Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Astral Limited Q2 FY 2024 earnings conference call, hosted by ICICI Securities. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing Star, then Zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Arun Baid from ICICI Securities. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
The Q2 FY 2024 post result con call. From the management side, we have Mr. Sandeep Engineer, Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Kairav Engineer, ED, and Mr. Hiranand Savlani, ED and CFO. Now, I hand over the call to Mr. Sandeep Engineer for his opening remarks, after which we'll have the floor open for Q&A. Over to you, Mr. Engineer.
Thank you. Thanks, everyone, for joining the earnings call of Q2 FY 2024, and the first half of FY 2024. First of all, I am happy today to share that this year Astral is celebrating its 25th anniversary. This was full of legacy of innovation, connectivity, brand building, wide distribution network creation, creation of reach in every corner of India, and building a strong production capabilities across the country. We started the journey of CPVC pipe manufacturing, and today we can proudly say that we are a building material company, having four different verticals and thousands of SKUs in different verticals. Astral started its journey in 1998, in the same month of October, with single product and single focus to bring CPVC to India.
Today we can say with pride, that we are the first one to bring CPVC to India, the first one to make CPVC a product which can replace and which replaced the metal piping. We have created a history of CPVC for 25 years now present in this country and growing, and now multiple manufacturers are joining to make CPVC product. As you are well aware, the market situation still continues to be volatile. The polymer pricing and the chemical price situation, which is continuously going up and down, but, slowly, the PVC prices are now settling down, and CPVC prices of this quarter were also come to a level where it is settled out. But these all chemical fluctuations are the challenges of margins and various growth aspects of the market.
But I'm very happy that with all these challenges and volatility, we at Astral are always trying to mitigate these challenges and deliver a consistent performance on a yearly basis. The result of this is in front of you. Once again, we are able to, we are able to deliver a teamwork, and we are, we have worked hard once again with this, with this volatility also, and to give you a volume growth of 25% plus and, in a second quarter in a row. India scenario is very robust, and seasonally, in the first two quarters, it is loaded with PVC product demand with agriculture and certain drainage pipes. In spite of that, our CPVC growth was excellent. During longer periods trend of polymer, you also know the distributors always restock their product and the material end material.
In spite of that, we are able to grow and maintain our margins of 18%+ EBITDA, after adjustment of sanitary and faucet losses and CPVC inventory losses. Now, coming to the pipe business. Due to the robust demand in pipe vertical, company has decided to aggressively move into expansion of its capacity. As communicated earlier, we are putting up three new plants, and all are going to be as per schedule. Guwahati, 22,000 metric ton plant, already started production of water tank, and shortly we'll start production of pipes. Hyderabad, 70,000 metric tons and Kanpur, 50,000 metric ton. Expansion activities are going on in full swing at these plants. As communicated earlier, we have increased our capacity within our existing plants to a tune of 20,000 metric ton, which is up and running.
At present, our capacity has increased from 2.90 lakh metric tons to 3.10 lakh metric ton. We are a company which can proudly say that we are the first company, and at present, the only company to get NSF certification, the highest certification from United States, now, which also is considered very prestigious and important in India for our water tanks. None of the water tanks available in the market at present are NSF certified. So our water tanks are safe to handle drinking water. When water is stored there and consumed by the human beings, and with NSF certification, our tank matches the standards which is safe for consumption of water by human beings and without any leaching or without any toxications of the water.
Plus, we are also probably the first one to get the BIS certification of the fire fighting systems. And, as we go deeper in question answer and sessions and detail sessions, and our fire fighting system is getting approvals and acceptance very fast in the market, and the business is building up in high value and volumes. For our adhesive and sealant business, our state-of-the-art plant at Dahej, which has got all the permissions, also the gas connections to run the plant, is up and running. And the production capacity at Dahej is huge, and it will be fully operational in the next two quarters.
As we plan, we will make our major products of epoxies and PU and other adhesive products at Dahej, and we will reduce one production facility in Kanpur in next two to three quarters. All these production capacities will be moved to mostly to Dahej, Ahmedabad and Rania. So one location will be reducing from Kanpur. Our volumes are continuously growing in high double digits, and now the chemical prices have settled down and are stable, so we are getting good supports of margin and consistency of the business in adhesive and sealants. Both our UK and India businesses are forecasting a good growth in coming years, and we are very positive on the business outlook for the adhesive and sealants suite. Paint business. In paint business, as we communicated in the last call, we are passing through some changes, some teething problems.
SAP is completely implemented now. A lot of KYCs are done for the counters or the retailers whom we sell. Our systems are in place, and the systems are settling down, and we are seeing improvement in sales compared to the last quarter. Now we will see further improvement with growth in the coming time. Our team has started taking charge of that business, and you will see a lot of improvement in coming two quarters for the paint business. In next coming two quarters, the paint business will show a positive growth number and a growth number also. There will be strategies to launch the paint under a Astral program shortly, and which will be communicated in coming two quarters, within two quarters. We will be opening many new geographies of India in launching our paint products.
Sanitary and faucets. I'm very happy to announce that our team has achieved the first milestone of getting 500 stores, wherein our display is placed, and all the stores have started selling the product to the end consumer. We are completely cracking the tertiary sale. So for me, selling to actual user and to the client, the tertiary sale is very important, and we are getting good response from our product line. Product line is growing. We have reached a average of INR 6 crore, but last two months, last month, we have been averaging around INR 8 crore+, and I am sure that in next two months we will be crossing our break-even number of INR 10 crore+, and we will continue our growing, growth. Lots of new product SKUs are getting accepted in the market.
We can clearly see that forthcoming time will be really good for our brand Astral in the vertical, as we have worked very hard to build the brand Astral. The brand Astral itself is a big thing to pull a lot of our product lines and to make them reach to the consumer with price and with the brand, except brand power. To summarize, all verticals are doing good. We are going as per our plans, and we don't see any much challenge in the market, and we'll keep giving our consistent growth for our company as it is known for and as we have always communicated. Now, I hand over to Mr. Hiranand bhai, our ED and CFO, for his opening remarks on the numbers. Then myself, Hiranand bhai, and Kairav will answer all your questions.
Once again, thanks for joining the call and trusting Astral. Thank you very much.
Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining this conference call. I will take you to the few key numbers of this quarter and then straightaway go to the Q&A so that we can spend more time on the Q&A side. The revenue numbers are in front of you. This quarter we-
... We have grown 16.3% in a consolidated basis. EBITDA growth was very high compared to the last quarter or even compared to the last year also, and, in percentage term, it was 17.1% compared to last year similar quarter was 13.2%. Now, if you break up this, consolidated number, then I think pipe, that is the plumbing, which includes the, sanitary ware and faucet also, which is roughly about INR 17 crore-INR 18 crore. The value growth was around 17.3%, and volume growth was close to about 28%, and the EBITDA growth was around 57%, and the percentage from EBITDA was 18%. So we have guided that we will be working in the range of 16%-18%.
