Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Varroc Engineering Limited Q1 FY24 earnings conference call, hosted by Investec Capital Services. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Arjun Jain . Thank you. Over to you, sir.
Yeah. Thank you. Good afternoon to you all. From Varroc, we have with us Mr. Tarang Jain, Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Arjun Jain, Whole-Time Director, Mr. Mahendra Kumar, Global CFO, and Mr. Bikash Dugar, Head, Investor Relations. We start the call with a brief opening remarks from the management, followed by Q&A session. I would now like to hand over the call to Bikash to take it forward. Over to you, Bikash.
Thank you, Aditya. Thank you, Investec, for hosting the call. Before we ask the chairman for his opening remarks, just a small disclaimer, that today's discussion may include statement which may constitute forward-looking statement. All statement that address expectation or projection about the future, including but not limited to, statement about the strategy for growth, business development, market position, expenditure, and financial results, are forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and expectation of future events and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. The actual results of performance or achievement could may differ materially from those projected in any such forward-looking statement. No obligation is assumed by the company for the forward-looking statement made during the call. Over to you, sir.
Yeah, thanks, Bikash. Thanks, Aditya, good evening to everyone, and thank you to Investec for hosting the call. Speaking about, to start with speaking about the global economy, it has been more resilient despite monetary tightening by most of the central banks, as core inflation remains above the targeted levels. Despite turmoil in the financial markets, we still see a strong labor market and consumption in the developed economies. The Indian economy, on the other hand, has sustained its growth momentum in FY24 so far. Core inflation has started to moderate, which is helping RBI not to increase the interest rate further than supporting the economy. The automobile production in India during Q1 FY24 grew on a year-on-year basis for most of the segments, as momentum in economic activity is sustaining.
Two-wheeler has grown by 1.3%, passenger vehicles by 7%, three-wheeler registered a strong growth of 24.3%. Commercial vehicles showed a negative growth of 1.5%, as we witnessed some pull ahead in buying activity in Q4 FY23 due to the OBD-2 norms. Generally, Q1 is sluggish. Q4 is the strongest quarter for automotive sales in any financial year. The same has been witnessed in Q1. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, commercial vehicle has fallen by 12.7%, passenger vehicles by 6.4%. Three-wheeler saw a decline of 2.3%. Only two-wheeler saw a growth of 12.1% on a Q-on-Q basis, as demand was sluggish for two-wheelers, both in domestic as well as the export markets in the previous period.
In terms of operation in Q1 FY24, we continue the journey of improving the performance. Our revenue from operations grew by 10% on a year-on-year basis to INR 17,924 million. Our EBITDA margin was at 10% in the quarter. It improved on a year-on-year basis by 180 basis points due to improvement in Indian and the overseas operations and certain incentives from government. Sequentially also, the EBITDA margin had gone up by 50 basis points. The reported PBT for the quarter was INR 652 million, which includes profits from our joint venture of INR 61.3 million. The ongoing monsoon and festive season will be key to watch out for the automobile sector to continue its momentum.
The reduction in FAME II subsidy from June 1, 2023 for EV vehicles impacted EV volume sharply, but we are cautiously optimistic about the recovery in volumes in the coming months. Our revenue from supplying to EV players in Q1 FY24 was approximately INR 651 million, which is 64% of our overall revenue. We continued with strong order wins in our operations in Q1 FY24. Lifetime revenue from new order business, INR 9,552 million in Q1 FY24. Our effort to increase our technical capability was further enhanced in Q1 FY24, as we filed four patents in India and one overseas. We also have got approval from the board to invest for procuring renewable energy of more than 37 megawatts DC through open access under captive group.
This will not only help increase our consumption from renewable sources, but result in reducing the energy cost from the next year. Finally, we reached a settlement on the final closing adjustments with Plastic Omnium for the four-wheeler lighting businesses, which we sold during October 2023. Based on that, 2022, October 2022. Based on that, company has received-
EUR 13 billion from the escrow amount. After meeting the cost of sale to the extent of EUR 5 billion, we will be using the balance amount to reduce our net debt levels. Our focus has remained to strengthen our competitiveness in India and globally by developing world-class products and services. We will enhance and leverage our global footprint, as we are a global company with strong roots in India. During the current financial year, our businesses have continued to deliver growth and returns while maintaining strong fiscal discipline. With this, now I'll ask MK, our Group CFO, who will walk you through the presentation. It's already uploaded on our website and submitted to the stock exchanges also.
