Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Uno Minda Limited Q3 and nine months FY 2025 earnings conference call. This conference call may contain forward-looking statements about the company, which are based on the beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the company as on date of this call. These statements are not the guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. 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. Sunil Bohra, Group Chief Financial Officer, for his opening remarks. Thank you and over to you, sir.
Thanks, Anu. Good afternoon, everyone, and a warm welcome to all the participants. On the earnings call today, I am joined by my colleague, Ankur. We have uploaded our financial results and investor presentation for Q3 and nine months FY 2025 on the stock exchanges and our company's website. We hope everybody had an opportunity to go through the same. I would like to begin by giving some insights on the economy, followed by the current scenario in the auto industry and our financial and operational performance for the quarter and nine months, post that we'll open the floor for Q&A. The global economy is projected to grow at 3.3% in both 2025 and 2026. Remains below historical average of 3.7%. The U.S. continues to grow at 2.7% in 2025, driven by strong consumption and a resilient labor market.
In contrast, the European geography seemed to be weighed down by weak manufacturing and geopolitical concerns. Despite fiscal support, China's growth is expected to remain at 4.6% in 2025, as property market challenges persist. Further, global outlook looks challenging due to trade and geopolitical risks. This may disrupt global supply chains, reduce investments, and delay growth prospects, particularly in trade-intensive sectors. The geopolitical scenario, including tension in the Middle East and some other provinces, remains unresolved. Meanwhile, emerging markets are showing mixed performance. India, on one hand, continues to shine, with growth holding steady at around 6.5%, supported by a strong domestic economy. India's growth is expected to remain stable, with limited downside risks compared to some of the other emerging markets. This instability is a testament to the country's ability to navigate global headwinds, including potential trade policy uncertainty and geopolitical issues in some of the regions.
In this uncertain environment, agility and strategic planning will be key. As a company, we must remain vigilant, adapt to changing conditions, and seize opportunities where they arise. Moving on to the automotive industry, for the quarter ending December 2024, the Indian automobile industry demonstrated growth in Q3 FY 2025, achieving a steady year-on-year volume growth of approximately 7%, with total production reaching around 78 lakh units. This positive performance was largely driven by robust demand in the two-wheeler, whereas PV segment contributed with marginal growth. However, the commercial vehicle segment saw a decline in production, as it has faced sluggish industrial activity and delayed government expenditure. In Q3 FY 2025, the passenger vehicle segment demonstrated production volumes growth of 3% year-on-year to reach 11.7 lakh units. The growth in passenger vehicle slowed a bit after stellar last few years.
Meanwhile, as per FADA, dealers anticipate strong consumer pull from new SUV launches, featuring EVs and its maturing EV ecosystem, though price-sensitive buyers and interest rate fluctuations remain watchpoints. In Q3 FY 2025, the commercial vehicle sector experienced a modest decline of approximately 2%, reaching around 2.4 lakh units. This subdued performance was largely attributed to a slowdown in industrial activity, delayed government fund disbursement, and sluggish financing approvals, prompting many customers to defer purchases. However, optimism is building, particularly in regions benefiting from infrastructure projects. The sector is expected to see a gradual recovery, supported by an accelerated pace of infrastructure development and government incentives, which could drive fleet renewals and expansion. The two-wheeler segment delivered a solid year-on-year growth of approximately 8%, with production reaching around 59.2 lakh units. In contrast, the three-wheeler segment witnessed muted growth, reflecting broader market sluggishness.
However, towards the end of the quarter, the two-wheeler segment experienced a month-on-month decline, primarily due to delayed government fund releases and a stricter financing norm imposed by lenders. These factors dampened market momentum and had some impact on softness in demand. Despite these near-term challenges, the long-term outlook for the two-wheeler and EV segment remains positive. Improved supply chains, new model launches, and strengthening rural demand are expected to provide a significant boost. Recently presented Union Budget 2025 is well-balanced in terms of supporting India's aspirations of emerging as a global hub for tech and innovation, while supporting MSMEs, the nation's backbone, and creating more job opportunities for the nation's youth. The most newsworthy and important announcement is the increase in income tax exemption limit to INR 12 lakh.
For consumers, this opens access to more disposable income, which has the potential to translate into increased spending and may have a positive impact on automotive demand. Presenting the Union Budget 2025, the finance minister highlighted a strategic push for the EV industry, focusing on enhancing both supply and demand. The government's commitment to indigenous manufacturing is clear from substantial allocation of funds to various schemes like PM E- DRIVE, Auto PLI, and ACC PLI. Personal income tax relaxations aim to boost private consumption, complementing these supply-side measures. Customs reforms include exempting basic customs duty on lithium-ion battery scrap and critical minerals like lead, copper, etc., ensuring a steady supply for local production and job creation. To further support the EV sector, BCD exemptions have been granted to additional capital goods to bolster lithium-ion battery production.
Overall, the budget was encouraging for the industry and likely to support medium to long-term growth of the industry. Before we dwell into our financial and operational performance, I would like to highlight our impressive showcase of innovative technologies and solutions at the recently concluded Auto Expo Component Show 2025. We highlighted our commitment to personalized, autonomous, connected, and electrical mobility solutions. We had a dedicated green mobility zone, featuring three technology demonstrators: TD125 electric skateboard, TD425 electric bus, and TD225 electric bike, highlighting cutting-edge product portfolio for E2-wheeler, E3-wheeler, and E4-wheeler specific solutions as well. In that zone, we unveiled state-of-the-art products like highly integrated E-Axles, intelligent battery management systems, dual charging capabilities, and seamless connectivity, all designed to redefine the electric mobility experience. Our advanced lighting solutions included connected pixel-based digital tail lamps, OLED lamps, and adaptive lighting.
