Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, and welcome to the PI Industries Limited Q3 FY26 earnings conference call. As a reminder, all participant lines will remain 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 the operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone telephone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now hand the conference over to Mr. Siddharth Rangnekar from CDR India for opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, Siddharth.
Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on PI Industries Quarter 3 FY26 earnings conference call. Today, we are joined by senior members of the management team, including Mr. Mayank Singhal, Executive Vice Chairperson and Managing Director, Mr. Rajnish Sarna, Joint Managing Director, Mr. Sanjay Agarwal, Group Chief Financial Officer, Dr. Atul Gupta, CEO, CSM AgChem, Mr. Jagresh Rana, Global CEO, PI AgSciences, and Dr. Ramesh Subramanian, Global CEO, PI Health Sciences. We shall begin the call with key perspectives from Mr. Singhal. Following that, Mr. Agarwal will share his views on the company's financial performance. Thereafter, the forum will be open for question and answer session. Before we begin, I would like to underline that any statements made on today's conference call could be forward-looking in nature.
A disclaimer to this effect has been included in the investor presentation that is available on the stock exchange websites and which has been shared with you earlier. I would now like to request Mr. Singhal to share his perspectives with you. Thank you, and over to you.
Yeah, thank you, and thank you, good morning. And again, a little apology for a little sore throat, but I shall try and make my best effort. So I shall commence today's brief perspectives of the global AgChem industry environment and touch upon the PI's performance and the strategic progress. The global crop protection market is approaching a latter phase of prolonged down cycle, driven by the distribution... restocking, adverse weather conditions in certain regions, soft commodity prices, and elevated interest rates. Channel inventories are gradually normalizing, and in-season buying has begun to improve, although product pricing continues to remain soft, particularly for the generic category. The farmer buying behavior is expected to remain cautious and sensitive to the commodity realization and the liquidity conditions. At the same time, global innovators continue to optimize supply chains and recalibrate inventory levels.
We are seeing early signs of stabilization and gradual improvement expected to come over the quarters. Coming to India. In India, the rabi sowing progress is ahead of late last year, supported by healthy soil moisture, high reserve storage levels above long-term average. However, the demand for key agrochemicals during the quarter remained muted due to elevated channel inventories, adverse weather conditions, lower crop prices, price realization stayed under pressure, and volumes have been primarily driven of revenue performance. Looking ahead, the structural demand remains intact. Sustained innovation in advanced crop protection, crop enhancement solutions are central to the global agricultural productivity. Structural economic challenges, environmental conditions, and considerations and economic realities are shaping the farmers' expectation.
Growers are increasingly seeking solutions that are safer for the ecosystem, effective against evolving pest and diseases, resistance, and capable of delivering high productivity to meet rising demands of food, fiber, and bioenergy. Now, moving to our business highlights. Q3 2026 AgChem reports moderate in line with the overall demand softening inventory levels of many key products. Based on the already higher base of PI's extraordinary performance over the last couple of years, disrupting customer supply scheduling, we are now on track to commercialize 8-10 new molecules, with 5 molecules already commercialized in the year. The strategic initiatives towards technology enhancement, portfolio diversification, strengthening the value in the pipeline and adding new clients progressing well. Our domestic business are mainly impacted by lower farmer demand of high-value products. Now, coming to pharma. We have delivered a 50% year-on-year growth.
During the period, we've added new clients to our portfolio and continue to expand the opportunity to pharma support by dedicated business development, building new capabilities, operations in the U.S. to Europe, and expanding to the East markets. Near-term momentum, however, has been moderate due to global biotech funding, growing merger and acquisition uncertainties, while in the early stage of development, it has a cycle time and a slow conversion of selected opportunities. In biologicals, we are very excited as we progress steadily towards building a scalable global franchise, a peptide-based unique platforms, enabling differentiated solutions across the geographies. Regulatory milestones, which is the approval of Harpinαβ in India and ongoing filing in the U.S. and Latin America on a long-term ambition.
We continue to allocate capital towards product innovation, market development, and strategic partnerships in the region, including the U.S., Brazil and Europe, Mexico, and India, to support the long-term scalable growth. PI improves its S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Ranking at 98% percentile. I'm pleased to share PI has been featured in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook. This is again a distinction marking, ranking among the top ESG-rated companies globally. Despite the near-term softening, our underlying fundamentals remain strong. Development at scale of...