Thank you, sir. Good evening, everyone. Let me just take you to the highlight slide, which is slide number four in the presentation. As our CMD mentioned, the industry growth was some kind of dull during Q1. Despite that, I mean, the two-wheeler grew only by 1%, and then the passenger vehicle by 7%. Compared to that, we grew about 10.4%, with a revenue of INR 1,806 crore approximately. The EBITDA margin was at 10%, up by 1.8% compared to last year, and about 50 basis points more compared to Q4 on sequential basis. Our lifetime business one was about INR 9.6 billion. And then the revenue from EV customers contributed about 4% of our total revenue.
Our net debt reduced by about INR 50 crore. We are now at about INR 1,228 crore. As you may recollect, when the divestment happened, we were at about INR 1,300 crore. From that time, we could reduce it by about INR 72 crore so far. Of course, this is without considering the inflow from the settlement, divestment settlement transaction, which happened in Q2. This is as of Q1 ending. On the last one, last highlight of the quarter is about the settlement, the divestment process. As we indicated earlier in our declarations to the stock exchanges, there was some kind of a dispute earlier, which we could amicably settle. That brought in about close to EUR 13 million of inflow into the company. Of course, we have some expenses to be met.
Net of that, I think close to INR 6 million-7 million is what we are expecting to stay in India, which will reduce our net debt further. Going to the next slide, this is about the overall industry trend. Like what I mentioned earlier, the two-wheeler grew quarter-over-quarter by about 12%. Three-wheeler and other segments actually had a decline compared to the previous quarter, which is Q4. Year-over-year, basically, we will see two-wheeler grew by about 1%, 1.3%. Three-wheeler and passenger vehicles also registered good growth. Commercial vehicles had a negative growth. Going forward, the monsoon and festival demand will actually decide the momentum in Q2 and Q3.
We are expecting that that should actually continue the current momentum, but we need to keep a watch on that. Coming to the financials on the next slide. Of course, we talked about the revenue growth of 10.4%. In terms of the other financials, we really see EBITDA percentage terms came to 10%, which is close to about INR 180 crore, which is the Adjusted EBITDA. Another important point this time is the PBT of 3.6%. You might have also noticed a reduction in interest cost for the first time after many quarters. That's an interesting point to be noted. Of course, we are expecting that it will come down further in the coming quarters as we continue to repay the debt through cash generation from operations.
In the next slide, we have the business breakdown, like how we showed earlier. We see a marginal uptick in the Bajaj share of the business, to about 42%. Earlier, it used to be below 40. We developed increased supplies to the electric vehicles. On the new lifetime order win, is about INR 955 crore of lifetime win, which we did in Q1 in terms of new orders. Predominantly, we released 70%, more than 70% of that is in two-wheeler space this time. In terms of other way of looking at it, there's about close to 60% comes from non-Bajaj customers, and about 40% comes from Bajaj. EV related orders constitute about 11% of the total. Let me stop with this, and then we are happy to take any questions. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin with the question and answer session. Anyone wishing to ask a question may please press star and one on your touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you need press star and two. Participants, request the queue handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue is ended. The first question is from the line of Ashin from Equitas Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, my first question is regarding the lighting business. The lighting industry is seeing good tailwind with shift towards LED. Could you please help us understand how much of the lighting industry is from India and how much from Europe? And what sort of growth do we see in this business, considering that the industry is doing pretty strongly over there? That's my first question.
Yeah, hi, this is Arjun. I think in terms of product or in a segment itself, we don't report. I think lighting specifically, we don't report in terms of revenue. However, in general, I think as in India in particular, we keep moving from, we keep moving towards LED, that, that generally implies significant content growth for build plan. You know, that is very much a story that, that is very much a story that we're a part of, we've been a part of in 2016, and we continue to be a part of it, whether in two-wheeler or whether in four-wheeler.
Sure, sure. My second question is, regarding this, so EV now contributes approximately 4% of our revenue. Was it so was it bump up majorly because of pre-buying in EVs? What sort of a revenue from EV do we expect going ahead?
Yeah, you know, like we said in the last quarter also, that we are expecting revenues to be INR 1,000 crore in FY25. You know, we do see the momentum going up, going forward. You know, we know that this FAME II subsidies have gone down, you know, in June announced by the government. I think a lot of the OEMs are actually innovating. You know, the lithium prices have also gone down. We do feel that the volumes will return. We are also winning for the businesses, whether it's for the EV powertrain or otherwise, for the EV program, whether it's two-wheeler, four-wheeler. We are quite confident that we'll achieve a INR 1,000 crore revenue out of EV, out of an EV business in FY25.
