iron ore volume should remain strong in Q4 FY 2026. We aim to exit FY 2026 with 20+ million tonnes volume on ore. Pellet operation will continue to run at optimal utilization.
DRI contribution will improve further as operations stabilize. Overall, we expect margins to remain robust, supported by a value-added mix and ongoing logistic efficiencies. To sum up, standalone performance in Q3 and 9M FY 2026 has been very strong. Margins are holding up well on structural basis. CapEx execution remains disciplined. With that, I'll hand it to Naredi ji for Thriveni performance.
Thank you, Rajesh ji and Riyaz ji. Good evening, everyone. For Thriveni, growth has always been about disciplined execution, consistency, and doing the fundamentals right, day in and day out. Let me take you through the Thriveni's performance for Q3 and the nine months ending FY 2026. From a financial perspective, this has been a strong and improving period for Thriveni. In Q3 FY 2026, the total income, income stood at about INR 2,200 crore, with EBITDA of roughly INR 550 crore, translating into an EBITDA margin of close to 25%. For the nine months, revenue were around INR 5,480 crore, with EBITDA of approximately INR 1,080 crore and margin of about 20%. The improvement in margin reflects better operating leverage, higher equipment utilization, and continued focus on cost discipline across various projects.
Operationally, our coal mining operations continue to perform exceptionally well. At PB West, we achieved the highest distinction of a five-star rating from the Ministry of Coal, ranking number one among more than 380 open cast mines in the country. December saw a record monthly coal production of 17.7 lakh tonnes, and the in-pit crushing and conveying system commissioned earlier has already handled close to 15 lakh tonnes, significantly improving the efficiency. PB Northwest, our another coal block, has also commenced production and dispatches, and we expect this project to scale meaningfully over the next few quarters. Odisha remains a key growth driver for us. Several mines have seen capacity enhancements, and overall, Odisha volumes are expected to grow by nearly 40% year-on-year in FY 2027.
This scale-up is being driven by faster statutory clearances, improved infrastructure, and focused execution at site.
In Gadchiroli, which many of you are familiar with, the environmental clearance has been increased from 10 million tons to 55 million tons, including BHQ. Alongside scale, we continue to push sustainability-led initiatives such as electrification of mining equipment and LNG hybrid deployment, which are helping us optimize costs while reducing our carbon footprint. We have commenced MDO and exploration activities at Geomysore Services (India) Private Limited from January 2026. This is a gold mine. This asset provides long-term visibility with a targeted EBITDA contribution of around INR 60 crore in FY 2027. Sorry. And we see potential upside as exploration progresses. Internationally, we are rationalizing lower margin operations in Indonesia and redeploying our equipment to higher return opportunities.
Overall, Thriveni's focus remains very clear: scale responsibly, execute efficiently, and protect margins through productivity and cost optimization.
The pipeline for FY 2027 looks very strong, and we are confident of sustaining both growth and profitability. With that, I'll hand it over to Mr. Parthiv, who can open the floor for question and answer. Thank you.
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 Amit Dixit from GS Financial. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, good evening, everyone, and, thanks for the opportunity. Congratulations for a very good set of numbers. Couple of questions from my side. The first one is on the MOU that we have with Tata Steel. So just wanted to understand, you know, the various facets of this MOU. While you are explaining your prepared remarks, Tata Steel also held a con call in which they explained a few things. But just wondering, you know, that in mining, when we are so strong in this region, why do we need someone else? I mean, it might be Tata Steel, of course, no doubt they're experts, but what expertise we are actually looking to get from Tata Steel?
And is there something that goes beyond mining, let's say, into steel, where we might get some, you know, kind of consultation from them? And, if there is any, is there any scope of having a long-term iron ore supply agreement to them? I mean, just wanted to explore these points.
Thank you, Amit. The MOU with Tata has two parts. One is the BRPL SHA and the BRPL ownership and conversion contract, which is executed.
