Aegis Logistics Limited (AEGISLOG) Q2 2027 Earnings Call Transcript

Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Aegis Logistics and Aegis OPEC Terminals Limited Q2 FY27 Earnings Conference Call. This conference call may contain forward-looking statements about the company, which are based on the beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the company as on the date of this call. These statements do not guarantee the future performance of the company and may involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this 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. Raj Chandaria, Chairman and Managing Director. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Okay, thank you very much, and good afternoon, everybody. Today, I have with me our CFO, Mr. Murad Moladina, and Ms. Payans Derbe from our Investor Relations team. Today, I'm going to cover four main things. First is our planned acquisition of TriStar Holdings Limited. Secondly, the performance of Aegis Logistics. Third is the performance of Aegis Vopac Terminals, or ABTL. And fourth, a brief update on the progress of our port-by-port expansion projects. Murad can then take you through the financial performance in more detail. So let me start with TriStar. Many of you would have heard about this transaction. So I'm really pleased to announce this landmark development for Aegis Logistics. So on the 13th of October, 2026, we signed a definitive agreement to acquire 89.8% stake in TriStar Holdings Limited for a consideration of $809 million U.S. Now, TriStar is an integrated energy logistics company headquartered in Dubai but with global operations. The acquisition is a transformational step in Aegis' journey from a predominantly India-focused business to a global integrated energy logistics platform. This transaction will bring together our domestic infrastructure and integrated logistics capabilities with TriStar's international network, It's diversified service offerings and established global customer relationships, and we think that this will significantly enhance our scale, obviously our geographic diversification and earnings potential, and create meaningful operational and commercial synergies. Subject to regulatory approvals and the customary closing conditions, we expect to complete this transaction in Q4 of FY27, and we expect to have much more to report on the benefits of this move as we work to complete the transaction. Now, moving on, we are halfway through the year, through the financial year, and it is, This, you know, the halfway mark always brings into perspective how we have done and gives a good indication of where we are heading. So I'm pleased to report a record-breaking profit in the first half of this year, FY27. We had a revenue of 4,570 crores, generating an EBITDA of 1,184 crores and a profit-after-tax of 866 crores. In comparison to where we were this time last year, H1-FY26, profit-after-tax has doubled, reflecting the strong operating and financial performance. Earnings per share for the first half of FY2027 was at 21.23, which is up 140% from H1 FY26. Thanks. For the quarter, FY27, we delivered revenue of 2,213 crores, EBITDA of 456 crores, and profit after tax of 321 crores. And both EBITDA and profit after tax grew 32% year-on-year, underscoring The strength of our business fundamentals, and earnings per share for the quarter was at 7 rupees 42, up 45% year on year. This is obviously better than what we normally expect, and our liquid division delivered its highest performance ever in the first half of the year, With revenues of 366 crores, EBITDA of 284 crores, representing a margin of 78%. As we've emphasized in the past, this is a well-diversified, stable, and cash-generating business for the company, and we will continue to expand capacity here. In our gas division, the business delivered an exceptional performance during this period. We achieved the highest ever first-half EBITDA of 900 crores in the first half of this year, which is up 137% year-on-year. This reflects the strength of our integrated business model and our ability to consistently capitalize on market opportunities. Looking at the individual segments, the logistics volume grew by 19% over the previous quarter, which is a very healthy improvement. Our distribution business continued to deliver an exceptional growth with volumes up 25% in the second quarter and 54% in the first half on a year-on-year basis. What makes this particularly noteworthy is that we've achieved this growth even as global supply conditions have largely normalized, and it shows that our growth is not merely the result of favorable market conditions, but is increasingly driven by new and large capacity additions in the previous year. Our increase to geographic reach and a new product addition, namely ammonia, and structural strengths and the competitive advantages of our business model. In the sourcing business, volumes were lower during the year on account of some contracts expiring. We need to keep in mind, of course, that sourcing volumes do not include our own distribution volumes. In distribution, we expanded our customer base over the year by onboarding several new private sector customers, and this momentum has continued into the current financial years. And our ability to consistently add customers, deepen the existing relationships, and scale-up values is a direct reflection of our integrated business model. Overall, we are confident that the gas division is well-positioned to sustain this growth trajectory and continue delivering strong operating performance and long-term value. Now, let me turn to AGES BOPAC terminals, which I'll take through on a four-by-four progress. Turning to AVTL, we delivered another strong operating performance in Q2 FY27 with revenues of 271 crores, which are up approximately 17% year-on-year, and an EBITDA of 212 crores, which is up by 