Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Schneider Electric Infrastructure Limited Q1 FY25 earnings conference call, hosted by Elara Securities Private Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in a 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 the star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Harshit Kapadia from Elara Securities Private Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Steve. Good morning, everyone. On behalf of Elara Securities, we welcome you all for the Q1 FY25 conference call of Schneider Electric Infrastructure Limited. I take this opportunity to welcome the management of Schneider Electric Infrastructure, represented by Mr. Udai Singh, Managing Director and CEO, Ms. Suparna Bhattacharyya, Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. Mohit Agarwal, Head of Investor Relations. We will begin the call with a brief overview by management, followed by Q&A session. I'll now hand over the call to Mr. Singh for his opening remarks. Over to you, sir.
Thank you so much, and good morning to everyone. And again, a warm welcome to this call, and thank you for taking out your precious time to hear to us. I'm joined by my colleagues, Suparna, as Harshit said, and also Mohit, to actually address and take you through as to what the Q1 of your company has been. And I would like you and request you to go back to... I'll go slide by slide so that, you know, there's an easy reference.
And, if you refer to slide one, which is actually just wanted to show you, I don't know how many of you have seen, but this is our transformer factory in Baroda, where, you know, an aerial shot has been taken, and we'll keep on showing you other factories as we move on in next quarters. So turning now to page number two is actually, you know, is just to set forth as to what the vision and the mission which your company is driving at.
So we have a vision which is very clearly to lead the new digitalized energy world, and offering all our esteemed clients and partners alike, the most innovative, connected products and solutions, and therefore, at any point in time, be ready for the then emerging power distribution innovative expectations.
Now, we are trying to do this by balancing our business models, offering superior quality and efficient supply chain, and keeping our growth and profitability resilient and sustainable. While this is the vision which we have for the company, we also have a mission to be a digital partner for sustainability and efficiency, and we strongly believe that life is on everywhere, for everyone and any, or at every moment.
I turn to page three, which is something which all of you may be aware as to how Indian landscape has been evolving. You know, we just heard the Honorable Finance Minister, you know, spreading out the budget for Modi 3.0 plus session.
Now, if you see the highlights, which has been there for this budget, is, you know, one positive note is we are talking about INR 1,110,000 crore being invested in, in the budget. That is a good increase, and that is something which helps the business to be positive around this.
Now, other things, if you see, what we have also seen is actually we expect that the GDP would perhaps grow at about 7-ish, you know, 7.5, 6, 7, 6.75, 7.25, but about 7-ish. And we have been able to contain the inflation also to about 5.4, 5.3. We see the same trend getting continued.
The other highlight, if you perhaps see, and what we have also done for your ready reckoner, is we have tried to actually separate them out segment-wise, just to give you a feel as to how the budget announcements will be impacting these segments, which I mentioned in the table, which you find as renewables, transportation, infra, semicon and e-mobility.
And I start off with this. You know what? If you look at renewables, about INR 19,000 crore is allocated by ministry. And what I want you to make a note of is the emerging focus on the PSP. PSP is nothing but the pump storage project, and this is going to gain momentum in times to come.
You know, countries like, you know, China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, have already been using it, and this is the future, this is the future for, for India, as we see. Today, we are actually sitting at about 4 gigawatts, and that's something which needs to get done as we move on, and this is something which we are trying to focus upon, to actually propel the renewable growth in the country.
What we have also been hearing around is a firming up on policies which are actually towards emission targets, which Honorable PM had announced earlier, for reducing the intensity to about 45%, and an evolving taxonomy for climate finance.
Now, this is something which is, I would say, a very positive development, which government has been working in trying to clarify, you know, draw up a proper framework around this so that there's a clarity and, you know, things get pushed. At the same time, if you talk about transportation... We see that money is being infused here, here also.
We have about INR 500,000 crore being done in transportation, where, you know, there's a metro that got about INR 21,000 crore allocation, and then we as railways itself, about INR 270,000 crore. So these are all which I would say is something which is positive for the company, because we operate in these segments, and we have been operating here for quite some time.
The other one, which actually if you see, is the infrastructure, which is a continuing tool which is being given. There's allocation being done here as well, about things like INR 260,000 crore has been rolled out for rural development, which is actually also keep on propelling the industries like cement, steel and other energy requirements, therefore will also soar and we'll come in the picture.
As a matter of fact, there are about 100 industrial parks which are being announced in cities, which is about 100-odd cities, in partnership with state and private sector to boost manufacturing. There are a lot of big corporates who are actually already initiated work on this.
