Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd's Q1 FY2026 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 touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. Today we have on call Mr. Satish Mehta, CEO; Mr. Samit Mehta, Executive Director; Mr. Vikas Thapar, President, Corporate Development Strategy and Finance; Mr. Tajuddin Shaikh, CFO; Mr. Piyush Nahar, EVP, Corporate Development and Strategy. I now hand over to Mr. Piyush Nahar. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thanks for watching. Good afternoon, everyone. Earlier today, we released our financials for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, along with the press release. These are also posted on our website. We hope you all had a chance to review it. I'd like to bring to everyone's notice that this call is being recorded, and the recording and transcript will be available on our website. Before we begin, I want to remind everyone about the safe harbor related to today's investor call. Today's discussion may include forward-looking statements, which must be viewed in conjunction with the risk that our business faces that could cause our future results, performance, or achievements to differ significantly from what is expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. At the end of the call, if any of your queries remain unanswered, please feel free to connect us. I'll now request Mr. Satish Mehta, our CEO, to provide his opening remarks. Thank you and over to you.
Thank you, Piyush. Good afternoon to all of you. It's a pleasure to speak to you again post our first quarter results of FY2026. I am pleased to share the positive results of your company to start off the fiscal year ahead. We had a strong start to the fiscal year with all businesses, all verticals, showing excellent growth. Overall, our revenue grew by 15.7% year-over-year, while EBITDA grew by 20%. Our profit after tax grew by 41%, and we reported our highest quarterly profits of INR 215 crore. I repeat, INR 215 crore. Let me now provide three business updates for this quarter, which ended. Our domestic business grew faster than the industry in the quarter under the trends. We saw strong growth in all ARV/non-ARV therapies, such as gynaecology, cardiovascular, anti-infectives, and vitamins and minerals.
As I told you in the last keynote call, our new initiatives such as Vivekananda Dharma and Consumer Wellness are seeing a positive trend and strong traction. We expect Dharma as well as Consumer Wellness to become our key growth drivers in the times to come. We continue to take steps to strengthen and synergize our domestic business. We expanded our partnership with Sanofi for the diabetes segment. You are aware that it's part of the public domain. We'll now be marketing and distributing Sanofi's oral diabetes portfolio with three brands: Amaryl and Cetapin. These two brands we'll be promoting from Foot Health. As you know, 15 years back, we also had the cardiovascular portfolio, and we have done a reasonably good job.
Now, with this cardiovascular portfolio, and now this metabolic, I am pleased to tell my shareholders that your company is emerging as a strong player in the field of cardio-diabetes segment. We were strong in cardio with Amaryl and Cetapin. I have every reason to believe that you will also emerge as a player to reckon with in the metabolic diabetes segment as well. I am pleased to inform that we are strengthening our team with some significant additions. I am happy to welcome Mr. Aresh Vasant into the Emcure family as President of India Business. He brings with him rich experience in managing the India formulation business for the last 40 years. We've synced with various multinationals and Indian companies. As far as his last 15 years are concerned, he was with Sun Pharma.
I remain confident that we'll continue to grow above industry during the years with the steps that we are initiating. I am pretty confident about our journey in the domestic business. With some briefing about the domestic business, let me now move to the international segment. Our international business grew strongly by 20%, with all the verticals, all the geographies seeing pretty good traction. Our Canada business, about which I spoke in previous quarters, continues to show strong growth led by market share gains and new launches. Our rest of the world, we call it emerging markets, is also seeing strong traction in both ARV and non-ARV segments. This is led by new product approvals in our target countries.
I told you that we have a reasonably strong presence in ARV, but at the same time, the strategy is to conquer the non-ARV segments, and this is driven by unique products so that we are also selling in the emerging markets. I am happy to inform that Europe grew in double-digit growth, and we have a healthy pipeline going forward. As mentioned in my last call, Emcure has embarked on a journey of growth and improved margins through innovation, partnership, and newer geographical reach. This is the first year of a five-year vision to take Emcure into the next orbit. I repeat, this is the first year of our five-year vision to take Emcure into the next orbit.
During this period, our focus will remain on creating a strong foundation through investments in new technologies, processes, and above all, people who deliver highly profitable and above-average growth. I repeat, our focus will remain through investment in new technologies, processes, and people who deliver highly profitable and above-average market growth. Let me repeat once again that Emcure remains an India-focused company with a huge opportunity to tap the unmet medical needs of over 1.4 billion Indians. We are very, very committed to the domestic market. All I can say is that we at Emcure are very excited and absolutely excited in this space as we see a huge opportunity unfold ahead of us. We remain focused on building a company that creates everlasting value for all its stakeholders.