Sure. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks very much.
Thank you. A reminder to the participants, anyone wishing to ask a question, may please press star and one. The next question is from the line of Abhishek from Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity, and congrats, for the recent set of numbers. Sir, in four-wheeler business, we have seen a sharp growth quarter-on-quarter-
Mr. Abhishek, we are unable to hear you clearly.
Are you able to hear me now?
Much better. Thank you.
In the four-wheeler business, we have seen a very sharp growth quarter on quarter. Is it because of the revenue growth in the lighting business?
Can you repeat it? You are saying on the four-wheeler side, you have seen a growth in our business?
Yes, sir. In quarter-on-quarter, we have seen a very impressive growth. Is it because of the revenue growth in the lighting business?
Year-on-year, or Q4 over Q1, you are saying?
Q4 over Q1.
Q4 over Q1 is mainly because of our two-wheeler operations overseas, where generally it's a calendar year. January, February, March is little dull, and then it picks up. Our Romania business has done better as compared to the previous quarter. That's why-
Hello?
Yeah. It's mainly the Romania business in our overseas operations, which is mainly supplying to four-wheeler.
Okay.
That has grown.
In the lighting business, how much contribution from the domestic versus export now? Domestic versus overseas.
That's what Arjun said, that, further split, on the domestic and overseas, we would not like to comment at this point of time.
You have most of the business from the two-wheeler in the domestic side, or you are winning the new business in the four-wheeler as well?
We win. Over the course of the last financial year, I think we won businesses in both two-wheeler and four-wheeler. I would say the split in revenue between two-wheeler and four-wheeler lighting is pretty even.
Okay. In the polymer business, you are showing a big growth. How do you see business ahead?
This is mainly driven by when in Q4, we had some pulling revenue on our, so that did not happen. It came down actually in Q1. That's the reason.
Is it, is it because of the, fall in the net ASP, fall in the commodity prices?
That will have. Yeah, that also will have some impact. The fall in the commodity prices will have some impact also. Then also, if you look at four-wheeler sales from Q4 to Q1, has fallen by -6%. That has also resulted the polymer business not to grow in line with the industry, in line with the other segment.
Okay. Sir, in electric electronic business, your growth is quite impressive, around 21%. Why and why? Just wanted to understand that, what are the key triggers behind that, and how much the contribution from the instrument cluster and from this business?
Yeah. In, in general, our electronic business, as we've talked about before, right, I think we've been very focused in two-wheeler in terms of driving a content growth strategy. When I say content growth, really the product lines that have grown significantly for us would be, you know, things like for high chaging things like fuel injection, also more LED headlamps, that, you know, that has done very well for us. From an EV perspective also, I think we see significant growth in revenue versus the past period.
I would say, you know, content growth in existing vehicles and a lot of the launches that we have driven, starting to see some level of lot of the new product launches that we had last year, starting to see some level of incremental sales, and also, you know, EV, you know, EV volume growing for us too. Clusters, I would say, I, I don't think, I mean, of course, you know, as part of content growth, you know, clusters will also see some level. Really, the most significant, the most significant for us would be fuel injection and EV components.
Okay, sir. In the electronic business, basically, you are targeting around INR 1,000 crore kind of the revenue from EVs from FY25. What would be the contribution from this motor and controller segment out of the INR 1,000 crore?
Motor and motor controller, I would say, are really primary products for us. Again, I think more than more than the numbers that we have already talked about, I don't think we are optimizing any further breakdown.
Okay. My last question is on-
Sure.
Okay. Then my last question, you know, on the polymer business. Sorry, metallic business. In metallic business, what is your revenue target for FY24, now, given the pricing of metal is going down? What is the current margin in this business?
We don't give those guidances wise in that, yeah, in every business, we are aiming for growth. At the normal company level, of course, we continue to expect double-digit growth, we don't give guidance for any segment of it.
What would be the triggers for this double-digit growth, sir, in terms of the capacity addition or the product addition?
Yeah, basically, about the content growth, like how we explained earlier, both in terms of electric vehicles and also in terms of the ICE products also.
Okay, sir. Thanks, sir. Thanks so much.
We have said that we are going to grow 8%-10% more than the industry growth, you know, and that's what we are trying to achieve, you know, as we move forward. Largely because of the content growth strategy, which comes a lot out of the electronics side.
