Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Advanced Enzyme Technologies Limited Q1 FY 2026 earnings conference call. 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 the touchtone phone. Please note that this call is being recorded. With this, I now hand the conference over to Mr. Ronak Saraf, Investor Relations Manager, for opening comments. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Advanced Enzyme Technologies Q1 and FY 2026 earnings conference call. We hope you have gone through our financial spreadsheet and the PPT, which has been posted in the Investor Relations section of our website. We have with us Mr. Vasant Rathi, Chairperson, Mr. Mukund Kabra, Full-time Director, and Mr. Beni Rauka, Group CFO. Today, the management will discuss the performance and business highlights, update on strategies, and respond to any questions that you may have. As usual, for the use of discussion, we will look at the consolidated financials. Before we start, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that some of the information shared during this call, particularly our plan, strategies, and future outlook, may contain forward-looking statements. These statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions.
Actual results may differ materially from those explained or implied in these statements, influenced by a range of factors, including but not limited to economic conditions, changing government policies, regulatory developments, and other unforeseen circumstances. Participants are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as they are not guarantees of future performance and should not be viewed as substitutes for independent judgment. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Without any further ado, we shall commence this call. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Ronak. Good evening, everyone. I really appreciate you all for taking out your valuable time and extend a heartfelt welcome to everyone joining us today on the conference call for the quarter ended 30th June 2025. I'm happy to report that fiscal year 2026 has started on a healthy note. Despite the geopolitical tension and economic challenges, the global economy outlook is improving, and inflation also appears to be well managed. Coming to the performance of this company, we reported an overall improvement on a year-on-year basis. Growth was witnessed across all business segments in which we operate. The improvement in the top line was primarily driven by robust performance in the human healthcare business, as well as continued momentum in the animal healthcare segment. We also observed an important improvement in our B2C revenue in the USA.
On the operational front, the raw material prices remained stable during the quarter. We have clocked the highest ever quarterly revenue, or top line for the quarter stood at INR 1,859 million, reflecting a 20% year-on-year growth and an 11% increase compared to the previous quarter. EBITDA came at INR 564 million, which is a 10% increase year-on-year, and a 24% rise quarter-on-quarter. Our EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at 30%. Moving to profitability, our profit after tax reached INR 404 million, registered a 16% growth year-on-year, and impressed a 51% increase quarter-on-quarter. The PAT margin stood at 22% for the quarter. Now, I will take you through our segment-wise revenue performance for the first quarter of FY 2026 and compare it with both year-on-year and sequentially with the quarter FY 2025 and quarter one FY 2025.
Let's begin with the human healthcare, our largest segment. Revenue for quarter one FY 2026 stood at INR 1,221 million, marking a 21% year-on-year growth and a 19% quarter-on-quarter increase. This strong performance is an account of good demand in pharma and Apheresis. Human healthcare remains the core of our portfolio, contributing 65% of our total revenue. Next, we have animal healthcare. Revenue rose to INR 260 million, reflecting a 51% increase year-on-year and a 24% growth quarter-on-quarter. This improvement is due to increased traction in the domestic and Asian markets. Animal healthcare now accounts for over 14% of our total revenue. Turning to bioprocessing, this segment recorded a revenue of INR 236 million, while there was a 6% decline year-on-year and a 15% sequential drop. We believe that this is a temporary reboot.
The food business grew by 11% on a year-on-year basis and 24% on a Q-on-Q basis. The non-food business grew by 11% on a year-on-year basis and 28% on a Q-on-Q basis. The segments still contribute a notable 13% to the overall business. Lastly, in specialized manufacturing, we reported INR 142 million in Q1 FY revenue, up 29% year-on-year, although slightly down 8% quarter-on-quarter. This segment represents 7% of our overall revenue. We have taken a step forward in our clean energy sustainability initiative. One of our subsidiaries, JC Biotech, is collaborating with Raywatt Solar Power Systems. This move aims to meet our electricity requirements through solar energy in a cost-effective and sustainable manner with a long-term perspective. Additionally, we have established a new subsidiary, Advanced Nutrazyme Private Limited, which will focus on the sales and distribution of the company's nutrition and wellness product range.
We anticipate this growth trajectory continues in all our segments in the coming times. We will bring more resilience in our business to enhance long-term sustainability value proposition for all our stakeholders going ahead. With this, I will now hand over the call to Beni Rauka, who will walk you through the financials and key subsidiary numbers.