I am very satisfied with what we have achieved so far, and even more excited about what lies ahead of us. I will end my opening remarks by saying, as this space has more and more exciting opportunities unfold, hence being made to your company one of the most admired companies within the pharmaceutical industry. Watch out for this particular space, as together with you people, your company will emerge as one of the most admired companies within the pharmaceutical industry. Let me just say another topic of interest before I conclude. We all keep on talking about tariffs and what's happening with the Trump administration. Unfortunately, it's true that 50% tariff has been launched with excuse from India, and you never know what is going to happen about the pharma industry. Only President Trump knows about it.
I want to highlight that your company is predominantly insulated from the U.S. market with our exposure to the U.S. being less than 3%. Let me repeat that as far as Emcure is concerned, your company is predominantly insulated from the U.S. market with our exposure to the U.S. being less than 3%. With this remark, I will now pass on the floor to my CFO, Tajuddin Shaikh, to share the financial details of last quarter before we open up the floor for your questions and answers. Absolute pleasure in talking to you, and thanks for making it convenient to attend the call, which means a lot to me personally and obviously to the company, your continued interest in Emcure. Thank you very much.
Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. Before we move to the Q&A, I'll take you through some of the key financial highlights for the first quarter. Revenue from operations for the quarter grew by 15.7% year-over-year to INR 2,101 crore, up from INR 1,815 crore in Q1 FY2024. The domestic business grew by 9.4% year-over-year to INR 995 crore, driven by strong performance across all key therapies. International markets maintained solid momentum, growing 22% year-over-year to INR 1,106 crore. Emerging markets grew impressively by 42% year-over-year to INR 360 crore, with strong contributions from both the ARV and non-ARV portfolio. Canada reported a 16.4% growth to INR 342 crore. Europe saw robust growth of 12.8% year-over-year, reaching INR 403 crore. Gross margins for the quarter grew at 61.8% versus 57.8% in Q4 and 62.4% in Q1 FY2024. The change was driven largely by product and business mix.
EBITDA, excluding other income, grew 20.1% year-over-year to INR 404 crore. EBITDA margins stood at 19.2% versus 18.5% in Q1 FY2024 and 18.4% in Q4 FY2024, supported by strong operating revenues and productivity gains. Depreciation and amortization were classic quarter -over -quarter at INR 99 crore. Interest cost was INR 27 crore, reflecting lower borrowings. The effective tax rate stood at 26%. Profit after tax came in at INR 215 crore, showing strong growth of 41% year-over-year. With that, I will now open the floor for questions.
Thank you, sir. 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 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. The first question is from the line of Mr. Amey from JM Financial. Please go ahead, sir.
Yeah, thank you for taking my question. I mean, congrats on good numbers. Hello, Amma Audi? Hello.
Mr. Amma, are you on the line?
Yeah, yeah, I'm on the line. Hello. Hello. Hello.
Excuse me, one second. Mr. Mehta, could you come again?
Yeah, yeah. Is Namita Thapar here?
Yes, sir. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Thank you for giving the opportunity and congrats on good numbers. I had joined a bit late, so in case I'm repeating the question, just, the 9% growth to which we have delivered this year in India, is it fair to assume that this base is on the normal base as well? If you can give us a breakup in terms of the volume and price for this 9% growth for the quarter?
Yeah, I mean, this is on a normalized basis, so there's nothing left. I think in terms of the price, volume and all, volume would have been about 4%, price about 4%, and about a couple of percent of 1% - 2% of your new launches that we have.
Yeah. Is it fair to say that from the negative trajectory of volumes in post-COVID for two years, then last year, around 2% volume growth, what we have seen, now we are moving towards like 4 %- 5% kind of a volume growth for the full year?
Yes, that is what we are targeting.
Sure. Going ahead, because there will be diabetes sales additions happening from Sanofi, how should we look at the numbers for the full year? Is it possible to quantify how much will be the sales coming in from Sanofi's diabetes portfolio?
Sanofi would roughly be about an INR 200 crore portfolio, annualized that we'll have. We'll get about nine months of that in this year. We'll start it from August.
Seven, seven, yeah.
Sure.
Eight months. I mean, eight months we'll be getting in the current year, and on an annualized basis, you know, it is INR 200 crore.
