Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Q3 and nine months FY 2026 earnings conference call of Aarti Drugs Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Before we begin, a brief disclaimer. This call may contain forward-looking statements about the company, which are based on the beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the company as on date of this call. These statements are not guarantee of future performance, and it may involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. I now hand over the conference to Mr. Adhish Patil, COO and CFO from Aarti Drugs Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, and good morning to all our stakeholders. We appreciate your participation in Aarti Drugs Q3 and nine months FY 2026 earnings conference call. Joining me today are Mr. Harshit Savla, Joint Managing Director.
Morning.
Mr. Harshit Shah, Whole Time Director; Mr. Vishwa Savla, Managing Director, Pinnacle Life Science, along with our investor relations advisor, SGA. We trust that you had the opportunity to review our financial results and investor presentation for the quarter and nine months ended 31 December, 2025 , which have been uploaded with stock exchanges and are also available on our website. I will begin by outlining the key operating and business highlights for the period, following which we will discuss financial performance. On the business side, it is important to note that several factors weighed on this quarter's performance. Utilization levels remained low, impacting overall performance and operating leverage. First, weaker antibiotic demand reduced overall market pool, leading to lower capacities being utilized and creating margin pressure.
Secondly, we faced delays in shipments from China that disrupted supply chains and extended lead times, straining production schedules and added to cost pressures. Third, a one-time voluntary shutdown was undertaken in one of our plants for refurbishment ahead of the European audit, which temporarily constrained production. Finally, the new greenfield facilities operated below optimal utilization as they are in the initial ramp-up phase. That also put pressure on profitability. Now, on the positive side, on year-over-year basis, we witnessed 7% volume growth in standalone business segment and a negative rate variance of around 5%. Export markets, especially formulations, emerged as a key growth driver, supporting overall business stability and contributing positively to margins. Our diversified product portfolio continues to play an important role in navigating such category-specific demand fluctuations. The facility of Saykha, which operationalized in September 2025, has transitioned into the scale-up phase.
It has achieved nearly 30% utilization in its first quarter of operation, and we expect to ramp this up to nearly 50% by March and April 2026 and upwards to that in the following quarters. Importantly, the facility is currently meeting only 10%-15% of our captive requirements for critical intermediates used in our anti-diabetic portfolio. But going forward, it will significantly enhance supply reliability and reduce dependence on external sourcing in line with our backward integration strategy. We expect to become fully self-reliant for these supplies in coming couple of quarters. Our Salicylic Acid facility at Tarapur also achieved an important milestone as of now, scaling production to about 300 tons per month currently. However, the overall December 2025 quarter utilization for this product was still lower than expected.
The facility has achieved improved operational stability in terms of quality parameters and solid waste management, with further improvements planned in the technology. In terms of the business segments, our formulations business showed encouraging traction during the quarter, particularly in exports market. The increasing contribution of formulations with a higher share of exports aligns with our strategy of moving towards higher value offerings and improving overall business quality. As new markets and products scale up, we expect formulations to play a progressively larger role in our growth trajectory. On the regulatory front, certification and approval processes are progressing as planned. Audit observations are under review, and inspections were conducted at one of our facilities as a part of ongoing regulatory initiatives, including preparations for European approvals. This forms a part of our broader roadmap to expand presence in regulated and semi-regulated markets.
After several quarters of pricing pressure, we believe the business has reached an inflection point, supported by stabilizing realization and improving volume momentum. January month sales shows a trend which is encouraging and providing confidence in a more positive trajectory for coming quarters. Going forward, our focus remains firmly on capacity ramp-up, operational efficiency, and margin improvement, while maintaining strict capital discipline and regulatory compliance. We remain committed to executing our growth projects efficiently and building a stronger, more resilient platform for sustainable long-term growth. Now, let's talk about financial performance. At consolidated level for Q3 FY 2026, revenue stood at INR 602.9 crores, as compared to INR 557.1 crores in Q3 FY 2025, reflecting a growth of 8% YoY.
EBITDA stood at INR 56.3 crores, versus INR 62.3 crores in Q3 FY 2025, down 10% YoY basis, with EBITDA margin at 9.3%. PAT stood at INR 40.5 crores as compared to INR 25.7 crores in Q3 FY 2025, up by 58% on YoY basis, translating to a PAT margin of 6.7%. For nine months, FY 2026, revenue stood at INR 1,846.6 crores, as compared to INR 1,713.4 crores in nine months, FY 2025, reflecting a growth of 8% YoY. EBITDA stood at INR 215 crores, versus INR 196.9 crores in nine months, FY 2025, up 9% YoY, with EBITDA margin at 11.6%.
