Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Q3 FY24 earnings conference call of KEI Industries, hosted by Monarch Networth Capital. 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. Rahul Dani from Monarch Networth Capital. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Mastan. Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of Monarch Networth Capital, we're delighted to host the senior management of KEI Industries, and we have with us Mr. Anil Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of the company, and Mr. Rajeev Gupta, CFO of the company. We will start the call with opening remarks from the management and then move to Q&A. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. So good morning to everyone, and I welcome all our esteemed investors to this invest conference call. I'm Anil Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of the company. So I'll give a brief of the results, although you already have all this with you. So the net sales in Q3 is INR 2,061.72 crore. So the growth in net sales is 15.55%. EBITDA in this quarter is INR 228.72 crore. Growth is six point, EBITDA is 16.72%. EBITDA to net sales margin is 11.09% as against 10.98% in the same period previous year.
Profit after tax this quarter is INR 150.67 crore, against INR 128.61 crore in the previous year, same quarter. Growth in the PAT is 17.15%. So the PAT oblique net sales margin is 7.31% versus 7.21% last year. Domestic institutional cable sale, wire and cable, is INR 556 crore in third quarter against INR 663 crore last year. Domestic institutional sales of extra-high voltage cable is INR 184 crore, against INR 93 crore previous years. So the growth is 97%. Export sale in this quarter is INR 284 crore, out of which cable is INR 195 crore, which was INR 103 crore last year.
And overall, all products put together, the export sale is INR 284 crore. So the growth in the export is 98%. The total cable institutional sale contribution is 45%, as against 46% in the previous year's same period. Sales through distribution network is INR 949 crore in the third quarter, against eight hundred sixteen crore in the same period last year. Growth is approximately 16%. The sales, B2C sales, that is sales through distribution network, has contributed 46% in third quarter. The sales in the EPC division, other than cable, is INR 146 crore, as against INR 95 crore last year. The growth is 53%. Out of the total sales of EPC, the EHV cables EPC sale is INR 32 crore as against INR 25 crore in the same quarter last year.
The sales of stainless steel wire is INR 46 crore against INR 45.4 crore last year. Volume increase in the cable division on the basis of production for consumption of metal in Q3 as compared to previous year, same period, is approximately 13%. Now I will come to the result summary of nine months, as on 31 December 2023. Net sales in nine months is INR 5,791 crore against INR 4,958 crore last year. Growth in the net sales over nine-month period is 16.8%. EBITDA growth is 41%, and EBITDA margin is 10.82% as against 10.59% previous year. PAT in nine months of FY 2024 is INR 412.27 crore against INR 339.27 crore.
Growth in the PAT is 21.51%. PAT oblique net sales margin is 7.12% versus 6.84%. Overall, domestic institutional cable sale is INR 1,560 crore in nine months against INR 1,574 crore last year. Sales of extra high voltage cable is INR 402 crore against INR 237 crore last year. Export sales in nine months is INR 840 crore against INR 530 crore last year. The growth is approximately 59%. Total institutional cable sale contribution is 45% as against 44% last year, and sale through distribution network is INR 2,714 crore in nine months, as against INR 2,320 crore last year. Growth is around 17%.
The total active working dealers of the company as on 31 December 2023 was approximately 1,975. B2C sale contributed 47% in nine months, which is at par with the previous year same period. Sales of EPC is INR 370 crore as against INR 270 crore last year. Growth is approximately 37%. Stainless steel wire sale is INR 162 crore as against INR 185 crore last year, same period. Volume increase in the cable division on the basis of production for consumption of metals in nine months in FY 2024 is approximately 22%.
Pending orders at the moment is INR 3,826 crore, out of which INR 934 crore is EPC orders, INR 594 crore are the orders which are pending from export, domestic cables INR 1,823 crore, and export orders INR 475 crore. So this is the overall summary of the pending orders. Ratings. India Ratings and Research Private Limited has affirmed its long-term rating as AA with positive outlook. ICRA and CARE long-term rating is AA, stable. Short-term rating from India Ratings, ICRA and CARE is A1+. The book value for equity share of the company is INR 333 as against INR 287, as on March 31, 2023. So now I will give financial outlook.
