Ladies and gentlemen, good day, Welcome to Antony Waste Handling Cell Limited, Q1 FY 2024 earnings conference call. The call may contain forward-looking statements about the company, which are based on beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the company as on the date of this call. These statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in listen-only mode. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Shiju Jacob, Executive Director of Antony Waste Handling Cell Limited. Thank you, Over to you, sir.
Hi. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our Q1 FY2024 earnings conference call. With me, I have Mahendra, Group President, Operation, Business Development and Diversification, and Subramaniam, Group CFO, and SGA, our investor relations advisor. Our investor presentation is now available on the websites of the stock exchanges and also on our company's website. I would like to start by emphasizing our strong start to the financial period, marked by impressive financial results. We have achieved a record-breaking quarterly core operating revenue of 179 crores, setting a high bar for performance. Looking ahead, our outlook remains positive, with expectations for a consistent growth trajectory in our core operations. Operationally, we have achieved a significant milestone by managing the highest volume of tons in a single quarter.
Notably, our commitment to excellence is reflected in our improved EBITDA margin, which has surged by approximately 250 basis points to reach 22.9%. This accomplishment has been made possible by the dedicated efforts of our team, who executed various contracts with remarkable efficiency. Despite encountering inflationary pressures impacting our core segment, we have successfully navigated through these challenges. As we highlighted in our previous call, any softness observed in our margin was transitory, and we remain optimistic about our future performance. The EBITDA margin achieved in Q1 FY 2024 aligned with our earlier guidance, reinforcing our confidence in sustained stability and growth moving forward. Over the past 2 years, we have strategically allocated substantial capital expenditure, notably directed towards the development of our waste-to-energy plant.
As we enter FY 2024, this period sets the stage for a sturdy foundation of growth in our core operational revenue. Our growth journey is poised to gain further momentum with the commissioning of our collection, transportation, processing, and disposal of construction and demolition projects, C&D, before the end of the fiscal year 2024. Our business stands ready to embark on a promising journey of growth. The company is currently engaged in proactive pursuits within the space of C&D and biomining projects, and we anticipate sharing positive developments on these initiatives in the forthcoming quarters. Our endeavors stand as a testament to India's steadfast dedication to uphold sustainable principles, especially as it takes the lead within the G20, a pivot- important platform for international collaboration and resolving critical global challenges.
Our corporate undertakings mirror this unyielding commitment to sustainability principles, underscored by our resolute aim to provide value to each of our stakeholders. Thank you, and now I hand over the call to Mr. Mahendra, our Group President, who oversees operations and new business development. Over to you, Mahendra.
Thank you, Shiju, good afternoon, all of you. As leaders in the industry with over two decades of experience, we have consistently employed cutting-edge methodologies and technologies, bolstered by dedicated and knowledgeable teams, to responsibly manage municipal solid waste. Building upon this foundation, we successfully commissioned a state-of-the-art 1,000 ton per day integrated waste-to-energy plant at Pimpri-Chinchwad city. Earlier this month, a truly historic moment unfolded for the company as the Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated our advanced waste-to-energy facility in Pimpri-Chinchwad. An outstanding feature aspect of this project lies in its alignment with India's Green Energy Open Access policy, making PCMC the first-ever municipal corporation to utilize waste-to-energy plant-generated electricity for captive consumption.
Additionally, the entire project is designed to use the treated water from the sewage treatment plant, thus reducing the reliance on ground freshwater for its operations. This project has two benefits: Not only will the corporation save approximately INR 304 crore per annum by reducing their energy bill, but more importantly, this project will save about 7 lakh tons of carbon dioxide annually, equivalent to 1.5 lakh tons, 1.5 lakh of passenger car emissions. Let me also talk a bit more about our current operations. The company has accomplished an unprecedented milestone by achieving an all-time high in the volume of municipal solid waste that is managed.... We have also attained the highest ever quarterly core operating revenue, setting a new benchmark for our achievement.