... The second, future, exploration of opportunities, there are two areas that we are looking at. One is, the eastern area of the country, where, for example, Tata may have some assets where we can act as a, contractor, as an MDO contractor maybe, or where they may need a pipeline to a certain area where we have some expertise which Tata has not yet developed. Or, maybe we have some land in, in Paradip, which we can try to utilize in a better way. A lot of opportunities have been looked at in the eastern belt. In the Gadchiroli area, we are looking at whether we can bid jointly or, opportunities come up with government, Thriveni system, where we can get ore at a relatively, better, pricing, better commercials.
This would not be from the existing mine, it will be for future expansions. We are always open to partnerships because that is the way to develop fast, and Tata is one of the finest companies in the country. Not one of the. I would call them the finest company in the country. So definitely it's an honor to be partnered with them.
Okay. Okay, great. The second question is essentially on the copper. So, I mean, it is indicated in the presentation that there are certain mines also associated with it. First of all, Congo is not exactly the best place to work, and then, you know, mining, I know several companies who have failed because of various reasons. So what is it that we see in Congo, and are these mines yet operational, or at what stage of exploration they are? You have indicated some numbers, but these numbers seem to be more for the processing side. I just wanted to understand the backward integration part of it a little bit more. And if you can also mention the grade of copper that you expect over there.
We are looking at Democratic Republic of the Congo, Katanga area. This area by itself, and DRC by itself, is the second largest producer of copper in the world at the moment, after Chile, number one. Number two, the copper majors, Glencore, et cetera, are all based in copper. In this area, there are 60-80 companies, small and big, operating, and the infrastructure, the systems are there in place to take care of very many things. The political stability in this country is much better, and particularly this part of the the southern part of the area, and it's a very economically based country and area, not not politically worrying. Not zero politically worrying. There will be some worries, obviously, but it is well, well sustained.
The mining leases that we have are 16 or 18 leases. I'm forgetting the number right now. 18. 18 leases over 100 square kilo-
Sixteen.
Sorry, 16 leases over 800 sq km. Exploration is going on. We already found copper at good depths. 1.5%-2% copper is also available, 0.8% is also available, oxides are available. And the 1,000-1,200 tons is a direct output of the plant that we are talking. We can, for that, for the cathode plant, we could, leaching and cathode plant, we could take the ore from our own mines, which we have already started accumulating, as well as from bought-out mines. At the end of the day, it would be an integrated operation of around 30,000 tons per annum, which may take 2-3 years to achieve.
We believe that in the next year, financial year 27, 10,000 tons of operations will be achieved at a fairly integrated mix of ore.
Great, sir. Just if I can squeeze one more. Just wanted to get the status of BHQ plant.
BHQ plant, the land procurement is under control. The engineering is complete, the ordering is complete. We ordered the equipment from the best possible companies in the world to take care of any exigencies, because it's a new technology in India, so we've not, you know, taken any chances on the technology part of it. We have worked with the Chinese and now with FLSmidth also. We are hopeful of getting it commissioned by December 2027 or so.
Okay. Great, sir.
Later, later by that time. Later by that time, and, yeah.
Okay, sir. Great. Thank you so much, and all the best.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all participants in the conference, please limit your questions to two per participant. The next question is from the line of Jashandeep Singh Chadha from Nomura. Please go ahead.
... Hello. Hi, thank you for the opportunity, and congratulations, sir, on a great set of numbers. So my first set of questions are around iron ore. Firstly, on your guidance, FY 2026 guidance is close to 20-22 million tons. If I assume that you will be doing 3 million tons of pellets also, that is close to 4.5-5 million tons of iron ore. 10 million tons of iron ore you have still done, which means close to 6-8 million tons of volumes you are forecasting for Q4 of FY 2026. But Lloyd has not done full, you know, any time, you know, such volumes in one quarter.
Just wanted to understand, what is the confidence, you know, behind giving such guidance, and what are the challenges that the company can face in meeting those guidance? My first question is, this, sir.
The volume in this year, in this month, that is January, is around 2.4 million tons, 2.5 million tons, which crosses the 26 million ton overall and definitely will achieve the 20-21 million ton target for the year. Yeah, you-- we have to appreciate one thing that at the moment, we have to... The problem is not in the marketing of it, the problem is not in the mining of it. The area that we are right now focusing on solving the problems are on the logistics side. Right now, we are moving around on an annualized basis, around 4.5 million tons of ore by the pipeline.