So I'm very happy to say that we are on a higher side of what we have guided. And not only that, if we do the adjustment of inventory losses of CPVC to the tune of INR 20 crore and roughly about INR 4 crore rupees of loss of the bathware, then the adjusted EBITDA will be even much higher. Now, coming to the further break up of our this adhesive and the sealant business. Adhesive business of India had grown by 18% in value terms, and EBITDA was roughly about 15.5%. Adhesive business in U.K. grown by 17% and EBITDA was roughly about 10%. Paint business, which was around -6% and an EBITDA of 16%. So these are the key numbers, and now I will take you to the few highlights of this quarter.
This is the second consecutive quarter where we were able to deliver 25% plus volume growth of our core piping business, in spite of having a very high base last year. If you can see the last year's number also, you can see that our base was not low in the last year also, and that's why we have given in our press release the last four years CAGR growth also. The demand scenario is excellent, and we are expecting the coming quarter also, demand should remain positive, mainly due to good announcement of new projects by a lot of developers, low polymer prices, both CPVC as well as PVC. Lot of infra spending is increasing, and we are seeing a good growth in the housing side also. Across the board, when we are seeing the city-wide data, every...
Most of the good cities are touching the new high. Most of the cities of India is having good construction activity, and demand is coming from across all the four zones of country, and our new locations are giving very good healthy volume growth than originally we planned. So we are very, very excited with the performance of not only our new location, that is the East, but we are very happy with our new product growth, such as sink, valve, DrainPro, Silencio, and now bathware also. As you all are aware, that the CPVC prices are on a lower side, and we have to also pass the price reduction to the market, and due to that, our realization has dropped compared to earlier quarters.
We have to incur approximately INR 20 crore of loss on inventory, and our volume is highest in the turnover, that's why the effect on the inventory is high on our company. But in spite of that, we were able to deliver a very healthy top line volume and EBITDA margin. We have always communicated that Astral is always believing in consistency in performance, and you can see in this quarter also that in spite of inventory loss in CPVC, our margins were healthy and our volume growth was excellent. We have not compromised our margin in spite of 28% robust volume growth in this quarter and high loaded PVC volume also. Our gross profit margins were highest in the last four years.
We were having EBITDA margin guidance of 16%-18%, but we, we have over surpassed this number, and we are expecting that from the coming quarter, the polymer prices are more or less going to bottom out. We are not seeing much drop from here on. Little bit may happen because it is very difficult to predict the number, but it looks that now the seasonal quarters are starting, seasonal months are starting in India, and historically also in the seasonal quarter, the demand is high, so the prices will not fall. So we are expecting maybe little bit upward revision of the pricing in the coming time. And if that is going to happen, that then may be a conversion of inventory gain in the coming quarter.
Of course, Q2 will be little pressure because of the PVC, which had dropped in the first 15 months, or 15 days of the month of October. Looking to the first half of performance of 29% volume growth and lower price polymer, we are increasing our guidance from 15% to more than 20% volume. That means minimum 20% plus volume growth for the full year. So we will try even more, more than 20% also. Since our Guwahati plant has started paint production, and shortly we are going to start the pipe also, we are expecting some support from that location also in the second half of the current year. We are putting up 22,000 metric ton capacity in Guwahati.
During the first half, as Sandeep has communicated, we have increased our capacity within our existing plant to the tune of 20,000 metric ton. So our capacity has increased from 2,90,000 metric ton to 3,90,000 metric ton. Indian operation of our adhesive business had delivered a very, very healthy. Not only volume growth, but value growth to the tune of 18%. UK has also delivered both volume growth and the value growth. Value growth is to the tune of 17%. EBITDA margins were also very healthy, our, in Indian operations, close to about 13.5%, and UK was 9.7%, little lower than what normally they deliver, 11%-12%.
But we are expecting that this margin to improve further from UK in the coming quarter, because now whatever the high-cost inventory, they're almost on the verge of completion. Paint business has shown good recovery compared to the last quarter. You can see that last quarter was around INR 40-41 crore. This quarter is around INR 47 crore, and a very healthy EBITDA of 16%. On YOY basis, we can see there was a drop of 6%, but we are confident that in the coming quarter we will improve that, because now we are settling down with our new systems and processes and SOPs and the SAP implementation. So that, I think, mostly our team is getting acquainted, and the new Gem Paints is also getting acquainted with the new system.
So we are expecting that it is going to give us a very, very good result in the coming years. We have successfully implemented SAP. We are confident that we will coming to growth rate shortly, and now more clear visibility of the data is there that is helping our team in the transparency within the two teams. And, as communicated and as per our agreement, we are going to complete the 80% stake in the Gem Paints in this month itself, that is, in the month of October itself. So you will see that now our full-fledged team will be there in the Gem Paints also. Lot of work is going on in the business, as Sandeep has communicated, at the back office level.
You will see the benefit in the coming quarter in terms of system improvement, in terms of branding, in terms of HR activity, in terms of sales and marketing into the paint business. Bathware, as communicated last quarter, we are slowly improving the performance in the sales number. I'm happy to share that last quarter we have done a sales billing of INR 18 crore, so approximately a run rate of INR 6 crore a quarter. Last month was very heavy, close about eight crore rupees. That is the September month. And we are expecting that it will improve further in the coming time. If I can correct little bit what Sandeep has communicated, we are shortly going to cross the INR 10 crore run rate.
So instead of two months, within two quarters, we are going to cross the INR 10 crore+ run rate, and we are going to achieve breakeven as early as possible. So hopefully, in the first quarter or second quarter, definitely we will be into the breakeven track. Now, to summarize all four verticals, we are very happy with the performance, and we are confident that this growth momentum will continue, and we will keep working hard to gain the market share.
And last but not least, that our core vertical, that is Pipe, you can see that in spite of higher base, we are still gaining the market share, and with branded getting more and more stronger, we'll gain more and more market share in the coming time because we are adding lot of new geographies, in terms of manufacturing facility, which will help us to grow market share and reduce our freight costs. Now I am opening up the floor for a Q&A session. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone phone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. All right. The first question is from the line of Shubham Aggarwal from Axis Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir, just one question. Thanks for the opportunity. Just wanted to reconfirm the inventory loss is INR 20 crore, right? And there's no inventory loss in PVC going to be this quarter. The whole inventory loss in PVC will come in October.
So in fact, PVC was some gain in the beginning, but because what happened that in the last month of September, everyone has to give the price protection to the market, okay? Because Reliance announced the price protection.