Ladies and gentlemen, we have lost the line of the management. Please stay connected while I reconnect the management. Thank you.... Ladies and gentlemen, we have the management line reconnected. Sir, please proceed.
Yes, hi, sorry. So despite the near sharpness, our underlying fundamentals remain strong. Development and scale up of strategic growth platforms are progressing as per plan. A robust balance sheet and an innovative pipeline remains healthy. We are continuously driving a fully integrated research setup, one of its kind out of a central lab, critical to our growth aspirations of differentiation. Our teams are developing technology platforms that are giving opportunities across new verticals, such as biologicals, specialty, and electronic chemicals. Now, the first NCE from India, Pyroxasulfone , is under registration in India. The extensive on-field demonstrations have been launched. We have seen and we are very excited about the performance of the product.
On the other hand, our peptide technology, unique peptide technology platform for biologicals, another equally exciting opportunity, which is reflecting globally and we respond of this expansion has been seen by huge demand, by expanding channels and efforts and creating a new play in the industry. The place to commercialize advanced molecules are increased in line with our investments in research and differentiated technologies, from flow to vapor phase to biotechnology. Our long-term growth outlook remains intact, with a focus on margin discipline, high quality of growth, and leading platforms. With this, now I would like to hand the discussion over to our group CFO, Sanjay. Thank you everyone, and over to you, Sanjay. Go ahead, please.
Thank you, Mr. Singhal. Good morning, everyone. So guys, I'll summarize the finance... company's financial highlights for the quarter ended December 31, 2025. Our Q3 performance reflects the continued impact of global industry headwinds that we have been discussing with you in our previous calls. However, we believe the sector is nearing stabilization now and expect sequential improvement beginning quarter four. For quarter three, FY 2026, we reported revenue of INR 13,757 million, which comes on the back of a high base of the same period last year. Despite global challenges, we know we have still delivered a growth of over a 3-year CAGR for the 9-month period. The moderation in AgChem export is primarily volume-led, driven by slow demand and customer delivery schedules. Also to note that the 9-month period, FY 2024, for the AgChem export business, we grew by 22%.
Similarly, we grew in FY 2025, 9 months period, by 9%. So going forward, we remain fully confident of the future of our AgChem export business. We have commercialized 5 new molecules in AgChem exports and 4 in domestic agri brands. The 10% growth in new products in AgChem export demonstrates our de-risking strategy and focused approach to gaining new business in this tough environment. Domestic agrochemical demand remains subdued due to high channel inventory, low commodity prices, delay in normalization of biological portfolio, post-regulatory headwind, and specific impact from lower demand in a few target crops for PI. Our domestic business is supported by strong product portfolio and new product launches, which have offset the challenges faced on the ground.
We have launched three new herbicides, Alcor, Comet, Fixit, and one insecticide, Uranus, this year, with two more expected to be launched by close of FY 2026. We expect the domestic growth to be back on track from FY 2027 onwards. We've also launched our direct-to-farmer mobile app, PI Mitra Kisan, a one-stop farmer engagement solution offering crop advisory, product guidance, and loyalty benefits. This digital platform strengthens our connection with growers and drives scalable, tech-enabled growth. Moving on to our pharma platform, it has been on a very strong foundation, increased revenue by 50% over nine months of the previous year, driven by deepening relationship with the biotech and the big pharma innovators. We have onboarded several new customers over the last 12 months, including several strategic accounts and big pharma.
Global biologicals continue to progress in line with the long-term roadmap, with ongoing investments in registrations, product development, and global market expansion. On other financial matrices, our gross margin expanded to 59% during the quarter, supported by a favorable product mix and cost discipline. Further, at EBITDA level, we've delivered a margin of 27% for a 9-month period, which remains resilient despite industry headwinds. During the quarter, net profit includes an exceptional income in our pharma business on account of a write-back of contingent consideration of INR 1,260 million, which has been partly offset by additional provisioning of retirement benefits as per new labor code, to the tune of INR 209 million. Our trade working capital in terms of days of sales has increased to 139 days and reflects current market conditions.