By April, we'll be able to do 9 million tons, as the second plant will come by June, the second pipeline.
Pipeline.
So the pipeline will be ready to take the second pellet plant input, so 9 million tons will go out of that. And right now, we are producing around transporting by truck around 70%-60% more than the overall requirement. It is a tough job. We are very confident of achieving 21. That's why we gave a confident guidance of 20-22 million tons for the year. We believe that quarter guidances and directions are lesser. Quarter direct guidances are lesser important for a company of our nature, and our overall direction of decadal growth or IP three-year growth is what we are what I'm focusing on.
Operational efficiencies are looked at at every level, and you can see that in the increase in the revenue, in the margin also, 280 basis points is a factor of whatever we have said, plus a cost control system also. So everything has been factored in when we have made the guidance.
Understood, sir, and thank you so, so much for such an elaborate answer. My second question is also around, you know, iron ore only. So we have seen that the benchmark domestic iron ore prices have come down in this quarter. In that regard, I just wanted to understand how much, you know, the realization has been impacted for Lloyds, and how much, you know, margin compression we can see, you know, in the Q4 . So, and then, related to iron ore only, I just wanted to understand what is the CapEx for the slurry pipelines. And, can you also, you know, for our analysis, can you also, you know, tell us how does it compare with the peers?
Compared to the?
Peers. Peers, sir. Yeah, yeah, peers.
Yes, other companies. Okay, the benchmark has come down, and so has the basis of benchmark come down from 62%-61%. So if you currently look at benchmark price of $103, it amounts to around $108, which is around $3-$4 higher than the same amount last year, same we did last year. So I think the benchmark has not really come down. It's gone up.
Sir, domestic. I was talking about domestic iron ore.
Domestic iron ore, I don't know by what stage you are saying it's come down. In some of the competition has increased the prices over the last 2 months, both the months. The auctions that have come out have been very strong. Steel benchmark is very strong. So at the moment, I do not see any indication of the steel industry or iron ore industry being soft in India at all, at the moment. Maybe one month back, 1.5 months back, it was different, but that's part of the cyclical nature of the business.
Sir, on slurry pipeline, you know, the CapEx and-
Sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Singh. Can you rejoin the queue for more questions?
It's part of my first question only. I've asked it.
On slurry pipeline? On the slurry pipeline, as you might be knowing, we had planned for another 5 million tons of a slurry pipeline connecting our mines to the Chandrapur plant in beneficiation plant in Chandrapur. Now, what we are now doing is we would be, we've increased the capacity of that. We will be now making it as a 16 million ton slurry pipeline, so that we cover the entire 26 million tons of dispatches through slurry pipeline. So it will be, one is existing, which is there as a 10 million ton. This is a second slurry pipeline, which will be a 16 million ton slurry pipeline, which will be taking us more to the market as well as to our Chandrapur plant.
And the total cost for this, we also in fact, have a second phase on it, the slurry pipeline, which will be connecting to more of the markets as well as the ports. So the total cost envisaged is around INR 8,000 crore on this particular project, but we will be doing it in phase by this. So the first phase of, up to Chandrapur will be around INR 2,000 crore. So on that record....
Thank you so much, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, you are requested to limit your questions to two per participant. The next question is from the line of Pratik Singh from IIFL Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, thanks for the opportunity, and congrats on a good set of numbers. The first question, Gupta Ji, is largely on BHQ project. Given the fact that bulk of our volumes going ahead would be coming from BHQ, how confident are we in maintaining the fact that the cost of production of BHQ would be similar to our current cost of production, given that we'll have to mine more material, there will be beneficiation cost also. I understand that we save a bit on royalty, but do you think there is any risk of operating cost over in BHQ going ahead?