During Q1 of this fiscal year, the company and the subsidiaries handled an impressive 1.2 million tons of waste, representing a significant 14% year-on-year increase. This can be attributed to the full-scale implementation of operations at the recently acquired contracts, ramping up our existing collection and transportation sites, and the increased tonnage processed at the waste processing operations. Our core operations in the C&D business have been performing in line with our expectations. The C&D business segments per se, for the Q1 FY 2024, the company effectively handles 0.45 million tons, reflecting a growth of about 11% compared to the previous year. Additionally, the waste processing business managed about 0.75 million tons, demonstrating a growth of about 16% compared to the previous year.
Our commitment to the circular economy extends to the cities we serve, where we integrate circular economy principles to amplify resource extraction and facilitate outreach initiatives. More and more cement producers are recognizing the value and potential of our refuse-derived fuel, that is RDF, as an alternative to coal as a fuel. We sold more than 27,700 tons of RDF in the current quarter, a whopping 44% increase over the previous year. A point to note here is that the sale of RDF is currently a margin neutral event, but we expect this to improve going forward. Further highlighting our dedication to sustainability and comprehensive resource recycling, we successfully recycled 365 tons at our Varanasi site in quarter one of this fiscal year.
On the waste processing segment, volumes handled at our operational sites have increased, and disposal of processed waste, such as compost and RDF, has significantly improved. The start of our waste-to-energy plant in Chinchwad, which was inaugurated by the Honorable Prime Minister, and our upcoming construction and demolition waste project in Mumbai, which is anticipated to come in operation by the fourth quarter of this fiscal year, the processing activities will witness a significant increase. We must mention that these processing projects normally have higher EBITDA margins as compared to the C&D operations. On the business development front, we continue to meticulously assess new contracts against our stringent internal benchmarks. As we had mentioned in last, in this call, the last quarter, we participated in a large C&D tender in North India and a biomining tender in South India.
We are reasonably optimistic about a favorable outcome in both of these tenders. Our transformative journey will continue in the coming quarters and many more going forward. Our dedication remains steadfast in upholding the essence of the significant event, a harmonious fusion of leadership, visionary thinking, and an unwavering pursuit of a greener and more sustainable future. On to the financial aspects, let me hand it over to Anil. Anil, over to you.
Thank you, Mahendra, and thank you all for joining us. Parsim continues to advance our 2023-2024 priorities, including increasing the profitability of our business to strong price discipline and an optimized cost structure. As I said in May 2023, this year is all about getting our pricing escalations passed through and cost control initiatives to be done. It is also the year of continuing to set ourselves up for a core long-term growth by delivering on what we can control. Coming to the consolidated financial highlights of Q1 FY 2024, we have reported operating revenue of INR 179 crores as against INR 156 crores in the same quarter last year, which is an increase of 14%. In the quarter, the tonnage handled was 1.2 million tons, as mentioned by Mahendra.
This reflects a strong volumes growth of 14%. First quarter, our operating EBITDA margin has expanded by 260 basis points, driven by a couple of factors. One is the pricing improvement, second is the escalation getting through our March period, and a general increase in volumes. The margin growth has been aided, let me repeat that, by a few of the old escalations, which were not passed through coming into the system, and this is not reflecting the true, reflective of the operational benefit that we have yet to benefit from the same contract. We delivered this result despite some things that we can't generally control, like the stubborn higher OEM input cost inflation, and this margin growth is despite a 26% increase in the wage bill.
The increase in the wage bill is mainly due to higher employee count arising from higher processing activities and the Nashik operation, which were absent in the year-ago period. This has seen an increase of about 1,000 in our headcount. This is also because of the PLIC scheme related to staff salary increases initiated last year. Frequently, the wage and staff category is up by approximately 4%. In short, the company registered a 7% increase, adjust EBITDA compared to INR 49 crore in Q1 FY23, and EBITDA margin being 22.9%. This quarter's EBITDA is also a record high quarterly EBITDA in absolute terms. Total debt for the first quarter stood at INR 23 crore as against INR 29 crore in the same quarter last year.
