Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to R R Kabel Limited Q3 FY26 earnings conference call hosted by MUFG Intime. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Devansh Dadiya from MUFG Intime. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and I extend a very warm welcome to all participants on the Q3 and 9-month FY26 earnings conference call of R R Kabel Limited. Today on this call, we have Mr. Mahendra Kumar Kabra, Managing Director, and Mr. Rajesh Jain, the Chief Operating Officer. Before we begin this call, I would like to give a short disclaimer. This call may contain some of the forward-looking statements which are completely based upon our belief, opinion, and expectation as of today. These statements are not a guarantee of your future performance and involve unforeseen risk and uncertainty. With this, I hand over the call to Mahendra Kumar Kabra Ji. Over to you, sir. Thank you.
Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for our Quarter 3 and 9-month FY26 results. I'm joined by our CEO, Mr. Rajesh Jain. The quarter under review played out macro environment that can best be described as one of the gradual stabilization. Globally, growth remained steady but uneven, stepped by evolving trade dynamics and geopolitical uncertainties. While these factors continue to influence global supply chains, the broader environment shows signs of normalization rather than destruction, which helped restore a degree of predictability for businesses. Against this backdrop, India continued to stand out, supported by the strength of its domestic growth drivers. The economy has maintained momentum across consumption, investment, and manufacturing, providing a solid foundation for sectors linked to infrastructure, housing, and electrification.
Increasingly, domestic consumption showed visible improvement during the period, supported by better household confidence and post-tax income normalization, which also reflected in stronger demand across construction-linked categories. Financial conditions also turned more supportive during the period, easing inflation, and economic monetary strength improved credit availability, which is beginning to translate into higher economic activities across multiple sectors. These developments are particularly relevant for industries like ours that are closely aligned with long-cycle infrastructure and urban developments. Against this improving macro backdrop, we are pleased with how the business performed. At the consolidated level, we delivered our strongest-ever 9-month performance in terms of revenue, operating profitability, and profit after tax. This was largely driven by the continued strength of our wire and cable businesses and a disciplined approach to execution across the organization. The wires and cable segments saw strong momentum during the period.
Growth was supported by healthy volume expansion across infrastructure, construction, and power-related applications, along with the impact of commodity price movements. Better operating leverage, pricing discipline, and tighter cost control helped improve segment performance. In the FMG segment, conditions remained more challenging and broadly in line with industry trends. Demand in discretionary categories continued to be selective. That said, our focus remained on controlling costs, simplifying the portfolio, and improving operating efficiencies. As a result, while losses persisted on a year-on-year basis, we were able to meaningfully reduce losses over the 9-month period. Overall, operating profitability improved during the period, supported by the strong contribution from wires and cables and better cost discipline across the business. This also translated into healthy improvement at the bottom line, reinforcing the operating leverage in our model.
Looking ahead, while some near-term unevenness may persist in certain segments, the longer-term fundamentals for the electrical industry in India remain intact. Infrastructure development, housing growth, electrification, and the ongoing shift towards organized and compliant products continue to support the demand. Our focus remains on disciplined execution, strengthening our core businesses, and creating sustainable value over the long term. With that, I would like to hand over to Mr. Rajesh Jain to share further operational insights. Thank you, everyone, and have a good day.
Thanks, Mahendra Ji. From an operating standpoint, the environment during the period benefited from improving macro stability, particularly on the inflation and interest rate front. Inflationary pressures have moderated meaningfully, and despite currency movement during the year, the impact on domestic cost structure has remained manageable. The supportive inflation environment enabled more accommodative monetary stance with cumulative rate deductions, improving borrowing conditions across the economy. Lower financing costs and beginning to support housing demand, infrastructure execution, and working capital efficiency across the value chain factors that are directly relevant to our industry. While volatility in copper and aluminum prices persisted during the period, improved pricing discipline across the industry and tighter procurement controls helped maintain stability. Our focus remained on optimizing sourcing, strengthening supply chain efficiency, and managing working capital fluently.
In this environment, R R Kabel delivered a strong operating performance during the quarter as well as over the 9-month period. Starting with the consolidated performance, revenue from operations for Q3 FY26 stood at INR 2,536 crores, representing a 42.3% year-on-year growth compared to INR 1,782 crores Q3 FY25. This growth was preliminarily driven by strong momentum in the wires and cables business, supported by healthy volume growth and improved realization, mainly due to higher commodity prices. For the 9-month FY26, consolidated revenue stood at INR 6,758 crores, up by 25.1% year-on-year, marking the highest-ever 9-month revenue for the company as compared to INR 5,400 crores in 9-month FY25. This growth reflects sustained demand across infrastructure and construction-linked segments and disciplined execution across the business. On the profitability front, EBITDA for Q3 FY26 increased to INR 206 crores, an 86% year-on-year growth compared to INR 111 crores in Q3 FY25.