We expect to improve this as market scenario normalizes in the coming quarters. Our debt-free balance sheet position, supported with net cash of INR 35 billion, provides strong resilience and flexibility for strategic investments. While the operating environment remains cautious, we expect gradual recovery beginning quarter four FY 2026, with growth momentum building into FY 2027 as industry conditions stabilize and our new products ramp up. With this, I conclude my opening remarks. I will now request the moderator to open the forum for Q&A. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, 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 their handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. We take the first question from the line of Saurabh Jain from HSBC. Please go ahead.
Hi, thank you for the opportunity. First question is on the guidance. When you say that-
Saurabh, I do apologize to interrupt you there, but your audio is not coming in clear. Could you please use your handset?
Better now?
Yes, better. Please go ahead.
Okay. Yeah. Thank you. So first question is on the guidance. When you say growth resuming in fourth quarter, is it only a sequential growth that you're talking about, or you even expect a YoY growth? And, you know, what this growth is really? Is it like a volume growth that you are alluding to, or you even expect a revenue growth or a value growth in the fourth quarter?
So yes, there will be a volume growth from, beginning quarter four, FY 2026. And yes, there will be a sequential growth in quarter four, over what we have seen in quarter three. And as we build in into FY 2027, we believe, with all the efforts we have been put in, we should, be on a growth momentum picking up there.
Volume growth in 4Q, is it also a YoY volume growth?
See, well, you know, sitting now, we would target to have a volume growth. But as I said, the momentum will start picking up from FY 2027 onwards.
Yeah, but just to clarify, we already see the baseline. We see a good momentum of uptick is started in the quarter four. And clearly, as we get into the year, the momentum is... So the positive part is, there's a positive moment already seen and witnessed, and I think we should be in a good shape coming in the quarter.
Understood. And then when you say FY 2027, you are expecting the revenue growth returning to the company in that year? And if possible, can you also give more contours to it, whether you expect a gradual recovery in growth or you expect the growth to open up in a big way?
Yeah. So I think we see the positivity of growth, and as I mentioned in my talk earlier, that, you know, the industry is still having an extended cycle of growth. But given the scenarios and as you must have seen in this year, there have been many headwinds, the geopolitical uncertainties, commodity prices, also given the challenge of India's regulatory framework on biologicals, and some of these areas have created certain challenges, including the weather conditions. But I think what we see, that given that, the bottoming for the bit and the positive shoots are already there. So we are positive to say, yes, we will start seeing this in 2027.
Okay. So, you know, just to kind of continue on that point, because the kind of robust business that we have, right? We have visibility, a lot more visibility compared to the other kinds of businesses, you know, in the sector. So are you noticing already a great deal of visibility from the customer side that you are getting optimistic in terms of a recovery in FY 2027? Or is it mainly coming from some optimism that you have in mind?
No, no. I think, as you know, some part of the business is more about what we have from the customer set. But at the same time, if there are adverse headwinds, life shift, and you know the PI philosophy of partnership, that goes strong. And even while we have what we've committed to with them, but we have to sit and optimize to handle the market situation, because, you know, you have to partner up to create value. So we see the uptick in demand, but clearly, as I said, there's been a reset in the way the customers are thinking, the way they're looking at agile supply chains, given the challenges or these prolonged challenges that they've been seeing.
But clearly, given where we are, looking at what they feel, the operational aspects of these issues in the industry are getting cleaned up, but the external factors still will have a role to play. And we don't know how reactions happen, the geopolitical scenarios, which could change. But clearly, there's a positivity of, from all quarters in terms of how we may see it going forward.
Understood. Thank you. That is helpful. The second question is, we noticed that the gross margins continue to improve every quarter for you, and I think we delivered a 59% kind of a gross margins. Would you also give out a guidance on what kind of, gross margin do you expect on a sustainable basis?
So as you've seen, as always, we guide. I think we continue to manage the gross margin on a quarter-to-quarter basis. It will be difficult to put that out, as you very clearly would understand that there are product mixes, there's value mixes, which come together. But as we given the guidance between 50 to 50... odd plus 50 to 52 or 53%, we continue to keep that, and we continue to move with that.
We have been delivering quite good kind of gross margins for last few quarters. What is this gap between what is your expectations on a sustainable basis and what we're delivering? What is this gap attributed to? I really don't understand that side.
Gap of what? The gap of the gross margin?
... Yeah, so thank you so much. Sorry.