BHQ, the royalty saving, based on the existing proposals of the government, as well as, existing policies, as well as, future proposals of the government, would the royalty savings would offset the cost of, processing the ore, the BHQ to ore. Please also factor in that the grade of ore from 62%-64% would come 66%-67%, and that gets a very higher premium. So the cost of ore versus the selling price or the usability of ore becomes much better. The BHQ, beneficiation or beneficiation of ore in general has been accepted by the government as a very, very important aspect of the national policy of steel, and, that therefore, we expect a lot of support on the royalty front from that. Does that answer your question?
Yeah. So just going into a bit more detail here, sir. So, royalty, if our current realizations are, let's say 6,000, and royalty all-in, let's say 20%, so 1,200 odd royalty, and even if royalty on BHQ is, let's say 0, so 1,200 INR per ton of saving, plus, let's say some premium because of higher-
Royalty, royalty is not zero. Royalty will be around from 1,200, will come down to around 200 rupees. And processing of the ore would involve some power, which is the biggest cost. We are working on getting greening our power also, as well as other operations, and that's where, that's what I said, we are using the best technology to ensure that the systems are very, very strong and uptime, and efficiency of the plant is the best.
Uh, okay.
The premium that you would get on this output of product, if I were to sell all the ore, would be around INR 1,400 a ton also. You have to also factor that in.
Understood, sir. Understood. And the second question is largely on the slurry pipeline, 85 kilometers-
Sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Singh. As we have a long queue, can you please rejoin for a follow-up question?
Yeah, sure.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vikas Singh from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. So my first question pertains to our copper mine. As you stated that it was an operational mine, so just wanted to understand, had the existing promoters was facing any difficulty in terms of producing and ramping up of the mine, and that's why we, we have got the chance to get some stake there? And secondly, on the management bandwidth, we are doing too many things simultaneously. So just wanted to understand the management bandwidth in terms of managing and looking after the timely completion of all these projects. How should we look at it?
Number one, on the existing promoter, they are more involved in commercial activities and general traders in the country. They have got this mine as an opportunity mine, and the copper plant has been set up by them as well. The copper plant is set up but not running. They lost the bandwidth to run it, and that's where we come in. We have Mr. Prabhakaran and the erstwhile Thriveni had been looking at DRC for a long period, and that's how the opportunity comes to us of investing in that. There have been no problems. Again, I repeat, there are around 70-80 plants, including Glencore and Ivanhoe and the best companies in the world running copper mines there and copper operations.
So that's not a worry that we are—we foresee in a very serious way. In terms of operational bandwidth, we have scaled up. First, me, let me give you a little bit of history. We scaled up from around INR 500 crore to INR 10,000 crore, or in this year, maybe INR 13,000 crore over four years. We have proved to the market, we have proved to ourselves, we have proved to our team, and our team has proved to us that we can take care of growth in a sustainable, sensible, economical and business-like manner, and we continue to do that, number one.
Number two, as well as Congo particularly is concerned, one of the promoter directors would be involved full-time there, apart from a very, very professional team who has been involved in mining operations, and we have hired experts on copper side also, on the copper manufacturing side also. The technicality of the leaching process and the cathode process is not a very super technical or a super new invention, and that can be taken care of by the team that we have ensured are already on the job at the site as we speak. I think that should. We are confident of sustaining this growth in a very sensible way.
Noted, sir. So second question pertains to Thriveni. While the top-line growth was-
Sorry to interrupt you. As we have a very long queue, can you please rejoin for a follow-up question?
I'll rejoin.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vedant Sarda from Nirmal Bang Securities Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity, and congratulations on the great set of numbers. Sir, my question is, we are hearing that government is taking various measures to ensure availability of iron ore. Like, they have to bring our iron ore, iron products prices at par with international markets, so we can compete and export our iron goods. So can you comment on the pricing outlook going forward and how to look at this?
See, if you look at iron ore in India, the growth is around 5%-6%. The steel growth is around 8%-9% even now. If you look at 5 years CAGR, it is 5%-6% for iron ore and around 9%-10% for iron ore. So there has been a continuous shrinkage of the supply, extra supply, and therefore exports, either in the form of low-grade iron ore or in the form of pellets, have reduced. So, the overall supply-demand gap is very, very favorable in supply of iron ore. Number one.
