Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, and welcome to the Q3 FY26 Earnings Conference Call of Cera Sanitaryware Limited. 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, and the duration of the call is 45 minutes. I will now hand the conference over to Mr. Mayank Vaswani from CDR India for opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, Mayank.
Thank you, Ryan. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on the earnings call for Cera Sanitaryware Limited for the Q4, Q3 FY 26 earnings, which were announced yesterday. We have with us today the management team, comprising Mr. Vikas Kothari, CFO, and Mr. Deepak Chaudhary, VP, Finance and Investor Relations at Cera Sanitaryware. We will start with brief opening remarks from the management, following which we will open the call for Q&A. A quick disclaimer before we begin, some of the statements made in today's conference call may be forward-looking in nature, and a detailed note in this regard is contained in the results documents that have been shared with all of you earlier. I would now like to turn the call over to the management for their opening remarks. Over to you, Deepak Ji.
Thank you, Mayank. Good morning, everyone. On behalf of the management team of Cera Sanitaryware Limited, I would like to warmly welcome you to our Q3 FY 2026 earnings conference call. I will begin by sharing a brief update on our operational and strategic progress, following which our CFO, Mr. Vikas Kothari, will take you through the financial highlights for the quarter. During the quarter, the company delivered a healthy top-line growth of 11.1%. This follows the sequential recovery witnessed in the previous quarter, where revenues grew in the range of 5%-6%, indicating a steady strengthening trend. The improvement reflects a gradual revival in the market conditions as well as the company's improved market traction.
The current momentum provides confidence that the recovery is structural in nature and that the expectation is that this growth trajectory will remain sustainable in the near term, supported by improving demand conditions and continued operational focus. The real estate sector continues to witness a healthy residential upcycle along with increasing premiumization, driving demand for higher value building and lifestyle products. In parallel, rural demand has shown a meaningful recovery. Encouragingly, we are seeing early signs of a modest improvement in underlying demand conditions across both faucetware and sanitaryware. While near-term consumption trends remain uneven, we continue to see green shoots across categories and channels, and our strategic initiatives over the past two years are helping us to navigate these phases with greater agility. As we have shared over the last few quarters, our focus has been on steadily strengthening the company's strategic foundation.
This includes sharper brand positioning, more clearly defined channel strategies, and a disciplined approach to innovation. These efforts are improving our preparedness and execution capabilities, and we believe that they place us in a stronger position to capture growth as demand conditions gradually improve. Importantly, our strong brand equity, execution reliability, and long-standing relationships with developers continue to enable participation in larger and more complex projects, making this segment an important support pillar during the current demand cycle. On the strategic front, Senator and Polyplus continue to remain key levers to build out the next phase of our brand architecture. During the quarter, our efforts remained centered on strengthening the organizational structure, manpower, and supporting infrastructure across both the initiatives. For Senator, the team structure is now largely in place, and the rollout of flagship stores is progressing steadily.
With 32 stores currently operational, the company is now adopting a more calibrated approach towards further expansion. This is aimed at sharpening per store performance metrics and ensuring that the operating fundamentals are firmly established as the format scales. The brand continues to be positioned around a differentiated retail format, supported by a dedicated channel strategy, a focused engagement model, and an expanding product portfolio. While the balance sheet provides ample growth capital, the company remains committed to disciplined execution as it scales this initiative. Polyplus also continues to be in the investment and buildup phase. The team buildup is now largely complete, and we are focused on strengthening distribution, on-ground execution, and market presence across select value-focused markets. At this stage, our priority remains on establishing the operating framework and execution capabilities rather than near-term scale. At present, Polyplus is being distributed through 65 distributors and 750 dealers.
