Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Q3 and Nine Months FY2026 Conference Call of Manorama Industries. 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 touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Hiral Keniya from EY. Thank you and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Rudra. Good evening, everyone. On behalf of Manorama Industries Limited, I welcome you all to the company's Q3 and Nine Months FY 2026 C onference Call. To discuss the performance of the company and to answer your questions, we have with us the management team comprising of Mr. Ashish Saraf, Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Deep Saraf, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Chief Coordinator, Dr. Krishnadath Bhaggan , Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Business Development, Vice President, R&D. Mr. Ashok Jain, Director and Chief Financial Officer, Mrs. Ekta Soni, AVP, Investor Relations, and Mr. Deepak Sharma, Company Secretary and Compliance Officer. Before we proceed with this call, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which will be beyond management's control.
We kindly request to bear in mind that there might be uncertainties when interpreting such statements. Please note that this conference is being recorded. We would now start the session with opening remarks from the management team. Afterwards, we will open the floor for an interactive Q&A session. I would now hand over the conference call to Mr. Ashish Saraf for his opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Hiral Ji. Good evening, everyone, and a warm welcome to the Manorama Industries Limited's Earnings Conference Call for Q3 Nine Months of 2026. I'm accompanied today on this call by our Director and Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Ashok Jain, our Deputy CEO and Vice President, Mr. Deep Saraf, our Deputy CEO and Vice President, Mr. Krishnadath Bhaggan , our Chief Compliance Officer, Mr. Deepak Sharma, and our Vice President, Ekta Soni, and other members of our senior management team. On the company's behalf, I want to express my gratitude to all our investors, analysts, and stakeholders for participating in today's call. We are thankful for your ongoing trust and continued faith in our long-term vision for the company.
I am extraordinarily pleased to share that we continue to sustain our growth momentum in the third quarter and for the first nine months of financial year 2026. We have reported revenues of INR 363 crores, which reflects a remarkable year-on-year growth of 73.3%. This strong performance can be attributed to several key factors, including an enhanced mix of value-added products, the optimized utilization of our newly upgraded fractionation facility, and our commitment to operational excellence. Additionally, we have experienced steady demand from our key customers in the chocolate, confectionery, and cosmetics industries worldwide. In light of these positive developments, we are excited to announce that we have upwardly revised our financial year 2026 revenue guidance from INR 1,150 crores to INR 1,300 crores.
This revision underscores our confidence in our growth trajectory and the strength of our business model. Our backward integrated model, high-tech R&D, research and development, with cutting-edge technology and deep sourcing network, and the confidence of our hundreds of customers create a defensible competitive moat for Manorama. As many of you know, we operate in a structurally under-supplied and high-growth, exotic niche specialty fats and butters market. To address the increasing demand for specialty fats and butters, we have plans to boost our existing capacity by 30%.
This expansion will increase our capacity to 52,000 metric tons of fractionation per annum through debottlenecking the existing plants, which we expect to complete by financial year 2024. Furthermore, I'm pleased to report that we have acquired 19.40 acres of new land adjacent to our existing facility and simultaneously, we have successfully commissioned a new packing plant with the new laboratory building and other infrastructure, all funded through our internal accruals. This strategic investment will enhance our operational capabilities and support our growth initiatives. Looking ahead, to facilitate the next phase of growth, we are strategically planning to enhance the company's capacities in both India and West Africa. We are committing a capital expenditure of INR 460 crores over the next 2-3 years for the below projects. Forward integration through setting up a manufacturing facility for cocoa butter alternatives with 75 metric...
75,000 metric tons per annum capacity. Setting up a new fractionation manufacturing facility for shea palm, mango and other exotic seeds with 25,000 metric tons per annum capacity, including ESOS. Setting up a new refinery manufacturing facility with 90,000 metric tons per annum capacity. Backward integration through processing factory in Burkina Faso, West Africa, with 90,000 metric tons per annum capacity. These investments will enable us to expand our production capabilities and meet the growing demand of our markets. At Manorama Industries, we leverage our integrated value chain to ensure margin stability and foster long-term customer loyalty. Our backward integration from procurement to research and development to supercritical fractionation provides us with unparalleled control over quality, cost, supply stability, and the confidence of our worldwide customers.
This strategic approach positions us as a trusted partner for our customers in the chocolate, confectionery, and cosmetic industries who highly value us, regard us and honor us. We prudently planned Capex, we aim to strengthen our leadership in specialty fats and butters with pricing power, robust growth visibility and high structural advantages, all well-positioned to deliver sustainable growth for our esteemed stakeholders. With that, I now hand over the call to our Chief Financial Officer and Director, Mr. Ashok Jain, to take you through the financial and operational highlights for the quarter and the first half of the year. Thank you.
