Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Balkrishna Industries Limited Q3 and 9 Months FY26 Earnings Conference Call. This conference call may contain forward-looking statements about the company, which are based on the beliefs, opinions, and expectation the company has on date of this call.
These statements are not the guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes.
Should you need assistance during 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. Rajiv Poddar, Joint Managing Director.
Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Rajiv Poddar
Thank you, Steve. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today.
I would firstly like to wish all of you a very happy New Year. Along with me, I have Mr.
Bajaj, Senior President and Director Commercial and our CFO; Mr. Satish Sharma, Senior President and Director Strategy and Business Development; Mr.
Ravi Joshi, our Deputy CFO; Mr. Sushil Mishra, Head of Accounts; and SGA, our IR Advisors.
Let me begin with performance updates. The geopolitical and macroeconomic environment continues to remain challenge and the situation with US tariffs remain unchanged.
Despite these headwinds, we delivered a strong sequential improvement during the quarter. Our overall sales volume increased by around 15% quarter-on-quarter.
In the US market, despite the ongoing tariff situation, our strong product quality, brand positioning, and by sharing the tariff impact with our channel partners, this has enabled us to regain some of the sales momentum. India continues to outperform all markets.
The positive momentum witnessed in Q2 post the GST reduction has sustained into Q3 as well. This has been supported by broad-based demand across channels and product segments in India.
For Europe, it is important to note that the EUDR norms, which were to get implemented from 1st January '26, the same has now been deferred by one year and is now likely to be implemented from 1st Jan '27. I would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate the Government of India for their remarkable efforts on signing the landmark FTA with EU.
We believe this will allow for further seamless trade between the two geographies. Let me now share some other key highlights.
Aligned with our core value of giving back to the society, we have dedicated a state-of-the-art sports injury and rehab center at KEM Hospital in Mumbai. This 15,000 square feet facility is amongst the largest of its kind in a government hospital in Western India.
Further, BKT has featured on the wall of giving at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. This is in recognition of its long-standing commitment to supporting access to high quality by us.
This has been evidence-based and affordable cancer care center. In addition, as a testament to our comprehensiveness efforts on the ESG front, we have established an S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment score of 58.
This placed us amongst the leading tyre manufacturers in terms of sustainability performance. In the sports engagement, I am happy to share that BKT Tires is the official partner with all the five women's IPL teams franchises in a landmark multi-team deal for '26 season.
This partnership will expand our cricket footprint via our association with every Women's Premier League team of India, thereby further strengthening our brand visibility and reinforcing our commitment to sports and also to women's sport. Let me update you on the capex front.
During the quarter, we have commissioned a new line of carbon black, taking the total capacity to 265,000 metric ton per annum. All remaining capex is progressing as per schedule.
With this, I now move on to operational highlights. For the quarter, our volumes stood at 80,620 metric ton, a growth of 6% year-on-year.
For nine months, volumes stood at 231,536 metric tons, a minor degrowth of 1% year-on-year. Our standalone revenue for the quarter stood at ₹2,682 crores, registering a growth of 4% year-on-year.
This includes realized loss of forex pertaining to the sales of ₹47 crores. For nine months, the standalone revenue stood at ₹7,762 crores, registering flat on year-on-year basis.
This includes a realized loss on foreign exchange pertaining to sales of ₹117 crores. The standalone EBITDA for the quarter was at ₹605 crores, a margin of 22.5%.
For nine months, the standalone EBITDA was at ₹1,760 crores, registering a degrowth of 11% year-on-year. However, the margins for H1 stood at 22.7%.
Profit after tax for the quarter was recorded at ₹375 crores, while for nine months, we have recorded a PAT of ₹927 crores. Our capex spend for the nine months of this financial year was approximately ₹2,200 crores.
As on 31st December '25, the gross debt and cash and cash equivalents were ₹3,649 crores and ₹3,012 crores respectively. Accordingly, we have a net debt of about ₹637 crores.
The Board of Directors has declared a third interim dividend of ₹4 per equity share, in addition to the ₹8 already paid in the previous two quarters. With this, I now conclude my opening remarks and leave the floor open to Q&A.
Operator
Thank you very much, sir. We will now begin with the question-and-answer session.
Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to withdraw yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two.
Participants are requested to use handset while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles.
The first question comes from the line of Mumuksh Mandlesha with Anand Rathi. Please go ahead.
Mumuksh Mandlesha
Thank you, sir, for the opportunity. Sir, we've seen Europe market turning positive this quarter.
We've seen good growth this quarter and I think some of the markets like Germany seems to have done well. Just want to understand, you mentioned about macro challenges, but still we've seen a very good growth in the Europe.
What could be factors that led to the rebound, sir?
Rajiv Poddar
I think overall, they're anticipating the season to begin from this year, so that could have been the cause. As I mentioned in my earlier comments during the last quarter, that a lot of the destocking had leveled out.
