Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Nava Limited Q3 FY26 earnings conference call hosted by ICICI Securities. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing * then 0 on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Ms. Nidhi from ICICI Securities. Thank you, and over to you, ma'am.
Thanks, Shubham. Good evening. On behalf of ICICI Securities, I welcome you all to the Q3 and FY26 earnings call of Nava Limited. Today we have with us from the management: Mr. Ashwin Devineni, Managing Director and CEO; Mr. G. R. K. Prasad, Executive Director; Mr. Nikhil Devineni, Executive Director; and Mr. V. S. N. Raju, Company Secretary. We will begin with opening remarks from the management, which will be followed by Q&A. Over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I would like to begin with a key milestone that underscores our commitment to shareholder value: the successful completion of Nava Global's $50 million buyback, supported by strong dividend flows from Maamba Energy. This transaction reflects the quality of our underlying assets, disciplined capital allocation, and our continued focus on strengthening results to shareholders. Operationally, Q3 FY26 was a strong quarter for Nava. We delivered healthy revenue growth and a sharp improvement in profitability, with consolidated net profits rising 83.5% quarter-on-quarter. Our energy business remained resilient. MEL continued to reduce arrears while maintaining high plant availability, and mining posted improved volumes and margins.
Equally important, our growth projects are progressing steadily from the 300 MW MEL expansion and the 100 MW solar project in Zambia to experiencing early success in our avocado plantations and steady execution of the Kawambwa sugar project. These investments are designed to diversify earnings, enhance cash flows, and build long-term resilience. We will take any questions now. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We will now begin with the question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press * and 1 on your touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press * and 2. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. In order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all the participants in the conference, please restrict your questions to 2 per participant. For more questions, please rejoin the queue. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The next question comes from the line of Kaushik Doshi from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Hello. Am I audible, sir?
Yes, sir.
Thank you for the opportunity, sir, and congratulations for the great achievement. My first question is: other income jump sharply to INR 70.4 crore in quarter 3 compared to INR 26 crore in quarter 2. Can you break this down between dividend, interest, and indicate what portion is sustainable?
You are referring to the consolidation level or the standalone level?
Sir, at consolidation level.
Consol level, it is mainly on account of foreign currency fluctuations.
Okay, sir. And what portion is sustainable? Can you indicate that?
I'm sorry. I can't hear you properly now. Can you repeat it?
What portion of that is sustainable? Can you indicate on that?
Again, there's a lot of disturbance from the background. Your voice is not clear.
Sir, we are unable. There is no disturbance from the background.
Is it clear now?
Yes, it's clear.
Yes.
Sustainable other income or not?
Yeah, please go ahead.
What portion of that is sustainable?
Sustainable other income or not, consol per quarter is around INR 40 crore.
Okay, sir. Sir, my second question is: EBITDA margin expanded sharply to 48.3% from 34.5% quarter-over-quarter. How much of this expansion is driven by MEL/PLF normalization versus cost reversal?
EBITDA. So major contribution is from MEL power plants. This quarter, MEL power plant operated with 97% PLF. So in the energy business, the PLF were good, but at the same time, few power plants had planned shutdown activities.
Okay, sir. Got it. Sir, my next question is: mining revenue grew 16.6% quarter-over-quarter due to higher volume. Is this volume run rate sustainable, or was Q3 usually strong?
Yeah. In terms of the mining division, I think we average, in terms of sales, about 35,000-42,000 tons on a monthly basis. That's what we've been averaging, and that's sustainable.
Okay, sir. Thank you. I will come back in queue.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Vaishnavi Gurung from Craving Alpha Wealth Fund. Please go ahead.
Hello. Can you hear me?
Yes, ma'am.
Yeah. Thank you for taking my question forward. Just two questions from my end. The first one is with respect to Zambia. So in terms of macro perspective, with respect to power, what are the plans of the government to diversify away from hydropower, and do you see any or expect any projects that will generate revenue for us?
Yeah. I think the answer to that is Maamba, right? They're already diversifying from hydropower by signing PPAs and absorbing power from us, from phase one, from phase two. Aside from that, they're encouraging a lot of solar projects. We are undertaking a 100-megawatt solar project, while there are other solar projects also in the country coming up, some commissioned and some yet to be commissioned. So I think they are eagerly diversifying away from hydropower.