The shift being made by higher interest and depreciation expenses related to the incremental debt taken at the pre-processing sites, and also due to the Nashik C&D project. Gross debt of the group as of June 23 stood at INR 381 crore, and net debt is at INR 322 crore, suggesting a net debt-to-equity of 0.5x. The weighted cost of debt for the group stands at 9.7%, and the interest coverage is at a healthy 5.6x. A word on the client concentration. Due to the consistent effort of the company over the last couple of years, the top three clients today contribute approximately 55% of our revenue, and this was a high 74% in FY 2019.
All these top three clients have a credit rating between AA and AA+ with stable outlooks. That's all from my end. Now we can open the floor for Q&A.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin with the question and answer session. Anyone wishing to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephone. If you wish to unmute yourself from the question queue, you press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets for asking the questions. Ladies and gentlemen, please wait for a moment for the questions to come. The first question is from the line of Bala Murali from Oman Investment Advisor. Please go ahead.
Hi, good afternoon. I would like to know about the.
Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Murali. We are not able to hear you clearly.
Yeah, I would like to know about this, Pune project, waste-to-energy project. What kind of revenue we can generate from in this year and the next year?
We will be seeing commercial operation of the PCMC waste-to-energy by Q3 of the year. The Plant Load Factors will be around 30%-40% in the third quarter, scaling up to around 60% by Q4. On a steady state of as far as assuming 85% Plant Load Factor, the project is likely to give you an annual revenue around INR 65 crore. If you were to look at the revenue contribution, I would say around INR 18 20 crore of revenue would be recognized in the financial year ending March 2024, and if things go as per plan, around INR 58 crore - INR 65 crore in FY 2025.
Okay. And, other than this, demolition, the Mumbai contract demolition contract, so we don't have any other contract which can contribute to the revenue in this year or the next year?
Yes, after the construction debris and the waste-to-energy, these are the 2 new projects that the revenue will be coming in. Additionally, there are 2 small power sweeping contracts with the company back, which is yet to start operations, which is in the 1 in PCMC and in Nagpur. They will also start contributing from Q2/Q3 onwards. These are the 4 contracts which will be starting to generate revenue for in the current financial year.
Okay. At what volume, sir, we're able to generate some data from the fact that in the RDF space, now we are making different components from that. If, what should be the volume figure, if we need to make some bottom line from that target?
Sorry, Mr. Bala, we couldn't clearly hear your question.
No, yeah. In RDF, we had dispatched around 27,000 tons , so that it is breakeven, as of now. At what volume, so we've been able to make some profit from that RDF sale?
I mean, you know, we will probably be breaking, we'll be breaking even at, at higher volumes, but it's not so much about the volumes. It's more about that as and when clients get convinced with the consistency of our RDF, they will be paying us a higher revenue. We expect that when we hit a steady state of about 50,000 tons of sales by that time, we would be in a position to command a premium and then pay a positive contribution in our RDF sales.
Okay. Thank you. That's all. Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to the participants, anyone wishing to ask a question, may please press star and one. The next question is from the line of Anirban Manna, an institutional investor. Please go ahead.
Hi, thanks. Thanks for good set of numbers. You mentioned about, INR 55 crore - INR 65 crore of revenue in FY 2025, incremental revenue. That's from Pimpri Chinchwad correct?
That's right.
All right. In this year, we can do INR 18 crore - INR 20 crore? From this project, what can be the total revenue, means, consolidated revenue, including everything, in FY 2024?
On the core revenue front, I mean, we did around INR 675 crores last year. We've been looking at around 18% growth on those numbers as things go as per schedule.
Okay. Means on the core revenue. And for contract?
Contract revenue, we don't foresee a significant balance of revenue here, because, the project at Pimpri-Chinchwad is almost completed. It's, it's, we just need some couple of around INR 12 crore - INR 14 crore of remaining CapEx, and these are administrative buildings and scaffolding and thereabouts. So we don't foresee a significant balance of project revenue for to be done in the current financial year.
Okay, means, the reason I'm asking is because contract revenue has reduced significantly year-on-year. This quarter we have done INR 48 crore. Last quarter, we did around INR 40 crore, but one year previous, like, in Q1 FY23, we did around INR 84 crore. It reduced significantly, contract revenue, I'm talking about. That's why I'm asking.
