Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Godrej Agrovet Limited earnings call. As a reminder, all participants' lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Prabal Singh from ICICI Securities. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you very much. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you so much for making the time for joining us on this Godrej Agrovet Q2 FY 2025 earnings conference call. From the company, we have members of the senior management with us, including Mr. Nadir Godrej, the Chairman of the company, Mr. Balram S. Yadav, the Managing Director, Mr. S. Varadaraj, Chief Financial Officer, and we also have Mr. Arijit Mukherjee, the Chief Operating Officer of Astec Life Sciences, who is joining the call. We would like to begin the call with a brief opening remark from the management, following which we have a forum open for an interactive question-and-answer session. Before we start, I would like to point out that some statements made in today's call may be forward-looking in nature, and a disclaimer to this effect has been included in the earnings presentation shared earlier.
I would like now to invite Mr. Nadir Godrej to make his opening remarks. Over to you, sir.
Good afternoon, everyone. I welcome you all to the Godrej Agrovet earnings call. Godrej Agrovet continues to deliver improvements in profitability, with the exception of Astec LifeSciences and the poultry business. EBITDA margins, excluding non-recurring items, improved in Q2 Fiscal Year 2025 by 17 basis points and by 130 basis points, excluding Astec LifeSciences, as compared to Q2 Fiscal Year 2024. Coming to the key financial and business highlights of each of our business segments, in animal feed, the segment margins improved sharply from 4.6% in Q2 Fiscal Year 2024 to 5.9% in Q2 Fiscal Year 2025 on account of favorable commodity positions and cost optimization measures. Further, EBIT per metric ton improved significantly from INR 1,531 in Q2 Fiscal Year 2024 to INR 1,953 in Q2 Fiscal Year 2025.
While there was a marginal degrowth in volumes of cattle feed due to subdued milk prices, the layer and broiler feed volumes grew sequentially and also year-on-year. Our vegetable oil segment revenues in Q2 Fiscal Year 2025 were flat, as higher realizations of end products were offset by lower fresh fruit bunches arrivals. Segment margins improved on account of better oil extraction ratio, OER, and accretive downstream value addition. The standalone crop protection segment results witnessed strong growth in Q2 Fiscal Year 2025. Our segment margins improved significantly from 30% in Q2 Fiscal Year 2024 to 43% in Q2 Fiscal Year 2025, primarily due to lowered doubtful debts and control over fixed costs. However, segment revenues were lower by 24% due to the erratic rainfall in key states, which reduced trade opportunities and resulted in higher sales returns in the herbicide category.
Astec LifeSciences continued to experience pricing pressures in the enterprise products business and lower-than-expected volumes in the CDMO category due to a cautious approach adopted by our CDMO customers. This adversely affected both revenue and margins. In Q2 Fiscal Year 2025, our dairy segment continued to demonstrate margin expansion, with EBITDA margins improving by 140 basis points. This enhancement was primarily driven by operational efficiency-led gains and an improved milk spread despite a flat-top line. In a seasonally weak quarter, the poultry segment recorded a decline in revenue, primarily due to lower volumes in the live-bird business, as we continued to focus on branded business and reduce our exposure to the live-bird business. Segment margins were adversely impacted due to unfavorable channel and product mix.
GAVL's joint venture in Bangladesh, ACI Godrej, recorded a decline in revenues of 6% year-on-year in Q2 Fiscal Year 2025 due to volume contraction and pricing pressures in the backdrop of a challenging political and economic environment. That concludes our business and financial performance update for the quarter. With this, I close my opening remarks. We will now be happy to answer your questions. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touch-tone phone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Abhijit Akella from Kotak Securities. Please go ahead. Mr. Abhijit.
Yeah. Hi, good afternoon. Thank you so much for taking my questions. My first question is actually with regard to the management, senior management position. I understand that Mr. Balram Yadav's retirement is scheduled towards the end of this financial year. In that context, if you could help us understand the company's plans for succession for the top job, that would be helpful.
Do you have a second question as well?
Yeah. That's more on the Astec side, but if you could please start with this, that would be helpful.
Okay. In that case, I'll answer the first question. We have good processes in place for succession planning, and we are actually interviewing candidates, and they are being examined, and we will soon come to a conclusion. And we expect a smooth transition. There have been other CEO transitions in the group in recent years in GCPL and GIL and Godrej Properties, and all of them have gone very smoothly, and we expect that this will also take place smoothly.
