Ahluwalia Contracts (India) Limited (AHLUCONT) Q4 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Aluwalya Contracts India Limited Q4 FY26 Earnings Conference Call hosted by Ambit Capital Private Limited. As a reminder, all participant clients 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, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Sudeep Bora from Ambit Capital. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Good afternoon, everyone.

On behalf of Ambit Capital, I thank the management of Aguwalya Contracts India Limited for the opportunity to host their Q4 FY26 earnings conference call. To discuss the results, I am pleased to welcome Mr. Shobit Uppal.

Thank you so much.

Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for joining in on this investor call. Aluvalia Contracts India Limited has announced its financial results for Q4 FY26. During Q4 FY26, the company has achieved a turnover of 1322.30 crores and a pad of 80.14 crores in comparison to a turnover of 1215.84 crores and a pad of 83.16 crores during Q4 FY25. The company has registered a growth of 8.76% in turnover and a degrowth of 3.63% in fat during Q4FY26 in comparison to Q4FY25. EPS of the company for Q4FY26 is Rs.11.96 as compared to EPS of Rs.12.41 in Q4FY25. During Q4FY26, the company's EBITDA margin is 9.35% as compared to 10.17% in Q4FY25, and PAT margin is 5.95% as compared to PAT margin of 6.74% in Q4FY25. During FY26, the company has achieved a turnover of 4565.20 crore. And a PAT of 264.32 crores in comparison to a turnover of 4098.62 crores and a PAT of 201.51 crores during FY25. During FY26, the company has registered a growth of 11.38% in its turnover and 31.17% in PAT in comparison to FY25. During FY26, EPS of the company is Rs.39.46 as compared to an EPS of 30.08 in FY25. During FY26, the company's EBITDA margin is 9.52% as compared to 8.34% and a PAT margin of 5.70% as compared to 4.85% in FY25. Net worth of the company has crossed 2,000 crores as on 31-3-2026. The net order book of the company has on 31st March 2026, his rupees 21,096.31 crores to be executed over the next 24 to 30 months. Total order inflow during FY26 was 10,257.39 crores. At present, we are L1 in two projects amounting to 1620.95 crores. Thank you. We are ready to take questions.

Thank you very much. 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 please use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Our first question comes from the line of Shravan Shah with Dollar Capital. Please go ahead.

Hi, thank you, sir. A couple of things, sir. Now, we are L1 in two projects, so if you can specify, it would be great. And so now how we can look at the full layer in terms of the order in flow, and given that we are already at 21,000 crore plus and plus 1,600, so kind of what 22,700 odd crore. So, now, will the execution will ramp up significantly in FY27, 28? So, what kind of a number one can look at in 27 and 28?

So, Shravan, yes, the order execution will ramp up now. We have a, we are stocked up as far as the order book is concerned. We are giving a guidance of 15 to 20 percent in this year, and as far as the order inflow is concerned, the target is about 8,000 crores.

Including this, Shravan?

Yes.

Okay, but sir, for this even 15-20% also seems to be lower, rather it should be at least 20% kind of a number. So FY28 can be seen much higher in terms of the execution.

Sorry, come again. I've given you guidance of FY27, right? So, you're saying that further on, you're asking me about FY28, is it?

Yeah, even FY27, this 15-20%, or rather it should be a minimum 20%, that's what I was looking at. And FY28, how?

You can see that I'm giving guidance from the past 2-3 years, and I'm giving 10-15%. Our order book, and because we are well stocked up, and the other, in which states we are working, the stable government is coming, so in that regard, I have increased our guidance for nearly 5 percentage points. So, the other thing, many headwinds, primarily due to war, there is a big uncertainty. So, I don't think we should give guidance more than this.

Okay, so 28 may be similar, kind of, and then the margins are, we were looking at 10% at least, but actually 9.5% are full layer, F526. So, and given, obviously, the commodity run up because of the war, so how we look at the margin in 1H also?

The margin profile, as I said in my last call, was a double-digit indication and we are nearly there. We are at 9.5% and this is in spite of numerous headwinds that we faced in the last quarter. You know, elections which were in early April, you know, March was a write-off on account of the fact that due to SIR and elections in Bengal and a lot of labor left in the other parts of the country where our projects are, especially NCR, where nearly 40-50% of our projects are, they went from here. Thank you. In Assam, there were majorly slowdowns in Assam because the state started facing cash crunch. So in spite of these headwinds, we have managed to increase this thing by 9.5%, which is more or less in line with the guidance that I have given last time. And we will cross, we will be into double-digit margins in this year.

Okay, okay. And lastly, sir, a couple of balance sheet data points. Mobilization advance, retention money, and unbilled revenue.

Yes, Admir is going to answer this, yeah.

Mobilization advance is 802 crores, and the retention is, including non-credit, is 450 crores, and unbilled revenue is 688 crores.

Sir, just two, three bigger projects, particularly the CSTM registration. So, correct me if I'm wrong. So, third quarter order book and now it seems that a 470 odd crore execution has been done. So, is there any adjustment in that? Because since the execution is much better, and if it is, so how one can look at the FI 27-28, similarly the Indian Dwellery Park one, and the recently one, the Central Vista, the project.

So, as you said, CSMT, the execution of the last year has been ramped up. The designs are now approved and the project has picked up speed. We will see an increase in the revenue from this project. As far as Central Vista is concerned, this project was a design-built project. The project was awarded to us in January, on 14th January. So our design is getting frozen. We have begun execution on the ground. The building, one of the two buildings, Nirmal Bhavan, has been fully demolished, and we started execution, excavation, and concrete. So, this year, we'll see substantial revenue being accrued from this project also. IGPM, at the moment, the designing is happening. There, the work on the ground will begin in the last month of this quarter.

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

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Lakshmi Narayanan KG with Tunga Investments. Please go ahead.

Yeah, thank you. Hope I'm audible. Yeah, you are. Thank you. Question. Hi. See, in recent quarters or maybe in recent years, we have seen a noticeable step up in our CapEx intensity. You know, however, this increased investment hasn't yet translated into a corresponding expansion, you know, in EBITDA in a significant manner, which would exert downward pressure on our structural ROE. You know, if you can help me understand if this lower asset turnover is a new normal of the business or because whenever, you know, we have been exceptional in terms of, you know, return ratios and, you know, lower depreciation with disciplined capex. Now, the higher capex is not commensurately increasing the margins and therefore it is and also depreciation is increasing as you can see. Now, is it a new normal for the business that, you know, what we used to enjoy maybe a decade back or maybe like three, four years back also is distant in terms of return ratios because the CapEx is increasing and it is not, at least the way in which, you know, I see it in the last one year, it is not increasing the margins in general. So I just want to understand structurally how the company is going through a different shift, how the industry is going through a shift where CapEx is needed to stay in the same place and not excel in the operating margin.

