Epigral Limited (EPIGRAL) Q4 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Epicurel Limited Q4FY26 conference call hosted by MK Global Financial Services Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Harsh Shah from MK Global Financial Services Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us on Epigrel Limited's Q4 FY26 results conference call. We would like to thank the management for giving us this opportunity to host them. On this call, we are joined with Epigrel's management represented by Mr. Malik Patel, Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Kaushal Soparkar, Executive Director, Mr. Rakesh Adarwal, Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. Milind Koteja in Mr. Relations and Strategy. I would like to invite Mr. Milind Koteja to initiate the proceedings with his opening remarks post which we'll have an interactive Q&A session. Thank you and over to you, sir.

Thank you, Harsh. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the call to discuss Epigal's Quarter 4 and FY26's performance. I believe you had an opportunity to view the earnings presentation that was released earlier today. If we let's talk about the chemical industry in the last quarter, then Quarter 4 was a volatile and a critical quarter. On the positive side, we saw relief for Indian exporters as the U.S. reduced reciprocal tariffs, and China removed its wet export rates on few of the chemicals. However, on the escalation in the West Asia disrupted the global supply chains and tightened the availability of key raw materials. This created a mixed impact, while some chemical segments faced higher cost and deferred demand, whereas others saw a pricing movement. With ceasefire efforts underway, the market is beginning to stabilize. That said, we estimate that even as the conflict ends, it will take time to repair facilities and normalize shipping lines. Hence, pricing moment should be gradual. However, we are positive on the demand growth of India. Now, let us discuss on the performance of the company. In quarter 4 F526, we achieved Highest ever revenue of 736 CR. Driven by volume growth of 15% quarter-on-quarter and 14% YOY. We had seen demand pick up from mid of November and that was continued in the quarter 4 as well. And also major maintenance work was over in quarter 3 FY26 and hence caustic soda plant was also running at optimum level. Leading to our EBITDA margin has been normalized range of 23% on account of better sweating of the plants and also normalized level of raw material rises. While the West Asia conflict has Srivanap raw material prices and as well as Finnish food prices, the impact remained minimal in Q4. We expect these inflationary pressures to be reflected in the coming quarters. However, our diversified product portfolio provides resilience. We estimate while certain segments may face headwinds, others are positioned to offset its impact and sustain overall growth trajectory. Our capacity expansion projects of epichlorohydrin and CPVC are progressing on track and within budget. With demand for both the products projected to maintain double-digit CHGR growth over coming years, our enhanced infrastructure is perfectly positioned to capture India's growing market and hence drive significant top and bottom line growth for the company. With completion of the above capex, we would have already created a level of infrastructure for sustainable growth from year on and simultaneously we are working on new projects as well so we can have a consistent year-over-year momentum. Our team is optimizing current projects to drive steady growth and deeper integration while deploying capital with discipline to create value for our stakeholders. I now hand over call to Mr. Rakesh Agrawal who will take us to the financials.

Thank you, Malin. Let me take you through Q4 numbers. In Q4, we witnessed volume growth of 15% compared to previous quarter, resulting in overall plant utilization above 80%. This resulted in a higher favor revenue of Rs. 736 crore, a growth of 22% compared to previous quarter. Revenue contribution from derivatives and specialty business stood at 54% compared to 52% in previous quarter. EBITDA increased by 64% to Rs. 169 crore compared to 103 crore in the previous quarter. EBITDA margin improved to 23% on account of normalized level of raw material cost and improved in overall utilization of plant. PAT stood at 82 crore versus 39 crore in previous quarter. PAT margin stood at 11%. Now, if we discuss full year, revenue dropped marginally by 1% to 2542 crore. On account of drop-in volume of around 4% in the year. EBITDA stood at 567 crores compared to 711 crores in the previous year. EBITDA margin for full year stood at 22%. PAT stood at 330 crores, which includes one-time benefit of 81 crores on account of reduction in Euphotex liability. So, if we exclude debt, then our PAT will be Rs.252 crore compared to Rs.357 crore in the previous year. ROC is stood at 16%. If we exclude capital working progress of Rs.451 crore, then our ROC is stood at 17%. Net debt to EBITDA is stood at 0.9. As on 31st March 26, compared to 0.7 in the previous year, our net debt stood at 508 crores versus 489 crores in the previous year. During the year, we spent around 394 crores on the ongoing capex, and we have generated around 436 crores from the operations. With this, we can now open the floor for questions.