Got it. In terms of MR additions, has there been any MR addition for diabetes, or would we be working with the same cardio-diabetes MR?
We have already had three revisions in the cardiovascular space, so we're not adding new MRs. It will be kept in the current one.
Sure. The last question I have, on the CM performance, if you can elaborate, for this quarter, how the performance has been, especially now, the competition has been largely settled in.
I think there on the prescription side, now we are actually seeing the revisable growth. This quarter, the ORA-PRES CM grew in double years for us. That is doing well for us. I think where we're still a bit more challenged is on the institution side, where some of the competition is still there at lower pricing. I think on the promoted side, we are seeing traction and revival.
I'm going to just ask, I'm going to go through as a researcher because what really happens, you know, the promotion, we are essentially focusing on quality and certain parameters where we are better than the competitor because, as you know, this particular product in our brought in the company for the first time. We are having a lot of data, and the scientific promotion is also helping us. I think we are getting the traction going forward. As Piyush rightly said, in the prescription market, we are doing well, but when it comes to the question of institution, the challenges remain.
Important. Just last question, how much would be the mix in terms of prescription and institution for us for that particular product franchise?
For the ORA for XM or for the overall?
For XM franchise, how much would we be?
I think now a majority will be prescription-driven now.
Okay. Got it. Got it. That will start reflecting in our performance data in the prescription.
Yeah.
Got it. Thank you so much. I will go ahead.
Thank you. Participants, if you wish to ask a question, you may press star and one on your touch-tone telephone. The next question is from the line of Mr. Alan kar from Kotak Institutional Equities. Please go ahead, sir.
Hi, good afternoon, everyone. It does turn about further launches in FY2026 in the women's health segment in the previous quarter. Can you take us through the progress on that front?
Yeah, we have launched two areas. One is, as we talked about, the TCOS, and the second is on the Lenapor. Both of them have been launched in the last quarter. As we talked about last time, these are new concepts we are trying to establish in the market. Early days, but we are seeing good traction out there. I think for them to become material, it will take time because we are still establishing these concepts out in the market.
Understood. If you can, coming to you on the performance of the iron portfolio in this quarter?
I mean, iron for me.
It has a network of iron portfolio.
Yeah, so gynaecology has done very well for us. It is reaching to the larger iron. I think they are growing much ahead of the industry. Even if you look at IPVR, the IPVR reflection is about 13% growth in the gynaecology segment. ORA-PRES T continues to grow in double digits. XCM, as we talked about, on the prescription side, we are again now in double digits growth. The iron segment is now back on growth mode for us.
Understood. Just one question there before I get into the international business. On SCM, a clarification: if I take into account both the prescription business as well as the institutional business, was there any drag at all if I look at the reported domestic growth in this quarter?
It will still be about 1% drag. As per that, we are being about 7.5%.
Okay, I just said for oral prescription, the growth is about 7.5% in India.
Yes.
Okay. Got it. Then on the international base, was there any meaningful benefit of the amphotericin B launch in Europe in this quarter, or do you expect the ramp-up to be more gradual towards the course of the year?
Sorry. Yeah. Hi, this is Samit. In the U.K., yes, you know, we have started actively supplying. However, in Europe, as we had told you over the last call, we got the approval under the GCP. Each country typically takes, you know, anywhere between three to five months for its own national approval, which we expect to start from the end of this quarter. I think the ramp-up in the second half of the year will be much higher than what we will see in H1.
Understood. That's helpful. A quick one on ARV and non-ARV. Satish, you mentioned about good growth in both ARV and non-ARV in ROW. What was the ARV contribution in this quarter?
ARV would have been roughly about half, yes.
Sorry, you mentioned 50%.
50%, yes.
Okay. Okay. Final question from my side, any update on the filing of semaglutide in Canada?
In Canada this month, we will be executing our filing batches. I think we continue to be on track to file towards the end of this fiscal year.
Got it. In India, I'm assuming we are on track to be among the first year of launches as you had mentioned earlier.
Yes, that continues to be our effort.
Got it. Got it. That's it from my side. Thank you very much.
Thank you. This is a reminder for all the participants. If you wish to ask a question, you may press star and one on your touch-tone telephone. The next question is from the line of Mr. Gagan Thareja from ASK Investment Managers Limited. Please go ahead.
Yes, I hope I'm audible.
I hope you speak a little bit louder, please.
Okay. All right. The first question is, you know, is it possible to give some flavor on how the Sanofi cardiac portfolio is doing for you year-over-year compared to last year?