So I'll give you a final outlook for of the company for the future. Capacity utilized during nine months in FY 2024 is 95% in cable division, 70% in house wire division, and 89% in stainless steel wire division. During nine months, company has incurred a capital expenditure of approximately INR 308 crore. Out of which Chinchpada and Silvassa, INR 65 crore, Pathredi, INR 30 crore, Sanand, INR 167 crore, and other plants locations around INR 46 crore. Company is doing a brownfield CapEx at Chinchpada plant in Silvassa, with a CapEx of INR 110 crore, which will add a capacity of for house wire and LT power cables, approximately INR 800-INR 900 crore.
Out of this, INR 240 crore capacity has been added in October 2023, and balance capacity will be operational by end of this financial year, that is by March 31, 2025, 2024. Another greenfield and brownfield CapEx is going on at Pathredi with an approximate cost of INR 110 crore, which will increase the capacity for LT power cables, approximately INR 800-900 crore per annum. It will be operational in the first quarter of FY 2024-2025. This brownfield CapEx will enable us to grow by approximately 16%-17% in the current financial year, and also 15%-16% growth in the next financial year. Apart from this brownfield CapEx, company has planned INR 300 crore CapEx on greenfield expansion for cable and wire in Gujarat.
Commercial production for which will be commenced by fourth quarter of FY 2024-2025. We have already purchased the land and initial construction work has started. Further, we will spend approximately INR 400-500 crore of CapEx in the next financial year on the Sanand plant, and another INR 400-500 crore each year for next two subsequent years. It will, you know, allow us to maintain a CAGR of around 15%-16% per annum, at least in the next few years. Industry outlook. The demand scenario is good for our company from public sector CapEx as well as private sector CapEx.
India has emerged as a fast growing economy in the world, and there are substantial opportunities available for exports as well. So we expect good, you know, good growth in our wire and cable segment in next few years. India, the sectors are mainly solar capacities, which are being added. Another, you know, CapEx pipeline in the infrastructure like highways, metros and railways and even in the power sector as well, and even the construction sector is also doing substantially well, which includes large construction field projects like hotels, hospitals, and other real estate sectors. The manufacturing sector in India has a good potential to grow with lot of PLI scheme and private sector adding CapEx in the manufacturing sector.
So, increased investments in the telecom sector is also giving boost to cables, electrical cable, especially in the telecom infrastructure.
Sorry to interrupt, sir. Like, it's very disturbance in your side. Please clear that now.
Pardon? So now it is clear?
Yes, sir, it's clear.
So, this is a brief from my side. I welcome now, please, put your questions, whatever, and we'll be glad to answer. Thank you. You can start the question.
Okay, sir. Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wish to ask a question, may press star and one on the dialpad. If you wish to remove yourself from 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 Rahul Agarwal from InCred Equity. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Good afternoon, sir. Sir, firstly, you know, I could see from the numbers that house wires is actually doing better than cables for KEI. When the industry trend is, you know, actually the reverse. Entire industry has seen, you know, low single digit volume growth for wires last, you know, two to three quarters now. What has got KEI market share gains? Could you just give some color and understanding of how you have gone about this, please?
So it is, it is basically improving our geographical push by having dealers in the vacant areas, and also through schemes and advertising. One factor I can attribute is that maybe we are having lower base as compared to the Havells and Polycab, which you are talking, might be talking. So that may be... I don't know, but these may be the factors.
Okay. So, you know, just to extend this question, when I look at, you know, the regional dealer sales which you report in your presentation, it looks like North and East have grown, you know, way, way faster versus, you know, South looks like low single digits. Could you share some feedback on demand trends in these regions, just to, so that I can tie it up based on why wires are doing way better than cables for KEI?
No, no, no. I don't think that cables are not doing better.
Because the capacity constraint is there.
Capacity constraint in the cables.