The contract revenue is reflective of the CapEx that the company is doing, because these are predominantly related to accounting Standard 115, which reflects two projects under DBOOT where the assets are transferred to the client. The project revenue is something which reflects the construction phase of the waste processing projects. Since the waste processing project is almost completed, and which we are referring to the waste-to-energy projects here. We don't foresee any remnant of these contracts here.
Okay. May means it would be, almost flat, like INR 40 crore on an average, each quarter?
Even lesser than that going forward, because the CapEx fee is done for the company's point of view. The core revenue from that project starts coming and supplementing the number.
All right. All right. Got it. Got it. Yeah, thanks. Thanks. That was my question. Thanks. All very well.
Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to the participants, anyone wishing to ask a question, please press star and one. The next question is from Somitra Joshi, an initial investor. Please go ahead.
Hello, am I audible?
Yes, sir. Please proceed.
Yeah. So I, there was a disturbance in the last part of it. I just need to what the clarification here. So at least correct me if I'm wrong. So, I think the estimated revenue increase of around, I think it was in the 10%-15% that you were expecting last quarter. Has that guidance been increased to 18%? Is that understanding correct? Has there been any change in that guidance of revenue increase for this year?
The revenue increase guidance is reflective of the speed at which the commencement of the operation is likely to happen. We were expecting the project to be ready by end of Q3. Now, from the way that things are shaping up, by the mid of Q3, the revenue numbers are likely to start scaling in. That is why the numbers are being reflected there. These are, again, I repeat, these are core revenue trends that we're talking about.
Sure, sir. The second part will be with respect to other margins. Firstly, congratulations on whatever you had predicted or had envisaged that has come through in this particular quarter. For this particular year, what are the operating margins that we should consider in our calculations?
So the margins that we reported in Q1 would form the base for us. There are two factors which kind of will influence the margins expansion. One is lower contribution of the contract revenue, which has been a drag on the margins. Going forward, the project revenue element is going to be smaller, so the, the pressure on the margin ease by itself. That is one. Second is, in the last couple of quarters, the company has proactively not recognized revenue, which were booked under the escalation clause of the various contracts because of absence of elected members in various corporations. Now, that thing has changed. People have started coming, processes have started happening, so we have started recognizing few of these revenues. Bulk of it is still not recognized to the tune of around INR 14 crore from a single client, for example.
Those things are getting rectified. Going forward, absence of or fewer project revenue, and secondly, billing as per the tender condition, which is core tonnage plus escalation. These two comments work are, revenue and EBITDA numbers. On a steady state of affairs, I would suggest a 23%-24% to be a very conservative EBITDA number for the current financial year, and that will be built, will form the basis for the period going ahead.
From the calculations, if we take around 22 are on a very, very conservative basis. That is something that probably we will do easily, correct? Is my understanding correct?
That's a very safe assumption.
Sure. That's the second part to it. Now, the third part is, is there, as I was going through all the different quarterly results, now one thing that comes into my mind, is there a seasonality aspect to the business? If yes, does it play out in the Q2 and the Q3 part of it, or there's no such clear seasonality and more or less over the quarters, maybe more, and then there might be some difference, but we do catch up, and there's not a huge seasonality impact that we see.
The seasonality effect actually is not a major factor in the C&T contracts, but in the case of our Kanjur project, where bio-mining is an important element, and given the monsoon season in Mumbai, which is almost 3.5-
My question arise from the monsoon season in Mumbai. Yeah.
That's right. That's right. To that extent, I mean, yes, then the, our biomining activities come to a standstill or, or at least are much less intense than during the, than the normal months. We use that time effectively for maintenance of our equipment. Secondly, it also overlaps with that of cement companies, with the maintenance shutdown of cement companies. To some extent, it plays out. To answer your question, yes, I mean, it's an important factor in the case of Kanjur project.
That would only be with respect to, like, seasonality during the rain. More or less, the rain has stopped now. Let's say from now on, the actual work will start. The impact would be more or less, if there is any impact, that is only in the second quarter of it.