Thank you very much, sir. Good evening, everyone. I hope you all are in good health and doing well. The financial performance on a consolidated basis for the first quarter of fiscal 2026. On a year-on-year basis, our revenue increased by 20% from INR 1,545 million to INR 1,859 million. Our EBITDA increased by 10% from INR 512 million to INR 564 million, which is about 30% of our sales. Profit before tax increased by 13% from INR 487 million to INR 549 million. Profit after tax increased by 15% from INR 350 million to INR 404 million, which is about 22% of our sales. On a sequential basis, Q-on-Q revenue increased by 11% from INR 1,672 million to INR 1,859 million. EBITDA increased by 24% from INR 456 million to INR 564 million. Profit before tax increased by 26% from INR 435 million to INR 549 million.
Profit after tax increased by 51% from INR 267 million to INR 404 million. Regarding our subsidiary numbers, JC Biotech revenue stood at INR 211 million, EBITDA of INR 33 million, and a PAT of INR 14 million during the quarter, as compared to INR 159 million, INR 24 million, and INR 7 million, respectively. Evoxx revenue stood at INR 70 million, with EBITDA of INR 14 million and a PAT of INR 7 million during the quarter, as compared to INR 47 million, a negative EBITDA of INR 7 million, and a PAT negative of INR 15 million, respectively, during the corresponding quarter of Q2 of FY 2025.
TriTech's sales stood at INR 145 million, with EBITDA of INR 4 million and a negative PAT of INR 8 million during the quarter, as compared to the top line of INR 111 million, INR 22 million, and INR 10 million, respectively, in Q1 of FY 2025. Our largest product, which is anti-inflammatory enzymes, sales stood at INR 417 million, about 22% of our top line during quarter one, as compared to 18% in Q4 and the Q1 of last year, also 18%. Top 10 customers contributed about 27% during the quarter, as compared to 23% in Q1 of FY 2025. For financial year 2025, it was about 23%. B2C segment has contributed about USD 1.28 million during the quarter, as compared to USD 0.95 million during Q1 of last year. Let me also give you a human health analytics and revenue breakup.
Our pharma business stood at INR 593 million during the quarter, as compared to INR 377 million and INR 375 million. Probiotics, about INR 10 million, as compared to INR 14 million and INR 39 million. Biocatalysis, about INR 56 million, as compared to INR 7 million and INR 74 million. Our international business from human nutrition was about INR 562 million, as compared to INR 633 million and INR 543 million in Q1. Total human healthcare segment is about INR 1,201 million, as compared to INR 1,031 million in Q4 and INR 1,011 million in Q1 of FY 2025. Our R&D spending is about INR 86 million during this quarter, as compared to INR 76 million in Q1 of last year. We have spent about 5% of our consolidated revenue on R&D, which excludes our intercompany elimination.
Net of intercompany elimination, we have spent about 3% of our consolidated revenue on R&D. That was from my side. Now we open the floor for question and answer session.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touchstone 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 comes from the line of Shubham Sehgal from SiMPL. Please go ahead.
Hello. Audible?
Yes, sir. You're audible. Please go ahead.
Yeah, my first question was, what led to high growth in our animal and human nutrition segment?
Okay. Yeah. It's all the product mixes. It's not just like one or two or a few, but it's like an overall product and some of the export, as well as some of the domestic market. The projects which we are working from the last one year or two years in the export market, this started getting materialized. It's an overall growth rather than just a one or two products.
Okay, like in this growth, sustaining, okay?
It tends to be like we were talking about it, but the things that, I cannot comment on how the things will pan out in the coming days. As of now, the way we look at it, this is more or less sustaining. Did I answer your question, Shubham Ji?
Hello. Sorry. My second question was that in the previous quarter, we mentioned that the gross margins were mainly lower due to the throw-up of inventory valuation that we did. We had stated that, going forward, we will maintain our gross margins in the range of 76%- 77%. In this quarter, we have seen lower gross margins. What would be the reasons for this, and any outlook going forward?
No, I think, Shubham, you are connecting the one-off adjustment for Q1 in FY 2025. That's what I think we spoke earlier. I think the gross margin is likely the gross contribution. That is what we say generally remains to be about, you know, 72%- 73% in that range.
Okay. My next question was, on our clean products and ISO subsidiaries, are these price impacts? Have you seen any price impacts and how they're sustaining now?
There is somewhat like price impact, but what we can say is this quarter, there was a little bit on the higher side on the sales side. Overall, that is not the only one product which we are focusing right now. We are focusing on many other areas, including the other products, as well as the biocatalysts and other areas as well.
Okay. I will mention the biocatalysts. Have you started any promotion work as of now with the ATMP manufacturers? As we've seen in our annual report, you mentioned that you are in the advanced strategy. Having moved to the commercial work and this ingenuous shift in the industry from chemical to enzymes, how far along are we? How are we seeing this shift unfold?
