Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Alicon Castalloy Limited's earnings conference call. 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 touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Mayank Vaswani from CDR India. Thank you, and over to you, Mr. Vaswani.
Thank you, Michelle. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on Alicon Castalloy Limited's Q2 and H1 FY 2025 earnings conference call. We have with us on the call today Mr. Vimal Gupta, Group CFO, Mr. Shyam Agarwal, Chief Marketing Officer, and Mr. Rajiv Gupta, Head of Business Development at Alicon Castalloy Limited. Mr. Vimal Gupta will provide an overview of the operating and financial performance for the quarter and half-year, following which Mr. Agarwal will walk us through the operating highlights. Mr. Rajiv Gupta will then provide insights on domestic business and developments in the global markets. Thereafter, we shall open the call for the Q&A session.
Before we begin, I would like to point out that some of the statements made in today's call may be forward-looking in nature, and a disclaimer to this effect has been included in the earnings documents that have been shared with all of you earlier. I would now like to hand over the call to Mr. Vimal Gupta for his opening remarks. Over to you, sir.
Good morning and welcome to our earnings call. We appreciate you taking the time to join us on a Saturday. I hope you have had a chance to review the earnings documents shared earlier. We are pleased to announce that Alicon has achieved record-breaking quarterly revenue of INR 465 crores for quarter two, making the fourth consecutive quarter in which revenues have surpassed the INR 400 crore mark. This growth has been contributed by segments of passenger vehicles.
Sorry to interrupt, sir. You're not audible right now.
Now it is audible?
Yes, sir. Can you please repeat your last line, please?
Yes. So we are pleased to announce that Alicon has achieved a record-breaking quarterly revenue of INR 465 crores for quarter two, making the fourth consecutive quarter in which revenues have surpassed the INR 400 crore mark. This growth has been contributed by segments of passenger vehicles and two-wheelers, and supported by section of non-auto segment. The revenues from both domestic and international markets have grown, supported by our steady focus on developing new technology platforms, expanding into new regions, and prioritizing value engineering and capability enhancement, all complemented by positive trends in our established lines of business. Our business momentum remains strong, outpacing both global and domestic automotive industry growth. We are engaged in advanced discussions with a number of high-profile clients, including leading global OEMs and Tier-one suppliers, who are drawn to high-quality, competitively priced solutions we offer. Alicon's differentiation is.
I'm sorry to interrupt, sir. We are not able to hear you. Ladies and gentlemen, the line for the management has been disconnected. Please stay connected while we reconnect them. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for patiently holding. The line for the management has been reconnected. Over to you, sir.
Sure. Sorry for this disadvantage. Alicon's differentiation is anchored in our expertise in low-pressure die casting and gravity die casting processes that are gaining wider acceptance among our clients. Additionally, we are steadily transitioning from supplying as-cast products to providing fully machined components, evolving from a casting provider into a solution provider. This shift will increase value addition and enhance our overall margin profile. Our progress can be tracked through the three key metrics. The share of passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles in our product portfolio continues to rise, now accounting for 51% of sales in quarter two of FY 2025 compared to 49% in quarter two of FY 2024. Our customer base has evolved significantly, adding prestigious global OEMs and tier-one companies, reflecting Alicon's growth industry stature. We continue to expand our client roster each quarter.
Our investments in design, R&D, and value engineering have positioned Alicon as not just a supplier to build- to- print components, but as an innovative solution provider recognized for technology and design excellence. Based on strategic initiatives undertaken, Alicon has transformed substantially from 2018 to 2024 in the following manner. In 2018, we were heavily reliant on two-wheeler customers. Today, we have a well-diversified portfolio, including passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles. Our customer base, once primarily domestic, now includes major global names and leading Indian OEMs that have themselves scaled significantly. Our product portfolio has expanded beyond cylinder heads to include a range of critical components. This diversification has improved our margin profile from 8%-9% in 2018 to around 13% at present, with ongoing efforts to enhance it further.