Sure. The Sanofi portfolio, I think, is probably similar to what we are reporting for the overall domestic growth. It's been doing in line with that. I think the targets of Sanofi are aimed to grow that in line with the idea, and I think that's what we have been there in one year.
Okay. On the additional diabetic portfolio that you acquire from Sanofi, is it possible to understand the rationale? Are these drugs generally not seeing a slower sort of growth given that you had a new generation of drugs coming in for diabetes, or do they still constitute the first line of treatment, and therefore, will you expect them to grow healthily?
I'm going to say this is Satish Mehta. Sulfonylurea continues to be the first line of treatment, and the products like Glycovate and others, you know, they continue to have traction. If you recollect, you know, in the calls that I had probably a year back, at that time, you know, I was trying to communicate to my equity holders that we would like to be strong, you know, in, say, skincare dermatology, and we would like to be strong in metabolic. As far as skincare is concerned, we took a big step, you know, by getting somebody like Namita starting consumer wellness and dermatology initiatives. As far as metabolics is concerned, this is a hook, you know, Amaryl, which will connect with me to all the major, you know, consulting physicians and diabetologists.
With the help of that, you know, I feel that there will be a rebound effect on other products and we'll do well. As you know, our brand, you know, Vildagliptin is doing quite well. That's one of the top three brands, you know, post-LOE. With Amaryl coming to the fold, you know, our position in the diabetes segment metabolism will significantly strengthen, and that will also help us when we go for semaglutide as and when, you know, we get the LOE. This is a plan of overall strategic thinking because with Amaryl, we'll get a good connection with the doctors, and obviously, the same doctors are my potential prescribers for the semaglutide as well.
Okay. Was the sales force also transferred to Emcure from Sanofi for these?
No, that we shifted some time back. We already have three divisions in cardio-diabetes, so this is going to be one of the divisions.
Is it possible to understand the contribution? I understand it's early days, but still possible to understand how the derma and consumer wellness divisions are ramping up. Any flavor would be helpful here.
Yeah, so I mean, see, currently, we are in the investment mode. I mean, we just started a few months back, and given our total volume in pharma, you know, the prescription period is 18 to 24 months. At the same time, you know, the beauty is, you know, we are getting prescriptions, I mean, the unique preparations, you know, we are launching in the derma segment, and also whatever, you know, Namita is doing in herb, that is obviously very well received. This is a patient's game. It's not going to happen in a day. It has taken me 30 years to get the company to this level. Right? What I'm trying to do here, who the iron is?
Just to add, I think what we had guided last time is that overall, we think that these two new initiatives should drive about 1% or 2% additional growth in our overall domestic business. I think we're on track for delivering that for the year.
Thanks, Piyush. Very helpful.
One more thing on the asparagines and the vitamin D product, any further updates on when you believe you can come into the market with these?
Sure. For the RF personas, we have already submitted our clausula to TCGI, and we're waiting to hear from them in terms of when they constitute the SEC and when it will be reviewed. Fingers crossed there. On the veteran, we are also very positive in the sense that we should be completing our clinical trial by the end of September. Whatever time it takes after that to compile our clausula and submit it to the CDSC. Very hopeful that at least one, if not both, should get approval in this financial year.
Final one from my side, sir, if you could give us the latest gross net provision for the company.
Okay. Latest gross debt is around INR 700 crore.
Great. Thank you both. Wish you all the best, and I'll get back in the queue.
Thank you. Have a good day. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Mr. Bharat Shah from ASK Investment Managers Limited. Please go ahead, sir.
Yeah. Hi. Satish, it was good to hear the five-year journey that you are planning, which is marked by nurturing new partnerships with new innovation and driving new products and geographies, and end up being by investment in people, processes, and technology. That's refreshing to hear that we feel that on a sustained basis, the growth will come in. That quarter is a must-make, by the way. Just to put a little bit of skepticism on that, if you pardon me, but ultimately, in the pharmaceutical business, sustained and predictable growth will come only from the fresh portfolio of products, the well-aligned therapeutic areas, and all of that is to be driven by new products developed through the sustained research effort. With a large part of our portfolio, my impression is more the main two. Therefore, how do we aspire to remain on a continuous growth journey? And/or what are the steps being taken so that we address these gaps? On the international side, how to remain in the R&D?
Can I?
Yes, please.