Okay, got it. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Aditya Jhawar. Please go ahead.
Yeah, yeah, thank you for the opportunity. My first question is that, you know, recently we have seen product launches by Bajaj, you know, specifically Triumph and Hero's Harley. If you could, you know, give us some sense, are we present in these vehicles, and what kind of content per vehicle, you know, maybe are there in these two models?
Yeah, we're present on both models. I would say the content on Triumph would be, would be quite significant. content on Harley, we have content on Harley, but it would not be as significant as the content that we would have on Triumph.
Yeah, Arjun, if you have a number in mind, like, is it about 30, 40 K or something per vehicle?
INR 30K-40K, I think on an EV vehicle, like, I, I don't think anybody's content reaches that level. Really, in terms of, you know, technology components, like lighting, you know, we supply lighting for Triumph. We supply lighting for Triumph. We also, of course, we supply all the painted plastics, seats, and mirrors as well, also. Right, the content, I think, would be at approximately, approximately INR 8,000.
Sorry, how much?
Approximately INR 8,000.
Eight. Okay, okay. That, that's helpful. Any, you know, EV component order win you would like to highlight where we have entered a new OEM, whether incumbent or a new age OEM?
I'm going to give you the same answer I've been giving you for some time now on the table. I can promise, I think soon you will hear more.
Okay, sure, sure. You know, we have spoken about, you know, double-digit margin, and, you know, we have already, you know, at about 10-odd %. How should we think about margin expansion from here, and what would be the levers of margin expansion?
Yeah, yeah, like what we mentioned earlier, we don't give any guidance, so don't take this as a guidance. Yeah, we continue to aim for the double-digit EBITDA margin. Now, in terms of drivers, if you really see, obviously, the operating leverage should actually help us to a large extent. Plus, there are also several cost reduction actions which we are targeting internally, both from sourcing point of view and also in terms of efficiencies point of view. So these, these things should actually drive us to go for higher levels of EBITDA margin in the coming quarters and maybe next year also.
Okay, okay. Now, on China, you know, what kind of timelines we should have in mind, with regard to the transfer of ownership and any potential value unlocking that we can see? You know, if you can give some sense on timelines.
Yeah, so it is difficult to put a timeline to it, but if you ask me, the arbitration process should come to a conclusion before end of this year, this financial year. Separately, there is a settlement activity also, which is parallelly progressing, but not at the estimated pace that we are expecting it to be at. It's difficult to put a specific timeline, but we would say maybe before end of the financial year, we have some good clarity.
Okay. Now, final question, if you can give some, you know, sense on what kind of CapEx, and debt repayment we should have in mind for FY24?
Yeah. First quarter, we spent about INR 50 crore, so there could be maybe another INR 100-150 crore of CapEx in the remaining three quarters. That's on CapEx. Debt repayment, I don't want to put a number to it, but then you have seen that about INR 50 crore repayment is what we did in Q1. All our efforts are basically to maximize the cash generation and then repay as much debt as possible before end of the year. Let's not put a number to it now.
Okay, that's quite helpful. That's it for me. All the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question, a reminder to the participants, anyone wishing to ask a question, may please press star and one. The next question is from the line of Basudeb Banerjee from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Thanks. A couple of questions. one, if I look at, for almost last 7 quarters, your other expenses are more or less, flat at around INR 280 crore. In the meanwhile, revenues are wanting to, recover quite a lot, and, that's why margin has moved up from the lows of 5% to now 9.5%.
Sorry, the statement is not very clear.
Yeah. So for last 7 quarters, in your reported numbers, other expense line item has been centered around INR 280 crore, whereas revenue has moved up from INR 1,600 crore to INR 1,800 crore approx, on a constantly basis, and that has also helped the margin improve from 5% to 9.5%. As you said, operating leverage, cost management initiatives, et cetera. If you can highlight, like, how long the other expense line item can remain around this level, so that one can have some idea about incremental operating leverage benefits, because 7 quarter is not a small time scale.
Yeah. See, other expenses is difficult to predict, because, as you know, it comprises of both variable and fixed elements, so they behave differently based on the scale of operations. It's difficult to estimate how exactly it will move. It's a combination of both.
Earlier, I said that certain efforts which the company is taking to reduce the fixed cost or reduce the variable component, it takes time to get a visibility on the other expenses. It will happen 2 quarters, 3 quarters down the line. Yes, the other expenses have reduced, but as a % to the top line, but the efforts are there to further reduce and improve the profitability as Group CFO said earlier.