Turning to our financial performance for quarter two and first half of 24/25, we achieved revenues of INR 465 crores, representing a 22% increase from INR 382 crores in quarter two of FY 2024. This growth was fueled by the scaling up of production for new parts, notably for passenger vehicle customers. There has been a recovery in volumes of two-wheelers too. The gross margin for quarter two of FY 2025 was 47.55%, down by 253 basis points from 50.07% in quarter two of FY 2024, reflecting the change in our product mix, which saw a bit of moderation in sales of commercial vehicle segments, offset by strong pickup in volumes of two-wheeler segments. Employee cost rose by 5% year-on-year, driven by salary increments, higher minimum wages, and new hires aligned with our growth.
If you compare employee costs for quarter two of FY 2025 with quarter one of FY 2025, you will notice that this has declined 5% quarter-on-quarter basis. The reason is that the temporarily higher costs in our European operations have completed their tenure, and we are back to regular staff levels in Europe. The EBITDA for quarter two of FY 2025 came in at INR 57 crores, up by 21% from INR 47 crores in quarter two of FY 2024, with a margin of 12.2% compared to 12.3% last year. Higher volumes of two-wheeler products and reduction in higher value-added products for commercial vehicles has impacted the sales mix this quarter, which moderated the gross margin and, in turn, has impacted EBITDA margin. We are pleased to share that despite these factors, the impact on EBITDA margin is modest at 9 basis points.
On a sequential quarter basis, we have seen that the EBITDA margin moderated from 13.2% in quarter one to 12.2% in quarter two of FY 2025. This is again due to the shift in product mix, resulting in an impact on gross margin, which has flowed through to the EBITDA margin compared to quarter one of FY 2025. EBITDA of INR 58 crores. The absolute EBITDA of INR 57 crores in quarter two signals another strong quarter. Finance cost increased by 11% year-on-year to INR 11 crores, driven by higher borrowings and 9% sequentially from quarter one of FY 2025. Depreciation rose by 26% to INR 23 crores, reflecting investment in machine and tooling. Pre-tax profit, the PBT, grew by 20% year-on-year to INR 23 crores, up from INR 19 crores in quarter two of FY 2024.
The net profit, the PAT, for quarter two of FY 2025 was INR 17 crores, a 16% increase from INR 15 crores in quarter two of FY 2024. For H1, financial year 25, total revenue reached INR 905 crores, up 23% from INR 737 crores in the first half of FY 2024. Gross margin was 48.8%, down from 50.2% in H1 of FY 2024. EBITDA for H1 stood at INR 115 crores, a 32% increase year-on-year. And the profit after tax for H1 of FY 2025 was INR 36 crores, an increase of 49% year-on-year basis compared to INR 24 crores in H1 of FY 2024. Our quarter two capital expenditure total approximately INR 54 crores, and for H1, the CapEx is around INR 100 crores. Focusing on machinery and new product development, for FY 2025, we anticipate CapEx of around INR 150 crores, underscoring our growth initiatives.
Coming to our earlier guidance of INR 1,800 crores for FY 2025, targeting 15% growth, we are seeing signs of softening of demand in India as well as in markets such as Europe and the USA. We are closely monitoring the situation and will update on this in quarter three as we get more clarity on OEM schedules. Despite the cautious tone for the immediate future, we remain excited about our prospects bolstered by ongoing client discussions. While current sentiment around electric four-wheelers is subdued, we are well-positioned in hybrid technologies with promising engagements with domestic leaders like Toyota and Maruti. With that, I will now turn the call over to Mr. Shyam Agarwal for the operating highlights of the quarter.
Thank you, Mr. Vimal. Good morning, everyone. I am pleased to share that we once again achieved our highest-ever quarterly revenue in quarter two, marking the fourth consecutive quarter with revenue surpassing INR 400 crores. Alongside a 22% year-on-year revenue growth, we also posted a healthy increase in both PBT and PAT. This performance underlines our strong momentum as we progress through financial year 2024/25 on a solid trajectory. This quarter performance is more impressive when viewed in the context of a decline in the global automotive market. In Q2, global production was lower by 4% on YOY basis. In the same period, the Indian automotive market has reported an increase of 9% in overall vehicle sales, driven by the recovery in two-wheeler sales despite a decline in passenger and commercial vehicle segments. Against the decline in the global market and moderate single-digit growth in the India market, Alicon achieved a solid 22% increase in sales.