Over the past few years, we have continued to sharpen our brand segmentation and align product propositions and channel strategies with distinct customer segments. This portfolio-led approach enables us to address a wide range of price points and regional demand patterns, while retaining flexibility to manage near-term volatility without diluting long-term brand positioning. While near-term retail demand continues to remain uneven, the long-term fundamentals of this category remain intact. Structural factors such as improving housing quality, urban redevelopment, rising consumer aspiration, and increasing formalization continue to support the long-term demand outlook for branded bathroom solutions. We also expect broader policy measures aimed at supporting consumption and housing activity to remain helpful for category sentiment over time. When combined with our established brands, extensive distribution network, and execution capabilities, these trends provide us with confidence in the near to long-term opportunities.
As highlighted earlier, the rollout of our dealer management program remains an important ongoing initiative and is progressing steadily. Going forward, the system will help improve visibility into secondary sales and channel inventory over time, enabling more informed decision making and tighter channel management. The company's retailer loyalty program, with over 28,000 enrolled retailers, is planned to transition from the current manual invoice upload and verification process to a fully automated system once the dealer management system stabilizes. Going forward, purchases made through DMS-enabled dealers are expected to be captured automatically, with loyalty points credited without retailer intervention. This digital shift is intended to enhance efficiency, improve accuracy, and deliver a faster, more seamless experience for the retailer ecosystem. During the quarter, capacity utilization stood at 102% for faucetware and 82% for sanitaryware.
We continue to focus on disciplined cost management and operational efficiency across the supply chain, operations and distribution, aimed at protecting margins and strengthening the resilience of the business amid input cost pressures and a mixed demand environment. To summarize, while demand conditions may take some additional time to normalize, our focus continues to be on disciplined execution, strengthening our operating fundamentals, and preparing the organization for the next phase of growth. With a strong balance sheet, a diversified portfolio, and sustained investment across brands, channels, and systems, we believe that we are well positioned to navigate the current environment and capture opportunities as demand conditions improve over time. With this, I would like to hand over to Mr. Vikas Kothari, our CFO, who will present the operational and financial highlights for the quarter ended 31st December 2025. Thank you, and over to you, Mr. Kothari.
Yeah, thank you, Deepak, and a very good morning to everyone. I will now take you through a brief overview of the company's financial performance for the quarter and nine months ended 31 December 2025. Revenue from operations for the quarter stood at INR 499 crores, as compared to INR 449 crores in Q3 FY 2025. EBITDA without other income for the quarter was at INR 51 crores, as compared to INR 59 crores in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. EBITDA margin stood at 10.2% in Q3 FY 2026, as compared to 13.2% in Q3 FY 2025. This decline was primarily driven by an increase in trade discounts and elevated brass input costs, impacting both manufacturing and procurement.
Margins were also weighed down by higher publicity spend, which was a phasing impact, and pre-operating expenses associated with Polyplus and Senator, Senator brand launches. Gas costs during the quarter increased, with the weighted average cost at INR 35.70 per cubic meter in Q3 FY 2026, as compared to INR 33.53 per cubic meter in Q3 FY 2025. During the quarter, gas consumption was sourced 69% from GAIL and 31% from Sabarmati. Overall, gas cost as a percentage of revenue stood at 3.8%. Prices remained unchanged during the period. At the same time, input costs, particularly brass, clay, have moved meaningfully in the recent period.
Given the sustained nature of these cost pressures, we have recently announced a calibrated price increase, both in faucetware as well as sanitaryware. This approach is intended to balance margin protection with market competitiveness. For the quarter under review, revenue contributions by segment was broadly as follows: sanitaryware at 48%, faucetware at 40%, tiles at 10%, and wellness at 2%. On a YOY basis, sanitaryware revenue grew by 6.4%, faucetware by 18.2%, tiles by 5.7%, and wellness by 29.4%. Our core categories, sanitaryware and faucetware, together accounted for 88% of the total revenues. Capacity utilization during the quarter is stood at 82% for sanitaryware and 102% for faucetware.
