Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited Q1 FY 2025 earnings conference call. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Rishab Barar from CDR India. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Good day, everyone, and thank you for joining us on the Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Q1 FY 2025 earnings call. We have with us today Mr. Abhay Baijal, Managing Director; Mr. Anand Agarwal, CFO; Mr. Anuj Jain, Assistant Vice President, Finance; Mr. Tridib Barat, Vice President, Legal and Company Secretary; and Mr. Ashish Srivastava, Vice President, Sales and Marketing. Before we get started, I would like to point out that some statements made or discussed in the conference call today may be forward-looking in nature and must be viewed in conjunction with the risks the company faces. Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals does not undertake to update them. The statement in this regard is available in the presentation, for reference. We will begin this call with opening remarks from Mr. Baijal. I would now like to invite Mr. Baijal to share his views. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Rishab. Good day to everybody, and a warm welcome to all of you participating in this call. During the quarter, on standalone basis, the company has achieved an EBITDA of INR 942 crore as against INR 778 crore last year, which is a growth of 31% and a PAT of INR 552 crore as against INR 469 crore, showing a growth of about 18%. At the consolidated level as well, the company has performed, registering PAT of INR 448 crore as against INR 339 crore last year, which will grow to 32%. As you must be aware, the country has received good rains, resulting in higher acreage intake. Agencies are forecasting a better precipitation for the balance period, which are good signs for the Agri sector.
Our crop protection chemicals and specialty nutrients business continues to grow strongly with better margins. We have launched 8 new CPC offerings, primarily comprising herbicides and fungicides. We have added 4 products in the pipeline, all of which have been introduced in the current financial year. Our focus is to cater to high-value crops like fruits, vegetables and niche crops. We are also focusing on further harnessing our channel strength to increase the market width and depth. Our strategic partnership with innovators is ongoing and growing. We have introduced new products, 6 in the herbicide and 2 in the fungicide segments. Our focus on biologicals is also showing good results. Recently, we have introduced Uttam Pranaam Bio Nano Phosphorus, a unique product produced through biogenic process, having 100% P2O5 under the biological vertical.
We have developed this product in collaboration with TERI, and the response till date has been very encouraging. We are also working on new biological products, especially for fungicides and bactericides, to be launched over the next 6-12 months, for which trials are already on. We are also analyzing and testing some eco-friendly biostimulants, and we are very confident of launching a variant in the near future. Our pipeline continues to grow, diversify and grow in this section. Our new focus area is to enter into hybrid and research variety seeds, which will complete the Agri input products profile. Our urea business continues to progress well. All our units are operating at optimal capacity, and our production of urea in the quarter is 923,000 metric tons.
Energy saving projects that were implemented in the ATR in March 2024 for our Gadepan- I and II plants are giving better than expected results, and our focus continues to remain on improvement in plant operations and implementation of various energy schemes to remain the best in class. In P&K Fertilizers, we continue to follow the portfolio approach. The product portfolio is being optimized based on geographical requirements and viability. Our cash flows have been good. We received about INR 2,300 crore of subsidy first quarter, and we have prepaid our long-term loans, and we have 0 long-term debt in the company. Our emphasis on maintaining strong connects with both dealers and farmers continues. Communication via digital channels is delivering good results. We launched product display contests across territories, which has helped us to enhance visibility and connect with the farmers.
As part of the Seed to Harvest program, a key focus area for Chambal, we undertook more than 1,200 farmer meetings, conducting over 700 demos and 124 soil sample days to collect over 43,000 soil samples in UKS harvest territory. Our joint venture IMACID is also performing well, with higher production and better margins. Our TAN project is progressing as per plan. Statutory approvals are in place, and we have spent about INR 342 crore through June 30, 2024. Orders for all long lead items have been placed. Construction is progressing well. Several of the long lead items have also been inspected for various milestones, and there are no showstoppers there. We continue to look forward to create value for our stakeholders, and with that, we will be happy to take your questions. Thank you.
Shall we open the floor for questions?
Yes, please.
Thank you very much. We'll now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Participants, you may press star and one to ask the question. The first question is on the line of Prashant Biyani from Elara Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. Sir, referring to your slide 4, the 110 metric ton per day increase in production capacity for G-1, G-2 combined, would this mean that you can make more urea with same amount of ammonia?
No, there is a particular ratio to urea to ammonia. That chemical composition does not change. What it means is that the background ammonia itself has increased. To that extent, the throughput has increased.