The wire we have, capacity utilization is close to 70%, where, wherein the, in the cable we have utilization is 95%. So slowly, slowly we are adding the capacity with the Brownfield CapEx, so then we will be increasing the cable, sale in our city. That's how our growth we are targeting of 16%-17%.
Got it, Rajeevji. You know, the question essentially was also on the regional side. When I look at the numbers, looks like North and East are doing 15%-20%, and South is low single-digit %. West is recovering last three quarters.
Here also I have explained to you that is basically the leadership position from the company side. Those who are aggressive in the market, like in the north, always was doing good, and now the east is also doing very good now. So now our focus and thrust will be in the southern part. So in the next year, we will see the conversion in the southern part also.
Okay. Got it, sir. Sir, on the CapEx, one question. I understand you gave, plant-wise CapEx. I couldn't capture everything. What I wanted to know is, if you could help me full year numbers for consolidated CapEx for the company for fiscal 2024, 2025 and 2026. That will help.
2024 will be close to INR 450 crore around, and next year it will be close to INR 500+ crore.
Next year, next year.
Okay. So we should assume INR 450 for this year, INR 500+ for next year?
About 500-600, depending on the construction going on in the past in the EHV utility power segment.
Got it. And last question, on volume growth, you said 13% for third quarter. Is it possible to give nine-month numbers?
For nine months it was 22%.
Okay, perfect, sir. And, you know, con-
The volume increase is 22% in cables.
Got it, sir. Congratulations for another consistent quarter. I'll come back in the queue. All the best, sir.
Thank you, Rahulji.
... Thank you. The next question is from the line of Bhavin Pande from Athena Research. Please go ahead.
Hey, good afternoon, everyone. I hope I'm audible.
Yes, yes, you are audible.
Sure. Sir, we could see that, subcontracting expenses for EPC have gone down both on a sequential as well as YOY basis. So if you could throw some light on that?
No, it is depend on the project work going on. Sometimes the supply portion is more, sometimes the erection portion is more.
But sir, even when you look at quarterly numbers, margins have expanded for EPC, so we are wanting to get some cost initiatives are working.
Once it is going for the completion, because most of the old orders are at completion stage, so all the provisions, et cetera, has been accordingly provided earlier was reversed, so accordingly it has been done. Because right now we are having only three, four contracts going on. All the old contracts are getting completed now.
Okay. And, sir, the numbers you gave for CapEx, INR 415, INR 500, all of it is for EHV segment or a certain portion would be?
No, we are in, in our Ahmedabad Sanand project, we are going for a greenfield project for extra high voltage, high voltage and low voltage power cable. All the, all the three segments. So the first phase, as our CMO has given you the figure, that by fourth quarter, end of next financial year, low tension power cable and medium voltage power cable production will get started. And after another six, seven months, the extra high voltage power cable will get started over there.
Okay. Okay, that's great. Congratulations on another great set of numbers. I'll get back into the queue. Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Riya from Equitas Investment. Please go ahead.
Thank you for giving me an opportunity. My question is in terms of, we've seen that your exports have significantly increased. So in terms of the current issues which are happening on the freight, could you help us with how are our contracts placed, and are we passing on the incremental freight cost and the impact of the current geopolitical issues?
Yes, yes. We are passing on the incremental freight to the customers. So, the freight is not an issue.
Are you seeing any decrease in demand because of that or any delay and inventory clogging?
No, on cables, it's a high value item, and the increase in the freight element may increase the prices of cables by maximum 1%-1.5%, which is insignificant. And the companies who are doing the, you know, projects or the CapEx, they can't afford to delay the projects just because of, one to 2% increase in the, cable prices.
Got it. In terms of our capacity expansion of EHV, compared to the current capacity, how much will we increase it?
We can do around INR 600 crore worth of it.
No, that capacity which will come in the finance will be all equal or even more than this, at least two years from now, because the EHV project take more time than the low tension or medium voltage cables.
We will be producing almost towards the capacity we are currently producing. Am I right?