Thank you very much. And then moving on to Astec. So for Astec, have we already found a replacement for Mr. Anurag Roy? That was one. And with regard to the CDMO business, which is under pressure at present, we've previously guided to something like a 50% plus revenue CAGR over the next two or three years. So is that something that's still visible for this year at least? And how do you see the outlook for that business from Q3 onwards?
I'll answer about Mr. Anurag Roy's replacement and the CDMO pipeline. Mr. Arijit will answer. Yes, definitely, I think we will have to find a CEO eventually. At present, we are more focused on augmenting the team with CDMO specialist talent on our roles and also consultants overseas because we want to push this. The recruitment and hiring of the CEO will take some time, but I think our priority is to develop this CDMO team and give some acceleration to this process. In the meantime, Mr. Arijit will take care of the business, and I will oversee this business.
Yeah. Regarding the CDMO question, year-on-year, we see a 50% growth over last year in terms of revenue. Only skewness, you will find that H1 last year had a little bit higher revenue in comparison to this year, but then we'll catch up in the H2 because a little bit changed in terms of the cropping season and the buying behavior. It has shifted towards H2. But overall, the earlier data still is the same. We will see a 50% growth over last year.
Okay. So sorry, just to clarify, so last year's CDMO revenue was about INR 270-odd crores. We're still expecting north of INR 400 crores or INR 450 crores for this year. Is that right?
Yes. Yes. We have to put INR 100 crores here. Targeting. We'll be achieving that, INR 400 crores.
Okay. Okay, and maybe one last thing here. Could you please help us understand the size of the order book at Astec? Any metrics you could share in that regard just to help us understand how the order book is positioned and what sort of visibility you have with regard to this CDMO ramp-up? And also, the herbicide plant that has just been commissioned, is that going to be a major contributor to revenues in the second half of this year? Thank you so much.
Generally, we do not share the order book position, but I can say that we are confident enough in terms of reaching the target, so the discussions are ongoing, and some are closing, and some will take a little bit of time to close. Herbicide too, yes, it has been commissioned on time, and that will play one role in terms of achieving this target.
So, Abhijit, I'll add one thing is that definitely it's not like old times that at the beginning of the year we ended up selling 80%-85% of our capacity. So, I think the times are very different now. The second thing is this herbicide plant, definitely I think the assumptions for that plant capacity utilization are definitely pushed by a year or two. So, a year or two, and I feel that probably it will be only in FY 2026 that we will see upwards of 60%-70% utilization of this plant.
Okay. Thank you very much, sir. I'll get back in the queue for more.
Yeah.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nandita Rajhansa from Marcellus Investment Managers. Please go ahead.
Thank you so much for the opportunity. So, I have a couple of questions. One is around animal feed, and the second one is around dairy. So, in terms of animal feed, what is the progress with the fish feed segment? Because in the presentation, we did not get any color on how that segment grew in this quarter. On the dairy business, I wanted to understand why the VAP salience gone down from 42% last quarter to 32% this quarter? If the management can give some color on that. Thank you.
So fish feed is having a tough time in this year in the whole country. If you see, fish production has taken a hit because of very erratic rainfall, and then towards the end of the season, a lot of rainfall. So we have degrown in fish feed in the first half of the year. We believe because the season has extended, because the positive side of good rainfall is also that you have ponds filled till longer time. So we believe some kind of upswing will come, but I don't think that we will be able to achieve last year's ranges in the fish feed. But this is a standard phenomenon of this industry. It is cyclical, and after every two years, we have a poor year. But the fish prices go up like they have gone now.
We believe that the stocking, once winter is over, will be good, and we will be back to normal growth period in fish production sometime early next year. On dairy, yes, value-added product contributed 32% of total sales. But one of the reasons why Q2 is less than Q1 is because of seasonality. You know that when it rained, and it rained a lot in Q2 this year, the curd, the buttermilk, the nuts, the cold drinks, etc., their sales go down. But I can definitely say that it is much higher than Q2 of last year. Marginally. Yeah.
Right. So VAP salience is expected to go up and then be in this range for the next year?
Yes. I think that it will go up again, and we'll finish the year about 40% easily.
Okay. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Participants who wishes to ask a question may press star and one. The next question is from the line of Savan Vora from Premier Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thanks for the opportunity. My first question is on Godrej Agrovet. So we've been discussing in the prior calls about the structuring of the business. Any update the management can give or has for sharing with us?
So I think the idea is to clean up the portfolio because we have so many joint ventures, etc., because we are already taken by acquiring 49% shares of Tyson. And then when the opportunity comes, I'm sure that we will take decisions either way.