Thank you, Ashish, sir, and good evening, everyone. Let's walk through the financial performance for the third quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2025. For nine months, financial year 2025/26, Manorama Industries reported revenue of INR 975 crores, delivering a strong 81.3% year-on-year growth. EBITDA for the period stood at INR 265 crore with margin of 27.2%, while profit after tax was INR 174 crore, translating into a margin of 17.8%. This improvement in profitability reflects our commitment to optimizing our product mix, enhancing capitalization, and implementing disciplined cost control measures. For the third quarter FY 2026, revenue stood at INR 363 crores, while EBITDA came at INR 98 crores with a margin of 27.1%.
Profit after tax for the quarter was INR 68 crores, reflecting a margin of 18.8%. This result highlights our ability to maintain strong operational performance despite ongoing capacity expansion and seasonal fluctuation in the business. With robust business fundamentals, expanding customer relationships and continuous operational improvements, we are very confident in our ability to sustain our growth momentum and achieve our revenue guidance for the financial year 2025/2026. That concludes my remarks. We would now be happy to take your questions.
Thank you very much. We'll now begin 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 Jeevan P. from Sahasrar Capital. Please go ahead.
Congratulations, sir. Congratulations to entire Manorama team for wonderful set of numbers. I just want to understand one thing about the Capex. We have announced INR 460 crore Capex. I have seen the capacity 75,000 tons for CBA and 75,000 tons capacity for fractionation. Just wanted to understand if you can just explain how is it. Like, current capacity is 40,000 tons, which is going to increase by 52,000 tons by end of this March. This fractionation capacity will be enhanced by further 75,000 tons, or how is it?
Yes, sir. The question is related to the Capex. The Capex plan what we have announced is related to the fractionation capacity, which is more related to our product, which is called ESOS, and our other exotic seeds in the line. That particular capacity of fractionation will be used for making ESOS product and also the HPMF, which we're going to use and blend it with our existing stearin component and going forward, ESOS component to make a better end value enhanced product. That particular fractionation capacity of 75,000 tons is with respect to the project of ESOS, which we have announced for 75,000 tons. Those both capacities are related to each other.
Okay, and what is ESOS?
ESOS is a process where we are going to convert our soft fractions, like olein and other soft oils, into a hard fraction, which is called ESOS, enzymatic stearin, oleic stearin. That will further be used as a different application in the food sector, and will be further blended with HPMF, which is called hard palm mid-fraction. It will become a CBE component thereafter, which has a wider application and usage in the food industry. That enhanced capacity will be of around 75,000 metric tons. Overall, we are going to increase our CBE output capacity with this ESOS and HPMF fractionation.
Okay, understood. The pricing will be similar to CBE pricing for this?
Yes. The pricing are somewhere similar to the cocoa butter and the existing fats and butter prices of our product, existing models.
Okay.
Only the raw material will be different. The raw material will be the soft fractions, like the existing olein we manufacture and some other commodities oil that we can use in the process of making ESOS.
Got it. Perfect. Thanks a lot.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Shrenik Mehta from Indo Alps Wealth. Please go ahead.
Hi. Just some very quick questions. I see that you have much higher growth in the cost of goods sold, which is the raw material, versus the growth in sales. That is leading to a significant shrinkage of the gross margins, almost 8% down versus the previous quarter. Is this some one-time kind of a cost? Are you seeing some increase in the raw material cost? What is really happening here?
Sir, with respect to the GP margin, we have always shared that that remains in the range of 45%-50% owing to the, you know, the freight costs and there are some other by-product realization. It happens to be in the range of 45%-50%. You can consider that range in the model in your assumptions and calculations.
Okay. This quarter it is down to 44.3%, and the last quarter it was 52.8%.
It is range bound, right?
It is a range-bound because there are a lot of situations with respect to freight costs and our by-product realization. It doesn't impact our EBITDA margin or PAT margin that way, but the gross margins are in the range-bound of 45%-50%.
Okay. This doesn't trigger any changes in the price. This is.
No.
Just a normal raw material fluctuation in the cost.
Right. Yes, sir.
Okay. You have a major plan right now for increasing the capacities. This capacity increase would possibly take care of the revolutionary growth that you're getting for next at least two more years, or how do you see this planning?
This capital expenditures, whatever the plan we have for this Capex, it happens to be happening in a phased manner. All our investments are going to be deployed over the next two to three years, which, you know, aligns our strategy of-
Next three years, okay.
The growth we are targeting is for the next 4 years-5 years. Because our existing capacities-
You know, will give you the growth for the next one-odd year, and this capacity will give you a growth for next 2-3 years. Overall we have a plan and visibility with this Capex for the next 2, 4-5 years of growth.
Excellent. Okay. Most of this funding for the Capex is through internal accruals, I assume.