EBITDA margins improved on the back of operating leverage, better cost absorption, and continued focus on procurement and execution efficiency, despite volatility in raw material prices. For 9-month FY26, EBITDA stood at INR 526 crores, up 80% year-on-year as compared to INR 292 crores in 9-month FY25, once again representing the highest-ever EBITDA for any 9-month period. Moving to the bottom line, profit after tax for Q3 FY26 stood at INR 118 crores, registering a 72.4% year-on-year increase as compared to INR 69 crores in Q3 FY25. For 9-month FY26, PAT came in at INR 324 crores, up 77.7% year-on-year, marking the highest-ever 9-month PAT in the company's history as compared to INR 183 crores in 9-month FY25. Coming to the segment performance, the wire and cable business continued to remain the primary growth engine for the company.
Segment revenue grew by 48.6% year-on-year during Q3 FY26 at INR 2,293 crores as compared to INR 1,543 crores in Q3 FY25, driven by a robust 30% overall volume growth led by stronger domestic demand alongside healthy export growth. The company continues to enjoy a dominant position in the export market, supported by scale, quality certifications, and long-standing customer relationships. Segment profitability also improved significantly, with segment profit recording at 84.9% year-on-year growth at INR 199 crores as compared to INR 108 crores in Q3 FY25. Turning to the FMG segment, revenue for Q3 FY26 stood at INR 243 crores compared to INR 240 crores in Q3 FY25, reflecting a steady year-on-year performance broadly in line with industry trends, amid continued caution in discretionary demand and channel-level adjustments.
From a profitability standpoint, losses remained largely restrained on a year-on-year basis and were significantly curtailed on a year-on-year basis, driven by focused cost reduction initiatives, portfolio rationalization, and improved operational efficiency, supporting a gradual move towards a more sustainable profit trajectory. Looking ahead, we remain cautiously optimistic about the outlook. While the near-term continues to remain mixed in certain segments, the medium-term fundamentals for the electrical industry in India remain strong. Infrastructure spending, housing growth, and the structural shift towards organized, compliant, and branded products continue to gather pace, supported by rising awareness around safety standards and regulatory compliances. During the period, the company incurred capital expenditure in line with its overall CapEx plan, supporting capacity and efficiency enhancement in line with robust industry demand and long-term growth opportunities. On manufacturing scale, quality assurance processes, and distribution reached positions as well to benefit from this transition.
The company's performance remains aligned with the objective of Project Rise on a three-year strategic roadmap, and we remain firmly on track to achieve the stated milestones. We will remain focused on disciplined execution, operational excellence, and strengthening our competitive position across the business. With this, I will request to open the floor for questions and answers.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone 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 a question. The first question is from the line of Natasha Jain from Felix Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for the opportunity, and congratulations, team, on a good set of numbers. So my first question would be broadly on the wires and cables demand on the ground. So if you could, in a little detail, color, tell us how the demand is on the ground right now. How is the inventory position? And because of copper rising so sharply, is the channel seeing issues in terms of working capital? So that's the first one.
Thanks, Natasha, for your questions. In wire and cable, we have seen a very good growth in demand, particularly due to a rise in every sector, be it real estate or industrial demand, and even in the export market also. Of course, we have seen extraordinary volatility in the last quarter, and it is continuing in this quarter also. Since prices have moved by almost 20%-25% just in the single quarter, so there were pressures on working capital at our channel side also, we have seen. But at the same time, we have seen a good since the demand is good and everyone is stocking up also, so we have seen a good effect in Q3 of FY26. At the same time, since this volatility is there and this is a huge volatility, what we have seen either in the upper side also or in the reducing side also.
This will be managed as we keep doing in previous also that in a lagged manner, we will keep passing on this impact of prices to our consumer and customers.
Got it, sir. Sir, ideally, how much time would it take for such a sharp price to be passed on to the channel and then to the consumer eventually? Or can there be any slowdown in projects, especially in housing projects, going forward in the near term?