Yeah. December onwards, typically, things start getting to normalcy in both biomining and even the waste-to-energy project that we'll see with this year.
From there, trend is not helping, correct?
Not new, yeah.
Thank you so much for, clearing. Thank you so much for answering them.
Thank you. A reminder to the participants, anyone wishing to ask a question, may please press star then one. The next question is from the line of Ansh Manek from Equirus Securities Limited . Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for the opportunity. I have two couple of questions. First one is related to the, is there any element of revenue recognition of previous years, which we did not acknowledge in earlier years and now has in the current period?
Yeah, approximately, INR 6.3 crore was a partial recognition of revenue, which was reversed in the previous periods. That has come through because the corporation has released the same in due time. That is sitting in the books, and that is also helping the margin expansion, because there is no associated cost with this revenue.
Okay. This our second question. Last time, you had said that there was around INR 20 crore of revenue, which was provided or not at the expense of the selected project member. What would be the amount for current quarter?
Yeah. Of the INR 20 odd crore, INR 6.4 crore has been recognized in the current quarter. The balance as and when the corporation releases the funds on cash basis, this is the company will recognize the same in the books of accounts.
What would be the impact of current quarter, 2022 or 2023, completely from, revenue or escalation for the current quarter, which is probably recognized?
Both of them put together. When we talk about INR 20 crore, it's all related to FY23 period. Going forward, once things stabilize and normalize, so we would recognize the escalation of the previous period and also raising bills for the current period, that's when the company is operating.
Okay. Sir, with respect to the Mangalore project, there was a news article where object had given the notice for the for further of any extension of this project. Is that right with respect to this part?
We had a discussion with the client, and the client has given us a schedule for clearing all the outstandings over the next few months. We have decided to extend our contract. The client will be extending our contract by 6 months. Okay? The client has started paying us. I mean, he started taking the schedule they have given us.
When are we to be expected to be paid for this?
A significant portion of the receivables should be cleared by the end of the calendar or by end of the fiscal year at the most. The corporation also initiated a new tender, wherein the capital will be entirely funded by the client. The company is also very looking forward to take participate in this tender.
Okay. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Neerav Dalal from Maybank Investment Bank Group. Please go ahead.
Hello. Thank you for the opportunity.
Pardon, Mr. Dalal, you're sounding very soft. Please speak louder.
Now?
Yeah.
Is it fine now?
Yes, sir.
Okay. I had a few questions. First was, in terms of new contract wins, has there been a slowdown in terms of decision-making, and when do you see this improving?
Not really. I would not say slowdown. I mean, I mean, in, in the area of cooperation, we want to focus on, you know, as we had said in our speech, we have already bid for a large, CNC contract in North Delhi, in, in North India, and, and then a couple of biomining projects down south. We don't see any slowdown in, in terms of new opportunities. It's just that we want to be focused in the chapters that we are active in.
Got that. Got that. Also, I, I just wanted to understand in terms of the growth, target that has been given about 13%, the core business. This core business would include the INR 58 crore of new MSW processing that will come in from the project, right?
That's right, yeah.
Then other than that, where do you see this growth coming from? Does this assume any new contracts coming in or just the existing contracts?
We have few CNC contracts, as I said, that, this project in North India, and then, you know, as and when that happens and so on, that can be a, that can be a big, growth driver. Some of the biomining projects, which are actually, now there are a lot many opportunities for that system, which are short, two to three year duration, and, and that gives us good top line.
That is included in the 18% growth target of core revenue that we are talking about. It includes the existing business and expectation of some new contracts coming in.
Mr. Bella, no, the 18% growth is based on all the contracts that actually been signed and where the work is going on. All future contracts will, will add, to this growth. Normally, there's a significant lead time. The day I sign a contract to the time I recognize revenue, it's anywhere between 8-14 months. 18% growth that the company is looking forward, it's based on the contract, one, work, assets purchased, and we will put to use kind of scenarios.
Got it. Got it, got it. Just, just related to this, in terms of the contracts that you already have, in which, in which contract you see, you know, the additional bit coming in or, where you haven't reached the steady state?