PAT stood at INR 139.7 crore as compared to INR 94 crore in Q3 FY 2025, up by 49% YoY, translating to a PAT margin of 7.6%. With respect to standalone business for Q3 FY 2026, revenue stood at INR 530 crore, contributing 88% to the consolidated revenue. Exports contributed 37% to this revenue. Within the API business, the antibiotic therapeutic category contributed 35.1%, anti-protozoal 19.8%, anti-inflammatory 12.9%, anti-diabetic 16.6%, antifungal 12.2%, and the rest contributed 3.5% to the total API sales. For formulation segment, revenue from formulation stood at INR 76.6 crore in Q3 FY 2026, up 58% YoY. Exports contributed 67% to this revenue.
Now, with this, we would like to open the floor for questions. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question -and- answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. The first question is from the line of Vishal from Systematix. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning, thanks for the opportunity. So my question is on the formulation business. So just want to understand whether, on the formulation business, the primary intention is to do all the formulations of the existing APIs that we have large capacities for, or we, we would also do other formulations beyond, beyond our APIs that we are traditionally strong at?
Vishwa, would you like to answer this question?
Yeah. Yeah, I'll answer. So, currently we are doing both. We are working on formulations of APIs that Aarti Drugs is manufacturing in-house, but we are not restricting to that. Especially on our pipeline, we are focusing more on niche categories into the oncology and cardio diabetic range. Wherever Aarti Drugs has an API, obviously that is a priority, but we are not restricting only to drugs where Aarti Drugs is manufacturing the API.
Okay. So oncology specifically would need dedicated capacities, so those would be like separately created, right, for oncology?
Yes. Within formulation, we have a dedicated oncology US FDA-approved manufacturing site.
Right. So if you, if you want to break up the formulation capacity between oncology and non-oncology, like, in terms of the investment, how would you-
... First, the oncology is still pre-revenue. We have not started commercial sales from the oncology side yet, because the products are still in pipeline and filing stage. The first product will be commercialized in this quarter, in Q4. In terms of the capacities, in absolute terms, in terms of tablets, about 90% of the capacity is in the General plant. But in terms of the potential revenue, over the next three years, about 40% of the revenue can be generated from oncology.
In terms of the investment, would that be in the same proportion, the revenue proportion or?
Yeah, it would be slightly higher because on the product development part also, we are investing more into the oncology. So the investment would be probably about 50%, 40%-50% on oncology.
We'll primarily do contract manufacturing on both the fronts, or we'll kind of have. So we'll have the dossiers ow ned on both these, both these categories and then, partners?
Yeah. So we do both for, primarily for the domestic market, we do contract manufacturing, whereas for the international markets, we develop our products, and dossiers, and then we out-license them. So we hold the IP, and, we work with local partners for the marketing and distribution.
Okay, okay. And just one on Metformin, so the, the backward integration capacities for the methylamines that we are, that we are creating, would that also be used for Gliptins also, or that, that's only for-
No.
Metformin?
No, that is, dedicated to Metformin, API.
Okay, okay. And, any sense on Metformin in terms of, what would be India's share in the total Metformin capacities across the world?
Yeah, yeah. It's we have to do the current analysis, but couple of years back we were roughly around 12%-13% of the Indian capacities. But right now we have increased our capacity in last one year. So with that increased capacity, probably it might have gone up upwards of 15%.
Okay, okay. And, and we have INR 180 crore sitting on CWIP. Is that for the oncology block or...?
So no, no. So it will be part would be the oncology dose development, and part is related to big 25 tons boiler, which will be going on stream in this quarter. It is a cogen boiler, big boiler, so it will be also generating power along with the steam. And it is part of our one of the greenfield projects.
Right. And finally, if you can quantify with the backward integration projects, so the methylamine and backward integration projects and all the other cost saving investments that you've done, in what... Like at peak utilization, like if we are able to sub, kind of use it entirely 100%, what would be the savings that we'll generate in, in the numbers?
