Sharda Cropchem Limited (NSE:SHARDACROP)
India flag India · Delayed Price · Currency is INR
1,126.00
-6.20 (-0.55%)
May 8, 2026, 3:29 PM IST
← View all transcripts

Q2 25/26

Oct 31, 2025

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Sharda Cropchem Limited Q2 and H1 FY 2026 earnings conference call hosted by Antique Stock Broking Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need any 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. Riju Dalui from Antique Stock Broking Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Riju Dalui
Research Analyst, Antique Stock Broking Ltd

Thank you. On behalf of Antique Stock Broking, a warm welcome to all the participants on the Q2 and H1 FY 2026 earnings conference call of Sharda Cropchem. Today we have Mr. R. V. Bubna, Chairman and Managing Director. Mr. Shailesh , CFO. Mr. Jetkin Gudhka, Company Secretary from the management side. Without any delay, I would like to hand over the call to Mr. Bubna for his opening remarks, post which we will open the floor for Q&A. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Thank you, my friend. Good afternoon and very warm welcome to everyone present on the call. Along with me, I have Mr. Shailesh Mehendale, our CFO, Mr. Jetkin Gudhka, company secretary, and SGA, our investor relations advisors. 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 and seek registrations in our own name. We allocate substantial resources for securing registrations of our products and thus establish our foothold in the market. Our total product registrations stood at 2,994 as of 30th September 2025. Additionally, 1,068 applications of the product registrations globally are at the approval stage.

Coming to industry dynamics, the global Agrochemical market is showing signs of recovery driven by demand, complemented by gradual recovery in the pricing. Inventories have come down to normal level across distribution channels. In Q2 FY 20 26, our total revenues have grown by 20% to INR 929 crores, with overall volume growth of 35%. This performance is attributable to global revival in the demand and recovery in the prices. We have seen volume growth across all the regions. Volumes from the Agrochemical segment grew by 36%, and Non-Agrochemical sectors grew by 11% on a year-to-year basis. With input costs stabilizing, our gross margins have expanded by 690 basis points to 34.5%. We expect gross margins to be in the similar range in FY 2026. EBITDA for the quarter stood at INR 139 crores, a growth of 71% on a year-to-year basis, with EBITDA margins of 15%.

For FY 2026, we are on track to maintain healthy EBITDA margins in the range of 15%-18%. PAT for the quarter stood at INR 74 crores, showing a growth of 75% on a year-to-year basis. Working capital days stood at 84 days as of 30th September 2025, showing an improvement of 34 days as compared to March 2025. CapEx from H1 FY 2026 stood at INR 250 crores. Cash and liquid cash bank and liquid investments stood at INR 794 crores as of 30th September 2025. As we step into FY 2026, we aim to increase the product registrations with a planned CapEx of INR 450-500 crores, backed by a strong pipeline that reflects our resilience and growth focus. 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 very much.

Shailesh Mehendale
CFO, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Yeah, thank you, sir. Good afternoon, everyone. Coming to Q2 and fiscal year 2026 performance, revenues stood at INR 929 crores in Q2 and FY 2026 versus INR 777 crores in Q2 and FY 2025, with an increase of 20% year-on-year. Coming to the split, Agrochemical business grew by 27% year-on-year to INR 803 crores, whereas the Non-Agrochemical business degrew by 11% year-on-year to INR 126 crores. Gross margins stood at 34.5% in Q2 and FY 2026 as against 27.6% in Q2 and FY 2025, with an increase of 690 basis points. EBITDA grew by 71%, which stood at INR 139 crores, with EBITDA margin at 15%. PAT stood at INR 74 crores versus INR 42 crores last year, showing 75% growth on a year-on-year basis. Coming to H1 FY 2026 performance, revenues stood at INR 1,914 crores in H1 FY 2026 versus INR 1,562 crores in H1 FY 2025, with an increase of 23% year-on-year.

Coming to the split, Agrochemical business grew by 26% year-on-year to INR 1,649 crores, whereas the Non-Agrochemical business grew by 7% year-on-year to INR 265 crores. Gross margins stood at 35% in H1 FY 2026 as against 28.4% in H1 FY 2025, with an increase of 660 basis points. EBITDA for the half-year period stood at INR 281 crores, with EBITDA margin at 14.7%, showcasing 69% year-on-year growth. PAT stood at INR 217 crores in H1 FY 2026 versus INR 70 crores in H1 FY 2025, with an increase of 212% on a year-on-year basis. Working capital days stand at 84 days, with an improvement by 34 days as compared to as of 31st March 2025. ROCE and ROE stand at 21.6% and 17.5% respectively as of 30th September 2025. We remain a debt-free company and have cash bank liquid investment of INR 794 crores as of 30th September 2025.