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and 1 on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and 2. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question comes from the line of Priyank Chedda from Valum Capital. Please go ahead.

Yeah, hi, Milindan T. Great performance. First question on what was the realized ECU for the quarter for which we have achieved this performance on the Cosmic Soda, and what's the current trending ECU, and we made a comment that we think that the supply chains will remain disrupted for long. So what does it mean for the Cosmic Soda players like us? What can be the elongated ECU that you should think of it along with, if you can touch upon the prizes? Of other derivatives where we are involved, how have they moved and how are they moving in the current quarter? That's the first question.

Yeah, thank you, Priyank. So, see, current quarter, quarter four, we have ended with the ECU of around 30,000 rupees, and that has been there, and in quarter currently, the ECU, because of the war situation, had gone up, like Cosmic, so the prices have increased by almost 30-35 percent compared to what it was before war. But because of the bit cool down as well, the price has also come down. So, current ECU would be ranging somewhere around 37,000 rupees kind of thing. And considering the war situation, what we witnessed is that the whole cycle of the chemical segment, starting from crude chemicals, has been upset. Even the shipping line has been upset. And also on the shipping lines, things are not moving smoothly. And also the war which is going on, there is no clarity whether how things will be moving smoothly. So considering the situations, but stabilize as well, like if there is a pause in the current situation, then also it will take at least four to five months of time for things to stabilize for the realizations of all the products to come down. So that's what we are expecting. And again, in the other derivatives as well, we see the prices have gone up in line with the raw material prices. And again, it depends on how the things shape up in the war situation. That will ultimately translate this. But again, considering how generally things, I mean, even if it ends, it will take time to stabilize and it's not going to happen in an immediate basis.

Got it. So, if I have to just reflect back on past nine months performance and this quarter has been significantly way better than the past nine months, if you can just summarize what has been the key problems that we faced in last nine months, how are we shaping up as this quarter goes by in terms of, say, utilizations of plastic soda, we went down to a level which did not make unit economics. Now when the utilizations are fixed up, what is the current utilization for? Each of the products as well as if you can just briefly touch upon what went wrong or say maybe what were the headwinds in last nine months and what are the current tailwinds that we are witnessing in this going quarter.

So, see, Priyam, if we look at the full-year performance of the company, the first half of the company, we were down in terms of volume because of the two things. One, we were having a major maintenance that generally happens once in eight years. So, that maintenance was over from October onwards. And also, because of the prolonged monsoon, plus there was too much volatility into the PVC, which is raw material for CPVC, the demand was a bit impacted. But again, once the monsoon ended in October, we saw a demand pickup from mid-November in CPEC as well, and also on the caustic soda side, the major maintenance was done. So the plant that we were running at 67-70% utilization levels after November has been running in the range of 78-85% utilization levels. So that's where you can say quarter four, I mean, even from mid of November, we were running at optimum for both, I mean, the whole plant put together. And even the quarter four has been the optimum in terms of all the plant capacity utilization. So currently, so currently things are on the optimum side and we expect FY27 to be on a better side and we will have a volume growth. So that's what we are expecting for FY27.

So the quarter four becomes a new normal as things were to do with respective internal to epigram.

Yeah, you can talk to it that way, Priyank, but see, the thing is, war is still there, and definitely it impacts in some of the other ways. It's our product basket mix, where we have set of chemicals in both the segments, and that's where we are more resilient, even in this situation. So, definitely, it looks good, but if the war does not escalate and it does not impact too much into the key raw materials, then we are confident, but again, we will have to factor in the war impact as well. So, that is something which is not very clear to anyone.