Right. Right. And in this quarter, we mentioned that there has been an import duty that has been put on farmers. So what is the outlook for the business for the second half of the year?
So I think the second half is promising to be better than last year's second half because the oil palm season in this country has been postponed a little. And it happens whenever there is a long tail of monsoon. So the October, November, December, the tapering is much, I would say, slower than what it used to happen earlier. So we believe that the second half is going to be very good. We also believe that these prices are going to prevail because not only the duty, but also there is not much overproduction or more than average production in Indonesia and Malaysia. And you must have seen that the markets are on fire, even though everything is not trickling to India. But we believe the prices are going to be higher, and the margins will be more.
You must always remember that all the price increases will not come to us because almost 79%-80% is shared with the farmers. That is the formula. So we are expecting an upside of INR 13 crore- INR 15 crore at today's prices in the second half.
Right. And now my second question is on Astec Life Sciences. So we are saying that this year we hold our guidance of 50% growth in the CDMO side, while our commentary also in the press release mentions that on the enterprise side also, we are seeing some early improvement. So is this business now looking upwards for the second half and going into FY 2026?
In terms of enterprise business, yes, the demand is slowly picking up, but the prices are much lower because of the Chinese pressure and a little bit of inventories and back to the Latin American countries. Prices are not picking up, yes, but overall, it is slightly better than the last four or five quarters.
Right.
CDMO, yes, till now, we stick to that. That will be a 50% growth over last year.
Right.
And sir, so we are saying that Mr. Yadav mentioned that for the herbicide, the plant that we commissioned this quarter, the full capacity utilization is pushed by a little time because of overall slow demand. So what capacity would we use to achieve this INR 400 crores of turnover?
In the herbicide too, what would be the capacity utilization?
So normally, it takes around three years to have a full capacity. This year, we'll be using around 30% of the capacity. And one of the reasons for this, one of the improvement reasons for H2 will be this additional capacity also. That's why H2 will be looking much better than H1.
Right. Right. And just one last question, sir. So debt levels at Astec have increased due to subdued performance for some time. So any thoughts around that that the management can share?
Sir, not yet. We are still hopeful that things will start improving. So we do not want to do any capital raise or anything for some time. Let us see. But having said that, I must tell you that even though we see some green shoots in Astec, but we have got this feeling several times in the last few quarters. So I would not say with confidence that things have really turned around. And I must tell you that China is hurting us very badly in several categories, not only Astec LifeSciences, but a lot of companies in this sector. So I think unless a little rationality prevails in their pricing of products, it is not very easy to say that we will be out of the woods in the next one or two quarters.
Right. Sir, thank you. Just one feedback, sir. Because we report Astec results five, six days before the Agrovet results, and we combine the call, it would be very helpful if we can do a little more detailed press release or maybe do the call earlier because till in the interim for five, six days, it adds to a lot of uncertainty. So just the feedback on my part.
Sure. So either of these things will be done. Either the board meeting will be brought closer or we'll have a separate call.
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you so much, sir. Thank you so much. Happy Diwali to the team.
Happy Diwali.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rikin Shah from The Boring AMC. Please go ahead.
Hi. My question is on the Astec side. So in terms of the discussion that was had last quarter's con call, it was mentioned that the board was reviewing whether some of the life cycle of the enterprise products was exhausted or not. And there were also talks on some capacity being rejected on the enterprise side so that a turnaround could be shaped up around that. So is there any development on that side?
So, there have been two efforts to the solution. One, yes, some of the capacity is already issued. Some of the capacity we are using for new products. The new product loss, which has happened in these two quarters, is using the existing capacity. Secondly, yes, some of the life cycle we are trying to manage in terms of we'll be reducing some of the capacity and using it for some other products. But it will take some time in terms of materialize because there will be the question of registration, buyer's agreement. So this takes time, but on both the front, we are working.
All right. And in terms of Mr. Roy's exit, so all the contracts that we may have signed or we're potentially going to sign, does it affect anything in terms of any potential clients that might be affected after his exit or everything seems to?
Nothing. No, no effect at all.
All right. All right. That's it from my end.
We have communicated with all the clients, so everything is in order.
All right, sir. Thanks.
Thank you very much. The next question is from the line of Hitesh from Kosha Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thanks for the opportunity. So there have been quite a few exits in the last six months in Astec. Even I guess in the month of August, there was an exit at a very senior level in the R&D side. Any reason why there have been so many exits, and what are we doing to really have a control on this, or how are we looking to fill the gaps of these exits?