Semiconductors, you know, government by themselves, besides the private people who are infusing money, government itself has actually allocated about INR 6,900 crore for development of semiconductor and display manufacturing units. Not only this, we also see that new tariff lines for products used in Indian semicon machinery is actually being rolled out, so that it further promotes the competitiveness of our own Make in India products in global market.
E-mobility is a very interesting landscape. It is something, you know, which is the future, which I would say, along with, you know, the, that the energy storage system based on batteries. So cell manufacturing, EV is going to carve out the future for India. That is. That's the most challenging landscape which perhaps we'll see in coming times.
It is getting support by the government in terms of, you know, that there are PLI, which actually has been rolled out for cell manufacturing, advanced cell chemistry, cell manufacturing. What has been additionally done now is exemption of basic customs duty for critical minerals, which are like nickel, cobalt, cadmium and lithium, so that the EV, the battery cells which are being made are becoming more affordable here, and therefore, a boost to EV manufacturing would happen.
Because the cost, the cost gap between the IC and EV vehicles will plan to go down. And we have the FAME continues. FAME is nothing but the faster adoption and manufacturing of EVs. There's a program which is getting rolled out, that incentivization continues, and we actually see government increasing about INR 2,600 crore in this.
Now, while we see that all these announcements are good, they actually, they relate—we can relate to these announcements. Now, what we are trying to do here, if you see, and I would like to draw your attention to take a look on the right side of the slide, where we have listed out as to what we are trying to supply here, the company is trying to supply.
C ompany is trying to supply the basic equipment which are digitalized, as I have been mentioning, which are all the basic core equipment which we do, which gets sensorized and therefore digital. Then we have a set of other digital devices which sort of collate data from various things at the field.
Then at the top, we have something which is a beautiful application layer, which actually helps the user to gain and get an access to the contemporary data, which is on time data, and also an advisory stack. Now, this is something which is clearly making EcoStruxure differentiate from other players in the market, and this is where our customers see and look up to us for supplying these products and associated services around it.
Now, if I ask you to go to the next slide, which is slide number four, where we actually are going to talk about, in slide five, as to what has been our wins, and we call them breakthrough orders. And why I say as breakthrough orders, because of, you know, the reasons which I am going to tell you now.
If you look at the left side picture, which you see a box, you know, that is, that is something which we have developed, we call it a Powertrain Module. Now, this Powertrain Module, to tell you in very simple words, is a scalable box. I would call it as a electrical box, which houses and which can house, depending on the customer requirement, all the peripherals of, you know, what is required for receiving power and giving out power. Everything is put in a box. This, this simply gives out 1 particular MVA of power. It can be 2, 2.5, 3. And then the idea is that if we are actually...
If the user is trying to get the distribution, power distribution, being set up in a very, I would say, speedy manner, this is something which comes very handy to them. Because if suppose we want 18 MW of power, you just pick up, say, 9 boxes of 2 MW each and then box it up, you know, connect them and actually take the power, instead of setting up the conventional substation and things like this.
So this is something which is gaining momentum, and the segments where this will certainly work is the data centers, because data centers are, as you know, is actually has a very bright future in India for the extensive usage of 5G and also the artificial intelligence, which actually is standing by every night and day.
So this is one product which is, which is from our side, which the company offers, and which is actually getting accepted very widely, I would say, in data center space. Now, the second and third are the items which we have actually done first time, and why I have actually, we have mentioned here, because just to tell you that your company is actually now fully geared up to address the entire solar needs of complex, high-rated power plants, which are based on solar.
And we have now products which we sold in the center, which you find is the first time to one of the solar developer. And also on the right, you find something which is, by far, is one of the most compact 11 kV distribution primary AIS.
This is when I say most compact, it has got one of the least footprints which is available in this space, which we have actually wanted to share with, proudly, that the first orders of the second and the third one, which we have just launched, we concluded with one of few of our customers in relevant field. If I request you to turn to the next page, which is page number six, we wanted to share again here, you know, because if you recall, we did mention about we being highly digital and be the digital partner for our all customers.
And this is a testimony what you see the three cases which we actually have done in the digital space, where we actually have put an analytical data in one of the prestigious semiconductor projects in India. These are nothing but this is all loaded with hardware and associated software, which is doing a lot of jobs, which you see in acronyms are being explained at the bottom, which is nothing but the EcoStruxure, power operation and advanced reporting dashboard.