One last question on the unit economic again. Given the energy cost is one of the key raw materials for, say, caustic soda players, say, around 50-55%, and that energy estimation leads to caustic soda prices going up, when it comes to epigral and for industry, can you throw up on a comparable with respect to how much would be the green or renewable energy share within our energy source, and how are we insulated versus This is, say, global escalations in their energy mix versus, say, Indian industry players.

See, in that way, energy cost has also gone up because of the war. So that has also gone up in the range of around 15%. But again, in caustic soda, if you see, it's also the supply chain, which has been impacted globally, because of the crude impact, where the ethylene is not available in the PVC plants are running at lower utilization, and that's where it impacts the caustic soda production as well. So it's a combination of things which is driving the prices. So that is not just one thing. And in terms of like what we see in terms of caustic solar, as I said, the war is still there or the issues are still there. So it will take time for us to, for it to stabilize. And in terms of like wind-solar energy in our total power consumption, it is currently somewhere around 8 to 9 percent for Epigrel, and as we are further expanding into the further addition of wind-solar of around 19.5 megawatt, so once that commission then reaches at optimum level, then around 15 percent of our power requirement will be coming from the wind-solar habit power plant.

And what would be this number for, say, the industry, Indian industry, caustic soda, yes?

I would not have that number on hand, but that scheme, this scheme, this is a scheme, very good scheme from the government of Gujarat and many of the states have implied. So, I guess every company is trying to take a benefit of it. So, right now, it will be on the lower side, but I am sure that down the line, the usage of this will definitely increase.

Anything lastly on, say, FY27, as we start, what would be your broader guidance in terms of volume growth aspirations? And we are looking ahead for a capacity additions also in the following sequence.

What can be a peak, a big, a

lot-star target that we can think of as per the prices that are prevailing? Any thought from this?

See, I would avoid giving any number, but in terms of volume growth, we are targeting around 10-12% of volume growth from here on, and definitely considering the growth expectations from the various products that we are into, barring the war does not impact too much, we are confident to grow with a volume growth of 10-12%, and so that is what I can guide. I mean, I won't be able to guide much better than that, but yes, on that basis, definitely FI27 looks much better than FI26 based on that, because the volume growth, that 10% will be from the capacities of higher value products compared to what we are going to do, so that will drive the value growth as well.

May I add one more element on this? Just on the chlorine consumption, what would be the internal chlorine consumption that would reach as a percentage? What is the current mix and what would this reach after the expansion?

Current chlorine captive consumption is around 75%. And as we are commissioning our ECH and CPVC capacity in the quarter 2 of FY27, and it will run at lower repelations initially because it will take time to ramp up that facility. So maybe in FY28, once we kind of reach to the optimum utilization levels, at that point of time, we expect this 75% chlorine captive consumption to reach around 90-95% captive consumption.

Wonderful. All the best. Thank you for all the answers. Thank you, Priyanka.

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Nipun Sharma from VLS Finance. Please go ahead.

Good evening, everyone. Can you please confirm if my audio is clear on your end? Yes, it is clear. Okay. So, congratulations on a good revenue growth for this quarter. My first question being on the CVC facility that I believe it has been commissioned in March 2026, I believe so. So what are you... So, what are your plans for the CBC products? I mean, what would be your target customers? What would be your target market? And if you are planning to, you know, have a brownfield capacity expansion for the same existing facility, as well as the competitive landscape, so would you please comment on that?

You're talking about the CBBC or chlorotolines? Chlorotolines.

Yeah, so chlorotorions we commissioned in March 2025. And you can see we have a pass-through, I mean, in terms of the process of getting approvals and testing from the customer side. And that's where the capacity or you can see the revenue increasing on a month-on-month basis. And so that's where we are targeting for. So FY27 will see a sizable contribution from the chlorotolumns. And further, as we go in FY28, we should be able to reach optimum utilization levels. This majorly goes into the agrochemical and pharmaceutical segments. So basically, the company is going into specialty chemicals and making the final product for the agrochemicals. We sell it to them. So it has been, you can say, we have passed through the approval process and all the testing process. So now it's the time to ramp up in terms of, because here the volume will increase staggeredly. It's not going to increase in one chart. So that's what we have witnessed already in the quarter four. And we expect that to happen in the quarter one as well. So FY27 should be contributing a sizable number. Maybe once the one or two quarters goes, we might be able to give you a number of that once we have that sizable number into the P&L. Okay, sure.