I think both the two exits you're talking about, the CEO and CFO. Definitely, the CFO has been recruited and already in place. I must tell you that whenever businesses have some tough time and they go through severe ups and downs, definitely, we have seen not only in this business but several other businesses also that people leave. The way we are structured is that neither power nor knowledge is concentrated only in one person. That is the advantage of being part of a conglomerate like Godrej Agrovet and the Godrej Group at a higher level. I'm saying that such exits at certain levels, which you call very high, do not affect the business that much because everything is very transparent. The processes are in place. SOPs are in place.
There was a question earlier that what will happen to the contracts after Mr. Roy's exit. I think none of the contracts are negotiated alone. There is a committee which negotiates the contract and people.
Hello?
Participants, the line for the management has disconnected. Please wait while I join them back. Participants, Mr. Balram Yadav has joined again. So you may go ahead.
But I think I'll just reiterate that definitely the exits have been there, but the business remains unaffected. I think we have recruited people. There is a process of recruiting more people. So I think that we don't like these exits, but it's okay. We can manage.
Sure. Sure. And sir, my second question is on the CDMO side. I believe last year we had introduced eight new molecules. This year, I believe we are already through with three-fourths of the year. What is the plan or how many new molecule introductions have happened in the current year? And also on the R&D side, because I think that is a large investment we made, and we have been quite a lot talking about the capabilities there. What are the new how many new programs are undergoing? I know not everything can be fully disclosed, but at least how many new programs are undergoing there just to have some visibility in terms of where the entire piece is headed through the CDMO piece?
In CDMO?
Yeah, that's right. So CDMO, last year, we had about eight new molecules introduced into the market.
For CDMO as well as.
Or total?
Total CDMO molecules.
I'm referring to the Astec CDMO business.
So total this year, we have introduced one new molecule, and total molecules will be nine. Eight was for the past and one new molecule.
It was not a last year's introduction. It was.
Last year.
Last year, we had it, not eight new last year.
Yeah, and in case of R&D, we are in discussion with several companies for new projects with these folks, and the NDA would not be able to disclose the number, but I think this will be significant enough to run the R&D right now.
Okay. And just the last thing, at least I know you don't disclose the margins, but.
One more addition which we are doing. We are now also working in the development phase. I mean, we are working with the innovators during the development phase. The scale-out optimization, everything we are doing. These are major shifts from our previous R&D values. We were only in terms of replicating for optimization. So this will involve more on the CDMO portion, both the development portion also. So that is a major development because of the new R&D investment.
No, no. Sorry. So the nine molecules that we have introduced, that was basically replicating the existing molecule. The new projects that are underway are being.
Nine is the total molecule. The introduction is only one for this year.
Sure. And.
These are not in the development molecules, sir. The development molecules are still in the R&D.
Sure. How many such molecules will be there in the development phase? At least the number, if you can share.
It is difficult at this stage to state a number because these are the very new molecules. So we won't be able to share the numbers as such.
Okay. Sure. No worries. And just the last thing, I know you don't disclose the margins for CDMO and enterprise separately, but at least qualitatively, is the margins intact what it was last year in the CDMO front for the current year, that is FY 2025?
Yes.
Or are we seeing pressures there?
Yeah.
Yeah. The enterprise margin is legitimately low because the pricing pressures are extremely low. So I must also add that in enterprise, there are lots of inquiries, but at very low price.
Sure. So the CDMO margins are still stable. Enterprise, we are seeing a sequential recovery, right?
CDMO is intact.
Sure. Thank you so much. Yeah.
Thank you. Participants who wish to ask a question may press star and one. The next question is from the line of Gunit Singh from Counter Cyclical PMS. Please go ahead.
I just thank you for this opportunity. I have a question regarding Godrej Tyson . So, sir, even though share of branded products have increased, our EBITDA margins have gone down. So, EBITDA of INR 5 crore versus INR 19 crore in the same period last year. And I think that the maize prices are lower in Q2 as compared to Q1 sequentially. So, I mean, what are the main reasons for fall in EBITDA margins in this recent light and mass? So, input into the branded business, which is Real Good Chicken and Yummiez, is also chicken meat. So, there have been two issues in quarter two. One is that the chicken meat costs were very high because of a lot of disease incidents, etc. And it was very unusual also.