22%. Profit after tax was $96 crores, slightly lower than last year, mainly due to higher finance costs and tax, and I'm sure Murad will go into it. For the first half, revenue rose 15% year-on-year to $505 crores, supported by the ramp-up of recently commissioned capacities and strong performance in our liquid business. EBITDA was 392 crores, which is up 19%, and profit after tax was 166 crores. And earnings per share was 1.3, for the first half, was 1.38 compared to 1.49, reflecting those higher finance and tax costs. If I can run through the port-by-port rundown, starting with Mumbai, which is, of course, part of Aegis Logistics and not part of Aegis Workback, this port continues to operate at high utilization levels. We are developing an additional 64,000 cubic meters of liquid storage at this port with an additional investment of 125 crores. The project is progressing on schedule, and we expect to commission, you know, gradually as the year unfolds. We are, based on, you know, customer interest and existing demand, we are confident that this new capacity will ramp up quickly once it becomes operational. As far as JNPA is concerned, we have reached an important milestone with the commissioning of our LPG bottling plant with an annual capacity of 35,000 metric tons, which we did on October 15th of this year, and JNPG's liquid storage capacity, which is currently 100 and 1,900 cubic meters, is doing well. Our larger greenfield expansion represents a significant investment of about 1,675 crores, comprising an additional 318,000 cubic meters of liquids communicated earlier. The first phase of this is about 100,000. Last year, last quarter, we had also announced a 51,000 or approximately 52,000 metric ton refrigerated double-wool LPG storage tank at JMPT. Important, and she's become operating. Haldia port, everything continues to require an additional three acres of land at Haldia, which is moving on to Khandla, which is one of our largest and most northern and west. We have 952,000 cubic meters of liquid storage and 48,000 metric tons of static LPG storage. An important milestone last year was the development of the VLGC handling kits that accommodate these large gas carriers. This has really strengthened our operations and our ability to handle large LPG shipments. And our expansion in Canada is progressing well. We have a CRL-4 liquid terminal, which will add another 94,148 cubic meters. This is underway and with commissioning targeted for the next. The two important pipeline developments, first of all, as we've spoken earlier, the Jamnagar Loni pipeline is now complete and operational and very well. The LPG pipeline, which is one of the country's largest LPG pipeline projects, is nearing completion. As per the latest CRYSL ratings report, the 1,958-kilometer main front pipeline laid. We understand that the Kandla-Latno section has been charged with LPG, and work on the remaining sections and the bottling plant connections are progressing well. We think that these pipelines will be important growth enablers for Kandla and PayPal. Fully operational, we will be able to handle larger LPG volumes and serve a wider customer base across. Moving on to PayPal, another APM terminal is developing a new VLGC-compliant larger LPG vessels and impressive turnaround in economics. Secondly, the Kanla Borukur Pipeline, as I mentioned earlier, is in an advanced stage to PIPAW, which will provide additional and more efficient evacuation into the land of India. And thirdly, of course, our existing rail-loading infrastructure, simple evacuation options. So I think together these developments will transform PIPAW into a more integrated LPG logistics hub, The biggest development, of course, was the commissioning of the ammonia terminal at PayPal, 1,000 metric tons of specialized ammonia storage and terminaling at PayPal. As I mentioned earlier, we have signed a 15-year take-all take agreement with Hindetan Zinc, revenue visibility and predictable cash flows. Most of us is storage asset. It's more than a storage asset. Much like our LPG business, it does allow us to participate in the distribution of ammonia to industrial customers, moving further along the value chain and capturing margins significantly higher than traditional. The strategic potential of this ammonia business is reinforced by the investment from Itoju Corporation, one of Japan's leading global trading houses, with whom, of course, we have a longstanding relationship, and they've acquired a 10% stake in LP Power Limited, which is the ammonia facility, and intend to increase its holding. The ammonia demand, traditional fertilized and industrial uses, potentially to emerging clean energy applications. This partnership with the total global sourcing and trading expertise, along with our integrated storage and logistics infrastructure. Our existing storage capacity of 82,000 metric tons of cubic meters continues to operate well. 1,577 cubic meters is underway, which will finally end up at 132,000 cubic meters of about 65,000 cubic meters. Added last year is now fully operational and operating at 100% utilization, taking our total capacity to 192. By the excellent demand that we're seeing in manual, evaluating at this point, adding a further 60,000 cubic meters of liquid storage. So this is a summary of our – by saying that our strong start to FY27 confidence in the growth trajectory of the business over the coming years, our proposed acquisition of TriStar Holdings Limited is a transformational milestone in Aegis' journey. It will really – a national footprint, diversify our revenue streams, and bring together, as far as the Indian side is concerned, multiple growth drivers are taking shape. The investments we have made over the years, along with the capacity expansion in demand, and deliver that handover to Murad, who will take you through sort of more financial details. Over to you, Murad.