We are primarily relying on our internal cash accruals, which are, you know, very strong and sufficient enough to support our planned projects over the next 2-3 years. We already have begun deploying these funds. We already have spent INR 52 odd crores towards this Capex plan, and we intend to continue doing so. You know, any external kind of financing could be considered selectively, if necessary. We intend to do all through our internal accruals.
banks.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you for excellent performance from Manorama Industries. Thank you to the whole team.
Thank you so much, sir.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Kumar Saumya from Ambit Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Good afternoon. Sir, I have a couple of questions. Firstly, on the revenue growth side, we are seeing 81% growth on the nine-month year-on-year. If you could help me break out in terms of-
Sorry to interrupt, sir, but your audio is not clear.
Is it audible now?
Can you use a handset?
I'm using the handset.
It's not clear. We are not able to hear you.
Okay, I'll come back in picture.
All right. Our next question is from the line of Rohan Mehta from Ficom Family Office. Please go ahead.
Hi, am I audible?
Yes, you are.
Great. Thank you so much for the opportunity, and congratulations on a great set of numbers. Firstly, I wanted to clarify, in your press release, the forward integration project that you have mentioned for Cocoa Butter Alternatives, this is essentially the fractionation capacity we're talking about. Is it so?
If you see the projects, there are four projects which we have mentioned. Out of four projects, one, which is related to the Burkina Faso project, which is going to come in Africa, is a backward integration project. The rest of the three projects, which are related to solvent fractionation capacity of 75,000 tons, and also the shea CBA capacity of 75,000 tons, and refinery of 90,000 tons, are in a similar line of production, which is related to a forward integration plan of the company.
Okay. In terms of the pricing for Cocoa Butter Alternatives compared to stearin and CBE, how does that compare? Is this margin dilutive? Can you give some thoughts on that?
The products which we are going to come, of course they are not going to be a margin dilutive thing. Of course we are looking for the same sustainable margins level what we have currently in our business, even we are looking for a better levers. The margins are going to be maintained with the new projects coming up, with those products also.
Okay. Purely just isolating for the fractionation capacity of 75,000 tons, what would be roughly a broad range of cost that you're looking at right now and the asset turnover that you're looking to generate from this?
If I want to bifurcate out of our Capex plan of INR 450 crore, approximately INR 300 crore-INR 330 crore would be, you know, attributed to this forward integration projects, which we are targeting at a turnover of more than five with our investments.
Okay. My final question on your working capital needs. Incrementally, after taking into account even the backward integration projects, what sort of working capital needs will you require going forward?
Sorry, can you repeat the question?
Yes. My question is on working capital requirement. After conducting the backward integration projects, and once the forward integration project of Cocoa Butter Alternatives that comes online, how much incremental working capital requirement do you foresee?
For those projects which we are coming up, the working capitals, you know, would be around one or two months of the cycle because those
Forward integration.
For forward integration, because those raw materials are very different, which is not related to current raw material of the products. Those raw materials could be the captive consumption of our olein and maybe some other soft oil, which we can have imported from some other sources. Those working capital cycle will be a much, much lesser compared to our existing business model, which is around 5 month -6 months. That will be around 1 month-3 months of working capital, which we will be required for that business. That project.
1 month -3 months.
Yeah, 1 month-2 months. Two months.
Got it. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Sanjay Manyal from DAM Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Congratulations on a good set of numbers. My two questions. One is, 73% kind of a revenue growth. What would be the volume growth over here, and what would be the pricing growth? That's my first question.
You are talking 73% on year-on-year basis, right?
Yeah.
That is-
73% year-on-year b asis. Yes.
In the nine months that it's more related, the growth would be around 65-odd% should be around from the approximately from the volume growth and the rest would be the inflation, you know, adding growth with respect to the pricing approach. We have utilized our capacity, which we have commenced last year, of 25,000 tons. That contributes mainly to our growth in this number.
If also give me at what price we are doing incremental volumes, at what price we are locking our, you know, Cocoa Butter Equivalent for the future contracts?
That is one product, sir, which is there in the portfolio, and we are locking in the same prices what we have been locking in the past.
Okay. One last on the employee expense front. I think during the quarter, it seems the employee expense has been down by 23%. What could be the reason for that?
23%.
23%?
That seems your what I could
It was the ESOP provision. We have granted the ESOP to the employees and now it is not required to make the provision for the ESOP.
Okay. Fine. That's all from it. Thanks.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Koushik Mohan from Ashika Group. Please go ahead.
Congrats on the good set of numbers, sir. I just wanted to understand like toward INR 460 crores of capacity that we are putting up. In that, how much currently from this year balance sheet that we can do an internal accrual?
We have plans. We already have invested around INR 50-odd crore towards Capex, buying the lands and upgrading packaging and other supporting infrastructure. We plan to invest approximately INR 70 crore-INR 80 crore in this financial year towards Capex. In the next financial year we are planning to spend around INR 100 crore-INR 150 crore rupees towards our Capex plan of the project.