Right.
So in the first day of October, the price dropped by INR 4. So because of that, we have to pass on, give the credit note to every distributor. So whatever some gain we get, that was wiped out because of this, protection which we have given to the market. Otherwise, there was a slight gain in the beginning of 2 months. So now this gain, loss is purely because of the CPVC.
Okay. Second, just on the, so sir, on the growth, I had a question. So we've seen that the government CapEx have been, has been really front-ended in H1 of this year, given the big elections are coming around. So just wanted to take a sense from you, do you expect any growth to slow down going into Q4 of FY 2023 and Q1 of FY 2025? That's the question.
So I don't think it is going to affect too much because of the election. The reason is very simple, that our company's dependency on government project is very, very thin. Except, Rex product, that is a double wall corrugated that is related to the government projects, and that too, we have converted sizable business of Rex also into the private projects. Because our forte is more on the private side of the business than the government side of the business. So I don't think it is going to affect a big way to our company, because our dependency on the government is very low.
Got you. That was all. Thanks, and congrats for the good volume growth that you've been delivering. That's all from us, sir. Thank you.
Thank you, sir. Thank you.
Thank you so much. The next question is from the line of Vineet Shah from Shah Group. You may please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Sir, I have two questions. First one is that since you have already done 29% volume growth YoY in plumbing segment in first half of financial 2024, even if I assume 16% YoY growth in quarter for financial 2024, it will bring your volumes to almost 63k metric ton. So assuming 300k by four, like 75,000 ton of production capacity per quarter, it will bring your utilization capacity to around 85% level, which is much higher than normal levels of 65%-70%. Is it possible to achieve this kind of utilization of machines given shorter change over time of fittings, et cetera, or am I missing something? And secondly, I have... Yeah. Okay, please go ahead.
Yeah. So see, capacity, right now, our utilization is around 67%-68%. Okay?
Okay.
We have recently added 20,000 metric tons within our internal plants, and 22,000 Guwahati is almost on the verge of completion. Tanks are already rolled out, and pipes are going to be rolled out shortly. And there is still some scope available in our existing capacity, whereby we can further add 10,000-15,000 metric tons if required. Okay, we have to add the machines only. So we will see, evaluate the situation on the ground, and based on that, we will take. And next year, anyway, in the second quarter, our Telangana plant will be up and running. So I don't think we have any problem as far as the capacity is concerned. Secondly, we are always sitting on a reasonable inventory levels also.
So even if, particularly the last month of the year, March, some extra demand comes, then we can reduce little bit to our inventory, because anyway, Q1 is slow. So we can readjust that also. But I don't see any problem into capacity. We have enough capacity to take care of whatever the demand. Even 30% kind of volume will come, then also we will be able to manage. That's what we have done internal working.
Okay, and then, one question, like, what is the maximum possible utilization that you are assuming? Is it like 85% possible or we will stay around 80% itself?
Yeah, 85% is possible, if because more and more utilization will increase, the same machine will manufacture the same dia pipes. So naturally, 85% we can reach that.
Okay, okay. And I have a second question, on, on CapEx, CapEx. You have guided a CapEx of, like, 350 crores for the financial year 2024, right? So while your half-yearly cash flow statement indicates almost INR 300 crores is already done. So second half of financial year 2024 CapEx is just like 50 crores. So is there any revision in the CapEx or, is, is, is your-- are you going ahead with 50 crores itself?
So, CapEx will increase to the tune of INR 75 crore additional because there is a land which we acquired for the corporate house, which is near to our existing premises. Okay, so there we have spent INR 70 crore. So that is the additional CapEx, which was not originally planned, because we were getting the land very near to our existing corporate house, which is very, very difficult to get. Otherwise, we have to select other location. So we have recently acquired that land. So that's why that is the additional CapEx.
Okay. So on and on, it will be like, 300 already done, 50 pending and 75 more.
I think 280 we are done, and the balance will be in the second half.
Okay. Okay, got it. Yeah. Thanks a lot, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Keshav Lahoti from HDFC Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you for the opportunity. Just wanted to get a sense, how has the channel reacted to the sharp cut in the resin prices on PVC side? Should we expect some channel destocking?
Sorry, I could not hear your question.
Destocking right now.
So my question was, there has been sharp cut in pricing prices in October month, so how is the channel reacting? Are they start to-
Right now, I think PVC has mostly bottomed out. So the price drop that came, it came very rapidly in a span of 11 days, there were 3 major drops. So around INR 11, price of PVC had dropped. But, channel, is still buying, you know, there is no destocking as such. People were expecting this, sort of a price drop in September, and hence all the major player has given the price protection also. So the first price drop was already, supported by the manufacturers. So the second two price drops basically came in a very fast, duration, and at that time, the general inventory was not at its peak. So I don't think there has been a major issue with regards to, you know, dealers losing out in... because of these price drops.
And now I think globally, PVC has bottomed out, and everyone is well aware that from here onwards, PVC will only see an upward journey going ahead. So globally also, internationally also, we are seeing that PVC has bottomed out and stabilized at this level. I think I can add what Kairav said, that the September, you are right, there was some de stocking from the distributor side, because everyone was expecting there is a drop in the polymer price, because international price was low, but India price was high. So September there was a destocking, but I think now, quickly in 11, 12 days, the drop has happened. So now again, we are expecting that the channel will refill in this couple of weeks or three weeks' time.
Okay. In your assessment, what was the reason for the sharp, sudden rise in prices?
Import level, yeah, the international offers were lower than the Reliance offers. So Reliance had, and the local trader were also quoting at a lower rate than the Reliance pricing. So eventually, to match the international level and the local trader level, the Reliance had to do the price cuts.
Understood. Any idea about what would be the volume growth on the adhesive segment side?
Adhesive, very difficult to give a volume number, because there we are selling different chemistries. Some are solid, some are liquid, some are in a gel form, some are in a powder form. You know, construction chemicals are there, sealants are there, adhesives are there. So it is very difficult. You know, packaging is also very different for that product. So very, very difficult to quantify the volume number for that.
One last point from my side, what has-
Sorry to interrupt, Keshav. Can you please use your handset? Because there seems to be some sort of disturbance in the line.
Hello.
Yeah.
One last question from my side. What has been the CPVC price correction in quarter two?
I think we have dropped closely about 7%-8% in the market.
Okay. Because in Q1 call, you said that the prices are almost have, you know, bottomed out for CPVC, because we have anti-dumping duty in place. So 7%-8% sounds like a big number.
Yeah, but because the problem was that the international level price dropped. So the countries which are not falling under the anti-dumping duty, they started cutting the price. So Japan, Thailand, local manufacturer, U.S., they started cutting the price. So naturally, we have to also pass on to the market. And in a way, it's a good move, because ultimately it is going to shoot up the volumes in the coming time.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
The price will be affordable, then it will grow the market also. So in a way, it's a good move.