Apart from the upcoming 300-megawatt project, do you see any other projects for us?
Yes. We are setting up another 100-megawatt solar, right? And we are also exploring other opportunities in terms of renewables.
Okay. And sir, one question is on the buyback you are receiving from Nava Global. How do we plan to deploy that?
You're talking about the buyback amount?
Yes, the buyback and dividends.
Yeah. So like we've always stated, our primary objective is to ensure that we have enough cash to fund future projects, maybe greenfields or expansions. And then apart from that, we always look at corporate actions, and we've been fairly generous in this past year with regards to corporate actions, which always boost shareholders' confidence.
Okay, sir. Noted, ma'am. Sir, one question is on the avocado and agriculture front. How do we plan to scale this segment, and how much further do we plan to invest here?
I think on the avocados, see, we have 4 divisions split into 275 hectares each. Right now, as we speak, 2 divisions have already been planted, and the first division has given us the first pilot crop of about 140 metric tons. I think going forward, we are looking at about a time horizon of 8 years until the full production from all 4 divisions hits the markets.
So for this segment to grow significantly and contribute to the revenue, how much time frame would we expect?
Down the line, 4-5 years. It will be a significant segment.
Okay, sir. I'll join back with you.
Sorry. Are you there?
Yeah, sir. Noted. I'll join back with you for further questions.
Yeah.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Sri Gopal Kankani from S.G. Kankani & Associates. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, sir. I have seen the presentation where you have mentioned this H1 of next financial year completion target for solar power plant and H2 for thermal power plant. But I wanted to know what is the expected completion time for sugar complex?
The sugar complex processing unit should be complete around April 2028. So I'd say mid-2028.
Okay. My second question is that what is the area of that Nacharam land, sir, and what is the present market value, approximately?
Area? Are you saying?
Approximately about INR 20 crore is the per-acre market value there.
20 crores per acre?
What's the total? How many?
65 hectares. Pardon? 65 hectares.
Total market value?
Total acreage is 65 hectares. 65 acres is the total area of that land. Okay.
Yes, yes.
What is the present market value, approximately?
I fear not, what we know is the fact that the area is garnering a lot of interest, and the market value, say, from 10 years ago, has definitely been on the upswing. To give you a precise number at this juncture, we will not be able to, but we know it from the inclining trend.
Okay. Okay, okay. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Jatin Damania from Swan Investments. Please go ahead.
Good evening, sir, and thank you for the opportunity. Sir, just wanted to understand the total CapEx that we'll be spending in Zambia for the thermal and solar. Can you help us on the separate amount? How much are we spending on thermal and solar?
Sorry. Your voice is being muffled. Can you speak a little away from the phone also? We can't hear you clearly.
Now it's audible.
It's better, better.
Yeah. So just wanted to understand the CapEx that we'll be spending for the 300-megawatt and 100-megawatt separately in Zambia?
Sorry. 300-megawatt expansion thermal plant, total CapEx outlay is $400 million. And sorry, 100-megawatt solar plant, CapEx outlay is $90 million.
Out of this, how much we have already spent?
Sir, as of 31st December, for the thermal plant, total spent is around close to $190 million. For solar plant, spent close to $10 million.
Okay. And.
This includes your debt and equity. This is not just equity. This is debt and equity.
This debt equity is in ratio of 70/30, right?
Yes. Correct.
The entire CapEx is funded by Nava or even the Zambian government is contributing to the project?
It's 65/35. So on the equity side, we contribute 65%, and ZCCM-IH, our partner, contributes 35%.
Okay. The partner contributes 35%. Sure, sir. And definitely, these are good visibility in terms of the power project coming from Zambia. But when you come to the domestic market, the scenario looks a little bit lower in terms of the pricing as well as demand. So how do you see the domestic power segment growth going ahead?
Well, I think as you rightly pointed out, the domestic power seems to be on the declining trend. If you look at the exchange pricing itself, I think there's been a drop of about 12% year-on-year. So I think the way we are looking at mitigating this downturn is through mainly entering into long-term and short-term contracts rather than being completely dependent on the exchange where there's a lot of volatility. I think in this regard, we have informed you the last quarter that we have engaged into a long-term, five-year period bilateral contract with Tamil Nadu for our 60-MW IPP plant in Odisha. So besides that, we're also looking at targeting a similar allocation for the other units that we have domestically.