Personalized and smart innovations featured augmented reality heads-up displays, caps and switches, ADAS, and vehicle control units, and software-defined vehicle controllers. We are delighted by the overwhelmingly positive response received from customers, government officials who visited our stall, including some of our investors and analysts. Thank you. Moving on to financial and operational performance for Q3, nine months FY 2025, you can refer to slide number eight and nine. Uno Minda delivered yet another quarter of strong financial performance, outperforming industry. The group revenues for the quarter grew by 14% to INR 5,056 crores, whereas growth is more pronounced in consolidated revenue, which grew by 19% year-on-year to INR 4,184 crores, driven by broad-based growth across multiple product lines and further supported by consolidation of Minda Westport and Minda Onkyo in the current financial year. Notably, the lighting, alloy wheels, switches, EV components, sensors, and controller segments exhibited strong performance.
EBITDA for the quarter reached INR 457 crores, reflecting a 20% year-on-year increase. EBITDA margins improved to 10.9% in comparison to 10.8% in corresponding quarter previous year. Finance costs for the quarter increased to INR 47 crores due to higher borrowings to fund CapEx, land acquisitions, and working capital. Depreciation also rose in line with capitalization of new projects. The company's share of profit from associate and joint ventures is INR 40 crores in Q3 in comparison to INR 44 crores in the corresponding quarter previous year. The share of profits of associates JV was lower, primarily on account of Minda Westport and Minda Onkyo becoming subsidiary and their profits being consolidated. Besides, all JV, namely Denso Ten, Roki, TRMN, TGJV entities, have reported strong operating and financial performance.
The tax rate for the quarter was lower due to one-time accounting of tax benefit on past losses at Kosei Minda consequent to approval of merger by NCLT. Uno Minda's profit after tax increased by 21% year-on-year to INR 233 crores in Q3 FY 2025, reflecting the overall robust financial performance. For nine months, we have achieved consolidated revenues of INR 12,246 crores, registering a growth of 20% on a year-on-year basis. The EBITDA for the period grew by 21% to INR 1,347 crores. The profit after tax, which is Uno Minda's share for nine months, was at INR 677 crores, as against INR 588 crores in the corresponding period, reporting a growth of 15%. Coming to the business segment performance, you can refer to slide number 12. Our switching systems segment delivered outstanding performance in Q3, generating revenues of INR 1,045 crores and contributing 25% to our consolidated revenues.
This marks a year-on-year growth of 13%, driven by increased kit value from high content, greater share of business with some customers, and a robust recovery in domestic two-wheeler segment. The two-wheeler switch business continues to thrive, supported by strong industry volumes and improved exports. Of haptic capacitive switches in a recently launched passenger car. The consolidation of our four-wheeler switch plant from Manesar to Farrukhnagar is progressing as planned and is expected to be completed by Q3 FY 2027. Moving to lighting, the lighting business remains a key growth driver, significantly contributing to the company's performance. In Q3 FY 2025, the segment generated impressive revenues of INR 982 crores, marking a 15% year-on-year growth and accounting for 24% of consolidated revenues. This quarter also saw the lighting business achieve its highest-ever quarterly revenues, driven by strong growth in both the domestic four-wheeler and two-wheeler lighting business to OEMs.
During the quarter, we commissioned our new four-wheeler lighting plant at Khed, starting supplies of pixelated digital tail lamps for recently launched passenger cars. This innovative product has set new benchmarks in the Indian lighting industry, receiving rave reviews from customers. As announced last quarter, the implementation of our expansion project in Indonesia has begun and is expected to be commissioned in phases starting from Q4 FY 2026. Moving to casting business, the business showcased robust performance in Q3 FY 2025, generating revenues of INR 768 crores and contributing 18% to consolidated revenues. This includes INR 408 crores from four-wheeler alloy wheel segment and INR 223 crores from the two-wheeler alloy wheel segment, and the remainder from the die casting business. The casting business experienced a 13% year-on-year growth led by the two-wheeler alloy wheel segment, thanks to the ramp-up of the enhanced capacity added last year.
Both the two-wheeler and four-wheeler alloy segments have witnessed substantial growth, supported by capacity expansion initiatives. We are expanding our four-wheeler alloy wheel facility in Bawal by an additional 30,000 capacity scheduled for commissioning in Q4 FY 2025. Additionally, the construction of a new greenfield plant at IMT Kharkhoda, with a capacity of 120,000 wheels per month, and a 2 million alloy wheel plant for the two-wheeler segment at Supa, Maharashtra, is progressing as planned. Our aluminum die casting business has grown approximately INR 200 crore from INR 200 crore in FY 2021 to over INR 500 crore now. Starting with engine covers and other body casting products, we have expanded to applications in the seating business and electric vehicles for battery housing and chargers. New opportunities are emerging, requiring us to increase our capacity.
Consequently, the board has approved a CapEx of INR 72 crore for the expansion of the aluminum die casting plant in Hosur from 11,000 tons per annum to 15,000 metric tons per annum. The enhanced capacity is expected to commence in phases from Q4 FY 2026. Moving to seating business, it generated revenues of INR 273 crore in revenue during Q3 FY 2025, contributing 7% to consolidated revenues. While domestic business demonstrated steady growth, the export segment faced headwinds due to a downturn in the European market, particularly impacting one of our key customers. Overall, export for seating year-on-year is lower by around 18%. During the quarter, we commenced supplies of pneumatic suspended seats to a domestic OEM. Additionally, we secured a substantial export order from a new customer that is expected to bolster our export growth in the coming quarters.
