Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Sharda Cropchem Ltd 4Q and FY 2025 post- results conference call hosted by Antique Stock Broking Ltd. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Riju Dalui from Antique Stock Broking Ltd. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Hi, thanks. Good. On behalf of Antique Stock Broking, warm welcome to all the participants on the 4Q FY 2025 earning call of Sharda Cropchem. Today we have Mr. R. V. Bubna, Chairman and Managing Director, and Mr. Shailesh, CFO, on the call. Without any delay, I would like to hand over the call to Mr. Bubna with his opening remarks, post which we will open the floor for Q&A. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Good afternoon and very warm welcome to everyone present on this call. Along with me, I have Mr. Shailesh Mehendale, our CFO, Mr. Jetkin Gudhka, Company Secretary, and SGA, our Investment Relations Advisor. Hope you all have received our investor deck by now. As you are aware, we are engaged in marketing and distribution of a wide range of agrochemical products, that is, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and biocides, catering to a diverse global customer base. We prepare comprehensive dossiers, seek registrations in our own name, we allocate substantial resources, and establish our foothold in the market. Our total product registrations stood at 2,964 as of 31st March 2025. Additionally, 1,014 applications of the product registrations globally are in process. For Q4 FY 2025, despite ongoing global challenges and sustained pricing pressures, the total revenues have grown by 39% to INR 1,829 crore, with substantial overall volume growth of over 50% year-on-year.
Europe, Latin America, and NAFTA have been the key contributors in the agrochemical segment. Volumes from the agrochemical segment grew by 48% year-on-year, whereas on the non-agrochemical segment, it grew by 116% year-on-year. Our gross margin stood at 29.8%, with raw materials price stabilizing. It is expected to further improve in the financial year 2026. EBITDA for the quarter stood at INR 352 crore, a growth of 16% on Y-to-Y basis. PAT for the quarter stands at INR 204 crore, showing a growth of 42% on Y-on-Y basis. For FY 2025, the total revenue has grown by 37%, that is, INR 4,320 crore, with volume growth of 42% year-on-year, mainly through the agrochemical segment. The volumes from agrochemicals grew by approximately 44% year-on-year, whereas the non-agrochemical segment grew by 9% year-on-year. We aim to grow top-line by more than 15% in FY 2026.
Gross margins stand at 29.9%, increased by 400 bps on Y-to-Y basis, and we expect gross margins to improve in the financial year, with prices expected to increase. EBITDA for FY 2025 stood at INR 682 crore, a substantial growth of 114% on Y-to-Y basis. EBITDA margins stood at 15.8%, maintaining our FY 2025 guidelines, and aim to maintain the margins in the range of 15%-18% for FY 2026. PAT stood at INR 304 crore, showing remarkable growth of 854% as compared to last year. The ROCE and ROE have improved drastically, which stood at 16% and 12.8% as of March 2025. The working capital days stand at 118 days as of 31 March 2025, showing an improvement of 40 days as compared to March 2024. Cash and cash equivalents stood at INR 558 crore as of 31 March 2025. The CapEx for FY stood at INR
420 crore, and we are confident of our ongoing product registrations, with CapEx to be in the range of INR 400 crore-INR 450 crore in FY 2026. With this brief overview, I would now like to hand over the call to our CFO, Mr. Shailesh Mehendale, for discussing our financial performance. Thank you.
Thank you, sir. Good afternoon, everyone. Coming to Q4 FY 2025 performance, revenues stood at INR 1,829 crore in Q4 FY 2025 versus INR 1,312 crore in Q4 FY 2024, with an increase of 39% year-on-year. Coming to the split, agrochemical business increased by 39% year-on-year to INR 1,691 crore, whereas non-agrochemical business increased by 42% year-on-year to INR 138 crore. Gross margins stood at 29.8% in Q4 FY 2025, as against 34.6% in Q4 FY 2024, with a decrease of 480 basis points. EBITDA for the quarter increased by 16% to INR 352 crore, with an EBITDA margin of 19.2% versus INR 303 crore in Q4 FY 2024. PAT stood at INR 204 crore in Q4 FY 2025, as against INR 143 crore in Q4 FY 2024, showing a growth of 42%. Coming to full-year financial performance for FY 2025, revenues stood at INR 4,320 crore in FY 2025 versus INR 3,163 crore in FY 2024, with an increase of 37% year-on-year.