Then we have at 765 KV, where we had sort of at this place we had held back for reasons known to us. We have now reinitiated this, and we actually have taken this order as well in one of the states. If you see, the third one is something which is, I would like to...
It's for a port, and this is the equipment which we have supplied, and this has got the Slice Switchboards, which is actually being supplied to them with something which you will recall I was explaining last time, is the EcoCare piece, which we have just, I would say, you know, I don't know, inaugurated or launched about 4 months ago. So this first order is something which we have got for the port, which is for the Slice and along with the EcoCare subscription as well. Now, if I request you to go on to page 7, this is nothing which we wanted to share with you as to what we have done and how things have been changing it.
Typically, there are a lot of clients, users, end users, I would say, in Middle East and Africa, who actually have started accepting India origin goods. And this is because, you know, the quality of the perceived quality of India is going up. You know, the support has been coming great, and therefore we are also have leveraged this situation by booking three orders in three countries.
One, the left one, the first one, is for Nepal, where we have actually supplied transformers, and these are all with our experts, transformer experts, one of, one of the large value contracts which we have done for Nepal. Then the second one is a large value order, which we have actually taken for one, I would say, a, a player in Australia, in Western Australia, which is into petrochemicals, and is the largest transformer export order.
Then we also have been able to get inroads in Qatar in, a few projects which they are doing at QatarGas, where again, transformers are being supplied. So in net-net, what I was trying to share, you all, is we are also trying and exploring whether and how we can actually supply to countries outside India for cases which are getting engineered and finalized in India for outside territories.
If you go on page eight, it is something more about the first things we recall, which I explained to you a couple of slides ago, a much more deeper insight into the electrical box, which we call as powertrain module. You know, if you see, the value proposition is very clear. It, it saves time and cost. The other benefit which comes around handy here, this is extremely flexible.
So if a user wants one particular type, he can get it. If he wants to tweak something, some requirements within it, it is possible. Like, for example, if you want to scale up, scale down, it's possible. If you want to change the rating, possible. If you want to make it the conductor as well, conductor busbar, aluminum, copper, possible. The transformer varieties, possible.
So actually, what we are trying to do is, we have actually tried to come up with a product which actually can be changed, modified, altered as per the requirement, and then the user is very, I would say, content and satisfied that he is getting the way he wants it in earliest possible time and maybe with a drop of cost. Now, as I mentioned, data center is a clear-cut puller for this.
We have been also attempting, whether in few of the metros and other high-end industries, where this can be put along with the buildings... Now, with that, I would like to go to slide number 10, which tells you as to how we have performed in this quarter, how your company has done. We have grown by about 19% in orders, and we stand at INR 531 crore.
And in sales, we actually have grown by 19.7%, and we stand at INR 593 crore, which is, which is, the quarter one results. Now, at the same time, I'm happy to share that the momentum of order intake has been good, and we are sitting at a backlog of about INR 1,300 crore, which is typically about 15.5%-16% up than what it was last year at the same point in time.
Now, we have been able to do this and drive sales while managing a good mix of transactional and services. Now, I would request my colleague, Suparna, to go more deeper into PNL and try to take you along with the various components of PNL, and would like to share with you. Over to you, Suparna.
Thank you, Udai. Good insight, which I could also gain further, despite my day-to-day working with you. And I'm sure the, the people on the other side of the call have also gained a lot of information about the way the company is operating in the right direction, in the right momentum to maximize value for our shareholders.
Having said that, a very good morning to everyone, and I'm pleased to share the Quarter One results of this financial year. While you've already had a look at the numbers, I would still be happy to read them out and with my points in between. So sales for Quarter One this year at INR 592.9 crores have been on the rise from the corresponding period of the last year.
We are up by 19.7%, this quarter. At the material cost level, we are up by only 13% as compared to the 19.7% growth in sales. And then coming to the gross margin or the material margin level, we are up by 3.6 points, which is basically a resultant of the price and volume mix and the cost, cost optimization measures that we have taken.
At the expense level, overall increase by 18%, putting the employee and the other expenses, costs together. Our focus is definitely to maximize profitability by increasing sales. Having said that, we are pleased to share a high EBITDA growth by almost 63% in absolute numbers, and it is actually up by 3.8% over last year.