As we progress into the subsequent quarter, we anticipate boost in revenues from a ramp-up of volumes of a newly added OEM customer, driven by four new model launches by them, increased volumes from E2-wheeler OEMs, and the commencement of supply of pneumatic suspended seats. Therefore, we remain confident in the growth potential of our seating business. Moving to acoustics business, the segment generated revenues of around INR 184 crores for the quarter, representing a stable 4% contribution to our consolidated revenues. While India's acoustic business remained stable, our European subsidiary Clarton Horn was adversely impacted by a downward trend in the European auto industry. Moving to other product businesses, the segment achieved revenues of INR 933 crores for the quarter, contributing 22% to the overall top line.
Of this, almost INR 150 crores came from controllers, around 209 from sensors and ADAS, INR 119 crores from blow molding products, INR 136 crores from Minda Westport, and INR 123 crores from the EVSE. Most of the business under the others category are performing exceptionally well. Our alternate fuel system business continues to grow, reaching new heights every quarter, with many OEMs focusing on increasing their presence and volume in the CNG segment. The controller business was supported by strong volumes for off-board chargers for E3. Sensors and our diverse sensor offerings are driving growth of our sensors and ADAS business. Following our large order win for 7.2 kW EVSE from Japanese OEM last quarter, we have secured another order for 3.3 kW for their EV PV module. Our European engineering service business under CREAT GmbH has been working on groundbreaking innovative technologies.
In yet another milestone, they have won an order for engineering services for heads-up displays and sunroof illumination systems. Moving to electric vehicles, you can refer to slide number 16 and 17. Revenues from EV two-wheeler OEMs was INR 238 crores in quarter as against INR 228 in the last quarter and INR 164 in the corresponding quarter last year. During the quarter, we started supplies of 500 W onboard chargers and 950 W onboard chargers. With the SOP of multiple orders lined up in the next three to six months, our outlook for E2-wheeler specific component business continues to be very promising.
Besides E2-wheeler, we have also been supplying components to E3-wheeler and E4-wheeler. Our revenues from E3-wheeler is around INR 74 crores, primarily comprising of EV specific components. Supplies to E4-wheeler mainly comprises of our existing and traditional products. Moving to after-market and industrial revenues, you can refer to slide number 14, please.
In terms of our revenue breakup for the quarter ended December 2024, OE business accounted for 92% and after-market business at around 8%. Our after-market division revenues have grown by 17% to INR 319 crores in Q3 in comparison to INR 273 crores in corresponding quarter last year. Our increased focus on marketing and distribution for after-market products is reaping benefits. Our international sales represent approximately 11% of revenues. Though exports were slightly better than last quarter, they are still down from the peak. As highlighted last quarter, due to lower industry volumes in E.U. and U.S., our international sales continue to be negatively impacted on account of lower exports and lower sales in European subsidiaries. International sales revenue share is also decreasing as our domestic business takes higher share due to more pronounced growth.
Happy to inform, the board has also approved and declared interim dividend of 0.75 per share, which is 37.5% of face value, reflecting a commitment from the company to return value to shareholders on a consistent basis. The interim dividend for FY 2025 is over 15% higher as compared to last year's interim dividend. Moving to cash flow and debt levels, our net debt as of December 2024 was at INR 1,964 crores compared to INR 1,319 crores as of March 31, 2024.
The net debt has increased on account of expansion CapEx as well as expenditure for Land Bank at Kharkhoda, Hosur, and Bawal of around INR 340 crores. The total capital expenditure, including the Land Bank for the nine-month period, was INR 1,324 crores. While sustaining and growth CapEx has been financed from business cash flows, the capital expenditure primarily on Land Bank and increased working capital requirement has resulted in incremental debt.
Our net debt to equity as at 31 December stands healthy at 0.34. We have achieved a return on capital employed of 18.6% basis annualizing profits of nine months FY 2025. Kindly note that the capital employed considered for calculation does include the CapEx for Land Bank as well as CWIP, which is currently not generating any returns. ROCE would be even higher if we exclude these non-earning assets. Moving to strategic business update, we have received the final NCLT order for merger of Kosei JV entities with Uno Minda Limited. Consequent to the order, all three Kosei JV entities, namely Minda Kosei Aluminum Wheel Private Limited, Kosei Minda Aluminum Company Private Limited, and Kosei Minda Mold Private Limited, have been merged with Uno Minda Limited with effect from 1st of April 2023.
The merger is expected to result in significant synergies in four-wheeler alloy wheel business with removal of various duplicate administrative costs of maintaining three different legal entities. Moving forward, we remain very optimistic on medium to long-term outlook of domestic auto industry. Indian automotive industry is on a path of rapid evolution driven by innovation, sustainability, and a favorable economic environment. Our company has rightly positioned itself by continuous investment in R&D, capacities, and key resources like land and people to seize the potential growth opportunities. With our existing diversified product portfolio, new product, and technologies, we are confident of sustained outperformance over the long term. With this, I would like to now open up the floor for questions.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone phone.