Sure. Secondly, sir, initially you said EUR 30 million you got back from the escrow account, and also you said INR 50 crore of debt reduction. Was this 50 exclusive of the EUR 30 million? The basic question in next quarter will come because of that.
Yeah, yeah. That, that money is yet to be considered because it happened only in July. We are talking about the numbers as of June end.
Sure.
That number is yet to update.
Understood. Thanks.
Thank you. A reminder to the participants, anyone wishing to ask a question, may please press star and one. The next question is on the line of Arvind Sharma from Citi. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening, sir, thank you for taking my question. Just wanted to understand the sale of the four-wheeler global lighting business. Now, in this quarter, again, you've given some discontinued operation-related expenses. Since you got some money after the quarter ended, in the second quarter, would we see some discontinued operation-related income coming in? Just wanted more clarification on the accounting part.
Yeah. We don't expect any income or expense from discontinued side hereafter. This particular adjustment, which we took in Q1, was relating to some of those costs relating to some management separations, relating to the worldwide lighting business. Earlier, we took a conservative view of how much we could get out of this escrow. Compared to that, there was about close to INR 1 million of shortfall, which is final settlement. That impact has also been taken. With this, as of now, we don't expect any further income or expense on account of discontinued operations in the coming quarters.
Sure, sir. Now, that business is fully separated. Sir, if you, I, I know it's a, it's a question which will be repeated, but if you could just give us a sense in, in a certain sense of the total inflow that we've had after selling the business. How much has finally accrued to Varroc, including the initial, the initial cash payment and the escrow? What has been the total cash inflow, and what was the final equity value of the business?
Yeah, see, let's talk about the equity first. Initially, we estimated the equity to be at EUR 69.5 million. After the EUR 15 million settlement, which we did, it finally ended up at EUR 54.5 million. That is as far as equity is concerned. Coming to the cash flow part of it, I think it has two, three different parts. I think we also need to see the cash which came in and which we used to repay the overseas debt at the time of the transaction. That would be a larger number. Let's only talk about the equity part, which is now finally at EUR 54.5 million.
Okay, this includes the escrow, which you've got now?
Correct, correct.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much, sir. That's all from my side.
Thank you. A reminder to the participants, anyone wishing to ask a question, may please press star and one. The next question is from the line of Nisarg Vakharia from NV Alpha Fund Management LLP. Please go ahead.
Sir, just a small question on the interest payment that we have. We are paying about INR 50 crore interest per quarter. When will this start coming down?
Yeah. I think, like how we explained earlier, we, we are already seeing some kind of a reduction sequentially, if you really see. This quarter, the interest burden was lower by about INR 3-3.5 crore compared to the previous quarter. Of course, the, the inflow from the final settlement should actually reduce the debt further in Q2 also. As and when we generate cash from operations and free cash flow, once, once we get it, we continue to repay the debt. It, it should, it should continuously go down hereafter is the expectation that we have. We don't give any guidance here, but that's what we are targeting.
Sir, what is the net debt that we have today on our balance sheet?
Like I explained earlier in the call, INR 1,228 is the net debt.
Right.
as of today.
Right. We are paying interest for a debt of almost INR 1,800 crore-INR 2,000 crore. Isn't it better to use the cash and pay off the debt and then get the interest cost down to INR 100 crore-INR 120 crore?
I don't understand this 1,800 number that you mentioned, but like what I said, we are anyways, that's what we are doing. As and when we get excess cash, we are actually going and repaying the debt.
Okay, sir, I'm sorry, I'm going to repeat. Maybe it's little naive on my part, but I'm just, trying to understand a little bit. If the net debt is INR 1,200 crore today, why is the interest cost INR 200 crore?
Uh.
Because interest cost is not more than 10%, 11% anywhere.
Yeah, no, the average interest cost comes to only around 9%-9.5%.
Right.
It also has the discounting charges. We also do the discounting of the customer's receivables, those discounting charges are also part of the interest cost.
Okay. What is the discounting charges that we have, per annum or per quarter, approximately?
Like, we don't give that kind of breakup, but we can broadly work, work it out, right? I mentioned the interest rate-
Okay.
earlier on in that case, you know, so.
Okay. These discounting charges will continue or you will stop doing them as your balance sheet strengthens? Because it's an expensive charge, no, for us?
No, see, as it stands now, this is one of the cheapest modes of finance that we have.
Okay.
Also, the obviously, the customers are all big OEMs.
Okay.
That way the, the risk is less, so the bankers are also willing to give it at lower rates.