We are almost operating at 95, 90, 90%, 95% capacity utilization.
Right. Got it. And in terms of margins, do we see any... Are we maintaining the margins going forward?
I think we are definitely going to maintain the margins, which we have achieved around 11%. And I think we'll try to improve it by 0.25% or 0.5%, but the margins will remain in this range.
Got it. And any guidance in terms of where their export demand is coming from in cables? Export as well as EHV, where is it coming from?
So it is coming from, at the moment, we are exporting EHV cables only in Australia, but we will develop new export markets for EHV cables once the new capacity comes up. Because at the moment we are constrained with the capacity. There is no point in doing, you know, sales effort when we cannot produce and deliver.
Got it. Okay, thank you. That's it from my side.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Praveen Sahay from PL India. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for taking my question. So first question is on the domestic institutional business. So that number there, we see a degrowth on the YOY side. So is it only the capacity constraint or something else too?
It is not physical degrowth, it's physical the allocation of the capacity, because once we got the export order, so we have allocated that capacity to export. Otherwise, the demand is very strong. So whatever capacity we are having, either we can sell to the domestic institution or to the export institution. So if the order has come from export, so we have to serve first to the export. We are going by the orders by, actually.
Okay. Okay.
Allocation, where we can allocate the capacity, that is right.
Right. And you are making a higher margin in the export, so there you are allocating.... Clear to understand this, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Specific questions are on the EHV cable. There is also a very strong growth we had seen for a quarter and even for a nine-month. So, can you guide for the way forward, how you are seeing the EHV numbers to improve from here onwards? And also, to add on, the capacity and location also is the function over here, like more of the EHV you are producing in place of the other cable, and the growth is there and the demand is high.
No, EHV numbers will remain similar next year also, because here, EHV capacity cannot be reallocated from medium voltage or LT side. We have a separate set of machines where EHV can be manufactured. However, on this capacity, we can manufacture medium voltage cable, but on medium voltage machines, EHV cable cannot be manufactured.
Oh, okay. And what utilization in the EHV you are at?
Almost 90%-95%. Actually, in EHV, we can produce up to INR 550-INR 600 crore worth of business in India, cable.
Oh, okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay. Okay, got it, sir. Thank you, sir. I'll come back to you.
Thank you, Praveen.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Alok Deshpande, from Nuvama Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good afternoon, Anil sir. Good afternoon, Rajeev sir. Sir, my question is on exports. Sir, what is the kind of working capital cycle that we should look at on the exports business?
See, either in export institutional or domestic institutional, the receivable cycle is, on an average, is 2.5 months.
Okay, so similar to the domestic institutional business is what we should assume.
Right, cycle is same.
Okay. And sir, last time, you mentioned that, you know, the margins should sort of, you know, start going up towards, more towards 11% kind of zone. So, with all the new capacities coming up, especially the brownfield ones, is there more certainty of that happening, going towards 11% EBITDA margin, 11% or, I mean-
CMD sir has already said that in the next year also we will be maintaining close to 11% EBITDA margin. In this quarter also, this is EBITDA percent. EBITDA percentage is almost 11%.
Okay. So, I was looking more from excluding the other income parts. So, from the-
50% is exchange fluctuation, so that is part of the operational actually, but you are saying separate than that, actually.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, sir, no problem, sir. Sir, congratulations on good set of numbers, and good luck to the entire team.
Thank you, Alok ji.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mahek Talati from Yellow Jersey Investment Advisors. Please go ahead.
Hello, I'm audible?
Yes.
Yeah. Hi, thank you for the opportunity. Congratulations on a good set of numbers. I have a couple of questions. First is the clarification: So are we doubling our capacity in the EHV segment?
Yes, we are adding the capacity by financial year 2006, almost 1.5 times more than the existing capacity.
Okay. And in terms of the demand volume growth, so you mentioned that the nine-month volume growth is 22%.
Yes.
Is it for the cables or it includes both cables and wires?
It includes the metal consumption for wire and cable, both.