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. Our first question comes from the line of Chandramouli Muthiah from Gol dman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening, and thank you for taking my questions. My first question is related to the comments that you made on fast-tracking some capacity expansion at your Hosur plant. And I think you also mentioned that there is some new opportunity that's emerging. So I just want to understand what the nature of the opportunity is and also if it has anything to do with some of these electric SUV launches that we've seen more recently at the Auto Expo.
Second question is just around the budget-related tax savings that a large part of the tax filing community might get over the next year. What your views are initially on what that could do to production run rates at your two-wheeler and four-wheeler customers? And the third question is just on your capacity expansion over the next two years, how we should think about startup costs around that capacity expansion, and if there's any indication that you'd like to give around what the margin ranges for the business could be as a result.
Yeah, thanks, Chandramouli. So moving to your questions, starting from first about the Hosur plant expansion. So we have a casting plant, as I said, in Hosur, where we manufacture both traditional products for two-wheelers like the engine cover or some aluminum casting parts, etc.
Plus, we also manufacture the parts for EV like battery housing and products for seating, etc. So that business has been doing phenomenally well. So until now, we have been expanding capacity in the premises and behind whatever small, small expansions possible. But now we have reached a situation where we need to significantly increase the capacity from almost 10,000 tons to 15,000 tons. And this is primarily for all the existing products. There is no new product purchase. So you have EV products also. You have non-EV products also, which this business will be catering to. And that is why we are in this year, we will be expanding this capacity. So that's what the nature of the opportunity was. Basically, it's existing products, both EV and traditional segment. In terms of budget tax saving, you said what is our view on production run rate for two-wheeler and EV?
So as I said, we are definitely very, very optimistic because at the end of the day, it will put almost INR 1 lakh crore of money in the taxpayer's hands next year. It's a very, very big amount. And we do firmly believe that there will be a positive friction of this on a lot of industries, maybe consumer driven, etc. And that's what the government intention is to put more money in the hands of the end consumer, which is expected to drive the demand. So from that, we also expect that mobility being one of the key aspects of today's life because it is not only what we always say about food, water, and shelter. Mobility also is one of the key aspects because while the cities continue to grow, the infrastructure in terms of public transport is not maybe seemingly growing up with that pace.
So the demand for mobility is becoming very, very of an essence. So considering all those aspects, we do hope and expect that this INR one lakh crore of annual money which is coming in people's hands, good quantum should come to the automotive industry and hence should have positive friction on the two-wheeler and EV segment both. In terms of capital expansion for next two years, we know that today we have 12 projects which are undergoing expansion. Last quarter it was 13. We added 14, and two have been commissioned. So 12 projects are under expansion, and we might have something as we move forward. Given that we have bought, we have been adding land for our future expansions, and a lot of businesses are growing very well. So they will definitely need at some point bigger facilities.
So for that, we are gearing up in terms of the core infrastructure, be it land or other resources in terms of people development, etc. We have been working in totality. You also asked in terms of startup costs. Yes, definitely there is going to be a startup cost which is there because all the projects which the board approves, as we have been discussing, we look at third full year of production as a target for our returns or our target returns. So in first year, it's maybe part year, and second year is normally you tend to have all the costs which are incurred and not the profits. So somewhere it would be negative or zero. So those costs are baked into our assumptions. And this year, we have guided for our EBITDA margin range of 11%± 50 basis points.
And those guidance factors in that startup cost as well. Moving forward to next year, maybe I will be better placed to answer to this question, what that range will be next year when we discuss our Q4 numbers. I think that was your question, last question on the margin range. So I hope I have addressed all your questions.
Got it. That's helpful. And just if you could repeat the numbers that you mentioned on sensor controller, ADAS, blow molding, FRIWO. I think we couldn't catch all those numbers. So if you could just repeat that once. I think that's just the one clarification I had.
Oh, okay. So you wanted the split of that?
Correct. Correct.
So of the INR 933 crores, controllers is roughly INR 150 crore. Sensors and ADAS is roughly INR 209 crores. Blow molding is INR 119. Our CNG business is INR 136.
Our JV with FRIWO , which is UMEVSPL, is 123.
Got it. That's very helpful. Thank you very much and all the best.
Thanks, Chandramouli.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all the parties in the conference, please restrict your questions to two each. If you have any follow-up questions, please rejoin the queue. The next question comes from the line of Aditya Jhawar from Investec. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you for the opportunity. Congratulations on reporting solid growth despite weaker PV and CV production. My first question is on the four-wheeler charger business. So what I understand is that earlier we had one Japanese OEM as a customer, and we added one more customer.
If you can help us understand how is the ramp-up planned here, how are the margins in this product line as compared to company average? If you can talk a little bit about the new growth avenue that we're looking for in chargers. That's the first question. If you can take this.
Yeah. Second one?
Yeah. So second is on Europe. So you mentioned that the outlook is not that great. So if you think about from the next three to six months' perspective, are you seeing any line of sight of improvement? Are there any OEM-specific issues that you are facing? Or overall, you are sensing that across OEMs, the demand outlook for the next three to six months seems to be on the weak side. That is the second question.
Right. So thanks, Aditya. Thanks for the compliments.
In terms of four-wheeler charger business for EVSE, last quarter we issued one business, and this quarter we issued another business, so both are for the Japanese OEMs, and in terms of ramp-up, obviously they will be linked to the vehicle SOP and vehicle volumes in terms of how do we ramp up, so you know that our production is straight mirroring the OE volumes, so from that perspective, we will be ramping up as whatever our customer demands. In terms of margin versus company average margin, initially we do expect these margins to remain lower until they reach some better threshold, but what good thing we have done is rather than putting these products into a totally new business, we are doing this as part of our controller business.