Coming to the split, agrochemical business increased by 43% year-on-year to INR 3,773 crore, whereas the non-agrochemical business increased by 4% year-on-year to INR 547 crore. Gross margins stood at 29.9% in FY 2025, as against 25.9% in FY 2024. EBITDA grew by 114%, which stood at INR 682 crore, with EBITDA margin at 15.8%. PAT stood at INR 304 crore versus INR 32 crore last year, showing 854% growth year-on-year basis. Working capital days stood at 118 days, improved by 40 days. ROCE and ROE stood at 16% and 12.8% respectively, as at 31st March 2025. We remain net debt-free company and have cash, bank, and liquid investment of INR 558 crore as at 31st March 2025. The Board of Directors have recommended a final dividend of INR 6 per share, which is 60% of face value. We can now open the floor for questions and answers. 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 their 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. We take the first question from the line of Viraj from SiMPL. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thanks for the opportunity. Just a couple of questions. For agro business, we saw value of 42% in quarter four, but the volume growth is 116%. What explains the sharp drop in realization? Was there any pre-buy in the run-up to the tariffs in quarter four?
Mr. Viraj, your voice was not very clear. Can you please repeat the question? Because there was something wrong with the quality of voice.
Am I audible now?
Yeah.
First question is on the non-agro business. In quater four, the volume growth was 116%, but value growth was 42%. What explains the sharp drop in realization? Was there any pre-buying given there was a tariff hike in April?
See, I can answer you very clearly that there was no pre-buying in the previous time. This is in the normal course, and these variations are not very abnormal. They keep on happening year- to- year. This is absolutely normal. There's nothing very specific to comment on.
Sir, on realization in non-agro?
No, realization has been very normal.
Because volume growth is 116% while value growth is 42%?
Volume growth is 116%, and value growth is 46%.
Yeah, so there's a sharp drop in realization.
One minute. Let me. Sir, I can only comment that there has been some overall increase in the cost per unit, and that is why the margins have been a little bit lesser. There is no specific reason which is obviously I can highlight to you.
Okay, sir, just two more questions. On the non-agro business in NAFTA, how is U.S. part of the NAFTA? Second question is, if we understand the overall industry size for non-agrochemical products in U.S., who are the major players? Is it local production who we are competing? Is it Chinese? Just trying to understand this.
I think we may be competing against the local production. They are not very active in American non-agrochemical business.
How large is the U.S. sales in NAFTA in non-agro in FY 2025?
What is the question? How long?
How much is the sales to U.S. in non-agrochemical business?
What is the word, sales?
Sales.
Mr. Viraj, I'm so sorry to interrupt. Your voice is not very clear. It's a bit muffled. I request you to rejoin the queue.
Hello. Yeah, is it better now?
Yes.
Hello. Yeah. I'm asking how much sales we made to U.S. market in NAFTA, how much sales we made to U.S. market in non-agrochemical in FY 2025.
What is the word, sales?
Sales.
Even sales.
Yes, sir.
Oh, I see. I mean, I was hearing as SGA, so I was not able to understand. The sales in NAFTA region for non-agro? There's an increase of 27.5%.
Sir, how much sales we made to U.S. market in FY 2025 in non-agro business?
FY 2025?
Yeah, non-agro business, U.S. market.
The figure that I have is 492 from 108.
This is volume.
This is the volume. You mean the volume?
Yes, sir. Only U.S. market.
Yeah.