We can now open the floor for the questions and answers. Thank you.

Operator

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 headsets 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 Ayush Chabria from Shravas Capital. Please go ahead.

Ayush Chabria
Investment Analyst, Shravas Capital

Yeah, hi. Am I audible?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Yes, please.

Ayush Chabria
Investment Analyst, Shravas Capital

Yes, sir. First of all, congratulations on a good set of numbers. I just have a few questions on. So for the H1, I think our Europe revenue has been strong, but Q2 alone, I think there has been a slight drop, and North American revenue has been quite strong. So if you could just give some color on what has happened here region-wise, it would be great.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

One minute. You want the information region-wise?

Ayush Chabria
Investment Analyst, Shravas Capital

Yeah, I just want to know Q2, why is it for the Agrochemical Europe has been only 15%, whereas there has been supernormal growth in North America? Any reason? Could you just elaborate on that?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

I won't say that there's any specific reason for this. North America's consumption has increased, and the weather is favorable, and Europe also, we have nothing adverse as far as the weather is concerned, so I would say 15% is very normal, and it doesn't require any further comments.

Ayush Chabria
Investment Analyst, Shravas Capital

No, sir, because last year, same quarter, I think we had a 75% growth in Europe versus North America was negative, so I'm just trying to understand what changed this quarter?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Nothing specific that I can comment on.

Ayush Chabria
Investment Analyst, Shravas Capital

Understood. So also, just one bookkeeping question. If you could just elaborate more on the forex loss that we had this quarter, it would be great.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

The forex loss has been very small, and it is notional. It is not real loss, and this is something to do with the cross-currency exchange rates, for which we have no control and no command, so this has happened because of the world economic factors, and it's a small difference. It doesn't require any serious discussion.

Ayush Chabria
Investment Analyst, Shravas Capital

Understood. But you could mostly attribute this to high revenues being higher from North America. Just trying to understand if that's?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

It's attributable only to the euro-dollar exchange rate.

Ayush Chabria
Investment Analyst, Shravas Capital

Understood.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Because all our sourcing is in dollars, and major sales is Europe, which is in euros.

Ayush Chabria
Investment Analyst, Shravas Capital

Understood. Understood. All right. That will be it from my end, sir. Thank you so much.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Next question is from Shubham Sehgal from SiMPL. Please go ahead.

Shubham Sehgal
Equity Research Analyst, SiMPL

Hello. Am I audible?

Operator

Yes, sir. Please go ahead.

Shubham Sehgal
Equity Research Analyst, SiMPL

Yes, sir. My first question was that even in your commentary and presentation, we talked about volume growth in our Agrochemical segment. And you also mentioned that we saw better pricing. But if we see that the volume growth was around 36%, and our Agrochemical segment grew by 27%, so there is almost a pricing or negative realization of 10%. So could you just explain what is driving this negative realization?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Wait. You pardon? What was the last part of your question?

Shubham Sehgal
Equity Research Analyst, SiMPL

So, sir, basically, you mentioned that we saw volume growth of around 36%, but our actual growth is lower. So there is definitely a negative realization or a pricing degrowth. So could you just define this pricing degrowth?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

See, the pricing degrowth is something which is very minimum. What we have commented when we say pricing growth is compared to the historical prices. Historically, the prices had touched down to a very low level, and it has grown from that level.

Shubham Sehgal
Equity Research Analyst, SiMPL

No, no. I'll just repeat. There is a pricing degrowth which we are seeing. And we've mentioned that we are seeing better pricing realizations, which is driving the gross margins. But if you actually see in the number terms, there is a pricing degrowth. So that is what I'm asking. What is driving that?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Mr. Sehgal, I'm repeating again. When I say better pricing, I'm talking about the historical things. Now, you are comparing with the volumes which have happened in these three months. So we are on a different track. I mean, I would suggest that you go to the next question.

Shubham Sehgal
Equity Research Analyst, SiMPL

Sure. So my next question is on the Agrochemical segment. So if we see in the last quarter in Q1, we did similar sales. We did around INR 840 crore sales, and we did similar sales in this quarter. But our EBIT was around INR 135 crores in Q1. But in this quarter, our EBIT is very low. It's almost low by INR 100 crores. So why is that, sir?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

One minute. Can we have any comment on this? Yeah, yeah. Shailesh will answer this question. See, basically, I think you have to look at H1 performance to get a right picture because Q1, we have already reported EBIT. You are talking about Agrochemical EBIT, right?

Shubham Sehgal
Equity Research Analyst, SiMPL

Yes.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Yeah. So you have to look at H1 performance. Then you will have this. You look at H1, which is rightly reported. Yeah?

