Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the earnings conference call of Cera Sanitaryware Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in listen-only mode, and there'll 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 touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Devrishi Singh of CDR India. Thank you, and over to you, Mr. Singh.
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us on the earnings conference call for Cera Sanitaryware Limited for Q4 FY 2026 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 of 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 turn the call over to the management for their opening remarks. Thank you. Over to you, Deepak.
Thank you, Devrishi. Good morning, everyone, and a warm welcome to you all for joining us for the Q4 and full- year FY 2026 earnings conference call of Cera Sanitaryware Limited. I will begin by sharing a brief overview of our operational and strategic developments during the quarter, following which our CFO, Mr. Vikas Kothari, will take you through the financial performance in greater detail. During the quarter, the company delivered an improved performance with revenues growing in double digits at 11.4% on a year-on-year basis. Sanitaryware and faucetware accounted for 46% and 43% of the revenues respectively during the quarter. This performance further builds on the early signs of recovery that we have started witnessing from Q3 and reinforces our confidence that demand conditions are gradually improving.
Importantly, this improvement is being led by our core product categories, where we are seeing relatively better traction given our strong positioning in the mass and mixed segments. From a broader perspective, the underlying drivers for the building materials sector continue to remain supportive. We are seeing a more balanced recovery across segments with traction in both urban markets and select tier- 2 and tier- 3 regions. This is encouraging for our core product categories as demand conditions continue to stabilize. During the quarter, we implemented a calibrated price revision across faucetware and sanitaryware effective from March 1st, primarily to offset the increase in input costs, particularly in brass. Going forward, we expect continued volatility in the key input prices, including metals and energy costs over the near to medium term.
While these pricing actions have been undertaken in a measured manner, we continue to maintain a balanced approach, keeping in mind both margin protection and market competitiveness. Pricing decisions will remain dependent on movements in input costs and overall demand conditions. On the margin front, we have continued to see some pressure during the quarter, with margins remaining below our normal range, largely on account of higher input costs as well as on account of continued trade discounts. We have already compensated for the higher costs by increasing prices in both sanitaryware and faucetware segments. As operating conditions stabilize, we expect to progressively regain better control over discounts, which should support a steady improvement in margins over time.
The company had identified certain focus markets, mainly the Northeast, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Goa, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha as a part of its growth strategy initiated some time ago. Continuous efforts undertaken across these regions to strengthen distribution and market interventions have contributed meaningfully to the growth achieved by the company so far. From a portfolio perspective, FY 2026 has been an important year in strengthening our overall brand architecture, particularly through our initiatives under Senator and Polipluz. Both brands have made steady progress during the year, with key building blocks now largely established across product portfolios, team structure, distribution, and market presence. Under Senator, we have successfully expanded our retail footprint with 40 flagship stores operational during the year and are targeting to scale this up to 60 stores by next financial year.
Under Polipluz, we have onboarded 102 distributors and 1,120 dealers during FY 2026, with a target to expand the network to 200 distributors and 2,000 dealers by the end of FY 2027. These initiatives are currently in the investment and brand building phase, where the focus remains on strengthening positioning, expanding reach, and building long-term brand equity. Given the nature of this phase, we expect the outcomes to play out progressively over time with a more visible contribution to growth as these initiatives scale up. With the foundational elements now largely in place, our focus will increasingly be on strengthening execution and driving progressive scale up over the coming periods. Backed by a strong leadership team and relevant industry experience in building established brands, we remain confident about the long-term potential of these initiatives.
At the same time, as we continue to invest in these emerging brands, the core Cera brand remains central to our growth strategy and continues to be the primary driver of volumes and overall business performance. As mentioned earlier, we are seeing improved traction in this segment, supported by gradual recovery in retail demand, as well as continued momentum in the project business. Cera Luxe is also gradually strengthening our presence in the premium and contemporary segment, supported by an expanding product portfolio and improving market visibility. Given our strong positioning across our core segments, we expect a significant part of the growth going forward to be driven by the core Cera brand, where we have established scale, distribution reach, and strong brand recall. On the brand and marketing front, we are strengthening our overall communication strategy with a sharper focus on enhancing brand visibility across segments.
During FY 2026, our marketing and publicity spends stood approximately at INR 49 crores. We expect this to increase in FY 2027 as we step up our brand-building initiatives across key channels. We are working towards rolling out a series of focused campaigns across digital, social, and on-ground platforms. This will include the introduction of a new brand ambassador, which we expect to announce in the near term, which we believe will further enhance brand visibility and engagement across the key markets. Overall, these initiatives are aimed at strengthening our brand positioning and supporting our growth strategy going forward. In addition, we have been strengthening our brand visibility through strategic franchisee and institutional tie-up with leading consumer-facing brands across India. These include association with well-recognized names such as McDonald's, Tea Post, Complex, JSW One Homes, Shalby Hospitals, Federal Bank, and other prominent brands across sectors.