Sir, with increased ammonia, you would like to make more urea or produce more of surplus ammonia?
No, we are producing both, and in fact, the country needs both. So there is a production plan. We are going according to that.
Sir, how much is the incremental surplus ammonia that will generate from this?
See, if we are producing 110 metric ton per day increase. Obviously, there's 60 to 65 tons increase in ammonia. By a back calculation.
Okay. But that we'll get only if we don't generate urea, don't make urea. If we make urea, then that ammonia will be used for urea only.
Yeah, it is. Basically, when we have said 110 tons per day increase in production capacity, this is basically for urea. Supposing we are, there is also a balancing between the two plants, it could be that sometimes we are producing 75 tons, so 10 tons may become surplus or 5 tons may become surplus. That is from time to time.
Sir, is it also on your discretion that, for example, if ammonia prices go up, you may rather want to produce more of ammonia rather than this extra 110 metric ton per day?
No, it's not normally like that. Not normally like that. It is. I'm not saying that there is no discussion, but in the production plan, we tend to also support the government in their requirements for urea.
Right. Secondly, sir, what has driven this 40% growth in contribution profit for CPC & SN?
For that, I will hand over the mic to Mr. Ashish Srivastava.
Ashish, sir?
Can you hear me?
Yes, we... Yeah.
Okay. So, you know, this is an approach of, you know, an advanced placement scheme which is yielding results for Chambal, so far.
Okay. So this is more driven by advanced placement?
Sir, not only that, that is one part of the strategy. The other thing is that this year, because of our, the way we have chosen our products, we had a good growth in our overall revenue also, and we have a good growth in our margins also. So both together, the 39% to 40% growth is coming.
Prashant, you must remember that when we have said that good results are coming from biologicals-
Yeah.
So to that extent, some of the, some of the uptick is also from the biological.
Sure. That's it from my side. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Participants, you may press star and one to ask the question. Next question is from the line of Harmish Desai from PhillipCapital. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, and thank you for taking my question. Sir, can you please provide an update on IMACID? How is IMACID doing right now?
So, Harmish, Anand here. I think IMACID is doing well, and what has helped us in IMACID to improve our realizations is that the input prices have softened a bit there, and our production has also been more compared to last year in Q1. And therefore, our margins are higher.
Understood, sir. Do you expect this situation to continue for the rest of the financial year?
Although I have to, I would say that, you know, you have to benchmark it against the global DAP situation or the global allocations of phosphoric acid as such. And since most of the production in IMACID is directed towards the Indian market. And given the fact that the DAP prices are firming up, we feel that the price at which they will sell phosphoric acid, because that is their basic output, that would remain stable. So unless they could repeat the performance in this quarter, and maybe again, subject to the fact that they don't have any blackouts in production or problems in production, I would say that they would be able to repeat the performance in this quarter, at least.
Understood, sir. Sir, can you please provide some update on this Uttam Pranaam product? I know that, you know, there's a mention on the slide, but how do you see this product going ahead and, you know, contribution? Because Nano Phosphorus, I think this is our first product. So if you can please provide some update on it.
Okay. So, the differentiation comes from its sourcing. You know, this is the only product in the ecosystem which is coming from a bioprocess. It is a bacteria is hardness, is taking out phosphorus from rock phosphate, and at the same time eliminating the trace elements. So this is the only product which is coming through a biogenic process, that makes the product spec, product differentiation. And, since the application is initially with the seed, so the initial results are good. You know, we have already treated around 76,000 acres of land, with this product.
Got it. Got it, sir. So any, any target on, you know, how much do you want it to grow? Have we placed any target for FY 2025, FY 2026?
So, Amish, the fact is that this product has to be handled. We are doing marketing, and we are doing trial demonstrations, and so on. As the acceptance of the product grows, I would say next year onwards, the growth will be much, much steeper than what we are seeing. For your information, we have sold. How many bottles?
So, we still, for the first quarter, we have sold around 23,000 liters, which translates around, sorry, translates around, 78,000 liters, so divide by four. So that is, that translates into around,
10 lakh bottles?
No. No, no. 19,000 liters of material in quarter one.
8,000 bottles.
Yeah.
How is it priced?
Almost 100,000 bottles, 100,000 bottles, which generated a turnover about INR 2.5 crore.
Got it. Got it.