It could be due to that.
Mumuksh Mandlesha
Going ahead, sir, considering macro challenges, should Europe be a flattish kind of demand, sir?
Rajiv Poddar
It's too early to make a call on the long-term basis.
Mumuksh Mandlesha
Got it, sir. Sir, on America volume, sir, how much would be now, sir, US, sir?
Has the volume started there? Any impact of tariffs on the margins, sir?
Madhusudan Bajaj
Overall, Americas is being there in the investor presentation. The exact US sales is down as compared to previous year, but the exact numbers are not handy.
Mumuksh Mandlesha
Any impact of tariffs, sir, in our margin number, sir?
Madhusudan Bajaj
Obviously, because we have shared with distributors, but the large portion is being borne by them.
Mumuksh Mandlesha
Got it, sir. Sir, on the capex side, this year already we've done ₹2,200 crore, which was the guidance last shared for the year.
Can you update what is the capex for the full year now and also any expectations for next year?
Rajiv Poddar
Maybe about ₹300-400 crores more in the current financial year, and the balance would be in the next year.
Mumuksh Mandlesha
Got it, sir. Sir, on the commodity side, sir, how do you see the trend there?
If you can share the euro-INR rate for the Q3 and how do you see the hedges ahead?
Rajiv Poddar
The euro rate for Q3 was at approximately ₹97.
Mumuksh Mandlesha
How do we see ahead, sir?
Madhusudan Bajaj
Should marginally improve from here.
Mumuksh Mandlesha
Got it. On the commodity side, sir, how do you see the trend ahead?
Rajiv Poddar
Though oil is going up, moving, and natural rubber is also moving up, but it is too early to say what will be the impact.
Mumuksh Mandlesha
Got it, sir. Thank you so much for the opportunity.
Operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Siddhartha Bera with Nomura.
Please go ahead.
Siddhartha Bera
Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, my first question is again on this euro-INR rate.
We had close to 91 last year and it has gone up to 97 now. Can you talk about how the European realizations have been because it's a significant improvement on the hedge rates, but we have not seen much change in our ASPs or margins.
Some thoughts there, and current rate is significantly higher, are there significant hedges which leads to a lower rate for you for next year or why are you sort of indicating a only modest increase for next year?
Rajiv Poddar
Firstly, the Europe share has gone down, so that has had an impact. Also, as we maintain that we always have a forward hedge, so that is also playing out.
For next year also, the same hedge would be continuing.
Siddhartha Bera
Okay. In terms of European realizations, have they remained stable or has there been any change in that also?
Hello?
Rajiv Poddar
Realizations are same. There has not been a significant movement on that.
Madhusudan Bajaj
Siddhartha, having said that, the last quarter's realizations were around 91-92. This quarter is 97, and still we are giving that it will improve from here.
Because if you see in last 10 months, the euro have run up from 90 to 110. Even after December, for last 20 days, 20-25 days, it has run up by ₹5.
Because we are running forward positions, we are saying that the entire gain will not be captured in the rates.
Siddhartha Bera
Got it. Sir, on the India business now, we have seen a pretty strong growth consistently now for the last few years.
This quarter seems to be even stronger. Anything here which is driving this?
Apart from the industry growth, any customer additions or any market share gain if you can talk about and how do you think this plays out for the next year?
Rajiv Poddar
As I mentioned in my opening comments, the positive impact by the government's role in reducing GST has driven the sentiments. That is what is driving in the entire auto sector and we are getting the benefits of that.
Siddhartha Bera
Understood.
Rajiv Poddar
The Also the good rains which were there in the season have led to better demand.
Siddhartha Bera
Okay. Does higher India share have a negative impact on the ASPs or margins or there is no much change if you can just guide us?
Rajiv Poddar
Yes, it does have an slightly lower ASP, but if you see after all that also with the enhanced level of India, the EBITDA levels are at par with what they've been in the past, it is nullifying the overall effect.
Siddhartha Bera
Got it, sir. Sir, last question is on the CV foray.
We had talked about that the pilot will start from this quarter. Any thoughts now, how should we think about the ramp-up to be and next year what percentage of our volumes can come from the CV segment?
Rajiv Poddar
As we have mentioned all in my opening comments, all the projects are going as per schedule. The CV will also come up in this quarter.
We'll make the announcements as once we are ready. We are not anticipating any delay on that.
As far the ramp-up goes, we have a plan which we are working to. It would be too early to sort of give any light on that at the moment, but we are quite confident of keeping our long-term vision of 2030 and we are working towards that.
It'll be too early to comment on a quarterly basis what will be the impact, but we are quite confident of our long-term vision.
Siddhartha Bera
Understood, sir. Thanks a lot.
I'll come back in the queue.
Operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Raghunandan with Nuvama.
Please go ahead.
Thank you, sir, for the opportunity. Sir, firstly with reference to the
Operator
I'm sorry to interrupt, sir. Yes, sir, there is a lot of background disturbance and can you please use your handset?
Is it better now?
Operator
Better. Thank you.
Thank you, sir. Thank you for the opportunity.
Firstly, sir, with reference to the Europe trade deal, can you indicate what is the existing duty and how much reduction in duty can be anticipated because of that deal?
Madhusudan Bajaj
Current duty is 4%, and it is not very clear what will be the duty after this treaty unless we see the fine print of the agreement.
Got it, sir. In the rest of the world regions, which markets are mainly facing decline, sir?
Rajiv Poddar
I think it is southern part of America would be there and Asia also a little bit.
Got it, sir. How much would be the freight cost as a percentage of revenue in Q3 and how do you see the outlook forward?
Rajiv Poddar
I think it's around 5%, and we look at it to be stable at the moment.
Got it, sir. Last quarter, I think it was over 6%, there has been an improvement here.
It is positively supported.
Rajiv Poddar
Fluctuates, depending on which country has got more of the exports and where it is gone. This is the range, is going to be in this range only.
There's not going to be significant movement upward or downward.
Understood, sir. Within our expenses, is there any cost which we are also factoring for the efforts towards the CV and PV foray?
Is there any product development or other cost which are part of our financials?
Rajiv Poddar
Nothing significant to highlight over here.
Understood, sir. Lastly, sir, on the capex, will FY27 capex also be in a similar range to '26 around that ₹2,600 odd crore?
Rajiv Poddar
No, as we mentioned, we are not seeing an overrun. Out of the total amount that we had committed from the budget, about ₹2,500-2,600 would be done in this financial year and the balance would be done in that financial year.
Understood, sir. Understood.
Thank you, sir. Thank you so much.
Wishing all the best.
Operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Abhishek Jain with Alpha Accurate Advisors.
Please go ahead.
Abhishek Jain
Thanks for opportunity, sir. Sir, how much is the current inventory in the US and European market and how would be the outlook for the US and Europe in the fourth quarter?
Rajiv Poddar
We are seeing that the channel stock is at par at where it should be. Going forward, it is difficult to comment because of the volatility across the world with the geopolitical scenarios how it plays out.
It will be very difficult to make a comment on how we see it. We hope that it plays out well, but too early to comment on that.
Abhishek Jain
Sir, I have heard that inventory is quite low in the US and you had started to increase the numbers in the US. From this quarter, we have seen a strong growth on a quarter-on-quarter basis on US, but still it is declined 30% Y-o-Y basis.
Just wanted to understand what is your strategy for the US market? Are you waiting for this tariff issues to be resolved and then you can start to ramp up the volume or you will continue to see the gain in the market share in the US?
Rajiv Poddar
As I mentioned in my opening comments, because of our strong brand positioning and quality, and some major chunk of the tariffs to be shared between us and our channel partners, we have been able to gain some of the momentum that we had lost in the Q2 has come back in Q3. Too early to comment on what would be the change or how the tariffs would play out, because as of now there is nothing changed in that scenario.
Once things change, we will have to relook at our strategy. At the moment, we are trying to just regain some of the lost momentum that we had in Q2.
Abhishek Jain
How much impact on the margin on the US business because of this you are taking some hit and absorbing some sort of the tariff by yourself? How much impact on the overall margin because of that?
Rajiv Poddar
I'm not able to quantify it on a public call, because these are business details.
Abhishek Jain
Okay. Sir, how much difference in the realized and margin export versus domestic market now?
Rajiv Poddar
As I mentioned in my comments earlier, it is marginally lower. Again, I'm not going to quantify that.
Thank you.
Abhishek Jain
Okay. Sir, my last question on the carbon black plant.
Sir, as you have increased your capacity to 265,000 tonnes, just wanted to understand how much would be used for the captive use and how much for the commercializations and what kind of the revenue and EBITDA margin we can see on this business?
Satish Sharma
This entire quantity is for the outside sale, because whatever internal consumption is there, that we were able to make from the earlier capacity. Margins-wise, it will be as per industry average.
Abhishek Jain
Sir. Thank you.
That's all from my side.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all participants, please limit your questions to two per participant.
The next question comes from the line of Yash Agarwal with Nirmal Bang Securities. Please go ahead.
Yash Agarwal
Sir, just wanted to understand on the US tariff, how much has been passed on to the dealers and how much we are bearing the impact of it?
Rajiv Poddar
Yash, I'm sorry. As I mentioned earlier, these things I'm not able to quantify on a public call.
We are sharing the cost, is being borne between both of us. That's all what I can comment.
Yash Agarwal
Sir. That's it from my side.