Shubham Sehgal
Equity Research Analyst, SiMPL

But I mean, there is still a very big variation, if you see.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

So.

Shubham Sehgal
Equity Research Analyst, SiMPL

I just wanted to ask that why is there such a big variation?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

I think being a seasonal business, probably you have to look at H1 performance in percentage of sales, okay, for Agrochemical business.

Shubham Sehgal
Equity Research Analyst, SiMPL

Okay. Okay. I'll do that.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Okay.

Shubham Sehgal
Equity Research Analyst, SiMPL

And last question was, even in our Non-Agrochemical segment, if you see, since the past four quarters, we have seen negative realizations. So any answer to that?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Negative realization? Sir, I have not understood. We don't have any negative realization.

Shubham Sehgal
Equity Research Analyst, SiMPL

Sir, if we look at our volume growth that we are reporting, it is much higher than the actual revenue growth. So that means we have seen pricing degrowth. And that has been happening since last four quarters. And despite that, we have seen EBIT margins at a very high level for Non-Agrochemical. Any reasoning or anything we can comment so we can get a better understanding?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

We will take offline this question, okay?

Shubham Sehgal
Equity Research Analyst, SiMPL

Okay, sir. I'll join back on with you.

Operator

Thank you very much. Next question is from Rudraksh Raheja from ithought Financial Consulting. Please go ahead.

Rudraksh Raheja
Research Analyst, ithought Financial Consulting

Thanks for the opportunity. My first question is, could you give us the gross margins region-wise for the second quarter?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

One minute. Is the gross margin? Yes, sir. The gross margin in Europe region is 43%, NAFTA region 23%, LATAM 20%, and rest of the world 40%. Overall, 34.6%.

Rudraksh Raheja
Research Analyst, ithought Financial Consulting

Got it, sir. And for H2, sir, how would you see the U.S. tariff impact on our business?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Can you repeat your question once again?

Rudraksh Raheja
Research Analyst, ithought Financial Consulting

Yeah. For the upcoming two quarters, how do you see that impacting our business in reference to the U.S. tariff?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

The second half of the business is always better than the first half because it's a seasonal business, so considering the climate and growing seasons, the second half is fairly better compared to the first half, and we expect the same thing in the current year.

Rudraksh Raheja
Research Analyst, ithought Financial Consulting

Got it. And there would be no substantial impact of U.S. tariff on the second half?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Yes, sir.

Rudraksh Raheja
Research Analyst, ithought Financial Consulting

Got it, sir.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

There would not be any substantial impact.

Rudraksh Raheja
Research Analyst, ithought Financial Consulting

Understood. For the Agro chemical segment, sir, are we witnessing any pricing uptrend, or what's your outlook on volumes?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

So the prices are on the uptrend, but the speed is slow. But they are on the uptrend.

Rudraksh Raheja
Research Analyst, ithought Financial Consulting

Sure. Last question on the Non-Agro chemical segment. What led to the sales decline and margin expansion in that segment?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

This is, again, a demand-based question. If there's less demand, then the volume goes down. And there's no consistency that the volume should be the same. There's always subjective variations.

Rudraksh Raheja
Research Analyst, ithought Financial Consulting

We have seen margin expansion.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

There's a reason to assign to it.

Rudraksh Raheja
Research Analyst, ithought Financial Consulting

Got it. But this margin expansion, would that be because of a better product mix or something like that?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Yes, it could be.

Rudraksh Raheja
Research Analyst, ithought Financial Consulting

Got it, sir. Got it. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Next question is from Rajdeep Singh from Roha Asset Managers. Please go ahead.

Rajdeep Singh
Portfolio Manager, Roha Asset Managers

Hello? Yeah. Am I audible?

Operator

Yes.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Yes, please.

Yes, please.

Rajdeep Singh
Portfolio Manager, Roha Asset Managers

Hi. Good afternoon, team. Bubna ji and Shailesh ji. Firstly, heartfelt congratulations on a good set of numbers on the revenue front specifically. Sir, to one of the earlier participants who was dwelling more on the disconnect between the volume growth and the revenue growth, Shailesh ji, please correct me if my understanding is wrong, that volume growth is 36%, revenue growth is 20%. So the difference of negative 14%-15%, this is because of the product mix and geographical mix change, right? Because subsequently, you said Europe is a higher margin business, gross margin and ROW, whereas LATAM and NAFTA are lower gross margin business. And since LATAM and NAFTA have grown faster this quarter, that is why the negative product mix change is visible in the lower revenue growth. Is that fair understanding, Shailesh ji?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Mr. Rajdeep, you have touched the right point. And it is actually the product mix. It didn't occur to me, and this has occurred to you. It's mainly because of the product mix.