Yeah, no, I understood your question. See, the thing is, first of all, while we will, we'll aim to deliver more, but it is better to be because there will be a product mix gap between quarter and quarter. So on a yearly basis is when we can talk more clarity with you. And at the end of the day, whatever gross margin benefits we get, it helps us in investing of the planned investment what we have in the new businesses, and therefore, it is better to track the EBITDA margin. Again, for the nine months, we are at a healthy 26%-27%, and we would still hold ourselves for the year, what we started the year with, with 25%-26%. And we believe that, that is where we should exit, target to exit in this financial year.
And more so, you know, these things, once we have our budgeting exercise completed for FY 27, we can give you more guidance for the next year thereafter.
Thank you so much, and all the best. I'll get back in the queue.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in the interest of time and fairness to others, we request you to restrict to two questions per participant and rejoin the question queue. We take the next question from the line of Vivek Rajamani from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. The first question I had was an extension to the earlier guidance question. Just going to fiscal 27, I know it's a bit early, but would it be possible to give some sense of, you know, you're expecting more like mid-single digit or, you know, high single digit, any, you know, range, if that's possible? And also whether it would be broad-based across the portfolio, or you expect certain parts of the portfolio contributing more, towards that fiscal 27 recovery? That's the first question.
So let me put it, as we said, there is still the softness. I think we're definitely seeing recovery. Now, different pockets, different place. Clearly, it'd be too early to give a guidance, which, what numbers is to actually see. But I think coming to the next quarter, as we, as we always do over the decades, is where we give a guidance for the next financial year, towards the end of the year. Yeah?
Sure, sir. Understood. The second question with respect to the new products that you've been disclosing. I think for the nine months, you've mentioned that the new products have grown at about 10%, which given the first two quarters of the year, which saw a very, very strong growth, it seems to suggest that 3Q, that growth of the new portfolio seems to have slowed down. I just wanted to get some color with respect to, you know, were there any specific reasons around that? And, you know, if there was some impact of the U.S. tariffs, and how should we think about that going forward into fiscal 2027? Thank you.
So at a fundamental level, as I highlighted in my speech, that the key challenge is the commodity prices and the demand cycle, which is creating challenges and the headwinds of weather. Obviously, the U.S. policies have impacted the growers, which in turn has a consumption differentiation. It is not the trade policies per se. So I think that's creating one of the key, key, key challenges. But going forward, I definitely see that could move into the positive direction. That is one. The second important issue, as we see for the new products, it takes a little time for development, as you can understand from the ag business, and I'm sure you know that well. It takes typically a decade plus to key products. And the beauty about ag is products continue to grow for life. And I think that's, that's, that's what the time cycle is.
But the positivity is the mix of the new product portfolio, the percentage growth coming from that. With time, if the industry switches, this could accelerate the growth rates of these new products.
Sure, sir. That's helpful. I'll rejoin the queue, and all the very best.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Abhijit Akella from Kotak Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good morning. Thank you so much. Could you please just update us on the contract assets number on the balance sheet at the end of December, please?
Yeah, Abhijit. So, this particular quarter, the contract assets are in the range of around INR 1,065 crores. And, yeah.
Okay, got it. So compared to, basically about a little under INR 900 crore last quarter.
Correct.
And, in terms of the liquidation timeline for this line, I think we've said in the past that we expect it to come down towards the end of this financial year. So, any sense you could help us with regarding how we should expect the trajectory to shape up over here?
Yes, as you know, yes, that's what we've given a guidance. As you know, as we look at the past history, this is a typical cyclical approach, with and no inventions beyond three to six months. So but clearly, yes, at the end of the year, this will be coming down, and I think over the next couple of quarters, it may further go lower. So there is a mix of how asset utilization, capacity utilization, customer contracts, and the mechanisms work.
By year-end, where should we expect this number to be, sir?
Well, I can only give you guidance to say it will be reduced, and it will get there, but to give a specific number will depend on how we shape things up in terms of customer shipments, timelines, asset mixes, which are going up. So because that's really how it is. It's not a specific number that I can come to today.
All right. And then just on the gross margin guidance, you know, just, you know, trying to understand, I mean, in terms of this 50%-52% trajectory that we expect, is that something we should expect in the relatively near future itself, say, in fiscal 2027, or, for fiscal 2027, what's the line of sight we have? Can we maintain the gross margins around these levels of 58%-59%?