Yeah, perfect. So price is not coming at the expense of margin, right?
No, no, no. Margins are still stable. In spite of so much of drop, you see, we have maintained 18% kind of margin.
Yes, yes. Perfect it is. Yeah.
We are also slowly and gradually giving the price reduction to the market. As and when we are getting the support, we are giving it to them.
Understood. Thank you. That's it from my side.
Thank you so much. The next question is from the line of Praveen Sahay from Prabhudas Lilladher. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you for taking my question. And many congratulations on a very good set of numbers. So the first is just a follow-up on the last participant question related to the PVC-CPVC pricing. So what is the reason? I can understand that the US and Japan and the local players has reduced the price and ultimately the 7-8% reduction in the quarter. What is the basic reason? It is a demand-supply mismatch which has led to the-
The base raw material for CPVC is PVC. Now, PVC, if it is bottoming out internationally at a $750 level, then one cannot expect CPVC to hover at $2-$2.1 levels. No, that much delta should not be there. So, when base raw material prices are falling, obviously the derivative price is going to fall.
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Okay. So, what your expectation for the way forward for the CPVC resin? Is it, also a bottom out or is there a further room for a reduction in the prices as well?
I think it is almost bottom out. Now, we are not expecting further drop, because PVC is almost, after so many years, low is there. So we don't see that PVC will further go. I think we are at the pre-COVID level, so I don't see further drop in the CPVC or PVC.
Numbers, can you give? Like, what is the pricing of CPVC ratio right now?
It varies from company to company, because multiple companies are there. Every company's price is different.
Mm-hmm. Okay, got it. The next question is related to the adhesive business, and especially the domestic adhesive business and where you had, now that the Dahej unit up and running. So, how is the utilization level at the company level for the adhesive, you know, capacity?
At present, the utilization is good, but not... We can even increase it to a good level. But with the hedge coming in, we'll have a good capacity and the utilization will obviously go down. But in chemical plants, you cannot keep adding like five plant, one extruder every time. When you are building a plant, you must keep a vision of at least 10 years and put your plants, because chemical plants are tough to keep erecting and adding. So in the hedge, we have gone with an automation plant, a plant with... Good filling capacity, good production capacity, and also we can make multiple chemistries out of it. And also we are getting a good response of our epoxies in exports also.
We are seeing a good growth coming in the coming years from that market and also the Indian market. So the plant will add capacity to a substantial level, but it will also optimize the production cost, as it is a plant which will be automated and running. Certainly, we are in certain chemistries going 1-2 steps backward, which will give an additional advantage of our raw material costing. So adding capacities or building capacities in the pipe business or the polymer business is something which is different than in chemical business or in the adhesive business, it is something which is also different. But we are optimistic, or we are sure that this capacity will help us to go a long way in coming 4-5 years and even a little bit more than that.
Sorry, can you quantify as a percentage how much the capacity has increased with the-
We cannot, because in adhesives, there is a lot of things which are different. We have then to tell you this is the capacity in liters, this is the capacity in kgs, this is the capacity in... Because we have, we have different products which are made and labeled in different metrics. There are liters, there are kgs, there are gels, there are formations. So it doesn't. It is not like a pipe, you convert a polymer kg tonnage into pipe, okay? Where everything is kg, single digit, only and tons. So, Pravin, let me put it other way, that whatever capacity is there right now, we can easily fetch a revenue of INR 2,000 crore kind of level, plus INR 2,000 crore plus level, yes.
Okay. Okay. Okay, got it, sir. And the next question and the last question is related to the bathware segment, and there also you had reached to an INR 8 crore per month overrun rate. So, what can you give some more color on the mix of the premium or, you know, the economy segment right now you are fetching? And also, if you give some geographical color as well, where you are-
So right now, geographical color is very difficult to give because we are now selling to almost all the states. And there are a few pockets in the east where we have yet to penetrate, but otherwise, you know, our display centers have opened up pan-India. And with regards to your question, obviously, the premium product category will not sell automatically. People will first gain confidence in the brand and then use our, you know, lower end and mid-segment product. And once they are comfortable with the brand, and they get positive response, and they see positive response from the market after using that, I think then, slowly and gradually, more of the premium segment stuff will get sold.
Mm-hmm. And, at what level of a revenue you are expecting a break even here in the bathware?
I think we have said that around INR 10-11 crore kind of run rate we will be at a break even, but it can be little bit here and there also. Because, you know, once you get the thumb feel from the market, now you keep changing your strategy. So, like, now we are getting a good response in certain geographies, so we have started doing some branding activity over there. So we have to monitor the market, and with the time, we have to change our mindset. So we were also not expecting that in the month of September, we will do INR 8 crore. So but we did it. So I think we are not looking of break even INR 1 crore here and there. We are having a vision of next 10 year.
For that, even if the one quarter here and there break even, it's not going to affect the company when our vision is for the next 10 year.
Right. Right, sir. Correct. And when the Telangana and Kanpur is going to commission?
So like Telangana, we are targeting by June, and Kanpur will be by March end.
March-
So you can see Q1 of 2026. Yeah, you will see the production capacity up and running.
Great, sir. Thank you for taking my question. All the best.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management will be able to address the questions from all participants in the conference call, please limit your questions to one or two per participant. Should you have a follow-up question, please rejoin the queue. The next question is from the line of Akash Shah from UTI Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Hello. Am I audible?
Yes.
Yeah. Hi. Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, just want to understand, sir, what was the key reason behind 44% growth in other expenses on a YOY basis? So in this quarter, we saw 44% growth in other expenses, so.
So what happened that in many time, the event which we have worked out for the promotional activity or maybe a branding activity, may one or two months here and there. So because of that event-based, some spend you have to do. So in this first half, the events were more, so because of that, the branding costs and the promotional activity goes high. Because most of our adhesive meets, dealers meet, and the pipe meets were happened in the first half, and preferably in Q2 more. So because of that, that spend jumped up very fast. So you can see in the coming half, these events will not be there, so that just event will not be there, so the expenditure will come down in the second half. But our annual budget, what we have allocated to particular things will not going to change.
So it happened that on a quarter-on-quarter basis, it is very difficult to even out, but on a twelve-month basis, it definitely even out. That's why other expenditures are very high. And similarly, you can see in the employee cost is also very high because we have appointed a lot of new senior management people within our team for the sanitary ware side also, and for the, you can say, adhesive side also. Pipe also, we have added the senior people. So their cost is not absorbed, because once it even out in twelve months, it will be absorbed. So on a yearly basis, again, you will see the employee cost will not be that high. But right now, because of the lower half, historically, first half is 45% of the revenue and the second half is 55% of the revenue.