Number two, as we go forward, over the next five years, around one-third of the capacity, which is premium free, will go into auction over the next five years, and that will add to the not the lesser supply, but definitely to a higher cost mechanism for the industry. So we are pretty confident of our commercial part of selling iron ore. And over a period, our value-added business will be quite a lot, and we can therefore be well equalized in both iron ore as well as value-added products like pellets or steel as well in the future.
Thank you for explanation, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all the participants in the conference, please limit your question to one per participant. If you have a follow-up question, you may rejoin the queue. The next question is from the line of Harsh Shah from Seven Rivers Holding. Please go ahead.
Hello. Yeah, good afternoon, sir, and our heartiest appreciation for excellent execution over the last three years. Sir, my first question is on the MOU with Tata Steel. Given that it could end up being quite an extensive agreement eventually, so will it in any way affect or change our plans for the integrated steel plant, which would be our INR 16,000 crore CapEx plan?
Our future steel plant in Gadchiroli is being looked at internally. Nothing to do with the Tata MOU. Any Tata MOU, any Tata set up together would be for a different plant than that.
Okay. And sir, one bookkeeping question. What would be the warrants outstanding now, as of today?
What is the?
Outstanding warrants as of today?
Okay, warrants. We should be getting around INR 900 crore from it. I'll give you exact the number, but the value, around INR 900 crore is pending. It should be coming up in the month of March. That is something between fifteenth or eighteenth March, that's the last date. So we should be getting.
Okay. And sir, on the copper part, the 10,000 metric ton capacity which we have, what would be the average realization and EBITDA margin on those?
This is copper cathode, so the current copper price is around $11,000, $11,500, $12,000. And normally there's a premium to Congo because of the transport cost. So the EBITDA, that's the approximate range, and the margins that we anticipate are approximately 30%-32%. So that gives that INR 570 crore that we're talking about next year.
Okay. And since we have 50% stake in this,
Sorry to interrupt you.
This is relating to this. This is relating to this.
Actually-
Are we the MDO partner here, or mining will be done by someone else?
Hello?
Mining will be by, Thriveni. By a subsidiary-
Okay.
Of Thriveni in that area, yes.
Okay, sure. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Hardik Gawri from Abans Investment Managers. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Thank you for the opportunity, and congratulations on a great set of numbers. Firstly, on the growth outlook for our MDO business in FY 2027, and secondly, what was the IPS benefit for Q3?
IPS benefits, we have been drawing the benefits from day one of the pellet plant production, and this year has been around INR 130 crore. The Thriveni outlook is around 40% increase in iron ore, non-Lloyds Metals. Around 40%-60%, 70% increase in the Lloyds Metals because of the BHQ increase. 15% in NTPC, that is both the Pakri Barwadih mines. Around INR 60 crore EBITDA. They have come out directly with the EBITDA figure expected for the gold mine.
Gold mine.
Not, not gold mine.
0.3 million tons.
0.3 million tons output, and that would be the profitability. There will be some reduction in volumes in Indonesia and in the barite operations. Overall, our top line growth of around 15%-20%, and a bottom line growth of around 35%. Right?
Got it, sir. And our expected debt trajectory on a consolidated level?
Sorry to interrupt. Please rejoin the queue for more questions.
All right. Thanks.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vineet Thakur from Plus91 AMC. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good evening, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, I would like to know what would be the expected debt or consolidated figure for the year, and what would be our peak debt?
As of thirty-first December, if I would say, the consolidated debt, net debt, would be around INR 7,100 crore. This year, it should be not more than that. FY 2028 is when I would say the peak debt, when we reach the peak debt. We should be on the consolidated basis around INR 10,500-600 crore. So we are always targeting at 1:1 debt to EBITDA, and that is what we are working on. That's it.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Shubham Harne from Purnartha Investment Advisers. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. The question was, I think EBITDA per ton for pellets has declined on a QoQ basis. Last quarter, it was INR 5,000 per ton. This quarter, little less, around INR 4,000 or so. So any reason for that?