Operator
The next question comes from the line of Aditya with Old Bridge Mutual Funds. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity, sir. Sir, my first question would be on the India market.
I just needed some sense on how we should see this market, how we should see this volume split between agriculture and construction equipment if you can give us some sense there.
Rajiv Poddar
It's roughly about 60-40 between industrial construction and agri. Very rough approximation.
Industrial construction
Rajiv Poddar
side would be about 60% and 40% agri.
Agri. That's helpful, sir.
Second question is, sir, on the US business. Of course, we have done pretty well as compared to expectation in the US business.
Of course, we are witnessing lower volumes due to tariffs this year. If you can give us some sense on the end-consumer demand for these tyres in US and how's the farm-level activity as compared to last year or a year back today?
Where are we there in that cycle?
Rajiv Poddar
As we are all aware that US is a net importer, so that would continue. As far as for us, it's of course a challenge with the tariffs that we have been put up with.
As a country we've been put with. We are trying to navigate through these scenarios.
It's difficult to comment on how the momentum would be going forward, because we don't have for certain how long this will continue for, whether it goes up, goes down. Whatever is enforced on the country and being law-abiding citizens, we will try and make the best of that scenario.
Okay. No, I wanted to just get some sense how's the farm-level activity in terms of crops?
Is the output down or is the end-level activity down or significantly down over last year, which is impacting the end-consumer demand? Is that also a significant case going on there this year?
Rajiv Poddar
No, not that we are aware of. It seems to be as per normal.
Sir. Thank you so much.
Operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Chirag with Keynote Capitals.
Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, my first question is related to the carbon black sales.
What percentage of our revenue came from carbon black this quarter?
Rajiv Poddar
It is less than 10%.
Secondly, could you update how has been the utilizations of the advanced carbon black assets and what kind of volumes are coming from there?
Madhusudan Bajaj
It's still not very significant, but yes, we are able to get the sample approvals from many places, and in the coming quarters it should improve.
Got it. Sir, my second question is related to the Indian market itself, that now in Indian market, could you just highlight what is the right to win for any new company which is getting into commercial vehicle and passenger vehicle as a segment?
What is the reason for Balkrishna would be that we would be able to significantly gain the initial 2% to 5% of the passenger and commercial vehicle market as in my understanding, it is a competitive industry where even low-priced players are not able to penetrate into market the way the branded larger players have. Just wanted to understand your point of view on this.
Rajiv Poddar
Chirag, we have spoken about it in the past. I don't know whether you were on that call or not.
We hope to deliver a better value proposition to the market through the route of the product, channel, brand, end-user value. All these put together, I think we should be able to deliver better value proposition than what the market is experiencing currently.
Got it. Sir, just last question.
If I am able to bifurcate the OHT industry to three parts: agriculture, mining, construction, and industrials, just wanted to understand, is Balkrishna present into the industrial tyres as a segment?
Rajiv Poddar
Yes.
Got it. That is it from my side.
Thank you, sir.
Operator
The next question comes from the line of Pramod Amte with InCred Capital. Please go ahead.
Pramod Amte
Hi. Thanks for taking my question.
Sir, two questions. One, with regard to US market, with the duties and all, who are the competitors who are gaining at your cost?
You feel once as and when the duty is normalized, you should still have a right to regain it back? Which countries or which manufacturers, how to see it?
Rajiv Poddar
As per competitor activity, we generally don't comment, and we'll refrain from doing so. Regarding BKT's policy, we believe that we are building the foundations and keeping everything intact to when the scenario changes, we will be ready to regain the momentum that was there.
Actually, if you see our previous commentary, we have always mentioned that North America is a driver of growth for us. We are keeping everything ready to come back to that market when things improve there.
Pramod Amte
Second question is with regard to the new projects. When we visited last time, similar time to the plant, you had some conveyor type of tyres which you're planning as a new project and also specialty carbon.
Any update in terms of client acceptance and orders on the same?
Rajiv Poddar
Regarding the carbon black, as Bajaj mentioned, that it is a work in progress and as we had mentioned, the ramp-up would take time because of acceptance. Every day we are getting newer acceptances, in the coming quarters that should work.
Regarding the conveyor that you saw were actually what we call tracks, rubber tracks, so that is what was there. Rubber tracks is a work in progress again, and as we are moving ahead, our product is under validation at OEMs and that is expected in the coming quarters, so that should then also ramp up.
Pramod Amte
Thanks and all the best.
Operator
Mr. Pramod, does that answer your questions?
Pramod Amte
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. As there are no further questions from the participants, I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Rajiv Poddar
We thank everyone for taking the time out and coming to hear us, and looking forward to seeing you in the next quarter. Thank you, have a safe trip.
Operator
Thank you. On behalf of Balkrishna Industries Limited, that concludes this conference.
Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.
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