So from that perspective, it will help us spread out our fixed cost efficiently and make sure that even though it's a lower margin, we have some positive contribution from these products to our financials. And moving to your Europe question, whether next two months are we seeing any improvement? It's very difficult, Aditya. As of now, things are not significantly better. In fact, they are what they were last month. And we are keeping ourselves prepared for maybe a bit longer hiatus in terms of the challenge what we have. So that we are preparing ourselves to those lower volumes and seeing how we can bring down the break-even points in those regions. Because as of now, it looks difficult or difficult to visualize whether we'll have significant improvement in six months' timeframe. Any OEM-specific issues is very difficult.
But one thing which is visible is that, and I think we have been reading in a lot of other coverages as well, that very, very high-end vehicles, the demand seems to be not that impacted as we see in the low-end and mid-segment. That's what the current visibility is in terms of our revenue split as well.
Yeah. That's quite helpful. My next question is that on the land bank, out of the INR 1,324 crores we have spent in nine months, how much we have spent on land bank, and what is the thought process on this CapEx going ahead? So in nine months, the CapEx that we have incurred, what proportion is for land bank, and what is our thought process on this subject going ahead?
Right. So of INR 1,324 crores in nine months, we have spent roughly INR 350 crores in nine months on the land, and our strategy is, as you know, to be ready, because in the past, we have seen two to three projects where we have faced significant delays in land acquisition, and eventually we delayed constructing our plant and had impacted directly to our volumes, so there are two advantages. One, definitely, once you have the land, we need to be closer to our customers, so to get a large land is always difficult, so earlier, what if and you would have visited some of our plant as well, and a lot of people on the call, that they are spread out at various places. Now, when we buy a big block, it also helps us in consolidation in a way that we can have our own industrial park.
We can have a commonality of services like your security, like your canteen, like a lot of other infrastructure which you need for that setup. So you bring synergies. Another advantage is when you talk of large investment, you also get that support from the government in terms of maybe better support in terms of approvals, clearances, incentives. There are a lot of advantages which come because you are looking at that scale. And last is that in terms of availability of resources, also our people, once we are closer to the cities in the area we are looking at, the availability of talent also is there. So there are multiple things we do. Yes, in short term, it is a drain.
But as you would have noticed, the land which we have bought in Khed for almost 83 acres, almost 20 acres, we have already put our plant on for a four-wheeler lighting business. Of around 95 acres, we have bought in Kharkhoda, roughly 20 acres is allocated to our four-wheeler plant where construction is going on. At Hosur, we are in the process of buying this land, and part of the land is allocated for future growth of a couple of businesses which operate in that region. So the whole idea is that we are prepared for the growth in the medium term where we will not look after for land.
Sure. That's helpful. Now, final question is on gross margin. So clearly, we had some benefit of operating leverage, which was offset by contraction in gross margin. So any comment on sequential and YOY decline in gross margin?
So in terms of gross margin, it is primarily first factor is what we call the different volumes or the mix, if I may say so. So if you see this quarter, the mix of alloy wheel business, where the margins are a little better, the ratio is lower. Number two, in last quarter, in one of the businesses, we had some settlement with our customer, which improved the gross margin. But overall, if you see from an individual business perspective, there's not much of a difference in gross margins.
Okay. Fair enough. That's it from my side. All the best.
Thank you, Aditya.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Siddhartha Bera from Nomura. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. So our first question is on the lights business, both for lights and LMP. What will be the current capacity utilization?
Do you think with these new capacities now coming up, we should expect a step-up in the growth momentum from where we are currently, given that PUR is gaining a lot of orders and market share? So will that be the right evolution? That is one. Second question is, and also if you can share the mix between two-wheeler and four-wheeler segment for the lights and switches business. Second is on the four-wheeler, on the seating business. So we indicated that we have got a large export order. If you can quantify that amount and how to think about growth in the coming year because this year has been quite soft. And lastly, sir, any update on the new businesses on Inovance and EV Motors also, which we have? How to think about ramp-up manufacturing?
Sorry, what? Sorry, Siddhartha. Last question was?
Any updates on the Inovance JV and EV motor segment also, which we are ramping up in the coming years?
Thanks, Siddhartha. I think a lot of points. So let me try and cover one by one. In terms of the lighting and, you said, LMP capacity utilization, with the new capacity, growth momentum, will it be a rise and return to have higher growth in coming quarters? So definitely, Siddhartha, that is the endeavor. We have been trying to put capacity, and this has been one of the strong feedback from all the investors that our capacity at alloy wheel has been actually running hand-to-mouth. And why don't we prepone some of our CapEx? That was the suggestion which we were getting, and that's what currently we are doing.
In terms of capacity utilization at lighting, we do have now a good capacity available with a new plant at Khed. Also at LMP, which is the four-wheeler alloy wheel business and two-wheeler alloy wheel business, starting with first alloy wheel business for four-wheelers, we will be having another 30,000 capacity up and running from maybe three months from now. With that, we will have a good capacity available for future growth. At two-wheeler, we are actually currently also expanding from 6 million to 8 million. The 6 million is running at full capacity. 6 to 8 million, obviously, is currently under the construction phase. Hopefully, it should start maybe in the next couple of quarters. In terms of two-wheeler, four-wheeler, lighting, and switch business split, you asked.