We see this, this growth going more exponential next year, as the two or three applications in the various seasons and the farmer conviction grows.
Understood, sir. That is helpful. Sir, lastly, on the seeds, question I'd like to ask is, you know, you have mentioned that you would like to focus on seeds going ahead. So have we devised any plan? What kind of, seeds or which crop are we targeting? Any such kind?
Let me keep that a secret for the moment. We have just said
Got it.
that we are quite advanced in our planning to for entry into this business. And the requisite man, material, resources are being gathered up to start this process. So I think I would be able to give more color on this in the next few quarters.
Understood, sir. That is helpful. Thank you so much. Good luck.
Thank you. Participants, you may press star and one to ask the question. Next question is from the line of Viraj from SiMPL. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thanks for the opportunity. Couple of questions. First is on the crop protection. You know, you said that only product placement grown better contribution growth vis-à-vis the sales performance is seen in CPC & SN. Just can you explain how does an early placement drives better contribution margin?
You know, see, what happens in the, in the CPC market is, you know, there are some products which are incidence-based and some products which are prophylactic in nature. Like, for example, we decide in quarter one. So the more early you place them, you know, you take care of the competition to an extent. That at times results in good margin, at times you don't lose anything. So, this time it has clicked. It might not click next time. So this keeps changing, you know?
To put a long story short, the fact is, this is. Tactics do not only dictate. There is product value, there is value on the table in terms of what the product actually delivers. This is only one tactic. The tactic, as you rightly said, is not, may not be completely repeatable, but at the same time, what it does is, that it means that your product, which is a good product, has been used by the market. And once the use of the product is established in the market, then its repeat buy is what makes the difference. And once the repeat buy comes, that is when the volume and margin growth happens. So let us not only put it down to early placement is a kind of a, you know, tactical maneuver.
But strategically, what happens is that your product has been used by the market. When it has been used by the market, and seeing is believing, because our products are really very well thought of, chosen, directed, and with all the ingredients which work for various crops. The farmer tends to create a repeat buy, and once the repeat buy starts happening, then automatically volume growth and margin growth happens. That is really the essence of what this is.
So just few questions, you know, on this only. You know, if you look at the portfolio, it's largely generic. There are no specialty molecules right now, and as such, we don't have any strong combination molecules, unlike, say, other companies who are, you, you know, where they had a success, say, for example, BASF Exponus. They had two, three combination molecules, primarily based on generics. So if I look at the portfolio per se, you know, when you say there's a repeat buying, you know, there's a good amount of traction. Of the products which we have sold in, say, now, or launched in last three years, five years, when I look at the top five, top 10, would it be the same products, or you'll still see a lot of churn in the portfolio compared to that? So that is one.
And then secondly, if there is a churn in the portfolio, then how are you looking at, say, 3 years or 5 years hence, you know, when you're looking to build a INR 700 to 750 crores kind of a scale, you know, how are you looking at that? So just two questions on this.
Okay. So see, looking at the first to answer your question of the combinations, you know, let's look at the products which have been launched now. Especially in the soybean pesticide category, there is a molecule which is a combination product. So it's not that there are no combination products being launched, so it is what the market is requiring. Secondly, your next question was about the generics versus this. If you look at our portfolio today, it's around 66 CPC molecules, which we are marketing in the entire year. Out of the 66, in last five years, we have launched 38 new molecules. Today, we are contributing to 25% to 30% of sales. So this is a continuous process, you know? We'll keep adding, keep deleting, product portfolio, including combinations.
So it's not that we are not launching combination products.
No, no. My question was specifically, that, you know, when the portfolio is largely generic, you know, sir talked about having a product value proposition and having a high repeat purchases. So I'm just trying to understand, when the portfolio is largely generic and, you know, keeping aside the tactic of, you know, early placement or late placement, there are similar competitors in each of the molecules we will be launching or you already launched. So when I look at the sales base of, you know, current year, say close to INR 900 or 1,000 crores, the molecules which you already launched, say, three or five years, would they still be the top molecules for you?
It will give some sense whether, you know, the value proposition which we are seeing, you know, that's reflected in the sales profile or not, when it comes- compare the top five, top-end molecules.