See, one thing you need to appreciate that, see, cable is category C or cost C category item for any project, wire and cable. What happens, ultimately, consumption will not be reduced just if prices are increasing or decreasing in a smaller time frame. If somebody is building a project, the wire and cable may cost around 1%-1.5% of their total cost only. So demand will be there always. The only thing, the stocking up by dealer may reduce or increase on smaller time frames.
Got it. Sir, one last question. Usually, you've mentioned even previously in your concalls that the industry is set to see a 15% CAGR. Are we on track for that number even in calendar 2026?
Yes. If I talk about India growth, as earlier also I said, that this industry is expected to grow at double of the GDP growth. So if India grows at anything between 7%-8%, then this industry is expected to grow in the 14%-15% range. If we talk about us, then of course, with this 30% kind of volume growth in this quarter, we'll be able to achieve around 17%-18% volume growth for the 9-month period. This is in line with our business plan and growth strategy.
Got it. Thank you so much, sir. I'll fall back in the queue.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Dhruv Jain from Ambit Capital. Please go ahead.
Thank you so much for the opportunity. Sir, my first question is that if you could just give us the data with respect to volume growth for this quarter and which segments have grown faster, wire segment, cable segment, and even on the export side, if you could just give us some color just to understand numbers better?
Our overall volume growth in wire and cable is around 30+%, where wire grew by almost 30% while cable grew more than 25%. Even when we see domestic and exports, again, in domestic, we grew in value more than 50% or even in volume more than 30%, it was in domestic, while in export, it is about 25%. Overall, we got volume growth by all segments, be it wire or cable or domestic or export.
Sure, sir. Just, sir, one clarification. We've seen margins dip a little bit QOQ, while wire-wide, they are significantly up. Is it that you've not passed on the full impact of copper inflation? Is it because of that, or is it because of some other factor?
So if you see segment margins, they are slightly reduced when you compare with the previous quarter. But as I said, passing on the price is a continuous process, and there will be some lag impact. So it is continuously processed. And as I said, just a single quarter when price rise was almost 25%, still the impact on margins is hardly 0.5%. So it is in line with, or rather, I will say better than industry, what others have done.
Sure. Sir, just on capacity utilization and just CapEx coming online, so if you could just give us an update on that front on the cables side, especially. So if I'm not wrong, there was one more phase of capacity in cables that was going to come on stream in March. So I just wanted to check if we are on track and if you could just give us the capacity utilization numbers across wires and cables. Thank you so much.
Yes. So our CapEx plan, where we have planned to invest around INR 1,200 crore over a period of three years, in which almost 80% will be invested in cable side only. And we have planned this CapEx in such a way that this will be able to service my demand growth of 18% volume growth, what we have planned on a yearly basis. So in phased manner, capacity will keep coming and we'll keep utilizing. Of course, if I see from capacity utilization point of view, we are almost at 70% in wire side and 90% in cable side.
So the one more I think we've got one more is cruising on the cable side in March, right?
So as I said, this is a continuous process where we will keep increasing our capacity in phase manner. So it is not one day overnight that I will double my capacity or something like that. So it will keep coming, and we are on track of our overall fixed assets and capitalization plan.
Okay, sir. Thank you so much, and all the best.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ashish Kanodya from Citibank. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you, sir. Just on the price hike, if you can quantify how much of the price hike you were able to pass on in 3Q? So for example, given how the copper prices have moved, assuming, let's say, you wanted to take it needed 20% price hike, how much of it has you passed on already in 3Q? And if you have taken any incremental price hike in 4Q as well?
So Ashish, this is a continuous process, and it is not point-to-point we can point out. But if you see any increase, say, by 2%, 3%, or 4%, we need to keep changing our sales phase also. So it was a continuous process. In the month of December itself, we came with 2 new prices, even in January in Q4 also, since there was an upward movement in the last week of December also. So there was price rise even in the 3 price rise in January also. So it is a continuous process where you have to change your sales price based on movement in metal prices.
Sure, sir. Just on the pricing behavior, if you look at all the top 3-4 players, including you, how is the pricing behavior? Given typically, normally, we have seen price hike only once a year. Now when you are taking once a month, now when you are taking 2 or 3 price hikes, is it an industry phenomenon, or are you seeing some player behaving very differently in terms of being aggressive?