A very interesting question, Mr. Lakshmi Marayan. So, yes, the last point that you made, you know, both the industry as well as our company is at an inflection point. What we see now, if you see, if you've tracked our company also, since we are only in buildings and factories, you know, the size of the orders, individual orders, has gone up considerably, and the timelines are getting squeezed. What that means is that buildings at the scale at which we are operating, the buildings are becoming more complex. So to handle such buildings, CAPEX is going up, will go up, because we require mechanization. That is further exacerbated or the need for machinery or mechanization is further enhanced because of shortage in labor. What we've been seeing over the last 2-3 years that there are various factors which now virtually around the year lead to a shortage of labor. Earlier on it used to be for a couple of months. Maybe around the, when it was cut in April or festive season towards the end of the year, but now virtually through the year, every month or so, the labor supply is disrupted. So hence, you know, we feel, or we, you know, the top management of the company decided a couple of years ago that we would invest in mechanization. The full effects of which, while this is the new norm, right, but the full effects as far as our company is concerned, you know, since we have been at this inflection point, and we've been preparing for it, as we've said in our past couple of investor calls, the impact towards the positive side will be seen in the coming couple of years, and our margins will go up. You will see that. They've already gone up in the last year, and you will see them further going up in this year than the following year. More so when we are, you know, the higher CAPEX also is on account of the fact that, you know, we not only are we are well stocked or we won, you know, over the last two years, if memory serves me right, we've taken an order into about 18,000 crores. And so we are well stocked up and we are well geared to execute this in the next three to three and a half years. One. Secondly, because of our presence in areas like, say, Bihar, Bengal, Assam, NCR, of course, being our backyard, now all these areas have very stable governments. And the governments are the same in these states and in the center. So the cash strife or the payments issues that we had faced earlier in these states, we feel they are a thing of the past. So going forward, I think the margin, that's why we are giving you an increased guidance on the margins as well as top line.

Sorry, so the depreciation would continue to meaningfully increase or, you know, what would be the increase in depreciation with respect to the, for the capex with respect to the revenue growth? Because we have an exceptionally strong order book. Just want to understand how do we kind of map it in terms of whether the capex would grow higher than the revenue growth and therefore higher depreciation. Is that how to think about in the next three or five years?

So, you know, as I said, the CAPEX in this year, FY27 will be on the similar lines. You know, we feel, in fact, you know, a couple of quarters ago, I had given a guidance of CAPEX of about 500 crores. As we moved along, we've seen, you know, we factored in some headwinds and we factored in, you know, how by increasing the efficiency of our machinery, we've been able to reduce the capex in this year to about 274 crores. And I think moving forward, around 300 crores would be the capex in FY27 also. Depreciation would increase, but on similar lines.

God, this is helpful. Just one question. See, if you look at that, the inflation has actually increased across the board, driven by fuel prices. Now, Since our projects are L1 and we'll have limited room, if I think, how do you ensure that the margins are protected? Or this is something which you have to keep in mind that it's difficult to negotiate for the price increases as you execute the projects.

So, the answer to this is twofold. One, almost all of our contracts now have a built-in escalation clause. To give you, to cite an example, this 3,000 crore contract for Central Vista, you know, there is an escalation clause, 10cc, which is based on wholesale price index. So where labor is also covered and the material increase is also covered. Having said that, you know, what we've seen in the short term in the last one, one and a half, two months, the WPI has not moved as much or the movement does not commensurate with the actual increase in prices, especially the metal prices. We have, not only us, but the other construction companies have also represented to the government directly and through industry bodies that they should take a look at this. And the ministry is taking an actual look at how, when they principally have agreed to compensate a price increase to the contractors, how they can be more fair. What I can say at this stage is they are also biding their time, they are seeing how long the impact of this war is going to last. So, if it is a prolonged impact, I think wherever there is a gap between the WPI uptick and the actual inflation, that they will find a way to compensate us. As regards to private clients, you know, like say DLF or other large builders or developers like Brigade or Maya and so on and Signature Global, all heavy material like cement, steel, raw material, the basic price of procurement is a pass-through. The inflation is a pass-through. So we are adequately covered. Having said that, If, if, if the war prolongs for a longer period. Hello?

Yeah, I am listening.

Yeah, I think somebody was on on mute. So, so, I think I have answered your question.

Yeah, thank you. And third question is that, if you look at the last two years, there have been challenges, two challenges. One is the pollution control thing that actually happened in the NCR for two consecutive years. And also, the labor availability was also a challenge. Now that we are scaling up, and I think our order book is much better than, it's almost doubled in the last two years. How do you, what are the steps you are taking to mitigate or to nullify these two big risks which we are actually facing?

So, NGT continues to be a risk, but what has happened is that, you know, the entire ecosystem It's coming together to sort of see how we can mitigate the inefficiency which is there during this period of two to three months. One of the things that the developers have started doing or clients have started doing is that, you know, they pay for labor, which is idle whenever the work is stopped so that the labor does not run away. And we sort of lose time. If the labor leaves the site, then once the ban is lifted, you know, we take time for the labor to be brought back. So, you know, so in effect, if the project stays closed for a month, it takes another month for the labor to come back. To ensure that it doesn't leave the site and the impact only is of the days. That the project is shut down. The developers or the clients have started compensating the labor through us or directly or through us. Secondly, you know, projects such as Central Vista, which is now a large part of our order book in NCR, is not impacted by NGT. So, we foresee a substantial contribution to our top-line growth from that project, even during the months.

The person you are speaking with has put your call on hold. Please stay on hold.

Yeah, I'm welcome.

Yeah, so, yeah, that is that. And thirdly, you know, as I said, the government is also, again, the industry bodies, the various clients, contractors, they are talking to the government, you know, pollution mitigation measures have been taken on site, like again, at the Central Vista project, we've got missed sprayers all over the site along the boundary, along the fencing on the building, so on and so forth. So, we are all, all these efforts, I think, will lead to a reduced impact. And hence, the number of days of shutdown, I think, should be lesser this year.

Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask a question, you may please press star and one. Our next question is from the line of Keshav Garg from Counter-Cyclical PMS. Please go ahead.

So, if we see our order book has doubled over the past two years, but our revenues have grown at less than 9% CAGR over the past two years. So, what I am trying to understand is what has changed in the current year that we will do approximately double the revenue growth that we have been doing in the past two years because orders were anyway not an issue.

Yeah, so, as I said, you know, most of our slow-moving projects, like, say, somebody asked a question about CSMP. CSMP, which was, till recently, our largest, one of our largest order wins, that, for the first year and a half, was a slow-moving project on account of, you know, the designs getting changed and approvals getting delayed. Now, that has picked up speed. Secondly, you know, projects in states such as the sound. Bengal and Bihar, which were slow moving because of political upheavals. Now all these states have a stable government. So there will be these projects again, I think, will move much faster. And thirdly, you know, with a lot of our orders, such as large orders, such as the two airports that we are doing, again, design is a thing of the past. Now, you know, we are looking to complete the Varanasi airport actually ahead of schedule because there are elections next year there. Darbanga also will be closed out in this year. Kota, which is a new order wind for us, their designing is happening, and two months down the line, we'll be breaking ground. As I said earlier, Central Vista, which is our largest order wind till date, there we've already broken ground, and the timelines of that project, due to the nature of that project, are extremely, it's a fast-moving project, where we'll be logging a turnover of close to 100 to 150 crores a month. So all this This will contribute to... The growth projections that I have given at the beginning of my call.

Now, sir, if I remember correctly, a few years back, you had said that to the question that why our margins had come down from low double digits to low teams to basically single digit margins. So, you had said that once the private sector order book becomes the land share of the business, so margins will again go up. So, now that has happened. Now, I think over 60% of the order book is of private clients. So now... At the time of bidding, you must be keeping some margin in mind before bidding. On this order book, when we execute it, will we be able to reach that kind of margin?

Margin will go up and we will be near about double digit or we will hit a double digit. We are nearly there. So in the last one year also, you know, as our private sector, this thing has gone up exposure. We have increased from 8.3% to 9.5% as far as EBITDA is concerned. And, as I am saying, going forward, this will further increase, you know, we will be well into the double digits now. And I had also said last time, the glory days of 13 to 14 percent are, or the teens, so to say, are, I don't think, you know, there are too many factors which are beyond our control. So, I don't think in the short term, we can, we will be getting there.

Okay, sir. So now that 12-13 margins are no longer. So basically, what has changed fundamentally in the industry that the margins have come down? Because, I mean, one would have expected the operating leverage to quicken. I mean, when we were doing one-third, one-fourth the current revenue base, that time we were doing 12-13% EBITDA, and now with triple the revenue, we are doing 9.5-10%.

So, if you were to see, this is an industry-wide phenomenon, even if you were to, all of you would have done a peer comparison, we have done it. Not only now, last few quarters we are doing, we are consistently in the higher bracket of the kind of results or margins that we are declaring, right? This is an industry-wide phenomenon. Part of the reason is that while the industry is growing, the capex is growing, the skill levels are actually deteriorating, labor shortage is increasing. That's why I mentioned that this industry is at an inflection point. While we are aspiring or aspirational to make buildings at par with those being made or having been made earlier in the developed part of the globe, but the skill levels don't exist. So, I think, be it the government or the developers or the contractors, they are realizing this now. Hence, more and more mechanization is happening. But it will take time. Even with mechanization, we need train operators, train excavator operators, pump operators, so on and so forth. So there is a skill shortage across the board. And, you know, this cannot be upgraded at the press of a button. This takes time. Hence, the margins have come down across the board.

Understood, sir. Now, sir, what is the net cash that we have?

Yes, please. Netcash.

Netcash. Netcash is a call for women. This is Gash & Frank Valencia G817 code.

Understood, sir. So now in way back, like in 2008, our 18 years back, our stock price was 350 rupees, and now it is 760. So basically, the shareholders have the wealth has grown by four, four and a half percent CAGR, which is less than the rate of inflation. And there have been no significant dividends also. So so and now that we are in a very comfortable net cash position, sir, don't you think we should do a big share by So that the number of shares can reduce and whatever future growth gets divided on a smaller equity base and the government has reduced taxes on the share buyback also. So because ultimately we are debt-free, so then why just subsidize banks by giving them low-cost deposits?

Look, our industry has always been at the forefront of cycles, and the cycles, you know, at times it's difficult to predict. Three months ago, we were thinking that, you know, we were riding a wave, and, you know, all of a sudden the war hit, and the future is now quite uncertain. So, during such time, it's always better. To, you know, have a war chest with you, which, you know, this is what our past experience has taught us. During the last downturn, when a lot of our fear fell by the wayside, we could survive the downturn, and, you know, we could continue to grow. So, at the moment, the share buyback is not in the offering. That's not even crossed our mind.

Sir, now, my last question is, sir, that are we thinking of putting up a pre-cast facility, especially in the NCR region, where we have a good business for the same reason of, like, labor substitution and so on?

We are internally debating on how to use technologies which are being used in more developed nations. Pre-cast, pre-engineered building, pre-cast building, you know, these are things and, you know, also how to do pre-engineered services as far as MEP is concerned. All this is being looked at, researched. But for this, to succeed, you know, you need greater standardization. We are in active talks with a lot of our large clients, where we are sort of convincing all constituents of the ecosystem to look at standardization so that more and more things can be done off-site and brought to site in knock-down condition, you know. So this is something which, you know, is not something which is a short-term solution. As I said earlier, you know, upskilling would also form a key part of, you know, all of this. So, going forward over the next two to three years, yes, some of these will be brought to use in a lot of our projects, but it's not something which will be seen in the next year, year and a half.

Understood, sir. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Amit Ketan with Laburnum Capital. Please go ahead.

Hi, thanks for taking my question. Just wanted to understand on your guidance of 15 to 20% growth and double digit margins. To what extent are the current macro headwinds sort of factored in your guidance? And what are the potential factors which could sort of lead to under delivery, either on execution or on margin?