So thank you, Mr. Raj. Let me take you through the financials and then our capital allocation framework. As Mr. Raj highlighted, we began FY27 on a very strong footing, delivering our record profitability. I would perhaps personally call this quarter a perfect quarter in terms of all parameters that we have delivered. I'm very happy for the same. Now, Aegis Logistics quarterly highlights. We reported revenue of 2,213 crores compared to 2,294 crores in the corresponding quarter last year. Despite the moderation in revenue, profitability improved significantly. As far as half-yearly highlights, As for Aegis Logistics is concerned, they delivered an exceptional first half with revenue up 14% year-on-year to 4,570 crore compared to 4,013 crore H1 FY26. Profitability improved substantially. Normalized segment beta nearly doubled 97% year-on-year to 1,184 crore compared to 602 crore in H1 FY26. Profit after tax more than doubled, also 108% to 866 crore, up from 417 crore in H1 of FY26. Reflecting this earnings performance, earnings per share also rose sharply to 21.23% from 8.86% in H1 FY26, a growth of 140%. As far as segment-wise breakup is concerned, in LPG, strong momentum continued in Q2 FY27, with EBITDA up 34% year-on-year to 309.25 crores. For H1 FY27, the LPG segment reported an EBITDA of 900 crores, an exceptional 137% growth year-on-year. As far as volume across the segments are concerned, distribution business, again, achieved 2.41 lakh metric tons, up 25% over Q2 FY26 for half-year. Volumes were 5.18 lakh metric tons, up 54%. We are very well on our way to touch the magic 1 million tons distribution volumes in this year, if you look at the rate at which we are at H1. This was, of course, driven by robust demand and continued customer additions across the market. Also, just to add here, please keep in mind, we have commissioned last year two very big, large cryogenic LPG terminals, 48,000 metric tons in P-Power to make it 70,000 metric tons there, and 82,000 metric tons in Manglore. Mangler gives us a new geography for distribution, and also the large capacities enable us to drive more volumes in our distribution business. In logistics, throughput volumes have increased by 19% over previous year, though they were a tad lower by 5% year-on-year at 1.34 million metric tons in Q2. So that shows a marked improvement from Q1, which was affected by the geopolitics disruption and global uncertainty. This also shows the resilience of our infrastructure platform and the reliability of our operations. Our sourcing business volumes were 0.9 lakh metric tons in Q2 and 2.1 lakh metric tons in H1FY27. Liquid division, turning to the liquid division, we delivered another quarter of strong, consistent growth. Q2FY27 revenue was 187 crore, up 21% year-on-year. For H1 FY27, the revenue was 366 crore, up 22%. This gives us a realization of over 3,600 rupees per CBM. You very well know that we hold 2 million CBM in the liquid segment storage capacity. EBITDA, again, was $147 crore, up 27% on the corresponding quarter last year. For H1F527, EBITDA stood at $284 crore, up 28%. I believe this year we may realize 3,000 rupees per CBM as EBITDA. Mind you, earlier we were talking about 3,000 rupees as per CDM for revenue. This may very well be the EBITDA realization from this year. So it's a very, very great performance as far as liquid division is concerned. Turning on to AG's OPAC Terminals Limited quarterly highlights for Q2 FY27, total revenue increased 16.6% year-on-year to 217 crore compared to 232 crore in the corresponding quarter last year in spite of all the geopolitics issues and global uncertainty that prevailed in the current year. EBITDA also grew by 22.4% to 212 crore compared with 173 crore in the Q2 of FY26, with EBITDA margins also expanding to 78.4% from 74.7% and improvement of approximately 372 basis points. Profit after tax was at 96.4 crore compared with 100.2 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The decline was, of course, mainly due to the higher finance cost and tax for the quarter. It is WPAC half yearly highlights. Looking at the first half of FY27, revenue increased by 14.6% year-on-year to 505 crore compared to 444 crore in H1 FY27. At 26, EPICTA grew by 19.2% to 392 crores, compared with 329 crores in the corresponding period last year. EPICTA margins here to improve to 77.7%, from 74.7%, reflecting an expansion approximately of 297 basis points. Profit after tax stood at 165.8 crores. As I have consistently emphasized in our earlier interaction, again reiterating two important messages, cumulative capex is expected to reach approximately US$1.2 billion by next year, reflecting the pace of expansion across our port network, looking further to add, and we have planned an aggregate capex investment of approximately $5 billion through 2030-31. Our investments would span both traditional energy infrastructure, emerging energy transition value chain. We will pursue this growth with disciplined funding through a balanced mix of equity, internal accruals, and debt, targeting a gearing of no more than 0.6x. Low leverage, strong cash generation, and a resilient balance sheet gives us the financial flexibility to move quickly on opportunities. Taking this occasion to wish all of you a very happy Dipavali and a prosperous New Year coming ahead. And thank you. I will now request the moderator to 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.