From a supply side perspective, as most of you are aware, the industry has been witnessing disruptions in parts of the unorganized sector, particularly in Morbi, due to gas availability challenges arising from the ongoing geopolitical situation. In response to this environment, we are increasingly undertaking internalization of certain sanitaryware product categories, which is expected to enhance supply reliability and strengthen our ability to cater to demand requirements more efficiently. While gas prices remain elevated and are unlikely to ease in the near term, Cera has remained relatively uninsulated from these disruptions. This is supported by our continued gas sourcing arrangement, including suppliers from GAIL at relatively subsidized rates, which have ensured operational continuity.
In addition, we have been able to effectively service demand through our existing inventory levels and manufacturing capabilities, enabling us to maintain supply in a market where several players have faced disruptions. This has also provided an opportunity to liquidate inventory and support offtake during the period, leading to improved demand visibility. Overall, while the external environment remains challenging, we are well-positioned to navigate the current situation without any material disruption to production or supply in the near term. At the same time, we continue to closely monitor the situation and remain focused on ensuring operational stability and responsiveness across our network. On the operations front, we continue to focus on improving manufacturing efficiencies and strengthening our supply chain. In faucetware, we continue to witness strong traction with operations running at high utilization levels.
During March 2026, we manufactured 4.3 lakh pieces, reflecting a healthy demand momentum. In view of the strong demand visibility, we are undertaking capacity expansion to increase the production capacity to 5 lakh pieces per month, with minimal CapEx outlay of approximately INR 5 crore. The enhanced capacity is expected to become operational from Q4 FY 2027 onwards. To summarize, while the near-term environment continues to present certain challenges, we are seeing gradual improvement in demand conditions, supported by a strong market positioning and execution focus. Importantly, we are beginning to see early signs of strengthening across key demand drivers, and as these trends sustain, we expect this to translate into more visible growth momentum over the coming periods. Our priority remains on disciplined execution, strengthening our operating fundamentals, and building a robust platform for future growth.
With a strong balance sheet, diversified product portfolio, and continued investments across brands, channels, and systems. We believe that we are well-positioned to navigate the current environment and capture growth opportunities as demand conditions continue to improve over time. With this, I would like to hand over to Mr. Vikas Kothari to run you through the financials of the company.
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 year-ended 31st March 2026. Revenue from operations for the quarter stood at INR 644 crores as compared to INR 578 crores in Q4 FY 2025. EBITDA excluding other income for the quarter was at INR 98 crores as compared to INR 106 crores in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. EBITDA margins stood at 15.2% in Q4 FY 2026, as compared to 18.3% in Q4 FY 2025. This decline was primarily driven by continued pressure on gross margins, led by elevated brass input costs and higher trade discounts. Margins were also impacted by pre-operative expenses related to the Senator and Polipluz formats.
Gas cost during the quarter remained stable, with the weighted average cost at INR 35.55 per cubic meter in Q4 FY 2026 as compared to INR 36.03 per cubic meter in Q4 FY 2025. During the quarter, gas consumption was sourced 64% from GAIL and 36% from Sabarmati. Overall, gas cost as a percentage of revenue stood at 2.3%. Input costs, particularly brass, continued to remain at elevated levels, while other input costs such as clay also witnessed some upward movement during the period. In response to these sustained cost pressures, the company implemented calibrated price revisions of 4% in sanitaryware and 11% in faucetware towards the latter part of the quarter. These revisions were largely applicable to the retail segment, while project business remained relatively insulated due to pre-booked orders.
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 46%, faucetware 43%, tiles at 9% and wellness at 2%. On a YoY basis, sanitaryware revenue grew by 10.7%, faucetware by 24.3%, wellness by 31.2%, while tiles declined by 8.3%. Our core categories, sanitaryware and faucetware together accounted for 89% of the total revenues. Capacity utilization during the quarter stood at 70% for sanitaryware and 106% for faucetware. From a product mix perspective, 41% of sales were from premium segment, 38 from mid segment and 21% from entry-level products.