So I, you know, at a micro level, I think we've factored in quite a few, quite like political instability, as I said, in states. That is something now seems to be a thing of the past. The only thing which can derail this is if the impact of the war, if this war is prolonged. And, you know, India's fiscal performance or financial performance or India's gap, you know, it widens the trade gap, right? And that is something which is beyond our control. Otherwise, that will impact the rupee dollar, this thing also. Otherwise, I don't really see any other reason. Which can stop us from meeting the guidance that I have given.

Fair enough. Just wanted to understand, how does the, can you just

explain a bit in terms of how the impact of the war impacts our business, either directly or indirectly?

So, when the war began, the first impact, which was the immediate impact, was the LPG prices or the lack of availability of LPG cylinders, which directly impacted the labor. You know, the labor ran away. To their native places because they use LPG to cook their food. So that was an immediate impact. And labor is a key resource today. In fact, as I mentioned in an answer to the earlier question, that today, you know, we are facing a huge crunch as far as skilled labor is concerned. So that was a direct impact. Now, going forward, you know, the price of fuel, this also now has an indirect and direct impact towards inflation. Thirdly, you know, supply chain is badly disrupted. A lot of materials, or at least the components, say, to give you an example, electrical panels. Now, switchgear is not available. So, the delivery of, say, a panel from the time that the order was placed, if it used to be two months, now it is not less than four months. And so, there are delays everywhere on this account. That has an impact on our overheads, on our IDCs.

Understood. That's helpful. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Parvez Kazi with Novama Group. Please go ahead.

Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions. Hi, Parvez.

Yeah, hi. So, a couple of questions. First, you said we are looking at adding about 8,000 crore of orders in FY27. So, I mean, in terms of your target, Would these be more towards private sector or government sector? Also, in terms of segments, will we continue to kind of stay away from this private residential orders and focus more on commercial institutional orders? Just wanted to get some color on it.

Yeah, so the first question, answer to that is, it would be in line with our broader vision, overall vision of... Having an equitable split as far as our client list is concerned, so it will be half and half tentatively. As regards residential orders, in NCR, residential is not a focus for us, but in the southern part of the country or the western part of the country, we are not averse to picking up residential orders with clients who are stable. And which was the last question that you asked? Sorry.

Have I answered your question, Surveith?

You have answered my question. The second question is, and I'm sorry if you were given this data earlier, what is the quantum of fixed price orders in our order book currently?

This is 11%.

And lastly, I mean, in view of the significant amount of volatility, I mean, both external as well as even the domestic operating conditions and which you talked about, about labor shortages and NGT ban and so on and so forth. How is the competitive intensity in this segment now? Has it increased? Or do you think some people have gone away from the segment, witnessing the challenges which are there? Just wanted your thoughts on that.

So while last quarter when we spoke, or when I sort of took the last call, the competitive intensity was high. Over the past couple of months, you know, there is a bit of a status quo. Everybody or each constituent of the ecosystem is trying to evaluate. Where we are headed, the private developers have also slowed down the launches, fresh launches, and the government sector also. As I said, there was a spate of elections in various states. So the machinery as such over the past couple of months was slow, was moving very, very slowly. So it would not be prudent for me to sort of predict. Or project where the competitive intensity is headed. I think over the next couple of months, people will bite their time.

Thanks and all the well. Thanks.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Vaibhav Shah with JM Financial. Please go ahead.

Sir, just to harp on margins, so you mentioned that you are expecting a double digit margin for sure in FI27. So given the headwinds in terms of the rising raw material cost and the labor availability is a big challenge. So what gives you confidence of that 10% plus margins? Is it the mix of the order book right now?

It's the mix of the order book, both in terms of private and public sector. It's also how the order book is spread geographically. And thirdly, also because 89% of our order book, the escalation clauses are inbuilt. And so, yeah, these are the things. And most of our large orders, be it the Central Vista project, be it the DLF project, the escalation clauses or the majority of the volatile materials are covered.

Okay, so if I look at the top three projects, so what kind of execution are we targeting in FY27 from CSMT, GEMS Jewelry, and the Central Vista project?

So CSMT would be around 600 crores. The Central Vista would be about 1000 crores. And the third one, which one did you mention, Dahlia's IGP? GEMS Jewelry, IGP. IGPM, as I said, the designing, it would not be prudent for me to comment on that. We've kept our targets modest, about 100 crores and Dahlia's. Did you ask about Dahlia's? Hi, Dahlia's. So, Dahlia's would be to the tune of about 400 crores.

So if I look at the IGPM guidance, so earlier we were targeting a much higher revenue from the project to any particular issue with it, or are you seeing a delayed start in execution given the designing is going on?

Yeah, as I said, we will start towards the end of this quarter, but there are certain changes in design which are happening there. That's why we've kept our...

Okay. Secondly, in terms of depreciation, so it was around 29 knots per hoods in Q4, do you see this run rate going forward?

Yes, that would be one similar line in proportionate to that. Already this year is 66 to 97 this year, and according to 250 to 300, we are planning for the CAPEX in the next year, and the position would be according to that, proportionately.

Okay. Okay.

Okay. And lastly, on the working capital side, we have seen some increase this year, especially in the second half. So I was looking at the other current assets, it has jumped up significantly from 1100 to almost 1100.

Other current assets have been including unbuild revenue retention money, that's exactly, this is unbuild revenue has been increased to 688 quote, and our working capital days has been. Thank you.

One euro for one euro for one.

Yeah, hold on, hold for a moment. This is the last photo, this is 103 days, and now it's 104 days, and last year you were talking about this was around.

I calculated capital X of cash, it was coming around.

But definitely, but this is the airline with the our system.

Yeah, so we see some reduction in 27 or it should be at 21 levels.

That is, I think that is standard. This is 104 days, that is standard.

So it should be at similar levels going forward? Yes. Okay, okay. So lastly, in terms of since largest part of the elections have at the state level have been done during this year. So labor, do you see it should be better compared to volatile last year?

Look, last three months have been particularly bad for labor. I think going forward, things will improve. But labor shortage is here to stay. As I mentioned earlier, you know, these skills, there is a deficit of skills also. And then the labor is only coming from a handful of states, three or four states only. And construction pipeline is increasing. So this is a problem that we will have to grapple, continue to grapple with. But we are looking at more mechanization, we are looking at upskilling, and we are looking at standardization, helping more mechanization. So all the constituents of the ecosystem are coming together to see how we can combat this. But over the next three to four years, this is a problem that will be there. It's here to stay.

Are there any payment challenges in particular states?