Rajdeep Singh
Portfolio Manager, Roha Asset Managers

Sure. Sure, Bubna ji. This is helpful. And sir, since you are saying H2 is better and full- year margin guidance, you are maintaining at 15%-18%, which means second half will have to be closer to 19%-20%. So again, on the margin front, should we be closer to 19%-20% to achieve full- year range of 15%-18%? And we would end up on the higher end of the guidance that we have given.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

We do expect that. We do expect that. But what I am telling you is 15%-18% for the whole year, which if it goes up from 15%-17%, then it has to be contributed by a higher margin in the second half, which could be more than 18%-19%.

Rajdeep Singh
Portfolio Manager, Roha Asset Managers

Okay. Okay. And sir, one last question from my side. On the tariff, you have been saying that there has been no impact of tariff. Since August 27, this 100% tariff or 50% tariff from India was in effect, and China was 100%. Then last evening, yesterday, China has been brought down from 100%- 47%. So you are saying demand is still strong in the U.S., and customers are getting in more inquiry and more orders for you.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

No, sir. No, sir. I would like to elaborate here for the information and knowledge of all the participants.

Rajdeep Singh
Portfolio Manager, Roha Asset Managers

Sure, sir.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Agrochemical products are not freely tradable products. They require to be registered. And any customer cannot buy from anywhere or any country. He has to buy only those products which have been registered and approved by the government of America. And the number of registrations are very limited, and the number of sources are also very limited. So we do pass on all the tariff increase to our customers. And customers don't grumble about it because they are also very easily able to transfer it to their customers or farmers. At the end of the day, the increase in tariff is borne by the U.S. citizens and not the suppliers or the distributors which are involved in the process of import and export.

Rajdeep Singh
Portfolio Manager, Roha Asset Managers

Sure. So this is very elaborate and helpful, Bubna ji. Thank you.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

It's not going to buy from anybody else or any other country unless the product is approved. And the process of approval is very expensive and highly time-consuming, and it is not impacted by the tariff rates.

Rajdeep Singh
Portfolio Manager, Roha Asset Managers

Yeah, yeah. Fully understood, sir. Thank you, and there is a beautiful moat that you have built in terms of servicing the markets. Congratulations to you and your team, and all the best for stronger H2 and FY 2027. Thank you.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Thank you, Mr. Rajdeep.

Rajdeep Singh
Portfolio Manager, Roha Asset Managers

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Next question is from Rohit Nagraj from B&K Securities. Please go ahead.

Rohit Nagraj
Head of Sector Chemicals, B&K Securities

Thanks for the opportunity and congrats on good set of numbers for the first half. Sir, just one question. For the NAFTA market, during the first half, it has grown by almost 25%-26%. During the month of October, I mean, you have alluded to it a little bit in terms of the demand-side issues, demand-side dynamics. But in the month of October, is there any moderation in terms of demand, particularly from the NAFTA market, given that some of the material was already dispatched in anticipation of those tariffs in the earlier months? So have we seen any moderation in demand for Q3, particularly? And then Q4, anyway, will be a start of year. So there will be incremental demand, which will be a fresh thing. So your thoughts on this? Thank you so much.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Mr. Nagraj, first of all, I would like to comment that your question is very long and not to the point. The answer is very brief and to the point that there is no decline in the demand in the month of October. Does that answer your long question?

Rohit Nagraj
Head of Sector Chemicals, B&K Securities

Yes, sir. Absolutely fine. That's all from my side. Thanks a lot and all the best.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you very much. Next question is from Himanshu Binani from Anand Rathi. Please go ahead.

Himanshu Binani
Equity Research Analyst, Anand Rathi

Hi, sir. Thank you for taking my question. So, sir, I have a couple of them. Number one, on the revenue growth, when we see so first half, we have already done somewhere around a 23% sort of revenue growth while we expect the second half to be stronger than that of the first half. However, we have been guiding for a 15% sort of growth for full FY 2026. So how should actually one look into the overall revenue growth for the current year?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Mr. Himanshu, there are no precise and to the detailed point calculations for these things. This is the atmosphere and the consumption patterns which is happening, and that is very encouraging. I cannot give you exact decision of 20% or 22.1% of these things. These are approximate things, and this is what we expect.

Himanshu Binani
Equity Research Analyst, Anand Rathi

Got it, sir. So, second, if you can, yes, sir, please continue. Hello. You were saying something, sir.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Oh, me? No, I think there's a misunderstanding.

Himanshu Binani
Equity Research Analyst, Anand Rathi

Okay. So, sir, second question is largely on the registrations. So if you can give a breakup of the registrations geography-wise as well as in the pipeline, that would be helpful.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

One minute. See, we have 2,994 registrations. Out of that, 1,670 are from Europe, 317 in NAFTA region, 759 in LATAM, and about 250 in the rest of the world, totally 2,994. Now, registrations in pipeline, Europe is 710, NAFTA 100, LATAM 160, and the rest of the world about 100. Totally 1,068.