EBIT, again, similar, almost similar growth, it's 68% in terms of absolute value and similar traction, 3.8 points growth over last year, same quarter. PBT is at 65.3 growth, which is, again, a very high growth of 86.9% over last year, up by 4 points. And finally, at the PAT level, we are up by 38.8%, growth by 1.1 points. So according to us, it's a good quarter, good sales growth, good growth and profitability. And, overall, as a strategy, we've had a good product mix. The order pricing has been good.
We are looking at operational efficiency across the product range and of course focus to grow our services part of the all the pieces or all the sections across all the market segments where we operate. Thank you very much. Over to-
Harshil.
Over to Harshit.
The floor for question and answer now.
Thank you very much.
Yeah.
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 handset 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 Sagar Gandhi from Invesco Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much, sir, for the opportunity, and a wonderful presentation. So my question is more on the product side. While you have highlighted a lot of products in your presentation, my question is, what I can see and understand, and pardon my limited understanding here, is your AIS portfolio. But what we understand from, players in the power transmission space, especially Power Grid Corporation of India, is that there is a lot of, lot of gaps and, supply deficits on the GIS portfolio. Can you highlight if you have a portfolio there, and how differentiated your portfolio is there in that sector? Thank you.
Thank you for raising this, and I'm really surprised that someone has a perception that there's a gap. There isn't a gap in GIS, MV GIS portfolio we do have for quite some time. And the only thing is perhaps the point which you are trying to make or someone has been saying, is we operate up to 36 kilovolt. That's the range where we are.
There are GIS which are available for ratings, which are beyond 36 KV also, where we are not present worldwide. So our range stays to 36 or 33 KV, and we have all the variants which are possible with all the technical specifications which are available. We do have them, and we have them for quite a while.
Thank you. Sir, can you highlight the demand scenario there, that you are anticipating?
The demand scenario of GIS is of course picking up, you know, because if I look back and see at where it was 10 years ago, versus where it stands today, we see a lot of change. And this change is primarily because of two things: GIS is deemed to be a maintenance-free equipment, and also pretty optimum in terms of the footprint. Now, with as more and more urbanization is happening, the distribution will eventually move to GIS. I would not say when, but the journey is only commenced.
Okay. And sir, within the product basket that you've already highlighted, can you highlight, I mean, you've already done for one or two products, but, probably niche areas where Schneider has an edge over other competitors?
It's difficult to highlight such niche areas, but we are working closely. And our effort has been in all areas, whether you call it niche or un-niche, as to what more we can bring to a customer, which perhaps our friends are not able to bring, and how closely we work and understand their requirements, which are either stated or unstated.
Okay. Thank you so much, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Parveen Motwani from Bank of India Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Hi, hi, team. Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, I have a couple of questions. The first is, sir, Q1 FY20 growth rate of close to 20% year-on-year. So if you could just help us to understand what led to this growth, which all product segments did well for you in this quarter? And, are these numbers on profitability front are sustainable going forward?
You know, we actually have been trying to make a strong order book. And if you realize that we made it strong because, one, to drive the sales in coming quarters, and also be clear, because we are into project business, and, you know, there's always a level of uncertainty when you handle projects. So our focus has been backlog building, which we have been doing, and, you know, I'm sure you have seen our performances in previous quarters as well. So this growth we have been able to do because of the backlog which we had. And if you really ask me, is this cyclic thing?
You know, I would be wrong if I say, "Okay, in this segment, in this quarter, we did great." Because if I do in, say, segment A in one quarter, maybe perhaps, you know, because of the cyclicity, it will come up that some other segment does well in the next quarter. So we, we are, in fact, prevalent strongly in all, those segments which are electro-intensive, as we call them.
And, it may so happen, if you typically see quarter-wise will not be a good, I will say, you know, introduction. But if you look at the year, that's what we perhaps see as to which segment actually what we were able to do better. But very generally speaking, I think all electro-intensive segment we do good. A few go notches higher, few stay the notches lower, but otherwise it is all balanced. The last question is, of course, you know, we are hopeful that we would be able to continue something very similar.
Okay. The second question is, sir, if you can just understand the market of Powertrain Module. Is this technology coming from the parent, or we have done this product? You know, just some color on that front would be really helpful for us.
It's actually India for India, I would say. You know, it's something which we have tried to understand the needs, which are slightly different than what perhaps people have globally. And, you know, because I think time is the essence, and also because of the emergence of pace at which data centers are evolving in India, we thought that we should be able to do this. And when I say that, it is always supported by some technologies which actually comes from our parents. But it's more getting, you know, shaped up because of India for India situations and needs.
