Good evening, everyone, and welcome to Q4 FY26 earnings conference call of Himadri Speciality Chemical Limited. Today on the call, we have with us Mr.

Anurag Choudhary, CMD and CEO, and Mr. Kamlesh Agarwal, CFO.

Before we proceed with the call, I would like to give you a disclaimer that this conference call may contain forward-looking statements about the companies which are based on belief, opinion, and expectation as of today. Actual results may differ materially.

The statement are not guarantee of the future performance and involves risk and uncertainty that are difficult to predict. A detailed safe harbor statement is being given on page two of investor presentation of the company which have been uploaded on the stock exchange and on the company website.

With this, I now hand over the call to Mr. Anurag Choudhary.

Over to you, sir.

Thank you, Chirag. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining us today to discuss Himadri Speciality Chemical Limited's performance for Q4 and FY26.

I sincerely appreciate your continued trust and engagement, and it is a pleasure to connect with you once again. At Himadri, research and development is not merely an enabler.

It is foundational to who we are and how we have evolved over the years. It is not a standalone function, but deeply embedded in our business strategy and culture.

It is part of Himadri's DNA. Our growth into high-value specialty chemicals and advanced materials have been driven by deep and sustainable commitment to in-house innovation supported by our robust and constantly evolving research and development ecosystem.

Today, we operate one of the India's most comprehensive specialty solutions research and development platforms with a team of over 180 scientists, technologists, and subject-matter experts, including 28 PhDs in different streams of chemistry, and international specialists drawn from Japan, South Korea, Australia, United States, Europe, and China. This global exposure, combined with strong process engineering and scale-up capabilities, has enabled us to consistently translate ideas from laboratory into commercially viable business alternatives, scalable solutions across carbon value chain, specialty chemicals, and increasingly advanced material chemistry.

Importantly, it is this same research and development engine that continues to drive the development of several new breakthrough solutions that are currently in our pipeline, many of which have reached advanced stages of development, are in the progress towards commercialization. During the current year, we spent ₹120 crores in research and development.

It is this long-standing R&D capability built patiently over more than a decade of focused work in lithium-ion chemistry that has culminated into the most defining milestone for Himadri this year. On 23rd April 2026, we successfully commenced operation at our first anode material manufacturing facility in Mahistikry, West Bengal, with an initial capacity of 200 metric ton per annum, marking a pivotal step in our entry into lithium-ion battery material value chain.

What makes this achievement particularly significant is that the entire technology platform from raw material processing to finished anode active material has been developed fully in-house without reliance on external or licensed technologies. At the core of this capability is a specially engineered high-purity coal tar pitch produced entirely in-house by Himadri, which serves as a primary raw material precursor and enabler for superior quality, consistency, and performance.

This degree of backward integration supported by proprietary process know-how gives Himadri a fully integrated and self-reliant manufacturing ecosystem while maintaining the flexibility to process alternative raw materials feed as market evolves. As we engage with OEMs at various sampling stages, our differentiated approach built on innovation, cost efficiency, and sustainability positions us strongly for validation and scale-up in this high-growth segment.

Building on this, our broader lithium-ion battery material strategy continues to progress in a calibrated and disciplined manner, underpinned by strong focus on prudent capital deployment to drive sustainable returns and maintain a robust ROCE profile. Execution of phase one of our lithium-ion phosphate cathode active material project, which envisages a total capacity of 40,000 metric ton per annum, is on track.

As part of this phased execution, the first milestone capacity of 2,000 metric ton is targeted for commissioning by Q3 FY27. The balance phase one capacity will be progressively brought on stream over the subsequent 12 months, closely aligned with customers' approval and demand visibility, with FY29 envisaged as the year for full phase one operations.

Beyond phase one, our long-term vision is to build a scaled, globally relevant LFP platform with a capacity to produce 200,000 metric ton of LFP cathode active material, catering to the approximately 100 GWh of lithium-ion battery capacity, executed in a phased manner and demand-led manner. Importantly, this positions Himadri as first company globally to establish commercial-scale LFP cathode active material manufacturing facility outside China, serving both domestic and international markets, and representing a significant step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Customer engagements have intensified significantly with leading Indian as well as global cell manufacturers, and the response has been strongly encouraging. This reinforces our conviction in LFP as a chemistry of choice across electric mobility and ESS globally, and underpins our confidence in long-term relevance of this platform.