DRI is one of the more challenging businesses, like, some other question I asked earlier about, the down cycle. It's most affecting the secondary steel market and that,
Prices.
Prices on pellets, if you're asking, it's gone up.
No, no, no.
The EBITDA for pellets.
If you look at the pellet prices-
Q2 was INR 11,000.
Yeah.
The pellet pricing has gone up. Therefore, sponge end pricing is showing that there's a pressure on that, right?
EBITDA on, on, DRI pricing. So the, basically, it's a, it was a cycle. The cycle has crossed the-
The pellet, the pellet prices in quarter two was around INR 11,000, what we had got an average realization, and it has come down to INR 10,000 in Q3 . That is why the margins have been reduced. The pricing is lower because we have added more export to the mix.
Okay.
As the volume has picked up, we've had to add some volume of export. The EBITDA is still very strong and much stronger than the rest of the industry put together.
Okay. Got it, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Tanmay Choudhary from Ventura Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. So, given Lloyds ongoing CapEx plan pipeline, so can you just outline the expected funding mix and cash outflows over the next two years, and also the scheduled debt repayments and RPS payment and, providing LMEL not declared any dividend?
The debt schedule and all, we can give it to you separately. I won't be able to do that. But yes, the CapEx outlay is around INR 14,000 crore, including this, from this year and the next year. We would be around six, we intend to go around INR 6,000 crore from debt, and then the balance should be from the internal groups. So that is where we are looking.
Okay. Sir, just last one question. In PPT, then, we have mentioned the realization of pellet increases because of the geographical location. Can you just throw some light on it?
Sorry, can you repeat your question?
I'm saying in the PPT, we have mentioned the realization of pellets increases because of the geographic location. So can you just throw some light on it?
Geographically, I mean, I cannot relate directly to the PPT question, but geographically, our location is such that we can market to, you know, we have been very strong in marketing to the south as well as the Chandrapur area itself. So that's why our realization in pellet is around INR 4,500-5,000.
10, 10,000.
The EBITDA is around-
4,005.
4,500, 6,000-5,000 INR per ton, because of the market-friendly nature as well as our costing, costing and logistics cost. I think that's where... Does that answer your question or is there something specific?
No, sir. Like, I'm asking about the realization.
... The realization is a factor of trade versus market, and that's where we are. Being on-
Actually located, it helps. The location helps. That's how we are better than others. That's the only reason.
Okay, thank you.
Realization of anything, what it means is that-
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Kartik Srinivas from Unifi Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, I just had one question, just on the policy level. Now that many mines are coming up for auction till 2030, and there is significant demand-supply gap between iron ore and steel. Is there any possibility that the government had to intervene and put a cap on the auction premiums? And is there a risk that we run because the government has intervened and put a this thing on the auction premiums or change some of the policies at the policy front?
The government, we believe, is still believing in free market, and the premiums are quoted by the biggest consumers of iron ore, which are one of the biggest, some of the biggest corporates in the country. So we have not seen any policy change or policy announcement, which would indicate that there's being a cap on the premiums being quoted.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question we have is from a follow-up question from Jaswandeep Singh Chadha from Nomura. Please go ahead.
Hi, thank you for the opportunity again. Sir, my question was regarding Thriveni. Just wanted to understand, you know, on the remarkable performance, the EBITDA has doubled, quarter on quarter. I wanted to understand that, the proportion of the EBITDA. So is it the large, chunk of increase, is it coming from increased volumes, from Lloyds? Or, you know, there are other major heads also because of which the EBITDA has improved. And I wanted to understand how should we, you know, model the growth in EBITDA going forward, till FY 2028, if you can help us.
In Q3, the EBITDA has increased mainly with up to Q2 due to rains and other local factors. The production was lower, so the EBITDA was lower. And Q3, when the rains were not there, we came to our original strike rate, and the EBITDA was normal as what we had planned. And for the next year, what we are targeting, Q4, again, the Lloyds will be doing the full production. This year also, we are in Q4, we are starting one new mining lease, and next year we are getting three, four new contracts and extended capacity, so the volumes will be high. And accordingly, we don't see any challenge in EBITDA.