Yeah, I understand it's slightly difficult to give a projection because with additional capacity coming into picture, the prices will definitely move. The margins of that product will slightly change going forward as the new entrant has come in. But it will definitely help us in improving the gross contribution further. Plus, it will also help us in improving the sales of couple of specialty chemicals, Spechem, which has already increased in this quarter as well, and it will further increase in March quarter, and then next couple of quarters will be further ramping up the production and the Saykha facility.
Overall, what we expect is that it should give a boost of, say, you know, at least couple of % in gross contribution at the company level when it runs further, when it runs at full scale.
Like, like if we assume current prices and not assume any volatility in going forward-
Yeah.
- If there is an absolute number you can share, if prices remain raw material and end product prices.
It's a very, very, very rough number, very rough number. It's run at full scale potential, the EBITDA can be up, slightly upwards of INR 50 crores.
Understood. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Resham Jain from DSP Asset Managers. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning. So I have a few questions. So first one is, if it is possible to quantify all the things which you have mentioned in your opening remarks with respect to shutdown and some of the new facilities coming up, I assume there will be losses related to that. So if each of those items, if you can just quantify how much impact would be there in this quarter because of all this things?
You see, a couple of the greenfield projects put together. Now we don't have any issues at the Saykha facility like we had in salicylic plant. Because Saykha facility, this is the first quarter of ramp-up, and we have already ramped up to 30%, and it is going very smoothly as far as the ramp-up is concerned. So both this included, probably at the EBITDA level, it could have created a drag of roughly INR 8 crores-INR 8.5 crores. And at the PBT level, probably it would be around some INR 14 crores-INR 15 crores. But that is, it will change soon for the Saykha facility. For the salicylic facility, it will change gradually in this quarter and then June quarter.
As far as the other lower production capacity utilization, I don't have an exact number, but what has happened, you know, we have sold a lot from the FG stock in this particular quarter. So if you see the numbers, around INR 30 crore of sale has come from the existing stocks and not because of the fresh production. And because of that, we have estimated that roughly it would have impacted around 1% in the gross margins. Because when we sell from stock, you know, the inventory valuation typically has 80% raw material content and 20% overhead component. So that 20% would be amounting to INR 6 crore. So that has created a drag in gross margins for which you see for the December quarter.
So, definitely there have been multiple factors. So all put together, it has created a drag in the parent company, the standalone business, which is the API and the Spechem company. Whereas, the formulations division has done quite well in the December quarter. But the good part is in January, for both the segments, we are seeing good traction in the business. So hopefully this trend has already reversed, and we should see some positive numbers in the March quarter.
So, what I understood is that, 8 crore drag at EBITDA level, which is almost like 30-odd crores full year annualized number, and, could be more in the earlier quarters. What we could see next year is not just a break-even, but possibly as we move in the quarters, it will become positive. So the overall, impact at EBITDA level will, should be much positive, in FY 2027. Is that understanding correct?
Yes, that is very true.
Okay, understood. The second question is with respect to the CapEx. This year, I think, you mentioned earlier, last quarter, that, we'll have close to INR 200 crore CapEx this year, and that will bring, an end to our overall INR 600 crore CapEx, which we have planned earlier. So what is the CapEx, let's say, in FY 2027, beyond what we have earlier planned for?
Yeah. So, what we had planned earlier, except for one project, we are almost, we are almost done with, the other projects. The one project which was left out in this was expansion of Metformin facility to almost around 2,500-3,000 tons per month. That was our long-term strategy. However, because of some land issues, initially we ended up doing the brownfield expansion. So we already have reached around 1,450-1,500 tons per month. We'll be scaling it up to 1,800 tons per month in the existing facility, 1,800-1,900 tons per month. Plus we are seeing some positive signs on the land side, so that will also happen.
And the main idea is to forward integrate in the Metformin. The first step is that we are going for US FDA approval for the Metformin. We have already prepared a USDMF. We are in the process of filing it, and we'll try to trigger the audit in the coming year and take it from there. So that should improve our regulated sales of Metformin, and but definitely it will give a very good EBITDA margin from those markets. Plus, the plan would be for the US market, through Pinnacle, we might be launching ANDA as well for the Metformin tablets. So forward integration of Metformin is on cards. So that was the one project which was left out from the initial plan, which we will take up in the coming couple of years.