Geographically, tier- 3 cities accounted for 40% of sales, followed by tier- 1 at 36% and tier- 2 at 24%. Profit after tax stood at INR 77 crores as compared to INR 86 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Earnings per share for the quarter stood at INR 59.96, compared to INR 66.36 in Q4 FY 2025. On the working capital front, we continued to see improvement across key parameters during the quarter, with inventory days decreasing from 79 days to 71 days, receivables reducing from 37 days to 33 days, while payables stretched from 38 days to 40 days. This resulted in a YoY reduction in net working capital from 78 days to 64 days. As of 31st March , 2026, our cash and cash equivalents stood at INR 853 crores.
On CapEx front, the CapEx for FY 2026 remained measured with an outlay of around INR 14.5 crores by end of March 2026. This was largely directed towards routine maintenance, along with selective investments towards strengthening our brand presence and retail initiatives. Overall, our financial position remains healthy, supported by a strong balance sheet, disciplined cost management and prudent working capital practices.
While the operating environment continues to be impacted by input cost pressures, the steps taken during the quarter, including calibrated price revisions and a continued focus on cost efficiencies position us well to navigate near-term challenges. We remain focused on maintaining financial discipline while continuing to invest selectively in strategic initiatives, and believe this approach should support a steady and sustainable performance going forward. With this, I would like the moderator to open the lines for Q&A. Thank you very much.
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 the 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. Participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. The first question is from the line of Praveen Sahay from PL Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir, thank you for opportunity, and many congratulations for good set of numbers. The first question is related to the demand. If I look at that from Q3 to Q4, we can clearly see that the retail has done better in the Q4 and also in the, you know, commentary and opening statement you had said that the retail channel has encouraging recovery, you know, and there. How you are going to see in the FY 2027 the retail because the retail has been quite a muted for past few quarters, now we started seeing some improvement.
How you are going to see the growth in the retail the way forward? Second thing is on the institution contribution, because institution contribution has also increased in the last four years from 32%- 38% with a good growth. Where you see the balance between institution and the retail in the coming years?
Thank you, Praveen. Like, I'll just take you through the journey of how the progress and demand has been over the last couple of years. Like, if you see, we had entered a phase of sluggish demand from Q3 of FY 2023 or 2023, 2024. During that period, the project demand continued to remain strong, but retail has entered into a sluggish kind of a situation. Since Q3 of the current financial year, we have started seeing an improvement in the retail demand, and we saw this continuing through Q4 also. In the current, if we see the month of April also we have seen a good surge in the retail. It has continued in the current quarter also.
We are hopeful that, going forward, the kind of demand recovery that we have seen in the retail segment should continue in the full- year of FY 2027. The kind of traction that we are seeing in project, that we'll find that it has increased from something like 30% what it used to be earlier couple of years back to 35%, and then now to something like 39%-40%. With the improvement in retail demand, we expect that this percentage should now remain stable. Going forward, we expect that the proportion of retail and project should now be remaining stable at 60% for retail and 40% for the project business. On an overall growth perspective, we have started seeing improvements in volume.
Going forward, we expect that there should be good traction in the volume in both the sanitaryware and faucet. More so in the faucetware segment, we have been even in the period where the demand used to be sluggish, we have consistently seen improvements in the faucetware demand. Going forward in FY 2027, we expect that faucetware should continue to grow at 10%-12% in volumes, and sanitaryware should be in the range of, you can say 7%-8%, in FY 2027 also.
Okay. That's, 7%-8% or 10%-12% is the volume growth what you are indicating for?
Correct. Correct.
Next question is related to the price. Because the last quarter also you indicated, 4% in the sanitaryware and 11% in the faucetware. Eventually, we indicated that from the March onwards, we started seeing the gradual price increase. What challenges basically you had faced, especially in taking the price hike because the brass prices has been quite a higher for last, you know, couple of quarters back. The price hike has been, you know, first announced and now, in the March actually has been taken. One. The second is related to the prices. How much more, as you had indicated also that's the elevated the brass prices is maintaining and also the clay prices has increased. How much more price hikes do you expect it to take to maintain your margin guidance of a 14% around?
You're right that the input situation has been challenging in the last one quarter or so, especially in light of the geopolitical situation which developed in the month of February. Now, brass prices had started moving upwards even before that, and in the last three, four months, it has gone up from something like late INR 600 to early INR 700. From that it has gone up to something like INR 800 to INR 850, which is prevailing at right now. Now, if I see on a YoY basis, there would have been an increase of something like 29%, 30% in the brass prices. Effectively, we have taken a price increase of 11% in the month of March.
