Apollo Tyres Limited.

Apollo Tyres Limited.

384.15
INR
-14.65
(-3.67%)
26.99EPS
15.94P/E
272.14BMarket Cap
Nov 18Next Earn

Q3 FY2026 · Earnings Call TranscriptFebruary 5, 2026

Operator

Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of ICICI Securities, we would like to welcome you all to Apollo Tyres Q3 FY26 earnings conference call.

Today, we have with us from the management team, Mr. Neeraj Kanwar, Managing Director and Vice Chairman; Mr.

Gaurav Kumar, Chief Financial Officer; and the Investor Relations team. We will start the call with a brief opening remarks from the management team about the quarter gone by, and then we'll proceed with a Q&A session.

Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Neeraj Kanwar

Thank you. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today.

I welcome you all to the Apollo Tyres Q3 FY26 post results conference call. We closed Q3 with consolidated top-line growth of nearly 12% and an EBITDA margin of 15.3%.

I'm pleased to share that in Q3 we have recorded our highest ever quarterly revenue, both on standalone and consolidated basis. On the domestic front, we saw robust double-digit growth in all channels.

All our three product categories saw very, very strong growth. In contrast, in Europe the demand environment continued to be muted across key categories.

We registered a flattish top line Y-o-Y in line with the subdued market scenario. As we track evolving market dynamics, our focus remains on delivering profitable growth supported by new product introductions, premiumization of the portfolio, and disciplined cost initiatives.

We expect to sustain and accelerate our top-line growth in India and in Europe. Let me now talk about key pillars of our Vision FY26.

Starting with R&D, we continue to secure additional model approvals from marquee passenger vehicle manufacturers across India and Europe, reaffirming our strong product competencies and accelerating our premiumization journey. We have also consistently achieved podium positions in independent European tests, underscoring product excellence, strengthening partnership with premium OEMs, and expanding our OE footprint.

On the digitalize front, we continue to invest in artificial intelligence to improve customer service, drive efficiencies in our plants, and at the same time help in cost optimization. Moving to the branding side, we continue to demonstrate strong brand equity anchored in superior product quality and customer satisfaction.

Our sponsorship of the new official Indian cricket team jersey has garnered us extensive media attention and coverage, driving unparalleled brand reach and visibility, and adding distribution. This landmark association is a source of pride for all the Apolloites, has boosted dealer morale, and is already translating into positive business outcomes.

Finally, sustainability has always been a key pillar for us. I'm happy to share that we have won multiple accolades during the quarter, including first prize by our Chennai plant in the 6th National Water Awards in the Best Industry category, recognition from ASSOCHAM with the prestigious Water Management Award and at the Indian Water Leadership Conclave, and many others.

These achievements reflect our unwavering commitment to environment, health, safety, and our sustainable growth. As part of Apollo's healthcare initiative, we have recently inaugurated our 35th healthcare center in Rajasthan, enhancing healthcare access for the trucking community.

We have also partnered with the UN Development Programme to advance biodiversity conservation. With this, I conclude my opening remarks.

As we closely track market dynamics and our cost structures, our focus remains firmly on sustainable and profitable growth. We are proactively preparing for emerging challenges and opportunities, and I'm confident that our strong fundamentals and strategic direction will support long-term value creation across our markets.

Thank you for listening to me. I am handing over to Gaurav.

Thank you.

Gaurav Kumar

Thank you, Neeraj. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

Continuing from where Neeraj left, let me share further details of our operations for the last quarter. The consolidated revenue for the quarter stood at ₹77.4 billion, a very strong growth of almost 12% over the same quarter last year.

The consolidated EBITDA for the quarter stood at ₹11.9 billion, an improved margin of 15.3% compared to 14.9% in the last quarter and 13.7% in the same quarter last year. Coming to the balance sheet, our consolidated net debt levels stood at a level of ₹13 billion as at the end of this quarter, substantially lower than the ₹26 billion at the end of previous quarter.

The sharp decrease in net debt was driven by reduction in short-term borrowings as a result of strong operational cash flows. The net debt-to-EBITDA for the consolidated operations dropped to 0.4x at the end of December '25 compared to 0.8x at the end of September.