And apart from that, there are certain expansion of cardiovascular products from our existing line. Plus, we have seen some increased demand for our antifungal products, so for that, we are expanding capacity. Plus, we are thinking in the lines of doing some level of CDMO in the chlorosulfonation chemistry, where we are already strong at. We are already doing means contract manufacturing for a few MNCs as far as few second products are concerned. So we want to expand in that line as well. Plus, the methylamine chemistry, which was newly introduced through Saykha plant, we are looking at exploring the options of various derivatives, which will be a part of that chemistry itself.
So it will help us, you know, there will be synergies in the further expansion, so that should help us reduce cost also, and plus get some value addition. So that is the overall plan for the coming years for the CapEx, and plus, we are identifying new molecules as far as API and other second segment is concerned. That process is also on, and we will announce soon, as soon as something is finalized. Having said that, I would still maintain that, you know, around INR 150 crores-INR 200 crores of CapEx you can expect for the next two years, each every year. Each every year, INR 150 crores-INR 200 crores of CapEx, considering the formulation oncology expansion and the all the ideas I just spoke about.
Understood. Very clear. And what is the current debt on books?
Current debt is roughly around INR 540 crore, total debt at the consolidated level. On the standalone level, it could be around INR 392 crore. In both the divisions, the debt is equally split between long-term and short-term. It's almost 50 point something percent each.
Understood. Okay. Thank you so much, all the best.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Dhwanil Desai from Turtle Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning, Adhish. Adhish, my first question is that you said that January seems promising, and we are at an inflection point where the, you know, the negative price variance is kind of coming to an end. So earlier we were expecting, you know, 15% kind of a volume growth, you know, coming through in H2. So, do we see similar trend, and should we expect the good kind of volume and hence value growth, you know, going forward into FY 2027 also?
We can expect the main reason is the growth which we expected in FY 2026 hasn't come to that extent, so which means that the growth will be pushed ahead into FY 2027. So probably we can expect around, you know, 12%-15% volume growth in FY 2027, with both the projects going smooth, the greenfield projects I'm talking about.
Okay. So is it fair to assume that large part of volume growth will come from the new projects and existing basket of products, you know, there, you know, the... We are not expecting much of a volume growth or maybe single digits volume growth. Is that a fair way to look at it?
Yeah. So, so the existing product basket should give a single-digit volume growth. But the main growth driver for the volumes will be the new projects, both Salicylic Acid and the Thiocarbamate, the Methylamine.
Okay. Okay, got it. Second question is on the gross margin side, even if we adjust for the 100 basis points because of the inventory challenges, you know, that is still below that, you know, 36%-37% mark that we wanted to hit. So, you know, how should we look at this margin trajectory going into FY 2027? And because a lot of backward integration, that will also come into play, chlorosulfonation also, you know, will kind of pick up the specialty part of it. So how should we look at that number going forward?
Yes, yes. So this particular quarter for the, on a consolidated basis, what we can see it is roughly around 36%, with 35.9. The main, as I was talking about the, we have sold from inventory, so that has also impacted the gross contribution, around 1% is what is-- what we feel. That, and another thing is the export content of the standalone business in December quarter was slightly lower, and typically, the export market is better selling prices.
Yes.
So when the export percentage is higher, the gross margin is automatically a bit higher. So, penetrating more into export market is also one of the very critical, strategy of ours. Along with that, pushing our existing product basket, into the European markets, because we are already strong in those products, and we are in the process of getting European approvals for those products from our regular, volume plants. So from there, if we supply to Europe markets, that will definitely add to gross margin. Backward integration, definitely, yes. As I was telling that currently in December, we were only able to achieve around 12% odd of backward integration for the anti-diabetic I'm talking about, specifically. So that will go to, you know, almost 90%, 100% in two, three quarters. So that will also definitely help, to improve the gross contribution.
Along with that, the formulation business will impact gross contribution positively, probably from second and third year. May not be in 2027 immediately, but as the oncology starts flowing into the sales, then that should also definitely improve our gross contribution.
Okay. So, so a follow-up on this. So on a standalone API, FY 2027, should we expect, 35%-36% kind of a gross margin or, you know, should we pencil in lower number?
No, I think 36% gross margin is fair to assume. It is not that tough to achieve 36% gross margin.