Understood, sir. So just concluding that, so this appears to be the normal run rate for EBITDA, and as contracts increase and volume increase, there will be, you know, growth from here on. Is my understanding right, sir?
Yeah.
Okay. Thank you so much, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rushabh Dhruv from Uttam Investments. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Am I audible?
Yes.
Yeah. So my question is regarding iron ore sales volume. So for this quarter, we just stayed around 4.1 million tons, right? Then why is this PPT also showing 5.39 million tons? What's the difference here?
That also includes the internal transfers. That's how it works. That is the dispatches from the mines.
Okay, okay. So it's captive, right?
The sales figure is INR 4.1 million, which is there.
Sales is INR 4.1. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pratik Singh from IIFL Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, thanks for the opportunity again. Just want to get a sense as to, when we had showcased the, transaction with Thriveni back in December 2024, we had given a sense of an EBITDA of around INR 3,500 crore in FY 2027 by Thriveni. Is that something which, we stand by or are, are on track right now as well, or is that number a bit changed up or down?
In FY 2027, the EBITDA of Thriveni should be close to INR 3,000 crore.
Understood. Understood. Thanks. That's all from my side.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Divya Agrawal from Fincom Family Office. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, sir. Thanks for taking my question. So sir, my question is on Thriveni MDO business. So, in Q2 call, you guided to achieve EBITDA of around INR 2,000 crore-INR 2,200 crore for FY 2026. However, if you see nine months, the total EBITDA stands at around INR 1,100 crore. So do you still stick to your earlier guidance, or would you like to revise it downwards?
We stick to the guidance, yes.
You stick to the guidance, sir?
Yes, sir, we stick to the guidance.
Okay. On the revenue guidance as well, just wanted to know for FY 2026 and 2027, what would be your revenue guidance for Thriveni?
FY 20?
6.27 for the entire year, FY 2026 and entire year FY 2027.
FY 2026 and FY 2027.
Right. Right, sir.
Yeah. So FY 2026, we are looking at a revenue guidance of around INR 7,500+ crore, and FY 2027, revenue guidance is INR 10,000+ crore.
...10,000+ tons.
Yeah.
Lastly, sir, just what could be the actual-
Mr. Agarwal, sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Agarwal. Please rejoin the queue for more questions.
Sure, sure. Thanks.
Thank you. We'll take the next question from the line of Parthiv Jhonsa, from Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers Limited. Please go ahead.
Hi, thank you for the opportunity, and thank you for allowing us to host the call. My quick question is on, again, on Thriveni MDO. A couple of quarters back, you had given us the guidance for almost up to 28 and 29. I believe sir has given the EBITDA guidance about 30% and 27. Thereafter, is it possible to give a guidance of 28 and 29? Because I think it was about 32 odd %, give or take. Considering you are going to do 40% higher volumes on iron ore, non-Lloyds, and for the other minerals as well, is it possible to give some guidance?
28, 29. See, it's a contracting company. We are looking at contracts on a continuous basis. It will be very difficult to see, give a further guidance than what we have. Even the guidance that, Mr. Narendran just gave would have some surprises upwards, because some contracts would come up hopefully in future.
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Okay. And so is it possible to repeat that number, that 40% increase in iron ore and everything? I think I missed a couple of them, actually, for next year.
The internal, sorry, the external iron ore figure is around 40% increase in 2027, FY 2027. The external coal, that is NTPC contract, is around 15% growth. Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Narendran.
Yeah.
There would be a reduction of around 65% in the barite operations. There will be a reduction of around 25% in the Indonesia operations. Add to that, gold and, copper of, the Katanga, the Tanganyika area. With that, we expect that the figure that Mr. Narendran just gave us.
Perfect. Sounds great, sir. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraint, that was the last question. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Parthiv Jhonsa for closing comments. Over to you.
Thank you all for joining us for the conference call today. We at Anand Rathi would like to thank the management for giving us this opportunity. This concludes this conference call. Thank you, everyone, and have a good day.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
On behalf of Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line.