With this Capex, ma'am, in the previous question you told us we can do five times on asset terms. Can we assume safely the INR 2,000 crores on the top line can be added with this Capex over the next three years?
Yes, sir. In terms of, you know, the asset and we expect it to be more than 5x. If the calculation comes exactly what you have said right now.
Okay. Currently, what is our capacity utilization for 40,000 metric tons that we have?
It is around 85% capacity utilization for our plant.
Combined.
Combined.
One year more growth is left out in sense. Are we also considering the recent 12,500 metric tons addition, that is, 52,000 metric tons, 52,000 for next year growth?
Yeah, we are already increasing our throughput, you know, approximately by 30% through the debottlenecking. That will cater to the growth for the next odd years and the next two years you can say.
Okay.
We have, you know, good room for the growth for the next two years. With the Capex coming in, we see a very good growth overall for the next four to five years.
Okay. Ma'am, lot of people in the industry like will be saying that, cocoa prices are going down from the last two years and all. How are we differentiating ourselves from the cocoa prices? Like, can you just explain that? Because our margins are maintained, our numbers are maintained, and we are on the growth phase and we are doing fantastic numbers. Can you just give that bifurcation that why are we not related to cocoa prices?
Sir, our performance should answer that. As you have rightly said that we are doing good performance despite cocoa butter price volatility. I can explain to you the technicality and how our product is not related to cocoa butter per se, the cycling, moving and everything. Our CBE is these fats and, you know, butters are developed through specialized fat blending and fractionation. It requires advanced formulation and R&D expertise which is there to make functional fats based on our customer application. Hence our prices are not directly related to any commodity cycles. We are manufacturers of cocoa butter equivalent, which is a more technology and formulation-driven business, not a commodity business. We are more solution-oriented rather than a commodity-linked business.
Our customer relations are more application-specific and technical. Once we have, you know, developed the product with our clients for their formulation, so we are there, happens to be there for a longer term. Overnight changes in any of the commodity cycle will not, you know, hamper our demand or pricing model for our business because our raw material base is very different than cocoa butter raw material base. That will be volatile because that is a commodity and our raw material prices are, you know, sustained because we are not a commodity business. We are doing a very niche, manufacturing a very niche technical product for our customers.
Great, ma'am. Ma'am, like what is the average volume prices that we are selling now? Is it around the range of INR 550 something around? Am I right?
It is in the same range, what we have been selling to our customers. We are doing cost-plus margin-basis business model. Our raw material product prices are similar.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Ninad Sarpotdar from Aditya Birla Money. Please go ahead.
Hello. Hello, am I audible?
Yes, sir, you are.
Congratulations on the good set of numbers. Just two, three questions. First, did we do any volumes from the upgraded facility and any volumes from the Dekel Group in these quarters?
Sorry, you need volume numbers for what?
I mean, I just wanted to understand that has the new upgraded facility of 12,000 metric tons and the JV with the Dekel Group has any contributions to the top line in current quarter.
That upgraded 12,000 will be. It's, you know, it's currently in the process. That facility
Okay.
Expanded capacity will be available from the Q1 onwards to the company. Yes, we have also-
Okay.
Started our batches with Dekel, and we are in the process of doing that.
During current quarter, no contribution from that as such, right?
Right.
Yes. Because we are dealing. We have started the revenue from-
We have minor contributions which is there from the Dekel as we have just-
Okay.
started our ramp up with them.
My second question is, so you have planned a lot of new Capex and backward integration projects. On the margins front, you have been guiding on a very conservative basis of around 25%. Can we see these margins stabilizing or becoming the new normal or any more accretion from new product lines that you are launching, maybe the cocoa butter alternatives and the HPMF, you know, backward integration and the Burkina Faso projects?
See, sir, we believe that the current margin, which is, you know, around 25%-27%, which we always share and guide in the range, happens to be.
Right, right.
on a sustainable mode. Of course, we are in the trajectory to improve over the medium term and in a longer term, because there are multi-lever strategy. We are coming up with projects, which is related to forward and backwards. That should really help in improving the margins, and we are working for that. You can take the current margins, for example, as a more sustainable level. Of course
Okay.
The business is business and we are working, so we are.
Yeah, yeah.
Our business is.
Yeah, yeah. Just one last question. I need some-
There is all the business, but we are doing everything for that.
Okay. Got it. Just one last question. Just needing some clarity on my understanding that the new 70,000 MTPA of CBA facility is the new product that you were talking about with a lower working cycle, working capital cycle.
Yes.
The 75,000 MTPA of solvent fractionation is in line with the existing 52,000, I mean the similar technology and similar kind of output facility, right?
That 75,000 is related to the new product of CBA, which is the source and the other products what we have mentioned in the project details. Both the capacities-
Right. Right.