To give you the specific answer, there is some sales in this quarter on that front, but that is still on the smaller side. We are working on it, and some of the commercial sales started in this quarter.
Okay. How often are you used to take the advantage of this shift?
I think the
Or take the potentials, you know, we are witness?
I think it takes another one or two quarters to really come out with the answers on this trend. As of now, we are well-placed. That's all what I can say.
Of the market trends, if you are seeing this shift happening around that, if you could just give some kind of.
There are a lot of factors which are still, we need to evaluate how the pharma market comes up, how is the U.S., Chinese-born pharma, and other areas moved because those are very, very important factors. You cannot just decide on one or two where you stand, but you need to look into the global picture and how things will pan out. As of now, it's a very, very murky situation. I think we need to give some more one or two quarters' time to really come out the things.
Okay. Got it. Have you mentioned the new targets which you mentioned? Like what kind of path could we see because of that?
Yeah, you know that answer very well. It impacts everything, no?
Sure.
Hello?
Yeah.
Yeah, it's a global market. We are in a global market, so it is going to impact everywhere.
Okay. When you saw any entry comes in, because you have manufacturing in the USA as well?
See, the way we look at it is like I can talk only on the direct, indirect things. How it will pan out is very difficult to predict as of now. If you really talk about direct, probably like our export is in the tune of to the U.S. is about INR 50 crore or so. We might have like about INR 12 crore, INR 12.5 crore impact. Again, it depends. That's the worst scenario to look at it. It depends how Europe and Japan and other countries' status comes up and how the players in the market play their role. We can come out after that with the exact impact.
Okay. Got it. I'll get that information. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Umang Shah, Banyan Tree Advisors. Please go ahead.
Hi, Sir. Am I audible?
Yes, Umang .
Yes, sir. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, the first question was our gross margins have always been above 75% for a long time in our history. Over the last two quarters, they have come to around 72%, 73%. Last quarter, there was some issue with the largest product that we had, to our understanding. Sir, what has happened in this quarter? For the full year, what are the rough margins that you're working with?
This is like, you know, impact of some sales in the product mix. Apart from that, some impact is also because, as even in the first quarter, if you really see that some tariff has already been imposed in the USA. To some extent, I think the impact is here again on the gross contribution. When we talk about the Q4, I think that was mainly, I think we already spoke about trimming up of the valuation of the inventory. There was kind of some impact of that also. Going forward, the gross margin could be anywhere between 73% -75%. That's what is the range I think we can look at it. This is, I think, gross contribution I'm talking about because of, you know, some impact will also be there from the tariffs. As of now, this is what we are looking at it.
As like, you know, things will, you know, you will get some kind of a certainty as you move forward.
Right, sir. Got it. Thank you, sir. In the Q4 call, Mukund was quite excited about, quite optimistic about this year's growth. He had mentioned a mid double-digit growth for this year. Do we continue to hold on to that, or has there been any change? Of course, tariffs and everything will have been uncertainty, but assuming that everything remains the same.
Assuming everything remains the same, we are still optimistic, Umang Ji, and we still feel that we should be able to maintain our gap.
Got it, sir. Thank you so much, sir. Just sir, one additional question was, if you just look at human nutrition in India business, we were able to get revenues of INR 66 crore in this quarter, which is one of the highest that we've actually achieved. One, of course, is the resurgence of the largest product that we have. Is there anything else that you would like to call out in terms of how the India business in human nutrition is doing so well?
As I said, it's an overall product, overall customer adhesions, overall what we were working. We were working from the last one year or two years, even into the Asian market and other areas as well. It's an impact of overall scenario, not just one area.
Right, sir. Sir, when are we estimating the new R&D facility to be commissioned?
We expect in the last quarter of this year.
Excellent. Okay. Sure, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you , Umang Ji.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Abhishek from Padmaja Investments. Please go ahead.
Yeah, am I audible, sir?
Yes, Abhishek.
You're audible. Please go ahead.
Yeah. First question, one is on what is the current tariff range that we have? Is it the same across all our products or not?
Last quarter, it was 10%. As of now, we don't know. More clarity will emerge as we move on.
Okay. The second is, are we charging for more inventory in the U.S. too?
Last quarter, we did some additional inventory already.
Abhishek, we are already up to the tariff things, right? Now, you cannot add any inventories now at a lower cost.
Okay. I got it. My second and my last question is about animal nutrition.
That was a question six months ago.
Sorry, sir. I didn't get it. Sorry, sir.
Abhishek, he meant to say that was a more, I mean, like we should have answered that question six months before.
Six months ago, just before...