You mean the additional? Sorry, what the word you use, additional?
The contracts where you haven't reached the steady state. Hence, you will have some growth in those contracts vis-a-vis the last year to this year.
Projects in PCMC, CMP operations and in Varanasi and Noida, where we have existing operations, we feel that the tonnages and the household counts can improve, and that should kind of help us get the extra revenue. The user connection charges in Noida is something which we feel we need to concentrate better. That also adds to the top line.
Also, the 2 power sweeping contracts that we had earlier this year. 1 of them has just started, just to have commercial operations that will start giving full revenue. The 1 at PCMC will start commercial operations sometime in quarter beginning of quarter 3.
Sure. Sure. My last question is just related to tax rate. If you see the average tax rate for the current year, for the current quarter is about 34%. We've seen, you know, having, tax rate of about 17.5%, last year. So any change, and will this be the new tax rate?
The tax rates will improve. They will inch up because my waste-to-energy project is up and running, and so that will start coming into the 25% tax plan. My weighted average cost of tax, that normally that we look at, would be nearer to 17%-20%, because of the most of the contracts being put into use now.
Okay. It is just because, the... The contract revenues are lower, hence, the tax rate is higher, and that is-
Yeah. Those are basically book entry, where you have notional revenue coming through revenue, and that sits on my expense.
Okay. Okay. So it is just once the Pune project becomes steady state by FY 2025, you would have tax rate coming back to the 17%-20% or?
It would be up to 20%-22% because of the, we have shifted to the most of the competitive tax regime of around 25. The max benefit and everything will be out by 2025, 2026. Going forward, 25% would be the effective tax rate. That's how.
Before we should assume that for the full year, the effective tax rate would be anywhere between 20%-25%. Is that correct?
Yes.
Okay. Okay, okay. Got that. That's for more questions I had. Thank you.
Thank you. Reminder to participants, anyone wishing to ask a question, please press star and one. The next question is from the line of Sandeep, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon. My questions have been answered. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Dipti Kothari from Kothari Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity, sir. Can you guide us with the future revenue growth and what can we expect in FY 2024 and FY 2025 with upcoming WT plants commissioning and CMD project next year?
We would be looking at around 18% core operating growth for the current financial year. Going forward, assuming the contracts are steady state and we are able to hold on to the contracts and the existing contracts which are expiring gets renewed at similar rates, then we should be looking at least a 15%-20% growth thereof, if not more, but those are very conservative numbers to me.
Okay. And sir,
Any new project will, will add to the top line.
Okay. Okay, sir. Sir, margins have increased year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter for 20%, as we had been guiding. Was there any one-off which increased our margin?
There has been a one-off case, once we talk about escalation, but going forward, that one-off is going to be a permanent feature, because in the past, the escalation, which is an integral part of a contract, was not given or we didn't recognize it because of the absence of members. That has been rectified and that is something which on a steady state of affairs is given. Even if you were to exclude this, going forward, escalations will be an integral part. Our steady state of margins will form 23% as a base number. More importantly, absence of project revenue, is also a positive flip on the margins for us.
Okay, sir. So far, what kind of margin can we expect going forward?
We are expecting anywhere in the range of 23%-25%, or based on our inherent, core business, projections.
Okay. Okay, that answers my question. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Palak Shah from Indian Security. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, sir. I just have one question. My question is, regarding, like our core revenues grew by 13% YoY, but bottom line decreased by 21%. I just wanted to know, is it because of increase in finance cost and income tax? Like, can you explain in detail on these two line items, please?
The interest cost has increased from, say, INR 5.5 crore to INR 7 crore. That was one of the reasons. The second reason as your income tax, because of the higher deferred tax at my waste-to-energy project. These are the two line items which you rightly pointed, which has depressed my tax for the quarter. Due to the base effect and everything, that is why you're seeing it. Going forward, my finance cost will increase because till now I've been capitalizing the interest cost at my waste-to-energy project, and that will be expensed out.
Okay, okay. That, that answers my question. Thank you so much.