In parallel, our collaboration with Sicona Battery Technologies has progressed meaningfully over the year, marking a truly transformative phase in the development of next-generation anode materials. Through an exclusive technology licensing agreement, Himadri has secured right to access, localize, commercialize Sicona's proprietary silicon-carbon anode technology in India for the world.

During the year, Sicona has achieved important milestone at pilot scale level with further capacity expansion currently underway and targeted for completion by Q2 FY27, supporting intensified engagement with global cells manufacturers across multiple stages of sample approvals. Performance-wise, Sicona Gen 3 SiCx material have demonstrated superior energy density and improved electrochemical characteristics, while Gen 4 SiCx has shown high capacity retention over extended cycle life, aligning with the stringent requirement of leading global OEMs.

Further advancing our strategic roadmap, we have made a strategic investment in IBC, International Battery Company, a US-headquartered developer and manufacturer of chemistry-agnostic prismatic lithium-ion cell. This collaboration represents an important milestone for Himadri as it enables real-world validation and early commercial deployment of our lithium-ion battery materials, including LFP cathode active material and anode solutions.

Leveraging IBC operational lithium-ion cell manufacturing facility in South Korea, we are actively engaged in product validation, scale-up, and customer engagement, thereby accelerating our readiness for commercial adoption. From a market perspective, IBC operates across a diversified set of end-use applications, including B2B fleet customers, two-, three-, four-wheelers OEMs, global battery exports for energy storage, and mobility solutions.

Importantly, IBC looking-forward products roadmap also addresses high-performance, high-value applications such as defense, drones, AI-driven data center infrastructure, aligning well with Himadri's ambition to be an innovation-led and differentiated participant across the evolving global battery ecosystem. Alongside this, our collaboration with Inverted Creation continues to progress steadily with focused research efforts underway across advanced lithium-ion electrode materials.

Inverted brings strong capabilities in modular engineering research and intellectual property development, which compliments Himadri ambition to build innovative, high-performance battery material platforms. Taken together, these initiatives and decisions and strategic investments and partnerships are enabling Himadri to build a future-facing integrated product and technology platform across the lithium-ion battery value chain.

By combining advanced material innovation, real-world validation, and deep research capabilities, we are creating a collaborative ecosystem that is well positioned to serve emerging sunrise industries spanning electric mobility, ESS, defense, drones, next-generation digital infrastructure. This approach strengthens our ability to develop differentiated solutions, shorten commercialization cycle, and remain relevant as new applications chemistry use cases continues to evolve globally.

Turning to the operating environment, recent geopolitical developments in West Asia have introduced volatility in energy prices and logistics. However, our business remains structurally insulated as we are not dependent on that region for our core feedstock or operations.

Our raw material platform, diversified end-use portfolio, and strong customer relationships continue to provide stability and resilience. I am pleased to report that FY26 has been a year of strong execution and delivery.

During the year, we successfully commissioned an additional 70,000 metric ton specialty carbon black facility at Mahistikry, taking our total specialty carbon black capacity to 130,000 metric ton per annum, and overall carbon black capacity to 250,000 metric ton per annum. This positions the Mahistikry facility as the world's single-largest location for specialty carbon black plant, and places Himadri among the top five players globally in this segment.

Alongside this, our core coal tar pitch and associated products business is also well positioned for the next phase of growth. With the successful debottlenecking of our coal tar pitch distillation capacity, taking it to 600,000 metric ton per annum, and the commissioning of liquid coal tar pitch export terminals at Haldia and Mangalore, we are now in a position to leverage our operational headrooms and logistic capability to support growth in the coming quarters, and further consolidate our leadership position in coal tar pitch segment.

Financially, we have delivered our strongest performance to date. On a consolidated basis, EBITDA stood at ₹1,006 crores, PBT at ₹1,001 crores, and profit after tax at ₹755 crores, reflecting the strength of our value-added products portfolio, operational discipline, and consistent focus on in-house innovation.

Beyond this, our growth continues to be supported by a well-diversified portfolio spanning across graphite, aluminum, lithium-ion batteries, specialty chemicals, and advanced chemicals. Turning to our next strategic growth pillar, Birla Tyres.

FY26 marks the first half-year of operations of Birla Tyres. This year, we have been able to revive the brand and steadily progress in rebuilding both market presence and the operating foundation have been encouraging.

We have approached this revival in a calibrated manner, prioritizing product-market fit, channel strength, and brand repositioning before pursuing volume-led growth. Our current portfolio, anchored by proven products such as Kala Patthar, Shaan+, BT 339, and Ultra Track, continues to be well received across key segments, particularly in agriculture and commercial vehicles.

In the fourth quarter, we strengthened our agri portfolio with launch of new SKUs, Agri Plus and Agri Win tractor tire series, both of which are already witnessing encouraging market traction. From a distributor standpoint, we have established a strong and expanding network of 43 distributors and over 1,000 dealers, giving us a solid platform for scale.

More importantly, brand acceptance continues to drive as we consistently deliver on quality, reliability, and performance, key drivers in this category. Looking ahead, our focus is clearly on disciplined scale-up.

We are now entering the next phase of revival where production ramp-up will be aligned closely with demand visibility and channel expansion. Over the next 12 to 24 months, we will progressively enhance our capacity utilization supported by robust pipeline of new product launches across agriculture, mining, and commercial vehicle segments.

In parallel, we are strengthening our manufacturing processes and supply chain to ensure consistent quality and volume scales. Our objective is not merely to regain presence, but to build a competitive and differentiated tire business that can sustainably participate in both domestic and select international markets.

Birla Tyres is still early in its journey, but the direction is clear: a measured and disciplined revival built on product strength, market relevance, and execution excellence. We are confident this business will evolve into a meaningful contributor to Himadri's overall growth in the coming years.

Beyond this, our consumer foray into DuraFresh continues to gain encouraging traction, adding further depth to our diversified portfolio. Looking ahead, our anthraquinone carbazole project is progressing as planned, and is expected to commission in Q2 FY27, helping address a significant import dependency in India.

At Himadri, research and development is not a function, it is core capability embedded in how we operate. Our global R&D ecosystem continues to drive innovation across all business verticals, enabling us to develop differentiated, high value-added solutions for emerging industries.

Sustainability remains integrated to our core strategy, guiding our approach to responsible manufacturing, efficient resource utilization, and long-term value creation. Himadri for the second year has been awarded with Platinum rating by EcoVadis, being among the 1% company among 150,000 companies rated by EcoVadis globally.

As I conclude, FY26 marks an important milestone in Himadri transformational journey. When we stood before you 12 months ago, we made clear commitments, and I'm pleased to say that we delivered on all of them, and in several areas gone beyond.

We committed to expanding our specialty carbon black capacity, we delivered. We spoke about deepening focus on value-added products, which is reflected in our consumer foray with DuraFresh.

We debottlenecked our coal tar distillation capacity from 500,000 to 600,000 metric ton, and revival of Birla Tyres. Importantly, this execution has been underpinned by strong operating performance as we set new benchmarks across key financial and operational metrics during the year.

As we look ahead, we are entering the next phase of growth with strong foundation, clear strategic direction, and disciplined execution. With our expanding presence in advanced materials, particularly within lithium-ion battery ecosystem, and the steady revival of Birla Tyres, we are confident of creating sustainable long-term value for all our stakeholders.

Thank you, and I now invite our CFO, Kamlesh Agarwal, to take you through the financial performance in details. Thank you, Kamlesh.

Thank you, Anurag ji. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us today.

I trust that everyone has had a chance to review our financial results and the latest investor presentation, which have been made available on both the stock exchanges and our company's website. This quarter and year marked an important milestone in our transformation journey.

On a consolidated basis, we are pleased to share that we have achieved highest-ever EBITDA and PAT on both quarterly and full-year basis, which was due to our focus on high-value-added solutions, operational efficiency, and cost optimization. From a quarterly perspective, in Q4 FY26, our consolidated revenues stood at ₹1,288 crores as compared to ₹1,135 crores, an increase of 14%.

EBITDA came in at ₹280 crores, registering a growth of 21% year on year, while PAT stood at ₹208 crores, delivering a strong growth of 34% year on year. Looking at the cumulative performance for full-year basis, our consolidated revenue stood at ₹4,661 crores.

EBITDA reached ₹1,006 crores, up around 19% year on year from ₹847 crores in FY25. Profit after tax stood at ₹755 crores, reflecting a growth of 36% year on year over ₹555 crores reported in FY25.

This performance highlights the strength and resilience across all the business segments. Coming on standalone basis performance, in Q4 FY26, revenue stood at ₹1,101 crores with EBITDA at ₹252 crores, while PAT came to ₹186 crores, registering a growth of 17% against ₹158 crores of EBITDA in Q4 FY25.

For FY26 on a standalone basis, revenue stood at ₹4,405 crores, EBITDA ₹978 crores, reflecting a growth of around 16% when compared with ₹844 crores in FY25, while profit after tax stood at ₹750 crores, a jump of 34% as compared to ₹558 crores in FY25. Over the last 5 years on consolidated basis, we have demonstrated a consistent and robust financial performance, reflecting the strength of our strategic focus and execution.

Since FY22, our revenues have grown at an impressive CAGR of 14%. More significantly, our EBITDA has expanded at a CAGR of 58%, and our profit after tax has grown at an exceptional 110% CAGR.

In terms of financial health, we continue to maintain a resilient balance sheet. As of 31st March 2026, we hold a net positive cash balance of ₹121 crores, which gives us ample flexibilities to pursue growth opportunities while maintaining a prudent approach to capital allocation.

Our return on capital employed has also shown a steady upward trajectory, reaching to the level of 32% in FY26, a testamount to our sharp focus on value creation and capital efficiencies. With these results, we believe we are well positioned to continue our upward trajectory, building on a foundation of financial strength, operational excellence, and strategic foresight.

Thank you.

Now we can start the question-and-answer session.

Hi. This is Sanjesh Jain.

Thanks for the opportunity. Good evening, Anurag ji and Kamlesh ji.

Good evening.

First on the anode business, like you have mentioned the growth path for your cathode where you want to start with, say, 2,000 metric ton and scale it to 40,000 in FY27 and eventually to the 200,000. Can you share us the thought process on the growth trajectory for anode?

For the anode business, we are still working on it, and in due course of time, we'll come up with the figures and the investment required and the time frame.

Got it, sir. What will be the market size for anode today, and what is the economics between cathode and anode?

How do you see the pitch-based anode demand versus a silicon-based carbon in which we are developing parallelly? How do you see these portfolio playing out for us?

See, cathode and anode together constitute a integral and important raw material for lithium-ion batteries. In terms of cost, it is 65% of a cell, lithium-ion cell, cathode, anode together.

In the ratio, suppose for a lithium-ion cell, anode and cathode is used in a ratio of 1:2. Suppose 100 is a requirement of anode, 200 will be the requirement of cathode.

Basically, in whichever cathode chemistry you are working, but anode requirement remains stable. Whether it's NMC, CLO, LFP, whichever chemistries, but you need anode.

Anodes, there are different types of anodes: natural, synthetic. Synthetic, they are petroleum-based and coal tar pitch-based, we have the unique positioning of both.

Regarding silicon-carbon anode material, it is added to synthetic or natural anode to increase the capacity of the battery, increase the density, and reduce the charging time. Silicon is an add-on to make hybrid anode.

It's not actually that you can use either this or that. The silicon has to be added to this material.

Got it. Today we don't add it, right?

Today we are adding, already it has started in some percent, very small percent globally, but since the material availability is very limited, so that supply is not much.

Got it. My second question, Anurag ji, on the Middle East issue.

We were planning to export coal tar pitch in the Middle East and obviously South Africa and other geography, but Middle East is something where we have already started. With this situation, what's happening in the Middle East, do you see there will be some shift in the focus for coal tar pitch from Middle East to other geography, and which will be those geographies?

See, this is a temporary phenomenon we feel, and so some shipments were planned for Middle East, but that's not going to have any material impact because we are diverting those material to other geographies. There is absolutely no issues with that.

Which are the geographies we are trapping apart from Middle East?

We are looking at different geographies like Southeast Asia, Africa remains intact, these are the geographies.

Got it. Southeast Asia, we would see competition higher from China, right?

Actually competition is not there because our quality is very high, and plus China cost is higher than India. Even in India, we supply coal tar pitch at a price lower than China.

That dynamics doesn't work for our business. China dynamic is not at all valid for our business.

Got it. The carbon black business, we started this new plant.

How has been the ramp-up in that, that's one. Number two, the situation in carbon black should be positive for us, right?

Because carbon black realization has gone up globally. There is a large capacity which uses crude-based feed stock, while we use coal tar-based feed stock.

Now that coal tar prices, my sense is, would not have gone as sharply as crude. This shift in the carbon black business from the higher input cost should positively reflect for Himadri?

We

see what we have developed is a long-term sustainable business model, and we don't look at quarter-on-quarter ups and downs. One thing is there, the model what we have built up, we can transfer the increase in price to our customers.

Whether it is crude-based or coal tar-based, whatever increase in price is there, we transfer to our customers. That has helped us to build up a resilient business model.

No, but

in a situation where one carbon black feedstock is expensive, we can use more of our own oil to produce carbon black. That economics is much better right now?

Yes, definitely. That economics is better, but coal tar prices has also gone up.

I don't think that is a delta on which Himadri has built up its business model also, and that is not something which we eye also. We work on a sustainable profit and which is firmly assured.

Got it, sir. That's it from my side.

Thanks for answering all those question and best of luck for the coming quarters.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Yes, hi sir, good evening. Can you hear me?

We can hear you. Please.

Yes. Firstly, coming back to this anode capacity, specifically the 200 metric ton, right?

Can you tell us what will be the peak revenue potential from there and how will the utilizations look like in FY27?

This capacity is basically to commercialize our R&D efforts and to showcase that what we have worked on R&D is workable on a commercial plant. This is the beginning of the journey, and the next step, we will be announcing capex for large-scale commercial capacity where meaningful revenue will start coming in.

As of now, nothing is expected from this 200 metric tons in terms of numbers?

In terms of numbers, these are not significantly materialistic

because

these are more approval-based volumes. Okay.

In FY27 this will not be contributing to our revenue any sort?

This will be contributing, but not materialistically.

Not materially. Okay.

Secondly, then coming to the Birla Tyres segment which you've restarted, how much did it contribute in FY26 in terms of revenue and how will it scale up now going ahead?

Birla Tyre top-line contribution for this year was ₹187 crores, and we expect to be around ₹3,000 crores of top line from this business in next 4 years.

Do you have any indication as to what will it be in FY27 particularly?

We don't give year-on-year, yearly guidance.

Oh, okay. What about overall in consolidated level, any guidance there for revenue and our EBITDA margins for FY27?

See, again coming to that, I have given a guidance that FY25 we had a PAT of ₹555 crores. We have committed to double this PAT in next 3 years in FY28 to ₹1,100 plus crores.

The right way to look at Himadri is not at EBITDA, but at PAT levels. If you look at Himadri also as a percentage of top line, it's 16% plus percent.

Because there's no interest and no additional cost, the right way to look Himadri is the consolidated top line and PAT rather than EBITDA.

Okay. Just last thing, then if I observe, I think, in FY25 it grew at 10%, okay, and FY26 it largely has been flat, correct?

With these new additions of the Birla Tyres and the added carbon black capacity, will your top line also grow? At what rate if so?

Any indication there?

Sure. Up till now, last 3, 4 years, we have not been able to see any growth in the top line practically, maybe few percent, but now the real top-line growth starts.

FY27 you will see a top-line growth also and bottom-line growth also.

You don't have any sort of growth number to attach?

I don't want to give any growth number. Right,

no, okay. No problem, sir.

Thank you so much.

Hello, am I audible?

Yes, Akshay.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity and also congratulations for the great set of numbers. My first question is we have generated the highest-ever gross profit margin this quarter, do we see this trend will be continuing going forward for the next 2 to 3 years?

Also, do we able to continue the 20% EBITDA margin going forward?

Yes, we are confident of achieving these on a sustainable basis.

Sir.

Looking forward also, you'll see growth in these numbers.

Sure sir, noted. Sir, secondly, on the US, Iran war and geopolitical situations, due to the commodity prices inflation and all over the world, how do we see impacting our types of business and whether we will face any pressure going forward due to this war?

See, as I told in my opening commentary also, we are resilient to any shock or dislocation in supply chain, logistics in West Asia because of the ongoing geopolitical situation, given our nil dependence on this geography. Definitely with the energy pricing going up, the multi-prices going higher, this will have impact, but good thing is that we'll be able to pass on this to our customers.

As such, we don't have a impact on our P&L because of this geopolitical situation.

Sir. Understood, and all the best for the future.

Thank you.

Hi, good afternoon to the management. This is Nitin Shakdher from the Green Capital Single Family Office.

My question is more from an investor's point of view rather than an analyst type of a question is that for this annual year, and in terms of approximate margin guidance for the three businesses which is, let's say, advanced battery materials, the turnaround of the acquired assets on Birla Tyres, and obviously the main core business which is specialty carbon black, are you able to give any sort of an indication margin guidance growth rate for the year? I do understand that geopolitically your raw material costs will be up and down, but just as an indication.

Thank you.

For the current year, we don't prefer to give any specific number guideline, but on a macro basis I can give you guideline that current year we will see both top-line and bottom-line growth. Up till now we are not able to give any bottom-line growth basically because we are going for value-added within the same product profile.

What was happening, we were adding value to our existing products, the margins were increasing, but the top line was not increasing in a big way. Now with new capacities coming up, you will see top-line growth plus margin expansion.

Both you will see in the year to come.

Thank you. Thanks a lot and all the best for this year.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for the question. I want to ask what is the current utilization level that we have newly commissioned 70,000 metric ton of specialty carbon black?

What is the steady-state utilization level and its EBITDA per ton?

We expect to have around 85% to 90% capacity utilization for our newly announced capacity for FY27. EBITDA if you look at our EBITDA per metric ton, it was around ₹17,000 per metric ton on an average on the entire basket of portfolio, and with this being specialty, it will be significantly higher than this average ₹17,000 plus.

I want to also ask about that we have set up new subsidiary in China that we have mentioned. Why we have set up that subsidiary and what is the use?

We will be importing some raw materials and equipments from China, for that we have set up our subsidiary to take some local tax benefits.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Hello, sir, and congratulations on this robust set of numbers. My only request would be that in terms of sales volume, will it be possible for you to provide me with a breakup as to what was the volume generated between your legacy business, carbon black, and tires in this particular year?

Tires till now we have not consolidated, once we consolidate then we can discuss this. Now it's a part of sales only which is coming into Himadri.

As such detailed numbers we don't disclose.

Sir, not a problem. Any new updates with regarding to the capex plan than what we already know, is there something on the block?

No, as of now we have already announced all the capex, but yes, anode capex will be announcing soon, and once that is finalized, the volume, the capacity and the capex, that will come up with a new disclosure.

All right, sir. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thanks for the opportunity. This significant jump in the other expenses is because of the forex loss, is that correct?

Yes.

What is our hedging policy in that case? Can we see some curtailment of this impact from the forex volatility?

Yes, as there was sharp depreciation in rupees which impacted us on the import side, and export side also we hedge something, but generally we keep our position open. Because of this huge volatility, we hedged and hedging because of the hedging we had to incur losses this time.

It was the other way round. Looking forward, we are very vigilant on this, and maybe we are confident that after Q1, Q1 there may be some hit, but after that there will be very strong position in terms of any open position of FX.

Actually, my question is not quarter on quarter, it is more of a structural in nature. Can we reduce the volatility swing from these forex losses in long term?

Definitely. Since we have export and import more or less are in parity, leaving the position open leaves us with very less chance of any FX volatility.

Understood. Secondly, yeah.

That

this time we hedged the position thinking it is going to be volatile and that's why we had FX loss, but our standing policy was to keep the position open being import and export being more or less in parity with each other. We will continue with our existing principles only.

Understood. You're saying that beyond Q1 the impact would reduce?

I don't think that there will be any impact after Q1.

Okay. Secondly, how many new clients that we have added in last 2 years and geography wise, any new countries that we are planning to enter or scale up where you might be witnessing some kind of a significant opportunity given China plus one, there's a cost escalation in Europe as well, some color on that would be helpful?

Definitely. In last year our exposure was 56 countries, we were selling our product.

This year it is 61 countries, we've added five more countries. Particularly, Europe is doing good and US is doing good for us.

In Europe also more and more countries are being added. As you correctly said, because of the cost structure in Europe and USA, this is giving us a lot of advantage and China One policy is also working out well for our supplies to the global market.

Lastly, any color on margin can you give up until FY28? I'm not talking about FY27 again, not the 1-year guidance, typically just structurally long term how do you see the margins?

Because we are adding some new capacities also considering that fact.

With the new capacities coming up, we are confident of strengthening our existing margins further.

From here on?

From here on,

yeah. Thank you.

These were my questions.

Thank you.

Good afternoon. What is the targeted PCR capacity, the capex and commissioning timeline?

PCR is a notoriously crowded segment in India, what is the differentiation strategy for that as well?

PCR we target to commission in next 24 months, and differentiating strategy will be we'll focusing more on EV. That is the segment we will be focusing on and specialized tire for electric vehicles.

Given the Himadri's strength in carbon black chemistry, so that gives us a unique advantage of building a value-added tire with more strength, resilience, and this gives a unique positioning in the business, understanding of key raw material.

Sir. I also wanted to understand, the standalone other income jumped from ₹51 crores to ₹176 crores, could you break down the composition, it means treasury dividend from subsidiaries, government incentives, or one-offs?

Basically this is because of FDR interest in investments that we have put in mutual fund gains, then NCDs that we have deployed for operation of Birla Tyres, that fair value calculation, then based on our different investment their fair value calculation. It's a combination of all these.

Understood sir. Lastly, with Haldia and Mangalore liquid coal tar pitch terminals commissioned, what is the targeted FY26 export value and what proportion of standalone CTP revenue do you expect from exports by 28, FY28?

See, by FY28, we expect a new commission capacity of 100,000 tons which gives us 50,000 tons of coal tar pitch that will be completely exported to the global market.

Thank you very much, sir.

Thank you.

Thanks for the opportunity and congrats on good set of numbers. First question is on the anode material facility that we have commissioned.

Here in terms of the commercial validation of materials, how much time will it take and which and all are the customers where we will be targeting to send the material, the domestic, exports, how are we looking at it? Once the validation is done, how much time will it take for us to put up a new commercial scale plant?

Thank you.

The idea to commercialize and start this plant was to expedite the time frame required for validity of material, and that is the idea behind commercializing this plant. We are engaged with all the customers in India and all the who's who in the industry globally.

We have already send them sample A which has got a very good response from our customers in terms of quality validation. Now we are to send them sample B, C, D.

That will start now. Once it is done, then we'll come up with roadmap for our future capacity expansion.

That will happen very soon, will not take significantly long time now.

Sure. Just one allied question, in terms of the anode material pricing, how has it changed over the last 5 years?

What was the price about 5 years back and given that new technologies have come, commercial operations capacity, how the price has been currently, in terms of rupees per kg or dollar per kg or dollar per metric ton? Thank you.

Sir, I don't want to comment on price per metric ton, but to give you a broader idea, all the cell component prices have come down between 50% to 60% over the last 4, 5 years, whether it is cathode or anode.

Sure. No, and

that vary in anode also depending on what quality you make, what grade you make, what application it gives. Prices significantly vary, it will not right on my part to comment on per metric ton price.

Sure, sir, that's helpful. The second question is in terms of our gross margins which have expanded, just to get a perspective, since the pricing of finished goods, working progress, and raw materials would have been at a higher level given that they have been increased during the month of March, is there any element of inventory gains that we have observed during this quarter?

If so, what could be the quantum of the same?

See, the margins expansion that you are seeing is not one-off thing. It's a sustainable long-term margin improvement that because of our all efforts in terms of improvement in yield, operational efficiencies, waste heat recovery systems we have been able to do, and these are sustainable on a long-term basis and will strengthen further only.

I was just concerned more on the gross margins front. Because of revaluation or better valuation of the inventories, is there any benefit of inventory gains which we have observed?

No, not really.

Sure, sir. Thank you so much and all the best, sir.

Thank you.

Hi sir. I just wanted to confirm that in the segmental breakup of revenues that we've given, we've included a new category called others, which includes mining and other businesses.

Could you shed a little bit light on what the other businesses are, is it tires combined?

It's tire combined, right.

You mentioned the figure for tire sales this year. What was it?

Could you please repeat that?

₹187 crores.

₹187 crores. Would you be comfortable in sharing what was the realization per ton on this that you've gotten for this year?

We don't give per metric ton realization like that.

Not a problem, sir. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Hi sir, am I audible?

Yes, please.

Yeah. Just want to understand about upcoming cathode segment of business.

What would be the typical asset turn for the project or for this segment?

Two times.

Hello?

Hello, yeah, two

times. Just want to understand the asset turn for the upcoming cathode segment, sir.

Yes, two times. It will be two times of the asset investments, turnover to assets.

Sir. One more thing, for the first phase, we said around 2,000 tons would be commissioned.

What would be the first phase 1, how much would be the total one in the phase 1?

What is? Can you speak louder?

You're not audible.

Hello, is it better now, sir?

Yes, yeah, it's better.

Yeah. We said initial will be 2,000 MTPA, and what would be the total phase 1 capacity?

40,000.

40,000. And 40,000 would be commissioned by FY29.

Is it clear,

sir? Yes.

No, FY20 end of FY28, before FY29. FY29 you will see the full year of operation of entire 40,000 capacity.

See, capital allocation has been done, but we are very careful in terms of deployment of capital because we are focused on ROCE. As a company policy, we don't want to deploy capital ahead of requirement.

We can very well set up and start the commissioning and set up the facility and deploy capital for 40,000 metric ton, but since the approval period itself takes longer time, it makes sense to get 2,000, get it approved, and in the same time 40,000 is 38,000 will continue and it will commission. That there is full utilization and proper return on capital employed.

Got it, sir, helpful. What would be the total capex incurred for this 40,000?

₹1,125 crores.

Okay. Fine, sir.

In this cathode facility usually energy comes energy heavy, or any plan for the energy side as such, renewables or something like that?

For cathode?

Cathode plant.

We have renewable plans to consume renewable energy.

Those can be funded, renewable?

No, you enter into a long-term contract. We don't plan to invest on our own.

Sir. That's it from my end, sir.

Thank you.

Hello,

good afternoon. Good afternoon.

I want to ask, are there any binding LOIs, MOUs, or off-takes signed with Indian or global cell manufacturers for LFP supply? What proportion of phase 1 capacity is contracted?

What's the

What proportion of phase 1 capacity is contracted?

See, any MOUs or LOIs what we have signed, we have NDA, we cannot disclose this now. At right point of time it will be disclosed.

For our phase 1 capacity, depending on the product approval, this LOIs will be acted.

Got it, sir. My next question is, as we can see, the net cash declined from ₹392 crores to ₹122 crores despite record PAT, and the standalone current borrowings also rose from ₹306 crores to ₹719 crores.

Could you please walk me through the FY26 sources and uses? Moreover, can you tell me about the steady-state debt level that you will be comfortable carrying forward?

See, the increase in the bank borrowing is basically we have significant bank limits. We need to utilize this limit to keep our limits intact.

We take at a lower rate and deploy back to the bank at a higher rate. That gives us delta also which is part of other income.

For our future expansion, our plan is to use internal accrual only for all the expansion. In any case in future if we take debt also, that will be very significantly low portion and will be just timing gap, not much.

We don't want to be heavy on debt.

Yeah. That's completely fine.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you once again for taking the time to join us on today's conference call. We hope we have been able to address your queries adequately.

This year has been truly transformational as we set new performance records, achieved world-class capacity addition, earmarked landmark recognition, and made decisive progress on our future growth engines. Yet, we firmly believe the best chapters of Himadri's story are still ahead of us.

We remain committed to delivering long-term value, and are grateful for your trust and confidence and engagement as we scale new capacities and capabilities, and scale new frontiers and shape the next phase of our growth. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to reach to our investor relation partner MUFG in time IR.

Thank you once again for joining the con-call today, and we look forward to your continued support. Thank you.