It is 26%.
What now?
Value is this.
This is what you see?
It is INR 314 crore.
This is rupees ?
Full rupees.
INR 314 lakh.
314. INR 314 crore.
Sir, the sales in U.S. of non-agrochemicals have been almost INR 315 crore.
Post this tariff, this has been announced, how does that affect us, and who will bear the tariff impact?
We are able to pass on the tariff increase to the customers, and customers are gracefully accepting it.
Okay. I'll come back in queue. Thank you.
Okay.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Shubam Sehgal from Skill Ventures. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Yes.
Hello. Now, ready?
Yes.
Yes. My first question is, in our crop chem segment, if you see the major MNC companies, they are talking that the prices are going to be stable or increasing. My question is, what factors have led to low realization for us and the margin impact that we're seeing?
The role, I mean, what you stated about the MNCs is of the future. I think as far as the current year is concerned, the MNCs have also faced the same situation like Sharda. We are all positive that in the future, the realization is going to be better per unit.
Okay. And so apart from that, are we going to see any pricing pressure in other regions other than U.S. due to the Chinese dumping?
No, that Chinese dumping story is over about a year back. This was there about 12- 15 months earlier. Now the dumping process is over, but China is producing enough quantities to meet the world requirement.
No, no. I do not mean what happened last year. It was different. I am saying right now, as the U.S. has imposed very high duties on China, there are chances that with their high production, as you mentioned, they might start dumping it in other regions other than the U.S. Because in the U.S., they are facing high duties. Would you face any problems in other regions? That is my question.
No, we don't see any such trend as you are getting.
Okay. As you have mentioned that we are going to see the price improving in FY 2026, till what extent can we see that price improve? Will it happen in maybe the second half of the year, or do you think we can start seeing that from Q1 itself?
No, it will be a gradual process. We can see something from Q1 itself.
Okay. So what kind of sales guidance are we expecting then? Pricing and volume both?
Pardon me?
Pricing and volume both, what are we expecting for FY 2026?
About 10%-15% growth.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Himanshu Binani from Anand Rathi. Please go ahead.
Thank you, sir, and congratulations on a good set of numbers. Sir, I have a few questions. Firstly, on the U.S.-China thing, basically, I just wanted to have your sense in terms of the ongoing tariff war, and how do you intend to mitigate this both in the agrochemical and the non-agrochemical segment?
See, the origin of tariff war is known to everybody in the world. The new president of the United States, he has some ideas which he feels that will help his country, and other countries are taking advantage of their leniency, which in my opinion is not true. They have imposed some tariffs, and U.S. also does not have much alternative to China in sourcing these products, and suppliers are able to pass on the increase in tariffs to the importers in the U.S. Ultimately, it is the U.S. consumer who is bearing the burden of the increased tariffs, and I think the president will see these things in the near future, and he may think of still, he is already reduced a lot of things. He may still correct himself.
Inquire, sir. Sir, we have been doing both the active ingredients as well as the formulations.
Yes, sir.
The entire formulations which we have been exporting, is it largely manufactured from China, or are we doing the formulation in the destination countries?
We are doing both. We are doing the formulation in the destination countries as well as getting the formulations done in China and transporting them in the formulated state. The only difference is the duty for the formulated products are much higher than the technical products. On the other hand, cost of formulation in the U.S. is also extremely high compared to the cost in China. We are able to get the Chinese products formulated and transported much faster than what happens in the U.S. The capacity available in the U.S. for formulations is also limited, and it's very expensive. If we have to meet the requirement of the customers of time, we prefer to get the formulated product in China, and the quality of formulation in China is also very good.
Okay. Okay. Sir, on cost-wise, the Chinese after doing that, still Chinese is cheaper as compared to getting the product formulated in the United States?
Okay. You have to repeat your question because in between few words got mixed up.
Sir, after this, getting our products formulated in China is cheaper, which includes the increased tariffs also, than what the cost is in the United States, right?