So as we mentioned, given that guidance, we, our intention is to continue to obviously manage and maintain the gross margin. And clearly, as we will give a better guidance at the close of the year-end.
...
Abhijit, do you have?
Yeah, I think I'm done. Thank you so much. All the best.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Rohit Nagraj from 360 ONE Capital. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, any update on the Plant Health Care? When we had acquired this almost 1.5 years back, we were expecting some cross-selling of products from India, our own products, to the other geographies, like where PHC has its presence in U.S., Brazil, Mexico. So where are we in that process, and where can we see some tangible benefits from the same? Thank you.
Maybe, Jagresh, you can take this. Go ahead, please.
Yes. No, absolutely, and, and thank you for asking. So on Plant Health Care part of the business, we have made tremendous progress this year. We are expanding our business in Brazil, U.S., Mexico, and European countries. In Brazil, this year, we have gone from last year, 2 distributors to 33 distributors. We have more than 400 farmers who are right now using our product in their own field, testing the product. In case of similarly, in Mexico, we have more than 28 distributors right now who are working with us. In U.S., we are setting up a distribution network for the entire Midwest. And some of the world's largest farmers from Brazil and Mexico, they are basically right now testing our product. They have been working with us. We have also got some new product under registration.
We launched two new products in Brazil, two in Mexico. We've just got our disease control product approval in California. That makes the entire U.S., and California is the largest market for that product. We are awaiting an approval for one of our nematode management product in U.S., which is expected sometime this month. And all the trials which we are doing in the farmers' field in Brazil, the harvesting is just getting started, and what we are seeing is almost more than 80% win rate. So we are basically making good progress. In India, we got the product, Plant Health Care product got approved, and we are looking at launching this product in this, you know, next quarter.
Sure. That's helpful. Second question on Pyroxasulfone. Now that we have filed for the registration in Indian market, what are the timelines that we are looking at from commercialization in Indian market? And any progress on, you know, probably having registrations in the global market? Thank you.
For sure. Thank you. I think the progress is within this financial year. We should be achieving the registration. So that will be the landmark in the Indian history for new innovation of Pyroxasulfone in the next coming financial year. On the other hand, yes, there are works of regulatory works which are going in another couple of geographies, so we'll be filing for regulatory registrations in the coming year. Hoping as soon as we get regulatory approvals, launch this product, launch the product at a global platform.
Sure. Thanks a lot for answering all the questions, and all the best, sir.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Siddharth Gadekar from Equirus Securities. Please go ahead.
So just on the pharma and the biologic business, now, if you look at the numbers, we are heavily investing in these businesses, and we are roughly at a INR 75-80 crore quarterly EBITDA loss in these segments. So how should we think about these investments from a medium to longer term? And, are we at the peak of the investments in these businesses, and going ahead, the investment should move in line with our overall OpEx?
That's a very good question. See, look, first, we need to understand why we are doing it. If we understand that these are good costs, you know, the investment, what we are doing is going to be a long-term value creation for the organization. That is where we are at. Now, initially, we bought... I mean, we've got these businesses, we have incubated them, we have got the people now, and we have to make the right investments, and unfortunately, all of it get charged off to the P&L. So yes, it will take some time, like pharma is now getting onto a right, I mean, strong foundation, biologicals, Jagresh just spoke. So yes, currently they are having a P&L charge, and we'll have to bear it for some few quarters.
But thereafter, we think as an organization, this will be future growth engines for us. Yeah, that's it.
They were in one line. Look at these as investments of the future, not as losses of present.
Got it. So secondly, just on the CapEx side, we were working on two multipurpose plants, and now we have expanded that to three multipurpose plants. We have also spoken about a non-GMP plant in India on the pharma side. The third plant is largely for the pharma business. Is that a fair understanding?
No, as you know, we're looking at certain other verticals, as I mentioned earlier. So the third plant will be servicing those verticals, which are especially in electronic chemicals. So that's really where we are putting our footprint in.
Any CapEx on the pharma intermediate plant that we are setting up in India?
Yes, we will be coming up with the plans and announcing that in the next quarter.
Oh, okay, sir. Got it. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please press star and one. We take the next question from the line of Tejas Pradhan from Citigroup. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. I know it's early, but could you provide any guidance on the CapEx plan for FY 27?
... So broadly, let me give it in mind, is around INR 500 crore-INR 600 crore. I mean, and obviously, once you get through the whole process procedures after board approval, we have proper guidance next quarter.