So at the industry level, almost this will remain the same practice because nobody can absorb this kind of price rises. Ultimately, it will impact directly your profitability. So you have to keep changing. So it is rather than time period, it is based on the degree of volatility. If prices are rising, say, by 3%, 5%, so you keep changing. So sometimes we have to change our pricing even within a week also, while sometimes it keeps stable for two, three months also. So ultimately, it will keep behaving like that only. And particularly in this type of volatility, there will be frequent price changes.
Got it, sir. And just last one, January also has been pretty volatile. So if you can give some quantitative color in terms of how, one, the demand trend has been and also how the channel inventory was at the end of January.
So even in January also, till last day of January, the copper prices were on the upward side also only, and we have seen a good demand in good demand also in the market. At the same time, see, you will appreciate, as I also said, this is continuous consumption will always be there. The only thing, there may be some for a month or maybe for 15 days, there may be some upstocking or destocking. But otherwise, you need to see in a larger time frame also and from an ultimate consumption point of view.
Sure, sir. And just last question, when I look at the payable days, it has increased this quarter. So anything to read into that?
No, it's working capital management only, and it is a regular process of business where you can keep adjusting your payable days and receivable days. But if you see our overall working capital days remain in line with what we have projected at the beginning of the year.
Sure, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Achal Lohade from Nuvama Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good afternoon, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. If you could clarify in terms of the margins, how do you see it playing out in the fourth quarter? Assuming the prices remain stable at today's level, do you see QOQ margin expansion, or given the volatility, even fourth quarter margins could actually fall a little bit compared to 3Q?
Oh, but as you said, if prices remain the same or volatility is comparatively less, then there should not be any impact on margins. So in my sense, it seems that there will not be any impact, and it may be whatever we had guidance in the beginning of the year where we want to project 100 basis improvement until Q3; we have done the same. So it will be in line with there where we have our yearly plan is considered.
I'm just trying to extract numbers. It was 9.9%. If you're saying you can have a 100 basis point improvement, you are talking about 9.5% plus for the fourth quarter if prices were to remain stable from today onward. Have I understood right, sir?
No, no. It will be very tough to predict exactly for quarterly numbers, but you have to see business in a longer frame where when we are targeting around 8.5% on a yearly basis. So we'll be in that line only.
Understood. The second question I had, and again, it's a bit theoretical, if copper prices were to fall back to $10,000, which is where they were before this sharp increase, how would that impact us as an industry and also as a company in terms of the volume and the margins, if you could give us some sense?
There are two aspects. One, of course, there may be some impact because it is psychological things, and if such kind of huge, say, reduction in prices come, then there may be some pause in demand, not at consumption level, but at the stocking level. So we may see some slowdown, at least in terms of revenue, because when you are assuming almost 25% further prices are going down, then there may be some impact. Nobody can neglect that. But at the same time, we have to see a business in a little bit longer time frame where we are quite confident that based on the fundamental growth or plans, this industry will also grow, and we have our own growth plans.
Capable.
Regarding margins also, yeah, as I said, okay, if theoretically we talk, then the lower the LME in percentage terms, it may go up also. But at the same time, since there may be some inventory impact also. So there are so many aspects. There may not be any perfect guidelines for that.
Very good. Another question I had, in terms of the export, given the recent announcement of the EU trade deal, can you give us some sense, given our exposure is probably the highest among all players, how does it benefit, to what extent the benefit could be?
So Achal, this announcement may take impact after maybe 12 months or so, but theoretically, it seems a very good treaty where, of course, since we are almost our 40% exports is to the European Union, so we can get good traction. But even otherwise also, we have our own good growth plans for the export market. And as you can see, even in the last quarter also, we have seen good growth, and it is a continuous process. Of course, this treaty or this situation may impact for a slower time, but particularly, this treaty announcement is quite favorable for our wire and cable business.
Understood. Just last question, if I may, sir, inventory with the channel, what is the typical inventory, and what is it today, according to you?
I think normally, they keep an inventory of 25-30 days channel, and it might have increased by maybe another 5-7 days because you will see that already this value is increased by 20%-25%. So they also have some limitations in terms of how much investment they can make. So not that much increased. Inventory has not increased that much because in terms of value, that might have increased, but at the same time, in terms of days, it is maybe increased by another 5-7 days.
Maximum, what kind of inventory days have you seen they can go up to in the past?
I don't think at these levels, anybody can increase, but at maximum, it can go by 45 days, at max, what I think, because finance costs a lot in this business.
Very good. Thank you, and wish you all the best, sir. I'll fall back in the queue for any further questions. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sandesh Shetty from HSBC Bank. Please go ahead.