We witnessed robust demand momentum in Q3, leading to the highest ever revenues on both standalone and consolidated basis. We registered double-digit Y-o-Y growth in our standalone and consolidated revenue, the highest growth over the last 12 quarters.

The momentum was driven by a more positive demand environment in India, coupled with the added boost from the reduced GST rates for the industry. As Neeraj mentioned, brand visibility through our strategic sponsorship has also led to the strong performance, especially in the consumer tires category.

In India, the revenue for the quarter was ₹51.4 billion, a growth of 13+ percent over the same quarter last year. The EBITDA for the quarter stood at ₹7.5 billion, a margin of 14.5% compared to 15.3% in the last quarter, but significantly higher than the 11.1% in the same quarter last year.

The profitability was impacted, as we've discussed over various calls and meetings with you people, by the timing of the spend on the sponsorship, which started in this quarter relative to our other A&P spends, and is only a near-term impact. The A&P spend would normalize from next year onwards.

We witnessed that Q3 volume growth Y-o-Y was in mid-teens, led by a strong double-digit growth across all categories: replacement, OE, and exports. Our premium brand, Vredestein, continued to get good traction and achieved highest ever volumes in this quarter.

On the demand outlook, we anticipate healthy momentum to continue into Q4 of the fiscal year. We witnessed continued strong demand during the month of January with double-digit growth.

Moving on to the raw material side, we expect the raw material cost to be steady in Q4. On the balance sheet for the India operations, the net debt levels stood at ₹18 billion in India, significantly lower as compared to the September level.

The net debt-to-EBITDA for India operations reduced to 0.7x from the 1.1x at the end of previous quarter. In our standalone results for this quarter, the exceptional item below the EBITDA includes a one-time charge of ₹259 million on account of the estimated obligation under the new labor code.

This is based on actuarial valuation and best estimates in accordance with the accounting standards. Coming to Europe, the revenue for the quarter was €180 million, flattish compared to the same quarter last year.

The EBITDA for the quarter stood at €32 million, a margin of 17.9% compared to the 17.7% for the same quarter last year and substantially higher than the 12.7% for the last quarter. Continuing with our premiumization journey, the UHP mix for the quarter increased to 52% compared to the 48% for the same quarter last year.

Our PCR capacity expansion in Hungary is progressing as planned, and we expect an acceleration in demand momentum going forward as we ramp up this capacity. Over the last four, five years, our strategic intent around the judicious use of capex in an effort to sweat our assets, prioritize deleveraging, and return on capital via pursuit of profitable growth has borne fruit, as seen in our strong balance sheet.

We've had low levels of growth capex over this period and substantial improvement in our underlying operating metrics. We remain committed to this strategic intent while also ensuring that we are making the right investments for continued profitable growth in our core categories, particularly to capitalize on the demand environment, as our capacity utilization has continued to increase through the year.

Our current capacity utilization level in India are in the high 80s, and given our growth expectations for the near future, as seen by the current demand momentum, we would start hitting capacity limitations soon, and hence, it was prudent for us to plan investments in our core categories for the next three, four years. Taking this into account, the Board of Directors in the recent meeting approved a ₹5,800 crores capex for our AP plant for expanding both the PCR and TBR capacities spread over the next three financial years, that is FY27, '28, and '29.

As part of this, there would be a growth capex of about ₹2,000 crores in FY27. Our capex guidance for FY26 remains as such.

We will continue to provide you a clear picture of future capex plans, as done over our calls over the last few years, and our strategy would continue to be focused on profitability, free cash flow generation, and return ratios. With this, I would conclude my opening comments.

Thank you, and we would be happy to take your questions.

Operator

Thank you. Participants, we will begin with a Q&A session.

If you have any questions, you can click on the raise hand button. We'll take the first question from Raghunandan NL from Nuvama.

Raghu, you can go ahead.

Raghunandhan NL

Congratulations, sir, for good

Gaurav Kumar

results.

Raghunandhan NL

Good afternoon. My first question, sir, on the capacity increase.