It's not related to the existing project.
Okay. Both are new.
The capacity and the fractionation unit. Yeah.
Okay.
Those will be the new products coming out of both assets. The new solvent fractionation capacity and the Solvent one. Those, both the projects are related to each other in terms of capacity and output.
Just to get clarity, it's not fungible. It's a completely different line, right? I mean.
No, it is fungible. Of course, we can run any exotic seed, you know, in that dedicated, in that new solvent fractionation capacity. But that will be-
Okay.
more used for the new 75,000 CBA capacity, which we have announced.
Okay. Got it. Yeah. Thanks. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Rehan Saiyyed from Trinetra Asset Managers. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for giving me the opportunity. Like, my first question is around, like, I want to better understand regarding your portfolio. A significant portion of your new capacity dedicated toward forward integration-
Sorry to interrupt, sir, but you're not clear. Sorry to interrupt.
Oh, okay. May I repeat my question again?
I request you to be a little more clear.
Okay. Like, I want to understand regarding your CBA facility that you have put here now. You have done forward integration through 75,000 metric ton and then cocoa butter alternative facility. How does the margin profile, competitive landscape for CBA differ from your CB business? Do you intend to target the same Fortune 500 large brand food products?
Yes, sir. The clients, you know, the clients in the markets for CBA products are also same. It is only going to be used in the food sectors. It could be in chocolate, it could be in confectionery, it could be, you know, in other HoReCa kind of a market. The applications of both the products are similar only into the food sector, and we will have good margins in that product line also as we are doing in the current business model.
Okay. My second question is around your Dekel partnership in Brazil that you have done. Your first commercial production that has the Dekel partnership in Brazil was commissioned in quarter three of FY 2023. Could you provide a roadmap for the expected revenue contribution from this partnership in FY 2027? What are the logistical advantages of manufacturing in Brazil versus exporting from your Hyderabad plant?
The advantage is more related to that we will have a, you know, geographical presence in that region because LATAM being the huge market and is the biggest consumption for these fats. The advantage is more for being the local presence there and cater to the oil customers, not just the, you know, top five, top six customers in the world. The idea is that to be there and it will, you know, help in a lot of facilities and figuring everything. The idea of getting into the projects like CBA or Solvent Fractionation Three is to increase the output product of stearin or the hard fat which we already make. Overall, if you see the capacity or the project which we are coming up with, it's related to the hard fat only.
We are going to have a very diversified raw material base in those projects. We can also use our olein as a captive consumption to make the stearin and the cocoa butter equivalent. The overall idea to have that project is to make more and more production of the stearin-based fats and more cocoa butter equivalents, which has a wider application and different usage in the industry as well. That is going to increase the output of our production capacity of stearin and CB.
Oh, okay. Fair enough. Thanks so much and good luck for your quarter.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Akhil Parekh from B&K Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity and many congratulations on a good set of numbers. My first question is just a clarity, right, on the margins front. Is the gross profit per kg the right metric or margin is the right metric to evaluate our business? I believe that in one of the questions when you replied, you said we work on a cost-plus basis model. GP per kg would be the right number to look at, right? Rather than gross margin.
EBITDA level.
EBITDA level.
EBITDA per kg?
Yeah, we see the overall, as a whole business, EBITDA. You can take the EBITDA, which is sustainable margin.
No, no, that I got it. Is it the per kg which is the number which we should look at? The margins may fluctuate, I believe because we are in a processing business and because of the fluctuation in the raw material, the GP margins can fluctuate and EBITDA margins can accordingly fluctuate. Hence per kg is the right metric. That's my understanding. I mean, please clarify if it's yes and no.
At EBITDA level, we have actually maintained our margin, so that fluctuation is not on the EBITDA part. You can take EBITDA margin % basis.
Okay. Yes. So per ton wise, how it is varying on a YoY basis, EBITDA per ton?
Because we deal with the different raw materials and there are different yields and parity of individual feeds, it means there is no that calculation we see because we see on a blended level basis. For you to take that on assumption will not get you on the right calculation because there are different raw materials we deal with and there are different yields and different products and different parity also for all those feeds we do. On a blending level, you can see that particular margin on the business level.
Sure. Second question on the Capex front, INR 460 crore of which, almost everything will be on internal accrual basis or where we will kind of raise, we'll need to raise some capital.
There are no immediate plans, you know, to look for capital, external financing, be it debt or be it equity. We are more relying on our internal accruals because we have good cash accruals and we are going to be having. The options we will look when the, you know, the time is going to be right. As of now, there are no immediate plans for external funding.
Sure. Just last two more questions. One is on the other income part, right? There is a sharp jump in other income, in three Q. Any specific reasons for that?
This was the gain loss on the import side, which we have imported the sheanut and other butters in the last quarter. We mentioned this is the difference of the, what we have paid and what we have, goods when reached India. There is a foreign gain loss on the import side, majorly.