And what would be the optimum capacity utilization for the chlorotooling facility?

So, optimum would be in the range of 70-75% utilization level, which we expect to reach in FY28. Okay.

And my next question being for, as I've seen in your FY26 revenue growth, it was a little bit of a degrowth because of a 4% sales volume degrowth in FY26, I believe. And I think it is majorly on account of first half of FY26 due to some factors, including the unfavorable monsoon conditions, which impacted the sales of ECH as well as CPVC. So could you think so that if such unfavorable monsoon condition happens in the future, so how would you mitigate such risk? Because it is also known that 2026 is going to be a major year for Lino as well as, or even if the unfavorable monsoon condition repeats in any upcoming years like it did last year. So how would you mitigate such a risk?

See, what you said is true for the last year, but it was not just because of the monsoon. There were many things in last year which were impacting the raw material prices, which were ultimately impacting the final, I mean, the finished good prices as well. So, you were seeing that last year there were anti-rumping duty and BIS were expected in the PVC. So, because of that, there were volatility in the prices, plus prices of the PVC was also dropping, which were impacting the CPVC prices. And also, the real estate market was a bit subdued, I mean, post the election of 2024. So, all these things have now ended because there is a clarity on the IDD, there is clarity on BIS, monsoon has ended, and also the real estate market has been picked up after that. So, it's not just one particular thing, and generally also, Q1 and Q2 will be a quarter where it's a monsoon, so demand for that quarter will be lesser compared to what it will be in Q2 and Q4. So, but considering just one factor, it will not impact to an extent what we saw in FY26. So, that's where we are confident that FY27 should be better than FY26 in terms of the volume.

Okay, okay. And one question being that, could you please provide the average price realizations for your products, for hydrogen peroxide, CPVC, and ECH, as compared to last quarter, I mean, third quarter of FY26?

It's difficult to give all the numbers together. Maybe we can take this offline.

Okay, sure, sure. Thank you for answering my questions, and best of luck for your future endeavors. Thank you.

The next question comes from the line of Kiran Naik from Modi FinCAP. Please go ahead.

Thank you for giving me an opportunity. Sir, can we expect revenue for 27, 5% better than 26?

Sorry, I expect 27?

27 revenue growth, 5% better than 26 revenue growth.

5%? I mean, I didn't get it.

Is that better than 26 revenue growth? Can I expect for 27% better revenue growth than 26?

See, FY26, FY27, because see, the FY26 year put together, our chloralkali production was impacted, even the CPVC was impacted because of the muted season. So that's where we see that revenue and the volume growth will come in FY27 based on the FY26, and that's where we are expecting the growth to add to the value growth as well.

And EBITDA margin also same level for 27.

I would defer giving any guidance on the EBITDA margins, but what we have achieved so far, we would be maintaining in that range.

Thank you. Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Rakesh Nair, an individual investor. Please go ahead. I'm sorry to interrupt, Rakesh. You're not quite audible. Could you be a little louder, please? Hi.

Hi. Is it audible?

Yes. Yes, Rakesh.

Congratulations for the good set of numbers. And my question is, can you expect further growth in next quarter and coming quarters? What is the... What is the...

See, the war situation is there, and because of that, there is an escalation in raw material prices as well as finished goods prices. So that's where we think even in that basis, we will have a bit of a volume growth in FY27 unless the war escalates too much and it disrupts the market all together in terms of demand. So otherwise, if we consider, does not consider that situation, then we can expect a volume growth in the range of 10 to 12 percent in FY27 and that will eventually drive the value growth. And it's always better to see things on a year put together basis rather than seeing quarter and quarter. Because one particular quarter or two quarters, there might be an off-season for a few products and there might be an off-season for another product. It's always better to look in a year as a put-together other than looking quarter-on-quarter.

