Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Ahluwalia Contracts (India) Limited Q3 FY 2026 earnings conference call, hosted by Ambit Capital Private Limited. 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 this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Sudeep Bora. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of Ambit Capital, I thank the management of Ahluwalia Contracts India Limited for the opportunity to host the Q3 FY 2026 earnings conference call. To discuss the results, I'm pleased to welcome Mr. Shobhit Uppal, Deputy Managing Director; Mr. Vikas Ahluwalia, Director; and Mr. Satbeer Singh, Chief Financial Officer. Now, I invite the management to discuss key highlights of the quarter, post which we'll open up Q&A. Thank you, and over to you, Shobhit.
Hi, good afternoon, good evening, everybody. Ahluwalia Contracts (India) Limited has announced its financial results for Q3 FY 2026. During Q3 FY 2026, the company has achieved a turnover of INR 1,060.72 crore and a PAT of INR 54.02 crore, in comparison to a turnover of INR 951.96 crore and a PAT of INR 49.39 crore during Q3 FY 2025. The company has registered a growth of 11.43% in turnover and a 9.38% growth in PAT during Q3 FY 2026, as in comparison to the corresponding quarter, FY 2025. EPS of the company for Q3 FY 2026 is 8.06, compared to 7.37 in the corresponding quarter, FY 2025.
During Q3 FY 2026, the company's EBITDA margin is 9.05%, as compared to 8.86% in Q3 FY 2025, and PAT margin is 5.02%, as compared to the PAT margin of 5.11% in Q3 FY 2025. During the period of nine months, FY 2026 of the company, the company has achieved a turnover of INR 3,242.90 crore and a PAT of INR 184.18 crore, in comparison to a turnover of INR 2,882.79 crore and a PAT of INR 118.35 crore during the corresponding nine months of the last financial year, FY 2025.
EPS of the company for the period of nine months, FY 2026, is INR 27.49, as compared to EPS of INR 17.67 during the period of nine months, FY 2025. During the period of nine months, FY 2026, the company's EBITDA margin is 9.59%, as compared to 7.57%, PAT margin of 5.60%, as compared to 4.05% in the period of nine months, FY 2025. Net order book of the company as on 31st December 2025, is INR 1,867.95 crore, to be executed in the next two and a half to three years. Total order inflow in FY 2026, year to date, is INR 956.2 crore. Thank you. We are open to take questions now.
Thank you very much. We'll begin with the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Vaibhav Shah from JM Financial. Please go ahead.
Yeah. So firstly, given the margins and the execution in nine months, so how do you see the annual revenue for FY 2025, for FY 2026? So targeting around 15%-20% kind of growth?
No, more like, anywhere between 10%-15%. You know, margin projection is what I had given last time, it will be double digits. But, you know, December, January, have been impacted by NGT and project closures in Delhi. And as nearly 44% of order book comes from Delhi, that's impacted the top line a bit. And, you know, we are expecting slight disruption in March also this time because Holi is earlier this time. So yeah, anywhere between 10%-15%, top line.
But and for next year?
Next year, it'll be 15%-20%.
Okay. Sir, given the very strong order book, and you mentioned that the orders are to be executed in roughly three odd years, so can the growth be even higher? Are we being conservative for 27?
Vaibhav, you ask me this every time. We are being slightly conservative. Yeah, the order book is, it was healthy last time around, it's healthier now. You know, we've given a projection of about INR 8,000 crore worth of order book in this inflow, fresh order inflow in this year, we've crossed that. It's at about INR 9,500 crore. So, yeah, we're being conservative when we are saying 15%-20%.
Okay. So secondly, on a few key projects, so when do we expect to start the work on Gem & Jewelry Park?
Well, we will start it in Q1 FY 2027. I mentioned the last time around, also in April, I said we'll start. The drawings approvals are coming in now, and the client is in the process of handing over part of the site to us. There was an overburden of earth, which was to be removed by the client. They have already done that substantially, and 30%-40% of the area, they are in the process of handing over to us, which should happen in the next month, and we should start the work.
Any target that we look for this project in FY 2027 in terms of revenue?