Hello. Good afternoon, sir. Am I audible?
Yes, please.
Also, what is the nine-month CapEx that you have incurred for wires and cables business?
Around INR 280 crore we have done in nine months.
Sir, on FMEG, now that the demand environment has also not been good in the last nine months, how do you see the turnaround and by when we can expect the profitability in this segment? What are you penciling in?
Yeah, of course, these nine months, we have seen the season was not good, particularly for fan also. And that is the reason that we are at a flat for nine-month level also. But at the same time, on profitability front, what we have planned to achieve, not profitability, but green in EBIT level in FMEG by this quarter, which is Q4 of 2026, and we are almost on the line because if you see even in this Q3 where growth was almost flat, but still, our losses are in the range of INR 5 crore only. So we are quite hopeful to achieve break-even in this quarter.
Sir, last question on exports. There has been a good pickup in exports for you. Do you see this momentum continuing further, and how is the mix in exports, wires versus cables?
Yes, we have seen a very good traction in demand in exports, and it is not by one country, but by all countries where we are exporting. It will remain there because export was always our focus area, and in the future also, we are developing new geography as well as new product line also. We are improving and expanding our cable manufacturing capacity also. Till now, our exports are also almost in the range of 70-30 only, but now more growth will come from the cable side only, looking to our expansion plan, looking to our approval, and sales efforts also.
That's it from my side, sir. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vidit Trivedi from Asian Market Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity, and congratulations on a great set of numbers. I understand the price hike in the domestic market as you released a new price list, and it is effective from that day. I wanted to understand, how do you account for the same in the export orders? Because as you have mentioned, that 70% of exports are in the wires category. So how do you do that?
There it is more easy because there we have 100% back-to-back mechanism, whatever my customer wants to buy, either on monthly average or fortnightly average or weekly average. So we also book back-to-back. So there is no risk at all in terms of profitability, and it is maintained in that way.
Good, sir. Sir, on the EU trade deal, we almost do 40% of our sales to the European Union. My question is that what has changed for us? What was the duty structure pre-EU trade deal, and what is the expected duty structure post the deal, and how are the receivable cycles in the exports market?
So if we talk about EU customs duty and everything, then the rate of tariff was around 3.7% in EU for wire and cable, which will become zero. Still, the details are not that much clear to when it will be effective, but ultimately, it will be going to be hugely beneficial for the wire and cable industry, and particularly since we already have an established market, so it will be more beneficial to us. And if we talk about receivables, then our majority of the receivables are secured in terms of LC, and by the time it reaches, we get the amount also. So it varies from 30 days to 60 days.
Good, sir. And sir, just last one, on the creditor days, it has inched up to 42 days in December 2025. So is it more like improvement in the working capital driven by structure efficiency, or is it more a function of extended supplier credit that may normalize in the later part?
It's balancing between my overall working capital. When these prices were also increasing, so we developed a few credit lines to have efficient control and usage of my working capital. It will keep changing as per the situation, but we have sufficient credit lines available to handle this business.
Should we assume that the overall working capital will be in the range of 50-60 days? Is that a fair understanding?
Yes, yes, yes. That's what we target, to remain in that line of 50-60 days only.
Thanks a lot, sir. That's all from my side. All the best.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rahul Agarwal from Ikigai Asset. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Good afternoon. First question to Mahendra Kabra sir, over the last year, we have seen some senior management changes in the company. As of now, it's all done, and are there any pending gaps right now to be filled? If you just talk about the senior management team at RR Kabel.
As you can see, there is a good improvement in this financial year. The team being young and very dynamic and very aggressive in the working, we continue with this.
Any gaps to be filled ahead, or is it all done?
No, it's all done.
Okay, perfect. Okay. Okay, got it. Second question was to Rajesh Jain Sir, when I'm looking at staff cost on a consolidated basis, it's looking like flattening out despite we going through a decent amount of CapEx and expansions in the plant. I just wanted to understand, how should we look at this INR 400 crore odd annual staff cost? Is it going to be more because of automated plants, the hiring is lesser, and hence, incrementally, it's going to be more inflation increase, or there is some one-off here?
No, so this is, again, a continuous process where you keep automation in the process and how we can get the best efficiency not only of manpower, but even at plant and machinery level also. So focus will remain there. At the same time, of course, we have to meet whatever there will be increased demand in manpower due to my capacity expansion. So it will be tough to figure out in terms of numbers, but it will remain in line, or rather, it will improve in percentage terms only as our scale goes up.