From a product mix perspective, 44% of sales were from premium segment, 35% from mid segment, and 21% from entry-level products. Geographically, Tier 3 cities accounted for 41% of sales, followed by Tier 1 at 36% and Tier 2 at 23%. Profit after tax stood at INR 24 crores, as compared to previous year's quarter at INR 46 crores. During the quarter, we recorded a one-time impact under exceptional items following the implementation of the New Wage Code. The revised wage structure has resulted in an increase in long-term employee benefit liabilities. We have recognized an incremental impact of INR 12.2 crores towards gratuity and INR 6.26 crores towards leave salary liability under exceptional items in the statement of profit and loss.
Earnings per share for the quarter was at INR 18.35, compared to INR 35.56 in Q3 FY 2025. On the working capital front, inventory days decreased from 85 days to 84 days, receivables decreased from 34 days to 33 days, while payables remain stable at 38 days, leading to a YOY decrease in net working capital from 81 days to 79 days. As of December 31, 2025, our cash and cash equivalents stood at INR 757 crores. Our capital expenditure plan for financial year 2026 remains measured, with an outlay of around INR 13.2 crores by end of December 2025. This was largely directed towards routine maintenance, along with selective investments to strengthen brand presence and retail initiatives. Capital allocation continues to be guided by discipline, return visibility, and a strong focus on maintaining balance sheet strength.
Overall, our financial position remains healthy, supported by a strong balance sheet, disciplined cost management, and prudent working capital practices. This provides us with the flexibility to navigate the current operating environment while continuing to invest selectively in strategic initiatives. We believe this balanced approach positions the company well to deliver sustainable performance and create long-term value as demand conditions improve over time. With this, I would now request the moderator to open the lines up for Q&A. Thank you very much.
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 the 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, in the interest of time and fairness to others, we request you to restrict to two questions per participant and rejoin the question queue. One moment, please, while we poll for questions. We take the first question from the line of Jaspreet Singh from Equirus PMS. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, good morning, everyone. My question is related to the EBITDA margin drop. So the 300 basis point drop in EBITDA margin and gross margin, just trying to confirm, it's largely coming from faucets and largely because of the brass price increase. Can you confirm?
As we have told in our brief preview, so I will reiterate again. The drop in margins, EBITDA margins by 3%, this was primarily driven by the increase in the steep discounts. Discounts largely increased on account of the higher participation in our projects. If you see our project sales have increased by 12%, if we compare the year-over-year comparison. In case of retail segment, discounts were largely broadly stable. Additionally, the costs increased mainly due to the increase in the input costs.
So brass prices have increased by roughly 12%, and these elevated brass prices are impacted both in manufacturing as well as the external procurement costs. And apart from that, we have some higher spend in Q3 with respect to publicity, which was a phasing impact, and some pre-operative costs related to sanitaryware. So overall, if you see, to mitigate this impact of increased brass prices, we have recently announced the price increase, both in case of faucetware as well as sanitaryware. I hope I have answered your question.
Yes, yes, you have beautifully explained. Thank you so much.
So, just related to that, you know, I, I haven't seen 10% kind of EBITDA margin in the last decade or so. So I'm just surprised and confused and, you know, disappointed at the same time, that a quarter back on net sales, we were riding on 14% to 15% kind of a margin. Yeah. Suddenly, the trajectory shifted to 10%, and even there, we are now talking of calibration, calibrated price increases. So what has so drastically changed in the world of building materials and given it's a branded product, that we see a 10% EBITDA margin, multi-decade low, and I don't know. What is happening is we are looking at one quarter, and we are trying to extrapolate that it is going to be there for the future also. So, we don't anticipate that this is going to be the trend going forward.
Once we go into Q4, you'll find that the top line, even otherwise in Q4, is much larger, which leads to a better absorption in fixed costs. So it has been due to some of the saving impacts, and some costs in Q3 have been higher. For example, as Mr. Vikas mentioned, the publicity costs have been in a phased manner higher in Q3. Like, the total budget for the year remains the same, but for Q3, the expenditure has gone up. The same way for CSR activities, also, the bulk of the expenditure happened in Q3, so it is higher during this particular quarter. Also, as we have embarked on that new ventures of Senator and Polyplus.