No, the cost of formulated product from China will be higher because the rate difference in the duty is very big. At the same time, the Chinese or U.S. formulating capacities are limited, and they're also very expensive. If the customer does not care much for the prices, he prefers to get the goods in time, and that is possible only if he ship it from China.
Okay. Okay. Maybe I'll just take this offline. Sir, I have the next question, which is on your comments on the gradual price increase.
I'm so sorry to interrupt you. May we request that you return to the question queue for follow-up questions? There are several other questions.
No, that was the first question which I asked.
Okay. Continue.
Yes. Sir, we have commented on the gradual price increase going forward in FY 2026. Just wanted to have your sense in terms of any region or any product-specific price increase we are likely to witness in FY 2026 and the gross margin guidance.
See, the main factor has been there have been very excessive production in China in the year 2024 and end of second half of 2023. Because of this excess production and excess availability, the prices took a very serious beating in that period. Many of the products today are being traded at a price of 25% of what it was being traded in the previous years. This low price is also very abnormal, and it will come to normality. That would mean increase in the prices.
Okay. The gross margin guidance basically for FY 2026?
The gross margin guidance would also improve because of the better service and better quality.
Okay. And sir, any numbers to that?
I have mentioned that there should be a 10%-15% increase in the prices.
Got it. Thank you.
It could be more.
Sure, sir. Thank you. I'll get back in the queue.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all participants in the conference, please limit your questions to two per participant. We take the next question from the line of Surabhi from NV Alpha. Please go ahead.
Hello. Am I audible?
Yes.
My first question is, if we look at your agrochem EBIT margins that you provide separately, and you go through all the quarter four EBIT margins, previously, two, three years ago, you used to do around 15%-16% margins. This Q4, you all have done 12% EBIT margins. Is there scope for your EBIT margins to increase to the previous levels? What is the pressure despite being a 40% volume growth? What is the pressure on the margins?
Madam, our EBIT margins have improved in the current year as compared to the previous year. I think this process will continue.
No, so my question is, EBIT margins in the agrochem segment alone that we provide in the results separately, if I check Q4 versus the other Q4, say two, three years back or even last year, last year, the EBIT margins were 16%. This year, agrochem segment EBIT margins are 12%. I understand the overall improvement, but the agrochem EBIT margins have not normalized to the previous year's level also. When do we expect to see that revival?
I think during the next year, we will see that revival.
Sir, in the non-agrochem segment also, if we see the margins, the EBIT margins are consistently increasing. Is this the new set of EBIT margins that we work with going forward, or 20%-21% what you all used to do for the last three years? Is that the normal margins that should be considered?
I think that 20%-23% margin is a normal margin.
Okay, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Sonal Minhas from Prescient Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. This is Sonal Minhaj. I hope I'm audible.
Yes. I expect that the quality of voice, which is not your fault, but the system, that will be good.
Okay. I'll speak slowly, and let me know if I need to repeat. Sir, wanted to understand the reason for a reduction in your working capital cycle by 40 days. What has happened on the ground, which has led to an improvement in the working capital cycle?
Sir, our efforts to recover our receivables. We have had to put extra efforts to recover our receivables, and our customers are fortunately responding to that.
Sir, there are no write-offs on receivables on the ground as the market is improving. Any of that sort is not.
No, sir. There are no write-offs.
Okay, sir.
Maybe one in 100 cases, but I have no records for that.
Okay, sir. So my second question is, with regard to the agrochemical business, wanted to understand the reason for such a good volume growth and value growth in Europe . If you could just explain what is happening on the ground in the market, which is leading to this growth, and trying to understand this in terms of the sustainability of this demand based on your guidance that is given for the future.
See, most of the customers in Europe, if they need a product, they want it tomorrow. We are in touch with the customers two, three months in advance, understanding what would be the estimated requirement of a particular product and plan it, and we make it available to them when they really need it. This has worked out very well and good for us.