Because at that time, there was no tariff, right? Yes, some of the corrections we did in the last quarter. We will wait and watch for another one quarter, and then we'll see how to move forward.
On the animal nutrition part, there was a big jump this quarter. Is there anything that has worked? Do you want to comment on that?
It's like overall growth, what I would say, yeah, including like domestic market as well as like the export markets. Whatever the projects we are working from last one year or two years, a few of them started getting materialized.
Some of them are prompting out, giving some results now.
Okay. This is my last question, sir. How about the competitors? Are they trying to undercut us? Are they offering? Is there any price war kind of a scenario that might play out with the status? Are you seeing any indications for that?
Let me answer that question. Abhishek, you know that when the prices are going to go up, everybody understands that in the tariff war, right?
Yeah, yeah.
In the business, you got to find out where I can get a secondary source of supply at cheaper prices. It is going to be always people are going to find some other, try to find alternatives. Naturally, industries have to accommodate and adjust accordingly. There might be some pressures of pricing, of course. You may not, you know, and the margins.
Okay. In summary, can we say that we are actually taking up most of the tariff rather than passing it to the consumer or the other business party?
I'm not saying anything of that nature. You had to readjust the businesses. See how we want to have a growth with the margins, right?
Yeah, yeah.
It is also what tariff comes to which country is competing with you, etc., etc. There is not a uniform brush to everyone. There are different tariffs for different countries and different people and industries and so on and so forth. We are very, very mindful of it. I can tell you that. Management is very aware of how to, we see a lot of times this might be a good opportunity in a lot of different sectors.
Sir, before I can actually, I have one last question. Sir, are any of our products coming in the pharma market?
They are neutral market, pharma market, both the places. It works.
Okay. Because pharma is exempted, right, as of now, under Section 232. I'm asking you this question. Are there any?
Yeah. We are not in the pharma sector, but we do supply to pharma. Ingrams doesn't come into pharma.
Okay. That's all, sir. Thanks a lot. All the best.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Before we move to the next participant, a reminder to all participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question comes from the line of Ravi Purohit from Securities Investment Management Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Good afternoon, gentlemen, and congratulations on strong sales growth in this quarter. Just a couple of things, and I think you've already spoken about the various segments like human nutrition and animal nutrition, which showed very strong growth this quarter. Can you just share your medium-term outlook and strategy towards sustaining growth? Because growth has been a bit patchy over the last few years for us. As an organization, what are the areas that we kind of are optimistic about? What are the areas where we have reasonably good pipeline visibilities from our customers? Which of the segments offer that opportunity? If you could just show some light or something that we can look forward to as investors over the next few years.
Ravi, this is an uncertain time at this point in time. Nothing is changed yet as far as we are concerned in the company. We have particularly certain segments like health and human nutrition and animal nutrition. We see that our focus will be to expand that as much as we can, continue growth on this one area, and keep on adding the other sectors which we are working on for some time. The management is continuously trying to see that we keep a double-digit growth and improve our competitiveness in the global market and also walk through this territory. We'll see what happens. It will take three months, six months, who knows? Maybe tomorrow morning, our president will wake up with a different scenario.
To add to that, where we record most of the sales or use comes on an R&D basis. We are more R&D companies, and there will be some times when there will be no growth, and there will be some times there will be a high growth. You can't just go on quarter-on-quarter on the segment-wise or this-wise. You have to analyze it overall. Over a longer run, we need to grow with those spaces, and that is what we plan. Sometimes there will be no growth as well, like the last year, what we had.
Right. Which is why I was asking what, you know, medium term, like two to three years, not specific to, you know, this year or next year.
We should keep our momentum as we have that, right?
Sir, two other questions. One is, do you set up this 100% subsidiary to kind of, you know, do our, you know, consumer products, so to speak, right, B2C products Wellfa. Is there any thought that you can share? Is this JV being formed so that we can tie it to somebody else? We have historically been B2B companies. I think I was asked this question earlier also on the call, that we have been a B2B company and not necessarily a B2C company. Some of the products that we are, which are currently having, like I have tried a couple of products that, you know, went part two is in two slim or something like that, right? Now there are a lot of these products on the Quick Commerce page and on Amazon, various other platforms. All these seem like a Quick Commerce product. They don't seem to be like modern-day products.
Is there any strategy or thought or, you know, how do you kind of, and I'm assuming some of the other products you must be supplying, you know, the raw material or maybe even helping some white label some of the products. If you could just share your thoughts on that, it would be very helpful for us.
Yeah. This segment is a very startup segment for us, right? As you know very well, we are looking at a global platform right now, including there are B2C markets in the USA also we do for a long time, which is global total overall sales. We are trying to see that this segment is given different attention because it is a very different segment than B2B. We have a good base now. A lot of good strategies are there, which we wanted to expand that market, and we'll be working on that for next, this year, to expand the market as much as we can.