Our first question comes from the line of Vibhav

Zutsi with JP Morgan. Please go ahead.

Yes, hi, thanks for the opportunity, and congratulations on a strong Vonage performance. First question is on the TriStar acquisition. Sir, do you foresee any significant integration challenges given the difference in geographical presence and segments?

No, we intend. So, please, let's just keep in mind, this company has been operating for the last 30 years, And the entire management is in place and will carry on. We don't expect to change the management and the continuity will ensure that there is no disturbance in the operations and performance of the company. We would, of course, lend whatever skill set we have to the company, and it will only enhance the performance of the price card when we acquire. We have a lot of things which we can support each other on, and I'm sure it is going to be a wonderful journey going ahead.

Got it, got it. Just a follow-up here. So, you know, when we talk about the synergies from the acquisition, so for agent logistics perspective, would these primarily come from procurement efficiencies, lower input costs, or anything else?

Oh, no. So, we really are constrained to talk much on a transaction that has not been completed. So, pardon our constraint, because we cannot really step out and put everything right across. But we have explained that the company, TriStar, has storage terminals, liquid storage terminals spread across the globe. They have very high quality ships, very high-end trucks, and distribution business. A lot of things are akin to what we do in India. I think there will be a lot of synergy across both ways, and again, repeating the skill sets as well as TriStar going forward. I think we should leave it at that. More will come when we complete the transaction, and then we can dwell on more details at that particular point of time. Pardon us.

Sure, sure. Thank you. Sure. Just second quick question on now the distribution segment profitability. So, you know, bulk of the LPG related issues behind, I mean, do we go back to the 7,000 rupees per ton that you talked about? Or is there any deviation? I mean, just trying to understand that, you know, given the scale and, you know, the EVAGC compliance that we have, Obviously, we are seeing freight cost savings as well, but I mean, how to think about because it looks like, you know, the profitability in 2Q was down sequentially, which was any way expected. But yeah, how do you think about it going forward? Thank you.

Yeah, so sequentially, there was never to be a comparison, because the first quarter had geopolitics and difficulty margin. So it was more a price led margin, rather than cost efficiency. What has happened is that over the last one and a half years, we have improved our cost efficiency by having larger capacities where we can unload from the largest of the ships, and these cost efficiencies have scaled up our margin, which earlier historically, probably in 2024-25, was around Rs. 4,000 to around Rs. 7,000, clearly demonstrated by this quarter. That in spite of all the problems of supply blood going away, we still have delivered a 7,000 rupees. That is a huge demonstration of how we take advantage of our cost efficiency price. We don't lead in setting price, right? We follow price. So what margins we deliver is out of our supply chain efficiency that we have built over a number of years, which includes our partnerships, which includes our high quality, large capacities that we have built across the geography, the customer relationships that we have. And these all have made it possible for us to reach where we are now today with a very healthy 7,000 rupees margin in spite of everything back to normal. I think this is what is very reassuring.