The second thing is that quarter two normally is a low quarter, low consumption quarter in the country because of Shravan, Navratri, etc., all the seasonal travel. So normally, if you see all Q2s are going to be very, very tough for us. But having said that, I think things have come back to normal in the month of October, and you will see a secular increase in margins in this quarter and the next quarter.
All right. So you're saying that basically poultry prices were higher than usual in Q2 because.
Cost.
Cost has been there. So poultry is the main input for your.
So one of the chief reasons for cost increase is that this is the off-season for raw materials. So raw material prices are at the highest in quarter two. And second thing is that there were some disease incidences because of which there was more deadly and poor growth, which added to the cost. In our business, the problem is that if the chicken dies after eating, it is a total loss. Or if it eats and does not grow to the extent or as far as the standard, that is also a loss. So I think both these things happened in quarter two.
All right. Looking, I mean, going forward, currently, what does the situation look like for the segment?
There's an improvement. Q3 is always good. So you will see improved numbers in Q3.
All right, sir. Thank you very much. That's all from my side.
Thank you. Participants who wish to ask a question may press star and one. The next question is from the line of Abhijit Akella from the Kotak Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you so much for taking my follow-ups. On the working capital front, it seems as if receivables have increased significantly in the first half by about INR 200 crores versus March levels seen in the cash flow statement. So which business has this happened in, and what's the outlook there? Can we sort of reverse this in the second half?
Which business? This is the receivables. So this is the seasonal crop protection business. And every year, the working capital goes up. I must also tell you that October, there is a steep fall. And the way we are working and the kind of controls we have, we will have the lowest working capital in terms of number of days. By the time March comes, we should exit at about 40-42 days of working capital, which is at the end of September, about 50 days. So this is the kind of reduction. Some of it has already happened, but we believe that it is further going to reduce.
So can we expect a commensurate reduction in debt, sir, in the second half? The debt levels seem to have gone up by.
Absolutely. I think debt equity will come down, I think, by March to less than 0.3.
Got it. And what would the weighted average cost of debt be at present?
For H1, average cost of debt was around 7.36%.
Okay. Got it. Then just on the animal feed segment, any pickup in the milk market that we are seeing and therefore in cattle feed demand for our products?
Cattle feed demand is back. I think as the rains recede, things are improving. You will see what we are seeing is a 10% jump in cattle feed volume in October over September. So we strongly believe that the growth will be back in cattle feed in the second half.
In the oil palm business, you had mentioned last quarter that we do expect to match the previous year's volumes despite the fact that the first half has been soft because of weather issues.
So we will grow over previous year. My sense is that I think just give me a minute. We are expecting growth.
FFB unless it's flat.
So actually, honestly, it depends on the FFB arrival. So as of now, we believe that the season has deferred, and we should see a higher inflow of FFB in H2. But obviously, these are all sort of it depends on a lot of factors, and we can never be certain about the kind of increase in FFB arrival in H2. Yeah, but whatever past experience we have, whenever we have such a long tail of monsoon, tapering is also very gradual. So we are hopeful that FFB arrival will continue at decent levels till December.
Okay. Got it, sir. And maybe one last thing from me on the Astec side. Do we typically have take-or-pay clauses in our CDMO contracts, which give us good visibility into the revenues over there? And also, are we typically one of the either the sole supplier or one of two suppliers for the molecules we are making in CDMO?
So, the first questions, in a few of the agreements, we have take-or-pay clause there. But this generally happens after certain aging of the CDMO, say after three or four years, once the registration is over, that we get a clarity of the volumes, annual volumes generally, then these clauses put into the agreement. But yes, overall, slowly, we are having take-or-pay clauses. Typically, CDMOs are not exclusive in nature. Mostly, the buyer has two sources. Currently, almost all the CDMOs will have at least two sources or will be one of the sources after supplying in some other countries.
Okay. Okay. Got it. And also just to clarify one thing that was mentioned previously on the call, the total number of molecules at Astec right now is nine, which basically includes eight older ones and one new molecule. This is in CDMO, I guess, is what you're referring to.
Yes.
Yeah, CDMO. Got it. Thank you so much. Yeah. All the best.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rikin Shah from the Boring AMC. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thanks for the follow-up. So, I can see that the inventory positioning has lightened quite a bit from FY 2023, where it was INR 295 crores to INR 196 crores at the end of FY 2024, and we're down to INR 150 crores. So in our present inventory situation, how much of the old high-cost inventory is still left, or is it out of the system now?
This is Astec you're talking about?