Roughly, if I calculate, there would be about 370 ton per day getting added because of the PCR and TBR addition, and the capex per ton seems to be around 16, 17 crore. This is further higher compared to the previous capex which we have done.

Was trying to understand what has led to this increase in capex per ton?

Gaurav Kumar

Sure, Raghu. Your calculations are broadly correct.

It is about a 350 tons capacity addition, leading to about ₹17 17 crore per metric ton of capex. The increase comes as a result of both the inflationary pressures, and you would see that our last big capex was back in FY20, '21, and also because the technology keeps moving.

The capacities that we have set up have always been state of the art, not just catering to a small segment of the market, it caters to the global OEMs, both in India and also the overseas developed markets of Europe and US.

Raghunandhan NL

Got it, sir. Sir, my second question was on the India volume growth, and if you can give a breakup between OEM, replacement, and export, and also your thoughts on how do you look at the outlook for replacement and exports for FY27?

Gaurav Kumar

Sure. Our volume growth for OEM and replacement was in mid-teens, and in exports, it was just short of 20%.

We've had a healthy growth, as I mentioned, across all the three channels.

Raghunandhan NL

Got it, sir. How do you see the outlook, sir, for FY27?

Gaurav Kumar

Outlook as of now, Raghu, seems to be very good. As I mentioned, even January has seemed good, and as of now, the expectations is that this demand momentum will continue.

Raghunandhan NL

Understood, sir. Last question before I fall back to the queue, on A&P spends, how much was A&P in Q3 as percentage of your standalone revenue, and how do you see this ratio panning out over a 3-year period?

Because I think you have a tie-up with BCCI for a period of three years.

Gaurav Kumar

Sure. Q3, Raghu, would be an anomaly given that there was activation apart from the usual sponsorship fee, it would have jumped up.

We used to be roughly around 2% spend of A&P as a percentage of sales. In a normalized scenario, we would be upping it to about 2.5% to drive the top-line growth, and that is where it should settle as we go forward.

Raghunandhan NL

Thank you, sir. Thank you so much.

I'll fall back to the queue.

Gaurav Kumar

Thank you, Raghu.

Operator

Next question is from Basudeb Banerjee. You may unmute your line and go ahead.

Basudeb Banerjee

Thanks, Gaurav. A few questions.

To continue with Raghu's question like 2.5% would be the A&P ahead, how much was the A&P this quarter, exactly?

Gaurav Kumar

Just 1 minute, Basu. It is clubbed with a little bit of other expenses, but A&P along with certain sales promotion was of the order of 150 crores.

Basudeb Banerjee

You are saying that elevated number will last till Q4?

Gaurav Kumar

In the short term, because even as we take our call on what are the A&Ps we want to continue, what are the ones we would reduce, it'll take some time, Basudeb, because of existing contracts. That's why I said the FY27 scenario would be a more normalized scenario for our A&P spend.

Basudeb Banerjee

Sure. Second thing, sir, as you typically give out your raw mat basket prices, and from a outlook perspective as you said steady, if you save currency on one side, crude, and natural rubber international prices slightly inching up, all those things, how to look at that, whether gross margin can play a spoilsport as such or you don't think there is any chance of that under current outlooks?

Gaurav Kumar

See, the international volatility, and we continue to live in times where some of these global events are very difficult to predict. Even within week to week, we've seen the rupee swing very sharply both ways.

Middle of the quarter, we were looking at some further tailwind from the raw materials. Based on the international scenario, the current outlook given by our procurement team is a flattish scenario.

As of now, that's the best estimate we have. On your first part of the question, the prices for some of the commodities, natural rubber was around ₹195 a kg, synthetic rubber at 170, carbon black at 115, and steel cord at around ₹155 a kg.

Basudeb Banerjee

Sure. Last question, so as it's good to see a massive debt reduction, but in the P&L if I see Q-o-Q standalone interest outgo was in fact higher.

When should we see the reflection of the reduction in debt at the P&L level?

Gaurav Kumar

It should start coming in because the long-term debt repayment, Basudeb, was happening as per schedule. The big reduction was on some of the working capital borrowings as inventory reduction happened, and that may have happened in the last one month or 45 days.

It'll start reflecting fairly in the next quarter.