Definitely. Gem & Jewelry Park, definitely. We are-
Okay.
As I said, Q1, FY 2027, the work will start. Actual billing will start.
Can you do this 30%-35% kind of execution which you were targeting earlier for 2027?
Sorry, come again. 30, 35% what? Sorry.
For FY 2027,
Yeah.
What kind of revenue are we targeting from this project?
Off the total value of the project?
Yeah.
I think, it would be to the tune of about 20%. 20%-25%.
Okay. And so secondly, on CSMT, we have seen some weakness in execution in Q3, compared to the month, quarter run rate of last four quarters. So how do you see it for the entire year and for next year?
I think, totally, we had projected that we will execute in this financial year, we would be executing anywhere between INR 300 crore and INR 350 crore worth of work on CSMT, and we, we are confident we will be doing that. The work progress has picked up there, and so we should be meeting that target. As far as the next financial year goes, we should be doing a work of about INR 700 crore there.
Okay. Sir, lastly, one data point. Order inflow number is INR 9,562 crore. Of this, what will be the value ex-GST?
Out of this INR 9,562.603 crore.
Hmm?
INR 603 is the GST value?
Is the GST value.
GST.
Yeah.
Okay. Okay.
That's the money-
Those are my questions.
INR 9562.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Lakshmi Narayanan from Tunga Investment. Please go ahead.
Hello. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Hello?
May I go ahead?
Yes, please go ahead.
Yeah. See, when we had a call in the third week of November, we were confident of growth of around 15%-20%. Did you anticipate that this would actually get toned down to 10%-15%? Or what actually happened in the last, you know, 5-6 weeks of Q3? That is my first question. The second question is that, you know, one of our key accounts, Signature Global, they called out some bit of slowness in their projects, particularly the sector 37D, Sarvam. I don't know whether we are working on the DLX, DX-
We are. We are working, yes.
Sarvam or DLX, we are working?
We are working on DXP, Deluxe, Signature 37D. Not the new one. New one is the name that you took, we are not working on that.
Okay. Okay. And also, there are-
I think what they... Sorry, sorry to interject, but this is Sarvam. What, what was the name that you said?
Yeah, they talked about the project, Sarvam, which was launched in December 2025
Yeah, they are talking about a slowness in sales there. I don't think-
Right.
So that's why we are not associated with that job, nor have we bid for that job.
Got it. Got it. And also, the larger question, because we have, you know, DLF is also a large, important client. And what is your sense of the entire market? I think last time also we, you, you said that we are somehow ring-fenced ourselves from any particular slowdown or any particular cash issues with any of the developers. Can you just elaborate a bit more on that? So these are my two questions. One is that what happened between November 17th to December end, which led to a seemingly underwhelming guidance from where you started. Is there something that really happened? And then the second in terms of the Gurgaon stuff.
Yeah. So first question, this, you know, as I mentioned to Weber in response to the question that he asked, the NGT impact this year has been more prolonged, so to say. Since 44% of our order book is from NCR, you know, December and January have been impacted. Even the first week of February was impacted, as far as the project closure on account of pollution was concerned. And, you know, this time, March, the Holi festival is in the first week of March. So generally, what we've seen in the past is that, three or four days before the festival, the labor force starts going back to their hometown, and then it takes about a week for them to come back.
So, you know, March is also going to be impacted. That's why we have reduced our projection by 2-4 percentage points, as far as the top line is concerned. As regards ring fencing or our exposure to the slowdown, as far as sales of residential buildings or projects is concerned, I had mentioned last time around that, you know, we have we have now slowed down. As far as bidding for further residential projects is concerned, we feel that, you know, out of our total bouquet of projects, residential is quite a bit. So we are now focusing on on institutional projects or airports or hotels or commercial projects. Residential is not a focus area for us, especially in NCR.
Having said that, you know, the projects that we are working on, be it with DLF, as you mentioned, we've not seen any sort of issues with payments. DLF being obviously the premier development company in the country. Even with the likes of Smart World or Emaar, you know, all the projects that we are executing were launched more than two years ago. RERA, you know, being in place, I don't see... We've not felt any financial issues with all the clients that we are working for on these residential projects in NCR.