Okay. So if I check the revenue growth for the nine months, it's close to 17%. So, so realizations have decreased in this quarter, in this nine months?
No, it is basically the pricing effect, no? The copper and aluminum pricing effect.
Okay. Okay, and in terms of the demand for the EHV, so do you have, you mentioned a few quarters back that the capacity, the current capacity you can render-
EHV we can produce up to INR 550 crore-INR 600 crore, so then only we can sell up to that figure only.
Okay, understood. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Before we take the next question, a reminder to all participants, you may press star and one to ask questions. The next question is from the line of Srinidhi from HSBC. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thank you for the opportunity. So just want to understand some of the growth opportunities. Does EHV cables also go in some of the HVDC projects?
HVDC, can you repeat the question, please?
So, so just I want to understand, there's a lot of demand coming from the HVDC projects. So just want to understand, does cable go in some of the sections of this HVDC projects? High voltage direct current transmission.
At the moment, in overhead transmission projects, we are supplying cables for HVDC projects, but that is mostly medium voltage and control cables for the substation and that kind of applications. But in HVDC segment, in the times to come, extra EHV cable will also be there, will be coming. And for that, we are developing the capabilities in our new CapEx, which is coming up at Sanand, in that direction. So that once that project is commissioned, we are able to supply extra high voltage cable, extra high voltage DC cables also. High voltage DC cables also, which are meant for underground transmission.
Right. And then similarly, we want to understand how is the demand intensity for a conventional coal-based thermal power plant? Like, how much demand comes from a typical 1 GW or say, 800 MW thermal power plant, how is the demand come?
At the moment, I think, the Government of India has again started developing some 30-40,000 megawatts of new coal-based thermal generation capacity, and for which, demand will surface in the next financial year. Although, in the last two, three years, we have supplied substantial quantity of cables to thermal power plants, set up by various state governments. Although it was not on the radar, but some projects were coming up, and we have always utilized those opportunities in continuing our cable supplies to thermal power plants. And in the next five years, a lot of it will come up because of the additional thermal capacity coming up.
Right. So sir, I wanted to understand, is there a way to generally, like for a 800 megawatt, how much worth INR crores of cable typically goes at the current pricing?
I think should be around INR 15-20 crore. Yeah, for a 800-MW capacity.
Okay. Okay, sir. Those were my questions. Thank you so much. Yeah.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Swati Jhunjhunwala from BOB Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you for taking my question. Most of my questions have been answered. Just one, could you just give the breakup of the order book?
Order book? Yeah, please note down. The EPC order book is INR 934 crore. Extra high voltage power cable order book is INR 594 crore. The cable from domestic institutional order book is INR 1,828 crore, and cable export order is INR 475 crore. Put together all is INR 3,826 crore.
All right. Thank you so much.
Thank you, ma'am.
Thank you. A reminder to all participants, you may press star and one to ask question. The next question is from the line of Achal Lohade from JM Financial. Please go ahead.
Sir, good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity. Congratulations for great set of numbers. What I wanted to ask, sir, given the capacity addition by us and the peers, how do you see the kind of demand what you're seeing, and this question is more on the cable front. How do you see the demand supply, you know, for the cables in each of the segments? You know, if you could talk a little bit on that.
For the next four-five years, we are giving the guidance for a growth of 16%-17%. In last 15 years, we have grown by 14%+. So in the same range, we have given you the guideline, and accordingly, we are adding the capacity. We are not adding the capacity where we are saying that 30% growth we will do, we are not doing that. So the kind of industry is growing, industry is growing 12%-13%, and we are giving the guidance to grow 16%-17% because we are the, among the top two company in the country. We have exports, we have extra high voltage power cable. So put together all, we have given guidance for 16%-17%. So sale was never a challenge to KEI because of the integral area.
So lots of institutional customers we are serving in a year. More than 2,000 institutional customer we are serving in a year. More than 60 countries, we are exporting our products. That's why our growth target will be maintained. So we are not seeing any challenge from the supply part.
Demand part.
He was asking the other companies are also supplying.