This includes 59% YOY growth in the passenger vehicle segment, a 19% rise in the two-wheeler sales, and 28% growth in sales to the non-automotive segment. Contribution of the CV segment has declined, aligning with the segment's overall volume reduction. This quarter saw continued momentum with Maruti Suzuki, driven by an increased ramp-up in cylinder head supplies to support an additional model and the commitment of deliveries to their Gujarat plant. As anticipated, this resulted in higher volumes supplied to Maruti Suzuki. At the beginning of 2024, we initiated the supply of cylinder heads to Stellantis India. With a successful ramp-up in quarter one, I am delighted to report that this momentum continued into quarter two with a further scale-up in volumes. Consequently, quarter two marked our highest-ever supply volume to Stellantis, significantly surpassing quarter-one level. Toyota maintained its steady demands for cylinder heads for their four-wheeler hybrid models.
Toyota has planned a new TNGA line capacity expansion from January 2025, for which in-house line modification has been planned in November. The modification will require shutdown for a brief period in November, but the line expansion will result in higher volume requirements from quarter four onwards. The strong performance of hybrid models from both Maruti and Toyota, coupled with the scale-up of volumes in Stellantis, has enabled the growth of 59% YOY in the PV segments. In our European operations, the battery housing product for hybrid vehicles that we are supplying to Samsung, our Tier-one supplier, is progressing well. This product is supplied to three different vehicle models, and volume has stabilized after ramp-up in quarter one. Last quarter, we highlighted a development project for Volkswagen Autonomous Driving Initiative.
With ADAS technology set for widespread adoption across the automotive industry, this venture positions us to tap into a high-growth market segment. Our success in delivering a precise design and specification on the first attempt has earned high praise from Volkswagen. The Volkswagen R&D team has recommended us for the future part development activities. We have positioned ourselves to capitalize on the large trend defining the auto industry today. Today, we supply nearly 90 components to the EV industry, with our European plant providing a strategic advantage in advanced tech capabilities. Our expertise in the thermal engineering has set us apart, exemplified by the e-axle development for Jaguar Land Rover. While electric vehicles have witnessed early success and generated a lot of work, there are now some concerns over charging availability and range, as well as battery replacement and resale value.
As a result, hybrid vehicles have now started to catch up in terms of interest generated due to their position as a practical bridge between traditional and fully electric vehicles. In the first nine months of the calendar year 2024, hybrids recorded higher sales growth than EVs in key markets like Europe, USA, as well as in India, driven by consumer preference for their flexibility and compatibility with existing fuel infrastructure. A global automaker like Toyota has invested significantly into hybrid production, positioning hybrids as a pivotal growth segment in the automotive industry and in India. Maruti Suzuki is among the leaders to incorporate this technology. With a strong portfolio towards this segment, we are well-positioned to capitalize on this trend also. Another element of our growth strategy is to increase the share of customer wallet. We are doing this by pursuing more contracts for end-to-end fully machined parts.
As the proportion of as-cast parts reduces in favor of fully machined parts, there will be a greater element of value addition. Our customer value proposition is rooted in technology-driven innovation, powered by our state-of-the-art advanced technology center. Equipped with high-end machines and driven by a team of 20 researchers, the center spearheads R&D, delivering groundbreaking, cost-effective, and eco-friendly products and processes. Recent additions to our technology capabilities include the state-of-the-art cold core box manufacturing facility at our Shikrapur plant in Pune, enabling the production of high-precision components that meet stringent industry requirements and strengthen our market position. Integration of robotic arms into production processes enhances precision, efficiency, and safety while ensuring consistent quality and improved output. Integrating advanced digital process control across our operations leverages machine intelligence to enhance precision and efficiency on the production floor.