Got it. So just to understand, so the RERA ensures that the cash flows are restricted to that project, and it is not actually taken out for any other things, right? So it's-
Yes. Yes. In fact, it also puts pressure on the developer to sort of ensure that the projects are delivered in time. So we continue to face those pressures from developers to execute faster and build faster. And as I said, we've not faced any cash flow issues from these developers.
And just on the NGT thing, right, and it seems to be a recurring phenomenon every year, right? So if that is the case, is it that and how do we build in our growth expectations internally? I mean, how do you realign yourself? Because this is happening maybe consecutively for the second or maybe third year also. And I mean, we have 44%-45% in NCR region, and that's something which will be there for the next 2-3 years also. So is it fair to assume that that's something which is a given and, you know, I mean, is there any way in which you can address this?
So you're right, it's, it's pretty much become a part of the annual calendar, especially, the third quarter, of the financial year. But having said that, because it's become a part now, all the constituents of the ecosystem have become alive to it. And, you know, we are all constructively brainstorming as to how to mitigate, the impact of this, how to sort of, sensitize, the powers that be, be it the courts or, or the government, be it the state governments or, or the central government, the impact that this is having on the livelihoods of, of the workers involved with our industry.
We are reasonably hopeful that, you know, in the coming years, this impact is going to be mitigated with the measures that we are taking on the projects to ensure that we are not contributing as much to pollution as the popular notion is. We are sensitizing the governments to this fact also. You know, the most important point is all of us, be it the developer or be it the contractor or be it the bureaucracy, we seem to be getting aligned on this point. So we are hoping that, you know, in the coming year or years, the disruptions are not going to be as much as they have been in the last two, three years.
This year has been a little more peculiar in the sense that, you know, right from the festive season onwards, the disruption started. Now, Holi, as I said, is also earlier. This impact, starting from Diwali, from October till January, January end, has impacted our top-line performance.
Just one more question. Sometime back, maybe a year back, or maybe three quarters back, you mentioned that there is a non-availability of workers, and especially post-elections, you couldn't get them assembled, et cetera. Now, I mean, how have you taken—I mean, has any steps are being taken by the industry or by yourself, so that we have, you know, we will have some UP elections coming next year and so on and so forth. So how do you ensure that the labor availability at the right time, at the right amount is actually taken care of, or it's still that's a lurking issue at your end?
So it's actually a full-blown issue. It's not a lurking issue, but again, the slight advantage of this becoming such a large issue is that, again, all of us are aware of this fact now. It's not in the days gone by, it was only the contractor who used to grapple with this issue. Now, everybody is aware. More importantly, the clients are aware of this, the governments are aware of this. So what is happening is that this is leading to greater standardization, wherein you know, we can do a lot of work offsite, use more mechanization to reduce the impact on or reduce the dependency on labor.
And then, training is also something that we've started, but that's in a very nascent stage. Have I answered your question or? Hello?
Yeah, thank you so much, sir. You have answered my question.
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Parvez Qazi from Nuvama. Please go ahead.
Hi, good afternoon, sir, and thanks for—
Hi, Parvez. Hi.
Hi. So first, I mean, on this NGT issue, assuming, let's say, if it had not been there, what kind of execution would we have done in Q3?
What kind of execution? We would have stayed on course for a 15%+ growth in our top line.
Sure. Secondly, on, I mean, on the payment, et cetera, et cetera, how do you see things now, especially from the government departments and some of the other segments of infra, we have seen a slowdown in payments in FY 2026. So how is the situation in your government-funded projects?
We really, a lot of our or most of our government-funded government projects are central government projects. We are not really seeing much of a problem there, other than in the odd project here and there, like we're doing a central university project in the state of Himachal Pradesh, which is partly funded by the state and partly by the center. So there, we are facing some challenges. That project is nearing completion. We are hoping to complete it in Q1 of FY 2027. So there is a bit of a challenge there. We completed another hospital for the center and state government in, again, Himachal. The final payment, sorry, there has been stuck for a while.