Yeah, yeah. Got your question. See, if you look at the first question and the answer on generics, still this country, the 75% of sale is through generics, CPC business. Now, amongst the balance, you know, take... I'll give you a specific example. We were marketing one chemistry by name Imidacloprid, for soybean. We were also marketing another pesticide in soybean by name Chlorantraniliprole. I'm talking of technicals. Now, this year we have launched a combination of that, which has come from the house of Nissan, and we are the only third company who is allowed that. So because of our relationship in the ecosystem, whether it is a Nichino or it's a Nissan or it's Syngenta, so we are getting those products early in our portfolio.
That is also making a difference for us.
Just two questions. I think somewhere we were evaluating whether we want to come into the manufacturing piece, on technical or you'll be looking at collaborations, you know, with foreign companies. So I think you talked about Nissan and Syngenta, but, you know, if you can just broadly give more color, you know, how are we looking at the CPP & SN space? You know, do we still want to have a asset-light approach? Or you think that with now traction in generics and some, positive indications on MSC, we would also have to have a backend manufacturing. So that is, one, yeah.
See, the point is that if you see that we are approaching a certain critical mass in this system, and, we are now beginning to create enough, attraction with some of the innovator companies. And when these innovator companies are approaching us, and we are talking to them, our credibility in order to be able to market these products has now risen to a level in which the more research-based, the Gen-Next type of molecules start getting available. And, with that will also come, at some point of time, the responsibility of creating volumes and manufacturing and so on. And when that stage arrives, once the...
I think I believe in with these type of products, my understanding is that you need a 3 to 5-year kind of comfort creation between the parties, whereby then you come to a situation where you can actively start looking. And I think we have just climbed the first few steps of that ladder. And as we grow up in this situation and we reach a certain size, and they get comfort, because they will be parting with more intellectual property-heavy material as they talk to us and go with us.
then is that the time when we will start creating structures by which we could manufacture? That's exactly the strategic direction we are taking.
Okay, just last question.
Viraj, just to add what Mr. Baijal said, you know, we have some dedicated tollers, you know, who have come up in India who are not into B2C business. So their business is B2B and just formulation. So, the question of the manufacturing, till time this product is available, we are not looking at it as of now, but we always keep evaluating with the various options. Thank you.
So just last question, on CPP & SN. You know, in somewhere in the presentation you talked about a certain percentage in terms of the width and the depth. Can you elaborate more in terms of coverage, when it comes to core territories of Chambal, what is the coverage of CPP & SN? And even the tie-ups which you're getting from, say, the MNCs now, would that be only for those core territories, or are you getting more of a pan-India kind of a portfolio access? You know, another distribution agreement you would have with them. So yeah.
Okay. Okay, so the last question first. You know, the whatever agreements are in place with all the, all the partners is for pan-India. They are not geography specific. So whenever we have access to a molecule, it is for the pan-India market. Your first question was,
The depth and the width, the coverage, right? Compared to the core territory of Chambal and urea, where would we be learning right now?
So the idea, the idea is to put a channel in place, you know, which can take care of around 30% of depth and width that takes care of our future productions.
To put it differently, of the sales which you have right now, would there be any sales which will be outside the core territory of Chambal and urea for crop protection? Or all the sales would still be primarily from the core?
No, no, no. No, no, the CPC sales are also coming from non-urea sales also.
What is the contribution, roughly?
Around, say it should be around, around 8% to 10%.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Participants, remember, press star and one to ask a question. Next question is from the line of S. Ramesh from Nirmal Bang. Please go ahead.
Hello, can you hear me?
Yes, sir, we hear you.
Yes. Good morning, Mr. Baijal. Thank you very much for the call. So, if you look at your segment numbers, there is a sharp increase in your traded complex fertilizer margins. So, if you can get a basic understanding of how you have achieved this? And secondly, if you look at your segment assets, there's a significant movement in segment assets for complex fertilizers declined sharply, whether you see it quarter-on-quarter, similarly for crop protection. So if you can give some insight into the improvement in the performance of complex and this movement in the segment assets, as well.
Yeah. So, I think your voice was not very audible. Could you slowly repeat? I think some of your questions it was respect with the margins in the The traded, bulk traded fertilizers, NBS fertilizers.
Yeah, yeah. Let me repeat it. The improvement in the traded segment numbers have gone up from INR 30 crore last year to INR 120 crore this year. So that is one. Secondly, if you look at the segment assets, there's a steep decline in the segment assets, whether you see it on year-over-year, quarter-on-quarter, in complex fertilizers and the crop protection business.