So in terms of switching four-wheeler and two-wheeler for the quarter, the four-wheeler switching sale was roughly around INR 414 crores, and two-wheeler was INR 465 crores. And for lighting, four-wheeler was roughly INR 422 crores, and two-wheeler was INR 285 crores. Moving to seating business, about quantification of this business, the business is roughly around INR 70 crore of peak annual value in terms of sales. And the latest update on Inovance. So we are in discussion with a lot of customers, as you would have also seen at the Bharat Mobility show, the kind of products we have displayed. And our technology partner was also there. We are currently in discussion with them, as you know, for converting from our TLA to JVA. So that's a parallel exercise which we'll work on. So we are currently working based on the TLA.
The team is still working jointly to prepare the detailed project report and currently working for closure on the JVA. And EV Motors business, we know that we had some headwinds initially because a couple of customers, based on which alloy we have set up the business, both have faced significant challenges from that government action on subsidy recall, etc. So post-switch, we have been working with a lot of customers, and we have got good traction with some of the large customers. And hopefully, from next year, we will see some significant value add from this business. So I hope I have covered all the questions, Siddhartha.
Yeah, yeah. Sir, last question on the TLA. We have.
Sir, may we request you return to the question queue for all of the questions?
Okay. Sure, sure.
Thank you.
The next question comes from the line of Ajox Frederick from Sundaram Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, one question. You mentioned that the demand for high-end or premium vehicles will not be impacted as much. So how much of our four-wheeler business is indexed to UVs or EVs?
How much of our business is in, you said, four-wheeler EV?
Yeah, yeah. EV and UV, utility vehicles, the larger vehicles.
Yeah. So as you would have noticed, Ajox, from EV perspective, we have got a significant business from E2- wheeler and E3- wheeler. I had shared the numbers also in terms of revenue. In case you have that handy or if you want to share that again, I can share it. In terms of.
Sir, I was talking about four-wheelers, sir. Four-wheelers EV. So.
As I said, four-wheeler EV, our current business is only for our traditional products, be it our switching segment or be it the alloy wheels, etc. Plus, in terms of CV, you asked, right? So CV, we don't have much of exposure at our group level.
No, no, no. What I meant, sir, was, let's say, going forward, the small cars are not growing as much as the utility vehicles or the electric vehicles. So from our four-wheeler business, about 46% of our revenue is coming from four-wheelers. Within that, how much of that quantum will be indexed to a utility vehicle or an electric vehicle? So that is the question.
I'm still not clear. Maybe we can take this question offline.
Yes, okay, okay. Okay. No problem, sir. No problem. And sir, the second question I had was on the casting.
So the Bawal plant, it got delayed a bit. So from next quarter, we'll see a decent ramp-up in castings happen?
So you are right. Bawal plant has been delayed quite a bit, and that is the capacity we are adding. But simply addition of capacity does not necessarily mean that we will see volume growth. Because volume growth is, again, linked to the vehicle growth and the OE demand.
Understood, sir. Great, sir. Thanks. That's it for me and all the best.
Thank you, Ajox.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Mumuksh Mandlesha from Anand Rathi Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you, sir, for the opportunity and congratulations on the strong growth numbers. Firstly, just recently, your new plant in the seat belt and airbag has commenced where you've done about INR 375 crore CapEx both together.
Just want to understand how will the ramp-up of this plant and just on the revenue potential, if you can indicate?
Yeah. So thanks, Mumuksh, for the compliments. In terms of the seat belt plant which recently commissioned, I presume you are referring to the plant in Rajasthan, Neemrana. So there, the total asset turn we are expecting at peak is roughly around two of the total investment.
And this ramp-up will be by when? If you see the high utilization of the plant, sir?
That's normally the third year of production.
Okay. And for the airbags, sir?
Airbag is separate. That is in the JV with TG. That is another plant. And airbag plant has already ramped up. And you would have seen that OEMs have already gone with four airbags for quite some time now, and that mandatory six airbag is no longer applicable.
So in terms of the impact in financials, we are already seeing that growth.
Got it, sir. So just on the sunroof side, do you want to indicate how's the order book shaping there? What are the key customers? And any light on how do you see the profitability for this business? And just lastly, head-up, is there anything you want to share? How's the order there?
Yeah. So sunroof, as Mumuksh, you know we have been working to set up this facility in Bawal based on the order we have got from one of our Japanese OEM. This is expected to go into SOP for a couple of years from now. This is linked to the new model launch. That's number one. Number two, we have been working with a lot of other customers, but this current model which you have seen is the premium segment.
But a lot of our customers are looking for a low-cost, slick model, which we have also now showcased in the Bharat Mobility show. So with that, we are currently in discussion with a couple of more customers, and they are at different stages. But as of now, we don't have the second alloy in hand, which is currently in process. So as of now, it is only back with one alloy from one customer.
Got it. And on the head-up display, anything you want to share? How's that? You mentioned initially comments [audio distortion] .
No, so head-up display, as you know, we have been working with our customers in Europe. And we are also currently working in terms of having a cost-effective model in India, which currently is at R&D level.
So there is still some time to have a product which we can commercially, what we call, exploit in the market.
Got it, sir. So just lastly, the off-road segment, which is a small segment of our revenue, has grown very well over the last few quarters. Just want to understand which segment in off-road, I mean, which category of segment that growth has come for the segment?
So off-road, we have the key business is the seating business. And that's what I have shared, that we have been seeing significant traction in terms of suspended seats, which are very premium seats. And last quarter, we also updated that we have got an export order from an aftermarket customer for this segment. So off-road does pretty well in terms of our seating business. There are some other products also, but they are very small.