So, once it will be even out in 12 months, I think will not be that high of other expense.
Sure, sir. And what would be the advertisement spend for the whole year or this quarter?
We stick to whatever guidance we have been giving since when we started doing our advertisement. We do about 1.5%-2% spends on branding and promotional activity, like always we have done.
Sure, sure. And sir, in Dahej, what would be... I mean, so Dahej facility, what would be the revenue potential of that facility?
I say Dahej should contribute minimum INR 800 crore-INR 1,000 crore kind of revenue.
Sure. Sure, sir. Thank you. Thank you very much for answering. Yeah, thank you.
Thank you so much. The next question is from the line of Dhananjay Bagrodia from ASK. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Congratulations on wonderful execution again. Wanted to understand, you have grown 28%. What would have been roughly industry growth in the same time?
I think it is very difficult to say industry growth because other companies' numbers are still not out. So it is too early to say what was the industry growth. But whatever our internal working says, that we should be, we must have grown the market share in this quarter. So we have gained the market share in this quarter. But of course, actual numbers, once will be out from all the other players, we will exactly will come to know. So I can add to whatever, I can add to whatever Hiranandji said, that, you know, if you look at our H1 FY 2021 to H1 FY 2024, you know, four-year CAGR, as far as tonnage grows, we are delivering at a 20.5%, four-year H1 CAGR.
I think we are outperforming in the most of the industries, you know, branded players by a long shot, and we have almost doubled our tonnage in four years, H1 to H1. So I think we are very comfortable with the type of tonnage growth we are seeing, and we remain bullish with our guidance to close the year also at a 20%+ tonnage growth level.
Okay. Sure. And, just maybe the key question, what did you say margins were for in, in India and U.K. in the adhesive business?
India was 15.5, and U.K. was 10.
Okay. Perfect. Congratulations again. Thank you.
Thank you, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mr. Achal Lohade from JM Financial. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good evening. Thank you for the opportunity. Just two questions. One is with respect to the DWC pipes, you know, in terms of contribution, how large is that? And most importantly, what I wanted to understand also is that, has the Rex played the way you thought at the time of acquisition or, you know, it has been kind of little laggard?
So, DWC is a significant business for us, and looking at what the infra spend numbers and reports are coming out. You know, yesterday only I was reading that India will spend more than INR 143 trillion for infra work in the coming five years. You know, it's a very positive sign for a product like double wall corrugated pipe, and the acquisition has played out well for us. Obviously, we don't give segmental wise numbers, but we are doing very good volume growth in our double wall corrugated pipes, and we see this going in the same run rate for the next couple of years. So I don't see any much slowdown. Actually, we are most of the places, you know, our capacities are running at almost, you know, full level.
I can add further to what Kairav said, that you don't look at Rex as an independent company, but in the Rex premises, we have started manufacturing the other pipes also. So that business is also picking up very fast. So that is also giving us a good support from that location. So that is also adding to our growth as well as our margins.
Understood. And, have you also been beneficiary of the, the spending, which is happening in the Nal Se Jal program in terms of... And which segments, you know, is it in only DWC or is it in-
So, sir, the DWC is usually not there in Nal Se Jal program, because Nal Se Jal is a freshwater drinking water supply scheme, so double wall corrugated pipes are used for drainage application. So double wall corrugated pipe application is very different from the type of pipes that are used in Nal Se Jal. So Nal Se Jal predominantly uses HDPE and then pressure agri pipes in their scheme. And we have taken some Nal Se Jal orders, but that has all been done at the local level by our distributors. We do not deal directly with the scheme. Our local distributors, if they get a Nal Se Jal order, they take that order, we support them.
Got it. And, if you could also give some heads-up on the storage tank as to how it is, building up. Like you talked about bathware, you know, you're looking at INR 10 crore in the next couple of months. So how is the run rate for storage tanks now? And what-
I think we have stopped giving individual numbers. In the beginning of the new product journey, we share that number, but at a later stage, we don't share. Because unnecessary, we don't want to create unhealthy things in the market. So we normally don't say that because sanitary ware, faucet and all are the new segment, that's why we are saying over a period of time, we will not be sharing the individual number into that segment also. Because ultimately, we want to keep it this confidential. So unnecessary, everyone will quote each other, the competitors also, so which we don't want things to happen. But I can say, tank is giving us excellent numbers. Whatever we originally planned, we are going ahead of what we have originally planned.
So from that, you can understand the growth is going beyond what we have originally planned. Actually, tank is where the brand play comes in, because Astral is a very strong brand. You know, whenever people want to buy the water tank, they look at the label Astral on the tank and immediately the sale happens. So tank, we are commanding a premium in the market. We are selling at our pricing, and yet we are selling good numbers of tank and we are very bullish. And that is why whenever we launch a new facility, the first product we manufacture is tanks.
Lovely. Sir, just one clarification. Your tanks and bath, the DWC pipes, they would be better margin than the blended margin what you're reporting. Is that a fair understanding?
So tanks will be close to our piping margin. Initially, was not there, but now with this growth in the volume, it will be closer to our pipe margin. DWC will be, I think, couple of percentage lesser than the normal margin.
Got it. Thank you so much, sir, and wish you all the best.
Thank you so much. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sneha Talreja from Nuvama. Please go ahead.
Good evening, sir, and congratulations for great set of numbers. Just two questions from my end. Firstly, just wanted to understand that the paints, paints division is those, you know, are those, SAP implementation things and everything settled in? And secondly, moreover to that, what kind of synergies are you seeing in that particular business with respect to adhesives? Have we started receiving benefits, or what's the vision here with respect, you know, synergies between both in paints and adhesives, which you used to point out at the time of acquisition?
So Sneha, still we are working on the back office side and the plant levels and all. Still, our team has not yet taken the charge on the front side, that is on the sales and marketing side. Because we said that we are going to complete the 80, 80% acquisition in this month. I think once that 80% will be completed, then our team will be taking front role in the sales and marketing. And then at a period of time, we will keep communicating to the market whatever we feel that it is necessary to communicate to the market. Lot of synergies are there, lot of things are there, otherwise we should not have entered into that business. So we are seeing lot of synergy with the adhesive side and lot of synergy with the pipe side also on the project business and all.
So but this all will be unlocked over a period of time. I think it will be too early at this stage to communicate that we are going to do this, we are going to do that. We don't want unnecessary to close the grapevine in the market. So at the right time, we will definitely going to communicate to the market.
Understood, sir. Secondly, sir, for this particular quarter, when you come, inventory levels moving up, any specific reason for that? Do we expect a trouble because inventory, I mean, PVC prices have been falling INR 11 in a very short time? So is that inventory related to PVC or how is that placed? We'll be happy to know.