Yeah. So, sir, actually, I completely get your point. What I was trying to ask is that, you know, what we hear in the market is that, given the capacity shortage, obviously there is slight element of price premium which is being charged. You know, given the kind of capacity additions are happening, could there be a risk to the pricing? I get your visibility on the demand and the growth what you are factoring is obviously very realistic. But I'm just curious to understand from a overall industry perspective, could there be a case of excess capacity and hence, if at all, any price premium going away or normalization of the pricing?
First of all, there is no price premium. There is no excess, you know, excess capacity.
Okay.
But, you know, whatever capacity is coming up, that will be saturated with the continuous increased demand. So, at the moment, I can only say that our production is just 10% of what China is producing in a year. So, I don't think that the capacity will be over capacity. And, our products, wires and cables, are used in every sector of economy. So what-
Correct.
Even if there is a slowdown in any particular sector, some other ten sectors are always open.
Understood. Understood. I think this is very helpful. So thank you so much, and I wish you all the best.
Yes.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rahul Maheshwary from Ambit Asset Management. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Am I audible?
Yes.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah. First of all, congratulations to entire KEI Industries management team for consistent performance. Two questions. One, can you help us to understand the total opportunity size for the specialty segments like solar, EV, and how your R&D and the process in terms of talking with the OEMs and, how much time it will take to replicate or, the revenue to flow down, for this specialty segment? I, I'm not talking from an infrastructure and power point of, power sector point of view, but the new emerging sector where the government, just recently talked about the rooftop solar. So can you give some, color on that? That will be very helpful.
See, we are already supplying to the various OEMs and customers in rooftop solar segment, and also the solar power developers who are executing mega projects in locations. So, I mean, there is the question of starting the dialogue with the OEMs. We are, we are already there.
Can you quantify, I mean, how big it can become? I mean, if currently you are supplying to the data centers and EV, et cetera, I don't want a absolute number, but even if you can give a ballpark range, that how big it can contribute to your sales.
For any CapEx, as we have earlier explained, the cable demand is 3.5%-4%. So in whatever segment, whether it is a solar or it's data center or it's EV, anywhere, the consumption of the cable is close to 3.5%-4% of the cost of the project. So one can calculate in this way only. I think exact data cannot be given, but the demand from the solar developers or rooftop solar OEMs is significant. At the moment, we don't have the exact data or quantifiable data to answer your question.
The second question, as you mentioned, that the KEI is building capacity because they are envisaging the growth. The growth which you have guided for 16%-17%, is it a conservative growth, when you are looking from a board point of view?
It depends on the capacity we are creating. So whatever capacity we are creating year-on-year basis, on that basis, we have given this number actually. In the future, it may increase also, but right now, whatever CapEx we have taken for the Sanand project and the brownfield project, from there, for next two to three years, the growth will be like 16%-17%.
Cool. Thank you so much, and best wishes to the team.
Thank you very much, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pulkit Patni from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
So thank you for taking my questions. So a couple of questions. First one is, we recently heard this announcement, on one crore rooftop solar projects likely to be put. Any rough sense on what is the kind of cable opportunity that this could create, assuming that entire 1 crore was to be installed? That's question number 1.
Yeah. Please go ahead.
Okay. Should I ask the second question?
Yeah, yeah.
So my second question is, you know, the number one player in the industry obviously recently had these, these tax issues. My question is, one, does it change anything in the industry structure in terms of industry practices? Secondly, you being the second largest player, is there a possibility of re-benefiting in terms of market share, et cetera? You know, more dealers wanting to work with us. Just, I mean, to whatever extent you can share about... You know, I mean, I don't intend saying how it benefits us, but just that we are the second-largest player, does it change the industry dynamic in any way, in our favor?