Understood. Okay. Thank you, and all the best, sir.
Thanks.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to answer questions from all participants, please limit your questions to two per participant. The next question is from the line of Mahesh Bendre from LIC Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning, sir. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Sir, Data Center, I mean, you showcased a product for Data Center, and Data Center is into demand as of now. So what proportion of our sales for the quarter sales has come from the Data Center?
... Difficult to say, Mahesh, we are not ready for this, but data center is of course, one of the main drivers of business.
Okay. And sir, apart from the existing products, any new products we planning to launch, given the demand in across power, site and data center site?
Yeah. What we are trying to do is, we are trying to augment the products which we already have, and maybe perhaps, upgrade or, you know, make it more efficient. And we're continuously in details on that. For example, products which were not having any sensors, we are trying to sensorize, you know, because it goes a long way for serving our end users better.
And they can run the plant much better way, they can maintain the asset in much better way, they can optimize their running costs. So our effort has been for quite few quarters, I would say, as I look back, and it is still on as to how do we make things more digitalized? How do we make items which are already digitalized more interest in terms of it, so that it can give you more features, more support, more insights.
So this is the work which we are on, and parallelly, we're also trying to see if there's something which has not been digitized yet. Is there a need of that getting digitized, and whether, you know, will it add any value to the user? And this is which we are also deciding to digitize few of those elements which are not yet digitized.
Sir, last question from my end. Our sales during the quarter grew by 20%, but the other expenses have grown by 27%. I mean, the last two, three quarters, our other expenses are going up. So is there any one-off or any warranty or related expenses?
Well, yes, agree to your point that our sales is growing up a little bit higher than we had anticipated. There are a number of reasons. Sometimes there are one-off reasons, sometimes there are cases where, you know, we have to take some expenses in our PNL with respect to increasing our efficiency in the long run. So that is the kind of, you know, operational decisions which that we take time to time and park them in our expenses. But our main focus is again growth in sales, and when I say sales, it has to be profitable sales. So that's that's what I would like to assure you with with respect to our focus.
But ma'am, what could be the possible reason for this? I mean, other expenses to go up?
Yeah, as you rightly said, that, sometimes it's a warranty case, sometimes it's a, it's a provisioning case, sometimes it's another expense case, which we build. We often, because the company, we've seen is now doing much better as compared to yesteryears, and we are trying to make it sustainable. So that is why we have some expenses that we incur just to secure the future and improve the operational efficiency of the company.
Sure. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mohit Kumar from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yes, good morning, sir, and thanks for the opportunity, and gracing us with the numbers, sir. My first question is, is it possible to bifurcate the ordering flow between utilities, interstate, intrastate, and distribution? Unless the intrastate and distribution, and industrial, yeah, if possible.
May not be a ready-made answer, sir, but you know, typically, our exposure to the distribution is maybe, you know, because we connect directly and indirectly, but typically be about 35%-40%. I'm not very sure, but this is the typical number which we'll have for distribution.
I understand, sir. My second question, sir, of course, Schneider is very strong in data center offerings, and of course, the other group companies have other products. My question is, do you participate along with the group companies to participate in a single data center opportunity? Is that right understanding?
Yeah, we do. Because if we can give them full enterprise solution, you know, why not? That's what customers also look up to us. So if, for example, there's something which is sold, like any component which a company like Schneider does, we sell that also.
My last question, sir, how do you think the data demand-
Sorry to interrupt, sir. Mr. Mohit, could you please pause for further questions? Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sanidhya from Unicorn Assets. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. So my question is on the, can you please give an employee count for FY 23 versus FY 24? And if possible, for Q1 FY 25 as well.
I didn't get your question. Can you please-
Employee count. Employee count for FY 2023 versus 2024.
You're talking of the employee expenses?
Employee count, ma'am.
Oh, employee count?
Yeah.
Just a minute. So it was 1,267 in June 2023, and now it is 1,292.
Okay. And secondly, on the other expenses side, so last Concall also management gave the commentary that they should be somewhat in line with the current guidance for FY 2024. So it was kind of 11% of the total revenue, but now we see it rising to almost 13% this quarter. So should we see a similar trend for the year, like 13% or more than that? Or will it be in line with the previous guidance of near about 10, 11% of the total revenue?