Major inventory related to the CPVC because our company is more of CPVC driven. Secondly, you should also understand that we are growing at a 30% volume, and that too in our off season. First half, I said that which is 45%. Our seasonal months are going to start now, so we have to start sourcing the inventory little in advance. So I think, it's not going to give us a much pain in the coming time, because CPVC is not going to fall further from here on. That is what we are expecting. Of course, we are not an expert into that side, but we are of the view that our seasonal months are starting. And secondly, we know that a lot of our dealers and distributors have done destocking in the month of September, because everyone was expecting that the prices to go down.
So because of that, also, little higher inventory is there, but I think that will be sold out in the month of October itself, and we are expecting this month also similar to what we have done in H1. So should not be the problem for inventory. It will come down immediately in the month of October.
Understood, sir. That is helpful. Thanks. Thanks a lot, sir.
... Thank you so much. The next question is from the line of Pinaki Banerjee from Aum Capital Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Sir, thanks for the opportunity. So a couple of questions. So with all the CapEx which will be coming on at the beginning of next financial year, how much growth are you expecting in FY 25?
FY 25, I think we will guide you once we will be completing the year. Our long-term guidance, we have already given to double the top line or the volumes in next 5 years, that we already communicated our long guidance. But particularly next year, I think we will be able to tell you once we complete our Q4 numbers.
Okay. Sir, next, considering the fact that you are already sitting on a cash of about INR 533 crore, so for this undergoing CapEx, do you need to take any further debt, or this is through internal accruals only?
I think out of that, the INR 275 crore, I think INR 275 crore-INR 280 crore will go away for the 80% acquisition to Gem Paints.
Okay.
Okay? Then the cash level will come down.
Okay.
Basically, we have not completed, they, they are doing some compliance work, so because of that, the payment has got little delay, but we are confident that we are able to complete this by this month itself.
Okay, sir. Thanks, sir. That's all from my end. Thanks.
Thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all participants in the conference, please limit your questions to one per participant. The next question is from the line of Bhavin Pandey from Athena Investments. Please go ahead.
Hey, congratulations. See, just, one thing I wanted to understand: so despite prices correcting, the reported phenomenal margins, so was it largely on account of operating leverage, or we did some initiatives at back end as well? That's it.
Your voice is not clear. Can you, can you repeat the question? We were not able to listen latter part.
Sure. Sorry, sorry. So basically, I mean, margins have shot up well, despite sort of risk correcting. So was it on account of operating margins, or the volume improvement so good, or some efficiency?
So I whatever little bit I understood the early part, I am replying to you because later part again is not clear. But your question was relating to the margin. I think margins are normal margin. There is no abnormality in the margin, which is the normal margin, whatever we deliver every year. So nothing is special in this quarter. But yeah, looking to the volatility, I think margins were good. We were able to manage somehow the volatility in the resin price. And, secondly, you rightly pointed out the volume growth always helps to maintain your margin. So this first half, the volumes were pretty decent, 29%-30% volume growth. So that has also helped in the economy of scale.
And secondly, with the addition of the new plant, that also help you to improve your margin because you are going to supply from your local plant, near plant, so that will save a lot money into the logistics side. So that is also helping us. So overall, put together, these margins are that, but we don't see these are the abnormal kind of margin on the either side.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Manan, Manan Madlani from Kamakhya Wealth Management. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity, and congratulations on great set of numbers. So my question was, what could be our valve and rec business, you know, growth on for H1 on YOY basis? And have you got any export orders for valve particularly?
So I think individual category number we don't share, but I think overall we have given that we are targeting INR 1,500 crore revenue from our new launches, whatever, whether it's the DrainPro, Silencio, paint, sanitaryware faucet or valve, and then paint and all that. I think we are going as per the track, so we can say that they are doing all good, otherwise these kind of maintaining the margin without the value-added product is not possible. So value-added product contribution is healthy. That is why we are able to maintain our margin. So it's doing good, but we will not be able to share you the exact number or exact growth on that particular category.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Parv from Nivesha Investment Advisory. Please go ahead.
Hi, am I audible?
Yes, sir.
I just wanted to understand from the Kanpur plant closure part, which you indicated for, it was for adhesives, right?
Yes, it is adhesives.
What is the reason for such closure, and how do we, I mean, manage the capacity levels that are going to reduce going forward?
It won't reduce. Actually, we are moving certain of their equipments to our Rania plant. Most of them are moved, and some of the vessels are moving to Dahej. Actually, the capacity is going to go up, not decrease, and none of these equipments which are there making products are going to go away. They are actually moving to different locations. In Rania, which plant we have in Kanpur has been consolidated to one plant. We bought land, we have built buildings, and we have moved most of the products to Rania plant, and some of the products will be moved to the Dahej plant with additional capacity. So we are not. We are closing the plant, but not reducing the capacity.
So this was the original understanding with the Resinova promoter, that after 7 years, we have to give back the premises to them. The Unnao premises only. And which is the smaller premises compared to our Ahmedabad premises or Rania premises or Dahej. So that was originally part of the deal, and accordingly, they've given us a little extension of 2-3 years because of COVID, because of COVID and all. So now we have to give back that premises to them. The reason for moving this plant was that this plant is surrounded by most of the residential place, so we have to move out of a locality where there is more residents than the plants. Okay.
Thank you. May we request that you return to the question queue for follow-up questions? The next question is from the line of Ritesh Shah from Investec. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, first question is for Sandeep Bhai. So little bit of different question, sir. When do we say no to an order? The reason I ask is there are a lot of government orders, every order which are there. So when do we say no to an order? Is it working capital, any sort of margins that we look at? How should one understand this?
We don't say no to any order, Ritesh. We do supply to projects. Even if you are pointing to government projects, we have done many projects. If you go, the Narendra Modi Stadium is full of Astral products, the Statue of Liberty is built with Astral products, and many other Statue of Unity, yeah. Statue of Unity, sorry. And many other such projects we are supplying, but mostly we go through the big contractors like L&T, Shapoorji Pallonji, or contractors which are regional based. Today, we are doing a big project in one of the big towns of Gujarat, giving them sewage and drainage pipes, and this is also going through a very big contractor. So we don't mostly say no to the projects, except we say no to the projects when we are not having capacities. This is the last.
In fact, yesterday also, Ritesh, we got INR 20 crore single order from the very good project of government, which I will not disclose the name and all this. A single order of INR 20 crore. So we are doing, but through a channel only, so that our money is safe and which give us a reasonably good margins also. We don't want to sell the product with raw material plus INR 3 or raw material plus INR 4, what many other players are doing.