At the moment, no. There were challenges in Assam over the last four to five months, you know, the state machinery was preparing for elections, and as we've seen, generally, three to four months before the elections happen or are stated to happen, everything slows down, but we've seen an uptick towards the elections there also, as far as release of our funds is concerned.

Okay. Thank you, sir. Those are my questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Mahesh Patil with ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.

Yeah. Hi, sir. So, the first question is on the uncertainties that you have elected on account of war. So, is it also impacting our pipeline? Are the new projects, new builds being created?

You know, pipeline is impacted, but we are not that affected because we are well stocked up, we have a healthy order book. So, going forward, we are sort of hiding our time, we are waiting and watching, and we are only picking up going forward. Picking up contracts with either our existing clients or well-established clients with deep pockets. So we are not that affected. But yes, the pipeline overall, as I said, in answer to an earlier question, there is everybody is sort of waiting and watching and trying to see as far as the war is concerned.

Okay, sir. And, sir, we have, I think, reported this time our order issue and order book excluding GST values, right? We have also given the past year numbers. So, can we make the order inflow for this quarter if we want to compare it with last quarter or last three quarters?

Q4, Q4, Q4, I am talking about Q4.

So, you are asking for the order inflow in Q4, is that what you are saying? Q4, comparison to Q5, Q5. What is that?

Yes, sir, correct.

Our order, order to, just ask me first. Fy26 model, 4304, and regarding Fy25, 44, we will get back to this.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Salil Desai with Marcellus Investment Managers. Please go ahead. Thank you.

Sir, just to clarify, you said the Q4 order issue was 430 crores.

4300 crores.

4,300.

Okay, all right. Got it. Thank you.

The second thing to move on, my question was on execution in the residential real estate segment.

I think you also mentioned that, you know, new launches have been sloped, and looking at,

you know, the execution in a couple of projects like Signature, Global, and White Land, we haven't seen too much progress in the last three, four quarters. So, is there some broader issue here,

or is there a specific slowdown in execution?

No, as far as both these projects, the work on the ground has picked up in real earnest. Whiteland, you know, they had due to frequent codal changes, as some of you would know. First, there was a revised disaster NDMA code, right, which was later... You know, discarded. And, you know, the government ordered to go back to the original code. So a lot of developers went into redesign to save. To optimize cost. So that is behind us. In WideLand, we have begun work on the foundations. Concrete casting has started. Signature Global also work is started on all the towers. I think we are doing eight towers there, a total of five million square feet of built-up area, and work is picked up there.

So broadly, you're not going to see the sector as a whole at some sort of a risk of slowing execution?

No, as I said, the sector, definitely the prices at which these developers were selling, they plateaued off. You know, the war, as I said, has impacted each and every constituent of this ecosystem. It's not only contractors, but also developers who are biding their time, and they're waiting and watching to see what happens going forward. So, everybody is looking to conserve costs, and the sentiment is also muted. So, that kind of effect is there. But specifically, talking about the projects that we are doing, you mentioned too, Signature Global as well as White Lines. We see no reason to believe that the client is looking to slow down the projects that we are executing.

Understood, Subir.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Keshav Garg with Counter-Cyclical PMS.

Please go ahead. So, do we enjoy any advantage in terms of the procurement side over the competition?

What, Keshav, what kind of advantage?

So, a question, like, I mean, since we have a large size versus most others, so do we have better credit terms versus our suppliers versus the competitors with our suppliers and vendors?

We would like to think so, but to answer your question more directly, yes, I think, you know, we feel we are handling the supply chain issues. To the best of our ability, and as I mentioned earlier, if we are looking to cut down the timeline on, say, a project like, say, the Waranati Airport, where our stipulated date of completion is June 27, but, you know, we are looking to complete it before the elections are announced, that is, by January 27. So, in such challenging times, if we are aspiring to do that, I am sure we would be handling the supply chain constraints. In a fairly decent manner. So, given the challenging times, I think we're doing an okay job.

And, sir, amongst all the competitors, who would you consider your top competitors? Some two or three names.

L&T B&F is a competitor, you know, Nagarjuna is a competitor, Shapurji is a competitor, Kalpatru is a competitor, Tata Projects is also now. They've gotten back into buildings, it seems. So, these are four or five people who have been alongside us on a lot of projects.

Sir, now since most of these players have very good overflowing order books, sir, so do you expect the bidding intensity to cool down and at least for us now that we have a very comfortable order book, so going forward, whatever bids we will put, I mean, will we be selective in those that only the high margin orders we would bid for or like what's the outlook on the bidding intensity?

I said that, Keshav, earlier also, that we are very choosy. We are also biding our time, and we are not only doing due diligence, but yes, we are looking to increase our margin profile going forward.

Now, so lastly, if let's say a customer is delaying the project on his side by not releasing the funds after every milestone is completed by us, so then what is our strategy? Do we stop the project or do we put our own capital and complete the project and wait for the client to release funds in future or like how exactly do we go about it?

So, while there are some standard guidelines, there are SOPs within the company on how we have to operate, but, you know, this starts from the time that we choose on which project to bid. We check the customer profile, we do our due diligence, having, you know, certain set of factors are there which lead our people to decide on the go-no-go. And once we bid for a job, once we are successful, then our endeavor is that, you know, we try because the costs are, our IDCs are pretty high. Our endeavor is to, you know, work at a steady pace as per a targeted schedule. We are in constant dialogue with the client when there is a slowdown or is an expected slowdown. But if we feel that there is increased turmoil as far as the financial position of a client is concerned, then at times we slow down also.

So, what is the maximum hit that we have taken in the past on any single project due to the customer either going bankrupt or getting into financial difficulties or due to any other integration?

That is a very general question. You would need to reach out to a CFO with a slightly more, you know, focused query. You know, if I was to say, the details on our write-offs are there for the past two, three years, on a few of our clients who have gone under, you know, the likes of JLP, or the likes of Ascotec, or the likes of HDIL, you know, if you've been a part of our con calls or investor calls over the last three, four years. And if you followed this industry closely, then you would have the data. We can provide that data to you. But all that I can say is that, you know, the way we do our due diligence, I think we've survived the slowdown much better than a lot of our peers. And whenever we have seen in the past that a client is facing increased turmoil, we've sort of engaged in a barter, we've taken real estate inventory of them so that, you know, our risks are mitigated.

Understood, sir. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Our next question comes from the line of Shubham Harne with Purnartha Investment Advisors. Please go ahead.