So the answer is very simple. So the first one, if you see there is a prior period income item, which I think we have disclosed in the note. That is one reason why it shows a higher number. And, if you see otherwise, the comparable quarter-to-quarter, the numbers have looked more or less the same, I think 8% or 10% here or there. Although the volumes this year were little lower, that is one thing. So that should explain the first part of your question. As far as segment assets are concerned, I will let Anand handle this.
So, Ramesh, what happens that there is a seasonality involved. Last year in complex fertilizers, we had higher stock going forward in Q2 from Q1. This year, because of a little bit of lower volumes on DAP side, our stocks are lower, and hence the result is that we have lower segmental assets for complex fertilizers. If you look at CPC & SN, this is more because I think we don't want to increase our stocks with us, and we have been efficient and we have been efficient in our collections and our sales to that extent. So... And the reduction is not that great in CPC & SN. Otherwise, I think we are fairly as per compared to last year, Q1.
How much would be the prior period income, which Mr. Baijal referred to in the traded margins?
See, this keeps on happening, you know, with DOF. There in the note.
It is there in the note. There is INR 92 crore for this quarter, but there'll be something or the other every quarter, which keeps on happening with DOF. You know, some subsidies will come in later, some compensations for the prior periods. Some compensation also get deducted, which we get next year. So, this is part and parcel of the game.
Yeah.
Okay. Yeah, and I see the note now. So, in terms of the subsidy you have given in the presentation, there's a decline in the subsidy. So what is that due to? Is it because of the shutdown in the Gadepan II units?
Which subsidy decline are you talking about?
So if you see the presentation, where you have given a slide where you have given the subsidies received,
Okay.
Yeah, it's on 15 bar 23. So subsidy received is declined from,
Compared to last year You know, commodity prices have come down compared to last year, especially on the bulk fertilizer side, and hence the subsidy levels have come down. Otherwise
I'll explain this. What has happened is, the DAP subsidy was down, we did by about INR 10,000 per ton, and we have done far less volumes on DAP, number one. Number two, in even MOP volumes, the subsidy went down quite a bit, which was, so almost INR 7,000 to 8,000. So this is impact of, the price variance in that sense, which has happened in this case. And secondly, the quantum of, traded fertilizers have been less this year as compared to last year. So both have impacted. As far as the urea subsidy is concerned, it is stable because gas prices, both periods corresponding, more or less the same.
Okay, that helps. Sir, in terms of the outlook for your traded margins, urea is going to remain steady, but for the volume growth. We are going to understand that either you have to see the retail prices, or MRP may be increased for DAP and complex, but this is all the government would have to increase the NBS rates because of the recent increase in ammonia and the phosphoric prices. So, and is there an increase in the phosphoric acid contract price you anticipate? And do you see the industry being able to raise retail prices in case the government doesn't change the NBS? What is the outlook for next second half in terms of the NBS rate and the potential for retail prices being increased for the complex fertilizers and DAP?
Well, I can't say what the government stance on retail prices will be, given that there are political compulsions of various elections. But as far as our approach is concerned, if you notice, we have been consistently stating that we have a portfolio approach. We match the geographic requirements with the kind of NPKs or various fertilizers that we want, whether MOP or whether NPK or various grades, and see the viability, and then we go about doing that. So depending on the what metric fits, we will do. We have stocks for this quarter, albeit not that much. Going forward, we will see what happens in the October subsidy mechanism that comes, and we'll take our call according to that.
So if you look at the last year's segment results for complex fertilizers, based on the current pattern margin and the kind of volumes you can play, do you think you'll be able to match it or slower growth on that in terms of the segment results?
This is very dynamic. I can't give you any guidance on this, actually, because there are two factors in play. One is the government's own policy decision on MRP. Second is the international prices. Third is the subsidy that they decide. When everything is open, you have to be exceedingly tactical on this. There is no strategic play here, and we have to work according to what the best information we have. So I won't be able to give you any guidance on this, save and except that we will definitely match our numbers of last year.
Okay. So on the consolidated numbers, I understand that there is an adjustment of the other income, which explains some of the decline in the consolidated results compared to the standalone results, and it's there in the last year's results also. But is there anything else which has, you know, led to the difference between the standalone and consolidated numbers? Because this
Dividend gets marked off. As part of consolidation, dividend gets marked off. That is INR 140 crores. Balance, then you add back the performance of the joint venture itself.
For the current quarter.
Yes. That is the only difference, otherwise there is no difference. Everything else matches.