Basudeb Banerjee

Sure, sir. Thanks.

All the best.

Gaurav Kumar

Thank you, Basu.

Operator

We take the next question from Amyn Pirani. Amyn, you may unmute your line and go ahead.

Amyn Pirani

Yes. Hi.

Thanks for the opportunity. Hi.

My question is on this capacity expansion. First a clarification.

The capacity utilization that you mentioned in your release of 82% for PCR and 89% for TBR, is it just the Andhra capacity that you are talking about, or is it your full company capacity utilization in India, right?

Gaurav Kumar

The release that was there because there is a certain format, Amyn, and very valid question, was for the AP. For us, what is more relevant is the overall India operations capacity utilization.

That, as I mentioned, is in the high 80s, both for car tires and truck tires.

Amyn Pirani

Okay. Just a follow-up on that.

You mentioned 7 million and 1.6 million that you have in Andhra, and you mentioned how much you will add. Just want to get a sense that including Chennai and everything else, how much will the addition be?

Do you have that number handy, how much PCR do you have vis-a-vis the 3.7 being added, and how much TBR you have vis-a-vis the TBR being added?

Gaurav Kumar

Sure, Amin. Then let me talk of the capacity in terms of number of days.

Okay. Our India capacity is a little short of 60,000, let's say about 58,000, and we are adding 10,500.

We are adding about 17, 18% of capacity to our India PCR capacity. Similarly, our existing TBR capacity is 15,000+, and we are adding 3,600 tires per day capacity, about a 20% odd.

Amyn Pirani

Okay. That's helpful.

Just on the capex number itself, I'm guessing this year we will be at less than 1,500 crores for the full year on a consol basis? That's right.

You've done 1,000 crores.

Gaurav Kumar

That's correct, Amin.

Amyn Pirani

Next year, you've talked about a growth capex of 2,000 crores. Then would it be fair to say that overall capex, including maintenance and everything, could inch in excess of 2,500?

Because there's a PCR expansion ongoing in Hungary as well, right? How should we put all that context?

Gaurav Kumar

I would put the overall capex number for next year closer to 3,000 crore, Amyn. As you rightly said, there is the PCR expansion in Hungary which was already underway.

Some of it is coming in this year, some of it in next year. Then our usual maintenance, operational capex across different functions always totals up to about 700 odd crores.

I would put that number at 3,000 crores for next year.

Amyn Pirani

Okay. I know it's a bit early in the day, but then in this '27 to '29 cycle, would '27 be the peak year, or will 3,000 on an overall consol basis is the number that we should assume for this cycle?

Gaurav Kumar

'29 would be a much more tapering off, but '27 and '28, both years would be high capex. '28, in fact, might be even higher than the 3,000.

Okay. Because that's the mid portion of that capex.

Amyn Pirani

Okay. Just one last thing on this.

What is your ROCE right now? As we are getting closer to the end of the '26 plan period, any initial thoughts on how we should think of ROCE, because on the one hand, growth is picking up, but capex is also?

Gaurav Kumar

Our current year ROC, we are running at 13.5%, Amyn. It is in the band where we had set out our targets, but still not reaching that 15% target where we wanted to be.

I think we crossed that number or at that number for two out of the five years. As we are finalizing the budgets, we are also on the drawing board for our 5-year vision from April '26 to March '31, and we would definitely be looking at ROCE, leveraging, and the free cash flows, taking into account the operational metrics, but also the fact that capex is kicking in.

We'll have to come back to you on that.

Amyn Pirani

Sure. Thanks.

Look forward to that, and I'll come back in.

Gaurav Kumar

Thank you, Amyn.

Operator

We take the next question from Joseph. Joseph, you can unmute your line and go ahead.

Thank you. I have two, three questions.

One is on the income tax, where the standalone entity has been at about 33, 34% tax for some time. We haven't moved to that 25% tax.

Now, with the changes that have happened in the MAT this year's budget, do you expect to go to a 25, 26% tax soon?

Gaurav Kumar

Yes, Joseph. The tax team is examining, and with the change, most probably we would be moving to that tax bracket.

Effective FY27?