It's more of an inventory gain. Is that understanding that?
Yeah, you can say. I mean, it is a part of forex. It is not to what we have paid and what we have booked for as a purchase.
Sure. Sure.
There is a difference of the procurement.
On the forex side, you say? Sorry, I lost.
Yes, forex side, sir.
Okay, got it. Lastly, on the value-added product contribution, if you can give that number for the third quarter.
Value-added quotient to sales is around 75%, which includes our value-added products like the stearin and the cocoa butter equivalents.
Oh, 75%.
75% to sales, approximately.
Got it. That's all from my side, and best wishes for coming quarters.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Kumar Saumya from Ambit Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. Am I audible?
Yes, you are.
Hello.
Loud and clear.
Yes. Ekta, my first question is on the capacity expansion side. When you say key refinery capacity for expansion of 90,000 tons, does it mean the existing 45,000 tons of refinery goes up by 90,000 tons?
No, that will be the additional 90,000 capacity, Kumar. Beyond 55,000 capacity, we are going to add 300 metric ton per day capacity.
Yes. This is
In the refinery plant, which will be linked to our new capacity expansion of 75,000 tons of fractionation and ISO.
Okay, got it. This refinery is to feed the 75,000 expansion that you have.
Yeah, another specialty, products. That will help you that way.
Should one look at the 75 separately, or is it tangible? Like, if I'm looking at 52,000 fractionation today or by the end of this year, that will add another 75,000 ton over it or 150,000 ton over it?
You need to understand that 75,000 of both CBE and SF3 is a one plant, as you can say.
Okay.
That the capacity and the production of stearin, of course, is going to improve, you know, increase accordingly. It will be beyond 52,000 tons. We are adding 75,000 capacity, so that will only help the production of the stearin and the CBE, CBEs accordingly. Right. This production is for the same product through different process.
Okay, we should look at it as a way, like 75,000 additional is coming. Either you can make CBA or CBE.
Yeah. That is right, the way to say input.
Yes.
Input capacity and.
Yield is same? Either we make CBA or CBE, the yield will be same?
Yeah, it would be slightly better in this, in that process.
Got it. Ekta, in your initial question you said 81% growth in the nine-month is driven by 65% growth in volume and 15%-16% on value. Did I get it right?
70%. No, sir. I guess the 73% is the YOY growth, if I'm not wrong.
Yes.
Okay. No, I was looking from a nine-month perspective.
In months months.
Nine months is 73%.
73%.
Out of the 73%, 90% is the volume growth, rest is inflation and other sensitivity.
Okay. Got it. Fair. Sir, on the working capital side, where are we currently?
Currently working capital cycle is 120 days, sir.
120 days on sales or costs?
Cost sales.
Okay. This was compared to H1 levels of roughly 200 days, right?
H1 was around 150-160 days, 20 days.
7 days. Working capital days was 97.
Currently working capital cycle is 120 days. The H1 was 90 days.
H1 was 90 days. Got it. Lastly, sir, on the Mexico plant, what would be the volume that you're looking for this year?
More than 2,000 tons. We hope that this year will be delivered approximately.
More than 2,000 tons from there.
Okay.
Lastly on the 9-month number, what would be the CBE contribution?
CBE contribution to sales is around 30%.
30%? Got it.
Yes.
Thank you, sir. This is very helpful.
Around approximate 75% value-added products. Approximate.
75 is value added. CBE is 30%.
CBE is another 30%.
Got it. Thank you, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management will be able to address questions from all the participants in the conference, kindly limit the questions to two per participant. Our next question is from the line of Aashish Upganlawar from InvestQ PMS. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you so much for this opportunity. I'm looking at your company maybe for the first time in so much detail. Just wanted to understand from you on the working capital side, because in the last year published balance sheet, I could see that cash conversion cycle in the core operating working capital, which is receivables, inventory and payables. It was around 500-odd days of sales. What is the other part which you're saying has come down to 125 days on the working capital net basis now?
Which year balance?
That is what I wanted to understand.
Sir, which year balance sheet or financial year is your reference?
This is March 25 on Screener. I could see that.
You are taking.
The core working capital.
You are taking as on balance sheet date, but you should take as an average year inventory days, because we procure the raw material for 20 days for the whole year. At the end of the balance sheet it seems high, but the average is around 150, 160 days in inventory days. Because once we bought the inventory, we gradually monthly reduce the inventory levels. We keep around 150 days inventory as a, which you can take it.
Okay. On a regular basis, you are saying 150 days of inventory is there always.
Yes.
Or as-
After using capital, another thing reduce.
Okay. So, on net basis, it comes to around 125 days as you said, right?
Right now, 120. Because of the inventory, which is at the end of balance sheet date, comes to revenue next year.