Okay. You mentioned INR 500 crore-INR 600 crore, right?
Yeah, I think that's where we are today.
Okay, okay. Understood. And on the domestic biologicals registration process, any update where we are? What percentage of portfolio would be already registered?
So if you look at the domestic biological portfolio, as you know, in the beginning of the year, we've had certain turmoil in the industry, so those are getting sorted. I believe in this quarter, those should be in the past. Clearly, certain other new products, as we already mentioned, that products like a new peptide product, the Harpinαβ, is already registered. And we are looking and evaluating about 2-3 new products in this segment. And I think today we have a very robust, large-scale portfolio in biologicals. We are making those investments to scale them up.
Okay, okay. And just lastly, any sort of thought process on the use of cash on balance sheet, if there are any opportunities, domestically or elsewhere, what, how are you thinking about it?
So if you look at the cash in the balance sheet, there will be investments. We're also looking, as we mentioned, on the new entities and technology platforms that we invest in. Clearly, the company has a resource and a team which is all on the lookout to look at what could be the synergistic in line with our strategies, which are knowledge-led capabilities of building a differentiated play. So that's something where we are focusing, and we'll continue to do so.
Okay. And just to, if I can add, I mean, would this largely be in AgChem or largely looking at outside of AgChem?
I like the way that we put it. If you have three children, we have to decide which suits the best opportunity, which school fits what skill, right? Once you look at the opportunity, we're looking to grow in every sector that we are playing in. Whichever opportunity comes and fits in well, we're going to put it there.
Sure. Understood. Thanks a lot, sir.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Vivek Rajamani from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you so much for the follow-up. This is an extension of the previous participant's question. On the biological side, did you mention that the regulatory issues are now behind, and Q4 will potentially be a normal quarter?
Now, yes, in the Indian market, if you remember, they are now getting into approval systems, so that's why I'm saying behind. So maybe next year we'll see those pieces come up. Q4 is when they, we expect. Industry has taken up front, and the government has taken initiatives to resolve that.
Sure, sir. Understood. Would it just be possible to share, you know, what is the biologicals contribution in fiscal 2026 so far?
We should be around 20 odd %.
Okay, sir. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Ranjit Cirumalla from IIFL Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. Thank you for taking my question. My question is on the write back of the contingent consideration that we have taken of the PI Health Sciences. How should one view this? Is it does the original performance thesis of this particular acquisition remains intact, or there is going to be any change in the expectations?
No, no, absolutely. There is no no change in the strategy. There is no impact of it, and that's why we renegotiated contingent consideration, which was lying in our books. So, the business is on a strong footing. We have a now experienced in-house global business development team. So we're looking forward for our pharma business to scale up and build one of the best global CRDMO platform.
Sure. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Siddharth Gadekar from Equirus Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi. My question is on the Plant Health Care business. Can you just share some broader thoughts on how should one think about the overall opportunity and the trajectory of this segment? Specifically on Saori and Teikko, given that we have been looking to ramp up these products, any indicative timelines and to peak sales numbers that we could look at from these products?
Yeah, no, absolutely. So see, you have to look at it. Overall, in the industry, biological business globally has been growing in double digits. So globally, the biological business is in the range of around $10 billion today. This has been continuously growing over 10%. And that's the segment basically we are participating. We are bringing in some of our key products. The difference, what we see, is overall biological business globally is a fairly crowded space, but we have some unique product, and these technologies, no one has. We are the first company in the world who has commercialized peptides in agriculture. Peptides have been used in pharma, et cetera, in the, in the past, but we are the first company who has commercialized in agriculture, and we see this differentiation driving significant growth. Products like Saori, Teikko, these are the plant production products.
Within biologicals, the fastest growing segment today is a biocontrol segment because of the challenges, you know, which are coming in, like society is looking at, you know, how can they basically bring in the products which have a lesser impact overall? And that's what is driving the growth. Also, farmers are looking at those kind of options which can help their crop to grow better. So we actually see a significant growth opportunities as we expand this portfolio.
Okay. Sir, secondly, we have made a comment in the presentation that we aim at becoming among the top five CRDMO on the pharma side.
... Any timelines or how should one think about the investment in this segment going ahead?