Himanshu Binani
Equity Research Analyst, Anand Rathi

Got it, sir. And, sir, my last question is largely on if you can give a breakup of the overall revenue growth between sales volume, price, and forex.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Revenue growth is due to volume growth, is 34.8%. FX impact is 1.9%. Product mix is 17%, and total growth is 19.6%. This is for the Q2 FY 2026.

Himanshu Binani
Equity Research Analyst, Anand Rathi

Got it, sir. Thank you.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

If you want it for the H2, I can also give you for the H2. H1, sorry.

Himanshu Binani
Equity Research Analyst, Anand Rathi

Right.

Operator

Thank you very much. The next question is from Viraj from SiMPL. Please go ahead.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Yeah. Hi. Thanks for the opportunity. Congratulations on good set of numbers. I just had a few questions. First is, see, if I look at the segmental margins, right, for Q2 in Agro chem and if I compare it to Q1, we have seen almost similar level of sales which we are reporting. But in absolute EBIT, which we report in the segmental, there's a sharp drop. I understand once you look at H1 or analyze basis, but I'm just trying to understand this better than what drives such a sharp variation on quarter-to-quarter basis.

Operator

Sir please go ahead. Your line is unmuted.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Yeah. Should I repeat my question? Hello.

Operator

Please give us a moment. The line for management has been disconnected. Please stay connected while I reconnect the management. Please stay connected while I reconnect the management line. The line for the management has been reconnected.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Yeah. Hello.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Hello.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Yeah. So did you get my question, or should I repeat?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Can you repeat it, please?

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

So if I look at the quarter two segmental revenue for Agro chem, we are roughly around INR 835.40 crore, and it's broadly same as Q1. I understand we should look at H1 or on annual basis. But I'm just trying to understand our business a little better. On a similar level of sales, our EBIT in the quarter two is lower by almost INR 100 crores versus Q1. So what explains this?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Mr. Himanshu, this can be explained by going on the aspect of product mix. All the products are not equally priced. The prices between one product to the other vary substantially. So the volume growth might have been on a lower price product.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Okay.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

You understand?

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Sir, but if the product mix is towards lower price and lower margin products, then our gross margin shouldn't have improved, right? It should have actually moderated. I'm more specifically talking about the segmental ag chem numbers for the quarter. And if I compare in Q2 versus Q1, the EBIT in Agrochemical business has seen a sharp drop versus Q1.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

EBIT has seen a sharp drop?

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

So if you see quarter two versus quarter one, there's almost a reduction of INR 100 crore .

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Quarter two to quarter one is a reduction of INR 100 crore. I'm not able to get your question, sir.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

My question is, if you see in quarter two Agrochemical sales, and if you compare that to the sales of Agrochemical in quarter one, they are almost similar. But there is a material difference in operating profit, which is EBIT, which we report in the segmental number. So why is that the case?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Mr. Himanshu, I'm not able to comment on this question, and I don't have such a deep study of these figures. I can only tell you that this has been mainly impacted also by the product mix.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

No, but.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Negative product.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Sure. Sure. But if product mix were to have a negative impact, then our gross margin, instead of improving, would have seen some pressure. I mean, that's what I would probably think it to be the case.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

No, it's not necessary. The gross margin also depends from product to product. There's no standard there then.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Right. Sir, just two more questions on the segmental. See, if the forex gain or losses which we report, when we report the segmental numbers, especially the EBIT, would all the forex gain or losses, say, in Q2 we had a minor loss, in Q1 we had a gain, would that be also reflecting in the EBIT number?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Yes.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Okay. Second question is, if I look at the H1 number, and if I look at the cash flow, we have around 29 crores of write-offs of intangibles. So would it be right to think that all of that 29 crores accrued in the second quarter?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

No.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

So can you give a break-up?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Just to take a sec, the major portion is in Q1. Hardly anything in Q2.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Okay. So again, the write-offs of intangibles would be included in the segmental EBIT which we report in ag chem, right?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Yes, correct, but then Q1, you'll have more impact, and Q2 is hardly there is impact, so H1, you'll have that INR 29 crore impact.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Okay. So understood. Q1, even after having that impact of 29 basis points, we had a better margin. Q2, having no impact, we had a material drop in our margin. Third question is, sir, in non-ag chem, what I'm trying to understand is, see, overall sales growth we have been reporting, and if I compare the volume growth, volume growth is much higher rate than the sales growth. So there's a negative price or the mix impact. But if I compare this to our operating profit, EBIT again, our margins have been growing at a faster rate. So I'm just trying to understand what explains this.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Non-ag business. What is it? Why don't you reply? Can you repeat your question on non-ag business, right?