Okay. And when we're, when you are saying 36% is achievable, what are the underlying assumptions that we are building in that? Salicylic acid plant will kind of, you know, stabilize.
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
That's, that's a major assumption? Or the European, you know, supply picking up is also a part of it.
Yeah. Overall, one is the regulated market sales, plus the sales pickup from our E-22 plant, which is USFDA plant. And the backward integration is the improvement in salicylic acid will definitely give a lot of impact on the overall gross margin. So these are the main options. Okay, got it. And last question, so we said, you said that we should expect INR 150 crore-INR 200 crore of CapEx for next, you know, every year for next two years. While we have just come out of a large CapEx cycles where plants are still scaling up, you know, translating into gross margin and EBITDA numbers are yet to take place.
So, why is it that, you know, we don't want to kind of first, you know, stabilize and get to the good operational efficiency level and then do the CapEx, rather than getting into newer projects where we'll again and continue to hit our margins? No, you're absolutely correct in that analysis. So there are a couple of factors to that. One is the Saykha plant that has operationalized very smoothly. Since we have scaled up very smoothly, so we haven't seen any issues. So and plus, that is a captive consumption, mainly more than 50% is captive consumption from that plant. So scaling up of that project will happen very quickly. Since, so we are talking more from 24 months, and this, Saykha results will start coming in six months itself.
So we'll know. Within six months, we'll come to know whether one of the greenfield CapEx is fully operationalized or not. So that will give us one comforting factor after six months. And salicylic acid, we are almost towards the end of improvement. And one more thing, that INR 150 crores-INR 200 crores, a part of that will also go for oncology dosage development, you know? So that is also important because we have already oncology approved formulation plant, USFDA approved plant in Baddi. So we want to capitalize on that. Plus, we got European approvals for our OSD facility in Baddi. So we also want to capitalize on that by having more doses on regular therapies or formulation. Mm.
And plus, this will also include the maintenance CapEx, plus the incremental expansion, what we do, brownfield expansion. That will also be the part of this. And plus, we are doing a bit of CapEx, both in that solar power plant also, and some energy-related improvements, what we want to do. So that will also be taken care of in this CapEx. Got it. Got it. Very clear. Thanks, and wish you all the best, Adhish. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Yash Doshi from UniFi Capital Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Am I audible?
Yes.
Yeah. So, the Salicylic A cid plant, if I remember, last quarter, you said that, we break around, around 800 metric tons per month. And you also talked about Chinese dumping. So-
Yeah.
Have the realizations stabilized, or they are still, the dumping is still on and the realizations have come down?
Yeah, yeah. Harshit, can you answer the Salicylic selling prices trend?
Yeah. So Chinese dumping is still on. But due to dollar rate going up, we are getting little better margin realization than last quarter. But we are also trying to apply anti-dumping duty from beginning of next year against Chinese imports, which will take, of course, six to eight months, nine months, whatever time after April, you know. So because we are not eligible as of now, so maybe from April onwards, we are eligible to apply for anti-dumping duty also. Let's hope that, you know. And on the operational side, we are trying, we are improving our overall efficiency so that, you know, we come out of this, and we're breakeven for next year.
Okay.
Yeah. Sorry.
Yeah. Just for confirmation, so the Salicylic Acid plant and Saykha plant, both combined reported INR 8.5 crores of EBITDA loss this quarter, or it's a single plant, INR 8.5 crore loss?
It's a combined.
Okay. And, regarding next year, if you look at the EBITDA margins, like this quarter, because of multiple headwinds, we reported 9%. So next year, steady state, what EBITDA margin will be around?
See, first of all, initially, we would like to hit the target of 12%-13%, because right now it was struck down, well below that. Right now, it is around 9.3%, but, just previous quarter in September, it was around 12.9%. So first we'll come there, 12%-13%, and then from there, the ideal steady state margins when everything starts going smoothly, should be somewhere, in 14%-15% range.
Okay. On the Saykha plant, what we are targeting next year? This year, we're targeting 50%. I think Q4 exit rate will be around 50%. Next year, what is our target?
Yeah. So, Saykha first quarter, we were able to do around 30% utilization... immediately in this current quarter, March quarter, we are planning to ramp up to around 50% utilization. And then in the subsequent quarter, we are planning 75% utilization of the facility. So the ramp up should be pretty fast. So within, hopefully within 12 months, we should be almost there till 80%-90%.