In the month of April, we had taken a surcharge of 10% in the case of sanitaryware and 5% in the case of faucetware. Now again, we have taken a price increase of 8% in the case of sanitaryware and 5% in the case of faucets. We have removed the surcharge, and we have gone in for a price increase. Effectively, over a period of, you can say two months, we have taken a price increase of 12% in the case of sanitaryware and 16% in the case of faucetware. Now, these prices are only effective on the retail portion.
For the projects, the prices are expected to like as per announced, they remain stable for the period of one year from the time that we it is booked into our system. On an average, if I assume that the projects would be starting and would be completing, and there would be a six-month kind of an average wherein the new price effect would take place in the case of projects. We can expect this kind of price change to start reflecting in the project business from, let's say, in another five to six months.
Retail, it has already been implemented, and the impact will be visible from, like it is already visible from March, and it will all be visible in Q1 more because it will be a full kind of a quarter where the price increase has remained effective. In respect of as to how well we have been able to cover our rises in price, you'll find that in case of brass, we have more or less been able to cover the kind of price increases with the kind of price increases that we have taken. Slight deviation is there. We have had to absorb some kind of price increase in the brass.
Typically, if you see, like I said, that the price increase has been 30% over the last one year. If I assume that it constitutes something like 60% of my brass constitutes 60% of my cost. The effective impact on my COGS would be in the region of 18%. I've taken a price increase of 16%. That is still kind of 1% or 2% which is left as a gap between the pricing and the kind of in-price increase and cost increase, which has happened in the case of brass. That we intend to calibrate by way of discount controls, which we are expecting that now that the demand has started recovering, we'll see better discounts management going forward.
That couple of percentage points that we're still lagging behind in the case of price increase should be kind of made up by way of just a better discount management. In case of sanitary wares the clay et cetera has increased but the bulk of the price impact comes in on account of gas. Like most of the players in Morbi have been severely impacted because of the rise in the kind of rises which had happened in the prices of gas.
Also, in the quarter, coming quarter, we expect that even though Morbi plants have started opening up, typically the first quarter is in case of sanitaryware a little slow in the case of Morbi because especially this will be more so in the current quarter because while they have started opening up, most of the labor would have kind of gone back home the time when the plants were closed. It will be a gradual process by which the labor would come in and plants will start opening up again. Also that, we find that during Q1 it is a monsoon period and during that period also you'll find that the production in Morbi in case of sanitaryware remains slow.
It will take some time beyond Q1 when you can expect that Morbi would be becoming fully operational in case of sanitaryware. That is a kind of an opportunity for us because the players who are not having their own kind of manufacturing facility and are sourcing mostly from Morbi will find it going a little tough unless and until they have built up stocks heavily earlier. We anticipate that the current situation will be playing well for us going forward in Q1 and Q2.
Thank you so much for a elaborative answer, sir. Thank you for that. The last question from my side is related to the brand, because we had did a lot of investment in the Senator and the Polipluz in terms of the distribution and the product last year. If you can give me some color on how much of the revenue in the FY 2026 you had generated from these brands and what's our target? Is there any revision in the target for the revenue for 2027?
Okay. In case of Senator and Polipluz, in Senator, we generated revenue of, in the region of INR 10.5 crores in the full- year FY 2026. In Polipluz, we generated something like INR 8.5 crores. Total, these brands combined, generated total revenue of INR 19 crores approximately. For FY 2027, we are projecting that Senator should be able to generate roughly INR 40 crores -INR 45 crores, and the Polipluz will be in the range of INR 30 crores -INR 35 crores.
Thank you so much, sir.
These two brands taken together should be giving us, roughly INR 70 crores-INR 80 crores.
With the break-even?
Yeah, see the, in the current quarter, like, there was a kind of loss if you take into account, the kind of publicity expenses that we have been putting in. that going forward in the FY 2027 also we'll have a lot of publicity, will being carved out for this particular segment, sanitaryware. if I exclude the publicity expenses, then, we'll be making a small profit. if I take in, the publicity expenses also, then, it will be a little, maybe not current year, but next year when we start, making profits after taking into account all the publicity costs as well, so.
Thank you so much, sir, and all the best.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. Next question is from the line of Utkarsh Nopany from Anand Rathi. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Good morning, sir. My first question is regarding the revenue growth guidance for FY 2027. Earlier you have mentioned that we are expecting sanitaryware volume to grow at 7%-8% rate and the faucet at 10%-12% rate for FY 2027. Given the price hike, which we have implemented in the last two, three month period, is it fair to understand that we are targeting sanitaryware revenue to grow at a healthy teen rate and our faucetware revenue to grow at more than 20% rate for FY 2027, sir?