So, yeah, with the state of Himachal, there is a bit of an issue, and we are also seeing some issues with the state of Assam. I think that's also due to the fact that the machinery there has slowed down a bit on account of the impending elections. Otherwise, we haven't seen. All our other slow-moving projects, be it for the state of Bihar or other states, they are okay now. We've got our payments.
Sure. And, couple of data points that I needed from Sarbjit Ji.
Yeah.
What is our current gross debt level, I mean, gross borrowings?
Gross borrowing is just, this is INR 22 crore, approximately.
What would be the cash level that we have currently?
Cash balance is. Hold for a minute. The cash balance is INR 253 crore, and bank balance is INR 587 crore.
What is the CapEx that we have done in Q1?
In nine months, we have incurred around INR 193 crore.
Okay. And apart from this order book, are we L1 in any other project?
Yes, we are L1 in four projects. This is amounting to INR 2,485 crore, approx.
Sure. Last question, and what is the status on the Chandigarh Railway Station redevelopment project? Has work picked up there or, I mean, what is the status now?
So Chandigarh station is nearing completion. We are targeting to complete it in Q1, FY 2027. The two stations, Panchkula and Chandigarh, have already been completed, and we have offered the client to take them over, and the platform work is also substantially underway. As I said, in somewhere by May, we should be completing it.
Sure, sir. Thanks and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mahesh Patil from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. So my first question is on the DLF Delhi project. I think last time we guided for more than INR 100 crore of revenue in this fiscal and around INR 3 billion-INR 3.5 billion next year. Are we on track for that for this year?
No, this year it will be about 40% of that because you know, new earthquake codes were put in place, and DLF has redesigned or is in the process of redesigning or doing the structural design again. So that is why you know, a lot of work had to be redone, obviously, at the client's cost. So that is why our target or turnover is going to be lesser by March end. But we should be post-Holi in a position to take up the work in real earnest. The designs are coming in as we speak.
Sir, what are we, what is the estimate for FY 2027 from this project?
From Dalia's for the next financial year, it remains what we had said last year.
Okay. Okay. And sir, this right, pollution issue, right? Are we facing any challenges in the current month as well, or because I think in the last-
You are not, you are not very clearly audible. Repeat that, please.
Sir, I was asking in the last con call in November, we highlighted that till that date, we were around 11% of margins. So apart from this GRAP issue, anything else that impacted our revenue and margin this quarter?
Primarily, it was GRAP only, as I said. You see, number-
Was there any-
Hello, come again.
Yeah. Sir, was there any impact of this issue in the base quarter last year, Q3?
The impact of GRAP, you're talking about?
Correct, sir. In the base quarter last year.
In the last year, it was there, definitely, but it was lesser. Since our exposure now has increased to the NCR market.
Okay. So you mentioned around 40% of the order book is from NCR.
Yeah, more than 40% is now from NCR.
Okay. So for next year, if I may ask, what would be our, you know, revenue estimate from this, NCR region for FY 2027? Any ballpark number?
We are in the process. It should be about 40%.
40%, yes.
40% of revenue estimate. Okay. Okay, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Shravan Shah from Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you, sir.
Hi.
Sir, couple of questions and clarifications. So, in the fourth quarter, how much are we looking to do kind of a revenue, INR 1,400 crore kind of a revenue that we are looking at in this fourth quarter?
Yes, yes, exactly. It would be 10%-15%.
Yeah, about INR 1,400 crore, yes.
Okay. Next full year, then we should be doing 20%-25%?
I said 15%-20% earlier.
But some recoup should be there in the FY 2027, given the inflow is also on the higher side, sir.
Yeah, it should be. I had also mentioned that this is a conservative estimate, that I think the recovery, what we've sort of lost out, 3-4 percentage points should be made up in the next financial year. That's why I said 15%-20%.
Okay. And the margin of our fourth quarter-
And our project, just to put things in context, more so with the Central Vista Project, which has come in, which is a fast-moving project, and that is one project which the Central Vista projects are insulated from the GRAP impact. So that should also contribute substantially to our turnover next year.
Yeah. So I was about to ask that only. So this out of the-
I know you well, that's why I preempted you.