Gaurav Kumar

I think so.

Sure. The second question that I had was on capex.

Over the last three, four years, I think you also mentioned this in your opening remarks, last three, four years the focus was on bite-sized capex and debottlenecking, etc. If I remember pre-COVID, tire companies including ourselves used to announce 3,000 crores, 4,000 crores, big lumpy capex.

For the last three, four years, we've not seen tire companies do that. In that sense, this is a change.

I want to understand what takes us away from the practice that we've had for the last three, four years and coming in and announcing a very big capex?

Gaurav Kumar

Joseph, it's not moving away from that intent. There are also times when within the same building you can do marginal increases in capacity with few equipment ordering as we would call in manufacturing parlance as line balancing.

We've reached a stage where we could not further increase the capacity by line balancing, and hence, any further increase in capacity needed civil. Moment you reach that stage, it has to be of a certain quantum.

Now, also to be fully transparent about the capex, we could give you just an FY27 capex and say another 9 months down the line that we'll give you the FY28 capex because that's when it is being incurred. The fact is that the capex plan that we have needs to be of a certain quantum to be optimizing on the manufacturing capacity, the civil construction.

Hence, it is better that we are transparent about the overall plan that is there in the mind as we kick off this capex. It's not moving away from that.

This can then be followed again by the small bite-sized capex because within that same building if it is possible. It is not dictated by a change in strategic intent, but more as to where we stand vis-a-vis our capacity and capacity utilization cycle.

Neeraj Kanwar

Gaurav, just to add to that, Joseph, we are also seeing shortages in TBR and passenger car and in farm. Given what we have been able to do with BCCI, we are seeing a lot of traction coming from the rural market, specifically in three categories, which is PCR, two-wheeler, and in farm category, and that's where the growth is coming.

In our estimates, in TBR we are running at close to 100% utilization. We need expansions coming, and like I said in my opening remarks, it's all towards a profitable growth.

Gaurav has already explained you the fundamentals behind the factory.

Arvind Sharma

Understood. Just the last one, just some clarifications.

One is the 3,000 crore that you mentioned, it is at the consolidated level, right? It includes growth, maintenance, and the European capex?

Gaurav Kumar

That's correct, Joseph.

Arvind Sharma

The last thing was if you can share the numbers for Reifencom for the quarter. That'll be good.

Gaurav Kumar

You mentioned Reifencom, Joseph?

Arvind Sharma

Reifencom revenue and margin if you can share, which you typically do every quarter.

Gaurav Kumar

Reifencom revenues for the quarter were €82 million with an EBITDA margin of 8%. This is their best quarter, but yet the markets were weak, so.

Arvind Sharma

Okay. Thank you.

Gaurav Kumar

Thank you, Joseph.

Operator

We take the next question from Arvind Sharma. Arvind, you can unmute your line and go ahead.

Arvind Sharma

Hi, sir. Good afternoon.

I hope you can hear me. Thank you.

Thank you for taking my question. The first question is on the pricing environment.

You've alluded to a very strong demand growth. How is the pricing, especially in the replacement market?

Gaurav Kumar

Pricing has largely remained stable, Arvind. It's held up.

We haven't taken any pricing action, and people have been competitive, but the raw material tailwind have played into the margins as you would see for all the players.

Arvind Sharma

Got it. Thank you so much.

Just one question more on accounting purpose. You alluded to a fairly strong capex for next 3 years.

Will it be a by-part capex, i.e., some lines, as you said, start coming in earlier, the revenue starts accruing in parts over this period, or do you believe that the entire revenue, hopefully demand stays that is, comes only in FY29?

Gaurav Kumar

No, Arvind. We will start seeing some revenue flow into FY28.

The reason for taking these approvals and starting next year itself is we see that we will start hitting capacity constraints towards end in FY27. We will have some capacity coming on stream in FY28, which will play into the revenue, and then it'll ramp up.

Only towards the second half of FY29 will all of the capacity be on stream, actually the full benefit of these capexes will be there in FY30.

Arvind Sharma

Got it. FY28 onwards, given demand remains where it is, you would see some revenue start accruing.