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

So in Non-Agrochemical business, we have been consistently seeing that our volume growth has been higher than our sales growth for the last three, four quarters, while our segmental profit and margins which we report are improving. So I am just trying to understand that despite having a negative price or realization impact, we are seeing one of the highest ever segmental margin. So what explains this?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Mr. Himanshu, my answer is.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Sir, Viraj, yeah.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Beyond that, I'm not able to comment anything because we don't have all the so much detailed information offhand.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Okay. Got it. Sir, just two questions. See, on an effective tax rate, if you look for H1, it's lower. But if I look at it on a cash flow basis, we've hardly seen any tax payout in the cash flow terms. So just trying to understand why is this and how should we look at effective tax rate for FY 2026?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Mr. Shailesh, your question is the tax, right?

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Yeah, effective tax rate. So I'm comparing both the cash flow and the accrued basis, which is there in the P&L.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

So I will take these two questions separately. One is, you're talking about the tax impact, effective tax rate. See, our Dubai business, which is Non-Agro business, which is in Dubai, is a tax holiday. This. So we don't have taxation in Dubai. So to that extent, the Dubai taxable profit is not taxed there. Whereas the Agrochemical business, which is spread across all India as well as other countries, we are having the taxation as per the local respective tax rate applicable to those countries.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Okay. So on a full year basis, FY 2026, what is the effective tax rate we should consider?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

For Standalone entity, it is your normal. You can say roughly 18%-20% effective tax rate.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

For the consol, right?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

For consolidated basis, yes.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Okay. Thank you. Last question. Any thoughts on?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Mr. Himanshu, we are taking questions. Give time to somebody else.

Operator

Mr. Viraj, you can rejoin the queue for the follow-up question.

Viraj Kacharia
Fund Manager, SiMPL

Sure, sure. Thank you.

Operator

Next question is from Sameer Deshpande from Fairdeal Investments. Please go ahead.

Sameer Deshpande
Owner, FairDeal Investments

Hello. Am I audible?

Operator

Yes, sir.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Yes, please.

Yes, please.

Sameer Deshpande
Owner, FairDeal Investments

Bubna ji and all your team, congratulations for the very good results and the consistency you have shown in the last three to four quarters. Despite overall the Agrochemical industry in India particularly doing very badly, we are standing very well in that growing very fast, and the confidence which you have exuded in the future have to also and is really heartening. The tariff impact, as you mentioned, U.S. tariffs increase or any tariffs will be easily passed on. So that doesn't affect our gross margins and operating margin. That is also really good. The new product registration investment, as you rightly mentioned, will really help secure our future.

The important point which you mentioned, I want a clarification on that, that since we suppose we have a product registered in Australia and USA and maybe Europe, and that product registered, when there is a tender for that particular product, then we are the and we secure that tender, then we are the only people company which can supply that product to that particular countries. Is it correct?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

No, it's not 100% correct. Every company who has the registration of that product in that country can bid for the tender. But there are not many people who have such a wide range of registrations, and the registration process is a very complicated, investment-oriented, time-consuming, and boring. So most of the people do not go into these intangible assets and registrations. And we have tasted the fruits of these registrations. And to answer your question, we are not manufacturing. Manufacturers have a lot of disadvantages in Agrochemical business because it's very difficult to maintain the manufacturing in the off-season. We are not impacted adversely because of all these variations. We are also not. A manufacturer is bound to sell his product, and he cannot manufacture many products.

We have hundreds of products, and if we find that some product has less demand and no margins, we don't deal with that product. We have that freedom, which a manufacturer does not have.

Sameer Deshpande
Owner, FairDeal Investments

Yes, yes, yes. No, really, the fungibility of the product makes us an e-commerce company in Agrochemicals.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Yes, sir.

Sameer Deshpande
Owner, FairDeal Investments

Because where there is demand, you can cater to. Otherwise, you don't have to keep investing into something which is not productive for us or making any money for us. That is really heartening. And the current euro and USD is, I think, 1.15-1.16. It is suitable for us to maintain this.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Sameer, first of all, we don't have a choice. But I can only comment that if euro is stronger than dollar, if it's more stronger, it's more beneficial to the company because our sourcing is in dollars and sales is in euros. And if euro becomes weak against dollars, then we are adversely impacted.

Sameer Deshpande
Owner, FairDeal Investments

Yes, but the current situation seems to be quite favorable to us because in the Q1.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

We'll always welcome if it becomes 1.2.