See, as I said, that, we are building this organization to create, to create this organization to be more sustainable. We are taking decisions at the operational level and at the strategic level with respect to, making the organization stronger. So we cannot say what is exactly the right, to, to be a percentage of sales, but whatever, decisions that we take and, take the expenses, that's all justified, with, you know, with a view of short-term or long-term objectives of the organization. So, I would, really say, please leave that to us, and please look at the growth, the market growth that we are driving, the profitable sales that we are driving, and, a good, value in terms of, the, at the PAT level.
Probably I would like to put it that way. Okay. And lastly, on the R&D related expenses for the last year, and what are we planning for this year?
So R&D is generally managed by global, and we basically don't do any big R&D activities over here. So the expenses-
Okay. Any royalty or anything we pass on to the-
I'm sorry to interrupt, sir. Could you please fall back in the question queue for further questions?
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Neil Ostwal from Bajaj. Please go ahead.
Hi, I'm not sure if I missed this data point, but previously you also provided the breakup between equipment, services and projects and transactions. Can you please provide that breakup?
So this, the composition of the quarter one sales, basically, I'll tell you the categories and the proportion of the sales. For the transactional part, we are 19%; services, 13%; equipment, 39%; projects, 8%; and intercompany, within group sales is about 22%. So all these put together make it 100%. So this is basically the split between the different activities that we do.
Understood. Thanks for the information.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Prathamesh Cholatkar from PL Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Thank you so much for the opportunity. So given the data center growth in the country, the data center capacity is expected to double, plus there is like 5 GW of additional capacity expected in the next 5-6 years. So just wanted to know what would be our addressable market in if you could put a number to it?
Sir, I don't know why Data Center is always exciting, but, you know, Data Center, what we... And I think more than 5 gigas, I keep my fingers crossed, will - it should happen. And, we are now actually, we'll be putting about 1 gigawatt as the turn of the year. And, you know, it's very difficult to answer this question. You know why?
Because the way Data Centers are being developed, it really depends on, you know, what sort of resiliency is being sought, you know, what has been their parental design, you know, what sort of distribution they are taking, at which voltage class, you know, how they are planning out, you know, the various floors in which they want to keep servers.
So it will be very difficult to have a ballpark number saying that, you know, you put X money and then you get Y money, okay, for business. But generally speaking, typically, you know, what I would like to state here is, the data centers are actually now coming, and my sense is it will start coming in those cities as well, which they haven't been there till now.
So like, for example, we have a large installation in, say, Mumbai, we have in Chennai, we have in Hyderabad, we have in NCR. But we'll see that this actually will getting at other places also, you know. And there, I think the entire topography will change and all our calculations of, you know, someone is investing X crores and which will give us, your company, Y crores, that won't apply. It will be difficult to answer your question, but then the only right side is the data center is in and is going to be there for quite a while.
Understood. Understood, sir. So, sir, another question was on transformer side. And considering currently we have about 7,000-8,000 MVA of capacity, are there any expansion plans on the book considering the demand scenario right now?
There's nothing which I'm aware of, no. And we are—what we are trying to do is, you know, there is a demand, and we are trying to find our, whatever capacity which you said is slightly more than what we actually have. But, what we are trying to do is, we are trying to find out as to who are those users and buyers who really appreciate for a quality product, which is consistent, and also maybe have more levels of digitalization.
So in fact, we are now into something which we call as greener transformers, with which isn't a mineral oil, but which has got veg oil. And also we are inserting sensors where you can, in fact, have the performance of the transformer actually coming on your mobile through a cloud app. So this is what we are trying to do.
You know, there are people who are accepting this and who are really appreciating this, and those are the people where we keep on supplying our transformers. So while the transformer market is growing and is not been growing at so much so pace, because the other third party data will tell you that number, but it's a large market, and we are trying to operate with perhaps similar capacities and serve those customers who really appreciate what we give it to them.
Understood, sir. Thank you so much for answering my question.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Apurva Bahadur from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity, and congratulations on good results. Sir, wanted to check about the, the gross margins, last, I think, previous quarter and this quarter as well. It's been quite strong, around 40% range. What's driving this trend and how sustainable is this?
So, this good quarter gross margin is basically coming from our product mix, order pricing, operational efficiency with cost optimization. So that's also this is kind of, I would say, for the entire product range. So our continuous endeavors to improve and do profitable sales is actually, you know, getting reflected here.
This is now sustainable, around 30 and 40% should be sustainable.
That's what we think so, unless it is something which is beyond our control.