Got it. Thank you so much and all the best.

The next question comes from the line of Satyam Kesarwani with Prabhu Das Liladar Private Limited. Please go ahead.

Hello, am I audible? Yeah. Yeah. Okay, sir. First of all, thank you for the opportunity. Congrats on great sort of numbers. Sir, firstly, I would like to talk, like, ask you about LPG business. Could you help us understand where exactly do we currently stand in terms of our market share when we talk about LPG handling and storage capacity? And on top of that, I would like to ask a follow-up question is that how do we see it going ahead? And also, what are the growth drivers of LPG currently? Because right now, mostly it is driven by domestic demand, right? What are the other drivers which is going to drive the incremental LPG demand going forward? That's my first question, sir.

Yep. Okay. So as far as capacities are concerned, we have built huge capacities which has helped us as a company to earn profits as well as it has helped our country as far as storage capacity for LPG is concerned. As you are aware, once our JNPA comes up, we would have a huge capacity of around 29 million tons, which we will be able to handle from our six terminals across India, which is Kandla, Pitawa, Mumbai, JNPA, Mangalore, India, all over the place. And therefore, we have a very large capacity which should help the country also to handle more of LPG, to store more of LPG, because LPG per se is very, very great. It's got 25% more calorific value than the nearest flywheel. It is portable. It is cheap. It can be packed in cylinders. It can reach anywhere across the country's varied geography. And also, you know, we, as a macro picture, the demand that is going to grow in energy is that India has, till date, a very low four-capita energy consumption. Of course, this is going to go up as the country is on a very, very fast and very high growth rate with income effect. More energy consumption is going to happen. In addition, a more cleaner fossil fuel and non-fossil fuel as energy source will be consumed because as the country will progress and develop and with the income effect, you know, a lot of dirty fuel like wooden, briquettes, etc. will be eased out going forward. So this is what drives the energy demand for LPG, income effect by GDP growth, and energy transition out of dirty fuel. Also, one more thing please keep in mind is that when we are putting up such large capacities, they enable very large shifts to get unloaded in our facility, which has the least of freight. And practically no demerits, because you can unload these very large ships carrying around up to 50,000 metric tons in 24 hours. So that is an unbelievable advantage as a country that we have, that we incur the least logistics cost to get energy into our country. And then you have large capacities to store bulk. So these are unbelievable infrastructure advantage, which I'm sure will greatly help going forward as the energy transition continues. I think I'll leave it to that. I can talk at no end on this.

Just, Murad, if I can just add one comment to yours. You know, we believe that, you know, with the six LPG terminals that Murad referenced and the capacities, the large-scale terminals, these are, you know, world-scale terminals. It's kind of difficult for anybody to replicate this network, not only the actual size and scale, the cost at which they have been built, But also the infrastructure that has been built alongside it with rail and pipeline evacuations and so on. So I think in answer to your general point about our competitive position in the LPG business in India, you know, I think we are quite well positioned. Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you, sir. Thank you for such an inability to answer. Sir, if you could help us quantify it, it would be great. Like, what is it currently in terms of, like, a number, and going ahead, is it a number that we are changing going ahead over the next couple of years? So, number for what? Market share, sir, market share for LPG capacity in India.

Oh, we hold more than 30% of the static capacity of LPG in the country. And leave it at that, who knows future. But today, we hold more than 30% of India's LPG static capacity.

Okay. Understood. Thank you so much. So, my second question is moving on to Ammonia business. So, basically, sir, over here, we want to expand our terminals to almost 8 to 10 terminal sites by 2013. And currently, recently, we commissioned our P-Power terminal. So, sir, I wanted to ask you, how do we see this particular segment going ahead, right? What sort of contribution are we looking from ammonia going ahead as we also going ahead like in LPG as well as in liquid. So how will ammonia going to do ahead? And of course, there's a lot of ambiguity about ammonia demand. Like, is there a clarity that you can provide over there? Thanks.