Thank you for asking the question. As you have seen the last year being stressed in terms of different activities, market conditions, geopolitical and all, within those constrained situations also, we have delivered the number of INR 2,050 crores in terms of the overall revenue. Going forward, based on the based on how the market demand is doing, we have seen that Q3 and Q4 has built the confidence in terms of continuity of the upward trend. Basis that we have we have estimated in terms of the revenue growth, which is going to be there for financial year 2027. With the demand trend continuing to grow upward, we expect the overall growth of around 18%-20% next year.
In this, if I have to categorize by segment, in sanitaryware segment we expect 12% growth, driven by a favorable volume impact of 7% and price impact of 5%-6% because we are, like Deepak has explained, it is a combination of both project and retail. Retail will be driven by the price increase, whereas in case of projects, pre-orders will be at the old rate and the new orders will be at the increased rates. Similarly, in case of faucetware, we expect a growth of 18%, which is going to be driven by favorable volume impact of 10%-12% and price impact of 8%. Overall, if we see today in terms of how the things are moving and, how we have capitalized different scenarios, adverse scenarios into opportunities, we expect that if such trend continues, the overall growth will be between 18%-20%.
Okay. if we look on the margin side, like, in your initial remarks.[inaudible]
Yeah. Yeah, please speak.
Yeah. On the margin side, like, sir, you have initially mentioned that we are trade discount which was going on, it is still continuing. Just wanted to understand, like, we are seeing a pretty good demand in the good demand recovery in the retail segment. The supply side has also got impacted because of the gas supply disruption. Why we are still continuing with the trade discounts?
No. Just to give you an understanding in terms of the margins. If you've seen, see for the whole year, the, keeping aside this recent scenario of gas and all, margins were stressed. Reason for being the trade discounts which were offered to meet out the subdued demand, they will keep on increasing. With this Q3 onwards, we have seen that because in terms of discounts and all, it is not a process that it can be immediately controlled. It is a gradual journey. This control, like we told discount management will be controlled this year. We have already started taking the steps from Q1 onwards, this will further strengthen in the coming quarters.
As far as margin decline is concerned, the two factors which has largely impacted the gross margin is the rise in the input costs, mainly the brass prices, which has been elaborated how this has gone, and it has gone by 29%, which has now been sufficiently taken care of through the price rise to offset the impact of increased costs. Secondly, the elevated trade discounts. These trade discounts are again we can correct it in the coming quarters. If you have seen, the margins which are in Q4, they have seen a uplift from 10.2% in Q3 to 15.2%. We understand that with the growth which is going right now in terms of the demand aspect. We see that if this trend continues, we will be able to sustain the EBITDA margins at around 14%-15%.
Okay. Actually, sir, so one question was regarding the capacity utilization. If you can give some sense, what was the capacity utilization of our sanitaryware plant in March and April month? Do you see any disruption in our sanitaryware operation say in the June quarter period? What kind of a sanitaryware inventory we were carrying at the end of March 26, and what is the status of our greenfield sanitaryware plant, sir?
Regarding the capacity utilization, as we have rightly told, in case of sanitaryware, in March, we were operating at 70% of our total capacity. In case of faucetware, we were operating at 106% of our total capacity. Ideally speaking, in case of sanitaryware, in the month of March, we had an advantage in terms of the inventory levels. Adequate inventory levels played a critical role in ensuring uninterrupted market supplies and meeting customer demand during this period. What has happened is, in March, we have taken a decision to close one kiln, which was temporarily shut down to manage the operational efficiency because in March the visibility was very poor in terms of gas supplies, prices and all.
We have taken this as an opportunity, and since we were having the inventories built up, that has proved as a favorable part in terms of meeting out the customer demand. In the month of April also, we have taken the decision to remain closed with one kiln. We will be soon getting operational with the second kiln. We hope that in terms of the demand and what is there, and there are certain products which we have taken internalized from Morbi. I think this capacity, which is running at 70%-75% will further improve in the coming months.
Thank you. Utkarsh, may I request you to come back for a follow-up question, please?
Yeah, sure.
Thank you. Participants, you may press star and one to ask the question. Next question is from the line of Varun Julasaria from 360 ONE Capital . Please go ahead.
Yes, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, for this quarter, how far was the growth driven by price hike, and how much was driven by volume for the Q4?
Largely, if you see, the success in terms of the growth which is there in this quarter is largely driven by volume. If you see that the growth which is driven by volume is almost. Just give me the numbers. Largely it is driven by volume growth of 12%, and with an improved product mix of 3%-4%. However, there was some adverse price impact of 3% because of discounts and all what we discussed. Largely it is a volume-driven growth for the quarter.