So this is a kind of impact which has started happening from Q3. And once the top line also starts coming in sanitaryware and Polyplus, you'll find that it will be able to absorb and account for better margins. So this is a one-off kind of a thing and not something which is expected to remain on a steady basis for the future. Going forward in Q4 by itself, you'll find that we will be returning back to the margins of at least 13% to 14% that we had been having in the last few quarters. So to summarize, I will say it's a one-off kind of a thing, and is not expected to continue as a trend.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Karan Bhatelia, who is an individual investor. Please go ahead. Karan, please unmute your line and proceed with your question. Still there is no response. We'll move on to the next question, which is from the line of Sunny, who is an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Am I audible?
Yeah, we can hear you.
Yeah. So I just wanted to know, we were earlier, one or two, couple of years back, projecting a 17% revenue growth over the next two, three years. So, what is happening that even though the real estate sales from 2022 or 2021 onwards were very good, that this, our sales has been highly stagnant over the last three or four years, and we are unable to even grow our market share or our sales, even though we are holding on to our margins, barring our increase in brass prices or whatever.
When do you expect this above 15% revenue growth in the future, given that the real estate cycle had started some time back and the construction companies were doing well? So if you can throw some light on that.
Vikas, sir, I'm sorry to interrupt you there, but your audio is not clear.
Hello, hello?
Sir, it's still not clear. Just give me one moment, please. Ladies and gentlemen, we have the management line reconnected. Sir, you may proceed.
Yeah, sorry, the line was not clear. Am I audible right now?
Yes, sir. Yes. Yes, sir.
Yeah, so just to answer your question, like, you are right that for the last two years there have been stagnancy in the growth. But if you have been listening to our calls, you'll find that we have been projecting that H2 we expect the revival to happen. And in fact, Q3 we see that it has been grown by 11.1%, and Q2 also we have grown by in the range of 5% to 6%. So the growth trajectory has already started happening, and we are confident that even Q4 we should be able to maintain this kind of growth.
And we should be ending the year as we projected in the earlier con call by roughly 7% to 8% on an overall full year basis. So, now we find that that kind of stagnancy which had come in the retail market has started improving, and going forward, we expect it to be much better.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Varun Julasaria from 360 ONE Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. I just wanted to know, sir, if this growth for the current quarter was due to pre-buying before the price hike, or was there actual improvement in demand?
So there, there is an actual improvement in demand. If you look at our growth in even in Q2, we have grown by 5% to 6%. In fact, the price increase has happened only yesterday. The announcement has been made only yesterday. So in Q3, there was no talk about any price increase. It is only in Q4 yesterday that the price hike has been announced. So there will be some fraction in Q4 on account of this, but Q3, purely on account of the improvement in the demand and the initiatives which has been taken by the company.
Sir, how much was the price hike which we took, and how much was the increase in raw material cost that has come?
The brass prices have fluctuated widely over the last, you can say the entire year. In Q3, it has risen by something like 12%. In January, again, it has gone up significantly. If you look at the entire purchase of the nine months of the financial year, from March, April to December, you'll find that the average price was something like INR 640 for brass per kg, which has gone up to something like INR 800 in January over the last few days. So it's a sharp increase, which has happened in particularly in January. And also, there was a twelve percent rise in the month of, sorry, in the quarter of Q3.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Arun Baid from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Just a few data points. You mentioned that publicity cost was higher in Q3. Can you share that number? Also, the spend done on sanitaryware and Polyplus in the last nine months, and particularly in Q3. At the same time, what you announced is about 11%+ price increase in case of faucetware and 4%+ in case of sanitaryware. Is that sufficient to cover whatever increase has happened?
I'll just take your questions one by one. First, you asked was in respect of the publicity spend, how much it has happened in absolute numbers in the current quarter. In current quarter, the publicity spend was INR 17.27 crores, as opposed to INR 13.87 crores in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. So there's an increase of something like three and a half crores to four crores in publicity spend. Second question was in respect of... If you can repeat the question again?