Yeah. Yeah. Astec.
Okay.
So majority of the high-cost inventories have moved out. So whatever remaining is there will be Q3, which will be moving out.
Okay, so finally, Q3 should be the last quarter of the.
Yes.
Okay. And sir, then after Q3, at what particular scale or sort of volume can we see an EBITDA break even in the enterprise side?
It's very difficult now to see because the demand position, pricing, everything is changing so rapidly. We are not able to give certain force of three or four months. But the only thing we are seeing a little bit positivity in the market in terms of demand, but we have to get a feel of it because these are uneven. Unless we have that concrete demand coming up, we go into negotiations, it is very difficult to see right now what will be the capacity utilization, EBITDA breakup, EBITDA one.
Okay. Got it. Yeah, that's it from my end.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Savan Vora from Premier Capital. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir.
So are you there?
Am I audible? Hello?
Yes, you are audible.
Sorry, my apologies. Thanks for the follow-up. Sir, my question is again for Astec LifeSciences. So as the CDMO share gains salience this year again, so when as a consolidated entity do we start to see profits again?
What?
Profit as a consolidated entity?
Okay. I will understand the question now. We are trying very hard, and with one or two more contracts, if they come our way, which are under negotiation, we are hoping to break even in Q4. No, in H2.
H2.
H2, which means that we will be profitable in Q4.
Right. Got it, sir, and sir, when you say that you, Mr. Yadav, you mentioned that you are seeing a lot of inquiries on the enterprise side, but the realizations remain low, so any anecdote you can share from the past where how much time it has taken when you start to see volume recovery and realizations also recover? Because any qualitative aspect you can share there?
I'll share a story with you that what happened in this, and it is a great learning for us, that when the prices fell two years ago, we used to have a sizable business in one of the Eastern European countries, and we thought that we will not take this order, and that order went to China. And in spite of the fact that we are ready to do anything now at any price, we want that volume, but it is not coming. So the point is in this, I think one of the things which we also realized just hold on to tonnages because that was a sizable tonnage which used to go to any Eastern European country. So I'm saying that this is a little strange business.
We just acquired this company about seven, eight years ago, but this is the first time we were faced with a situation like this. So I think we have a lot of these kinds of learnings. And probably taking that loss would have been better because when the markets go up like they are going now, I think we could have definitely had at least 15%-20% capacity utilization more as we head on to growth volumes. So these are a few learnings we have. I think my sense is that next time, when it happens, probably it is better to take the hit but keep the funds running the way Chinese do.
Right. And sir, like Mr. Mukherjee mentioned that now, earlier, we were just doing kind of CMO products. Now we are doing early-stage development also. So any qualitative update? Now it's been more than one and a half years, about one and a half years since we had that R&D center in place. So any qualitative aspect of how much benefits in terms of what benefits you see accruing in this business over three, five years?
I'm saying that there are a few things which I wanted to talk about. One is the plain molecules which we develop and we sell. That, I think, continues. One of the molecules, metconazole, was the outcome of the R&D center. We did it at a record time. We also grabbed some volume to add it to reducing the losses. I must also say that this co-development is a long-term process. Even longer-term process, even the innovators are having some tough times worldwide. Whatever used to take two years may take three, four years now. That, I think, is the story as of now. There are inquiries. There are collaborative efforts, but there are little slippages. Some of the very big innovators have postponed international travel. Just because they are under tremendous stress.
So I think all this will take a couple of quarters to clear. But definitely, I must tell you that R&D center brought out this molecule. It is working with some innovators already on some co-development. The third thing which we need to talk more about is the kind of benefit it is bringing to our crop protection business by improving margins of the products we make. And that is evident in our P&L in first half, you must see the crop protection business performance and profitability. And some of it has come from cost reduction initiatives undertaken at the R&D center. Plus, I think some of the back-end work also we will start doing for crop protection business, particularly in our benzene etc. We can do some import substitution in time to come. So that will be a very big advantage in improving profitability further in crop protection business.
Number of molecules handled.
Yeah.
Right. Right, sir. Thank you so much, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. As there are no further questions, I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Thank you. I hope I have been able to answer all your questions. If you have any further questions or would like to know more about the company, we would be happy to be of assistance. Stay safe and stay healthy. Thank you once again for taking the time to join us on this call.
Thank you, everyone.
Thanks.
You can now exit the call. Thank you to members of the management as well as all the attendees.
Thank you.
Bye.
Thank you. On behalf of ICICI Securities, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.