Yeah, let me take this. And please refer to our RHP last year when we did the IPO. There we have a whole chapter on ammonia written by an independent agency, Chris Hill, which talks about a supply-demand gap of around 3 million tons by 2029. So that gives you the demand as far as ammonia is concerned. What we have built today is a terminal which is so large that very large ships can bring ammonia into the country for the first time, 36,000 metric tons one tank. So that enables lower freight, again, reduction of logistics cost. Third is that we have built it at such a low cost of 50 million USD, that's around 525 crore. Now, that means that in ammonia also, I would be vertically integrated, that I would be sourcing ammonia for customers in India. I would be storing ammonia for customers in India, and I would also be distributing ammonia for customers in India. The distribution margin would be similar to LPG at 7,000 rupees because it is coming out of my procurement efficiency, not by the price that one can come out. Storage charges are around close to 2,750 rupees per metric. So this is what it brings to you. So if you get around 10,000 rupees a metric ton and you have built a terminal capable to do 1 million tons, even if you start at 25% capacity utilization as you begin, you have a huge payback because your cost is so low. That is the kind of profitability that we look at.

Okay, sir. Thank you so much. Again, congrats. I will fall back on the queue. Thank you.

The next question comes from the line of Priyankar Biswas with JM Financial. Please go ahead.

Yeah. Hi. Good afternoon, Raj and Murad. Great to hear you again. So, my first question is, so, of course, seeing the TriStar acquisition, I am just reminded of the time when you did the AG's GOPAC deal. So that was quite a long time back. And again, similar to that, I guess this also has to be seen from the long term, especially the synergies. Now, I know you may be constrained about talking on numbers specifically, since this is an ongoing deal. But what I would ask you is to address a few points, like what I see from the public domain information on TriStar is, They are very strong in end-to-end liquids distribution. So I don't think we are there currently. They also have shipping also, and they can do some inert gases also, that's easy, like argon and helium. So can you say, like, what kind of synergies, like these additional capabilities that you get, maybe some additional customer penetration? So, if you can talk more about this. So, I'm looking more from the long term that what sort of transformation that you can bring in not just Aegis, not just in TriStar, but also in Aegis logistics overall. So, more to get the value out of the deal. So, if you can explain.

Yeah, thank you. Thank you for bringing up these points. And these are what I call intangibles, but very, very exciting, you know, future that now we have. Like Mr. Raj said, it is a transformational change. We have to look at the target, TriStar, has worked for the last 30 years to build quality assets, spread, so it's small, small building blocks spread across the globe. Yeah. And secondly, so these are all part of supply chain, supply chain assets, very, very critical in current times, where these assets, including the ships, the trucks, the fuel farms, all are needed to reach products to the end point. The point I can tell you, and this is going to be really, really big time, when these relationships will come and we will get advantage of that because when you step into the shareholding, you become part of that family. And it's really exciting times to think of what kind of work we will be able to do with these deep relationships in India. On the other hand, we are also very excited with our partner, Itochu, to look forward that how best we can use these assets which have been set up across the globe to reach products. So currently, we were only thinking of India and distribution in India. I think now things will change going forward. It may take some time, but I'm sure that there will be a lot of distribution happening using the assets of Tristar. So, I think this is the most that I can talk about today, but I'm sure going forward, we will be able to talk in more details.

Yeah, if I can just add, Murad, just a couple, and thanks, Priyanka, for highlighting the strategic benefits of the TriStar thing. And as Miraz said, and I said in my earlier remarks as well, once the transaction is complete in the next few months, we will definitely be talking to all of you with respect to the real synergies and benefits that we expect. But just to highlight a couple of things in addition, you mentioned ships. Now, we know that, for example, several of the TriStar ships, they have, you know, 20, you know, over 20 ships, 28 ships, I think, in total. Many of them call at the ports that we operate. They are in liquids and in gas. You mentioned inert gases. That's definitely an area where we can leverage their expertise in India. They do aircraft-free fueling, you know, at airports, and that's going to be – and they have, you know, some good expertise in that. So there are many areas, but I think – and, of course, as he mentioned, the customer partnerships that they have with Shell, with Glencore, with so many other, you know, BP, Total, and so on, Saudi Aramco, so many different partnerships that they have, long-term business relationships. And these will all be available for ages to leverage and bring into India. So I think this just gives you a flavor, but it is truly an important step for ages going forward over the next three, four, five years, ten years possibly.