Bharat, let me take a step back and tell you. In 1995, when I began my journey, everyone dissuaded me from entering into the market, and my friends, you know, from multinationals went to the external thing to be with Pitya. Our market is very fragmented, very, very competitive, and you are one of the locked entrants. Now, when I'm talking to you in 2025, the reason why, you know, we have done well is because of science, innovation, and technology. I take pride in telling everyone that as far as my company is concerned, it is in the forefront in launching, you know, new products and giving new products to the industry. To give you a few examples, I gave, you know, 11 products in the field of chirality. As Synergy P, Nesmetoprolol, Acetylalac, they have been doing exceedingly well. We gave Ferrous Ascorbate for the first time.
We gave Ferric Carboxymaltose about which Amma asked, you know, some time back, Ferric Carboxymaltose. Similarly, you know, we have given seven biosimilars. Now, you know, Samit just told you some time back, we are talking about asparaginase. We are talking about bevacizumab. To that extent, as far as the gene of the company is concerned, it is driven by science and technology, and we are doing a lot of work, you know, in R&D. To that extent, I'm very confident that going forward, you know, my company will be in a position to bring new products because, Bharat, you are absolutely spot on. The competition is very intense as far as me-too products are concerned.
To that extent, for any company to survive and make headway, it has to focus on science and technology, and that's one area where we are committed, and we are taking a lot of steps in that direction. I would like to add something, Piyush. If you can also say,
I think when we spoke about the five-year vision internally for each of the years, we have already identified which is the product launch for which a lot of the work has already been done, whether it is filing batches or submissions. We have very crystal clear clarity on each of these five years. The one big block was the product. For example, like we did mention, liposomal amphotericin B. Similarly, across the years, building on the liposomal platform, there are a few other products. There are, of course, GLG ones, and within that, some instrumental innovation that we're doing. Of course, towards the end, towards year four, year five, there will obviously be what we've spoken about earlier and over which we've earnestly started efforts, the whole space of ADC.
I think it's covered.
It's covered. What we are saying is it is not merely a vision. Good to see kind of a statement, but it is, in other words, it's not just good input, but there is a decent mathematics behind it.
Absolutely. There is absolutely a clear vision and game plan for us, so the therapeutic segment in patients. The strategy will be clear. R&D will drive, one. The second thing, you know, we like to work with multinationals. We are demonstrated by working, you know, with Sanofi about a big portfolio. Something similar will happen. That is number two. The third part of the strategy will be, you know, working at a global level to get some products, you know, like Samit mentioned about ADC or maybe something in phase I, pick them up and see whether we can develop for the domestic market. There is absolute clarity at the senior level about where the new products will be launched in each and every therapeutic segment.
That is very asking to know. The latest question, you mentioned, Satish, that this five-year journey will be marked with above-average growth rates. Could you be a little more specific as to what is meant by that? Will it be double digits or very healthy double digits? What kind of growth did you have in mind? Also, on the margins, if you may recommend from 20% or that we are now at, do you think our margins also, what kind of trajectory would hold out?
I will take it in two parts. As far as the growth part is concerned, I will answer margin part, you know, which will answer. As far as growth is concerned, I would like to have 2% more than the industry growth, whether we are talking about India or other markets. Other markets are also very, very competitive, Europe and Canada. That will be the aspiration. If you grow by more, happiness. At least, you know, as for the basic objective, it will be to grow by 2% more than the industry growth in various markets. Regarding margin, we have been talking that there is a journey, you know, towards the desired results. I will ask him to opine on that.
Yeah. What we have guided, if you can hear me, is that from the roughly, you know, margins that we've guided to for this year, we should continue the journey of increasing our margin profile by about 3,400 basis points over this four or five-year journey, which will be driven by, obviously, both productivity gains in terms of our India business, as well as improving our, you know, gross margin profile with the business and product mix that we will be working on in the pipeline, and overall operational effectiveness in terms of just the scale economies we will get as we continue to scale up different verticals within our business.
We changed about 20% operating margins now. Over the five-year period, it should be somewhere in the range of 23% - 24%.
That continues to be the goal and aspiration that we'll be working towards.
Thank you. One last thing, when do we think the INR 700 crore debt on the books is likely to become zero?
If I can just add there, the guidance on the debt was that barring any M&A, that should be approaching close to zero even by the end of the current fiscal year. Having said that, two of our recent announcements, one was with the acquisition of a product portfolio from Manch, which is going to be paid for in various milestones, as well as our recent announcement of acquiring the minority stake from Zuventus. I think these two initiatives will obviously add to our gross debt position, which will probably push out our debt going to approaching zero by at least one, one and a half years going forward. Having said that, both of these initiatives we think are going to be very expensive, and I think it's money well spent over the that we have announced.