Okay. Thank you. I'll join the call.
Thank you very much. Participants, remember star and one to ask a question. Next question is from the line of Falguni Dutta from Mansarovar Financials. Please go ahead.
Yes. Sir, I just have a basic question on this INR 92 crore. So has it affected any part of the numbers being reported? This INR 92 crore note that you have given.
Falguni, this was on account of, you know, losses we took on complex fertilizers two years back, which was approved. So at that point of time, we recorded lower subsidy. Now, the balance subsidy has been given by the government, so we are recording it.
So this would have come in the in our profits in the complex fertilizer?
Yes, yes.
For this quarter. Okay.
Yeah.
Okay, thank you, sir. That's all from my side.
Minus tax and whatever you have to pay, that gets deducted from here.
Okay. So in short, I should see the complex segment number excluding this, generally, I think?
Yeah, yeah. But you will still see that it has improved from last year.
Yeah, yeah. Yes, sir. Yes, certainly, sir. Thank you, sir. That's all from my side.
Thank you very much. Next question is from the line of Ranjit, from IIFL Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, sir. Thanks for taking my question. The question is on the CPC & SN front. So on the slide, we have kind of a guidance for FY 2027, and that contribution margin works out to be around 18% odd. But for the last few quarters, we have been consistently delivering about 20, and now we are at almost 23%. So is there any change in that guidance of 18% from the contribution level in the CPC & SN segment?
So, so see, this volatility will keep on happening from, you know, 18% to 23%. But however, what we will say that we will be somewhere near, the kind of margins we are earning, and, you know, we'll be able to deliver consistently over a period, yeah.
This should be largely be taken as an EBITDA or, there is something else to it?
No, these are basically your net margins, which you said net gross margin. So below this, there will be expenses, and the EBITDA will be little less than what is there, yeah.
Although, Ranjit, we run a very tight ship on
If you see the segment, you will be able to see the EBITDA levels.
Right. Yep.
Right.
So, second question is on the urea front. The expansion or the increase in 100 metric ton per day, so we'll be able to increase our assessed capacity so that we're also getting the benefit of IPP?
Yes, but that depends on how the IPP behaves. As of now, it's too early to say where it will head it. A bigger, or sharper, analysis would be possible by the third quarter, I think.
Right. And this has already happened, or is there a timeline to this?
What?
The increase
What is the timeline?
Increase in capacity is already through.
No, no, this throughput increase has already happened.
Okay. Sure. We are also undertaking the energy saving program?
See, we have a roadmap, which I think discussion on that took place. One part of that has been executed. 3 other projects, carbon dioxide, compressor, this, that, they are being progressed as we speak. So these are to catch the 2026 timelines, when we will have the ATR for these 2 plants once again. So it is going according to schedule. And then there are future further, energy saving, schemes which are continuously under evaluation.
Right.
So this is, you know, a kind of a continuous process. We don't stop at one point. We keep improving, so that as we have said in our statement, we aim to be the best in class.
Right, sir. And lastly, from my side, now, on the Gadepan- III benefits, any update on that?
Too early to talk about this. I think, we have not had any conversation on this with the government. My own sense is that discussion will start late 2025. We still have two and a half years from now, so it's early to start discussing with them.
And that all the steps that we are taking, so that best we'll be able to kind of fill the gap, if at all those benefits are going to expire.
Exactly. The point is that we continue to grow not only to fill the gaps, but also to grow. Grow as in grow and go. And, so lines of businesses have to be developed. Whatever we can, sort of, multiply, use force multipliers we can use, we are using. And there will be, you know, going forward, if there are some, break tools here and there, you'll learn about it. Like TAN, one of the things that we have done, we can do product line extensions on that, other issues and the other items that could be produced out of that. So we keep, as you said, a continuous process, first creating a foundation and then building upon it.
Right, sir. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Tarang, from Old Bridge Capital Management. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Good afternoon, and congratulations on a very strong set of numbers. Fantastic execution on crop protection side and, you know, the transformation of balance sheet, I think it's worthy. So just a couple of questions directed at crop protection. Sir, how are the credit terms in this business, and how different are they, from your other business? And second, the trajectory that we've seen for this business in FY 2022, 2023, 2024, and I know that you have a longer-term target of about INR 75 crore, how should we see this for the full year FY 2025, should the Q1 trends continue? So yeah, these are the two questions.