Okay, okay.
If I have to take it out, this will be the last one that I would touch. My first hurdle would be to reduce the high-cost debt.
Okay.
Towards the end, we will, we will stop it also.
Okay, I get it. Thank you so much, sir. All the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to the participants, anyone wishing to ask a question, may please press star and 1. The next question is from the line of Abhishek from Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity again. Sir, in aftermarket business, we are seeing a strong traction. If you can throw some more light on the product and the network expansion in last six months.
You see, the aftermarket business, you know, continues to grow for us. Lastly, we are more on the two-wheeler, on the two-wheeler products, and whether it's for domestic or it's for export. We continue to kind of increase the number of retailers or distributors we have, you know, on a quarterly basis, six-monthly basis. We do see a good double-digit growth year on year, we are expecting as we move forward. Aftermarket for us is a profitable business, you know, and that's something we will continue to do as we move forward. It's more like a steady growth that we are achieving, you know, in our aftermarket business, which today, for us, is maybe about 5%, 6% of our revenues.
In aftermarket business, how much is from the OEM channel, sir?
The OEM in the aftermarket is purely non-OEM channel.
The spare parts that, which we do to the OEM is not included into aftermarket.
That is not the aftermarket. That's more like the body supply, you know, for the spares, OEM market. That we count as OE, OE business. This is purely, you know, through our retailers and distributors for in India and for exports. This is what we call our aftermarket business.
Okay. Your current capacity utilization is, I think, 60%-65%, and you are looking for another CapEx of around INR 200 crore. Is this CapEx for only for this EVs product expansion or in other segment as well?
Here I would say that this is more towards more our future products, you know, because for a lot of the traditional products which we are doing, we are at 60%-65%. This is only for, you know, more of the value-added products which we have. If we see a future where we don't have a certain level of capacity, then those are the places actually, which includes EV also. Those are the places where we are actually investing.
Tooling, right.
It includes also for tooling, you know. Basically, it is only largely more where we don't have a capacity, you know, and which is more on the future product side, including EV.
Okay. sorry, non-Bajaj revenue remained flat quarter-on-quarter. What is the reason, and how would be the trend going ahead?
I'm sorry. Sorry, I couldn't, I couldn't get your question. You know, it's not very clear, the line.
Sir, revenue from the non, Bajaj, remained flat quarter-on-quarter. What is the reason, and how would be the trend going ahead?
Yeah. Not that it remains flat. The growth in Bajaj has been higher than other other customers because the supply of EV component to Bajaj has been much higher in Q1 as compared to Q4. Other segment, other customer includes customers related to four-wheelers like Mahindra & Mahindra and VW, Renault Nissan, and your even Volkswagen, Skoda, and we know that passenger vehicle quarter-on-quarter has fallen by 6%. That's because of that.
So seventy-one percent, uh, uh-
Mr. Abhishek, may we request that you return to the question queue? There are participants waiting for their turn.
Okay.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Prateek Poddar from Nippon India AMC. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, sir. Sir, I just wanted to ask if you could split your capacity utilization business-wise, business unit-wise?
See, we cannot, we, we, what we are saying is, largely, you can say, as a, as a company, we are at between 60%-65% of capacity utilization. That means there is a big upside, you know, with the current capacity, maybe some small incremental investments. Today our focus is how to fill up these capacities, and we are getting some traction there also, as we are in, in, in the last many months. We are trying to do that, you know, with various customers, you know, whether largely more on the two-wheeler side, some four-wheeler also. This is where, you know, you know, we, we have this kind of an up- upside available for us. Whatever we fill up, you know, will be a big, obviously, a gain for us. We cannot.
I mean, singling out, you know, separately will be difficult for us to share.
If I may ask you, Abhishek, which segment would be the one where. Because, look, 60% would be a weighted average of all the four businesses.
Yes.
I'm just trying to understand, sir, where is the highest delta? In which business segment is the highest delta? That's my limited question.
If I were to take that for a second, right? I think the way to really think about it is, we supply almost 20 products into two-wheeler.
Correct.
Two and three-wheeler mobility. The capacities that we would build, the capacities that we would build over the years would have been for a certain level of industrial volume. Of course, as you know, that level of industrial volume has not appeared since maybe FY19. You know, it's hard to, let's say, you know, break it down specifically in terms of, you know, which product, which particular business, you know, because every business unit also has their products differently. 60%-65% is a fair number, where the investment level delta to productionize that capacity would not be significant. Right. Again, I know I'm not giving you a clear answer-
Mm.