Okay. Sir, sanitaryware, and the faucetware, sir, how much capacity we are increasing? You mentioned it, we planned for INR 6 million, right?
No. Just to give you an update in terms of how faucetware is progressing. With the brownfield expansion what we have taken earlier, we have increased our capacity from 3 lakh pieces per month to 4 lakh pieces. Last year was a basically milestone where we have operated to reach out to 4 lakh. In the month of March, we have completed 4.30 lakh pieces per month. With the demand trend been going upward, we are further increasing this capacity from 4.30 lakh per unit to 5 lakh per unit by debottlenecking and by putting some efforts within the brownfield setup, what we have built earlier, with a minimum CapEx of around INR 4 crores-INR 5 crores.
Okay, sir. Understood. For sir, our exposure to Morbi, like we also have a fair bit of exposure on outsourcing. How much are we exposed to Morbi and, say, other regions comparatively, for our sanitaryware and faucetware requirements?
That outsourcing % we always keep on disclosing. I'll just tell you the figures, right now also, what is the kind of proportion of outsourcing what is announced. In case of sanitaryware, you'll find that the outsourcing proportion in the Q4 was to the extent of 60%. In case of faucetware it was to the tune of 57%. Sorry, 46%. 60% for the sanitaryware and 46% for faucetware.
Now, in the current scenario, as I was mentioning that, in the Q4 because of the kind of gas pricing impact which has happened and also the availability of gas which has became kind of restricted in the month of March onwards, we expect that sourcing from Morbi in Q1 of the current financial year would be a little sketchy. That is where it is mostly because of the fact that we have adequate inventories that we'll be able to manage the last portion of Q1 and also some portion of Q2.
The reason that we have also done is that during this period we have also undertaken a drive for internalizing the kind of products which we are currently outsourcing from Morbi. Those, we are expecting that should be available for sale from Q2 onwards, by which time, we have till which time we have adequate inventories within our within the company to take care of the any demand which is there for these products.
Sir, is the large part of this outsourcing from Morbi only or do we have like, you know, as far as I know there are other suppliers in north and other?
Currently there's a multiple source, it is mostly from Morbi. The multiple suppliers mostly from south Morbi.
Okay. Okay. Thank you so much. That's it.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Bhavin Rupani from Investec India. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. First question on inventory. Sir, you mentioned that you have inventory of one or two quarters, but if you look at our balance sheet, it shows somewhere around 70 days. I'm assuming that some portion of that could be attributed to raw material cost as well. Can you tell us about what is the finished good inventory that we have?
The finished goods inventory as of March 2026 was INR 303 crores, as compared to December's, which was INR 365 crores. December 2025 was INR 365 crores. We ended March with INR 303 crores. At the end of April also we're in the same region, INR 300 crores roughly we are maintaining currently.
That is somewhere around one quarter, right, sir?
No, it doesn't function like that because [crosstalk] . We are also manufacturing. Manufacturing is also continuing right now. We have certain inventory which is of manufacturing. We have certain inventory of which is for outsourcing materials. As I mentioned earlier, the kind of outsourcing material that we have within the kind of entire kitty is adequate for taking kind of the forecast that we have for the next two to three months. Three months further we don't anticipate any challenge. By that time our internalization drive would start giving us the kind of SKUs which were there from Morbi. Also it is not that Morbi is entirely closed.
They will have problems and will not be able to give the kind of materials which were giving earlier, the kind of demand projections which are there, but they are still able to supply the kind of some amount of material which will be coming in from Morbi. We are comfortable in respect of the entire situation if you see. We're comfortable in respect of availabilities.
All right. Sir, what I understand is our tiles is also completely outsourced. Do we see any impact on tiles going ahead in Q1, Q2?
Tiles will be impacted because in the month of March also, latter part of March, because most of it is dependent upon outsourcing. We are able to do some amount of sales because some inventory was there with the suppliers. It is essentially totally driven by outsourcing and, if the plants do not open up and we are not able to get that procuring material from outside, that tiles portion we expect that during Q1 will be impacted.
Okay. Got it, sir. sir, you spoke about higher brand spend-
Sorry to interrupt you, Bhavin. Can I request you to come back please for a follow-up question? Thank you, Bhavin. In the interest of time, I'll request participants to kindly limit themselves to two questions per participant. Next question is from the line of Pranav from Equirus Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good morning, sir. Sir, just wanted to understand if you can throw some light on the strategy for both Senator and Polipluz for next, let's say two to three years. How you want to scale up this business and how the premiumization trend will be a key driver for this?