So the spend we have, the ad spend again for nine months, if you give, that will be helpful. And sanitaryware and Polyplus, cost incurred in the first nine months and also in Q3.
In Q3, we spent something like INR 6 crore in Polyplus and Senator, which was including for salaries, which was in the region of three point six crores, and promotional, traveling, and other expenses in relation to Senator and Polyplus, which accounted for the rest. The publicity spend for the entire year, for nine months, has been something like INR 35.58 crore for the entire nine months of the current fiscal year.
Versus how much last year, nine months?
Nine months last year was INR 40.89 crores.
So one more question which I had, because this was that sanitaryware and Polyplus, there are no sales, right? We haven't booked anything sales-wise.
In Q3, the total sales up to the end of the nine months, the total sales was in the region of INR 7 crore to INR 8 crore for sanitaryware and Polyplus taken together. We had earlier projected something like INR 40 crore for the full year. But we'd like to revise that. We should be ending at more like INR 20 crore for the current year because the stores have been taking some time to get ready. So we expect to do something like more like INR 20 crore and not INR 40 to INR 45 crore, which were projected earlier in respect of these two brands.
So you do not mention the numbers spent on sanitaryware and Polyplus for nine months. You mentioned for this quarter, INR 6 crore.
Six crore was for this quarter. For the whole year, it would be in the region of, because, the most of the spending has started coming in Q3 only, the other, promotional spending, et cetera. Before that, the team-building spends were there. So for the full year, it would be in the region of, you can say INR 8 crore to INR 9 crore.
You had projected INR 150 crore from this, both these brands next year. That's increased, right?
That should be in the region of. Because, we are projecting something like, you can say INR 8-9 crore in the current quarter also. So, next year, we should be able to do, once the scale-up is complete, more in the region of, I can say, INR 100-120 crore. So, largely, once this Q4 will be ended, so we will be preparing our detailed budget exercise, taking into consideration market feedback and all. So, we will come out with the numbers, as part of the next year achievements to the achievements for both the newly launched brands.
Regarding my question about the price increase which you have taken, is that sufficient to cover whatever cost increases you've seen till date?
Yeah, the price increase will be sufficient to cover the kind of increases which have happened till date. Obviously, if it keeps on increasing at the current trend, then again, we might have to revisit the position. But as of now, the kind of increases which have happened, the price increase will be able to adequately cover it.
Yeah, one more feedback which we had from dealers is you were the last guys to announce the price hike. You know, the leader in faucetware had taken a price hike somewhere in January. Any reason why we are delaying it till first of March? That's the date you're going to release, right?
It is a matter of what, how we perceive the price rise and how our total cost dynamics are working. You find that the market leader has not taken a price rise since quite some time, whereas we had in September 2024 taken a substantial price increase in faucetware. So that price increase was kind of helping us to maintain our margins. Also, the fact that our operational capability in faucetware has improved significantly, and even with the cost increase in the brass, because of other operational parameters, the overall costs, we were able to manage quite well, and the margins were being maintained. Whereas, the need for that price increase in between did not arise.
But you cannot expect everything to be like a total aligned movement in case of prices from all the players. So it is totally based on the kind of margin pressures which are being put within the company, and that was based on that, that we had taken in September 2024, and we are taking it right now.
So, after this price increase, if I get it right, in FY 27, you will go back to, assuming there are no more cost increases, you'll go back to your margin rate of 15%-16%, which you used to look at earlier. Is that correct?
Correct, correct, correct.
And Arun, I would request you to please join back the queue for follow-up questions. Thank you.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Nikhil Gandhi from Bajaj Life Insurance. Please go ahead.
Yeah, this is Sujit from Bajaj Life. Thank you for the opportunity. I just wanted to check with you, in the previous cycle during COVID year, when the prices rose in sanitaryware and faucetware, did you benefit players like you who are large? Do they benefit typically in cycles like that, in terms of market share gain, from the smaller players?
I'm sorry, your question is not clear. If you can repeat it again.