At what rate have we entered into a contract? I mean, any PPA price you can help.
This is set at Rs. 5.2 per kWh.
5. Okay.
The long-term Tamil Nadu contract.
Sure. Last question, other than the power business, what's your take on the ferroalloys? Because the segment is continuously underperforming. I understand the market is not good. But now, given the recent safeguard duty on the steel and we have seen some uptick in the prices on the ferroalloys front, how do you look at this segment growth in the coming quarters of probably in FY27?
I think, see, even if you look at compare the last quarter with this quarter that we're in, there's been an improvement of pricing by about 8%, right? I think this has a lot to do with the capital allocation that the government has put upon in terms of infrastructure and so on. So going forward, we're hopeful that prices, if they don't increase to a very large extent, at least they're going to remain stable. So while we don't look at it as a very high-margin vertical, but we are confident that in terms of the scale, there will always be a good top line involved with it.
Sure, but sir, I'm looking from the operating performance. But see, as you indicated, that the quarter-on-quarter, the prices have increased. But when you look at the segment results, there's a sharp drop in the profitability on the ferroalloys segment. So I'm just unable to digest this because from INR 2 crore of EBIT, we are almost at breakeven on the ferroalloys front.
No, I think what I mentioned was from quarter three to the quarter that we're in currently, quarter four, there's been an increase.
Sure. Okay, okay. Noted. Thank you. That's all from my side. All the best.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Kaushik Doshi from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you, sir, for the opportunity. My next question is, what is the amount of debt at the end of ninth month FY26?
Close to $400 million.
Okay. Noted. Sir, my next question is, do we have any tie-up of power for this summer for Indian Power Plant?
Yeah. So I think in terms of quarter four, we are more or less fully committed.
Okay, sir. Thank you. That's it from my side.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Jainam Jain from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. My first question is, for the 300-MW MEL phase 2 and 100-MW solar project, can you share the expected CapEx funding mix and steady state EBITDA and ROCE?
I think we've just answered that with regards to both the plants just a couple of minutes ago in terms of the CapEx. Yeah. Please just go through the transcript.
Okay, sir. Sir, how much is the outstanding receivables for Maamba?
The arrears amount that is yet to be paid is about $30.5 million.
Okay, sir. That answers my question. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Shailesh Raja from B&K Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, sir, could you please update us on the Ivory Coast? Also, can you give us the payback period that you are expecting from the solar project, that $90 million that we are doing?
Yeah. So in terms of Ivory Coast, as you're aware, we are currently under exploration for the about 360 sq km concession that we were awarded. I don't have much to share in terms of the discovery yet. I think that's still underway. So when we do have something, I'll get back to you.
Okay, sir. And what about the solar investment? We are investing $90 million. What about the payback period that you are expecting from this solar project?
It's 10-12 years.
Yeah. Okay, okay, okay, okay. Sir, currently in Zambia, what is the mix, sir, between thermal and solar? So how the mix is changing? How do you see the 10?
Absolutely.
No, thermal and solar. In overall Zambia, how is the mix?
So right now, we are the only thermal. Yes, yes. So initially, Zambia was almost 95% hydro. Then we came into the picture with thermal. But now, there are quite a few solar plants that are coming up, but they're all without storage. So they're possibly the only other baseload apart from the Kafue, the hydros. But I think there's a fair bit of solar coming up, and there's also talk of some other thermal projects coming up. But I think solar is gaining more traction.
Okay, okay, sir. Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Shruti Agarwal from CIL. Please go ahead.
Hi. Am I audible?
Yes, ma'am.
Yeah. Could you comment on the increase in employee cost from INR 191 crores to INR 268 crores?
Please tell me which period you are referring to?
Nine months comparison.
One moment, please.
Go ahead.
Clear to you ?
Jumped.
Yeah. It is on account of commission. There was a jump. The provision was made in the last quarter. So on nine months period, it is more compared to the previous nine months period in 2024.
Okay, sir. And another question was, we have bought back the Nava Global has bought back 50 million shares. So is there any future plan to make it a wholly-owned subsidiary?
It is a wholly-owned subsidiary. It was a buyback. The share capital reduced. So it is still a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nava. Nava owns 100% of Nava Global.
What is the reason for buyback?
Nava was a single shareholder. Hence, after buyback, still it holds the 100%. Nava Global bought back the shares. Nava still remains the 100% owner.