See, as we have been mentioning in the earlier calls also that Polipluz will be the primary driver for the entry segment. This will be mostly a kind of brand which will be for the purpose of rural segment and the areas which are more in the tier- 4 nature kind of a situation. We are already, as I mentioned in my call also earlier, we have set up something like 100 distributors right now with 1,000 + dealers. We intend to take it up to 200 distributors and 2,000 dealers in the next financial year.
For Senator, the idea would be that it will be more of a premium and luxury brand, and that is why the concentration is more on opening brand stores, flagship brand stores across the country. We have already opened something like 40 stores in the current year, and we intend to take it up to 60 in the next financial year. Also we are intending to, apart from the retail presence, we are wanting to take a strong presence in the project segment also and intend to introduce separate series project range for the Senator brand, that will be already in the process and should be there by, you can say, another two months. Apart from the retail, we'll also be driving strongly in the project segment in the sanitaryware portfolio.
Sure, sir. Sir, after the price hikes, are we at a level, at level two, which let's say the other brands are, or are we still slightly below them?
Typically the pricing of Cera has been on an MRP level been higher than what other brands have been. In the current situation, we have taken a price increase in line with our own cost structure, the kind of price increases that have happened. The other branded players have also taken similar price increases. We'll find that the price increase more or less is in line with what others have taken. It will be slightly, you can say, more for some brands, slightly less for some brands, but it more or less because this is something which has affected each and every player. You'll find that most of them have taken price increases in the line of, you can say, 16%-18% in the case of faucets and, 10%-12% in the case of sanitaryware for most players.
Sir, we are in the same line, right?
Yeah, on the same lines, yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Aasim from DAM Capital Advisors. Please go ahead.
Hi, morning. Two questions from my side. One, on this, FY 2027 revenue growth expectation. You said sanitaryware will grow 12%, faucets 18%. I can't understand how will your overall revenue growth be, you know, 18% or 20%. What explains the balance?
Yes, sir. Regarding this part, we have given the broad understanding with respect to our major segments, that is, sanitary and faucetware. There are other segments also within the pipeline. We have tiles and construction chemicals. Our understanding is that once this Morbi situation, which has now started opening from May onwards, will improve. Tiles, we have tiles and construction chemicals. They are going to contribute around INR 250 crores, a growth of 20%+ percent. With respect to the Senator and Polipluz, our newly introduced brands, they will be contributing around INR 70 crores-INR 80 crores. Overall, if you see in terms of the overall revenue from all these, that will lead to 18%-20% growth next year.
Okay. Understood. The second bit, basically on numbers. Quarterly employee costs in Q4 are down QoQ. Any reasons that you can attribute and what should be the quarterly run rate ahead and the CapEx number that you estimate for FY 2027?
I didn't get your first part. You're talking about the employee cost?
Yeah, the employee cost. INR 59 crores for Q4, I think it's down about 1%, 2% QoQ. I just wanted to understand if there is anything you want to call out behind the decline.
No, no, actually, what had happened is that, typically if you see our expenditure which has been happening on a quarter-over-quarter basis, it has been in the region of INR 65 crores. Q1 was roughly INR 65 crores. Q2 was also INR 65 crores. In Q3, once the wage code was announced, we had taken certain assumptions that based on the kind of liabilities which will be coming up, there would be an additional expense of something like INR 5 crores. That is why you'll find that there was an expense of INR 70 crores in the month of, sorry, in the quarter of Q3.
In the current quarter, once we have got a better understanding of the wage code and related laws and how it is going to be implemented, we have taken, not only, you can see that there's an exceptional item of INR 10 crores of write back, wherein we had put in something like INR 18 crores in Q3, for the gratuity and PL liability. Wherein now we are taking in that liability would be only in the region of INR 7.5 crores-INR 8 crores, so that there is a write back of INR 10 crores coming in as an exceptional item. Similarly in the wage expenses also that during that period we had provided for certain expenses related to the wage code, which we are now anticipating will not be there.
That is why that expense of INR 65 crores, which was INR 70 crores in the Q3, has now come back to INR 60 crores in Q4. Going forward, we expect that the employee expenses should increase in the range of 10% on the basis of normal wage hikes that and the incremental the kind of salary increases that is normally there. Also in the case of labor, there might be some long-term settlement which is now pending, which will impact only the labor portion, the wage portion, not the salary cost. How much that impact will come will be depending upon the negotiation which happens with the workers. That impact should start coming in from that depending upon when that negotiation actually happens.