All right, sir. There is a strong demand in Europe, basically, based on this, is what I understand.
Yes. Yes, please.
All right, sir. That is from my side. I'll call back in the queue again. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of S. Ramesh from Nirmal Bang Equities. Please go ahead.
Thank you, Poonajan. Good evening. Congratulations on your performance. If you look at your portfolio, your herbicides are leading the growth and then fungicides. In terms of your future growth for FY 2026, do you still see the same trend? Herbicides have already possibly seen significant growth. Will that momentum continue, or would you see some shift in terms of the growth towards maybe more of insecticides? How do you see that?
No. You see, I think herbicides will continue to grow.
In terms of margins, is there any additional delta you get in herbicides compared to the other segment?
See, when we get a new product, for which we may be the second or third registration holder, the margins are better. It depends upon the product mix. We are making efforts to get newer and newer products, and that is helping us with the margins.
Can you share what is the percentage of revenue you are getting from new products launched in the last three or five years? Do you have that number?
No, we don't have that analysis, and it's difficult to analyze it this way. This is a general trend that I explained to you. It's very difficult to put the figures to that.
Okay. So in terms of the demand for agrochemicals, crop protection chemicals, one of the things that is perhaps still challenges is the weak crop prices. When you talk about your growth.
Sir.
Hello?
Sir, a few words I missed out. You said what?
I'm referring to the weak agricultural crop prices. When you talk about your 15% growth expectation, you have some line of sight for that growth even with the current weak trend in the crop prices. Do you expect any improvement in crop prices?
There is no weak trend in the prices. If I understood you correctly, you said weak trend in the prices.
I'm referring to the agricultural crop prices, like corn, soybean, and.
I think the agricultural crop prices are also not weaker. They're improving.
Okay. So in terms of, yeah, farmer demand and the channel inventory in your market, do you still have any residual high-cost inventory, or that's all returned off in your company and the industry?
No, we don't have any residual high-cost inventories.
Would you say the same thing for the industry outside India? How do you see that?
It's very difficult to comment for me because these are not openly available, and we don't have much time to go into the details.
Okay, sir. Thank you, and wish you all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Manish Jain from WellCare Advisors. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity, sir. Sir, my question was regarding this U.S.-China tariff war. The tariff was reduced by the U.S. on May 12th from 145%- 30%. Before that, it was 145%. I do not know how to calculate and everything that. At these rates, what was your backup plan for the U.S. market?
Sir, first of all, this trend that you said was only for a very small period of time. We are always prepared for whatever the prices the authorities in the government decide. We are very confident that at the end of the day, that gets passed on to our customers. The customers know that the situation is very transparent. It is the government of the U.S. who is putting these tariffs, and they cannot expect anybody else to absorb that tariff. Ultimately, they have to face the tariff, and they are gracefully accepting it.
Have you thought of sourcing from India?
The choice and the capacities in India are very limited. At the end of the day, the prices from India are higher than the prices from China. In the international market, Indian prices are higher than China.
No, sir, if the tariff, what would be the difference, sir? Because if the tariff would have been, suppose at first it was 56%, then they increased to 145%. Where is that medium level, sir? Median level?
I'm not able to comment on that. As I told you, many times, all these transactions are not decided by just the prices. They are also decided by the needs. Indian capacities are not enough to cater to the requirements of the U.S. Ultimately, the Chinese have to play a role, and the U.S. have to go to China.
Sir, we are confident about that 15% revenue growth despite all these things?
More or less, yes. You cannot say 100%. This is our assumption.
Margin also 15%-18% you have guided EBITDA margin.
Yes, sir.
Okay, sir. Best of luck, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Dhruv Muchhal from HDFC AMC. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Thank you so much. Sir, for the quarter, can you give the volume, price, and FX, mix ?
Beg your pardon?
Sir, volume, price, and FX that you generally give for the quarter.