Yeah. Is that idea to do it ourselves or, let's say, you know, we see a lot of, you know, companies tie up with, let's say, large pharma companies in India who have a very strong distribution network or even new technical companies who have a very strong B2C platform where they already have a very strong distribution network. It's only a question of actually supplying products in that. If this 100% subsidiary that we've created is,
Ravi, we are right now expanding our distribution networks gradually, so that it doesn't impact, you know, that B2C business is a lot of times losing business. You know, you had to put a lot into distribution channels. We will do so, and when the right time comes, we'll look into all other possibilities. There are some base needs to be developed.
Okay. And sir, last question on Evoxx, right? We've had this acquisition for a fairly long period of time. I think over the years on the con call, we mentioned that we should see Evoxx as more as a cost center from the point of view of doing cutting-edge R&D and, you know, doing a lot of that work there. I think a few years back, we had some tie-up with Symrise also to kind of do some core development on, you know, some products or something. If you can share some, like how has Evoxx evolved over the last two to three years? Are there more tie-ups like this, or are there more core developed products that you're working on? Is there more flow of products or tech IP from them? Just a peek into Evoxx. We have absolutely no idea what happens in Evoxx.
If you could give it, if you could share something.
This is, as mentioned before in your acknowledgement, this is an R&D company basically. We have a very, very good traction. Going forward, we have an integrated approach of total research, manufacturing, and then converting into sales. This will continue to happen. There is a foothold a little bit in Europe, and Europe is a fortress. It's difficult to connect it sometimes, still trying it. Research-wise, we are very, very, very happy. As soon as you see our R&D centers getting to the thing, a lot of contribution from this, from this Evoxx right now on our research fund.
Okay. Okay.
Cutting-edge research. We're doing very good research work.
In terms of contracts, there are some of the contracts, but this is an ongoing process. Maybe we should always look at it as a revenue in itself or just simulate a positive. We are not really looking at it as a major sales engine.
Right. Right. Right. Okay, those are all my questions. Thanks a lot. I'll get back in the queue.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Shreyans Gathani from SG Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good afternoon, sir. I had a few questions. The first one was on the R&D expenditure. The last couple of years, we've been mentioning that we want to target higher R&D expenditure. If I look at the numbers, we've not been able to, we've not gotten to what we are saying. Even this quarter is, I think, 3%. I just wanted to get some sense on that. Along with that, the kind of product pipeline that you have, intended to launch this year, if you could give some color on those two.
Oh, R&D spending here does not include whatever amount we are spending on new R&D setup. This is, you know, we are quoting at last week. So far, those expenses we are not including in this R&D expenditure because that's under, yeah, like, you know, work in progress. We already spent about INR 48 crore, but that we have not included in our R&D spending so far. About the product lines, I think Mukund will give some flavor on that. What exactly we are doing on R&D.
What you mentioned, 3%, but that doesn't include what we spend in the intercompany, for example, in Evoxx and other areas. When we take account of that, it's more than 5% or around.
We are somewhere between 5%- 6%, right?
Yeah, what we were mentioning is it might go up by another 1% or somewhere as we move on when the new center will start. That is how it was the number which we are coming from. Now, as of the R&D is concerned, we have all different types of R&Ds and different products, and it's coming into all the sections. It's not just like one area, but some of the products are in the human nutraceutical, some of the products are into the food area, and some products are in the biocatalyst as well as animal feed area. That's all what I can say rather than going more specific onto it.
Yeah, you mentioned that we have some tie-ups also. They are slow taking off. There's multinationals, never know how their plans are.
Got it. I think you already touched upon that, but just trying to get like a long-term structural margin structure. The last, you know, five, seven since our listing, you know, we've had, you know, typically, if I just look at EBITDA as such, like, you know, it's 40+%. Now we've come to like a 30% level, and we're saying that we should be maintaining that. Structurally, what has changed in terms of, you know, a product or in terms like has competition come up or we're not able to fetch that kind of margins as we could, you know, for the last seven, eight years?
I think I've heard the margins we are talking about. A couple of years was because of the accelerated sales. That was the COVID era. You have a lot of products for immunity building and those kinds of products with probiotics and a lot of combination of it for addressing various human immunity development-related products. It was sort of higher margin during those periods. Prior to that, what you are referring to is, of course, when we get a lot of contribution from our U.S. market, we always have higher margins. Over a period of time, the adjustment always happens, and there is always pressure on the pricing. That inflated input cost has also, to some extent or largely, I can say, contributed in the erosion of our EBITDA margin with accelerated sales during COVID periods. That has gone down drastically. All this has put pressure on the EBITDA margin.