Okay. So do you benefit in a rising prices scenario? When raw material prices rise, the industry takes a price hike. Large players like you in faucetware and sanitaryware, do they benefit in the previous cycle when this happened in COVID? Did you gain market share?
You'll find that, whenever there is a input costs rise, that is something which is affecting the industry as a whole. And you'll find that sooner or later, that will be, leading to a price increase by not only the larger players, but also by the smaller players also. So on an overall basis, the price, cost increase, led price increase, is not something which is going to affect the market share of individual players. You find that, on an over a period of time, once everybody takes a price increase, that, market share stabilizes. It is not that, on a cost, rising cost scenario, larger players will be able to take in, higher price increases and are able to garner higher market shares.
Okay. Secondly, in the con call today, you already explained that for projects you had to give higher discount, right?
Correct.
Can we say that currently the demand remains muted?
So the demand has started going up. If you see that, we have grown by 6% and 11.2% of the last two quarters, the total share of projects within the business has remained constant at the same, 38%-39%, which has been, not only there in Q2 and Q3, but also there in, you can say previous year, Q2, Q3, and Q4, as well as currently in Q1. We have been towards that number, for quite some time now. Typically, our project share used to be 30%, but that was, something like from half to three years back, and we are steadily risen from, you can say, mid of, 2022-2023 to a number of, 35% and now to 37%-38%, which is holding steady.
It is not that in this particular quarter by itself, the project numbers have gone up. The numbers have been going over the period of time, and because of the fact that retail had been kind of, sluggish. Now, with the retail also picking up, you'll find that this number would either remain constant or will start going down going forward.
So just to get this right, in periods when the overall demand is sluggish because retail is still the higher portion, close to 60%-63%, correct? In those periods, what is your game plan to basically, till the time the demand remains muted, to kind of accelerate sales growth? ... when you don't have tailwind from the industry?
With whenever there is an outside pressure, the what we typically try to do is, that we try to improve our operations, look inwards, try to improve operations, try to improve our product line. That is what we have been doing over the last couple of years, and the demand has been muted. We have introduced a few products. We have introduced brands where we felt that there was a market growth, and we were not present. We have undertaken a lot of operational efficiencies to improve and maintain margins, in spite of the kind of external pressures which are there. So the idea is that, the periods when the retail is not doing well, or the external pressures are there, try to be prudent, inward, try to do more of, you know, operational efficiencies and, product kind of expansion.
One last question is then, do you actually get higher sales growth because of the product interventions than product introductions?
Now we are anticipating that, we are well positioned because we have introduced a few products in the last couple of years. The market has already started, showing the signs of improvement. Both, project had been doing, quite decent in the recent past, and retail also started showing green shoots. So we now anticipate that going forward, we should be able to maintain this momentum of, double-digit growth in Q4, as well as in the coming, financial year.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we request you to restrict to two questions per participant. We take the next question from the line of Bhavin Rupani from Investec. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, sir, thanks for the opportunity. My first question is related to price hike. Sorry if I missed that. What is the price hike that we have taken yesterday for sanitary and faucetware?
The kind of indication that we have given to the market is, on an average, it will be 4% for sanitaryware and 11% for faucetware.
Got it. So couple of data points. What is our outsourcing proportion for sanitaryware and faucetware?
I'll just give you the number for Q3. In sanitaryware t he outsourcing was 61%, and in faucetware, the outsourcing was 47%.
Perfect. One last question on CapEx. Faucetware, we are running at almost 102%. Any CapEx plans over here?
Like we had already taken the brownfield expansion, where we have gone up from 3 lakh to 4 lakhs, and we had undertaken civil facilities, which have been completed, to take it from 4 lakhs to 6 lakhs. So, with the. Whenever we feel that the demand is sustained and that we'll be able to keep on having a kind of sustained production requirement, we can go from 4 lakhs to 6 lakhs within a span of, you can say, three to four months. Because only balancing equipment needs to be done, otherwise the plant is ready.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Mithun Aswath from Kivah Advisors. Please go ahead.