Okay. Same for the Salicylic Acid plant, next year we are targeting around 800,000 metric tons?
Yes.
Per month.
Yes. So Salicylic acid, we are going slightly slowly. There have been a lot of changes. So what happened, the story is like this: We started the plant almost in April 2024, and in January 2025, we saw. Around 1 year back, we saw there were drastic changes in the specifications of Salicylic acid since the time we commissioned the plant. So we had to take care of that quality parameters as well. So we had to tweak our processes a little bit. And currently, what we are observing is that, I'm talking about the industry and the competitors, the process, the physical chemistry of the organic chemistry has remained same, but the physical chemistry is slightly, the new technology is coming in for Salicylic acid.
So we are also exploring that part to adopt that technology in our plants. So that, that, and that is important for us to be competitive going future, in going forward. So that is the only reason why Salicylic Acid, I'm saying still we are going a bit slowly, but within 12 months, probably, we should try to hit that 1,000 tons per month mark. That, that, that should be our target. But we are also cautious about the new technologies which are coming in, which are, which haven't been adopted yet, but they are in the discussion of getting adopted at plant scale. So that also we are exploring.
Okay, understood. Yeah, that's from my side. All the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Aditya from Sowilo Investments. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. I just wanted to understand, like, you know, the API pricing as such, couple of quarters ago, there were discussions that that could be the bottom. But looks like, you know, dumping is going on and prices also there has been pressure. So what kind of trajectory are we seeing, especially for API?
Yeah. So, see, what we have observed is that overall rate negative rate variance in December quarter with respect to September 2025, that is quarter-over-quarter, it is roughly around 2%-2.5%. But having said that, it is mainly, it's not mainly, the entire reason for that is the antibiotic segment. The other segments, frankly speaking, in some of the other segments, we have seen positive growth as well in the prices. So it is product specific. So we will still maintain the stance that the prices have stabilized from September onwards. Just product specific variations are there, little bit, but more or less the prices have already stabilized. So we don't see any reduction of prices from this point.
Okay. And this recent, I mean, I'm just trying to understand whether that affects us or no?
Okay.
This recent, we had the government establish MIP for penicillin, right? So, would that have any kind of bearing in terms of our input costs?
Not now. Means right now we don't deal in that segment. But the concept of MIP, we are trying to explore that in few of the cases, which will help us benefit to get better realizations for our products which we sell as importer facility.
Understood.
Mm-hmm.
Okay, thank you. That's it from my side.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sashi Ranjan from Sasiranjan Hospitality Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity. I would like to understand the molecule that was banned on 31st December 2025, talking about Nimesulide. So how it's going to impact our up to 100 mg, so how it's going to impact our revenue in future?
Regarding nimesulide?
Yes, sir.
Okay. Harshit, can you...?
Yeah, basically, the recent ban was for Nimesulide more than 100 mg. Typically in India, this product, we have all formulations where we are selling is less than 100 mg, so we are not affected as far as demand is concerned. These are for very high dosages, which only 2 or 3, 4 companies were doing it, actually. So all our customer base are within the range, and so there is no problem with the demand for that molecule as of now.
... Just a clarification on that. Like, can you quantify the revenue that we get from Nimesulide from the below 100 milligram formulations?
Most of our sales in Nimesulide is less than 100 mg, yeah.
No, I'm asking about the revenue, sir, that we get from Nimesulide.
Okay. Okay. We don't have that number right now. Probably we can get back to you later on.
Okay. Thank you, sir. My next question, if you may allow, what is the capacity utilization currently in API and FDS? Is it again 30% or 50%, which you answered right away then?
Yes. So what I was talking about, yeah, in the opening remarks, that this particular quarter, even when we compare to our capacity utilization for the first two quarters of this current year, that is, the H1 FY 2026, we were almost down by 4%-5%, even from what we achieved in the first two quarters. So, and we also highlighted the reasons why it happened. So most of the reasons are behind us. So going forward, we don't see such disruptions for coming quarters, at least.
Coming to the last question, what is the gross margin and the revenue that we are getting from CDMO? And, are we going to use the backward integrated products in the CDMO products that we are currently operating?