These controls provide real-time data and actionable insights, enabling smart decision-making and aligning our processes with global best practices to meet the evolving needs of our customers and products. We have added AI and IoT into our operations, which has contributed to productivity enhancement as well as reduced rejection rate. This helps in optimizing manufacturing processes, making them more efficient and responsive to real-time data. Moving up the value chain, we are now working on highly complex HPDC parts with the aim to shift the process architecture into HPDC, highlighting our exceptional design and technology progress. Transition from high-pressure to low-pressure die casting enhances structural integrity, detail precision, and material efficacy, meeting diverse customer needs while advancing sustainability goals. In fact, we are striving to enhance sustainability through multiple initiatives.
Transitioning products from HPDC to LPDC reduces power intensity and minimizes waste, while our new model plant and automated facility optimize resource use. Alongside water conservation efforts, we have diversified our energy mix. With solar panels at our India and Europe plants, now generating one-third of our energy from renewables, we aim to increase this to over 50% by next year, further enhancing resilience and cost efficiency. With that, I will now hand over to Rajiv Gupta for his comments. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Shyam. Greetings to all of you. In quarter two, FY 2025, global auto industry witnessed 4% YOY degrowth in volumes. Within this, there was 1% growth in North America and South America markets. Degrowth of 25% in the Middle East and Africa, and Europe volumes declined 4%. China degrew by 6%. South Asia down by 3%. In contrast, the Indian auto industry reported a healthy performance with 9% volume growth driven by the two-wheeler segment. Analysis of the growth by segment indicates 12.5% growth in the two-wheeler segment on a year-on-year basis, 0.7% degrowth in the passenger vehicle segment on a year-on-year basis, and 13% degrowth in the commercial vehicle segment on a year-on-year basis. Auto volumes would have been better in quarter two, but the sharp period negatively affected sales.
Despite the weakness towards the end of the quarter, two-wheeler sales posted growth of 12.5%, with the momentum continuing from earlier quarters. Within this, scooters' growth was 16.3% YOY, while motorcycles grew by 10.7%. This growth was largely driven by recovery in the rural market and increased financing penetration. For quarter three, FY 2025, the market outlook remains positive, bolstered by ongoing rural recovery and expectations of festive season demand, along with expected offtake from the wedding season sales. In the passenger vehicle segment, utility vehicles continue to witness favorable momentum. Further, the segment around EVs is somewhat subdued, while demand for hybrid vehicles remains strong. Having built up offerings for hybrid vehicles, we are well-positioned to take advantage of this trend. In quarter two, FY 2025, the retail volumes of commercial vehicles declined further due to the seasonal slowdown around monsoon, and is expected to improve slightly in quarter three.
Coming to the business wins, in quarter two, we added 13 new parts from five existing customers. This includes five parts from the carbon-neutral segment, seven parts from ICE, and one part from a structural business. Of the 13 parts added, six parts pertain to the domestic business and seven parts for the international business. The seven parts of the international business catered to requirements of a marquee global customers like Scania, PACCAR, JLR, Daimler, and Honda Cars. This includes another order win for a structural part for Jaguar. This is a significant win with around INR 850 million over a lifetime. We expect the balance in our product mix to improve further as all of the new business that we have won this quarter is supplying parts for a four-wheeler, which we aligned to a strategy of focusing on higher value parts.
The global business contributed to 23% of the total revenue during the quarter. Further, 94% of our business is from auto and 6% from non-auto customers. During quarter two, FY 2025, Alicon booked new orders aggregating to 37 crore. The new business added is aligned to our strategy of higher value and as it is all towards the four-wheeler parts supplies. With this, our total new order booking has surpassed 9,000 crore, which is executable over a period of six years from 2023-2024 up to 2028-2029. On this note, we can open the floor for questions.
Thank you very much, sir. We will now begin with the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask questions may press star and one on their touch-tone phone. If you wish to withdraw yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants, I request you to use only the handset 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 Umesh Matkar from Sushil Financial Services Limited. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you very much, sir, for giving the first opportunity. So my first question would be the gross margins were down 200 basis points. So if you can elaborate on whether there was a change in the product mix.
The main reason we have explained, that there is a decline in the commercial vehicles because the change of the sales mix. Because the commercial vehicle where we are having the higher margins and major contribution for our exports, there we have seen some decline softness, and on the other side, there is an increase in the sales of two-wheeler, so where the margins are, especially on the gross margins, are lower, so that is the main reason for this some decline in gross margins.