Sure. Thank you very much. All the very best, Satish, and thankyou .
Bharat, we very much value your support, and thanks a lot for participating. Kindly feel free to reach out to us anytime. We are available 24 by 7. We value your support.
Thank you.
Thank you. Participants, if you wish to ask a question, you may press star and one on your touch-tone telephone. We will wait for a moment while the questions are assembled. The next question is from the line of Mr. Tushar Manudhane from Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Please go ahead, sir.
Thank you for the opportunity. Joined the colleagues and not sure if I think of a place first, but just wanted to understand on the gross margin front, quarter to quarter, where the business composition in terms of geography has not changed much, but we've seen good improvement in the gross margins. If you could just elaborate on that, of course.
The gross margin, I think, is what we indicated last time, right? It's largely driven both by the product mix and the inflation market. I think we must look at more at the annual level. For annual level, I think what we indicated is we expect this year to be about 50 basis points higher than what we ended last year. Within quarters, you will have variations depending on the product mix that you have across businesses.
Got it. Therapy-wise, as far as the India market is concerned, of course, there's secondary data available, but if you could throw some light in terms of which therapies we have sort of performed better than the industry and where we have dragged.
I think cardiac and gynaecology, we have done much better. Cardiac also has been more in line. I think, you see, so good to have them. Others, I think we have more or less in anything, which has what has driven a bit more, as I talked about it, some of the new launches and all that have come up.
Got it. As far as emerging markets are concerned, we have seen, you know, on a year-over-year basis, start increasingly. How to think about it on an annualized basis for the next two, three years?
I think for this year, what we have indicated is that the emerging markets expect to grow in high teens to 20% around that.
What really happens to the emerging markets when we are talking about, say, ARV and non-ARV? ARV is a function of, you know, winning the tender, so there is an element of uncertainty. It's very difficult to predict, you know, what happens, though, you know, the company is in good position. As far as non-ARV is concerned, that is also a function of getting registration in various countries. If you get the registration flow for some marquee products through the market, in that case, there will be uptake. I think, you know, one can assume it's likely said when you talk about the base business, as I mentioned some time back, normal growth for a few percent, that will be the aspiration. Suppose if you get, you know, some of the products are not registered for whichever number of flights are pending, there will be obviously an upside.
Got it. Got it. As far as, so this is operation cost, is it going to have some meaningful increase, like the FY2026 product, or is it more to do with like inflation-linked increase?
I think it's largely inflation-linked and the business growth driven.
Got it. As far as our business growth is more than the inflation, then effectively, it should help to get much superior EBITDA margins as you go along with it.
Yes, that is the intention.
That's what this was indicating.
Yeah.
I meant to ask if effectively that should, you know, reflect in FY2026 itself, where FY2025, at least, you know, the EBITDA margins are 2:1. It was similar to the fourth quarter or the first quarter. I'm just trying to ask that, you know, when do we see that improvement in the market?
Yeah, I think what we had guided last time was that even on the operating cost side, we should see about 100 basis point improvement vis-à-vis last year on account of both of these areas: better productivity with the Indian field force, as well as some of the scaling of the business and better utilization of our manufacturing facilities. Overall, as the business continues to grow healthy double digits and inflation where it is, that's where we feel bullish that we'll continue to get.
Got it. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mr. Alankar from Kotak Institutional Equities. Please go ahead, sir.
Yeah, thank you. Samit, you mentioned about working on an incremental innovation in GLP1. Can you please elaborate on that?
In terms of some of the approved GLPs, we are looking at some tweaking in terms of improving the compliance to different dosage systems and the incremental innovation within the formulation space.
Okay. I mean, currently, our filing both in India as well as markets like Canada would be through the synthetic route, right?
Semisynthetic, yes. That is going off packaging in 2026. The fermentation route, the semisynthetic is going off in 2028. We'll be fully synthetic right now.
Fair enough. The other question was on this Zuventus acquisition. Now, due to this acquisition, will there be any change from an operational standpoint in the acute business?
No.
No.
Nothing changes.
Okay. Fair enough. The final question is more of a clarification on what we've just mentioned. I think in the previous call, we had spoken about the 150 basis points EBITDA margin expansion for FY2026. Is it 100 basis points or 150 basis points of guidance for FY2026?
Yeah. I was specifically moving to the OpEx portion of it as a 100 basis point. Please just mention that we also anticipate 50 basis points expansion in our gross margins based on the product and business mix.