One minute.
Volume, price, mix.
Volume, price, and price mix, and then also FX value.
See, in Q4, the volume has grown by 50%, 49.8% to be precise. FX impact has been + 13%. Price and product mix is minus 24%.
Got it.
Total growth is approximately 39.5%.
All right. Got it, sir. Sir, this price and mix is still negative. I'm just wondering, AI prices have stabilized now for more than a year. So they are not declining further. So why is the price still negative, sir?
One minute.
Is it probably because of mix that we see this?
This is price and product mix.
Okay. So between price and product mix, it should be mix.
There is a better margin. Other products, because of maybe the nature or excess availability or become more commoditized or sometimes competition.
Okay. Okay. You expect this pricing flag or price and mix flag is now almost bottom, and next year, it should increase by about 10%-15%?
Yes, sir.
Sir, same, can you give it for the full year price, volume, and FX?
Yes, please.
FY 2025 full year?
Yes, sir. FY 2025, the volume growth is 42%. FX impact is + 7%. Price and product mix is -12%. Total growth is 36.5%.
Got it. Perfect, sir. Sir, just one question on the U.S. tariff, U.S.-China tariff. Sir, you do not see any meaningful impact for your business because the U.S. is 30% of your business, and the tariffs have increased significantly, 20% plus the 30% now. Probably they will come down, but let's assume the current tariffs continue. You do not see any material impact on your business figures ?
No. Because we are in touch with our customers, and customers know it, and they do not grumble about payment of these additional tariffs.
Okay. Got it. They are also not looking and there is no other option other than in China to source. That is the only option. I'm just wondering, can they go to India and source, and that is cheaper, but that's not possible. You don't see that kind of a tariff?
That's not possible. That's not possible, sir.
Sure, sir. Thank you so much and all the best, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Rajakumar Vaidyanathan from RK Investments. Please go ahead.
Hi. Hi, sir. Can you hear me?
Yes, please.
Yeah, sir, just one question, sir. Just considering the euro centering against the U.S. dollar and the Indian rupee, which is the main reason for our increasing profit margin this quarter, are you expecting this positive impact to last? If so, could you quantify the impact of the appreciation?
See, Mr. Rajakumar, even the experts who are expertising in foreign exchange, they cannot guess and make decisions many times what their project turns out to be wrong. It is a very speculative field. We just follow it and accept it. We try to hedge ourselves by making some forward contracts to some extent, but that also only to a limited extent because all the experts go wrong in their estimations and calculations and projections.
Okay, sir. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Rohit Nagraj from B&K Securities. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity and congrats on a good recovery in FY 2025. Sir, first question on the guidance, just to be a little more clear, in terms of agro and non-agro, how are we seeing the next year growth? On aggregate basis, you have an interest given 10%-15%. But will it be same across the both segments, or maybe agro will grow slightly higher than the non-agro? Just your thoughts on this.
Sir, you answered my question. They could be slightly different. Overall, it's going to be in the same range of 10%-15% for both agro and non-agro.
Right. Right. Sir, second question, again, coming back to the tariff thing. I mean, pardon me. But in terms of you seem to be very confident of our state. Now, this is primarily because even if the tariffs come, the U.S. customers or consumers will not have any other option to source from other geographies, maybe because of product constraint or maybe because of capacity constraint. Is that the thought process?
Absolutely. The other geographies do not have that manufacturing capacity and the experience. You understand?
Right. Sir, just one last clarification. Last one, one and a half years, we have been hearing that Chinese players have also started registering their products across the regulated markets. What is your understanding of the same? Is the competition visible from our side? Thank you.
I would say it's not visible. I also hear and see that some Chinese companies are making an attempt. Considering the complexity and unpleasantness of the process of registration, which is highly capital intensive, uncertainties, and very long time, discouragingly, many people are not making much of a progress. We are waiting to see if they really make an impact.