Understood, sir.
Thank you so much for the opportunity.
Thank you, Mumuksh.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Mukesh Saraf from Avendus Spark. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir. Good evening, and thank you for the opportunity. My question is related to the alloy wheels business, specifically two-wheelers. So we are expanding capacity here, and I did notice that two other large alloy wheel players are also expanding capacity this year. So my question is more on the industry. I mean, where do you see this now in terms of the import substitution? With this expansion, are we more or less covered now? And most OEMs are now locally sourcing all the alloy wheels for two-wheelers?
So Mukesh, very good question, first of all. So alloy wheel, two-wheeler, we are doing pretty well. We are running at capacity.
While I can't comment about our competition, but we are also expanding, and our expansion is based on the orders which we have in hand. Are we more or less covered? Where do you see future? Honestly, there are still discussions going on with OEMs, even beyond this eight million capacity. So currently, we have six million capacity. We are expanding to eight, and there are discussions going on to take it beyond eight. But as of now, I can't confirm that unless the business is confirmed. But having said that, that does not mean that there is no further growth in the business.
Sure. So basically, there is still a lot more opportunity in terms of the import substitution. Because in terms of two-wheeler alloy wheels, penetration is already at peak. So you're saying there is more opportunity to grow beyond this expansion as well?
Yeah, absolutely.
Right, right.
And similarly, on four-wheelers, could you kind of give a sense now where are we in terms of penetration on the alloy wheel side?
You said two-wheeler or four-wheeler?
Four-wheelers. On four-wheelers.
Four-wheelers. So four-wheeler, the application ratio has a little bit softened versus the previous quarter. 44%-45% currently is around 42%-43%. That's what the current data is. But more credible data, I would be able to give you at the end of the year because that's mostly annual exercise we do. But as of now, it remains in the existing range between 42% and 45%.
Sure, sure. All right, sir. Thank you. That's all from my side. Thanks.
Thank you, Mukesh.
Thank you. The next question comes from Rishi Vora from Kotak Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hello, sir. Congratulations for a good set of numbers. Just one clarification on the share of JV.
You said that because Westport and Onkyo got consolidated, there was an impact on JV. So incrementally on revenues, on a YoY basis, what would be the impact on revenues and EBITDA if you could share that number?
Yeah. Thanks Rishi for the compliments. In terms of impact, if we see, so the revenues from Westport, even though they have grown significantly last year to this year, but if I could take out from the top line, both this Onkyo and Westport, this is roughly 3%-3.5% of the total top line. So of the total growth of roughly 20%, this is around 3.5%. The rest is all from existing businesses.
And EBITDA contribution would be similar?
The percentage margin is roughly same.
Okay. Understood. And my second question is on PLI. So is there any update on PLI which you could share?
Have we applied or we have not applied? So any update on PLI?
No, so we have actually applied PLI on actually two PLIs now. So we have got approval in Auto PLI for some of our sensors. We have also got approval into the White Goods PLI for some of our LED components which we manufacture at our lighting business.
So what would be roughly their contribution to our overall top line?
It's very small, Rishi, because of the total business, a large part, which is our alloy wheels, lights, and switches, they are not part of the PLI scheme.
Understood. And have you done any exercise on what proportion of our products would be eligible if we apply, could be eligible for PLI in totality?
No, so there is definitely going to be a huge possibility for high value in future as we continue to add our EV products, specifically for four-wheeler as well. But the PLI window is not, as we know, is not a longer window. Three years almost are already gone by. It's only two years left. And by the time we have a significant ramp-up after SOP, the scheme is almost over unless government chooses to extend the scheme. And also, the second part is important. Even though the scheme is for five years, there is a limited fund which are allocated for this scheme. And whatever we hear based on the info we have, the government might actually utilize this amount much before the five-year window.
Understood. And we have not applied for chargers, EV chargers, because that could be a decent size, right, for us?
Yeah.
But that is currently under validation because we have to get the DVA certified.
Understood. Okay, sir. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from Amit Hiranandani from PhillipCapital (India) Pvt Ltd. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Many congratulations to the team for good growth numbers. And my two questions are basically our seating and acoustics business contributes about 11% of the consolidated revenue. But that is something which is not growing at all. As the absolute numbers are broadly the same or even lower on a YoY basis. So what steps the company is taking here to grow this piece of business?
Yeah. Thanks, Amit, for the compliments. As I said in my update at the beginning, both seating and acoustics business are totally different. Acoustics business, large part is in Europe, which is facing significant headwinds in terms of volumes.
The last quarter itself, there is a drop in revenue of almost INR 20 crores in the Europe-Spain business in acoustics. Otherwise, the domestic business is doing pretty well in line with the industry. And in terms of seating business, as I shared, again, seating has a lot of exports. And the exports have dropped by almost 17%-18% last quarter to this quarter, last Q3 to this Q2. And we have actually secured a significant new business for almost INR 70 crores [audio distortion] on that annual peak value of business. So we are working very, very aggressively. Plus, we have got a business from our incumbent OEM, which is launching our seats into four new models in this quarter. So we do expect a growth coming from that. So overall, we are very optimistic on seating business in short to medium term as well.
Right.
So it's generally the macro issues which have impacted these two businesses.
That's right, Amit.
Correct. And then secondly, I'm just observing that consolidated EBITDA margin is hovering around 11% since last many quarters now. So we understand that there are some startup costs which are restricting some margin improvement. But our scale is also increasing, right? Because quarterly revenue run rate a few years ago was around INR 2,500 crores, but now it is above INR 4,000 crores now. I wanted to understand the company's aspirations for the midterm perspective for this place.
Absolutely, Amit. Our aspirations are same as your aspirations or expectations. So we do expect to get out of this 11% range in the next couple of years because we still have a lot of products.
As we spoke a little while ago, a lot of projects, almost 12 projects which are under construction, and they will hit the operation in the next 12-18 months. And they do tend to dilute the margins for an initial couple of years. So after that, once they stabilize, definitely we do expect the margins to improve. But at this point, it's difficult to comment what that range will be.
Right. So lastly, just two bookkeeping questions. The finance cost increased higher by 60% in M9 in FY 2025. Can you help us with the gross debt number, including the working capital, and the current cash and investments as of 31st December, please?
Yeah. So if you see, the net interest is actually in line with the previous quarter. Previous quarter was 46 crores. This quarter is INR 47 crores. So not much of an increase there.
In terms of net debt, we are roughly around INR 1,970-odd crores of net debt at the end of December versus the opening debt of roughly INR 1,320 crores. So there is an increase of roughly around INR 640-odd crores in the last nine-month period.
Okay. Gross debt is INR 1,320 crores, right, you said?
I said net debt.
Okay. Net debt is INR 1,320 crores, including this working capital.
1,320 was 31st of March. Closing net debt is 1,924.
Okay. All right. All right, sir. Thank you, sir. Very helpful.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from Neel from ValueQuest. Please go ahead.
Yeah. So I have two questions. Firstly, if we were to look at the two-wheeler industry, the volumes' growth rate has been coming down, especially on the motor vehicle side.
So are we seeing any major deferment or change in schedules coming from the OEM side, either in two-wheelers or in four-wheelers, and if any, then any particular category where we are seeing this? And the second question is on EV. So are we expecting to see any major products on the EV side to see SOP in FY 2026?
Okay. So thanks, Neel. In terms of two-wheeler volume growth, you said the growth is coming down.
But as we just spoke, and I think this has been in discussion since the budget was announced, that with this INR 1 lakh crore of extra money in hands of the customers and with almost INR 1- 1.5 lakh per person or individual taxpayer, we do hope that with the mobility being a life necessity, it will have a significant impact in the future, not in the long term, even maybe next year starting, once people start getting this money in hand, have some positive friction on both two-wheeler and four-wheeler. But if you ask us if there is any deferment in schedules, no, we are not seeing any significant delta in terms of the schedules which are getting month-on-month from our customers. And in terms of EV, any major production in FY 2026 coming?
Yes, there will be production of, as we spoke, some EVSE, both 7+ kW and 3+ kW during the current year, plus also some new products which are coming on stream from the existing business for some of the BMS chargers, etc., for two-wheelers.
Okay. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you, Neel.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Abhishek Jain from Alpha Accurate Advisors Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, Maruti is coming with a new EV model, e-Vitara. So how much share of business in this model and how much increase in content per vehicles versus ICE?
Hi, Abhishek. So first of all, we are part of the businesses with the model you spoke about. We have significant businesses diffused both on traditional vehicles and also the EV-specific vehicles.
But I'm sorry, we normally don't share the product-wise or the model-wise kit value or share of business. Sorry for letting you down on this. But otherwise, we rest assured we have a business secured in that model for both the EV-agnostic products, which are traditional products, plus also the EV products.
So what are the parts you will supply in the EV segments apart from the ICE products?
Abhishek, I'm sorry, we don't give product-wise, model-wise details.
Okay, sir. And sir, in the casting, multiple new plants is coming in the four-wheeler, two-wheelers side, and then the die casting segment as well. So just wanted to understand how much incremental revenue you are expecting in the medium to long term in the next two years because of these capacity expansions.
Yeah. So in terms of these capacity expansions, there is a huge growth possible.
Abhishek, as we just spoke, for two-wheeler, we are expanding capacity from six million to eight million units. Straight two million, we already have a business in hand, and we just spoke that there is a possibility to even work beyond this announced capacity in the future. That straight away will add once commissioned to our revenues. We are also putting a new plant at Kharkhoda for four-wheeler alloy wheels. That is also expected to get commissioned sometime within this calendar year. That will also add straight incremental capacity and revenues. This casting business, what we announced today, that also is expected to commission in the later part of the current financial. It will have maybe material impact to top line from the next fiscal year. All these businesses, we do expect to continue this growth momentum based on these capacity additions.
So most of the new business is coming from the casting, switching, and from the EV side, especially on the sensor and other parts. So all are the high-margin business. So what are the constant improvements in the margin by 50- 100 basis points in the near to medium term?
I wish they were all high-margin businesses, Abhishek, as you mentioned, but that might not be the case. We are in a competitive world, and just because they are PV does not mean they are high-margin. But to your point, whether should we have 50- 100 basis points margin improvement in the medium term? Absolutely, why not? And that has been our endeavor.
And we just spoke about once we commission all these operating plants under construction, it should help in terms of improving our margins because a lot of these startup costs, which currently we are expecting in the next year or two, should be behind us. So within that time frame, we do expect our margin profile also to improve.
Thank you, sir. That's what we want.
Thanks, Abhishek.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if there are no further questions from the participants, I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
I would like to thank everyone for joining the call. I hope we have been able to respond to all your queries adequately. For any further information, we request you to please do get in touch with us. S tay safe, stay healthy. Thank you once again.
Thank you.
On behalf of Uno Minda Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.