As you know, this is a long gestation-based business, capable of building. I can just give you a parallel example, it took about a decade to build BI contract manufacturing, and then you have what? The hockey stick effect. I think we are right now in the phase of the hockey. We expect, yes, the scale will take time if you want to differentiate and have sustainability. I think we should look at the next couple of years, let's put the right basis and the numbers will start ticking.
Okay, thank you so much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please press star and one. We take the next question from the line of Krishan Parwani from JM Financial. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. Thank you for taking my question. Just firstly, wanted to understand, the CSM business that has struggled this quarter. So, you know, when do you expect the CSM business to kind of show a YoY growth? Maybe this six months down the line or nine months down the line, when do you expect it?
So let me first calibrate. We're not struggling, number one. It is well in line and expectation of what we see. But clearly, as we've indicated that coming to quarter, we're already seeing the positive rate coming from. And the fourth quarter itself will start showing certain riches. So we're pretty confident that will work well.
So did you mention that the fourth quarter onwards will, you will have, a CSM growth again? Is that what you-
Yeah.
Okay, okay, okay, okay. And, you know, with, when do we expect, this, pharma contributions, to be fairly positive, for the company? Because I think, our, our targets to go a bit up positive have been pushed out. I know you've been, you know, trying a lot, but, what's the sense there?
So let me put it, we're definitely putting all the efforts. The idea is the better positivity is something dependent on the market and the opportunity, and clearly, we don't want to lose the focus on what the strategic differentiator will be, just because the markets are twiddling. But I think we are the only in the building capability, so we're taking more aggressive calls and investing, hence you may see the better challenges. But I do believe that now that the foundations are set, it takes a longer gestation to turn this business up. And clearly, I see in the next couple of years, it should start moving once we hit the top INR 450 crore top lines.
Understood. And lastly, if I may, you know, it's been some quarters since we have stopped giving out our order book number. So, has the order book declined or what is it? What's the status of it? Can you just help us with that?
No, no, we have been sharing order book. I think last time also we did mention that, and as of this quarter, the way we look at it, we are in the range of $1.2 billion of order book.
Understood. Thank you for patiently answering my question. Wish you all the best, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Naushad Chaudhary from Aditya Birla Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Just one question, sir. If you can, you know, touch upon on the electronic chemicals, what exactly are we doing here from an end user point of view? And how big this platform can be for you in next five years and beyond?
Yeah. So in terms of electronic chemicals, I think there is a good traction. New customers have been added, and the couple of products have gone to the commercialization, and we expect that 4-5 molecules should be going for commercialization this year. So there is a good amount of, you know, the projects with the new customers getting required, and I see a good amount of progress going forward in the coming years in electronic chemical space.
Can you touch upon the end user, which specific area and space, these molecules are targeting?
They are the semiconductor. They are the more the semiconductor and the, high-end application of electronics. So keep that in mind.
Okay. Are these only for domestic market or for export as well?
They're only working in a global innovator market.
Thank you so much, sir. All the best.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Amit Kadam from Canara Robeco Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Yeah, hi, sir. Good morning, and thanks for giving this opportunity. So my first question is, have you seen some kind of a price realization impact in some of our key products? I just wanted to understand how the pricing or the realization is also behaving, when you are anticipating revival in the group.
Well, let me put it this way. Price realization has overall in the industry shrunk, as you can see, and clearly because also the costs of raw material have come down. The company's strategic focus is to continue to manage its gross margins, and while we continue to look at optimizing to be competitive on the price front, to capture value and volume both at a balance, at a balance level. So that's been the approach, and that's the path of the cyclical industry like ag.
So is it fair to assume that some kind of impact is also seen in our portfolio in terms of some compression in the price realizations?
Portfolio mixes always have a challenge, very clearly, and that's a cycle, life cycle, different product, different places. But the point of the management focus for the company is to see how we can manage the gross margins. So portfolio is one strategy. Technology is the other better strategy. The third is the market to create value and to create those are the three strategies, and that's what creates gross margins.
And, just to extend this particular thing, the things what we like when there is a price compression, the thing what we can, we often discuss with the management client, is like, some past due or some bad debt, maybe like-
I can't get you. Sir?
Hello. Am I audible now? So I am saying that what are-
I'm not, so I can't hear you.
Am I audible, sir? Sorry.
Yeah.
Hello. Yes.
Yeah.