See, to answer your first question about the solar requirements, you know, the rooftop solar, which government has announced. They will put one crore rooftop solar. There, the requirements of, you know, small wires will be there because you are connecting the rooftop with the house which is beneath it. So, there's no distance that the cable is required to connect the electricity system of that house with the rooftop. So, it may generate the small demand for the small wires, 4 sq. mm or 6 sq. mm wires, but it will not generate any demand for the cables. So regarding your second question about the-
... benefiting out of it, I think, we don't see opportunities out of anyone else's problems. So, we are working on our own path, and, I would not, we would not like to comment on that.
No, sir. Very, very fair. Thank you so much for your answers.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rahul Agarwal from InCred Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for the follow-up, sir. First question on the price gap between KEI wires, you know, and the leaders. What is that right now?
Earlier explained also, basically 3%-5%. So right now, so slowly, slowly, we are improving 1% price year-on-year basis, and our target to catch up within four years' time.
Right. So that was my next question. I think we need to understand how far are we to basically be at similar pricing? I think that was the intention.
As I said, that every year we are, our target is to increase by 1% only.
Okay, get it. Secondly, Rajeevji, I think we have reached to pretty optimized level of working capital. It shows 90 days now of sales, excluding cash. Henceforth, this is where the company stabilizes, organically?
We are stabilizing, and whatever cash we are having, we are utilizing either to pay creditors or to for the CapEx. So that way, we are very, very comfortable with respect to inventory holding and receivable holding.
Right. So henceforth, it's all going to be like year-on-year, whatever efficiency improvement we can get, we can get, but most of that EPC thing is out of our way, right?
Little bit, receivable holding will go down year-on-year basis because our sales through the dealer distributor will get increased further to 50%. Our same vision is there, to maintain 50%. So by that time, our receivable holding right now, it is 2.3 months, which was earlier 2.4 months, which may go down to 2.2 months by next year or 2.1 months by next year. So there is a little bit of scope there.
Okay, got it. And lastly, Anilji, one question to you. Interim budget is next week. Your sense of what could influence cable and wire sector? You know, of course, we know that higher CapEx allocation is a known factor, but from a change perspective, anything in your mind, which could help business trends or sustain current business trends?
I think you have answered the question yourself, that the demand creation is done only by higher CapEx spend, because our industry is CapEx oriented. So, more is the CapEx in the economy, either from the government side or from the manufacturing industry, the more will be the demand for cables and wires.
Anything from a raw material perspective, let's say any duties or, you know, PVC supplies which you use for, you know, protection of cables, anything from that perspective could change?
No, no, no. In, you know, nowadays, in budgets, hardly any duty changes are affected in the budgets. Budgets are more of a revenue and expenditure statement.
No, I agree, sir. I agree. Just trying to understand if-
Also, Rahul, whatever changes in the raw material prices, it's always in the pass-on mode, actually. So it does not affect any profitability of the company.
Yes, I'm aware of that. All right. Thank you so much, and all the best, and look forward to, you know...
Thank you, Rahul. Thanks for the support.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Bhavin Pande from Athena Research. Please go ahead.
Hey, thanks for the follow-up. First just wanted to check on the trend of, advertisement and promotion expenses, how they have sort of, been for this quarter?
Close to 0.5% in a year we are expanding, actually. Sometimes in one particular year, there is a little bit higher, in one particular year, this per quarter is little bit lower. Because in the case of the first quarter, where the IPL matches are there, so there may be higher, so like this only. But for a year basis, we are spending around 0.5% of the sales.
Okay. And so coming to the IPL, so last year, I think we switched our franchise because we wanted more sort of, reach and discovery in the southern market. So given the, looking at the payback that has come, so are we sort of looking to renew it or the... maybe we'll choose a different route this time?
It is, it is already renewed, so.
Okay.
You will see us again in the IPL with Royal Challengers Bangalore.
That's wonderful. That's wonderful. Thank you. Thank you so much, sir, and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Shubham Agarwal from Axis Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, thank you for the opportunity, and, congrats on the consistent set of results. I think I just got dropped off while you were talking about CapEx in the opening remarks. If you could repeat them, it'd be great.
Overall CapEx for the current year payment, on the payment basis, we have done for INR 308 crore. Out of which, close to... Just a minute. You want unit-wise, no?