Currently, the EBITDA margin, if you really look at 2024, 2025, we are in the range of about 30%- 38%. That's what we are saying, that we shall be in a position to maintain that margin.
Got it. Would that margin reflect into higher growth as such? Like, is this what the margin profile has come to in terms of how does that impact any kind of growth? Should we see higher growth because we are at a lower margin as such, or is that just erosion of the US business which has caused this to happen?
There is no erosion in the U.S. business.
When we are talking about 21 years, like we lost one customer. It's a factor of many things. It's not just one. I would say that to summarize, it's a combination of all.
Okay. This, that I said that today is, you know, one of the competitors that just got listed as a large company. They mentioned that they are able to get good margins on that. Just trying to get a sense on how you look at this year for that. I think this quarter might have been INR 40 crore of sales for that product, versus INR 27 crore or something. Is that something that you expect to do better because your commentary has been that we are not going to see much growth in that product as such. There is also pressure on margins.
I would still like to maintain that we will not have great growth into those areas, but we are working on many other areas as well, right? I would still like to maintain that if the growth comes, that is good and good, but we will see as we move on.
Okay. Got it. All right. That's all I had in mind. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Rajas Joshi from Chrys Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello ?
Yes, sir.
Yes, Rajas.
Please sit.
Yeah. Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity. My first question will be on the gross margins. You highlighted a negative impact of the changing product mix. This should largely be related to our largest products or some impact of the.
No, it's not only one that what we are saying. It is like, you know, various different products which we are supplying to. Sometimes what happens, human nutrition, like there are probiotics, biocatalysts, and several other products. We generally don't, you know, when we see that U.S. is growing good, then you have a better margin overall %. If U.S. numbers are like flattering or slightly down, you immediately see the kind of the impact on that. It is like, you know, learning more such things. Even in animal nutrition also, there are several products. Few products are giving very good margins. Few products, like, you know, sort of kind of a formality in that sense because of the market. This is a different profile and change in sales mix, which really impacts our overall gross margin.
Thank you, sir. Secondly, on the biocatalyst piece, can you highlight a couple of examples from this just to understand what exactly are you trying to do here and how that plays into the architecture, both on margins and revenue?
We generally are trying to replace the chemical process by enzymatic ways, and we develop those specific enzymes for that particular manufacturing of either for API or any other industry. It's not just limited to the API, but it can be, let's say, perfume industry or any other industry for that matter. It can be for the agriculture industry as well.
Okay.
It's mostly on the, like, organic chemistry particulars.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next follow-up question comes from the line of Umang Shah from Banyan Tree Advisors. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the follow-up. Sir, the first question was with respect to tariffs. A 10% tariff has been in place since April 2025. When you are negotiating with your customers, are they able to pass on this tariff impact? If not, to what extent are they able to?
Not so far.
Okay, taking the entire price.
Which, in what scenario? As of now.
Okay. As of now, whatever you're shipping, you are taking that 10% price in your cost subsidy and then passing it on, rather than passing it on.
Yes, as of now, that is what we did.
Okay. Sure, sir. Sir, just one small question was the employee cost increase. Any reason for the change in this quarter?
Employee cost increase, you tell me. I mean, this increase is continuously going to happen in markets like CCR or in the USA. It's about like it's normal salary raises as well as the addition of.
Expansion.
New additions.
New additions, right?
That counts, yes, yes.
Does it mean India or in the USA?
Both the areas. All the areas.
All right. Thank you.
In the long-term growth, right?
Yes, yes, yes.
Yeah.
Absolutely. Absolutely, sir.
Thank you.
Sorry, Umang ji.
Yes, sir. Please go ahead.
Umang ji, you need to look when you are looking for the salary increase, you need to look on the previous quarter and this quarter rather than the quarter-on-quarter.
Got it. Got it. Fair point, sir.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Ketan R. Chheda, a retail investor. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. Congratulations on a good set of numbers. My question is, sir, in the last call, Mr. Mukund mentioned that you were looking at some from an intermediate business. Could you throw some light on that? Was it something that you were trying to develop it organically, or that was some kind of an acquisition that you were looking at?
Ketan, you already mentioned that we did some of the sale of that as well, but I think it's too premature because there are a lot of factors which are playing as of now. In the next one or two quarters, once the picture gets clear, we will like to put more light on that.
Okay, just for the clarity picture, it's a product that we have developed ourselves, right?
Yes, yes.
Okay. Okay. It's nothing to do with any acquisition?
Not with the acquisition.
Okay. All right. Thank you so much. That was my question. I wish you all the best.