Gaurav Kumar

Yes, Arvind.

Arvind Sharma

Thank you so much, sir, for taking my question. That's all from my side.

Thanks again.

Gaurav Kumar

Thank you.

Operator

Next question is from Kapil. Kapil, you may unmute your line and go ahead.

Yeah. Good evening, sir.

This is Kapil from Nomura. My question is on Europe.

When will the labor restructuring that we've had in Netherlands plant start getting visible in terms of benefits, and how much benefit do you expect from that?

Gaurav Kumar

Sure. Kapil, as announced, the plan remains on track.

The Enschede plant in Netherlands will stop production end of June 2026, one quarter into FY27. The transition of the various product categories to the plant in Hungary and India is already underway.

We think that in second half of FY27, you would start seeing the benefit of that flowing through. I would hold on to giving a margin guidance as we do not do across, but we think there will be a definite boost up to the European operations profitability with that.

Sure, sir. Thanks.

Second question was we've recently seen the India-Europe and India-US trade deals getting announced. If you could share some of your broad thoughts on how the company can take advantage of these in terms of export potential, how are you looking at competitiveness of Apollo Tyres now after these deals become effective from this year or next year?

Gaurav Kumar

Europe is a very strategic and almost an home market for us, a deal is welcome. The duty levels were anyways small, but with this announced closure of Enschede, the exports to Europe would even increase.

Any kind of FTA is welcome. We would not have the details right now as to quantifying the benefits.

US, of course, with the duty reductions would further sort of, let's say, provide a boost. Our revenues had not suffered, but profitability had definitely taken a bit of a beating in the current year.

That would start going up.

Do you see a potential that we could gain a market share significantly in either Europe or US after this? I'm not talking of short term, but maybe in next 2, 3 years.

Gaurav Kumar

See, in both these geographies, we'll still continue to be a small player. Will we gain market share?

Yes. In Europe replacement market, we are all of under 3% market.

Our gaining of market share, also given the market size, would still be in decimals. We will gain market share.

We expect both these geographies to keep growing at a significant pace for us, but within an overall context, India is and will remain our largest market.

Sure, sir. Thank you.

That's it.

Gaurav Kumar

Thank you.

Operator

We take the next question from Yash Agarwal. Yash, your line is unmuted.

Please go ahead.

Yash Agarwal

Thank you for the opportunity, sir, and congratulation on your results. You highlighted that the domestic demand is really strong, can you just on the each segment level, can you say which segment is having a better demand, like PV versus truck, and what is your channel inventory level as of now?

Gaurav Kumar

Right now, Yash, we're seeing a strong demand across categories. For example, even in Q3, the only area in the domestic market where we had a slow growth for us was PCR OE, which was more a result of some of our past actions of not taking up certain accounts because of profitability reasons.

Otherwise, the growth across replacement and OEM for all product categories was very strong. As Neeraj mentioned, also with the jersey sponsorship, we are seeing very good traction on the passenger car, two-wheelers, and farm, including in the rural segment.

Even the truck demand has picked up very strongly, both from OEM and replacement.

Yash Agarwal

Sir. Second question on the channel inventory level?

Gaurav Kumar

Inventory levels are fairly normal. There is no abnormality in that.

Yash Agarwal

My last question is on the Europe demand scenario. What's the outlook for Q4, as few of the other players in industry highlighted pick up in the demand, things getting better at the fag end of the FY25?

Do we also see similar trends?

Gaurav Kumar

Right now, Europe continues to be a weak market. Even in the Q3, the quarter gone by, the passenger car Europe market, which is our most relevant category, the market growth was -1%.

It's sort of improved from a mid to high single-digit negative to this levels, but it continues to be in the low single digit. I'm, in fact, sorry, the Europe market was -4%.

There are signs of it improving, but still not to a point that it is getting into the positive zone, Yash.

Yash Agarwal

Sir. Thank you from my side.

Best of luck for next quarter.

Gaurav Kumar

Thank you, Yash.

Operator

We take the next question from Mihir Vora. Please unmute your line and go ahead.

Mihir Vora

Yeah. Hi.

Am I audible?

Gaurav Kumar

Yes, Mihir.