Sure, sir. That's all from my side. All the best.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Shubham Sehgil from Skill Ventures. Please go ahead.
Hello. Another deal.
Yes, please.
Yeah, sir. My question was, if you see that in the last three, four years, first, we used to register for yearly, it used to be around 130-140. Now it has dropped to around 45. For FY 2025, we've made 45 registrations. How should one see this? Because we are paying almost the same amount of CapEx for it, how should one see this? Are we able to drive more growth from our existing molecules, or what is exactly going on here?
Mr. Shubham, I have explained many times the process of registration is so filled up with uncertainty. It is also dependent upon a lot of bureaucratic processes in most of the countries. It is very difficult to calculate and predict. Sometimes we.
That registration takes a long time and it's very uncertain. If we just see our normal trend, it has been year on year, it has been decreasing, the amount of registrations. As you always said, we require more and more registrations to drive growth. That is what I was asking, that the registrations are more or less increasing year by year. How are we going to drive growth if the registrations are dropping? Are there enough molecules existing with us where we see there is good growth opportunities? That is what I want to understand.
I'll answer your question without hesitation. There is enough opportunity. This registration and the marketing of agrochemicals is mainly dominated by the multinational companies or the innovators. In all the other industries, including pharma, after a product goes off patent and becomes available for the generics, the prices fall, crash substantially, and the innovators lose interest. In agrochemicals, the innovators still continue to dominate 70%, 75%, or 80% of the market share, even 10 years after the product goes off patent. Have I answered your question properly?
Yes. Just one follow-up on this itself. If we say that the amount that we are paying for the registrations, the cash flow that we see, that has been the same, even though the number of registrations have decreased. What should we make of that?
The last part I have not understood. Our budget is INR 200 crore to INR 400 crore, but again, it is split into so many ideas, so many fields. Very difficult to calculate why it has over. Only thing is the process of registration is becoming more and more expensive. With every passing year, if I could get something registered for INR 20 crore five years back, today I am able to spend INR 40 crore for the same.
Okay. Got it. Just lastly, if you could provide the data of region-wide registrations for FY 2025.
Yes, sir. FY 2025, in Europe, we are holding 1,648 registrations. In NAFTA region, 309. LATAM, 760. And rest of the world, 250. Total about 2,964.
Okay. Thank you. That's all from my side.
Thank you, sir.
We take the next question from the line of Riju Dalui from Antique Stock Broking. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, question is in terms of the volume growth. In the agrochem business, we have seen 48.4% kind of volume growth. In terms of the overall growth, our growth was roughly around 40%. The price declined. That was mainly on account of gaining market share at a cost of margins. How is it? What is the thought of your if you could explain?
See, whenever you want to have market share, it has to be you have to sacrifice some margins.
Understood.
It is an unwritten right, a very well-written law. If we care for margins, then we have to sacrifice the market share. This is also a very well-established rule. We have tried to get more market share, more closeness with our customers, more satisfying to them. Market share increases only if you give them a little attractive price.
Got it, sir. When you were saying that you were targeting roughly around 15% kind of top-line growth in FY 2026, can we expect some kind of, can we expect the same gross margin that you have in Q4, so that will continue in FY 2026, or it might be improved?
I think it will continue, and there is a possibility for it to improve also.
Understood. So the possibility that you are saying, so that is mainly if the overall regression increase or the overall prices increase, in that case, we can expect some kind of price compared to a margin improvement. That is correct?
Prices are, we are also looking at the improvement in the prices.
Okay. Understood. Yeah. In terms of some data points, if you could clarify, for the Q4, how was the region-wide sales volume?
What was the last word?
Region-wide.
Region-wide volume.
Yeah. Region-wide volume for agrochem?
Agrochem, yes. For Europe, it was this was in what currency?
Quantity.
Oh, yeah. This is in quantities.
Yeah. Correct.
It was about 15 million tons.
Okay.