Sure. Welcome.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Jigar Shah from AK Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you, sir. I have just a couple of questions. You have mentioned in your Q3 that we are awaiting some awarding. Can you share some the kind of projects you have bid for and how confident are you to win the win the same? Can you also share what are the contract addition we are expecting in fiscal 2024?
As we mentioned earlier, I mean, there's a large CNC contracts in North that we have quoted for. It is, in fact, there are a couple of biomining contracts that we have quoted, and also a couple of mechanical treating contracts. All in all, I think we are pretty cautiously confident, I would say. Anyway, I mean, the results should be known in, in the next 1 or 2 months. Definitely by end of quarter three, we should be in a fair degree to, you know, fairly comfortable position to comment on the success ratio. All in all, our success ratio is, I mean, like, within 2 to 2 out of every 3 projects as it was before.
Sure. That, that answers my question. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question from the line of Rishikesh from RoboCapital. Please go ahead. Rishikesh, your line is on the talk mode. Please go ahead. As there's no response from the current participant, we'll move on to the next. Next on the line of Kaushal Kedia from WallFort EMS. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Can you shed some light on the escalation clause? What did you say that going forward, there won't be any issues because it's inbuilt in the contract now, so we will be given automatically. Is that what you mean?
Yeah. The escalation clause is inbuilt in the tender, and that's for the tendering process. Since there were, standing committee was not formed in most of the municipal corporations because of lack of elected members, this was held in, again, sometime. Those things are getting rectified and getting processed out.
No, how is it getting...
To answer your question, when we quote for a project, we quote a unit rate. Okay? Then after 1 year, typically, there is an escalation clause which extends, which is applicable, which is renewed every quarter or every year, depending on the contracted clause. Initially, the challenge was to get the escalation in place for the first time around. Now that that has happened, now it will be a regular practice to get that escalation over the years. We will be quoting with, with our base rate, plus the escalated amount.
No, no, tell me, I think because... Sorry, the contract, that thing has changed. How is it changed? What, how, what have you done to those who are continuously, How, because since the last quarter, what has changed that has made the change in the clause? You have revisited the contract agreement with the municipal corporation. What is it?
So we have not revisited the contract clauses. What has changed is the large contracts with the company back in, back end of 2018 and 2019, they were due for renewal for escalation clauses, 2020 and 2021. That being a COVID period and the absence of elected members, that could not get acted upon in the new course of time. Hence there was a delay in that first tranche, as Mahendra was mentioning. Now, that is partly getting reflected and acted upon clients. As and when the other clients pitching, those extra revenue will start pouring into the system.
The escalation bit that you didn't recognize in quarter four, when will you recognize it?
Some of the escalations were not recognized in Q3 and Q4. A portion of that, so that total quantum is crores, of which INR 6.3 crore is recognized in the first quarter. The balance will be recognized as and when the same thing gets passed and the same thing is transferred to our bank account. It's on a cash basis that we will start recognizing the same. We expect the entire thing to be recognized in the current financial year, maybe going forward, maybe into a quarter of the next financial year. That's pertaining only to the historical escalation. Once these things get ratified, then I'll also give all my current year's escalation, so that also comes into the picture.
Okay, but how did it go? Was the standing committee finally formed?
Yes. The administrator, who is the commissioner in this sense, got the approval from the Chief Minister's office, and he got it approved under his guidance.
Okay.
In the absence of a standing committee, the commissioner is the administrator for the municipal corporation. Since normally the standing committee, which is made up of elected members, approve the budgetary allocation for the entire municipal corporation. In the absence of an elected assembly, as you would say, I mean, it goes to the Chief Minister's domain, and he has to approve it, and then that's how it gets passed and done. We hope most of the municipal corporation elections happen in a year or two, so things will be back to normal.
I think you said there would be any?
I think things are getting rectified now. I mean, the last 2 years has been bad. Post-COVID, a lot of focus of the government has been to get back to normalcy. 2024 is when most of the elections, the general elections, everything is on card, so I think things could normalize.
Okay. Okay, can you tell us about the big contract that you said you went for some big...
You're not audible. Your voice is not there.