Yeah, so Ritesh, to add to what Hiranand Bhai was saying, that, you know, we don't explicitly deny taking any... deny anyone when they come asking for the material. But yeah, we do have a threshold where, you know, if we are not making any money on this, a particular supply, you know, then it, there is no use for us to take that order. So if it is at a resin cost or resin plus INR 2, INR 3, INR 4, you know, there is, then you are losing money on that order. There is no, you know, we let such orders go also.
Thank you. May we request that you return to the question queue for the follow-up questions. The next question is from the line of Keshav Lahoti from HDFC Securities. Please go ahead.
Just one small follow-up. So the INR 2,000 crore, the capacity is post Dahej addition, right? The number you said.
No, no, not additional 2000.
No, two-
Altogether will be generating a INR 2,000 crore revenue.
That is including Dahej, full ramp up, right?
Yeah. Yes, yes.
Yeah, yeah. Okay, that's it.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Asim from DAM Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Just wanted to understand on CPVC price movement. So you say they have bottomed out at current level, that should stay here. Can you just tell me, how much the CPVC price is down from its peak to now?
Very different to and difficult to say, because there are so many manufacturers, and each of them is quoting their own price and their, and their own comfort levels, their own, you know, margins-
Can you tell me just for one particular supplier, how much that would be, just hypothetically?
CPVC price have dropped 50%, right?
CPVC is our pattern. It is our key thing, and we won't. I won't love to share these numbers, because these are things which people keep their eye on us, and we are very effective buyers, so it is difficult to share all these numbers on CPVC. CPVC is something which is kept close to our heart because we do the best of the buying, and everyone is buying that piece. Japanese are giving different price. Koreans are giving different price. Every country is quoting a different price, so very, very difficult to predict what current price is there in the market.
Yeah, I understand. Just that, since PVC price have dropped 50%, I'm just wondering, is there more downside left in CPVC or not? Because-
CPVC, CPVC. As per my experience, this is the bottom, what we are getting.
Thank you.
... Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from, from the line of Akash Shah from UTI Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Um, hello.
Yes, Akash.
Yeah. Yes, sir. Thank you, thank you very much for the opportunity. Sir, just wanted your thoughts on UK business, Bond It. I mean, sir, will you please share revenue outlook and margins for this business?
I think U.K. is doing good, right. In this quarter also, U.K. has given us a good growth, close to about, 17% in top line this quarter. So U.K. is fairly doing well. Margins, this quarter were 10%, otherwise, normally U.K. work on 11%-12% kind of margin, and we are expecting second half should be coming back to the normal margin. So, we are very happy with the performance of U.K.
Sir, just one thing, sir. This is a sort of mature market, so, I mean, what would be the sustainable growth rate for this business?
So I think it depends what new products you are launching, what new strategy you are bringing on the table. It depend on many things. I agree with you that it's a mature market, so getting growth is always a challenge. But you'll look at the number of UK operations, the time what we acquired and what is the today number. So we are continuously adding the new product, continuously adding the new customer. Even recently, only also we have added a couple of big-ticket customer. The number will be reflected in the coming time. Maybe second half, you will see some effect on that, because of these two new customer. And second year, you will see a reasonably high growth number because of these two big-ticket new customers.
It depends which product you are giving to them, which chemistry you are offering. We are working on that, and we'll see that how we can add more chemistry over there. One more thing that, today in U.K., all the competitive companies which were competing against us, or were bigger than us also, are being acquired by big multinationals. And because of this, there are a lot of policy changes, pricing changes, all these coming, and this, in last 2-3 years, is giving great advantage as for us for, reaching out to bigger DIY customers who are, who want to tie up and are tying up with us, actually in that market. Second is, all these markets are not mature at all because of their climate conditions.
Their houses need continuous repairs, waterproofing, and this, that is where the continuous flow of many products happen. Third thing is we are actually started getting export orders, and we are going to work in a big way in Middle East to tie up and sell many products made out of U.K. and U.S. and India.
Oh, sir, this was something new that I heard. So, sure. So, so basically, there is a export opportunity as well, from, India or U.K. market to Middle East?
Yes, sir. Yeah, we have already started, and we have already started getting orders also. That's why I can proudly say that we have started working in this one.
Sure, sir. Thank you very much. Sir, just last question. Sir, the Dahej facility, can we say that by FY 2026, we will be able to ramp it up till, let's say, the revenue potential that we had discussed about INR 800 crore, or would it take more time, say FY 2027 or 2028?
We think that close. We want early, but market should support. I think, whatever we have given the guidance, you forget about particular facility, what they are going to give you. Look at the overall pictures of adhesive.
Yeah, basically-
We have guided that we will keep growing 15%-20% run rate annually, and I think we are very well on track. In fact, if you see the last three years' growth, I think we are much, much ahead of what we originally guided. So I think we are very bullish on that segment of the business. So we'll keep growing at 15%-20% run rate, and if the market will support, we can grow even faster than that. And in past also, we have delivered that numbers also, more than 25% also growth we have given. So it depend on how the market is supporting us. If the market will open, definitely we'll be the first player to move into the market. Secondly, Dahej, the major advantage which comes for us is the storage is all in bulk.
Today, when we buy the product to manufacturer, to manufacture our product, it comes in loose packings of grams, of 200 liters or 200 kg packings or. And we have to sometimes send the product right from the Dahej area to Kanpur or Ahmedabad. Most of the raw materials of the chemistries which we are going, we have put in Dahej, the 80% raw material is made and available from Dahej. So one advantage is there. Second advantage for pricing will happen for the raw material. As we'll buy in bulk, we'll store in bulk storage, in tanks, underground tanks, overhead tanks, and so that will also save substantial amount on packings of the raw material in coming years. So Dahej is going to be a...
All the chemicals will move through automation in pipes, so there won't be any spillage or wastage also happening.
Okay. Okay, sure. Sure, sir. Sir, and just, can I ask just one last question, if possible?
Yeah, yeah.
Sure. Sir, I mean... No, sir, I got done, sir. Sure. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
... Thank you so much. The next question is from the line of Rahul Agarwal from InCred Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, good evening. Thank you for the opportunity, and congratulations for the good set of number on the piping side. Sir, first question was on capacity. As I understand, you said 20,000 tons got added. Was that Orissa? That was one clarification I needed.
No, no, no, not Odisha. To our Dahej, sorry, this Santej plant, some addition, some Dholka, and some to our Hosur also.
Okay. So when I'm just trying to calculate March 2026 numbers for overall capacity. My sense is, as of now, 310,000 tons is already there. If I add up Guwahati, Hyderabad and Kanpur, that's about 140,000 tons, and I'm assuming that over the next 2.5 years, you'll add another 20,000-30,000 tons of balancing. That basically means that we are, you know, we're going to add another, you know, 170,000-180,000, so about 200,000 tons on a base of 300,000 tons. Is that correct?