Raj, that was a very clear explanation. Just asking here only, like, does the Tristar give us this advantage that right now you can actually, you are essentially both at the source and destination of the liquid trade? I mean, in India, we were kind of the destination. Of course, there were some exports happening, while Middle East, U.S. are kind of a lot of the sources. So, does that also translate into synergies, and would it actually help us achieve the goals that we have set, let's say, in Aegis Vopak of going to, let's say, from 3 million to, let's say, 6 million KL eventually? So, would that accelerate our journey?

Yeah, I think, as I mentioned, you know, the kind of deep relationships they have with the, you know, sources in the Middle East, assuming that the current conflict, you know, will at some point die down, they have very deep relationships with, you know, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, with, you know, with, you know, Saudi Aramco and all the other sort of major oil producing companies and countries in the Middle East. So, you know, definitely having that, those deep connections will enable us to leverage that for the benefit of AGEs. I think at this point, Priyanka, I think I can't go into more detail, obviously.

Yes, yes, I understand your constraints. So that's why I kept the questions qualitative rather than asking on numbers. And just two numbers I would want from you. That's purely from the results, don't worry, not from the TriStar. So, I may have missed it. So, Murad, if you can tell me the liquids and gas EBITDA for Aegis and AVPL respectively. So, I think I may have missed the numbers.

Oh, yes. So, it is liquid EBITDA. Just give me a minute. Liquid EBITDA was 147 crore, and the gas EBITDA was 309 crore. And for AVTL? For AVTL, we gave only consolidated EBITDA, right? So, that's 392 crores.

Okay, okay. So, that's broadly from my side.

The next question comes from the line of Kunal Mehta with Ingrid Equities. Please go ahead.

Hi, Murad and Rao, sir. Very, very good evening. Sir, my first question is on the LPG logistics volumes. First of all, so you mentioned in the previous answer that, you know, our capacity has now gone above 29 million throughput. And as far as I know, the consumption demand in India is roughly 33 million. So, and I think last year we did a volume of around 5.2 million in terms of logistics volume. So, how do we see this grow? If you can also provide, you know, the quarterly and half-yearly logistics volumes, absolute number, so we can get a sense of how are we progressing, why, why?

Yeah, so we have already said that we have improved by 19% our logistics volume in Q2. Q1 was affected by the war, so it was 1.1 million and 1.3 million in Q2 makes it 2.4 million. We should definitely have an upside on the previous year, 5.1 million that we did. 29 million is when JNPA next year is going to be ready. Currently, we are at 20 million. So, we are around 25% plus as far as capacity utilization is concerned. So, we are well above our ask rate to get our huddled IR.

Okay. And so, the liquid segment has done fairly well on the beta per ton, as you mentioned. We will be approaching around 3,000 per CBM. If you can just show some light on how are we achieving this? Are we doing more fast-moving liquids to, you know, optimize utilization of the tanks? And if you can just show some light on that.

Yes, so what happened was last, or just read the recent past, we have commissioned around 60,000 CBM in Mumbai, which is a high-value location, and we have also commissioned 101,000 CBM in JNPA, another high-value, high-realization location. So these are driving up the EBITDA. What is coming up is even more exciting that 318,000 odd CBM is again coming up in JNPA, 64,000 additionally at Mumbai. So these are again going to further drive up the EBITDA margin. Of course, product mix also makes a difference. So, that is in addition to capacities coming up in higher realization locations.

And similarly, on the LPG distribution side, is the EBITDA per ton gone a little below 7,000? Has the pricing normalized for the bulk?

No, or in fact, realize EBITDA for a ton in distribution is a shade about 7,000 in the current quarter Q2, which is you can regard as a normal quarter. So we have achieved 7,000 plus. That comes out of the fact that we have procurement efficiencies by setting up the supply chain, quality supply chain assets, and the partnerships that we have. It makes it possible to get it from the best source, to cart it in the best of ships, the largest with lowest fret, to unload it in terminals which have the least demerge and the capacity to unload very large ships, and then the distribution assets which effectively reach it to the end consumer. The entire chain has been painstakingly constructed over the last so many years, and a loan has come.