Is it okay now? Hello.
Yeah, slightly better. Yeah.
Am I right? This is for CMP.
Yeah, we hear you. Hello?
Yeah. Hello.
Sorry, can you hear me? I'm able to hear you.
Can you hear me now? Hello.
Yes, sir. Please go on.
Hello? Hello, hello.
Yes, sir. Please proceed.
I'm saying you said you already won some new contract in the north?
That's right.
Will it be bigger than, say, RMC?
It will be a similar size or that can go over here and there, depending upon the number of bids or the zones which are awarded.
When do you know this?
Maybe by the end of September. It's all about the government agencies. Normally they get back to us by end of October. It's almost two months after we submitted the bid. Maybe end of September or mid of November is when we expect. Before the December end, we should be in the know.
How much %? How much, how much do you contribute to the revenue from all?
Oh, it will be very pre-emptive, and premature on our end to give you that number, because it's still, the fact that you're back the contract, it still has a negotiation platform to be done with the corporation. It's very, it would be very premature right now to give you that number.
Approximately if you could share. Approximately, I know it's a very rough estimate, but.
We would not like to explore that number here at this juncture.
Okay. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rishi, from Broke Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Hello, sir. We are unable to hear you, Mr. Rishi.
Hi, am I audible now?
Yes, sir. Please proceed.
Okay. Thank you for the opportunity. You said the finance cost will be increasing going ahead. Can you, like, give a broad indication that what will it be going ahead, and from which quarter will this reflect?
The interest cost will start ticking from the end of Q3 and Q4 onwards, and the quantum of increase will be to the tune of around INR 2.5 crore - INR 2.8 crore per quarter. That's the incremental number that we are looking at.
Okay. Would it be same with the depreciation? Will depreciation rise, too?
Depreciation will also increase because the plant will be put to operation. That will again increase by a similar number.
Okay. You think depreciation by Q3 or Q4, 2.5-3 per quarter will increase?
Yes.
Okay. Okay. Also, I missed your comment about the contract revenues. What level of contract revenues you will see for this year?
We expect around, an incremental, INR 25 crore - INR 28 crore to be spent, on the CapEx board at Kanjur and in PCMC, the waste to energy. That's the incremental number we have. We don't foresee a significant spike after that number.
Sir, my question was with respect to the contract revenues.
I'm sorry about that. We had INR 48.7 crores in Q1, and we have an incremental INR 28 crores to be spent in CapEx. That will add in our contract revenues to say around INR 32 odd crores for the balance three quarters.
Okay. Okay, got it. Got it. Also, sir, the consolidated EBITDA that we have achieved this quarter, around 23%, do we think this is sustainable for the rest of the year?
Yes, that is sustainable.
Okay. Okay, got it. Thank you very much.
Welcome.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Gaurav Ganji from Glorytail Capital Management. Please go ahead.
Yes, thank you for the opportunity. I just want to understand more about how the accounting is done as per, you know, as per engaged with the contract projects, reflected in our project cost and revenue.
As the accounting side, I want to try, since the CapEx are made on certain projects which are of nature, I cannot recognize them in our books as planned and machinery. This is a right to charge, revenue. We have a note on the revenue recognition on our website. I will ask Pratik, our FCA, he will also reach out to you. The note is available on our website. You can easily download it, else reach out to Pratik and we can send you the note on that.
Oh, okay. All right. I mean, this is just a book entry, not realized in.
Yes, this is a book entry. This is a book revenue that is expense, but a due cash out in the form of limit.
Oh, okay. All right. All right, sir. Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that is the last question. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Shiju Jacob for the closing comments.
Hi, I want to express my gratitude to our dedicated team, who have worked tirelessly to achieve our goals. I also extend my heartfelt appreciation to our clients and stakeholders for their unwavering support. Together, we have built a strong and successful company, and I'm confident that our journey towards a cleaner and greener future will continue to be filled with success. Thank you, everyone.
Thank you, members of the management team. Ladies and gentlemen on behalf of Antony Waste Handling Cell Limited, I conclude this conference call. Thanks for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.