Okay, got it. Is it possible to share the operating cash flow number for nine months, the absolute number?
That is not handy with me, but yes, the main thing that our working capital days are almost, you have seen, stable at 56 days only. Other than that, for nine months, our CapEx is almost INR 260 crore-INR 280 crore. Other things are within parameter only.
Good, sir. Just in terms of margins and growth rates, in terms of the outlook for exports over a medium term, I understand right now, we're going through a lot of growth because the environment outside is also great. Copper is seeing inflation, so pricing growth is higher. But where do you think the export growth should stabilize for us on a three-year basis?
So overall, we are quite hopeful that export will do much better looking to even at India level, when you see the growth opportunities are many more there. Though temporary, there may be some impact due to this tariff instability, but still, even we see quite hopeful that the U.S. market will also open up for us. So there we have solid growth fundamentals where cable exports will also increase for Indian players.
Will it be higher than India growth over the next three years, or it should be similar growth?
It seems export can do much better, at least for us. We are quite hopeful, maybe a little bit better than domestic growth, but we are quite hopeful for all the markets, all product categories.
Got it, sir. Last question on the margins. I think nine months, the margins have been extremely good on the operating consolidated EBITDA margins I'm talking about. I think we're planning for 100 bps expansion. We've got much more, I think, because of lower copper when maybe there is some bit of inventory gains here as well. Just in terms of outlook for 2027 and 2028, should we budget 8%-8.5% in the same range, or do you think that we are running ahead of our guidance of 100 bps expansion every year?
So we are planning to improve by another 100 basis points every year. So by FY 2028, we are targeting double-digit 10.5% kind of EBIT margins in our wire and cable business. So we are on track, and it will remain in that range only.
Okay. Good, sir. Thank you so much. All the best, and congratulations. Pretty good set for the quarter. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Karan Kamdar from Choice Institutional Equities. Please go ahead, sir.
Hello. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, what I wanted to know is, what is our strategy for increasing our B2B sales? I believe that is a large chunk. What is the split in the especially in the cables and wires segment for B2B and B2C?
So if you see till now, about the majority area where since we started our journey from wire and still revenue is coming from 70% revenue is coming from wire side, it says that we are very strong in B2C type of the business. But at the same time, if you see our CapEx plan, even if you see industry trend where we know that almost 65% business is contributed by cable segment, and that is the reason that we have made a plan to have a huge CapEx in B2B category. And at the same time, whatever capabilities we have built in B2B, we will expand that capabilities. We know there are so many areas, particularly in power cable, where huge big contractors are there. We need to expand our B2B dealer network also.
So we are working on that, and we are in line so that we can achieve these growth plans by making a good B2B sales side also.
Okay, sir. Thank you. Sir, what is our plan for the FMEG segment? What kind of figure are you expecting over the next three years, and how big is the business that we are expecting?
So we are expecting to grow in the FMEG side at 25% since our base is small. Since we are targeting to achieve break-even at EBIT level in this quarter itself, so it seems by FY 2028, we can achieve EBIT margins in the range of 5%-6% in the FMEG segment also.
One last question which I can see here. Any plans to sort of start job work or something like that in the FMEG space? Or do we only plan to do consumer?
No, no. We are doing only consumer business. And see, as per our plan, right now, we have one-third in our facility, and even two-third, we are doing outsourcing already. So there is no question of doing job work for others.
Okay, sir. Thank you so much. Thank you. All the best.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Bala Subramaniam from Arihant Capital. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, sir. Thank you so much for the opportunities. Sir, on that, the FMEG side, how much percentage revenues comes from premium and mid-premium side? And if you go to breakdown, what percentage of revenue comes from premium and mid-premium and economy side? And what are the SKUs planning to launch in coming quarters? What are the products? And how much R&D they are planning to spend for FMEG side? And lastly, we have strong presence into North and West and some presence into East. And the South is still under-penetrated. And what is the plan to ramp up South India presence? And yes, sir.
Yeah. Thanks, Bala. So if first, if I see in FMEG revenue by product category, then almost 50% of revenue comes from fans side, while 32% from lighting, and the rest 18% from appliances and switchgears. And if we see from margin point of view, almost 20% revenue is coming from premium and mid-premium category, which is a very healthy percentage even if you see at industry level. And that is the reason that we have seen good improvement or rather reduction in losses in these nine months also. Going forward also, as you said, we are good in FMEG business in North and East side. But since we have an overall growth plan at India level, so we are trying to establish a dealer-distributor network in South also for FMEG business.