Okay, I'll answer the question first. You know, with regards to credit, you know, usually the fertilizer and the CPC & SN market are different in terms of the credit which you play in the market. But if you compare us with the industry, we are doing reasonably good in CPC segment. You know, our quarter one, 66% sales have come from cash and 34 from credit sales. But if you look at the SN segment, it's a different segment. Only 36% comes from cash and 64 from credit. So it's a product positioning depending on the market. So our credit cycles, credit listing is lower than the industry, that much I can say. Now, with regards to the extrapolating the quarter one numbers to annualize, we have the product portfolio in place.
The Kharif crop looks good, so we intend to keep the growth level, but what numbers exactly? Difficult to project as of today, but there would be growth in this business for sure.
But Tarang, we want to maintain the momentum. How much we are able to, or we, what, t hat is dependent on, of course, seasonal factors as well, what will happen in Rabi. But, we have the wherewithal, we have the products, we have the, the partnerships. So I think the marketing team has been tasked, and I think they're executing that.
All right, so just a couple of follow-ups. One thing that you spoke about where, you know, you said that 66% is in cash and a third is in, on credit, and then you gave a, you know, reverse analogy of some other business where one third is on credit and, sorry, one third is on cash and 66% is on credit. What was that, sir?
That is, Crop Protection Chemicals, we are doing cash 66%. Specialty Nutrients segment, we are doing 36% cash. Between the two.
Got it. Second, sir, how has the fixed cost base of this business moved over the last three years?
I'll put it this way, that the allocation of the costs is between, in marketing is, in three segments. One is urea, the other is bulk fertilizers, other than urea, and the third is the CPC & SN. So what happens is that, depending on the effort analysis from, year to year, we have a certain allocation mechanism agreed with our auditors. They audit that. And there, I'm not saying we have time sheets to that extent and all that, but we have a template to organize and analyze. I would say it has remained stable, because the number of people who work in marketing have not increased. That should give you some indication. Of course, salary levels go up, but the numbers have not increased. So to that extent, there is, a tight control on the way we do things.
So then, in that case, would it be fair to presume that, you know, the trend for fixed cost base for this business is broadly in line with the trend that we see for the overall business?
Yes. Yes, that's absolutely correct. You are absolutely correct.
Got it. So, and my sense is last three years, this business continues to be, I mean, we see the contribution numbers, it continues to be EBITDA neutral or EBITDA positive, correct?
Yeah, I don't understand the
I don't
What is EBITDA positive?
It's really
It is year on year, depending upon the business and the allocation, and there's a fair allocation being done nowadays because we are also now reporting the segmental accounting. It's a fair and which is-
Quite EBITDA positive, I think.
Yeah, yeah.
Being neutral or
Yeah, yeah.
Got it. Wonderful, sir. Thank you. All the best.
Achieving the economies of scale, obviously it will be EBITDA positive.
Thank you.
Thank you. Participants, you may press star and one to ask the question. Next follow-up question is from the line of Viraj from SiMPL. Please go ahead.
Yeah, just two questions. I think, quarter or two back, we talked about capital projects we are evaluating for the nitric acid-
You're not, you're not sounding very clear. I think you are talking from the, speakerphone.
No, I'm talking on normal phone. Am I audible? Hello?
No, you are not very
What?
You are audible, but you are not clear. Distinction in the, we can't get what you are saying.
Is it better now?
Yeah. Yeah, better. Better.
Yeah. My query was, you know, a quarter or two back, we talked about us evaluating capital investments in the nitric acid value chain, in addition to the tank project. So any update you can give?
So we have received certain estimates. Those estimates on that particular plant are a little off what we thought. So that is being relooked into with another candidate. We should be, we know what it is costing with other parties, but the quote we received was a little higher than what our expectation was. So we are relooking at the numbers and with another party, so we'll. Once we have a satisfactory number, we'll get back to you.
Okay, and second question is on the seed business, right? You talked about us in the process of acquiring nine other resources. So is the approach to seed business more organic, or additionally, you have more of a distributor kind of arrangement, you know, with maybe some of the energies and-
No, it will be to begin with organic, and, at some point of time, inorganic options will also be evaluated.
Okay. So the reason I ask is, even when we talk about organic, you know, it's a process where, you know, from the R&D to commercialization takes somewhere between 4-5 years to 10 years, right?
Yes.