Understood. That clarifies this. That's it from my side. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mr. Gagan Thareja from ASK Investment Managers Limited. Please go ahead, sir.
Yeah. I'm taking the call over. The first one is on ARV. I believe there's going to be a retaining factor this year, later this year. Any idea you can give us in terms of whether funding agencies from a budgeting standpoint are going to be constrained or that is not a constraint whatsoever? Secondly, you know, lenacapavir now has imposed the first few trials. Even WHO strongly recommends, you know, for prophylactic benefits to take up in a captivity. How do you see, you know, this evolving over a period of time? Do you see the next level becoming the first line of treatment, perhaps in the next two years?
It's what Mr. Mehta is talking about, the next meeting. I don't know who's signing in.
Yeah. On the sending, I think as of now, we haven't heard anything that there's any constraints on our happening. I think most of the senders are continuing as normal. We haven't seen that as well.
In terms of Lenacapavirs, absolutely, it's not entirely certain how long the duration will be before that becomes the treatment of choice because different countries and different agencies have to change their adoption protocols. Definitely, in the medium term, it should be one of the dominant therapies as far as the ARV space goes.
By the way, one more thing I would like to tell you. If you see the latest issue of The Economist, they are extensively covering HIV. A couple of constraints that I would like to flag off: one, as far as the test for 2020 because those are stored, but at the same time, against $3.5 billion that they have been giving, it has been reduced to $2.9 billion if I remember correctly. Secondly, that has been happening in the American government, the most generous in terms of contributing to a global fund. There also, the funding has been reduced. I think what really happens after a couple of years as in the Lenacapavir hits the market, the product, no one can question the future. If you want to stage, the article also says that Lenacapavir is going to be a game changer.
The funding, global funding, test for funding, and all the governments, which is the investment line, that will also play a very important role because unless what is happening right now, like TLD, it's not going to be that cheap, I believe. Can I say that?
Sure.
TLD is not, it's going to be a game changer, but at the same time, you know, there will always be a cost attached to it. We have to wait and watch, you know, how it plays out. It's a technological breakthrough. Let's accept that. You know, it's a big thing.
Right. Okay. Is it possible to give some idea of the EU business growth excluding semaglutide numbers, which I believe would have been there in the contribution for the first quarter?
Mine is quite small. I think about $1 million- $2 million a week in the quarter. I think mine will ramp up over the quarters.
Is it possible to give any idea of, you know, how you see the state has been like liposomal amphotericin B and Tenetra trace over the next, let's say, you know, two to three years? What sort of scale is it possible there? Also, in the other two, you know, products which are under trials for you, any possible ideas?
Sure. In terms of liposomal amphotericin B, like I mentioned, we have approvals in a lot of the major markets, but there are still a few big markets where our product is likely to get approved in the near future. The kind of capacity we have created and the bets we have taken on this product are pretty significant because there are two different facilities with large lyophilization capacities that we have installed and are ready to churn out products. I don't see any constraints coming in in terms of capacity, and I think the full effect of all the approvals and the max volume will probably materialize in the next 12 months across different geographies. Probably in Europe, U.K., and U.S., it will be more near-term in the next four to six months. Some of the other big emerging markets where the full potential will probably take 12 months.
Now, the second question that we asked was regarding Fenuxase.
Yeah. No, I'll come to that as well. On Fenuxase as well, not only are we seeing new registration flow in for the original indication of MI, which is myocardial infarction, but surprisingly, there's a lot of interest and uptake also happening, which is doctor-driven from those countries for the indication of strokes. There are countries which have started picking up small volumes on an increasing basis. They are seeing excellent results, and they're now pushing towards getting full registration, which will then have a lot of hold and freeze in terms of the kind of uptake that happens. Fenuxase is going to be, again, in the next 18 to 24 months, a very dominant product for us. In terms of the other two in the pipeline, as far as clinical trial, I'm assuming you're referring to RF Surgenase and Vivacysomab.
There as well, the trials have been done, keeping in mind a dose here that can be submitted across all the emerging markets. For example, for RF Surgenase, reference product is the EU-approved product. Hence, once that approval comes through, we should also be able to file across a lot of different countries where there is a severe unmet need. Overall, across these four products, we see the next 18 to 24 months having a significant ramp-up.
Perfect. The final one from my side, sir, Canada, is the one-two growth sustainable for the full year?
Yes.