Really what I'm trying to say is, where the capacities are available is generally where the two-wheeler market is big, or for the kinds of capacities that are required.
Got it.
For a two-wheeler and three-wheeler.
Got it. If the two-wheeler market, let's say, were to go to FY19 levels in the next two years, you have enough capacity to cater to that, right? That's a fair understanding.
Exactly.
Okay, very clear. The second question is just on, you know, improving the EBITDA margins, which was one of the key focus areas. QOQ, we have seen some moderation in employee expenses as well as other operating expenses. I remember last quarter, MK talking about H2 being a very strong year for you, H2 of this year being very strong, wherein we could see sharp deleveraging. Is it fair to say that, you know, the path continues in terms of improvement of operational improvement, and in H2 is where we start seeing a material improvement?
Yeah, that's the plan as of now, but don't take it as a guidance, but yeah, that's what we are aiming for.
Got it. Last question, sir, if you can help me understand, look, on a YOY basis, when I see two-wheeler industry growth and your growth, there has been a decent outperformance in terms of content or industry growth. When I see it sequentially, two- wheelers on a QOQ basis are up 12%, and we are up just 6%, at least on the overall revenue side. What am I missing, sir? If you can just help me understand this, that would be really helpful.
See, largely, just to let you know that, you know, we have seen a very, we've seen a strong growth from the two-wheeler segment. Most of our customers have grown quite well, at a decent double digit, you know. The problem has been more the commercial vehicle and passenger car, where we have seen a degrowth. That's on the average, it has only been 6.2 or 6.4%. Because of that reason, because two-wheeler do very well, also including EVs, you know, but the same thing, you know, did not happen unfortunately, this quarter on the four-wheeler side, where we saw a very weak performance.
Industry itself?
Industry itself, overall, I would say.
Got it. Helpful. Lastly, when you start new orders worth INR 577 crores, as called out in the presentation, is it fair to say that these orders would be margin accretive to you versus what the legacy orders are? To that extent, mix will help you and give the growth margin expansion?
Yes, yes, definitely. Definitely.
Okay, great, sir. Thanks, thanks, and all the best.
Thank you. A reminder to the participants, anyone wishing to ask a question, please press star and one. The next question is from the line of D. Rashad from PhillipCapital PCC.
Yeah, good evening, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, as you said, that you are looking to outperform the industry by almost 8% to 10%, Majority of that will be driven by the content per vehicle. What kind of increase, you know, you are looking in the content per vehicle over the next two to three years?
Sorry to interrupt, Mr. D. Rashad, there's a lot of disturbance from your line.
Am I audible now?
Sir, I request you to use a handset mode while speaking and not the microphone.
Am I audible?
Sir, there's a lot of disturbance on your line.
Ma'am, actually, I'm out. If that one can come on, what kind of increase, you know, you are looking in the content per vehicle over the next two to three years?
Okay, again, I'd break that down. I think the way to think about it is, right, we look at EV separately, and we look at IC engine separately. EV, fundamentally, the content that has been around based on the power plants that we have, we could expect to have, would be, I think, around INR 30,000-INR 35,000 in the past. Right. I think as EV grows, that is a content level that we can address in a way. Of course, we look to drive businesses, in different customers in line with that, right. For example, again, on the Chetak, that would be amount of content that we would have.
On an IC engine, really the technologies that drive content growth would be fuel injection, you know, LED lighting, potentially electronic switches, and individual classes. As that, you know, as OEMs keep converting their 2 million vehicles, then I think, you know, if you look at, if you look at new launches that OEMs have made, almost all of them generally come with this type of content, right? As we keep driving those vehicle launches, we expect our content to keep going up. Beyond the point, it is difficult for me to comment exactly, when which OEM will look to convert, convert which segment of vehicles into, let's say, into, let's say, LED, for example. As that takes place in the industry, we will definitely be at the forefront of it.
All that put together, I think the kind of content that we, the total addressable content that we could have on a two-wheeler, would be even, let's say, mass volume segments, you know, around INR 10,000.
This INR 10,000, is it currently the content per vehicle?
No. The average content per vehicle you have today would be significantly lower, year on year.
It will be around INR 6,000-7,000. In with other customers, it's much lower.
Sir, EV, you talked about the content per vehicle is INR 35,000, if I'm not wrong?
Yep.
Yes.
Okay, so what kind of increase we are looking in the EV particularly?