Okay, and sir, do you expect the composition to change going forward?
Yeah, definitely. Because you know that auto industry, some softness is there in the exports, especially the U.S. market, what we are seeing in the Europe market. So hopefully, maybe next one or two quarters, I think there will be some softness. After that, we are seeing the good recovery.
Okay. Sir, and what would be the impact of U.S. CV and global EV slowdown on us?
Yeah, Mr. Umesh, thanks for the question. On the commercial vehicle, if you see, the more impact is in Europe and a little bit impact in the USA if you see for the commercial vehicles. So there we are seeing some of the customer or all the OEMs. We are seeing that demand is not there. However, there are new Euro norms coming in 2026 and 2027. So there may be a pre-buy because the cost of the vehicle will increase. So there may be impact that pre-buy may come in the next year. So we are hoping and we are keeping a close watch on the EDI release, which comes every month from all OEMs. So we will keep a track.
And maybe in the next phone call, we will be able to give you a much clearer picture because by the time of the next phone call, we will be having the yearly projections also from the European customers.
Okay. Thank you. And sir, what are the new logos added or contracts signed during the quarter?
Yeah, as Rajiv has explained. So we have, yeah, in the phone call, so we have added the new businesses from Jaguar and Land Rover, then Scania, then PACCAR. So these are the new customers from where we have got the new businesses.
Yes, sure. Sir, and any view on life beyond FY 2027, if you can give us? And also, INR 2,200 crores, what kind of business plan we are shaping up? Any color on the same it can give us? That would be very helpful.
Umesh, very good question. Actually, what I tell you, we will be in a better shape in the next phone call because we will be compiling all our yearly projections for the next year and the forthcoming year. Secondly, you know that lots of global events are happening, like the election in the U.S., the softening of the Europe and the U.S. market, then the tension in the Middle East. So global market is very volatile, and we are seeing the government spending in India is also down in this financial year. So we also expect that something should come in the budget. So maybe we will be having more inputs, more detail for you in the next phone call.
Okay, sir. Sir, Middle East, there are some issues going on. So, any impact that we are having on the business, and are we seeing it that reducing it?
Umesh, I tell you, it is having the impact, no doubt. We can see sometimes the freight cost to other Europe and USA customers that keep on changing. And as well as the lead time for the freight, what we are supplying, that increase or decrease. So it impacts the businesses with respect to export that we are seeing. And also, these things impact the cost of the fuel. The crude rate increases with the tension in the Middle East, you know very well. So these things are having the impact. And more customer confidence comes when there is peace globally. So we see it should improve with Trump's victory. He already said he will work for the peace globally, including Russia, Ukraine. So we are keeping our fingers crossed for the better global environment.
Okay. Thank you. Sir, our medium-term goal of attaining 15% EBITDA margin and 20% ROC is on track. So is there any change in this?
No. We are on track, and the target is clear. Only that due to some little bit softening in the market, that for short term, there is the impact we are seeing. But definitely, because as per our order book, the kind of businesses we have already booked and the kind of margins these businesses are having, so I don't see any impact on that in the coming years.
Okay. That's good to hear. Sir, what is the contribution from the high-pressure die casting in H1?
We are not in high-pressure. We are doing the low-pressure gravity and some sand casting.
Gotcha, sir. Okay, okay. And will new parts starting production in Q3, Q4 offset overall slowdown in EV and CV?
Umesh, as you know, in the automotive industry, when we acquire new businesses, the implementation period for the new product is one year to one and a half year.
Okay.
So it is having the development lead time, then productionization, then the feedback from the customer. So lots of activities are there. So if there is an immediate drop in the sales, we cannot cover up with the new businesses. However, we have a new business bookings are there, and there is a pipeline with which the SOP of the new products will come. So it is very difficult to say whatever softening is there, it will be covered up because it depends in which sector it is coming, whether it is a high volume, high value. So lots of factors are there. So generic statement we cannot make, but we understand the intention of your question.
So we always work to reduce the impact of the market softening with the addition of the new products, new customers, new segments. So we will keep on working on that, and we will keep you posted on that.
Okay. Sure, sir. Thank you very much for answering our questions, and I wish you all the best.
Thank you, Umesh. Thanks.
Thank you. Anyone who wishes to ask questions, may press star and one now. The next question is from the line of Jyoti Singh from Arihant Capital Markets Limited. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for the opportunity, and sir, congratulations. Continue maintaining a top line above 400, and sir, my question is on the revenue mix side. On the PPT, we have given the 94% in the auto and 6% non-auto, so if you can explain segment-wise.
Yes. So we noted in the last quarter, the contribution mix, passenger vehicle were around 38%. Then two-wheelers were around 43%. Commercial were around 12%, and non-auto were around 6%. So we have noted this. There was a movement, particularly in passenger vehicle when we compared with last year's quarter two. We noticed a growth of 69% in the passenger vehicle. Even we noted the two-wheeler increase of 19%. But as Mr. Shyam explained, we noted a down, I mean, you all know the downfall of market, especially for US and Europe for the commercial segment because we are mostly into exports when we talk about commercial. We saw a dip of around 21% in commercial. And that would be one of the factors why even our gross margins were on the lower side than what we anticipated.
Gotcha, and sir, just wanted to know, earlier we changed our strategy to diversify more on the passenger vehicle compared to two-wheeler. But now, because of the rural recovery and other factors which are supporting two-wheelers, so now what are the strategy? CV also not doing very well. So now what are the strategies going forward, and how much we are confident to maintain that INR 2,200 crore target by 2027?
Yeah, Jyoti, thanks for this question. So our strategy is very, very consistent, and we are focusing more on the four-wheelers, especially on the passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, and also more focus on the export businesses. As mentioned by Mr. Vimal in his speech, we are also focusing more on high-value addition with shifting from as-cast to machined parts. So our endeavor is there. However, as you mentioned correctly, we have seen in the last quarter, the sales in the commercial vehicle and the passenger vehicle were not good, and we have seen the decline. So to fill up the idle capacity, we increased our share of business for the two-wheelers.
So those options are already available with us if we have to fill the idle capacity. But the long-term strategy will not change with the performance of the market in the one quarter. We are very much consistent with our thought process and the strategies which our group has defined that we have to increase the top line, but we have to maintain very healthy bottom line also. So our strategy will be quite consistent in that.
Thank you, sir. Sir, on the margin side, what are the target and how we are targeting on the margin side, if you can guide us?
So, margin side, what we are doing that, first of all, definitely there is an impact on the change in the sales mix. But continuously, one is that we are more focusing like what we are talking about. So we will see further improvement in the sales of passenger vehicles. We are having a good margin. And second is now, due to seeing the global issues, all these things, the market pressures. So in-house, the cost reductions, those activities also started to reduce the costs. So maybe we will see that the impact in coming quarters, quarter three and quarter four, how the costs are going down as well as maybe some improvement in the gross margins. So that is the way we are working to improve our margins.
Thank you, sir. And sir, if you can guide me on the market share side with the cylinder head and other parts.
One minute.
Can you just repeat the question?
Yeah. Market share on the cylinder head and new part side, if you can explain?
Okay. On the cylinder heads, yes, particularly four-wheelers, there is definitely a movement. This was also noted in the results. One is, yes, the volumes, what we are adding up at Maruti with the upcoming launches. And also, now, in addition to one location, that has added to our sales opportunity. Second, also, we explained on Toyota, where even they are going to come up with they are talking about capacity expansion. So there is also an opportunity. Third is the cylinders. There was a momentum in last quarter. Volumes have picked up. So that will also add to this bucket. And now, what is happening when we are supplying to these OEMs, to domestic as well as global, a lot of companies have recognized about the capacity, capability of the volume, what Alicon can deliver. So the inquiries have increased in that area.
So we'd like to, going forward, definitely we see an opportunity to add further businesses with existing as well as some new customers in this domain. I'm talking about the new business, yes. Basically, as we have aligned our strategy that we have defined very clearly which segments, which market, which customers to tap. And we have delivered a few of the niche parts in past. So this is now demonstrating our existing and prospective customers. Also, what we have done is a lot of parts are of critical nature. A lot of parts are critical than the original ICE traditional parts, where even we talk about very low wall thickness compared to what traditionally people were manufacturing in the process of low pressure gravity. One example I'd like to share with you, it's a Volkswagen autonomous part.
It's a very critical part for 1.2 m, weighing around 18 kg, which Volkswagen has given us an opportunity to excel how Alicon is, and we have delivered this part in the first sample. A very good sample was submitted to them, and to their surprise, we have maintained the wall thickness, which is ideally being achieved within an HPDC process. So this gives a lot of recognition, and we are, I mean, they have shared a lot of recognition, appreciation made to us. And now, even they are talking about adding new other opportunities with the group company and other players in this space also. Also, secondly, we are working aggressively on automation. So in the last quarter, we have added six new robots in existing lines because whatever parts we are adding, it's critical in nature, bigger in nature.
And even now, we have already submitted samples of such critical parts. And in the coming quarters, we're working on the SOP of those parts. So these parts will demonstrate that, yes, Alicon have crossed or come to a second level of manufacturing when we talk about critical parts. And we are quite confident these products, when going SOP, will give an opportunity to add business with existing and add new customers in this space. So that is how we are working on new business going forward.
Thank you so much, sir.
Thank you. Participants, if you wish to ask questions, you may please press star and one on your touch-tone phone now. The next question is from the line of Amit Agicha from H.G. Hawa & Co. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, sir. Am I audible?
Yes.
Yes. Thank you for giving the opportunity and congratulations for a good set of numbers. Actually, I joined the call later with this for that. My question was with respect to the Capex guidance for 25 and 26.
So for 2024, 2025, already given INR 150. So maybe 2025, 2026, there will be further addition on the capacities for the new businesses. But it will not be in the range of INR 150 or maybe INR 200. But expectation is between INR 90 to INR 100 crores.
INR 90-100 crores?
Yes.
Any revenue guidance with respect to focus on the international market?
Yeah, definitely. This will be more towards the critical parts what we added. For example, we explained we are working actively on automations, adding robots because whatever parts now we are adding, it's of higher weight, like a Jaguar part which we have developed in the past. The shot weight of that part is 30 kg. And it's with the high volume. So we know very well, I mean, in conventional way, with the manual operation, it's not possible. So we're working actively. And these are very critical parts. And also to add precision and increasing our manufacturing capabilities on that ground. So going forward, investment definitely will come up in such projects where we can offer solutions in more with automations.
Mainly what we are seeing that when we are moving towards the bigger parts, more critical parts, so somewhere we have to invest in our new equipment to handle those and more automation. For that, we need additional capex.
Understood. So guidance for 25 given was INR 1,800 crore, am I right?
Yes.
For 26?
FY 2026 now, that's why we are seeing that maybe in the next quarter, we will be able to give more clear picture because we know that we will have more clarity from the OEMs when they will give the full year volumes. Because there is no consistency, we are seeing some softening in the market, in the global market, so that's why at this moment, it looks a little difficult to give the guidance for that next year.
Understood, so last question was with respect to the blended interest cost on the borrowings that we have.
Yes. So for the capex, we need this debt. But if you see on the other side, even after having the addition of INR 100 crore capex during the six months, still there is no big increase in the interest cost. So next year, we are managing through our internal approvals. So definitely, we are focusing on the.
My question was interest rate, the blended interest rate on the total borrowing.
Total is in the range of 9.5%.
Nine and a half. Okay. Thank you, sir. That was helpful and all the best for the future.
Thank you.
Thank you. You may press star and one to ask questions. Ladies and gentlemen, as that was the last question for today, I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Over to you, sir.
Thank you. I hope we have been able to answer all your questions satisfactorily. Should you need any further clarifications or would like to know more about the company, please feel free to contact our team or CDR India. Thank you once again for taking the time to join us on this call, and we look forward to interacting next quarter. Thank you very much.
Thank you, members of the management. On behalf of Alicon Castalloy Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.