Okay, sir. So on that, FMEG distribution side, what is the mix between dealers, retail chains, and online e-commerce? How the channel mix is right now evolving?
So in FMEG business, we are almost 10% we are getting from e-commerce side, while 90% is through dealer-distributor only. And in wire and cable, of course, it is 100% through dealer-distributor only. And if you see, overall, we have more than 6,000 dealer and distributor all over India and more than almost 150,000 retail points. So we have a reasonably good presence all over the country. The only thing, wherever we do not have a very strong presence, there we need to increase the depth of our sales and distribution.
Got it, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Dakshal Jair from White Oak Capital Management. Please go ahead.
Hello. Congratulations, sir. Good set of numbers. I just wanted to confirm also, what is our cost of borrowing? I know we have little borrowing on our balance sheet. Dakshal, what is the cost of our borrowing?
You are asking about cost of borrowing?
Yes, yes.
Yes. So it's around 7% is our cost of borrowing because it is a mix of my export loans and domestic credit facility. So it's in line or rather better than industry average.
Okay. Okay. Thank you, sir. This was my question. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rohit Balakrishnan from iThought PMS. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. So my question is, I'm new to understanding this industry. So I just wanted to understand the value chain, the supply chain of this entire industry. So in the entire supply chain, you supply it to the distributor, and they sell it to the dealer, and then it goes to the retailer, or how does it go? The distributor sells it directly to, let's say, a B2B, to the end real estate player or to a power company, or how does it happen? Can you explain me that part?
So there are two lines of business. One where it is B2C category, where wire is sold through retailers. So there, we have dealer or distributors who further sell to our retailers, and they ultimately sell to end consumer. While in B2B category, one, we have a bigger dealer-distributor who sells to direct projects also. And sometimes, even we directly sell to project customers like big industry or big government supplies also. Though right now, this mix of B2B is less than industry average because we are a widely focused company, so we have more distribution-led business only. But it is as per customer and as per business, it keeps changing.
Got it. Okay. I got that answer. Thank you so much. There was a recent management hiring in the last two days, I think. You put in the stock exchange. Is there any intent behind this, new senior hiring happening and reshuffling of some people towards the senior positions?
No, no. It's a continuous process. As earlier, our MD also said that, see, there will be growth plan, and it is a continuous process where we may keep hiring and as per our strategy and to meet our growth plan, there will be regular. These are regular things, nothing special, extraordinary.
Okay. Just last question. Copper prices, they have been very volatile. In the last 1 week, it has crashed a lot. I think you are told there will be some destocking risk probably, which can happen through distributors. But if this volatile trend continues for another 2 or 3 quarters of going up and down the copper prices, aluminum prices, how would it impact our margins, all that part?
So as in earlier also, I said that it is almost impossible to predict the material prices, and it may have some impact either side because if you ask before three months, nobody was expecting that 25% it can go up or maybe down also. So as I said, it is a continuous process of our business where you keep changing your selling prices based on this material cost. So there may be some impact if you see in a very short term of one month or maybe one quarter. But ultimately, since consumption will always be there, so it is a continuous process where you keep changing your sales prices and maintain your margin and protect your margins.
Got it. Just one last question if I could slip it in. In the regional players, like in South India, there is Orbit Cables, and in West, I think there are someone else, distant players. So how are we planning to beat players in their regional spaces? Once distributors, normally, they are kind of sticky to the brand they choose, right, because they get better channel financing. So how do we plan to enter markets which already matured? Yeah.
So again, this will be a continuous process where every player, not only R R Kabel, but every player would like to enhance their market presence through their ATL, BTL activity, or distribution expansion. And at the same time, though there are many national players also, but everybody has their own strong area or area of growth. And same for us also. We are very strong in a few states, while in other states, we need to increase our market presence or growth share in that market also. So again, it will be a continuous process. While right now, we are very strong in the north and west part of the country, while yet we need to expand our business in east and south also.
Okay. Thank you so much.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. In the interest of time, this was the last question. I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Thank you, everyone, for taking some time out to participate in this call. In case of any queries, reach out to us or our investor relations agency, MUFG Intime. We wish you all the best and hope to interact with you soon. Thank you so much.
On behalf of MUFG Intime, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line.