Okay, and what is the trend of this PVC crisis in upcoming months?

So, CPVC prices have gone up in line with the PVC prices. So, again, considering current situation, how things are, it will go in line with the CPVC prices will go along with the PVC prices. Again, there also is too much wallet reading in the PVC prices. So, it's difficult to give any specific number as of now.

Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Resham Jain from BVD Asset Managers. Please go ahead.

Hi. Congratulations on culture of numbers. So, I have a couple of questions. So, the first one is with respect to The overall profitability in this quarter. So what I've understood is that there has been a good price increase in the month of March. And is there inventory gains also sitting in this quarter's profit, given that you might already have inventory and prices have gone post that versus the current spreads which you might be enjoying?

Yeah, so thank you, Hisham. So what you said is true, but again, you see, the prices had started escalating over a period of time once the war was announced and then the thing started going up. But if you see on a quarter, four visits, then in one or two products, and that too might be for last five or ten days, we would have got the benefit of a higher price. Because for every product, you have some set of, I mean, the contracts or you can say order placed at the starting of the month. So if you actually put together, I mean, if you remove the marginal benefit, quarter of four has not received any, much of the benefit in terms of escalation of the prices. Because this was announced on 20th February, starting of the March, whereas you, I mean, one would have already booked the orders for that month. So, barring some sort of the very spot or like one week ahead of orders, it's not impacting. So, that's where you see the EC of plastic soda has been around 30,000, and all other products also, it's marginal here and there, nothing major moment. So, whatever 2-4 numbers have been, it's not majorly because of the escalation crisis of the war. Escalation in the price of the war will be reflected in the quarter one. So, again, because of the product basket that we are into, where 60% of our product basket is something which goes into the basic things and where the demand is still intact, even in the elevated prices. So, we are better off compared to the situation that, and again, there is a 40% of our product basket where the elevated price is a bit of restricting the demand. So, there the volume will be a bit lower. So, there's a balance as well. Because of this product basket, or you can see the mix of products that we have, we are more better off compared to being into the product basket where the demand directly gets impacted when the prices go up. To put it short, the price increase because of war will be majorly reflected in Q1 and not in Q4. And considering current spreads also, it is almost a normalized situation because of the, you can say, volatility, any increase in the raw material prices is passed on to the raw and finished good prices. And also, we are also going cautious in terms of wherever the order has to be placed. So that way, we are being cautious and not hurrying too much in terms of where we would land up in an inventory loss kind of thing.

Understood. Understood. Clear. And the second part is the overall volume. Are you seeing any, as you mentioned just now also, but overall volume, how you are seeing from the market as well as from the export side?

See, company put together, we hardly have around 4 to 5% of exports and that too is to the Europe. So, and again on the domestic side, as I said, there are set of chemicals where the demand is intact, even at the elevated prices because it goes almost into everything. There are set of products where the volumes will be low because the inventory cost has gone up that has pushed the finished good prices. So that's where even everyone is cautious, including us, and even our customers are cautious. So that's where you can say there will be kind of an April quarter where there was a volume a bit low compared to what it was in a normal case. Otherwise, as the things have better off compared to what it was at the starting of April, we see the growth is picking up from May onwards. But again, as the time goes, it will be better, because time is too uncertain to confirm on anything in terms of how things will be going.

I understand. One final one is with respect to chlorotollin. What is the current utilization level? And given that this product is imported largely because of rupee dollar and all, are you seeing? Any positive action in the other company?

So, chlorothaline, as I conveyed earlier in the phone call, this year put together has been an year where almost you can say seven to eight months has been gone in terms of getting approvals and testing with the customers. Now, we see the volume pickup in terms of the customers, but again, here the demand pickup will be gradual. So, if we look at FI 26, the volume. Volume has been almost lower to give any number. So I guess FY27 will be a year where we will have a sizable contribution and the plant should be somewhere around 40%. But again, it will be difficult to give an absolute utilization level as of now because it was very minuscule. Maybe once we cross half of this FY27, it will be better to give some sort of good number or a sizable number. And in terms of the...