Yes. In Canada, I think the growth is sustainable. We had basically been guiding to sort of a mid-teens growth rate for the Canadian operation as a whole. We're very happy with the Manta acquisition, which continues to track even ahead of our own expectations at the time of doing the deal. Some of the synergies, even at a product level, being rolled out across Canada as a result of that, continue to play out. We are very bullish on continuing that momentum for Canada.
Thank you for taking my questions. I'll get those initiatives. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vavesh, an individual investor. Please go ahead. Yes, Mr. Vavesh, go with a portion B. If there is no response from the participant, we'll move to the next. The next question is from the line of Bharat Shah from AsX Investment Managers Limited. Please go ahead.
Satish, more than a question, I just wanted to, it was a side comment. When you were referring to the ARV portfolio internationally and the contributions from America to the program, which is supported, and you referred to the generosity, which has declined. I just wanted to say, America and generosity are a great model of terms. I thought I would just put that little bit of view on that. To a question, based on the five-year vision plan that we have done, in terms of capital expenditures on assets, I suppose more or less they are in place. In other words, it's unlikely that we will be incurring material capital expenditure in buying or putting more assets and manufacturing assets. Is that understanding right?
I can take that question. What we have been guiding to is that we expect annualized sort of CapEx spending in the range of about INR 350 crore a year. If you look at that, roughly about INR 150 crore of that goes towards more repair and maintenance CapEx, and about INR 200 crore is earmarked for some top-up investments for capacity enhancement for product-specific type CapEx requirements that we have. Barring anything else, I think that's the range that you're going to see on the CapEx front. Of course, we will continue to evaluate and be aggressive in terms of any M&A or strategic alliance or in-licensing deals, which may have some capital allocation. There our focus areas are obviously going to be India first and foremost and some of the emerging markets.
To the extent that we have an opportunity to get some product bolt-on portfolios in places like Europe, like we have recently done, or Canada, we'll continue to evaluate those as well. By and large, you're right that most of the infrastructure required to cater to our four or five-year growth plan is already well in place.
Thank you. That gives a complete clarity. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vavesh, an individual investor. Please go ahead. Okay. It's still Sir Vavesh. Yeah.
Am I audible now?
Yes, sir. You're audible.
Good evening and thank you for the opportunity. Sir, congratulations on a good set of numbers. My question is with respect to the cash and cash equivalent as on June 30, 2025. Just wanted the number.
Yes, INR 200 crore.
Including the investments?
Yes.
Why is there no other income in this quarter then?
There's a very small amount of other income.
Okay.
The amount of cash is at the end of the quarter. Throughout the quarter, you don't have cash. We need to reduce that.
Okay. Okay. One more thing, sir. I'm a user of your Emcure's Aqua Oat moisturizing cream, and I just wanted to provide an honest review about it. It's a really good formulation, and the cream does the job quite well. I just wanted to appreciate it. I'll be a consumer and also a long-term shareholder of the company. Thank you.
Mr. Vavesh said as soon as Infosys is six months away, we are going to get line extension and appropriate support and all package, top-of-the-line matching to global standards for the next two or three months. We share one thing in common. I'm also a big-time fan of Aqua Code, and I also utilize Aqua Code. I also utilize the product. I also look at that line extension. It's quite exciting. I like it. If somebody likes my product, it makes me feel happy. My hemoglobin level goes up nice.
She's been using it for the last almost a couple of years. One dermatologist recommended me, she was the HOD of KEM Hospital. She recommended me that go for Aqua Oats. It will reduce your sensitivity of the skin. It has been a helpful cream for me. The plus point of the cream is it's fragrance-free. A lot of creams in the market have fragrance and alcohol. That doesn't seem to be any limit.
Many times, fortunately, it happens, but I've seen that it adds some fragrance to it. It goes for issues also. That also happens.
Right. One package at home. Whenever it gets over, I bought another one. Thank you for it, sir, and all the best for the future quarters.
Thank you.
Thank you. As I close, the last question for the day, I would hand the conference over to Mr. Piyush Nahar for closing comments. Over to you, sir.
Thank you all for joining today's investor call. If any of your queries should remain unanswered, please feel free to get in touch with us. Thank you.
All right. Thank you very much, Mr. Satish Mehta. Your feedback means a lot to me. We feel very enlightened by the inputs you have given, and we are committed to improve, committed to take whatever suggestions that are coming from you very, very seriously. We'll vote for your company with more vigor than ever before because you give us a lot of motivation. Thank you very much.
Thank you. On behalf of Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and we may now disconnect the line. Thank you.