Yeah, yeah. So roughly, how one can look at... So the overall timeline for Central Vista is 24 months, and in FY 2027, can we see kind of a 40-odd% of this INR 2,600 crore?
Yeah, that's what I. You know, initially, time is going to be taken by designing. It's a large project. It's a very complex project, so designing is already started. We are awaiting clearance from the authorities, you know, these are important buildings which are having to be demolished. They have yet not been vacated. So, we should be billing at least 30%+ in this year.
Okay, got it. In terms of the margin, Q4 and next year, 10%, is this doable or, we can say even-
No, no, it is definitely doable.
Okay. But, a possibility towards a 10.5% is there for next year?
Let's stick to 10%.
Okay, okay. And just to, sir, clarify this INR 9,500 crore+ order inflows, so this is excluding the GST, you're saying?
Yes, the GST is included in that, that INR 603 crore.
INR 603?
Yes.
Is included in the figure of INR 9,562.
Okay, okay. So if you remove that, then broadly INR 8,900 odd crore without GST.
Yes.
Okay. And the L1 that we said, INR 2,485, so that is also excluding GST or including?
That is also including GST, because most of that's government projects, and that is including GST.
Okay. So these are three projects. So last time, we were having the two projects of Bhubaneswar University and RML Hospital, Delhi.
These are four projects.
Four projects.
Can you, sir, name it, all these four projects?
University, one is Assam Judicial Complex, one is Kota Airport.
Okay. And lastly, sir, balance sheet details, inventory, debtors, trade payable, and mobilization, retention and unbilled.
Hmm. That's debtors are INR 638 crore.
Okay.
Retention, INR 431 crore.
Okay.
Mobilization, INR 729 crore.
Okay.
Date payable, INR 738 crore.
Sorry, 738 is what?
Date payable.
Trade-
Creditors, creditors.
Creditors, yeah, 738. Yeah.
Inventory, INR 359 crore.
INR 359, and-
Unbilled revenue, INR 639 crore.
INR 639 crore. In terms of the CapEx in the fourth quarter, how much more, INR 193 crore we have done. How much more we will be doing in the quarter?
In this quarter, we have INR 55 crore.
INR 55 crore more.
More.
That is around-
INR 100 crore.
INR 100 crore.
About INR 100 crores.
INR 100 crores.
Okay, total, so around INR 300 crore for the entire full year?
Yes.
Yes, yes.
Yeah.
Then next year also, similar INR 300 crore?
Yes, next year also, similar. It's, it's similar. Should be lesser, actually, because the order inflow that we've had now, we've more or less, by the end of March, we would have catered to the CapEx for those projects.
Okay. Sir, this L1 most likely will be converted into LOA by this March, this INR 2,485-odd crore.
Can't say on all these jobs, really, it's very difficult because as we've seen, sometimes with government projects, especially state government projects, it takes a long time.
Okay. So next year, then, apart from this, the price, if I have to look at, can one look at INR 8,000 crore-INR 9,000 crore, similar run rate in terms of inflow for FY 2027?
Oh, as I said, we are picking and choosing our projects. We are focus on residential is not there. So I think, logically speak, next year, the inflow will be slightly lesser.
INR 5,000 crore-INR 6,000 crore?
Yes. Because our focus is going to be in increasing our efficiency and increasing our margins, and doing delivery on the projects that we've bagged in this year and last year.
Yeah, yeah. Got it. Got it, sir. Yeah. That's it from my side. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sandip Sabharwal from ASK Investment. Please go ahead.
I just wanted to find about this new labor code provision. So most companies actually put this as an extraordinary expense. You have, I think, included it in the labor, salary and wages. So ex of that, if you have to see what would have been the margins in the past, have you done some calculations?
That is-
INR 1.3 crore.
INR 1.31 crore that has been impacted during this nine months due to introduction of the labor code.
No, no, I saw-
Sandeep is saying the impact till December is INR 1.31 crore.
Oh, it's INR 1.31 crore, it's not INR 13 crore. Okay.
No, INR 1.31 crore.
Okay. Okay, that's fine. Thanks.
Okay.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vaibhav Shah from JM Financial. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Sir, what would be our bid pipeline as of now?