Thanks for the opportunity, sir. I just wanted to ask, gross margin during the quarter was relatively low. How much this is due to inflationary pressure?

So, again, a number of factors, the gross margin being low, this was, you know, we built up, because of the order book, enhanced order book, we built up our costs, be it on account of increased staff, primarily on account of increased staff, as well as, you know, the salary enhancements. The increments. So that, but there was a slowdown. As I said, the war started in February, and then elections were also there in April. So the impact started in February for that also. Then January this year of the last quarter, Q4 January, was also impacted on account of NGT. All that led to our top line would have been much higher if these impacts would not have been there. So our IDC led to a decreased margin. And then, yes, inflation also played a part, but not so much. As I said, a lot of it is covered by the escalation clauses in most of our countries.

Okay, so what is the time lag for recovering that higher inflationary cost, which you built in the escalation clause?

Generally, it lags by a quarter. You know, the WPI is, so there are two kinds of clauses which are there. On the government sector side, it's the WPI, which once the index is published, you know, quarter to quarter, the billing. Which is there, is sort of, the enhancement is worked out. And on the private sector side, it is, you know, the volatile materials like cement, steel, grates, sand, it is more or less immediately, month on month.

Got it. And as earlier, you mentioned that we take the employee cost increase in the month of Jan or Q4. Does we take this year too?

Yes, we did, actually.

Okay, got it. And last one is that CFMT total order value has been decreased. What's the reason for that?

The GST has been captured in that. That's because of earlier, the total amount was 2,450, but currently it's 2,076.

All the figures that we've given with these results are without GST.

Got it. Got it. Thank you, sir. And all the best.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Madhul Rati with Counter-Cyclical Investments. Please go ahead.

Sir, thank you for the opportunity. Sir, I just wanted to understand what kind of IRR or payback do we expect with these mechanization projects because on one side you mentioned that meaningful benefits to our margins will be 3 to 4 years down the line. So, whatever cap is that we have done in the past 2-3 years and the 300 crore that will be going this year, how should we look at it from a payback or IRR perspective?

Look, the IRAs should go up, it will be very difficult to give an absolute number, but the enhancement should be between 7 to 10 percent, because our hiring costs will go down.

And the payback will be worth 4 to 5 years, compared to...

Generally, you know, the life of an equipment is taken to be about 4 years. And so the payback would be in about 4-5 years.

You can say that we are taking the life cycle around 4-5 years. But for the other assets, we are taking the cycle around 7-8 years also. Depending upon the life of the assets. Good morning, everyone. Thank you.

Got it. Sir, so when we say IRR enhancement, is it that, so for a current project, if we get a 20% IRR, whatever mechanization project that we do, that should increase by additional incremental delta of 7 to 10% or, so how should I look at it? I am not very clear on the enhancement part of IRR.

So, I don't understand your question.

So, what I'm saying is that, you know, the CapEx that I'm doing, the rate of return on account of that CapEx will go up by about 7 to 10 percent. Sitting. In form of sitting.

Basically, we work on the EBITDA and other kind of factors. You can speak about the EBITDA also, please.

What is this, how much EBITDA margin, 3-4% EBITDA margin improvement can we expect over a 3 year period?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, not at all. Got it. Not at all, not at all. So, frankly speaking, I'm a little confused about this question, I don't know if you could articulate it in a slightly better form, maybe I'll be able to shed more light on it.

Yes, so so. We have done close to, I think, in the past three, four years, we have been close to more than 500 crores tapets and we will be doing additional 300 crores this year. But there has been no meaningful improvement in our EBITDA margin or employee expenses. However, how should this, whatever investment, how should these flow to our revenue and actually how should these flow to our margin? I am trying to understand that.

So, look, I did mention earlier, right, that the industry is at an inflection point due to a huge shortage of labor and due to the complexity of the building getting increased exponentially. We are, we are, the industry as such is going towards more and more mechanization. You know, 10 years ago, you would only see a handful of cranes. Not every project had a crane. No, every project has 4 or 5 cranes. If you see the Aero City, the project that we are doing, we have 15 tower cranes there. Right? The downtown project that we are doing for DLF, we have 7 cranes there. So, what I am trying to say, it's the nature of the building. If every building in NCR or in Gurgaon is 40, 50, 60 storey, earlier on the building used to be 4 storey, 6 storey, 8 storey, 10 storey. So, they could be done without tower cranes. Now, not only tower cranes, you have passenger hoists. You have state-of-the-art passenger hoists which take up not only building materials but also people. Each passenger hoist costs about 50, 60, 70 lakhs, depending on whether it's twin cage or single cage. So, it's very difficult to say if you're putting a tower crane or if you're mechanizing and putting passenger hoists that there will be a corresponding increase or projected increase in EBITDA by a percentage point or half a percentage point. The industry is changing very rapidly. Plus, we are forced to change on account of labor shortage. So, the true benefit of these things will take time to accrue. Maybe four or five years, the industry will mature up. There will be greater standardization. We would use more industrialized techniques. We would do more work off-site and get things in a knock-down condition to site. Use machinery to erect it like we do in a Lego pet. So, I don't think there is any metric which we can use, a yardstick which we can use to say, okay, we've invested 20 crores in tower cranes and batching plants and concrete pumps and this will straight away improve our EBITDA by one percentage point.

Got it. So, to sum it up, from what I understood was, Because of the tapis intensity for these projects increasing over a medium term, there should be industry consolidation and some amount of margin improvement from that. Is that a fair understanding?

Over the long term, we are, any step that we take, say tomorrow for instance, everybody is talking about AI. If I start using AI, To start analyzing my output, be it of machinery or labor, I can't say I'm doing it and the impact will be visible in my EBITDA immediately. All these steps that I'm taking, be it for mechanization, be it for digital transformation, or any other company which takes these steps, they are with the long-term goal of increasing efficiency, right?

Got it, sir. That's perfect. Sir, just a final suggestion. As a shareholder, sir, please consider a share buyback. Thank you so much and all the rest.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Lakshmi Narayanan KG with Tunga Investments. Please go ahead.

Yeah, thank you. You see, we are in a very good, advantageous position in terms of our order book. We're almost, you know, 2x, you know, from where we actually started. And the visibility has actually meaningfully increased. Now, how this is changing our bidding filters? So, specifically, are we actively walking away from lower margin contracts? And what specific margin thresholds you are actually applying when you actually walk into a new order? And also, how are you sensitizing your entire sales machinery, which has actually done fantastically the last two years? How are you asking them to kind of pick and choose and not just push for bidding or even bringing the proposals to the management? I mean, how are you using this vantage of position to your advantage that incrementally the ratios and the margins only would get better?