So what we visualize right now, and we will be having to make an investment on annual basis, you know, depending on the segments we choose. We will have to kind of make those investments either in P&L or CapEx to kind of, achieve a scale, you know, five years, seven years time. So is the understanding correct? Is this how we are looking at it?
We know that there is a cycle of three to five years for research and hybrid seeds, and we are prepared for it. In the meantime, there are in- licensing options and many other options to also generate products which can be brought to the market. So as I said, that we have created a certain framework internally, and that will be, as I said, within the fullness of time, in the next one or two quarters, the things will be clear to you exactly what will happen. I am not at liberty at the moment to disclose every facet of what we are going to do, but except that it is a serious entry into this space.
Okay, fine. Thank you very much, and good luck.
Thank you. Next follow-up question is on the line of S. Ramesh from Nirmal Bang. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you very much. So if you look at your cash surplus and the increase in receivables, and you know, adjust for the CapEx, there is possibly some credit you are getting on the working capital side. Has the inventory gone down by about INR 1,500 crore? So if you see the slides on receivables and the net cash position and your CapEx number you share, that's the number I get. So, has the inventory declined to that extent of around INR 1,400, 1,500 crore?
Yeah, some bit of inventory has declined, but overall, I think we are generating good cash now, and government is also supporting us by giving us our subsidies in time, and therefore, we hope that this will continue, and we keep on generating cash surplus.
Okay. So on the crop protection side, you have, you know, improved margin by about 500 basis points. And if you see your volume out of that 16%, the volume if you adjust for the weighted average impact is shown in the slide, it's about 18%. So how much would be the decline in pricing in that revenue growth of 16%? And on this 24% margin, is that margin sustainable for the remaining nine months, and would you be able to improve on that in FY 2026?
See, Ramesh, as I said, this is a dynamic situation, and we don't, as a rule, give you guidance on what is going to happen. We as a company have never given forward guidance, but what I told Tarang when he asked us this question, more or less in similar fashion, is that the marketing department has ambitious targets, and they are working to execute towards it. And that requires the correct combination of products and placement and everything, the strategies that have been discussed. So, it is, of course, my hope and my, you know, my task or ask from the marketing department. So let us see how it plays out. First part has gone well. The second and third part we have to see. The up to December is the crucial time. So we'll have to see how this progresses.
We have the wherewithal, we have the channels, we have the product partnerships. So let's see how it goes.
Yeah. So on this breakup between volume and pricing, can you, you know, confirm the numbers? Because you have given the, you know, product wise, volume growth and the revenue share. So by multiplier, I arrive at a volume growth of around 18%. So is it 18% to 20% volume growth, and then you have a price decline of around 3% to to 4% on your 16% revenue growth. Is that number correct?
Decline in revenue growth or, what you are saying, is there a price variance? Is that what you are saying?
Yeah, in the crop protection business, out of the revenue growth of 16%, I get the sense that there is a price decline of around 2%-4%. Is that number correct?
First of all, it is a combination of Crop Protection and Specialty Nutrients.
Yeah.
Secondly, when we have shown that the first quarter has grown from INR 296 to INR 343, this growth of that.
Right.
This is the net revenue.
Yeah.
When you do net revenue, you are deducting all discounts and other such things from this.
No, that's fine. So all we're trying to arrive at is, in terms of the overall equation between volume and price, that most companies have talked about volume growth and then some price decline. So I just want to understand, in your portfolio, crop protection and specialty nutrients, taken together, on the 16% revenue growth, what would be the split between volume growth and price variance?
Yeah, yeah. Ashish can tell you what is
Okay.
in terms of kiloliters or
Ramesh, I'll break this thing into crop protection and specialty nutrients. So what I am going to answer now about crop protection is about the gross invoice number. I don't have a net number. So if you look at the gross numbers in crop protection chemicals, our sales have gone up by roughly 27%. I'm talking about gross numbers. Out of that, that will answer because 17% growth has come from the new molecules, 17% has come from the increase in volumes of the existing portfolio, and 7% reduction is because of price decline. In volumes have gone up, but the prices have gone down, so that is a net impact. Does that answer your question now?
Yeah, that is perfect. Thank you very much. Appreciate that.
Thank you very much. As there are no further questions, I will now hand the conference to the management for closing comments.
So thank you very much, gentlemen, for patient hearing to our conference call. I hope we have been able to answer the questions, and we look forward to welcoming you for our next call at some time in November of this year. Thank you again.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. On behalf of Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.
Thank you.