There was a plan to pick up a new sanitaryware facility.
Can you speak little louder?
Yeah, hi. There was a plan to put up a new sanitaryware facility. I think the land was purchased for the same. Just wanted to know what is the status of that?
You're right, the land is already purchased, but we have not commenced the construction activity for the plant. We'll be able to take a view at the end of Q4, depending upon the market situation at that point of time, because whether we need to start construction immediately or defer it even further. But that doesn't sound good as a prognosis, right? You have to wait for the market to grow, and then you will put up the plant, or you don't want to put up the plant ahead of demand actually picking up.
So it is a total kind of scenario in relation to the demand and the production capability. What has happened within the last couple of years, as I keep on mentioning, as in earlier also, that the facility within the plant itself has undergone a lot of change. The kind of efficiency that we were able to achieve earlier, we are able to do much better than that. So we have been able to, without putting up a new greenfield project, create a plant within a plant, a new plant within the plant, because our manufacturing capabilities and the co-production output that we're able to achieve within the plant have gone up significantly. Also, what has happened during this last, we can say couple of years is, that the mix has changed.
Earlier, the idea was that most of the complex pieces used to be produced within the plant, and the simpler ones, the lower, low value-added products, used to be purchased from outside. Now, with the kind of muted demand which was there in the last couple of years, this shift has also happened in the production which is being done currently in the plant. So few of the outsourced items which have been taken in-house, and once we find that the demand is improving, we can take again these products to the outsourced partners, so to increase the capacity within the plant, take the plant to full manufacturing capability. So we have a lot of scope in the next couple of years to be able to manage from the current plant by itself.
It's not a function of we're trying to follow the demand. It is a function of being able to understand the exact production capability within the demand.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Archana Gude from IDBI Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Please talk about EBITDA margin getting back to 15%-16% going forward. Can you help us understand what kind of mix is growth you are seeing there?
Yeah, essentially, as I mentioned, this was a one-off kind of a quarter, wherein a large amount of phasing impact has happened, which has led to a reduction in the EBITDA margin. So typically, we have been maintaining margins in the region of 13% to 14%, which even otherwise will be normal. We expect to be back to those margins, margin levels, in Q4 itself. And that should be. That is something which is sustainable across going forward. And coming back to that, from 14, 13, 14 to that range of, you can say 15% to 17%, because we have already started growing, and we have started seeing the top line increasing, we find that, as these numbers sustain and the top line continues to grow, the.
These one-off kind of things are not there. You find that those margins of 15%-17% should be looking very likely in the second half of next financial year. We should be back to that 13%-14% level in Q4 itself.
Sure, sir. So also, if you can talk about the micro markets, you know, you spoke that there is some green shoots maybe able to recover. So anybody from the market would like to talk about where they're seeing that, the demand is in the buying the projections.
I think, as I mentioned in earlier questions also, that the company has been taking a lot of initiatives in respect of the product profile, and also the kind of market where it is not too strong. So we have been looking at, in the last, you can say, 3, 4, 5 quarters, as to which markets we are not really doing well, and have been concentrating a lot on those markets. And it is these markets which have now started showing results, wherein earlier we could see the total distribution profile of CERA. The most of the sales used to come in from south, wherein Kerala used to lead. Now the trend has been reversed. You find that the UP is the leading in the entire zones.
The zone of Bihar and Jharkhand, which used to be extremely poor, has also started showing a reversal. This is kind of a small, small initiative which has started leading to kind of improvement in the overall kind of sales. Going forward, you find that the initiatives which we have taken earlier will sustain the kind of growth that we have been able to achieve in the last two quarters.
Sure, sir. That was helpful. Thank you so much, and all the best for upcoming quarters.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraint, we take that as 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 everyone for attending this call and for showing interest in Cera Sanitaryware Limited. Should you need any further clarification or would like to know more about the company, please feel free to reach out to me or to CDR India. Thank you once again for taking the time to call and join the conference.
Thank you. On behalf of Cera Sanitaryware Limited, this concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line.