Sameer Deshpande
Owner, FairDeal Investments

Yes, yes.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

We have seen instances and timings when the euro has been 1.25x and 1.3x the dollar. There's no end to this scope.

Sameer Deshpande
Owner, FairDeal Investments

Yes, yes. Very nice, and all the best to you.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Thank you, sir.

Sameer Deshpande
Owner, FairDeal Investments

Thank you. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you very much. We will take next question from Archit Joshi from Nuvama. Please go ahead.

Archit Joshi
Director, Nuvama

Hi, sir. Thank you. And I hope you all had a very good Diwali. Sir, if you can share the geography-wise volumes, I don't think we have furnished that data before in the call. If you can share that.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Let me see, so geography-wise volume is Europe, 7 million units, NAFTA, 3.3 million units, LATAM, 1.6 million units, and rest of the world, 0.85 million units. Total 17 point sorry, 12.7 million units, and year-to-year growth is 36% in the volume.

Archit Joshi
Director, Nuvama

Sure, sir. Thanks. Sir, I think a lot of people earlier in the call have been trying to understand how our sales is broken up into. I think you alluded that 35% comes from volume, 1.9% is the forex impact, and there is a 17% negative product mix impact. I was just trying to understand this - 17% product mix. Shailesh ji, if you can help us understand, since we probably mentioned earlier during the call that product mix impact is positive. So is this minus 17% a price-led decline? And if it is so, what has caused this year-on-year price-led decline? If you can help, sir. Thank you.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Mr. Archit, first of all, I want to correct your impression. It is not price decline. Product mix means one product we are selling at $10 per kilo, other product we are selling at $90 per kilo, and third product we are selling at $50 per kilo. So this is the prices of each product. It's impacting the, I mean, it's contributed by the product mix. If there's more demand for $90 per kilo product, the volume will maybe less, but the revenues will go up, and vice versa. Have you understood?

Archit Joshi
Director, Nuvama

Yes, sure, sir. Sure. Another one on the outlook itself, and this is alluding to our statement, or rather the expectation that gross margins for the second half will be in the similar range. What would be the reason behind this, sir? Is it that the input costs will continue to be on the lower side? Is that the right understanding that we can frame?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

No, sir. I would repeat again, agriculture is a seasonal business, and Agrochemical business is also a seasonal business. There's a very good crop in the spring and very poor crop in the winter. So the second half is contributed by the spring season, which has a lot of demand and a lot of agriculture. Have I answered your question?

Archit Joshi
Director, Nuvama

Sure, sure.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

This is happening year- after- year. Every year, every Agrochemical dealer or manufacturer is impacted by the seasons.

Archit Joshi
Director, Nuvama

Sure, sir. Sir, one last question from me. I was looking at one of the line items in the income statement, which is purchase of stock-in-trade. I've seen that for the last two quarters, which is 1Q, FY 2026, and this quarter, which is 2Q, the increase has been very sharp. Is this because we are anticipating, or rather we have planned our supplies in a way that we will buy low-cost RM, which was prevailing in the first half, and that might get consumed in the second half, which might help us maintaining solid margins? Because stock-in-trade that is being reported has grown in very healthy double digits, almost 50% higher year-on-year. So your thoughts on that, sir? Thank you.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

See, our procurement is not dependent upon the product prices. The procurement is, again, estimated by our customers or distributors, and again, depending upon the forecast for the weather and trend of products which are consumed by the consumers. All these things decide the procurement and not the prices.

Archit Joshi
Director, Nuvama

Sure, sure, sir. Thank you. Thank you. And all the best for the coming quarter, sir. All the best.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Thank you, sir.

Operator

Thank you very much. Next question is from Manish, an investor. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Please, sir. Next question is from Mr. Shailesh Mehendale. Shailesh, sir, even in the first quarter where we have gained a foreign exchange profit of somewhere about INR 70 crores, the euro/dollar was 1.16 only, and still it is 1.16 only. But in this quarter, we have booked a loss. So what should be the reason? Have we sold more in the non-euro area in this quarter?

Shailesh Mehendale
CFO, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

See, let me explain the loss particularly in the quarter two, which we have reported around INR 6.7 crores. It's mainly see, we are having some foreign currency payables towards our product registration, mainly relating to CapEx payables. So that also needs to be realigned as per the accounting standard. So those have contributed this unrealized loss of the INR 6 crore. Mainly, INR 6 crore includes the notional loss, unrealized loss on account of CapEx payable realignments. It is not to do with this. In fact, if you look at YTD H1, we are having positive YTD forex gain of INR 67 crores. And that includes mainly realized gain. Have you understood, Mr. Manish?