In the course of... Yeah, yeah, sorry. So I'm going to have to pay. So, yeah, you are answering about the demand conditions. Given that rupee dollar and all import substitution, it could have been better off, right, last six months, on the traction side.

Yes, definitely. See, basically, chlorophyll is something which immediately goes into the agrochemical and the pharmaceutical segment. So, we were seeing kind of a bit uptick from the January in terms of the orders. It was increasing. But current uncertainty, which is there because of the wall situation, that has impacted it in terms of volume. So, it's not a normal month, which we were already witnessing in January, February, and March. But again, as things are pulling it off, at least for the time being, that we expect the volume growth to happen from May onwards again.

Okay, perfect. Thank you, and all the rest.

The next question comes from the line of Subhanshu from Sharma and Family. Please go ahead. Hello, am I out of here?

Yes.

So, my first question will be around the new chemistry. Has it been delayed indefinitely now?

Sorry, I didn't get you.

There was supposed to be a new green chemistry being planned, right? Thank you. Now delayed indefinitely or what is the state? I haven't heard anything on this.

So you are asking about the expansions that we are planning, right?

No, you were mentioning a new green chemistry you were planning into, right? I think we have been talking about it in some quarters. It was supposed to happen in last financial year, but there hasn't been any announcement till now.

So, see, not any green chemistry. In CapEx, what we are doing is we are already doubling our capacity of CTVC and ECH. So, that is expected to get commission in the quarter 2 or 527. And we are working on the new chemistry for further expansion. So, that is another process with the management. And once it is released, we will be announcing that maybe in a couple of months.

Okay, because this setting has been under discussion for quite some time, the new chemistry that you're planning, and we haven't heard about it. It has been more than one year, so, like, why is this taking so long?

There is no green chemistry as such we are talking about.

Green field, sorry. Okay, green field, I think that's the confusion. You're planning a new green field project, correct?

Understood, understood, understood. So, you are talking about the new land that we are planning for in terms of the CAPEX. So, yes, that is still under evaluation because we were targeting around, I mean, we were evaluating many projects. Out of that, we have selected a few, I mean, one of them, and then we are further doing due diligence on that. And so, once that is done, we will definitely announce. But it is going to take time because it's a big project, so we are not going to be in a hurry just to announce it for the sake of it.

Okay, so when can we expect it? Will it be announced this year, next year, or no, we cannot commit on it?

So, this will be announced this year only because, see, we are always, if you look our history as well, we have always done a CapEx, and once that CapEx is almost on the verge of completion, we announce the next one. So, we go step by step in a gradual way in terms of announcing and completing the projects. So, we are on that stage. So, definitely, I'm sure that we will be fizzing on something and announcing this year so that we can have a consistent growth beyond FI 29, FI 30 onwards.

On the CPVC and ECH capacity, so once it is commissioned, how will the ramp-up look like? Like, what can be the expected utilization levels by, let's say, the end of this Q427?

So, we will be commissioned in Q2, so the ramp up will be gradual, it will start maybe around 15-20% and then gradually every quarter that capacity utilization should go up. And maybe in FY28, we should be able to reach at optimum utilization levels.

So, when you say optimum, what is that number around 80% or no?

Yeah, so for like CTVC, it will be around 75% and for ECHC, it will be around 80%.

Okay, and I think you mentioned that for quarter 4, 26, this quarter, both CBVC and ECH were running at optimum capacity. So, were they running at this much only? 75 to 80%?

Yeah, it will be somewhere around, so it will be somewhere around optimum level, so around 65, 70 and 80% kind of things.

Okay, that's nice to hear. I think last quarter it was 50% and it has gone up quite a bit. What was the realization for ECH this last quarter, Q4?

So, realization for ECH has also increased compared to what it was in Q3, but marginally, not like too much.

Okay, and I think I'm hearing chloromethanes had gone quite a bit up. Is that true? I have been hearing a lot.