Fair enough. Secondly, I wanted to check about the Kolkata factory. When can we expect commissioning?
We are working hard to make it work from, say, beginning of next year, next fiscal.
Financial 26 onwards?
Yeah. So sometime in April is what we anticipate it'll go on full swing.
Understood, sir. Lastly, again-
I'm sorry to interrupt, sir. Could you please fall back in the question queue for further questions?
Sure.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, a gentle reminder to please limit your questions to one per participant, as there are several participants waiting for their turn. The next question is from the line of Dhavan Shah from Alpha Accurate Advisors. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity, sir. So my question is on the Powertrain Module, the new product. So is this only for India market, or we are also open for the export business as well?
We are open for export as well.
I think you mentioned that we got some three orders from the export during this quarter. One is from Nepal, Australia, and Qatar. So, any ballpark number you can share, you know, for how much was the export ordering for during this quarter, and how much does that contribute, and the overall export order backlog as on first quarter 2025? And what is the order pipeline from these three geographies?
So you had said you were asking about the numbers. You know, we typically, this would be, if I would say, maybe about 7%-8% of backlog which we hold. And going forward, we are trying to see. We are not making it a generic line, but wherever we have an opportunity, we actually want to serve those international customers from India if they accept India origin.
So we are not chasing it because, you know, we do have teams outside also, other part of Schneider. And where we find cases which are getting concluded, because, you know, you'll appreciate that a lot of these people look up to India as one of the large sourcing bases.
And have also been making back-end design centers, so which means that the entire conceptualization, the feed, the engineering is happening here, and so is the commercial evaluation, along with the supplies coming out of India. So these cases were those cases, and this is, today, it is about 7%-8% of backlog which we hold.
All the order pipeline numbers from Nepal, Australia, and Qatar, is there any number you can share, or leading pipeline?
No, we are not in a position to share that.
Okay, sir. That's all from my side. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Raj Rishi from TCPL. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Could you elaborate on how AI benefits a company like Schneider, especially in India?
So it's a wonderful question. You know, I can finish the call with this, you know, but it's interesting. You know, you see, there are a couple of things which are happening around the demand and supply side. To tell you very shortly, what we are trying to do is all the manufacturing processes which we have undertaken, we are trying to see as to how does AI enable us to making a more consistent, higher quality product. That is number one on the manufacturing side.
Please.
Second, you know, on the supply side, if you only see all this AI, and especially in data center space, you know, when you use extensive data, I don't want to say how many bytes of data, which you know more than me, is actually driving the server capacities. And therefore, you know, in a very layman term, if you have something which eats more data or consumes more data, you require servers of larger capacities and volumes, and therefore, the data center business is going to expand much more exponentially as what it was when only 5Gs were there.
Okay.
You know, typically, that is something which helps us to drive that AI thing, you know, on the data center side and also on the side of within the company when we do manufacturing activities.
Okay. Okay. This would definitely give you an edge vis-a-vis your competitors, right?
Should be.
In India.
Yes.
Okay. And, sir,
I'm sorry to interrupt, sir.
Just one, it's a connected question. I was just going through a list, and Schneider was listed as the forty-second highest market cap company in the list of tech companies. Like, it was under the category of tech companies. So would you classify this listed entity as a tech company, or that would be incorrect?
That would be correct, but I cannot comment upon the 42nd position which you mentioned.
No, that's the global level. So the products which the listed entity has, would you say it's not incorrect to classify this listed entity also as a tech company or somewhat a tech company?
It depends on who are the set of people who are defining a tech company.
Okay.
But if I was the one to define a tech company, I would have perhaps said, "Yes, it is a tech company.
Okay. Okay, thanks a lot.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Shantanu Pawar, from an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hello, am I audible?
Yes.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. My first question is towards the guidance on revenue growth for the data center business, particularly both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter. And also I want... I was wondering if you could please give guidance on the order book as well for our data center arm.
We do not have a very specific number, so to say, Shantanu Ji, but what I am saying is that what we were at this point in time last year, we are better off in this. You know, I would. When I look back last two quarters and I see, and compared to likewise periods in last year, we are better off in data center. You know, because more and more data centers are also coming, and our numbers are also more in terms of absolute value. But if you ask me about the absolute numbers, that we would not be in a position to share with you as of now.
Right. Thank you, sir. My next question is about the synergies between-
I'm sorry to interrupt, sir. Could you please follow the question queue for further questions?