Okay, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Vaishnavi Gurung from Craving Alpha Wealth Fund. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thank you for taking my question again. Sir, first is with respect to commissioning of the power plants and thermal power plants in 2026, if I'm not wrong. So what kind of revenues are expected from these two power plants? If you can give us a broad guidance around in FY25 or 2029?
Hello, sir.
Sir, from the 300-megawatt thermal power plant, in case of full-year operations, the expected revenue is $180-$200 million. From the 100-megawatt solar project, in case of full-year operations, the expected revenue is $15-$16 million.
Kaushik, can you please repeat again for the solar plants?
It is $15 million-$16 million, per annum.
By when do we expect the full operation of these two power plants?
It will be financial year 2027-28.
Okay. Sir, just last question from my end. Do we have any planned shutdown for this FY26 and FY27?
Yeah, definitely. I mean, all the plants undergo shutdown and maintenance every year. So there are going to be plant shutdowns for all our units during the year.
Anything major?
No. No, nothing major.
Okay, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to all participants, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on your touch-tone telephone. The next question comes from the line of Sri Gopal Kankani from S.G. Kankani & Associates. Please go ahead.
Thank you, sir, for giving me again the opportunity. I just wanted to know that we have recently learned from newspapers that MOIL has increased the prices of manganese by 5% from 1st of February. So do we have sufficient stock of manganese, or this is going to adversely affect our profitability for production of silicon manganese?
So our exposure to MOIL is extremely limited. In fact, we don't buy any lumps from them. We only buy a very small amount of fines. So this should not have much of an impact.
Okay. So then, sir, from where our manganese requirement is being met out?
From various sources, mostly outside of India.
Okay, okay, okay. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. A reminder to all participants, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on your touch-tone telephone. Ladies and gentlemen, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on your touch-tone telephone. The next question comes from the line of Nidhi from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yes. Thank you so much for taking my question. So, sir, could you give us some broad-based idea on CapEx for FY27 and FY28? Where are we looking to spend the CapEx, and of the CapEx that we are doing, what kind of revenues we can expect in the next coming years?
So, I mean, that's a fairly broad question. So in terms of the current year, with regards to the capex commitments, it's all based on the ongoing projects. Namely, I think the phase 2, 300-megawatt thermal, you have phase 1 of solar, which is 100-megawatt committed, with the potential of another phase that may get committed later based on market dynamics. Then on the agri side, as we broadly spoke about, the avocado, where it's a $55 million commitment, and the sugar project, the Kawambwa Sugar Ltd, which is a $100 million commitment.
We are expecting all of these CapEx to kind of be undertaken in the year till FY27 end, right? Do we have anything in mind for FY28?
Yes, we do have projects in the pipeline that we are thinking about, but it's too early for us to commit or discuss those projects. As we progress, as we have projects that we are developing, we also are constantly evaluating new projects that we can take up.
All right. Lastly, on the CapEx side, what was the CapEx that was undertaken in the nine months of this year?
Then, for the, phase two thermal power plant, the CapEx is between $90-$100 million. And towards the 100-MW solar power plant, CapEx is $10 million. When it comes to avocado plantation, the CapEx is around $8 million. For the Kawambwa sugar plant, the CapEx is $8 million.
All right. My last question would be that for the Indian power plants, do we have a tie-up for power this summer?
Yes. So I think, like I mentioned earlier, for quarter four, we are more or less fully committed. I think for the Q1 of FY27 too, we are in the process of tying up most of our surplus quantities.
All right. Thank you so much.
Thank you. A reminder to all participants, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on your touch-tone telephone. The next question comes from the line of Shruti Agarwal from CIL. Please go ahead. Miss Agarwal, you may proceed with your question.
Hello. Yeah. I wanted to check on what is the status of mines in Africa.
Lithium mine?
Regarding the sir, it's about the lithium manganese mines.
Yeah. So in terms of the lithium mine, we're still in the exploration stage. That's currently underway. These processes take a little while, and they involve various steps. So that's currently underway. It's still in the exploration stage.
Okay, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. As there are no further questions from the participants, I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you once again for joining us today. I hope we have answered all your questions. We appreciate all your continued interest and support. And as we move ahead, we remain focused on delivering sustainable long-term value for all stakeholders. Thank you, and have a nice day.
Thank you. On behalf of ICICI Securities, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line. Thank you.