Okay. You mentioned something that the working capital cycle would further improve because of the new product. Is it new product that you have?
Yes. Yes. Yes. It kept it going.
How is it likely to move, maybe over the next couple of years?
Like, you can take the 90-100 days working capital cycle days going forward after this new capacity, it will be reduced around 10-20 days more. Two months, 2-3 months we require as right.
Okay.
Approximately.
Okay. Lastly, I mean, since it's a brief call, your margins, I mean, if I look at history, it's gone from 25-28%. Again, it came down to 14, and now it's again, I mean, over years, it's come down to again, 25-27%. Is there a cycle like that or, because you mentioned that these margins are sustainable? What is the change that has happened in all these years?
Because we have come up with our new fractionation line in July 2024, and the utilization has come up well from the plant and that's why we can see the better margins. Also, we have improved the product mix. We have improved the share of, you know, value-added products. And because of the operational excellences and, you know, the economic leverage, we can report a very good margin. Those margins which was related to couple of years back, which was around 16-17%. That was on a low utilization basis, which was there, and we were coming up with a new project. The margins which we are reporting now are sustainable on that level of 25%-27%.
Thank you so much. I'll take it in detail maybe on a one-on-one meeting maybe sometime. Thank you so much.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Jainam Doshi from KRIIS PMS. Please go ahead.
Like, congratulations on an excellent set of numbers. I just wanted to understand, like, the price of cocoa has corrected by 60% in a year, and I'm aware that we are, like, not directly related to the commodity. But if the price of cocoa has come down, is it necessary for the price of cocoa butter itself as a commodity purchase to come down in the same proportion, or does the metric work other way?
You're asking for cocoa butter or cocoa butter equivalent?
For the cocoa butter part.
That is a commodity that is linked to cocoa beans and it will act accordingly. We can tell you for cocoa butter equivalent.
If you could throw some light on the cocoa butter equivalents also, then that would be helpful.
Yes. We are maintaining our prices because it was raised, it gone to, you know, $25,000-$30,000 of cocoa butter price at one point during the last two years. Our prices were still sustainable because we were doing a cost-plus margin basis model. Today also it is the same. We are doing that particular model only for our products and also for cocoa butter equivalent. There is that way, no impact on our pricing model whether the commodity prices are getting, you know, increasing or reducing.
Okay. Got it. Next would be like the EU Deforestation Regulation that have been like postponed till December 2026. Like, does it have any impact on our sourcing of raw materials, or is it only pertaining to the cocoa?
That is only related to, I guess, cocoa because that regulation applies for cocoa beans, I guess. There is nothing which is there for our raw material base. We are like buying from the forest. It is not a farm product or a crop product which we are buying. We are not, you know, cutting trees and buying our seeds. It's a forest-based state products what we are buying from the deepest forest of India and West Africa. Hence there is no impact of that regulation in our business.
Right. Right. Got it. The current mix of value-added products, as you mentioned, is around 75%. How do we see this mix inching up, like, in next one or two years going ahead?
We intend to do approximately 85%-90% of our sales with respect to value-added going forward. Our co-product, the soft fats, which is Olein, are also going to be converted into a value-added product. The idea and the intent approximately to do 90%-95% of the business towards value-added product.
Okay. With the total capacity coming on stream in next 3-4 years, do we see like clocking a revenue of around INR 4,500-INR 5,000 crore based on the Capex and the returns which we have mentioned?
The asset turnover that we have set is right for the project which we have announced for the related green creation project, and we can see a very good growth going forward for the next five years. This Capex will, you know, suffice our growth for the next five years. You can have that calculation accordingly.
Okay. Got it. Thank you. Thanks a lot. All the best.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Darshil Jhaveri from Crown Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello. Good evening. Thank you so much for taking my question. Firstly, congratulations on a great set of results. Hopefully I'm audible.
Hello. Yeah, yeah. Hi, sir. Just wanted to ask, in regards to, like, our Capex. Our Capex is gonna come in phased manner online. Will it come, like, in FY 2028 or how will it come online?
Yeah, because.
The first phase.
Yes. There are four projects which will be, you know, commencing in a phased manner. We intend to commence all our production capacity approximately by the financial year 2028. Over the next two or three years all the capacity will be commenced. As and when the capacity, you know, starts getting commercialized, we are going to update you on that particular capacity.
Ma'am, in the FY 2027, that is the next year, whatever revenue growth we can have is from the debottlenecking, right? Any kind of guidance that, you know, we can give for how, what FY 2027 can be in terms of revenue? Because, there'll be a 30% increase in capacity, right? Can we assume a commensurate increase in revenue?
We of course are having, you know, the good growth with respect to. We have ample room, 30% in the new capacity, 15% still available in the existing capacity. Almost 40, 45, 40, 50% growth is still there to be done in the next one or two years. We are looking for, again, a good numbers for the coming year as well, for a good growth.