Thank you, Ketan.
Thank you. Before we move to the next participant, a reminder to all participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question comes from the line of Neha Kharodia from Abakkus. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Thanks for the opportunity and good evening, everyone. My first question was regarding the growth. If I look at our long, three to five years kind of figure, growth, it has been in 6%- 7% kind of range. This quarter has been about 20%. I understand that we have had this far better growth for this year, but just wanted to understand, is it a SI26 phenomenon or which would over the medium term, again, should see, let's say, a 15%- 20% kind of growth going forward?
Yeah, I won't say that 15%- 20%. I would say that double digits. I won't say that 20%. That is too optimistic. It doesn't mean that it's not possible. I would always go with like a double digit over a longer term.
In that, is there any structural change because underlying industry is growing, let's say, at about 6% range, and we also have been growing in line. Is anything structural changing from this year, which can lead to higher growth and increase in the demand also in that sense?
Neha, as we mentioned before, it always takes some time. We are working on it for some time now. Some of them paid off right now, some of them will pay it off a little bit later. Of course, the environment changes impact whatever it is we are doing at that particular time and current time. When you are a totally integrated company, research and development is a very critical part of developing new products, new services, and new, new areas to grow, right?
Understood, sir. Please, sir. Also, just one more thing on the growth aspect, if I may ask. Do we foresee any regulatory kind of changes which can increase, let's say, uptake of the enzyme versus the chemicals, which is probably more cheap and easy to get for the end customer? Anything that sufficiently demands for enzymes?
We don't know as of now, but when we look into the well-developed countries, those norms are more towards the green chemistry, particularly into the biocatalysts. As we move on, like, what will happen in India, we have to wait and watch. If it happens, that will always be positive.
Regulatory hurdles are going to keep on increasing.
Okay. Got it. Also, in the probiotics segment, if I look at the probiotics, the addressable markets, it is humongous. I think the underlying market itself is growing at 17%- 18% kind of figure. Last year had about 6% contribution in revenue from that. Do we foresee any more product launches? Probably that can lead, that can be a significant portion of our business in two to three years from now?
See, when we talk about probiotics, there are a lot of blends which we sell that contain probiotics as well as enzymes. It's very difficult to segregate, separate, and really come out with the numbers. Here, when we talk about probiotics, it's an individual one, but our focus is more with the solutions rather than just the one product. It's very difficult to predict at this point of time how much is going to be the growth in either in probiotics alone because that's more like a commodity sale.
Understood. Sir, just last two questions from my side if I may ask. One is on what was the volume growth in this quarter on a control level. The second thing was on the, let's say, we have this threshold of everyday product, which is from the pharma part, which is the biggest challenge. Can we see going forward a few products which can be in two to three years and three, four years down the line, which can be similar to this product?
We don't measure the volume growth because some of the products are sold at INR 40, and some of the products are sold at INR 1 lakh per kg as well. We don't really count in terms of volume. Of course, there might be some more volumes, but we really don't count in terms of volume. As far as the different products are concerned, we are working on many other products, and probably some of them will come out. How big they will be is difficult to predict at this point of time.
Understood, sir. Thank you so much for answering the question.
Thank you.
Thank you, Neha.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Chandramouli Jagannathan, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Coming, sir. You are saying tariff impact is only for INR 50 crore. You mean to pay your contribution to USA only INR 50 crore from India for the whole year or for this quarter?
For the whole year. It's for the whole year what we are talking about. It's like from India to USA.
Okay. For the last year, you were roughly, it's closer to that. Okay, that's fine. That's what you were saying during your UG, and their current capacity of location is about 50%. Are you, I mean, you are likely to touch 80% in two years. Is it intact?
It's very difficult in our areas to really come out with the percentage of the capacity utilization because there are many products, and they do have a different cycle. It's very difficult to say how much exact percentage it is being utilized. I would say that it's not a 50%. It's 60%- 65%, somewhere around that range. Whenever it will come to 80%, we will go for the next capacity extension round. Will it come in two years? Yes, we hope so. We will see.
From time to time, we keep on adding a little bit of capacities, okay?
At the same time, we do a lot of research as well, right? Sometimes you empty your capacity by increasing the output as well. It's a combination of many other factors as well.
Okay. Thank you, sir. That's all from us. Thank you.
Sure.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Raghavendra, an individual investor. Please go ahead. Please go ahead with your question, sir. As there is no response from the participants, ladies and gentlemen, a reminder to all participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question comes from the line of Shreyans Gathani from SG Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thanks for the follow-up. I just wanted to ask about the patents that we filed for and the EFTA and the draft dossiers. If you could highlight on, you know, which areas they are in, like the ones that we filed, you know, newly and the approvals that we got for the dossiers. If you could highlight on that and what kind of market we see and have we started any kind of sales on that front.