Yeah. Correct.
Okay, perfect. Secondly, just-
Look at the growth number also, because we never added so quick that capacity. But look at the last three quarters number. The volumes are coming very huge, so we, we should not shy away, and if, if we feel at any point of time that the market is not supportive, we can little bit delay also, and if, if the market is supportive, we can prepone also, because cash flow is not a problem to our company. So it depend on the market condition. We are continuously monitoring the market condition, and based on that, we are telling our project team to gear up. So it is, it is within our control. So whenever we feel that we want little early, we will try to...
Even there is still scope available within our existing plant, because we are having capacity, free land available at our,
Dholka.
Dholka. Plus, we have recently added a new parcel of land at Dholka also. We have some scope available with our Santej capacity also. We have a spare capacity available, means we can add more capacity in our Guwahati plant also. A very state-of-the-art fitting plant is coming up in this Guwahati also. I think almost all the building is on the verge of completion, and hopefully shortly we are targeting to put up the machine. So very sizable plant is coming for the fitting in over there also. So I think across all the plants, we are adding the capacity, and there is still room available, so we are working closely with our technical team, that how additional 20,000-30,000 metric tons you can add within our existing plant that is going to add and support our organization.
We are working on that also. Capacity will not be a problem to our company.
So absolutely, sir, I understand that, because my sense was, you know, two years back, if you remember, we've been discussing that CapEx for Astral will actually come down. But fortunately, the volume growth has been so high that, you know, we have to actually increase our CapEx. So that's good news.
But look at the last three-year number. Last three years, we have doubled our sales. So we have no choice but to increase our capacity. I always feel that now we should put some brake, but the growth is so fast and so quick that we have to do like that. And still, I think whatever we have discussed and said and done, we are working on many things in the organization, in every vertical, which we cannot disclose in advance. So at a right time, we will keep disclosing the thing, but we are working on many things, and continuously our work is on with new products, new things in the organization, automation, many, many things we are working. So at an appropriate time, we'll keep disclosing that thing to investor community, because there is no point to disclose at this stage.
So I think we are working on a lot of new products also. We will keep communicating you one by one, once we will be ready at the stage of launch. You know, recently we have got this, Sandeep has communicated, but no one has highlighted that thing in the question answer session. That is the ISI in the fittings for this, this fire sprinkler also. Fire sprinkler is a very, very big opportunity, and I can give you a list of projects which recently Astral has got, and we have completed also many. So there are also a lot of scope is there.
Yeah, absolutely.
Keep fingers crossed, we will keep giving you this kind of things every quarter.
Yeah, yeah. So good news, that, that's happy to know. And this fiscal 2025, just wanted to quantify the CapEx number. We understand the volume additions, but, you know, as you said, INR 350 crores plus INR 75 crores for current year. Fiscal 2025 will be earlier, I think last quarter we discussed INR 250 crores. Will that be higher, too, or is that 250, plus or minus?
I think land acquisition is completed all the locations. Telangana also land is covered this year, and this Kanpur land is also covered. Additional parcel of Dholka is covered this year. I think corporate office land is also covered this year. I think next year there will not be that cost, so whatever we have said will not be increasing to that.
So I'm, I should assume INR 250 crore, right?
Yeah, INR 250 crore-INR 300 crore.
Okay. And one clarification was on the plumbing side, you know, on the volume, 52,000 tons. I'm assuming there is nothing included of bathware there, right? I mean, bathware is sold in pieces, but just want to clarify, because, you know, as analysts we are all-
Sales is only, sales is only INR 18 crore billing. It is nothing, negligible.
Okay, perfect. And lastly, sir, on the inventory loss, how is that accounted? Because when I see gross margins is actually up QOQ, so just wanted to understand that.
So if we have not accounted that, then the gross profit margin could have improved a little further... Acha, okay. So it's, it's basically part of raw material cost, right? Yes, sir, it is a part of the raw material. And this is all realized loss, right? There is no mark to market on the thirteenth September inventory, right? No, mostly realized. Okay, perfect, sir. Thank you so much for answering my questions. All the best. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Manan Madlani from Kamakhya Wealth Management. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. Sir, we were going to, you know, appoint a senior employee for our paint segment. Any update on that?
I think we have already appointed, and he has already joined in the organization.
Okay. Okay, congratulations on that. And, are we planning on recruitment specifically for our bathroom segment any time soon?
Yeah. Can you repeat? Yeah, already in bathroom also, a senior person has joined in the marketing and in the design also, somebody's-
Uh.
Huh?
I meant on the advertisement part.
Bathroom advertisement, we have started slowly and gradually, sir, we are doing, but we need to also get some of the sales going on. Because only spending money and not building the showrooms and creating channel and selling, you know, only doing one-way advertisement is also not good. So we, like always, in the case of our other category, even adhesive also, we reached a certain point before we started doing advertisement. Even in the piping business, we reached a certain level before we started doing advertising. Similarly, in bathroom also, we have kept a certain threshold before we will start doing significant advertising.
Sure. Sure. Okay.
Because it makes no sense.
Yeah, yeah. Fair enough. Fair enough. Okay, sir, that's it from my side. All the best.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Bhavin Rupani from Investec. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, just one question. Did we have any channel financing arrangements with the bank?
Yeah, we have channel finance, but non-recourse basis, so we don't give any guarantee to the bank.
Okay. And what would be the amount of that as on September?
We don't track that because we have not given any guarantee, so we don't track that, because it's a direct understanding between distributor and the bank.
Okay. Are we paying any charges for that, or is it borne by the dealer?
No, because it's a direct deal between two, so we are not in the picture. We are only a supportive role we are playing. Whenever banker need any information or data, we are sharing that with the bank. Otherwise, we don't pay any single penny to the bank.
Okay, and this scheme is applicable for the dealers in bathroom segment as well?
For bathroom, yes. A few have started, but the bathroom base is still very low, so still lot to join in the coming time.
Okay, that is helpful, sir. Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. We would take that as our last question. I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
So thank you, everyone, for joining in this call, and wishing you a happy Diwali and a prosperous new year, and we'll connect after this quarter is over again. Till then, have a great festive season, all of you, with your family and friends. Thank you everyone for joining and Happy Diwali, and we wish everyone the best in the coming year, and we will see you after our Q3 numbers. Thank you. Thank you everyone for joining this call, and if we have missed anyone to answer the question, you are free to call me personally anytime post this call. Thank you so much, and wishing you a very happy Diwali and Happy New Year in advance. And thank you, Arun, for hosting this call. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of ICICI Securities, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.