Yeah.
In our Silvassa, Chinchpada plant, we have spent around INR 65 crore. In Pathredi, we spent around INR 30 crore, and in Sanand, Ahmedabad, we spent around INR 167 crore, major part is the land. Another INR 46 crore is in the balancing of equipment in our existing plants.
... And, the CapEx going forward, I think you will also buy-
Going forward, another INR 150 crore will be spent in this quarter. Next year it will be close to INR 500 crore plus expenditure. That will be mainly for the Sanand project.
That was all. Ready to thank you.
Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Kalpit Manish Narvekar from EFG. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Congratulations on a good set of numbers, and thanks for taking my question. So my first question is basically on industry growth. So you spoke about 12%-13% kind of industry growth. But some of the other building materials, like cement, are seeing some kind of slowdown in the midterm. So do you actually... And I do understand medium-term growth being, like, around that level because of CapEx and et cetera. But do you expect some kind of a slowdown, maybe for in the near term, for a few quarters or so because of election or also on the industry side? That will be my first question. Thanks.
Sir, elections will be there. Only elections may affect the anything maximum for three months. But in our business, projects are going on, and the work never stops. So I don't think that elections will have any impact on our business, and the growth. We are not seeing any slowdown.
Yeah, thanks for that. And my second question is more on the retail side, which I guess used to be like where you're selling to dealers. It should be whatever 45-50% of total sales, right? So in this piece, I just want to get some sense around how you think the dealers behave in situations of copper price movement. So basically, I mean, recently copper prices corrected a little bit in December. And so do you—how does the de-stocking and restocking kind of work on the dealer side?
See, we are. First of all, the movement of copper anywhere between 3%-5% is always there. And, in the house wire segment, the companies are very cautious that we increase or decrease the prices in a systematic manner on a 15 days average. Secondly, in case of cables, the prices are given through a project or through to a dealer on a firm price basis, either for stocking or designed for a project. So it does not matter whether the copper prices are going down or up. So both sides honor their, you know, commitment. We have not seen any such things in the industry that because of the movement of copper prices, dealers are backing out from their cable orders.
They think in the wire, in the wire segment, you know, sometimes it impacts little bit in stocking and destocking, but those issues are separately handled with the dealers. It is only for the house wire segment.
Okay. Thank you so much, sir.
Thank you. Before we take the next question, a reminder to all participants, you may press star and one to ask questions. The next question is from the line of Mudit Kabra from Elara Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, thank you. Just one question, sir. Is there any impact on exports, in the Europe region or somewhere else, because of the Red Sea crisis, the geopolitical impact over that area? Any deferment during the quarter?
So far as our customers are concerned, we have not seen any deferment of any order so far. There is a small impact on the cost due to increased rates, but that is hardly because cables being a high valued item, the impact is hardly more than 1%, either to us or to the customer.
Okay. So there are no impact on orders, just the price impact is there?
Because the price impact is very small, so there is no impact on the orders.
Okay. Okay, got it. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Raj Shah from Ambit. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hello, sir. Congratulations for the good set of numbers. So I just have a long-term question. So now we are close to around $1 billion of revenues. So just wanted to understand that going forward, say, in the next four-five years, do we want to become more of a consumer company? So our advertising expenses still are less than 1% of our sales. So do you want to take the shift from an industrial company to a consumer company, or still want to remain focused on cables and wires and not foray into the other segments, so other consumer segments like appliances or other segments?
No. At the moment, our focus is only on the wires and cables, and at the moment, there is no plan to add, you know, any consumer products.
Okay.
Thank you. A reminder to all participants, you may press star and one to ask questions. As that was the last question, I would now like to hand the conference over to management for closing comments.
So, thank you very much for participating in this conference call, and I hope that we are able to satisfy you with our answers. If still you have any... Our investors, that the company is doing everything to boost our growth, the company's growth in sales and margins, and we'll keep our investors apprised of anything what we do. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Over to you.
On behalf of Monarch Networth Capital, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.