NAFTA, about 7.1. LATAM, about 6.1. Rest of the world, 6.7.
Got it.
Total, 23.34.
Okay. In terms of regional gross margin, if you could share the number for agrochemical.
Give me a minute, please.
Yeah. Sure.
The gross margins in Europe was about 34.2%. NAFTA, 19.5%. LATAM, 27%. And rest of the world, 40%.
This is for agrochemical, right?
This is for agrochemicals.
Okay. Okay. Thank you, sir. Thanks for the clarity. Yeah. That's all from my side.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Viren Deshpande from Alphapeak Investments. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Yes. Hello.
Hello. Sir, congratulations for the excellent growth we have witnessed in the current year as well as the Q4 because our volumes have really grown at an exceptionally good rate of 50%, which is very heartening to see. Though there has been some compromise on the gross margins, that's okay. For the year on year, we have done very well. As mentioned by you, the trend is expected to be better in the current year. We hope the things are on track. These tariff issues, which seem to have been affecting everyone, but your confidence that there is no sustainable alternative for the U.S. than to purchase from companies like us or other Chinese products is very good for the investors like us. I don't want to ask any question.
I'm happy with the results and hope the current year is even a better one for us. All the best to you.
Thank you very much, sir, for your nice compliment. We take it with a good heart.
Yes. Thank you. All the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Rajat Setiya from ithought PMS. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thanks for the opportunity. Is my voice audible, sir?
Yes, sir.
Thanks. Congratulations, sir, on a good set of numbers. One question that I have is about the volume growth that we are expecting in this year in FY 2026. We are expecting 10%-15% kind of growth while the global agrochemical market grows by 2%-4%. What is driving this higher growth at our end?
Sir, the main factor is that today we are having only about 4%-5% share of the global market. So there's a lot of good scope for us to increase. If we can increase it by 1%, it would mean almost 20%-25% increase for Sharda Cropchem . So that is what gives us a good enthusiasm that there's a lot of scope, and it is achievable.
Thanks. Sir, in the agro segment, what has been the volume growth in European and NAFTA region for the full year? Volume growth.
One second, sir. You want to know the percentage%?
Yes, sir. For the full year.
Yes, sir. It is about 58% in Europe, 36% in NAFTA, 25% in LATAM, and - 1.5% in the rest of the world. Overall, 44%.
Yeah. This is volume growth, right?
Yes, sir.
Okay. Thanks. Sir, we are looking at margin expansion in the next year. I think this year we did around 14%-15%. We are guiding for 15%-18% margins in the next year. Will it be largely driven by gross margin expansion, or you expect something else?
No. Growth margin expansion.
Basically, we expect pricing to improve in this year.
Also.
Yeah. Okay. All right. Thank you so much.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Dhara from ValueQuest. Please go ahead.
Thank you for taking my question. Am I audible?
Not so much. You have to speak a little louder, madam.
Okay. Is it better now?
Yes.
My question was more on the gross margin front. If you could explain what has dragged your gross margin down by 500 basis points from 35%- 29% now in this quarter versus last year?
I have not understood.
Gross margin decrease. Reduction in margin by 5%.
Reduction. You said reduction in margin from 34%- 29%. Am I right?
Yes, sir.
Madam, I can only give a very general reply to it. Excess availability and increase in the market share.
Okay. Were there any inventory write-offs or losses?
Pardon?
Are there any inventory losses or write-offs?
No.
Okay. That's it from my side. Thank you.
Thank you, ma'am.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question. I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Thank you, everyone, for joining us. I hope we have been able to answer all your queries. We look forward to such interactions in the future. These questions are also giving us a good guidance to manage our business more efficiently. We hope to meet your expectations in the future also. In case you require any further details, you may contact Mr. Deven Dhruva from SGA, our Investor Relations manager, partners. Thank you very much once again. Have a nice day.
On behalf of Antique Stock Broking Ltd, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line.