Yes, sir. I got it, sir. And, sir.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

One minute. I will add something more to what Mr. Shailesh has replied. See, we book the foreign exchange on the day the transaction takes place. But the payment is not made on the same day. The payment is made after the credit period, sometimes after three months or after six months. So the actual impact happens on the date when the payment is made. So if I book the euro/dollar rate at 1.16 on the date of happening and 1.4, then I incur a loss. Have you understood?

Yes, sir. Yes, I have understood, sir.

Shailesh Mehendale
CFO, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Thank you. Purely notional.

Sir, so you believe that in the ensuing quarter it will revert?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

No. We don't speculate. We take opinions of the experts, and we find that many times the experts also go wrong. They are not fortune tellers.

Yeah, absolutely right, sir. Okay, sir. And, sir, by going by the run rate, should we cross INR 5,000 crores revenue in this year?

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, please stay connected. The line for management has been disconnected. Ladies and gentlemen, we have the management line back on line with us.

Yeah, sir. My question was regarding going by the run rate. Should we cross 5,200 by the end of this year?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Sir, your first quarter's question was 50,000, and I said yes.

No, no. 5,200.

Fifty-two hundred?

INR 5,200 crores.

Yeah, it can.

Yeah. And, sir, going by the strength of our registration and distribution strength, which we have built in the last many years, do you think in the next four, five years can we be a 10,000 crore company? Possible? Next four, five years?

You are Mr. Manish speaking?

Yeah. Yeah, sir.

Mr. Manish, we don't gamble, and we don't speculate. We just handle the situation as it comes in front of us.

But, sir, going by the strength of our registration and the distribution strength, four, five years is quite a long period. Can it be reasonably asserted that it can be done? Or no, there is no chance?

It could happen, but you do not know how does the president of the U.S. behave, and how does the president of Ukraine and Russia behave. Nobody can predict. And all these things also impact the total world economy and the exchange rates and a lot of things, which I do not want to speculate and guess.

Yeah, I got your point, sir. I got your point. Sir, but generally, the European region is a high-margin business, and in the second half, we do more business in the European region?

Also. Hello?

Yeah, yeah.

You see, there are a lot of countries in the northern hemisphere. They have better agriculture and good economy. But a lot of countries in the southern hemisphere, their weathers are totally opposite. And fortunately, we have access in the entire world, all the geographies in the world, which is very unique.

Yeah. Sir, great, great, sir. Great, sir. Congratulations and best of luck, sir. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you very much. Next question is from Love Gupta from Counter Cyclical Investments. Please go ahead.

Love Gupta
Junior Equity Analyst, Counter Cyclical Investments

Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity, and congratulations on a good set of numbers. I had a question on the Non-Agrochemical side. A majority of our Non-Agrochemical revenue comes from the North American market. In that segment, do you see any impact from the tariffs imposed on volumes or demand?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Not so easily. Because this Non-Agrochemical business, mainly conveyor belts, are again not freely tradable products, and we don't sell from the stock. They are all businesses concluded, and we don't have any stock for that. Every customer has a specific requirement and specific size, specific quantity, and a lot of specifications. So this business is made to order and not stored and sold. Have you understood?

Love Gupta
Junior Equity Analyst, Counter Cyclical Investments

But, sir, do you see any impact on volume, negative impact from the tariffs?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Yes, sir. I'm coming to the second part. So if a customer is used to buying products from Sharda and is satisfied with the quality and service of Sharda, for him to develop a new supplier takes time, a lot of efforts, and a lot of uncertainties. So he prefers to buy from Sharda and pay the tariffs and other things. The industry at Sharda is not able to absorb all the increase or variation in the tariff rates. This is all happening because we are not stocking. We are making to order.

Love Gupta
Junior Equity Analyst, Counter Cyclical Investments

Okay. So in the Non-Agrochemical side, also, you are able to pass on the tariffs to the customers?

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Also, yes.

Love Gupta
Junior Equity Analyst, Counter Cyclical Investments

All right, sir. Thank you.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Fortunately, this tariff rate is very openly known to everybody. It's widely known. So the customer knows that the tariff has increased, and the supplier knows.

Love Gupta
Junior Equity Analyst, Counter Cyclical Investments

All right, sir. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, in the interest of time, that was the last question. I would now like to hand the conference over to management for closing comments.

Ramprakash Bubna
Chairman and Managing Director, Sharda Cropchem Ltd

Thank you, madam. I want to thank everybody who has joined us for this call. I hope we have been able to answer all your queries. We look forward to such interactions in future. We hope to meet your expectations in future also. In case you require any further details, you may contact us or SGA, our investor relations partners. Thank you very much. Thank you so much for everybody.

Operator

Thank you very much. On behalf of Antique Stock Broking Limited, that concludes this conference call. You may now disconnect the line.

Powered by