Mihir Vora

Thank you for taking my question. Sir, basically, if we go through the capex, currently you mentioned that it is around 17 crores per ton per day, and previously when we had done this FY20 Andhra Pradesh capex at around 12 11.5 to 12 crores ton per day.

This sort of an increase into a capex, how are we seeing the pricing in a longer term in our products basically? That how will the pricing move up going ahead in terms of realization, because the capex cost has gone up?

Gaurav Kumar

Mihir, I won't have the data readily right now, but we can come back to you as a team. The pricing does move up.

Year to year, it doesn't seem evident, but each time the raw material cycle kicks in, the pricing moves up even though there is pricing pressure, and then it sort of is sticky as the raw material cycle goes down. We can present that data to you as to how it has moved over the 5-year period.

Mihir Vora

Right. Apart from that, just an idea from you that if the RM stays stable where it is, like it does not, but if it stays stable, then what kind of hikes do we need to take to maintain that return levels on a plant?

Gaurav Kumar

I wish we had this nice stable scenario of RM remaining constant, but we would probably need to take mid single-digit kind of price increase every year.

Mihir Vora

Okay. All right.

Sir, secondly, on the debt levels, what are we seeing right now we are at a 1,300 crore mark in net debt, but going ahead with the larger capex, how do we see our debt in FY27 going in?

Gaurav Kumar

We will take on some debt as we go through FY27 capex and even FY28. In our estimate, with a normalized industry scenario, we would still be below our long-term stated goal in this vision period of below 2.0 net debt-to-EBITDA even at the peak levels.

Mihir Vora

Okay. Sir.

That's all from my side. Thank you.

Gaurav Kumar

Thank you, Mihir.

Operator

We take the next question from Naveen Baid. Naveen, you may unmute your line and go ahead.

Naveen Baid

Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity.

Just to confirm the volume growth that you highlighted, which was in mid-teens, that's only for the standalone business?

Gaurav Kumar

That's on the standalone business. Europe was

Naveen Baid

Europe was?

Gaurav Kumar

Europe was flattish.

Naveen Baid

Okay. Thank you.

Operator

We take the next question from Vijay Pandey. Vijay, you may unmute your line and go ahead.

Vijay Pandey

Hi. Thank you, sir, for taking my question.

A couple of question. First, I wanted to check if you have any raw material hedging and currency hedging policy, especially connected to the rubber, global rubber tire prices?

Gaurav Kumar

We've looked at raw material hedging, Vijay, and we came to the conclusion that we would rather not get into this speculation because very little of this also comes with delivery of the product. After looking at it for quite some time, we came to the conclusion to stay away from rubber or crude oil hedging.

On the currency side, all our borrowing, if it's in a foreign currency, is fully hedged 100% on both principal and interest. Even on our operational exposure, we are a net importer in India, our hedging ranges between 75 to 100%.

Vijay Pandey

Okay. Sir, because the currently the global rubber prices have been increasing over last at least four weeks, what is the time frame after which we start seeing the impact on the P&L or is it like a quarter or two quarters?

Gaurav Kumar

For our India operations, it's maximum a quarter, sometimes even lesser than that because what is sourced from the local sources pretty much starts sitting within a month. For European operations, the lag is about a quarter.

Vijay Pandey

Okay. Lastly, sir, just so our standalone other income was pretty significant this quarter.

Is it anything related to something significant? It came at around

Gaurav Kumar

Yeah. It was a one-time dividend that was received through the overseas subsidiaries, and that's why the number is significantly higher.

Vijay Pandey

This is just for this year or does it come every third quarter?

Gaurav Kumar

No, no. This is only for this year.

Vijay Pandey

Okay. Thank you.

Gaurav Kumar

Thank you, Vijay.

Operator

We have a follow-up question from Naveen Baid. Naveen, you may unmute your line and go ahead.

Naveen Baid

Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity.

Just wanted to check in terms of the pecking order for margins, especially for the domestic market, what would be the differential of margins between exports and the aftermarket business, some color?

Gaurav Kumar

Replacement always remains as the most profitable category. Exports is usually much lower than that.