In respect of the CapEx program, typically our CapEx is in the range of INR 28 crores-INR 30 crores. In this particular year, we are anticipating a total CapEx of something like INR 45 crores. This includes normal CapEx of roughly INR 25 crores, which we'd often typically do on a year-on-year basis. Roughly, INR 5 crores is there for the faucetware expansion. I'm talking about within this INR 30 crores, there is INR 5 crores for faucetware expansion. Another INR 15 crores has been budgeted for the acquisition of some more office space that we've been planning to do in the current financial year. That will be in the range of INR 15 crores. Total CapEx, taking everything together, the routine, the faucetware expansion of INR 5 crore and this, the office space acquisition of something like INR 15 crore, would be in the region of INR 43.42 crore.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from line of Praveen Sahay from PL Capital. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir. Thank you for the follow-up. A small question from my side. One, you have a INR 853 crore of a cash. What's the uses, way forward have you know, decided, for that?
Ideally, I think, this is the question which is asked every time. The idea is to communicate that whatever the cash position on which we are sitting, we are equally respecting in terms of distributions also. This time, if you have seen that we have given a healthy dividend, declared a healthy dividend payout, which is now INR 75 per share, almost 1,500% of the face value. That is there. Apart from that, in terms of the greenfield project, which we will evaluate as we have seen the thresholds are coming right now with respect to demand. The right time of startup of construction of the greenfield will be seen in the coming quarters.
There, the greenfield project was initially estimated at around INR 130 crore, of which land portion has already been purchased, that is INR 27 crore. Considering the two years inflation what is there, our understanding is, when we are going to construct the first phase, if we conclude in terms of constructing this year, then it will be costing around INR 150 crore. These are the current things which are in the pipeline. Apart from the CapEx, what we have shown as our routine or some incremental capacity expansion, what we are doing. Going forward, we will evaluate the scenarios in terms of how the market is doing, and accordingly we'll take action in terms of future investments.
INR 150 apart from INR 27 crore on the land, which you had already incur.
Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. Thank you, sir, and all the best. Yeah.
Thank you. Next question is from line of Karan Bhatelia from Asian Market Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning. Am I audible?
Yeah, yeah. We can hear you.
Yeah. Sir, just wanted to understand what kind of launch expenses we've booked for Senator and Polipluz in the current year, and what kind of numbers we can see for next two, three years when we want to have a EBIT of INR 20 crores-INR 25 crore, 20%-25% on this portfolio.
In the current year, the expenses in Senator were mostly focused on opening the brand stores. We have spent something like INR 4 crore in the current year because this expansion, et cetera, has started from, let's say, after three months in the start of the year. We have spent something like INR 4 crore over here. In the period going forward, now that stores expand, expansion has mostly happened, like we have opened 40 stores in the current period. We intend to go another 20 in the next year to take it to 60.
We now that we have gotten the spa-space, all the infrastructure in place, now we'll also need to spend on the other activities wherein we'll be spending on exhibitions, architect consultants, catalogs, print media. There'll be some advertising also being done. For the next year, we expect that INR 10 crores-INR 12 crores will be going in for the Senator's publicity et cetera.
Right. Sure. Sir, more of I was referring to the total, you know, expense which includes team-building exercise, store opening and other overheads. We've had losses in this year. Just wanted to get the broad math right.
The salary expenses for Senator and Polipluz in the current year was in the region of INR 6.5 crores for Senator and INR 3.3 crores for Polipluz. Going forward, we expect INR 8.5 crores for Senator and INR 7 crores for Polipluz. INR 15.5 crores for both of them taken together. In publicity, we expect to do something like INR 10 crores-INR 12 crores next year. The salary expenses is now going to be constant. Like, this is the kind of, as of now, the total, the structure has already been set up. That amount would now be remaining more as constant at INR 15.5 crores-INR 16 crores. Publicity for the next year is budgeted at INR 10 crores-INR 12 crores m ay increase again, going forward in FY 2028.
Right. Right. Right. This year losses were what, in the tune of, INR 15 crore-INR 16 crore?
This year, the total losses were in the region of INR 7 crores for Senator, and for Polipluz it was in the range of INR 1.5 crores. The total losses were in the range of INR 8.5 crores .
Thank you. Thank you. That's all [inaudible] .
Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, in the interest of time, we'll take that as the last question. I now hand the conference over to the management for 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 join the call. Thanks and bye.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. On behalf of CDR India and Cera Sanitaryware Limited, thank you for joining us and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.