That's a very good question. So, as I mentioned earlier, you know, we have a series of metrics, you know, which are regional tending departments and tending departments and central head office. There is a common set of metrics which, you know, potential clients, when they call us to bid, you know, we put them through those metrics. And then a decision to go or no go first is taken by regional heads, the recommendation is given by them, and then they are passed on to the top management, namely Mr. Vikas Aluvalia or myself, and then we decide whether to go ahead or not. So, as far as margins are concerned, we are actually walking away from a lot of projects, even with existing clients, where we've told clients that we don't want to overexpose ourselves. If we feel that they are impacted or potentially going to be impacted by the slowdown, as far as the margins are concerned, we have actively, as I answered earlier, we are, you know, are bidding when we are bidding. Most of the items are standard, right? When we are bidding now, we have increased our costing profile, be it for labor or be it on account of staffing or other IDC costs. So, we are factoring in the enhanced costs that we are facing on a day-to-day basis and also our profit margins by a couple of percentage points, if not more, depending on the project profile and the competition intensity that we foresee.

Got it. And, you know, a couple of years back, you know, you are smaller than what in terms of complexity as well as revenues and order book, right? Now, the last couple of years, the complexity has increased with multiple type of projects, large projects, and you admitted that the projects are even more complex. Thank you. So, the way in which you are providing guidance also has to take into account all these complexities. And for the last two years, you know, there are a lot of things which are outside your control, which actually... It resulted in the deviation between what the guidance you gave and the actual numbers it's reported. Of course, they are all external to you. Now, in this context, how are you tempering the expectations and how are you improving your guidance sharpness so that there is less amount of perceived difference between what you say and what you deliver and therefore how the market and investors should react?

Again, a good question, but I'd like to sort of start by giving my own opinion on what you've said. You know, by and large, we've always been very conservative in our guidance, and we've sort of tried to, we've more or less been able to achieve what we've guided, in spite of headwinds. Secondly, if you were to do, you already must have done a peer comparison. The results of the last financial year or even before that, you know, we've constantly outperformed a lot of our peers. Having said that, to answer your question in a more direct manner, as far as a lot of factors other than the impact of war, while some impact is already factored in the guidance that I have given, but most of the other factors that have impacted our performance or the headwinds that we faced in the last couple of years, they seem to have been covered. You know, a lot of headwinds were created by elections now, and different governments being there in the states that we are working in and the one at the center. That seems to have been taken care of now. Secondly, our order profile or order mixture is more equitable now. Thirdly, we have a lot of fast-moving projects in our order book now, Central Vista being one. Fourthly, our slow-moving projects are either over or they've started moving, CSMC being a case in point. So, all this has led to the guidance that we have given during the course of this call.

Yeah, I mean, I'm just wondering whether, you know, providing guidance itself is a good thing because of the sheer complexity and a lot of things have moved away from your control, right? So, given that, is it even, even re-think the, you know, giving guidance itself is my...

Excellent observation. I wish more of your brethren thought like you. And, you know, I've always sort of struggled to, people put words in our mouths and say, why are you being conservative? I think the nature of our industry is such that, you know, we are always at the forefront of a cycle. As I mentioned earlier, you know, three months ago, we were extremely gang-o. And, you know, we would have, if we could have gone back in time and this call was held three months ago, I would have. Without batting an eyelid, I would have given a 20% growth guidance. But all of a sudden, the scenario has changed. And what people don't factor in, you know, our buildings, even B&F has become very complex. You know, a lot of our projects are EPC projects. Supply chain is badly, badly disrupted. It's not only about getting concrete or cement or steel. It's about panels, it's about other MEP products, chillers, transformers, so on and so forth. And a lot of components of these finished goods come in from overseas. So yes, you're very right that we are more prone to disruptions or headwinds now.

Got it. Thanks for the detailed explanation. Thank you.

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Shravan Shah from Dalat Capital. Please go ahead.

Sir, these two L1 projects, if you can specify which are these two projects and when the LOA is likely?

So, Shravan is an RML hospital in Delhi, and a university project is in Odisha government in Bhubaneswar. So, the date of this is not possible, because these are tender orders. So, it will not be possible for me to comment on when they will be likely to be awarded.

But is there also possibility that it can be re-bidded or cancelled?

So, you know, that possibility is always there because it totally depends on the market conditions being what they are, escalation being what it is. Though there are escalation clauses inbuilt, but, you know, once they reach an award stage, if they reach an award stage, we would also like to have a say on whether we would accept these orders or not, depending on how escalation is worked out. So, yeah, that possibility is there from both sides.

Okay, and broadly, right now, in terms of DAW, for us, the bid pipeline would be 7,000-8,000 crores, or even how much higher?

It's about 8,000 crores.

Sorry, 8,000 crores, you say? Okay, okay. And just, so I was trying to understand why so much questions on the margin. So just to give one more perspective that because ultimately all the investors, whatever their expectation, they want to build in whatever the numbers, the volatility or the sensitivity is definitely high for us in terms of the margin. So let's say the 1% margin, if it is higher or lower, 12% to 18% kind of variation is there at the pet level, and that's why there are more questions. So everybody is trying to understand whether this 10% EBITDA margin that we are looking at, whether it can go to 11%, 10.5%, or on the lower side, can it be a 9%? So, that's the main thing. So, in that sense, everybody is trying to understand. So, and whatever you have explained, given that we are much better comfortable in terms of order book, a couple of projects are now fast moving. Broadly, let's say even for 28 also, we would definitely would be doing kind of a 15-20% kind of a revenue growth. So, in that sense, the possibility of 50 bits kind of improvement would be higher versus going lower. That's the way one can look at.

I think you've articulated it very well. So, I don't want to say 18% or 15% or 14% about it. But, you know, we've seen, I know about my company. I can tell you all the risks or headwinds we've faced in the past two years. If we keep the war, it's not in control of anyone. A lot of those headwinds seem to be a thing of the past. And I'm quite confident that what is our projection, we will achieve it. And that stems from the fact that our order book is strong. Our clients are good. And a lot of these orders are fast-moving orders. And elsewhere, wherever we are geographically present, there is stability for the government or the government. Okay.

Got it, sir. Thank you and all the best. Thanks, brother. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Ankit Jambu Sariya, who is an investor. Please go ahead.

Yeah, hi. Good evening. So, thanks for this opportunity. I want to ask a couple of questions. The first question is that there have been news regarding to the poor monsoon this year. Will that impact our business in any way?

I don't think so, unless and until it has. Look, the reports are that there will be a poor monsoon, and it may lead to an impact on the economy, per se. So, by the time that it trickles around to the projects that we have on hand, I don't think there will be much of an impact.

Okay. So, second question is regarding central Vistar project. So, is there anything in terms of, you have already discussed that I think the first level of execution has started. Is this comparatively, I mean, the scale would be much higher, but is that comparatively a smoother project from an execution standpoint, looking at, you know, once we are sort of started to work on it, Because we have projected a higher number for the entire year and it has that NGT clearance also. Do you see any unexpected sort of variables coming into this project execution like we had of the past projects that they were of a different nature and this is of a different nature?

No, I think this project, as you yourself said, that A, it is not impacted by NGT. B, Central Vista, all projects, the government is extremely aggressive on the timelines because they need these buildings. This particular building that we are doing or two buildings that we are doing, this will house the Ministry of Finance as well as the Ministry of Defence. So, the government wants these buildings as of yesterday. Money, obviously, is not a problem for the Central Vispa project. So, I don't see any challenges other than the fact that, yes, these are extremely complex buildings, but the advantage that we have is that, you know, end-to-end, it's an EPC contract. And a lot of activities, or most of the items that go into executing this are going to be done by us in-house, other than highly specialized items. So we have a greater control on the output on a month-to-month basis.

Right, right. So, thanks. So, last one question I have. In the last con call, when we were discussing about residential projects, you discussed about CAPEX, which we are doing specially for, you know, purpose of the long, I mean, the tall buildings, you know. So now you just mentioned that outside NCI, we are still open to have the residential buildings. And in the context of the margin and the other discussions which we had, you know, in the call till now, I just wanted to check if we have those techs or those machineries with us and with the capabilities which we already have. Does that give us the advantage in terms of the competitive advantage, either at the margin level or at the, you know, clients preferring us while they are, they want to execute this tall, residential premium building?

It definitely does, because, you know, as it is the entry threshold of barriers, the bar is being raised. As far as building construction goes, the very fact that, you know, it requires heavy mechanization for which CAPEX is required, you require a stronger balance sheet. One, secondly, the pedigree in terms of the past, the criteria, meeting the criteria for qualification is also high. Not everybody has the criteria or everybody meets the criteria. So yes, that definitely gives us an advantage. For the private sector, there are only four or five companies, you know, who... Oh, sort of. Because the private sector, you know, large developers, they have their own criteria. Government has a set of defined criteria. But in the private sector, it's more to do with the personal whims and fancies. I won't say whims and fancies, but it's the choice of the developer or the top management. And they purely go by the delivery of the potential bidders. Successful delivery, let me put it that way.

Thank you. This was my question. Thanks a lot.

Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Vaibhav Shah with JM Financial. Please go ahead.

A couple of data points. You mentioned that Mibhulay Shah advances around 8.02 crores. So what would be the interest-baring portion of that? This is 37%. And you see this number going, is it going constant or it can increase further in the next couple of years?

No, I think so, that the government project, that's the interest to bear in, and more or less, because 38% is the government order book, that's a similar line, more or less, it will

not go up, it will stay at the same level.

Okay, so lastly, what will be the margin money as of March 25th?

Margin money, you are talking about?

Yes, yes.

This would be around, hold on.

It's around 200 quads.

Thank you sir, those are my questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Ankit Jambosaria, an individual investor. Please go ahead.

Yeah, so thanks for the opportunity again. I just wanted to ask one question in relation to India Jewelry Park. Sir, what I have realized over the last one year of various observations, this project had been going in terms of the timelines due to various reasons. And I just wanted to know, is it related to a design of the project, or is it related to the decision-making part of the client? Because there were India-US, you know, trade deal challenges where gems and jewelry is one of definitely a sector which got impacted. And in last con call also we discussed that maybe by April we'll start with the execution and what I have understood or what I've heard in the call correctly, if I'm wrong, is that we'll be able to do that, we'll be able to start this by this quarter, last month of the quarter. So do you see any other uncertainties at the client side or is it more related to just a matter of time in execution of this project?

Hello, this is Vikas here. The project has been delayed for some administrative reasons, no other reasons. Actually, there was a bit of a change in the, you know, the SAR and all that for the agency, which now has been built-in properly. The excavation work has started at SAIC. We have already applied for all the licenses and all. We are expecting to start work full soon after the Mumbai monsons. After the Mumbai monsons. We are giving up now, and we are still awaiting a formal go-ahead from the client, though. But verbally, the client has said that things are increasing. They have their own process because it's a quota government agency under the Ministry of Commerce. So, whatever, you know, permissions we are awaiting, because the land is an audit by the government of Maharashtra. So, some administrative alliance, aligning is happening.

And just one point, we have guided for 15-20% revenue growth this year. So last year, after our quarter two, we had definitely a much stronger view and then maybe because of NGT and then other disruptions which we have faced in last three months. So this 15-20% is what we are seeing for the coming year. At the quarter and quarter also, do we see this level of growth over last year, or do we see the H2 will be much higher in FY27, looking at the disruptions which we had in H2 in FY26, or do we see this more uniformly across quarters barring a little here and there margins?

No, no, you are right. H2 is always substantially higher than H1, and more so in the case of H1, you know, as it is, Q1 is always slow moving, but this time it will be exceptionally slow moving because we have, you know, due to a confluence of various factors, A, I talked about elections. Labour went away. And then there was, you know, there was the festival of Eid. Nearly 70% of our skilled workforce is Muslim, especially carpenters and barbinders. So they went away, and once they went away for elections, they didn't come back. For a prolonged period, they were at home. So Q1 is also impacted, but starting... Q2, the numbers will ramp up significantly, and H2 will be significantly higher than H1.

Thanks, Phyllis.

Thank you. We have no further questions, ladies and gentlemen. I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Over to you.

Thank you, everybody, for joining in, and look forward to seeing you on the next Investor Call. Thank you once again.

Thank you. On behalf of Ambit Capital Private Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you all for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.