So, my extension to the question was, like, what's the recourse in this particular thing? Is that only recourse is that we try to do lot of, some backward integration and, and that's how I try to be better in that particular product, when there is a price compression happening for that particular product? Or is there a way of finding out-
Yeah, your background noise is too much. Secondly, I didn't get your question, so I don't know how we... Can we get that?
Maybe, maybe I'll just come back. I'll just fix something, and I'll come back with my second question, sir.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Aditya Jhawar from Investec. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thanks for the opportunity. So my first question is, I hope you guys can hear me?
Yeah, we can hear you, Aditya.
Yeah. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sir, you know, if you can give me some sense that how has been our penetration in some of the new clients? So clearly, over the last 4, 5 years, we would have added multiple client in different geographies. So is there a line of sight where we can see that in the next couple of years, we should see a meaningful ramp-up in some of the new relationships we have, you know, we have, you know, started?
Which business area are we talking this about, Jhawar?
So, CSM, this is, you know, the, I think, the elephant in the room.
Let me put it this way. So in the ag business, we cover all the players already, so it's expanding new businesses. But if you're talking about the electronic and the new verticals, that's where we are basically focusing in companies. We've got five new customers in the areas of electronic chemicals, primarily in Japan, and in certain European customers for high-end specialty technology development products.
Yeah, yeah. So, you know, continuing with this, Mayank, you know, in the AgC hem business, as we, you know, had a strong relationship with Japanese innovators, is there a line of sight where we can say that we are having meaningful contribution coming from, say, European, American innovators in the next couple of years based on our existing business, you know, discussions with them?
So one, I'm not sure because we're working with the European customers, the three big boys, for at least last 20 years. And we were, we know also their pioneering partners. So those have continued to have dialogue. New pipelines come in, new valuations happen, and we're developing them. So, and also the American companies, which you would know of.
Sure, sure. Fair enough. Fair enough. So, my second question is, you know, Sanjay, if you can, you know, throw some light. There has been an increase in the working capital quite sharply, almost from 68 days to 139 days.YoY ? So could you please explain and how we should expect, you know, the intensity of the working capital coming down?
So Aditya, you know, this is a reflection of, you know, the global scenario. We had one of the lowest working capital days across the industry. Now, we have to accommodate the needs of our partners, and in those lines is where our net working capital days have gone up much, still much better than the industry benchmark norms. But having said that, we would not... We would definitely want these-- I will not be able to give you exact numbers, Aditya, right now, but we expect to improve this as the market scenarios normalize in the coming quarters.
So, that's it from my side. I'll fall back with you. Thank you.
Bye, Aditya.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Archit Joshi from Nuvama Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning, and thanks for the opportunity. So I have only one question. I would like to understand your thoughts on the evolving landscape among our global agri majors. We have seen some bit of corporate actions happening in some of the large MNC agro innovators. Given this scenario, how do you see the development on new technologies and patented products coming up, especially in regards to their R&D spends? What would be our stance and capability to have a first-mover advantage within these patented technologies going ahead, so that we can garner a good amount of product portfolio and scale-up abilities going ahead?
If you would have a 3-5-year view on this developing and evolving scenario, I would like to hear more from you, sir. Thank you.
So thanks. I think that's a very good question, and let me put this across very well. Every challenge has an opportunity, and I think PI is the only company which is geared with its philosophy of partnership and technology as an innovator, which creates an opportunity just not in manufacturing, but also in building new entities together. And I think that's the PI value proposition. If you look at the history of PI, we started as partners with licensing, domestic business, and scaling that up as partnerships for innovation, the PI way. The next was partnership innovation manufacturing. Now, we as a company will lead the path in the AgC hem sector for partnering for innovation, for new product development. Not only product development, but we opened a few more engines. We have taken the engines of biologicals, where we're creating innovative platforms and partnerships.
The partnership, platform, and PI innovation are going to be the drivers-
Mm.
of which the opportunity in the challenging environments gives us a differentiator to partner even deeper in the relationship, from markets to research.
Sure, sir. Thank you. Thanks. Thanks, and all the best.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question, and we conclude the question and answer session. I now hand the conference over to the management for their closing comments.
Thank you, everybody, for joining us on this call. I would like to highlight today, we celebrate our Founder's Day, an exciting time and day for all of us. Thank you for being here. Bye.
Thank you. On behalf of PI Industries Limited, that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line.