We have recently commissioned the take or pay. Does it start right away, or is this from FY28 onwards?

No, it will start in this year. Later this year.

Okay. And just one last question that, you know, we already have a massive CAPEX plan ongoing of roughly $5 billion. And, you know, this acquisition also is roughly around $800 million. And I think this is going to put some additional stress on the ages versus balance sheet. So how do we plan to fund it? Any culls on that if you can provide?

So we have already passed a resolution in Extraordinary General Meeting to do a funding of 6,000 crore. We have, if you see my September balance sheet, already 6,400 crore available cash. So we are good. We don't need to stretch. We don't need to take crazy debts for the acquisition. As far as Aegis Bopac is concerned, the capex of $5 billion, we have explained time and again, repeatedly, that we will follow a very conservative 0.6 debt gearing. So that requires $2 billion of equity, which both the partners, Aegis and Bopac, have diluted their equity by listing the company, doing the IPO last year. That would bring in the required equity along with the internal accruals. So here, Aegis Vopec CapEx is self-funded by dilution of equity and listing of its shares. So we are very comfortable in the parent. We hardly have, we have no debt, and as I said, 6,400 crore of free cash, And this acquisition is exactly matching with what cash we have in our pocket. So that is not a stretch by any imagination.

Okay, sir. Great. Thank you. And I'm very happy to give you two ages, family. Thank you. Thank you so much.

The next question comes from the line of Kondya Nimagada with Jeffrey's Group. Please go ahead.

Yeah, hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. Firstly, a bookkeeping question before I get into other stuff on AGS Wofac. Can you help me with the throughput for the quarter, please? That is 1.1 million dollars. Understood. And, sir, secondly, in Wofac, I don't know, there is this minor drop in liquid realisation, but I see the margins have gone up. Same is the case with gas segment where the margins have gone up. Can you help us understand on the realization bit and also the margin separately, please?

No, I'm sorry. I did not get your question.

So in Asia's workbook pack, right, there is a marginal quarter-on-quarter drop in realizations in the liquid segment, if I were to look at. And at the same time, if I were to look at the margins, right, the margins have gone up for both liquid and also for gas segment. So just trying to understand what was the margin expansion.

Yeah, so margin expansion, like I said, if you do more revenue in locations of higher realization, you get more margins, and simple as that.

Okay. Understood. Maybe more JNPA, perhaps. Great.

So more from JNPA? Yeah.

Understood. Thank you and all the rest.

The next question comes from the line of Siddharth Chauhan with 361 Capital. Please go ahead.

Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity and congratulations on a good set of numbers. If you can expand further on the competitive intensity in the LPG terminal segment, given recently we have seen comments from Petronet LNG that they plan to build a 3 million ton propane storage at the hedge. I believe even Indian Oil, BPCL, I think JSRB Infra, they are also working on expanding or coming up with new LPG storage capacities. So can you expand further on the intensity a bit?

No, so infrastructure is always welcome. India is short on infrastructure. We have around 1 million metric tons of static storage capacity, as far as I know, in India. That is not even equivalent to 10-day storage. Most of the countries, I may not say every, most of the countries in the world would ideally like 90 days storage capacity and infrastructure. So we have a very, very long way to go. We are very short. So, anybody doing anything on infrastructure is welcome. But it has to be done at the right cost. It has to be done in the right time. That is the key.

Okay. And just one bit on the distribution part. In Morbi, what is the price of LPG and natural gas currently?

This is completely commercial, so I would not like to comment. It changes regularly, so that's very detailed, yeah.

Okay, no worries. Thank you so much, and wish you a happy Diwali. Thank you. Same to 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.

Okay. Thank you so much. I think there were some very important questions that we are keen to answer, of course, on TriStar, but we are, to a certain extent, constrained to really get into the details. But thank you so much for bringing up and highlighting how important this move is for us and how transformational it will be for ages. Otherwise, what I'd like to leave everybody with the message is that I think we've had an amazing first half of the year. The second half of the year promises to be, you know, as good, if not better. Generally speaking, we have a better second half. And really looking forward to the story as we roll it out, and we'll connect probably the end of January. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Aegis Logistics and Aegis Wopac Terminals, that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.