Today, the EV market is we're very focused again on two-wheeler and three-wheeler, because those are our core, that is our core market. Today, EV two-wheelers are generally scooters, right? That is a segment of focus for us.
Okay. Okay, okay. Thank you so much, sir.
One other thing also that I would add from a content perspective is, even for passenger car, right? We look to integrate our capabilities to drive more system-level solutions. You know, for example, on a VW Tiguan today, that is a product built by both our, the tailgate, is a product that is built by both our power and lighting business. Right, we integrate the rear lamps into the tailgate and supply the entire module to its, you know, to VW. Similar to that, we pursue other businesses also. That is outside of two-wheeler and three-wheeler, another lever, another potential channel of content growth for us.
Okay, thank you so much for the explanation, sir.
Thank you. A reminder to the participants, anyone wishing to ask a question, may please press star and one. Participants, if you wish to ask a question, you may please press star and one. Participants in the conference, if you wish to ask a question, you may please press star and one. The next question is on the line of Pradeep Agarwal from Nippon AMC. Please go ahead.
Just could we double click on the kind of efficiency measures you are working at so as to improve our margins?
Yeah, let me answer this question. I don't want to give you any specific numbers here, but if you want to understand the areas we are looking at.
Yes.
Energy is one area where we are looking at. Currently, the sourcing that we make from renewable energy is very less, so that we are trying to improve. There are also areas like packing material, logistics, and of course, the overall fixed cost itself is what we are actually looking at, and various opportunities to reduce it. These are the main areas we are looking at.
Just on fixed costs, sir, possible to double-click and help us understand how you try to reduce fixed costs?
I mean, there are various areas, we are looking at every single line item, whether it is consultants or freelancers or advisors, or there could be some opportunities to eliminate some non-discretionary elements or some discretionary elements. We have to look at every single line item and try to see what could be a zero-based kind of approach to the fixed costs here. Based on that, how much is the fat that we can actually cut down. This will take some time, it won't happen immediately.
Sure.
For the next one to two years, we are trying to actually reduce it as much as possible.
That would also mean that the break-even point should reduce, right?
Right. That's the intention.
Okay, what is the level of break-even point today, and where do you aspire it to be?
we can't reveal that, but I think we can work it out based on our annual report.
Yes. I can work out the current, but, the aspiration is what I was thinking.
Aspiration, again, I don't want to put a number, but we are in for significant reduction. Again, this won't happen in, in one time.
Right.
In the next two years, we are aiming for a significant reduction in the break-even levels.
Thank you.
In previous calls, we have said that, the first target remains to improve the EBITDA margin to 5%. Last year, we did 1.7%, so our endeavor remains to go to 5% in the next one to two years, and then, to higher single digit.
No problem. Thank you. Thank you so much, sir. Best wishes for the future.
Thank you. The next question is on the line of Aditya Jhawar. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity again. I just had one question. Post the sale of our, you know, global lighting business, how should we think about our aspirations in the four-wheeler lighting in India? Are we seeing engagement with customers on future product launches, or are you seeing that there is an engagement with OEMs which are not present in India, you are having a dialogue with them? How should we look at the space post VLS sale?
Again, I think we, the divestment that we drove was we lined up the geographies of Europe and North America, and we retained India and China. Now, today, in India, fortunately for us, maybe, but I think in particular, when it comes to technology in the future, and largely LED, we have a significant amount of content that is already on the road, right? And I think customers, I think customers really understand and appreciate that, right? Some of the products that we already have on the road would be, you know, on the XUV700, we do all the lighting, on the two new Renault Nissan models that launched maybe one point five years ago, we do all the lighting. All these would have been available to tail lamps.
We've been really already localized capability across, you know, design, development, manufacturing, which, you know, customers can see and appreciate. Even through last year, right after it was clear that the divestment is going to take place, you know, we've been able to continue to win programs. Further, from a technology perspective also, I think we are largely covered, and I think customers, customers understand and appreciate that. I don't really see any reason why we should not be able to. There is no reason why we will not be able to capitalize on, you know, this growing market that we have in the market already.
Okay, okay. Fair enough. I think that's it, from my side. All the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Arjun Jain for his closing comments.
Yes, thank you everyone for joining the call. In the end, I would say that we are cautiously optimistic about our business and are working to further improve performance. We are grateful for your unwavering support in the past, and look forward for continued encouragement for an exciting journey ahead. Thank you.
Thank you, members of the management team. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Investec Capital Services, that concludes this conference call. We thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect.