Usha Martin Gdr 144A

Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the earnings conference call of OSHA Martin Limited. As a reminder, all participants 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 touchstone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Devrishi Singh from CTR India. Thank you and over to you, Mr. Singh.

Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us on Usha Martin's Q1 FY25 Earnings Conference Call. We have with us Mr. Rajiv Jhawar, Managing Director of the company, Mr. Abhijit Paul, Chief Financial Officer, and Ms. Shreya Jhawar, from the strategy and group team of the company. We hope all of you have had the opportunity to refer to the earnings documents that we shared with you earlier. We would now like to initiate the call with the opening remarks from the management, following which we will have the forum open for a Q&A session. Before we start, I would like to point out that some statements made in today's call may be forward-looking in nature And a disclaimer to this effect has been included in the earnings presentation.

I would now like to invite Mr. Rajeev Jawar to make his opening remarks. Thank you and over to you sir. Good afternoon everyone.

On behalf of the management team of Bhusha Margin, I would like to welcome you all to our earnings conference call. I will begin by sharing some updates and operations and strategies following which Mr. Bajit Paul will run you through the key financial highlights. In light of the current macroeconomic and geopolitical climate, we reported positive results this quarter, supported by growth in both revenue and EBITDA. Revenue in our core wire rope segment increased by 7.5% year-on-year, and revenue in our wire segment increased by 8.9% year-on-year. playing a key role in sustaining overall top line. At the same time, volumes in the wire rope segment increased by 7.8% year-on-year and volumes in the wire segment increased by 19.8% year-on-year. The overall performance was achieved despite a notable decline in the LRPC segment, both in terms of the volume and revenue. Our focus on higher value-added products and operational efficiency has helped achieve an operating EBITDA margin of 18.6%. The overall share of the value-added industrial segment in our revenue rose to 54%, up from 51% in FY24. Notably, within the wire rope category, the value-added segment's contribution grew to 72%, up from 71% in FY24. Specifically, the growth in the elevator and mining rope categories have had a positive impact. Additionally, revenue from international markets accounted for 56% of our total revenue during this same period. These positive trends have contributed to the improvement in our margins. With regards to our CapEx plans, our first round of CapEx is on stream and we anticipate a gradual ramp-up in volumes over the next 6-9 months. which will enhance our performance in the latter part of the year. The capex is aimed at both increase in capacities as well as value addition on existing capacities. As a part of the expansion, we have also introduced value-added plasticated LRPC products. We expect this addition in our portfolio to positively impact the LRPC segment, which has faced challenges in the recent past. With a ramp up in volumes over the coming quarters contingent on projects, we are confident that this new product line will play a crucial role in turning around the segment and contributing positively to our overall growth in the future. While our business pipeline remains robust both in the domestic and international markets, I would like to highlight some demand drivers Going forward, the expanding sectors of oil and offshore, including wind energy, will continue driving increased demand for ropes in the global market. In the domestic market, planned government infrastructure projects including bridges, ropeways, high-speed railways, and infrastructure development in 2-3 cities are expected to sustain and drive further demand for our products. Looking ahead, we remain committed to expanding our global footprint while continuing to focus on growth within India. I would like to reiterate that Usha Martin's strategy remains firmly centered on value-driven volume expansion. We are focused on maximizing the utilization of existing capacities to enhance both operational and financial performance. Investments in digitalization and automation are improving efficiency across our operations. In conclusion, despite the challenges globally, Usha Martin has shown resilience in Q1 FY25 and is well positioned to leverage its strengths and pursue growth initiatives to address these macroeconomic hurdles and drive strong growth in FY24-25. I would now like to invite our CFO, Mr. Abhijit Paul, to present the financial highlights for the quarter ended 38 June 24th. Thank you and over to you Abhijit. Thank you and a very good afternoon to everyone. I will now provide a brief overview of the company's operating and financial performance for the quarter index 30.24. The consolidated net revenue from operations grew at Rs. 8.6 crore in Q1 FY25 compared to Rs. 814 crore in Q1 FY24, reflecting a 1.5% year-on-year increase. This growth is primarily driven by higher contributions from both the core wire rope and wire and web strength segments. Motively, the wire rope segment continued to deliver steady revenues, contributing approximately 72% of our total revenue. However, the decline in the LRTC segment contribution impacted the overall dock line performance during the quarter. Despite this, we are optimistic about the growing demand and order inflow for galvanized and plasticated ARPC and anticipates a positive contribution from this segment in the coming quarters. Our operating EBITDA for the quarter stood at Rs. 154 crore as against Rs. 146 crore in Q1 FY24. The operating EBITDA per term stood at Rs. 32,628. Additionally, the Q1 FY25 operating EBITDA margin increased to 18.6% up from 17.9% in Q1-FI24. Including other income, EBITDA margins for Q1-FI25 stood at 19.2% up from 18.3% in Q1-FI24. This margin enhancement is attributed to our improved product portfolio and increased spread. Net profit for the quarter, Rs. 2.004 reflecting a 3.1% increase from Rs.101 crore in Q1 FY24. On the balance sheet front, we have managed to reduce our net debt to Rs.73 crore as of 30th June 2024 down from Rs.124 crore at the end of March 24. This improvement is reflected in our net debt to equity ratio which has improved to 0.03 times as of June 24 compared to 0.05 times as of March 24. Despite our ongoing CapEx initiative, our net rate remains at a comfortable level. We are happy to share that our credit rating has been upgraded to E-A positive with a stable outlook from India. I would like to reiterate that we remain confident in our ability to navigate market dynamics effectively and drive sustainable growth. The company will maintain strong financial discipline while benefiting from the positive demand outlook for its products and its solid market standing. Nika Martin is committed to continuously enhancing its financial performance and is strategically positioned to create increased value for all stakeholders. This brings me to the end of my speech. I would now request the moderator to open the line for the question and answer session. Thank you.

Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask questions may press star and 1 on their touch-tone phone. If you wish to withdraw yourself from the question queue, you may press star and 2. Participants are requested to use only handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will be late for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Aman Kumar Hundhalia from AK Securities. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon, sir. Sir, our minister, Nikhil Vatsari, has announced a capex of around 1,25,000 crore rupees for Parvat Maharashtra. So, how big is the opportunity for the company over the next three to five years? And recently, some of the news articles, if I go through that, some of the state government like Himachal Pradesh government and Uttarasan government and Jammu Kashmir government, they are very excited about this Ropriya project. So, where do we see our company in Parvat Mala project?

Hello sir, thank you for the question. Yes, you are absolutely right. There are ambitious plans by the government of India through the Parvat Mala Priyotna project and They planned about 250 ropeway projects in the next five to seven years. Some of these projects, of course, are at early stages and some are also being re-tendered right now. Also, like you mentioned, various state governments have also initiated setting up ropeway projects. We are, you know, well positioned to grab some of these opportunities as the focus of a lot of these projects is also made in India. we are working with, you know, our project teams along with our global design center in Italy. They're working with all of the relevant project authorities, consultants, directors, in order to capture these opportunities. So, I think, you know, we are well positioned because we do produce lock-wall wire ropes, tape cable stands, and all of these others, the other products that are required for these projects, not just Workway, but also the you know, the high-speed railway project, the bridge project, etc., that the government has planned as part of the infrastructure initiative. So, over the next few years, this should contribute positively to our overall performance.

Thank you. The next question is, Madam, recently, we have seen a lot of landslides. Over the last two, three years, we have seen a lot of landslides in the mountain area. Recently, a big tragedy happened in Vainar in Kerala. So, we are coming up with this galvanized wire in our Ransi plant. So, how big this opportunity is for rope netting in coming future?

Yes, our galvanized line is getting commissioned in the next three to four months. And there is a very big opportunity. You know, unlike the Western world, particularly Europe and the Alps, They have a very large program for constantly putting the rockfall barriers, which is produced out of galvanized wires. And Usha Martin is very much working with Geo Group of Switzerland to partner with them to build up this industry. And there is a good opportunity. And we see In the coming year, there should be a good demand coming from this.

In the last conference call, you have indicated that you are expanding our capacity in European venture. So how you, since Europe is going through recessionary period, so how we see our product demand in Europe and whether we will be able to sell that expanded capacity in Europe?

You see, Europe, of course, there is a general slowdown in the economy. But the areas where we are currently focused is in the oil offshore and the wind energy sector, which has a fairly strong demand because most of the countries are looking for their energy security. And therefore, there are big projects which are going on. And we are expanding our capacity in these areas, especially for the high-end ropes for these projects. And the order pipeline looks to be fairly strong. The inquiry pipelines are fairly strong. And we expect that the new capacity increase, which is expected to be completed by end of this year, should be able to get comfortable order booking to be able to ramp up the production there.

One last question sir. Indian tier 1, tier 2, tier 3 cities is saying housing boom. So how we see our elevator rope demand in India and at the same time I think US market is also witnessing a very huge demand for elevator rope. So whether we will be able to spend our capacity and how we foresee our future in this elevator.

The elevator rope market both in India and overseas are fairly strong with the big push for tier 2 cities for the you know buildings especially with higher story buildings there is a good demand of elevator ropes and we see a very good order book and a very strong demand in the coming time. we expect the growth should be between 10 to 15% per annum based on the current situation. Also, the demand for elevator ropes internationally seems to be fairly strong and once we have acquired our 50% stake in our joint venture with TESAC which we started running it independently from federally this year, I am happy to say that that facility which also produces only elevator ropes is also doing fairly well and we expect a fairly good uptake of elevator ropes from that venture itself. So overall I would say that elevator rope growth could be between 10-12% per annum.

And sir last question, our slogan was value led volume growth. So in the first quarter we have seen a virtually fat growth in the volume. So, can we expect in the coming quarters value-led volume growth?

Yes, definitely. I think, you know, the focus is still very much on value-led volume growth. I would say we can still expect, say, a 10% or so increase in volume in our rope and wire segment, which is very much achievable. With regard to the LRTC segment, of course, Like we mentioned, the market dynamics change, and our focus in that case is going to be more on the value-added products rather than the volume, and so we focus on our plasticated and galvanized LRTC in that particular segment.

Okay. Thank you. This is from my side.

Thank you. The next question, before we take the next question, a request to all the participants to kindly limit their questions to two per participant. Should you have a follow-up question, please rejoin the game. We'll take the next question from the line of Kiran from Table 3 Capital. Please go ahead.

Good morning, sir, ma'am. Thank you so much for taking my question. One of the most interesting slides in our investor presentation was slide 8 for me, where steel prices reduced and yet we were able to hold on to EBITDA per ton or EBITDA per kg. So my general question is, Given the steel prices are probably at an all-time low and all the large steel players are complaining of Chinese imports, would this gap between EBITDA per kg and steel prices continue or are you seeing some pressure on EBITDA per kg? Essentially, because we use wire rod and wire rod prices may not have reduced as much as the steel prices. So, if you could just elaborate on the dynamics around raw material prices spread and how the entire steel and wire rod dynamics happen.

You see, as far as you are very right, while the steel prices globally in India have been all-time low, but on the high-carbon wire rod, which is our primary raw material, the prices have remained reasonably firm in the past few quarters. The reason being that there has been a shutdown by a few of the steel producers and some shortage of supplies from them which prevented the crisis to come down. So, while the global crisis has been sluggish on the wire rock crisis, the crisis in India has not been as low as it is in the international market. However, having said that, we have been able to maintain our EBITDA margins at close to 32,000 rupees per tonne. by having a fairly strong product mix on the value added products and ensuring that we work with our product mix and the value added products and to see that our margins are protected. And you would have seen in the last few quarters, even though there has been volatility in these deal prices, our business model and the way our teams have worked, we have worked towards making sure that we maintain the EBITDA margins what we have been able to over the last few quarters on a sustainable basis.

Got it, sir. So, essentially the outlook is, you know, we are not going to have severe EBITDA, you know, 32,000 in and around would be maintained, maybe improved because of value-led volume growth, but not reduced for this year at least, sir.

Our objective would be to see that we at least maintain these levels and we are reasonably hopeful that we should continue to maintain at these levels and of course as the market would progress in the future, as we develop new products, we could have As of now, I would say that this is something, our business model, we are reasonably confident of maintaining these levels.

Super. So, second question, sir, then, is as we look ahead to the next year, is there a step jump in terms of any particular product or any particular segment? Because, I mean, the way that we were kind of discussing over the last three, four quarters, we were kind of pulling in on about 500 crores profit after tax in this year, I mean, roughly, plus or minus. But is there any step jump from here or are the ambitions a little more tempered? How do you see the outlook for the next couple of years or next year at least?

I would say that as we are commissioning our projects and as we are developing our products in the international and building our product pipelines in the international market, we expect definitely the volumes to grow. But of course, we need to be mindful of the geopolitical situation as well as the overall macroeconomic situation. But having said that, I personally feel that the various initiatives which the company has taken over the last few years along with our global development center, along with our international distribution center, we are slowly inching up our volume as well as the value-led volume growth across all segments. And, you know, we need to understand that we are not a commodity business. We are an engineering business, engineering products, which takes its own time to get into newer customers, newer territories, and we are confident with the various initiatives which we are taking that we should definitely see a positive jump in the coming two years.

Perfect. Thank you.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rolin Nandu from Edelweiss Public Alternatives. Please go ahead.

Yeah, Aarti. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. So, few questions on margins from my side. So, Rajivji and Terry, when you look at your business, how do you evaluate margins? Is it more on a percentage basis or EBITDA per turn basis? Because where I am coming from is that if we look at the very simplified version of your business, you take raw material which is a commodity and then you add value and convert it into a specialty product, right. And also despite the fluctuation in steel prices, our EBITDA margin on a certain basis has remained very, you know, in a very narrow range. So, how do you look at the business? And just to add to that, when it comes to the pricing of any specific product, I understand that majority of our sales are more on a spot basis or very short cycle kind of orders. But is there any element of commodity price linkage in any of the contracts?

Let me tell you, first of all, let me answer your question in two parts. Number one, we generally look at our EBITDA as a percentage because while we have three product lines, the wire rope and within wire rope also specialized rope and the easy rope, then we have the wire segment and then we have the LRPP segment. So, when we look at it, we look at the blended margin and try to see that we are we have been fairly stable in the last few quarters. So our objective is to continue to maintain that level even though there is variation in terms of the percentage moving between the three segments as I mentioned in my opening statement. So, it is 18.6% in this quarter and that is something between 18 to 19% we try to ensure that we maintain within that. Number two, as far as the commodity is concerned, of course, within our product segment, LRPC is, but LRPC, the normal LRPC is a commodity product and it is very sensitive to the steel prices. So, if any fluctuation in the steel prices going up or down, it has an immediate impact on the LRTT product and currently it is having a fairly low EBITDA margin within the entire product portfolio. So this is probably the only product which is purely commodity made whereas the wire rope business is having a much more resilience and it is having a lot more technology and engineering and pricing power within the segment which we work towards ensuring that we work towards the blended margin at the levels at which we are operating.

Thank you so much for that answer. My second question is in a way slightly linked to the same margin-related query. So, if I look at your slide number 6, right, where you have given product mix and energy mix and industry mix and geography mix, So, and you also mentioned that you are aspiring to have this value-led volume growth. So, and the big part of, you know, EBITDA margin improvement that we have seen in last four to five years is driven by increasing share of some products, increasing share to some industry, and probably growing international as well, right? So, when I look at this slide… Are we, I mean, have we optimized all the levers on product and industry and geography part or there are a lot of levers that are yet to be optimized, which will, you know, not only help us in terms of value-less volume growth but also in terms of, you know, lift improvement which will also impact the margin. So, yeah, on the sixth slide, if you can just, you know, let us know whether that optimization has already taken place or there is still enough and more to do to, you know, improve our product industry and geography mix.

Thanks so much for the question. So, you know, you rightly pointed out that, you know, the different levers that have helped us you know, grow our margins and our overall performance. When it comes to value-added products within our, you know, within wire rope, I would say that, you know, right now it's at about 72% and the total value-added is about 54%, right? If you look at FY23, it was about 44%. So, between FY23 and Q1 FY25, we've gone, you know, 10% higher from 44 to 54. Now, Will we be able to get that same growth rate? Probably, you know, not. But at the same time, because our capex is more focused on the value-added segment, we should be able to, you know, incrementally increase it as our volumes from the new capex ramp up. When it comes to, you know, the geography aspect, of course, you know, our focus is still to continue to grow in new geographies. Middle East, for example, is we roughly maintained at about, you know, 9% from FY23, 24, even into on FY25. But now that our Saudi Arabia facility is on stream and is, you know, finally kicked off, hopefully we will be able to increase our care in the Middle East as well. Similarly, in America and Europe, as we mentioned earlier, the efforts are on within America, not just the U.S., but also the Latin America market where Brazil is seeing strong growth. So I would say that, you know, it's not that we're at kind of the end of this value migration. It's still very much a part of our overall plan. Maybe, you know, the rate that we saw from FY23 to now has been really good. Now I think incrementally we still continue to.

And one more point I would like to mention on the LRTC which I mentioned is a commodity product. We have successfully developed the plasticated and galvanized LRTC which is much more value added than the simple pure LRTC. although this is a project based business where we are expecting a good pipeline hopefully in the coming months and quarters as well as we have made some good breakthrough in the export market for these products in both in Southeast Asia and now even looking at Middle East and Europe for these products and over the next few quarters even we expect to ramp up this production so even on the LRPC, where we have very muted margins in the simple commodity product, we expect the margins to be better once we have the more and more percentage of plasticated and galvanized LRPC as a part of the portfolio.

Thanks so much. Thank you so much for answering my question. All the very best to the team.

Thank you. We'll take the next question from the line of Gunjan Kabra from Nivesh I. Please go ahead.

Thank you for the opportunity.

I missed the starting corner for me of yours, but just wanted to understand that, you know, if we If we talk about the construction sector and its activities across the sector at these stages, it has been very good. That's the export market that we have been guiding, that's been on the pipeline in the US, Europe, and the business has been very good. But I guess the volume growth in the business had not been coming in the good times because maybe we were in the expansionary phase and operating at full capacity utilization, that also I understand, but Some kind of volume growth was also expected this quarter. Maybe RQ in Q4 as capacity got commenced in Q1. So can you explain how are we seeing this growth to come in and if we are still on track of you know the 15% volume growth or has it been reduced from 15,000 times to 10,000 times which you were explaining in the previous question.

So if you can explain that.

I would say that, you know, like we mentioned that the 10% increase in the ropes and wire segments is, you know, definitely achievable. So, you know, previously we had mentioned 12 to 15% in light of, of course, the current macroeconomic climate as well as, you know, other logistical challenges as well. We would say that, you know, 10% is more realistic at this stage. Okay. And what would be the value realizations that will increase with respect to value added and, you know, export market? So, if you can dive on that as well.

Our focus would be to increase the value-led volume growth and with the success which we have seen in the European markets and the American markets, particularly on the oil and energy sector, trains and ports. And we have seen also within this quarter, you know, that the prices of our international businesses and, you know, has continued to increase and it is mainly on account of the product mix which we have focused on and we expect this trend to continue.

Okay. So, but the phase one of the CAPEX has commenced, right?

Yes, it has. And we are gradually wrapping up the production. Okay. Got it. Thank you so much and good luck to the team.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Anil Shah from Insightful Investment Managers. Please go ahead.

Hi, sir. So just again, you know, coming back to the volume numbers, we had spoken about 15,000 to 20,000 incremental tons in this fiscal year. which I thought was a combination of wire ropes, wire strings as well as CRPC. We did about 181,000 of volumes last year. So the increase that we were looking at was broadly in the region of over 20 to 22,000 tons in the splits between wire ropes, wire strings and CRPC. Is that a fair understanding?

Yes, it is a fair understanding and we should be in a position to get that during this year. Okay.

Despite the first quarter being slightly on the lower side as far as, you know, expectation in terms of volumes are concerned.

I would say that, you know, like we said earlier, rather than looking at all three together, probably keeping LRCC aside when we talk about volumes because, again, the focus with LRCC is not as much on the volumes, but more on the plasticated LRPC, right, which will not have the same level of volumes as regular LRPC does. But in the ropes and vials segment, definitely, you know, that is a realistic target, like we mentioned 10%.

And by which quarter does the LRPC, the galvanized and the plasticized really start taking in?

So we have the capacities on scene for that, but this is a more plasticated, especially the more project-driven business, and there are projects that are there in the pipeline, but as we mature, we should be able to see it. But it's not, you know, it's more a project-driven business.

Right now we are doing about 200 tons a month, and based on these projects which we are hopeful of bagging both in domestic and international markets, we should be gradually able to ramp it up to 500 of the month.

So, at least by exit of fourth quarter, we should be there at about 500?

Of course, we should be.

So, one, you know, one question on the basis of what you just discussed. So, clearly, wire rope as a overall volume contributor will be significantly higher than, you know, than last year. And within wire rope, obviously, higher value add because that's where the capex will happen. It should be even more higher. So, from that perspective, the EBITDA per ton should see, you know, should see two, you know, two trigger points should take it even further higher, as I said, because, you know, LRPC, which is lower margins, will have lower, as a percentage, lower contribution to volume. And to ZNYRO, you should have higher value-add coming through. So, is that, again, something which is, you know, fair assumptions to make?

I would say that, you know, our goal is, of course, right now, value and volume of combination, right? So, as we increase volumes, the goal would be to maintain, at the least, the data per ton and the margins. Of course, depending on the product mix, it might go a little bit higher, but that really depends on, you know, the market conditions, the demand from the market and how we're able to cater to that.

But market conditions, Arif, now, they seem okay in terms of what you had just given us, you know, in terms of global markets as well as Indian markets. There seems to be reasonable demand which is still very much prevalent, right?

The market demand for wire ropes and the wire rope segment and the wire segment is fairly strong. Rubber. RTC segment, it is pure commodity. The first quarter, the elections were there. There were, you know, there were less orders and projects which were there which impacted our volumes of LRPC. And the margins of LRPC have practically been very, very low. And the second quarter, because of the monsoons, the LRPC volumes are again very low. So, we need to understand that the rope and the value added rope and the wire volumes are fairly strong and stable, stable and strong, but LRPC is something which has a significant volume in our product mix, and on a personal basis can have a fairly strong impact in the EBITDA moving plus or minus because of the, you know, the lower margins in the LRPC.

That's exactly the point I made, that we should see EBITDA pattern actually going up Given LRPC is weak.

But depends if the LRPC demand picks up and the volume grows but the margins of LRPC ever increases.

The aggregate EBITDA will be higher. Then I am saying aggregate EBITDA will then obviously improve.

It would definitely be higher but on a further basis is what Shreya mentioned that you know it is a we try to think that at least we achieve this and if we improve this it's probably better.

Thank you. Thank you and wish you all the best. Thank you.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Aditya Arora from 4P Capital Partners. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good afternoon everybody. Just a couple of questions here. One is on the international segment if you could help us understand your, have you been gaining market share in some of the products and also what kind of additional revenue you have got from new set of customers because in your business with specialized products getting new customers are difficult it takes time that's my understanding and if that be the case have you won new customers have you got new market share and what percentage of your revenue is now coming from new set of customers it's a good question we have over the last three years developed particularly on the oil energy

the wind and also in the ports we have made you know we have worked along with our R&D center we have been able to make good breakthroughs and built a fairly strong customer base and you know it is just not breakthrough but repeated orders and also few contracts under negotiation and pipeline. So this is something which is particularly in the European, American and South American markets have been fairly strong. And in these sectors, in mining sector also, we have made certain breakthroughs in the North American, South American markets and our products have been well accepted and we are in the process of getting repeat orders. So, you know, this is the only reason why we feel that in the coming quarters, we should be in a position to push our volumes based on the value-led volume growth and we expect a decent result coming out of these initiatives.

Sure, sir. That's helpful. But if that is the case, then is it that the market demand outside India is low, which is why we are guiding, say, 10% volume growth Or are there any other reasons? Ideally, in that case, the volume growth should be higher than what we are hiding.

You see, in the rope industry, there are two segments which we say. One is the specialized segment which we talked about. So, this is something which we are fairly increasing our market share and making more and more breakthroughs and building a strong customer relationship in this segment. But the GP rope, the general purpose rope which goes for the normal engineering applications, because of the slowdown internationally, this part of the business is not strong at the moment and also very competitive. So, while we are focusing on the value adding, specialized products and where our market share is growing, there is a slow uptake coming from the general purpose which is not allowing the volume to grow the way you would expect to grow if everything was growing at a very good pace.

And like you mentioned, because the specialized products are highly engineered, right? So even if the market demand is good, it's not going to see the same rate of growth in volume that we would see if we were focused on GTO so that the volumes are much easier to increase in that but as we want to focus on the spread fly segment it takes time to build and get those repeat orders and those references as well but you know we're on the the teams you know working on it and you know the segments specifically that we mentioned and even various geographies, we are trying to, you know, diversify our presence as well. So, even within Latin America, it's not that, you know, we're just targeting, say, Brazil or Mexico, you know, whether it's Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador. So, in each of these markets, we're, you know, identifying our channel partners and diversifying our presence. So, That should help but all of this takes time and it can't happen very quickly as soon as the capacity goes on stream. So it will be a gradual process and that's why we say about 10% is more reasonable.

Okay. Just last question. Have you been gaining market share and what could be your market share in some of the key geographies now? So Europe, US, Latin America?

It's a, you know, I think we are particularly the newer markets which we are developing, we are taking market share from the global leaders, Bryden, Esquire and others in the market, you know, the well-established players. So we are gradually increasing our market share. But, you know, to be able to say exactly what percentage, I don't think we have that kind of data. But when we looked at the you know, the order pipeline and the inquiry and what sort of conversion is there, I would say that that rate is constantly improving.

Got it. Okay. Thank you so much.

Thank you. A reminder to all the participants to kindly limit their questions to two participants. You may rejoin the queue for follow-up questions. The next question is from the line of Saket Kapoor from Kapoor Company. Please go ahead.

Yeah.

Namaskar and thank you for this opportunity. Sir, firstly, when we look at the Q1Q employee benefit expenses, that has gone up from say 109 crore to 126 crore.

So, what explains this Q1Q as well as year-on-year increase in the employee cost and what should be the advertised number?

I would say that there are a number of reasons. One is, of course, we hire some new employees to develop the businesses in some of the international markets as we are having this capacity on stream and we need to develop the market for that. So that's number one. Two, we also had increments for our employees. And thirdly, there are, as part of this quarter, some one-time bonuses for rewarding employees for the performance as well. So a combination of all of these three has led to...

So, ma'am, what annual number do we have to keep?

It will, you know, the one-time cost which she mentioned has been there. But in the coming quarters, they should taper down and we should have, we should be at our normalized levels from quarter to onwards. So, 110 should be the number that which is there. Where 15 crore is the additional number which we should factor one time? It should be factored one time. That is 15 crore only? That should be... Yeah, and the rest should be on a normalized basis. But there will be normal increments and, you know, so those will be there. But this one-time expense which you mentioned, particularly for, you know, rewarding our people in the international business and so, that is it.

Sir, correct me here.

Earlier you've spoken about our product, our wire rope, our rope product being... accepted by the mining companies in the american geography and therein getting approval takes a period long period of four to five years but then there is a good chance of getting repeat orders and there are very strong entry barriers so uh are you alluding to this value added segment and the high end facility offering in this vertical extent where we are going to see growth going ahead and what is the opportunity size

correctly in this mining segment especially in the Latin American region you alluded to near Durban maybe sometime I go about yeah definitely in the mining segment we had made inroads especially during the COVID period where we got our foot in the door to the US market and since then we have gotten repeat orders as well as contracts in that region that secure repeat orders for us even if you see, you know, from our overall top 9 contribution of mining rope was, you know, about 4% in FY22-23, but then gradually has increased in FY24 to about 6% and in this quarter to about 8%. So, it has been, you know, an important product line for us and the last part of it comes from, like you mentioned, the US market, the Latin America market, as well as the Australia market internationally and of course in India we continue to supply to money companies as well.

And the pipeline is also robust there for repeat orders? This can be understood and there are strong entry barriers also? Entry barriers are fairly strong because the time taken to get the approval is as you rightly said between 3 to 4 years. And we are expecting the order books and contracts. I think we should be gradually seeing, you know, improvement on this segment on a quarter-on-quarter. We should be seeing that.

One more question, sir, if I am allowed. For the RM part, we are sourcing domestically from how many players?

Our dependence is on for the domestic pairs, how many pairs are you sourcing the raw material and what constitutes the key raw material? Our key raw material is high carbon wire rods. We are having four important suppliers, JSPF, Jindal Steel and Mawat. They have a plant just 40 km away in Patrasu from where we source our rods. Number two is Earthquile, our own steel company business, which is now with Tata, part of Tata Steel. So they continue to be our important supplier. And then Electro Steel, which is 100 kilometers away in Jackson. And small quantities we have also started buying from GSW. Although their plant is in Southern Park, but some quantities we have mined, particularly for our northern Horseshoe Airport plant we are buying from them. So these are the four important suppliers and we have an excellent working arrangement including developing the product.

Thank you, sir, and all the best to the team that's going there. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Diksha Jain, an individual investor.

Go ahead. Thanks for giving the chance for asking the question. What we want to know is, the company has definitely come out of a lot of issues which were there, let's say, five, seven years earlier and now on a good path. But last two years, now we are seeing sales have kind of stabilized. Now, what are the things that you feel could actually show a positive, you know, like,

So basically you know we went through a difficult period post our divestment of steel business we first focused on consolidation of our business the whole business we looked at all the latent capacity and used it to ramp up and try to integrate with all our international business then we have taken this expansion program which is underway, which is helping us to ramp up our capacity. As we said in the earlier part of the discussion, that we would be ramping up gradually our volumes, and we expect a 10% increase in volumes, particularly in the wire row and the wire segment coming out of the expanded capacity. And, of course, based on the current market scenario, what we see, So that is something which is going to help us improve our volumes and our focus within the volume into the value-added product segment is hopefully going to enrich our product mix and ensure that we sustain and grow our profitability and margins including the top line in the time to come.

So the 10% growth you are seeing for one year or let's say for the next? Will there be a hockey stick kind of thing thereafter? Because a lot of these are sticky. So once you start getting the orders in, do we see a higher growth after one year?

Of course, this again depends on how the overall market situation would be. But our endeavor would be to continue to keep on increasing. And as we have increased the capacity, and as we said that it is an engineering product, not a commodity product which can just be ramped up and we start selling based on price sensitivity. Just we have to ensure that we get the approvals, we get new customers and we continue to supply and get repeat orders. So definitely if the global demand remains fairly strong, the geopolitical situation doesn't worsen and the capacity increase which we have planned in the expansion All that should only help us to increase our volume and market share in at least next couple of years.

Okay.

And any other opportunities which you think could really change, you know, could be a big, something which would get you very excited coming up?

Yes. And that's a good question. One of the things I think that we had talked about in one of the earlier calls is our synthetic things facility which we are setting up in Brunton Shore, UK. And the progress is going well on that. And our internal trials have already started on that. And we expect to go live in the upcoming quarters within this year for that as well. That is a complementary product to our steel wire ropes. And, you know, the R&D team has worked very hard on that to understand the product and also already started approaching quite a few of the end customers which are common between steel wire ropes and synthetic slings as well. So, we do expect to get good traction on this and especially, again, within the oil and gas and wind energy segment, this has, you know, good applications. And this can be This is our first foray into the synthetic space but we're quite excited about this product line which is adjacent to our current product line yet a little bit of a different product that has a good growth rate. The industry itself is also growing pretty fast and there are more applications and more geographies we can even cater to in the future but we started small with a small investment you know, about 4 million GDP or so, but it can become, you know, a good opportunity in the coming years.

Thank you.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Aman Kumar Kuntalya from AK Securities. Please go ahead.

So, the follow-up question is that, Madam, as you have said that in the next few years, we get higher volume and business from this synthetic sling and mining rope. But after two years, can we expect big volume coming from if things happen at first time, we can expect big business from Parvat Mala project?

Parvat Mala project is a very exciting project and but as Shreya mentioned earlier, there are 250 odd projects which have been approved. Wire rope is a very important part of the whole ropeway system and Uta Marjan is the only supplier in India for these products. And with the Made in India initiative of the government and we have had presentation to the Parvat Mala project authorities We see a good opportunity. In fact, we see a good opportunity. It may take a year, year and a half for the project to come to this stage. But based on our interaction with the various stakeholders, we see it as a very big opportunity.

So it can be a game changer for the company in the future? Yes.

You see, we have many product portfolios. Parvat Mala and this special project would be. So, LRPCs, plasticated was important. This is also important. You know, we need to understand in Usha market, we are not dependent on one sector and one industry. We have a very diversified portfolio, whether it is fishing, mining, structural, which is part of the Parvat Mala project, fishing. elevator so you know having and also we have a fairly diversified geography so we are not dependent on any particular single geography so it is in a way it helps you to diversify your risk and not be dependent on just one market or one sector so looking at the overall opportunity Parbat Mala is important but what Shreya mentioned the synthetic is also equally important and we are excited about all these Now, how much of these get converted into actual reality? But overall, we are fairly optimistic and excited about these opportunities.

Okay. And, sir, one for my understanding, sir, what is the price difference between GP rope and this size rope in the international market? At the same time, this normal LRTC and plasticated LRTC and this normal wire and galvanized wire,

Let me tell you about the LRTC. The normal LRTC is selling at Rs. 65,000 to Rs. 70,000 a ton, depending on the steel price. And the plastic-mitted galvanized LRTC could be between Rs. 1,35,000 to Rs. 1,70,000 a ton, depending on the specification of each steel, which is fairly, you can see the difference in that. Of course, the manufacturing process and cost will also be different for these two products. Similarly, for the GP ropes, the specialty ropes, the pricing is fairly, fairly different for different products, whether it is plasticated, compacted, depending on the end use. But it could be, the GP ropes would be $1,600 a ton, and the specialized ropes could be close to $3,000, $3,500 a ton.

Okay. That means, sir, though the volume increase will be less, but the value increase will be much higher.

Of course. Our whole objective is value-led growth. So, that is going to be something which is going to be our key focus even going forward.

Okay, sir. Thanks a lot.

Thank you. There is a follow-up question from the line of Kiran from Table 3 Capital. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Sir, Bryden, because in the recent con call, they also had their CO2 con call, and they're all over the place, right? They've lost a lot of clients, a lot of clients are unhappy with them, capacity consolidation has gone wrong, both in US and Europe. Are we seeing, I mean, is it just markets are grabbing from Bryden Becker that we are kind of empanning others and the growth is coming from there or is the overall opportunity expanding and generally are we actually winning against Bryden Becker or is it their own internal issue first of all I would say that we you know we compete not only with Bryden Becker we are competing with you know all the international players and we are an equal you know we are all on equal footing

and we, you know, based on the strength of our R&D, based on our closeness to the customers, and with our continuous efforts with our R&D center over the last 3 to 4 years, we are trying to get a larger share of the market share. You know, I would not like to comment anything on Bridenbaker and their internal issues because I am not privy to that. But I am saying that as far as we are concerned, We are constantly trying to see that how to get it to the higher end product and that is number one. Number two, the segment related to the oil offshore, to the wind energy is definitely growing and it is growing at a very fast pace because every country is trying to both increase their energy footprint and that is something which is helping us to see a good traction of business coming from there and everybody is fighting for the pie of business. And so are we along with our Brinton Shaw and our other brands. We are also trying our best to see that how best we can get those business.

Got it, got it. And then last question in terms of it's a combination. One, do we share any order book numbers this year versus previous year? And two, are we actually on track for 500 crore profit after tax this year?

No, we don't share any exact order book, you know, numbers as such. And in terms of, you know, guidance, like we mentioned, around the volume growth around 10% for ropes and wires while, you know, maintaining our margins and our realizations, that's, you know, what the extent of guidance that we like to give at this stage. Thank you, ma'am. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.

Over to you, Manish. I would like to thank everyone for attending this call and showing interest in Usha Martel Limited. I hope we have been able to answer to all your questions. The company is dedicated to creating value for all its stakeholders in a sustainable manner. Should you need any further clarification or would you like to know more about the company, please feel free to reach out to us or to CDR India. Thank you once again for taking the time to join us on this call and see you all in the next quarter. Thank you.

Thank you, members of the management. On behalf of OSHA Martin Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us and you may now disconnect your lines.