So whatever products we are doing in Spechem means you can call it CDMO or CMO. So they are chlorosulfonation chemistry. We are already backward integrated in chlorosulfonation. So these are all derivatives of that chlorosulfonation chemistry. So we are that way, backward integrated already. I cannot quantify in terms of percentage because right now it is not that big for us. So that is the reason why we still club it under Spechem segment, as of now.
Okay, so now coming to the last question, the European approval that we got from Baddi , is it related to oncology or any other molecule?
That is OSD. Rishabh, can you... Do you want to answer that?
Yeah. It's for the general tablet and capsule facility. It is-
Okay.
as well as the oncology facility. So it was in joint inspection for both the facilities, and now we have EU-GMP for both the oncology as well as the general oral solid site.
Thank you so much, sir. That's, that's all from my side. I'll get back in queue.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vishal from Systematix. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thank you. Can you share what would be the total investment, including the dossier development cost, we'll be making in the oncology business?
Rishabh, maybe.
Yeah. So the facility CapEx in both phases, what we initially did, and we have a brownfield expansion going on, would be about INR 50 crores. And in terms of the product development and regulatory related, it would be about again, INR 50 crores-INR 60 crores every year for the next three years.
Okay.
That is what we're spending on the product development. Yeah.
Broadly, INR 200 crore, right?
Correct.
Including-
Yeah, INR 200 crores spread over time. Yeah, including CapEx as well as product development and regulatory.
Okay. Can we expect an asset turn of 1.5 here?
Yes, we can expect about 1.5-1.75 peak capacity.
Okay. And do we already have partners for the dossiers that we are filing?
Yes. Usually we, in most of the territories, we are having B2B partners before we file.
Our capacity, roughly, would be 300 million pills for oncology.
Yes, that's right. INR 300 million.
Okay. Okay, and just one on salicylic acid. If you could give some sense on why we kind of went to kind of why we kind of chose Salicylic Acid as an import substitute option, while there were so many? You could have also chosen a backward integration project for Metformin. And why did we go for Salicylic Acid?
Yeah. Yeah. So, we studied price trend of Salicylic Acid for the 5-6 years, then we selected that product. That time, no one was manufacturing that product, and the technology, what we had developed, you know, it showed very high profit margin, and IRR of the project were upwards of 20% for that product. But what happened was, when we entered the market, that is the time when China started crashing the prices, probably because they were fearful that a new entrant will come. So if they keep the prices to rock bottom for the initial period, that will discourage us from going, you know, going ahead with salicylic.
So, we foresee that as a, you can say, entry barrier or a temporary entry barrier, what they're trying to create. Fortunately, this also becomes a case of anti-dumping because they crashed the prices when the Indian manufacturer came in. So if we get that benefit, even for, you know, the first few years, we are sure that we will turn it up because the same thing had happened for Metronidazole and Ciprofloxacin also in past. We had got anti-dumping duties for 4-5 years, and by the next round, when it came, we were so profitable that we did not qualify for anti-dumping duty. So we feel this will turn around.
The thing is, Salicylic acid also opens up a big opportunity for us to enter into cosmetic and healthcare line of business, and not just restrict ourselves to API. That is another advantage what we have through Salicylic acid. It is a base product used to manufacture salicylates, which goes in flavor and fragrances industry as well.
So we'll do downstream products from this API?
So the thing is, right now, the situation is such that we are compelled to do. We have already developed technology for that. We have done piloting also for the downstream products. So we are coming up with a salicylate block as well, very recently, in a quarter or two. So let's see how that picks up.
Sir, have you made an application for anti-dumping duty?
So, as Harshit-bhai was pointing out, that earlier we did not qualify, but now, I think by April or so, right, Harshit-bhai, we will be filing for the Yeah. Yes. Yes. By April, we'll be filing the application, probably. So April or first quarter, end of first quarter, late first quarter.
Okay, sir. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraints, that was the last question for today. I now hand over the conference to management for closing comments.
Thank you. So strategic investments and initiatives we have implemented over the past year is beginning to align, setting the stage for a new phase of growth for Aarti Drugs. We anticipate a more pronounced impact on our financial performance in the upcoming quarters as capacity utilization scales up and our enhanced product mix begins to deliver and drive higher profitability. We appreciate your continued support and trust in Aarti Drugs. Should you have any further questions, please reach out to SGA, our investor relations advisors. Thank you, and have a nice day.
Thank you. On behalf of Aarti Drugs Limited, that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you!