Okay. Can we quantify it, like, in a percentage range term also? That could also be okay.
You can take approximately range on a number of 30% that should come.
We will update on numbers, yeah.
Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough, ma'am. The Capex would, like, as you said, FY 2028. So that'll be first phase, second phase, or, like, how would it be? Like, full might be get completed by FY 2028, 2029, right? Like, that would be. If we could have-
Yes.
Some more detail in that. Like, you know, how much would phase one be kind of like?
Phase 1, Manorama would be, you know, we have started doing our projects in West Africa. We have bought land here in India. We have identified land in Burkina Faso, and we are already on the verge of, you know, ordering all the equipment and related things for all the capacities. All will go simultaneously, parallelly with each other. We can have the capacities, you know, coming and rolling. Maybe in the next 1-1.5 years, we can have 1-2 capacities ready, and maybe in the next two or three years, we can have all our capacities ready.
Oh, okay. Fair enough. Thank you so much. That's it from my side. All the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Jahnvi Shah from Share India. Please go ahead.
Hello. By the way, congratulations on the good set of numbers. I had a bit of technical questions on the Capex that you announced. I didn't understand as to exactly where does this, solvent fractionation plant, sit, and same with this, CBA one. Is it, helpful for the existing plant? I understand this is an entirely a new product that we are launching, and for that we need this. Is either of these useful in the already CB and the plant that we already have?
This is a totally new capacity. We actually have sufficient capacity for existing facility of 40,000-52,000 tons.
Yes.
All the new capacities or the projects which we have announced is for the new product and production of our stearin fats and Cocoa Butter Equivalent, specialty fats and butters.
Okay. How-
That is just that kind of production and.
Thank you. How is CBA different from CBE, first? Second, for these two plants, our raw materials are gonna be different, you mentioned that.
Yes.
How are they different? Like, we are converting soft fat to hard fat, so we'll use the olein as we are already producing. Maybe we'll get some more from elsewhere. At the same time,
Yeah. Yeah, that is right. We are going to do a captive consumption of our olein product as well. As well as, along with our olein product, we can also have some soft fraction being imported through other sources. The idea of that CBA is to have a diversified raw material base and the products which can be offered to all our clients because it has got the same applications and acceptability of the product in the food market, and it has also got a huge demand. That is why we have diversified our raw material base. The working capital also will be reduced significantly in that particular business because we are going to use the captive consumption of our olein and as well as some other soft fractions through some other sources.
Okay. For this we wouldn't need the refinery or the first two, three stages. We just require the solvent fractionation. We'll get the olein input that time, we will get the hard fat out.
Yeah. We will need the CBA facility, we will need the fractionation, and we will need the refinery. We will not be needing the expelling and the extraction facility in this.
That's why the cycle is lower.
Yes.
The material.
That's why the cycle is lower. Yes.
Okay. Like, right now we are at a capacity of 52,000 at the end of the year. We are looking at a capacity for CBA at 75,000, which will come online I think in next two to three years.
Do we have that demand from the market?
Yes, of course, we have that demand visibility for the products because there is a huge demand supply gap in the current industry for the products which we are manufacturing. Because all these products are very niche, and, you know, the applications are very formulated and solution-based, based on the customer applications. Of course, like we have been expanding, you know, more than 10 times we have expanded in the past. Because of the demand only and because of the visibility only, we have been expanding. This project we have taken, keeping that, in the sense, also that will help us, you know, diversify the raw material base and have a better product portfolio in the basket of Manorama.
Okay. Thank you so much. Sorry, just one last question. Any of these projects will have, like, a margin implications for us? Like it will improve our margins?
Yeah, of course. That is the reason we are, you know, taking all these steps towards, you know, increasing our margin trajectory.
Any guidance for the same?
You should take current as a sustainable margin. Any improvement we are going to, you know, guide you further. We'll be there every quarter, so we'll be communicating to you quarter- by- quarter.
Okay. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraint, we take that as a last question. I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
I sincerely thank all the participants for joining us for the Manorama Industries Q3 and nine months financial 2026 earnings conference call. Our company is strengthening its reputation as a trustworthy and leading provider dedicated to addressing the increasing demand for sustainable cocoa butter equivalent, cocoa butter alternatives, specialty fats, stearin and butters for the whole world. Business is business. Business always has risks, and we are trying with a sustainable way to overcome all the challenges being thrown at us. We strive to be the preferred supplier of specialty fats and butters for both our global and domestic customers by focusing on research and development, cutting-edge technology, and expanding our international presence and national presence by enhancing our capacity backed by a strong balance sheet.
I thank all our stakeholders and everybody for reposing their faith on us, and they are giving us their trust and considering us for their presence. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you. On behalf of Manorama Industries Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.