Uh, sure.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Shyam Maheshwari from Aditya Birla Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir. Congratulations on the good set of numbers. I had a question on the export business. Wanted to understand, if these sales are to other... You spoke about, you know, export sales to three countries. Are these sales to other group entities of Schneider and/or are there any other geographies, that you guys can particularly cater to? So how is the export strategy here? Is it largely to the group companies, or you can independently win orders in other countries as well?
So while the business, you know, across the world is kind of mandated between the different entities, we do export orders directly to customers in few cases. Also, we are quite active in the group company sales overseas. So it's a mix of both.
Understood. So exports are typically about 10%-15% of our overall sales?
Yes. Yeah.
Yeah.
Approximately.
With you guys maybe trying to win more orders on your own, do you see this increasing as a percentage of sales? Is it like a direct strategy?
Yes, we do explore such orders. As I said, while the, you know, the different geographies have different mandates to, in a, in the kind of sales or the revenue or the reporting structure, we do explore these opportunities, and if they come, we happily execute them.
Understood. Understood. Thank you. All the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Viraj from Jupiter Financial. Please go ahead. Hello, Mr. Viraj, your line has been unmuted. Please go ahead with your question.
Hello. Yeah. Am I, am I audible? Am I audible?
Yes.
Okay. Okay. Thank you for the opportunity and congratulations on selling numbers to the team. My question is, when I look at the year-to-year trend, we are broadly going in double-digit sales, then our net margins are, you know, inching up. So my, now with, all this momentum continuing, is it fair to assume we are on that journey path? I know you don't give guidance, but you can just give direction.
Well, I see every company here today working in the Indian environment is, you know, looking for higher revenues, better growth, better opportunities, profitable growth. And I will say we are no different.
No, no, I know that, ma'am, but what's your sense of looking at the business and the opportunities around? That's what my question is.
We do see a lot of opportunities coming up with transport and infrastructure, et cetera. Definitely we'll pick up the opportunities from the market. We are building ourselves to you know gather higher you know amount of revenue be agile and take I mean whatever the market trends are grab the opportunities and grow the organization. That's what I can surely say as a general comment from our side.
So broadly, order inquiry and other things are robust, right? Is it fair to assume?
Yeah, we are seeing good traction.
Okay. Thank you, ma'am, and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Naisar Parikh from Native Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Am I audible?
Yes.
Hi, thanks. So my question is, can you give a broad split of your sales or orders by, you know, different industries? And, you know, what's the outlook between P&G, industrials, data center, whatever mobility, whatever industries you track, if you can give a split and outlook, that would be very helpful?
See, I answered this question before. You know, See, our focus has been primarily to work on those industries and the customers. Our customers typically reside on those people who are, what we call as electro-intensive. Therefore, the people who come in there is data centers, metals, minerals, mines, mobility, and of course, power and grid.
Now, the composition of this keeps changing. You know, it keeps changing. And typically, if you really ask me, 30-40% is power and grid, then we have about 10% mobility, maybe about 10-12%, triple M, maybe about, you know, industries and oil and gas put together, maybe about 25%. You know, the data center is typically about 7-12%. So it changes.
You know, it's very difficult to actually navigate, and this composition will keep on evolving and changing as we move on. So it will be very difficult to actually conclude a number, but what perhaps we see as stands today, that power and grid is highest. You know, the other set of, you know, mobility is typically 10%. Triple M is about another 10%. So this composition may change as we move on.
Got it. And, you know, in flow point of view, for you, the strongest, you know, top one, top two sectors right now are?
As I said, power and grid, and maybe industries and, building space. People who actually consume power are the people who buy, equipment from this company, so it's like this.
Okay. Got it. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today's conference call. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Harshit Kapadia for the closing comments.
Yeah, hi. Thank you, Steve. We would like to thank the management of Schneider Electric Infrastructure for this opportunity to work with you. We also would like to thank all investors and analysts for joining this call. Any closing remarks, Sir, you want to share with investors?
No, I would like to thank everyone for joining this call and, you know, asking us questions which actually help us to navigate our path as we move on. What I wanted to re-ensure that what we are trying to do is trying to see that we are not lagging in the technology which we can bring. We are trying to see as to how do we elevate the customer experience, which they might have when they use us, and of course, trying to, you know, internally organize ourselves so that we can make things and deliver things more profitably while changing the top line. So thank you again, and have a great day.
On behalf of Elara Securities Private Limited, that concludes the conference call. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.
Thank you.