Of course, it can depend on the currency part of it. TBR is wherein exports may inch up closer to the domestic replacement, but in general, domestic replacement would be always higher margin than exports.

Naveen Baid

Got it. Got it.

Thanks.

Gaurav Kumar

Thank you, Neeraj.

Operator

We have the next question from Nitin Agrawal. Nitin, you may go ahead.

I think he is dropped from the line. A reminder to the participants, if they have any questions, they can click on raise hand button.

We have a question from Mumuksh. Mumuksh, your line is unmuted.

Please go ahead.

Mumuksh Mandlesha

Yeah. Thank you, sir, for the opportunity.

Sir, I just wanted to understand on the Europe side, on the demand there and over next few years, what kind of capacity expansion where we need to expand considering the demand there? Any further updates on what kind of savings we can see with the Netherlands plant closure, how it can positively the margins get impacted?

Thank you.

Gaurav Kumar

Mumuksh, as mentioned earlier, the Netherlands demand for last 1 year has been in the negative zone. It's improved from where it was, from significant negative to slight negative across product categories, but it is still negative: PCR, agri, truck, all of them.

Long-term trend of the European market is generally a 1 to 2% growth, so that should remain. As of now, apart from the capacity expansion which is underway in Hungary, in near term, there is no plans of any further capacity expansion unless something very different plays out on the market demand scenario.

As of now, the current expansion we have undertaking is good for us for a few years.

Mumuksh Mandlesha

Sorry if I missed out, on the savings, how the closure can help on margins, sir?

Gaurav Kumar

On the closure side, again, as I mentioned, we will start seeing the results playing into our P&L numbers from second half of FY27. There would definitely be a boost.

At this stage, we would refrain from giving out a specific margin guidance.

Mumuksh Mandlesha

Got it, sir. Sir, you may have covered, just on the advertising spend on sponsorship side, how you're seeing the impact on the ground in terms of brand recall or how you're benefiting from this new initiative?

Gaurav Kumar

Neeraj also mentioned very strongly, we are seeing a very strong brand pull, and we stand committed to this sponsorship and the fact that the positive impact it is doing. Both in the rural areas on the consumer tires, we see a very strong impact of this A&P spend.

Mumuksh Mandlesha

Got it, sir. Sir, on the cost side, if you can mention how were the Q3 RM breakup there?

Just now recently the natural rubber has gone up. How do you see the trend there in terms of cost side?

Gaurav Kumar

Mumuksh, I'm not sure if you missed out some of the earlier question answers, or you joined late or what, because all these

Mumuksh Mandlesha

Yeah. I'll note it down, sir.

I just joined later, sir. Yeah.

Thank you. Thank you so much for the opportunity.

Gaurav Kumar

Thank you, Mumuksh.

Operator

We have the next question from Nitin. Nitin, you may go ahead.

Nitin Agrawal

on the market share trend that we are seeing in both TBR and PCR and along with OEM and replacement. Because last time you indicated that we've lost some market share in the PC segment primarily because of low margin bids that we avoided.

Your thoughts there?

Gaurav Kumar

In terms of market share, we believe we have either maintained or gained market share in the current quarter, some of that reversal has started. We still need to regain some of the lost ground on the PCR OEM side, Nitin, as I mentioned, some of the decisions on account of profitability that were taken 1 or 2 years back.

In OEM, it always plays out longer. We are taking strategic calls on OE business.

We will not again completely swing, ignoring the profitability aspect, but we are recovering some of the market share that has been lost.

Nitin Agrawal

Okay. Just can you put a number on your market share for TBR and PCR in the replacement segment, if possible, ballpark number?

Gaurav Kumar

There is no official data available. We would put our TBR replacement share close to 30%, and our PCR replacement close to 20%.

Nitin Agrawal

Okay. Okay.

Thanks. That was from my side.

Thank you.

Gaurav Kumar

Thank you, Nitin.

Operator

I guess there are no further questions in the queue. I'll hand it over back to the management for any closing remarks.

Neeraj Kanwar

Just want to say thank you for joining our call, and hope to see you in the next quarter. All the best.

Thank you.

Gaurav Kumar

Thank you.