Bid pipeline as of now is about INR 7,000 crore.
Okay. And, sir, in your guidance of INR 5,000 crore-INR 6,000 crore of inflow, does it include the L1 orders as well of around INR 2,500 crore?
Hmm, yeah, it does.
Likely conversion would be in next year?
Yes.
Okay. And sir, secondly, on the Bihar Animal Husbandry project, so when do we target to complete the project?
In FY 2027.
Because it has dropped down in last 2-3 quarters.
Yeah, because, you know, the area, it, it's an existing campus, so the new buildings are coming up as and when they are handing over or vacating existing old buildings. They are being demolished and the new ones are being constructed. So in the last quarter and a half, you know, the vacation of these buildings has slowed down. But, this will definitely complete in FY 2027, because part of the complex in this quarter has been inaugurated by the Honorable CM, and he's announced a date for completion of the entire campus. So we are reasonably confident in the next year, it will be completed.
Okay. And sir, last year on Gem & Jewelry, so when do we—what is the timeline of, or the timeline of construction, and when do we intend to complete the project?
I think, the timeline, Vikas is on the call. Vikas, are you there? You want to answer this question?
Sir, Vikas, sir, is not online.
Okay, never mind. The period for completion of this job is about three and a half years, if memory serves me right. As I mentioned earlier, we are going to start billing in Q1 FY 2027, the work will start on the ground. Since this is an EPC job, engineering is already happening.
Okay. Okay. Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rajat from ITOT PMS. Please go ahead.
Hi, am I audible?
Yes, you are.
Thanks. Sir, with regards to CSMT project, is there any delay, relative to the original timeline?
Yes, there is a delay. There is a huge delay. And so, as had been explained in the earlier calls, you know, the entire design of this project had to be redone because the conceptual design, which was given by the tender, was not tenable. Certain aspects of that design were not tenable on the ground. That designing is complete, work is now moving at a fast clip there. That's why there's a delay.
Can that result in any cost overruns for us, like lower margins in this project for us?
So yes, there has been an impact on the cost, but, you know, as we move along, we are hopeful that some of these costs will be mitigated, either through extra work or through extra claim.
Okay. And can there be any penalties as well?
No, we've got the extension of time owing to the delays till now, which are not attributable to us, has been granted.
That has been amicably agreed upon?
Yes. What happens in all government contracts is that, you know, there is a hindrance register, which is maintained and which is jointly signed off, which helps establish the delays which are not attributable to the contractor. Generally, these are finally quantified towards the end or the last stage of the project. But in this project, since the delays have been quite large and very obviously not attributable to us, up until now, the extension of time has been granted.
Sure. And the margins on this project were same as company-level margins going into the project? Or since it was a marquee project, so we bid at a lower margin.
No, these were, these were similar to the company-wide margins that we target. In fact, you know, because the competition on this job was lesser, since because the scale of the job, only the larger players were there. So, we had bidden with the same margin that we keep for other projects or other blue-chip projects. I think that's it.
Thank you.
I think, have I answered your question or there's something left?
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
One more related to this. Given it's a very complex project, and a lot of traffic at the station, so do you envisage any delays in execution because of that reason, in the future?
You are right, because while the buildings, the greenfield buildings, you know, the DRM or the node, the building, you know, or the other buildings, they, we don't envisage any delay, further delay. But platforms or doing them up or concourses, that depends on the shutdown, which is given to us. So, you know, it's very hard to predict. But yes, generally, going by our experience at Chandigarh Railway Station, there may be some delays there.
Okay. And those delays, I mean, can again cost overruns or that has been budgeted in, or how is that?
Those have been budgeted in to some extent.
Okay. All right. Sir, you just mentioned that Gem & Jewelry Park will start from April, and the timeline original was probably 2.5 years or 3 years. So that timeline will begin from April, or it has already started from the time of-
No, it'll begin from April. It'll begin from April.
It begins from April.
Yeah.
Okay. Okay, understood. And one last one. Given the pollution-related construction ban in Delhi has been happening for the last 2-3 years, and it is affecting our top-line growth, and the guidance that we give, we need to revise it downward. Now, my question relates to the next year, where we are saying 15%-20% growth. So do you think that we might have to again revise it downward, or we are budgeting in 10 or 9 months of construction activity only in Delhi while we give this guidance for FY 2027?
No, no, we are not budgeting in only 10 or 9 months of this thing. What I had said earlier was, while some impact will be there, but we are hopeful that this year, this year or next year, because the entire ecosystem is totally sensitized and much more aware about this issue, every constituent of this ecosystem is working to mitigate its effects. So we are hopeful that this time around, the effects will be lesser, much lesser.
Sure. Sure. I hope so, and that's the case, because we were hoping that FY 2026 will also have much lesser impact, but it turned out to be the opposite. So just-
You're right, and it's not only impacted the top line, it's also impacted our profitability. Because, you know, while we bagged a lot of large orders, and to execute those large orders, our overhead costs had also gone up. So, you know, in the short term, our profitability has been hit, but, the silver lining is that now going forward, not only are we well-stocked on, on our order book, but we are also well-equipped every which way to, you know, ramp up our execution speed. So hopefully, next year we will make up. We are very optimistic that we'll make up the shortfall that we've encountered this year.
Sure. Sure, sir. Thank you so much, and wish you all the best.
Thank you.
Thanks for answering all the questions.
Thanks.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ankit, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi.
Hi.
Good evening, sirs. So I just wanted to check on. Well, I see the results for this quarter. I see a subcontract work as well as other expenses are substantially high, almost 30% year-on-year, which are very similar to our Quarter Two numbers. So, the first question is: Is there a substantial reason to it apart from the NGT issue, which has been discussed already?
Just a second, please. Let me take a look at the numbers.
Material costs is reducing. It has changed.
Oh, you can mention that. There is the contract.
Subcontract. You are asking about to in comparison to which quarter?
The same quarter last year, sir. The subcontract work-
Last year.
... as well as other expenses.
Just, if you have to see, including cost of material and other expenses and subcontract, then you will find that is at par.
Okay.
Because our PAT is also approximately on the similar line, 6.90% was last year, and now it's 6.85%.
Right. So that has-
Basically, you have to include entire things: subcontract, construction expenses, and cost of materials. Then you will find the appropriate answer.
Fair enough. Fair enough. Thank you.
Thank you.
The second question I just had was, you know, there have been news of lately on increasing steel prices. Does that impact you on quarter four onwards, or are we... Because in the last call, we discussed that we will use or we normally use our cash positions to sort of hedge against, you know, the supply chain costs. So is there something which we see as an inflation in terms of raw material costs, or have we already hedged it?
No, the inflation definitely is there, but in the pricing of cement and steel, this is passed through, because in all our contracts or most of our contracts, there are base prices for these materials.
Sure.
But there is an indirect impact on account of increase in steel prices because of, you know, the other material, our equipment that we buy, be it, be it tower cranes, be it mixers, transit mixers, so on and so forth, scaffolding, aluminum shuttering; there is an impact on account of this pricing.
Sure. These were two questions I had. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Samrat Sarkar, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hello, am I audible?
Yes, you are.
Yes, sir.
Yeah. So I just wanted to know why your other employee expenses are, as compared to your percentage of revenues, so high this quarter or as compared to last year?
This basically provision as per the ACL method has been made around INR 3 crore. That's why there is a slight difference.
Okay, okay, okay. When do you expect your operating margins to be 10%, from which financial year onwards?
Yeah, this, this year would be double, double digit.
Okay, okay, okay. That's it, sir. Thank you so much. Thank you. All the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to all participants to press star and one to ask a question. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, you may press star and one. The next question is from the line of Shravan Shah from Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Sir, how much value of projects that we have already bid and is outcome is yet to come?
Shravan, that's a number that we don't have handy at the moment. L1, we've already told you it's 2485. The other value is more on the private sector side. We can get back to you on that number?
Yeah, no-
That's not going to be substantial. As I said, we are not focusing on the government or, sorry, on the residential side. So-
Yeah.
Primarily, government projects, L1, number. Jobs, government projects, tender, I don't have that figure handy. We'll get back to you on that.
No issues. And jo apana sir, abi jo private, government ka jo abi order book ka share, which is at 68%, which is a private. So wo, last time we said that we want it to reduce to 60%.
Actually, even if you take the Central Vista, which is coming after December, so-
60%.
Yeah, it will be about-
50% private, 40%-
60%, 40%.
So now we will keep it at this level, or we want to it to 50/50 going forward?
Going forward, they go 50/50... But it can, it's very difficult to say whether it'll be 55/45, whether it'll be 60/40, one way or the other, or 40/60, but it'll be quite even.
Okay. Okay. Okay. Got it, sir. Got it. Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rahul Kumar from Vaikarya Fund. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Yeah, hi.
Yeah, hi. Just one question, sir. Is there any impact of the new labor code on, you know, our contract labor trend? And if yes, how do you see it?
I think we have answered this question. INR 1.31 crore in absolute numbers up to December.
No, I understand, sir. This is for our employee wage, right? I was just wondering, you know, the outsourced labor, is it-
Sir, that includes outsourced labor.
Okay.
What are, yes.
Okay. Okay.
You know, outsourced labor is generally, you know, for labor rate works, we have petty contractors, right? And there, it's rate per unit, which is where the work is contracted out to them. So this impact going forward, you know, is in the rates that is agreed with them. So it becomes very difficult to quantify this. Am I, have I been able to articulate? Have you understood?
Yes, sir, understood. I was just trying to understand from a, you know, from bidding point of view or, you know, pricing point of view for going forward, how does this impact that?
So, you know, as far as labor is concerned, due to its scarce availability and diminishing skills, you know, the quarter on quarter, when we bid for a job, we see, we are seeing that the unit rates are on the increase every three months or four months, and they are far more than what the governments are recognizing. So we are putting, we are, we are sort of, accounting for this increase based on the past data, past one year or past two years. We are extrapolating that data and, using it to sort of hike our bids also.
Okay, understood. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Munir Shamadia, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Yeah, hi.
Thank you, sir, for the opportunity. Sir, in the Q2 presentation, year-to-date order was INR 4374 crore, and in Q3 presentation it is INR 9565 crores. In the meanwhile, we have received two orders of INR 3070 crore and INR 888 crore. Still, there is a difference of around INR 1200 crores. So have we, like, received any other order?
We'll need to. I don't have that data handy, but Satbeer, you can reach out to Satbeer. We'll provide you that detail.
Okay, sir. Okay. Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from Ankit, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity again. I just wanted to ask a couple of points. One is in on quarter two presentation, we had mentioned Whiteland Corporation is around order value of around INR 1,065 crore, which has in the quarter three presentation has come up to be INR 821 crore. So is there a change here? That's the first question.
I think there is a mismatch. The 1060 includes GST.
Okay.
The 821 is without GST.
Okay, okay. The second question was that, what type of benefits in terms of the operational, financial or any other organizational benefits we would-
...like to extract from, the action of, subsidiaries which are getting merged into the parent company?
No, these are the subsidiaries which own a tract of land in Kolkata which has been on our books for a long time. As we have been mentioning in our investor interaction, we are now looking to leverage this land. To do that, we have applied for necessary clearances, and for those clearances to go through, amalgamation of this land is required. That is why we are merging these companies with the parent company.
Sure. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is on the line of Samrat Sarkar, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Sir, thank you for the follow-up. So I just wanted to know when do you expect the growth to be in mid-15 or 20% growth annually from the current 10% growth? So from this year onwards or from the next FY 2027, you expect this growth to be much better, sales growth.
So the sales growth or top line growth, as I said, between 15%-20%, it will be there in the next financial year. We are extremely hopeful it will be there in the next financial year.
Okay, sir, that's great. Thank you, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, we take that as the last question of the day, and now I would like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Thanks. Thank you, everybody, for joining in. Hopefully, we've answered all your queries. If there is any more questions, feel free to reach out to Mr. Satbeer Singh, our CFO, and hope to see you again in a few months' time. Thank you. Bye.
On behalf of Ambit Capital Private Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line.