That is from the neutral market. Patents are filed in the various different market segments. The sales I cannot identify because that is, but there is definitely, the market is now with the research and patents, you know, and they will reflect on the future stuff.
Some of the filing is on the extra side, on the baking side as well. On the food side as well.
Got it. That is the... sorry.
That is for the extra in European markets.
Okay. Just trying to understand, like have we started, you know, because of that, have we seen any kind of increase in sales in Europe?
There is a lot of interest. Whenever you have a patent, and then you are separating and identifying in the marketplace, there is a lot of interest in that. The interest needs to be converted into real sales, you know, in the volume.
When we talk about EFTA, if you don't have an EFTA registration, probably you will not be able to sell going forward. Rather than saying that whether you can, whether you got the sales or not, no sales, but basically, you want to maintain your current business, you need to go and find and to add on some of the products as we move on.
Okay, that's like a compulsion now to sell in this?
Yeah. Absolutely.
Okay. Got it. Last question on the biocatalysts, what kind of opportunity are we looking at in terms of our inventories and the European, like, those people are, I have read some articles that they started using that in certain production processes. How are you looking at that? Are the sales mainly in the Indian region, or are they mainly focused towards the export markets for us, and what the size is?
No, I understand what you're saying. The opportunities are huge, right? Because pharma market is huge. The question is whether somebody is using it. It's always a cost, and how competitive it is and what is the regulatory environment for the pharma and other products because that is where the sales are. You just have to look at it and see where it is. At this point in time, there is a lot of upheaval. Everybody wants green, green things, but at a chemical cost.
Got it. Okay, that's basically the price point is stopping the adoption?
That makes a big difference. Of course, the development is pretty huge.
Trying to gauge like what kind of price differential, you know, would be there for like an enzymatic solution versus like a chemical?
I cannot tell you that, sir, because everything is different now. How much yields coming in, what percentages you have to use, etc., etc. What other processes are used? Every company is different, and they have their different, confidential methods to try in a different way. We have to keep on continuously working with them.
Different products have a different structure as well. Yeah? You cannot just generalize it.
Okay. If you could give some feedback that we received from the initial sales that we made, is there any feedback that we got from the customers on the products?
I cannot add anything further. We just keep on improving in those areas. Feedback is a constant process until it is established. Then register with the respective authorities. Once it is established, the processes and register with the authorities, then that area, how much it is growing and what distribution is out there, so many factors take place.
Right. I meant feedback from the customer on the product, in terms of the performance of the biocatalyst that we are providing.
Whatever the products we've given is excellent.
Those are accepted. Now we need to wait and watch how the other things pan out.
Got it. Okay. All right. That's helpful. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Raghavendra, an individual investor. Please go ahead with your question.
Am I audible?
Yeah, I hear you.
You're audible. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir. Sir, you have mentioned that we have exports of INR 50 crore to the U.S. from India. Am I right, sir?
What I meant to say is like last year we have a sale of INR 50 crore from India to the U.S.
In that, INR 12.5 crore is the impact of tariff. The other INR 38.5 crore is not affected by tariff.
No. What I meant to say is that if you go with a 25% duty on INR 50 crore, assuming that though nothing works out, nothing is there, then the duty will be about INR 12.5 crore, and that can be the maximum impact. You need to really look into that; that's the gross margin impact in the worst scenarios.
This is also very moving things. Who knows? Tomorrow there is a what else you can come up with, oil penalties and things like that. Please just leave those alone. Don't worry about too much. Let's settle this matter when it can. You know, then we will see what happens.
Just one question, sir. Compared to other competing nations, how are we priced? Are we equally priced or are we much more competitive than them when it comes to price?
For what? For selling price?
Yes, yes. For our products in which we are in, do we have a pricing edge over the competing nations?
We don't have any edge for any competing. It's individual products. Whatever we have, there is always, it's not a commodity. That's why we have a margin, right?
Got it. Got it. That was my only question, sir. Thank you and all the best.
Yeah.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll take this as the last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Ronak Saraf for closing comments.
Thank you, everyone, for taking your valuable time for attending our early conference call. We will keep you posted for any further updates. I request you also kindly send in your questions that we are in need of an answer. The audio recording and the transcript of this call will be uploaded on our website and on stock exchanges in due course. Looking forward to hosting you all in the next quarter. Till then, stay healthy, stay safe. Thank you, everyone.
Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of Advanced Enzyme Technologies Ltd, that concludes this conference. Thank you all for joining us, and you may now disconnect the line.