So that was in line with all the products. Every product has gone up. It's not just one particular chloromethane. Every product relation has gone up in line with the raw material prices. But that is visually visible in quarter one and not in quarter four.

So I have been hearing like 50 percent. Is that the correct range or no?

Yeah, it would be around that.

Okay. So chloromethane is like, well, is this the highest product line that has gone, or is there something else also where there is, like, price inflation?

Every product has seen an increase in price in line with the raw material prices. So it's not one specific product which has gone up. Every product, the price has gone up in line with the raw material prices.

So, I'm trying to gauge certain, let's say, percentage jump, like that, let's say, top-end number we might expect. What could it be like, 20%, 15% or how is that average number looking out for us?

See, as I said earlier, we can expect a volume growth of around 10% in FY27. Now, in terms of value growth, it will be difficult to give you any kind of specific guidance. We would avoid that.

What about for this quarter, for Q1, right, you already have some idea on the current prices. Will that be a fair assumption, 15 to 20% drop-end growth for Q1 FY27?

See, Subhanshu, as I said earlier, we would avoid giving any guidance in terms of giving numbers on quarter-on-quarter or even on the year-on-year basis.

Sure. So, I have one question on chlorine consumption. I think you mentioned that internal consumption will reach 95-90% by FI28 when all things are running at optimal capacity. So, is it entirely internal consumption with respect to epigram or when we say 95% consumption?

That is a combination of internal as well as the pipeline customers.

Okay, so will we expand the caustic sort of capacity to have more chlorine in future, or that will not be needed?

As of now, we have not that in plan, and if required, we might, but as of now, we don't have that in plan to increase the capacity.

Okay, okay. And I think one last question on the interest cost that I see. Among the previous costs, we are graduating for 45-50 CR for the entire year. It is significantly higher at 72 CR. What would be the reason for the entire year that it's considerably higher? Also, I think the debt was repaid a little bit, so it should have been a little bit lower. So, what's the main reason behind it?

So, it was majorly because of one of the loan that where we had a mark-to-market impact. So, it's just a mark-to-market impact which has been there in the interest cost put together. Otherwise, what you said is true, that debt has gone down. So, in line with that, the interest cost will be low, but it's just mark-to-market impact because of the loan that we had taken, where we have a foreign exchange derivative.

Okay, okay.

Can you expand a little bit on that? How are we exposed to it? Like, I want to understand in which other microenvironments will this interest cost go up in the future. Is it because of the INR depreciation or why is that happening?

Well, it's an IRN depreciation. So our currency, if you look at since last one and a half, two years' time, it has depreciated more than generally what it happens in the historical. Historically, it has depreciated by around 3% or 2.5%. But since last one and a half years, because of many global reasons, it has depreciated more. So that is the reason because of which we have to take mark-to-market impact.

So we have borrowings in foreign currency. That is why it is happening. That is the primary reason.

Yeah, it's an instrument where it is, the derivative swap has been done in terms of foreign exchange. So that's where it has been there. So it's a mark-to-market as of now.

So anything we do, can anything be done to prevent this from happening in the future, or this can again happen in the future if INR depreciates similarly?

See, we are doing our finance team definitely takes care of it and they are looking avenues to mitigate that. So we are working on that and we will be finding a solution for that. But again, it's not something major. It's a mark-to-market impact. And even if the currency depreciates from here, like in the range of 2-3%, then it's not going to impact too much.

Yeah, I was going to understand when these environments happen, like this happened, like this year, it depreciated more. I just wanted to give you some idea that there will be an impact on the finance cost. But we're just saying that this should not be happening at this level in future, right? Let's say it's 10%, but we are seeing a 35% increase in our finance cost. So we might want to look into it.

Yeah, so we have considered when we take such products, we have evaluated based on that where we can reduce the cost of finance. But again, though it's too much volatility in the currency, no one had expected. But we understand that and definitely will take care of that.

So that's all I said. Yeah, that was my last question. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for the closing remarks.

So, in conclusion, I would like to convey that we are moving in line with our strategy. Thank you, sir.

Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of MK Global Financial Services Limited, that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us and you may now disconnect your lines.