Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR) Q1 2027 Earnings Call Transcript

Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Container Corporation of India Limited Q1 FY27 earnings conference call. 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 call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your restaurant phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Kunal Shah from Dam Capital Advisor. Thank you. And over to you, sir.

Yeah, hi. Good afternoon. Welcome to the 1QF27 earnings call of Container Corporation of India. We have the management being represented by Mr. Sanjay Swaroop, the Chairman and Managing Director. I would like to hand over the call to Sanjay, sir, for his opening remarks, post which we can take up the Q&A. Thanks, and over to you, sir.

Good morning to all of you. I am being joined by Mr. Ajit Kumar Pandar, Director of Projects and Services, Mr. Vijay Kumar Singh, Director of International Marketing and Operations, Mr. Vivek Gupta, Director of Finance, and Mr. Harish Chandra, Principal Executive Director of Finance and Company Secretary. I am glad to announce. The Board of Directors have declared a dividend of Rs. 1.60 per share, that is 32% on par value of Rs. 5. And the throughput of the company was an all-time high for any first quarter Q1, that was 1.4 million to use, registering a growth of 9% year-on-year, in which Exim's contribution was 9.8% growth, domestic was 6.2% growth. Rail freight margin also increased by 85 basis points, that is from 26.96% to 27.81%. And rail freight margin has increased. At the same time, we have increased the market share also. In Exim, it has increased by 90 basis points. In domestic, it has increased by 370 basis points. All increase in market share is 160 basis points, despite increase in margins also. Lead has also increased by overall 2% for the company, primary contributions being in domestic long lead movement, Nepal movement, and double stack for JNPT. Volume of business to Nepal has seen a growth of 61%, which is a very handsome increase in this Q1. On a year-on-year basis. Market share at JNP increased by 4.2%. Mundra, it was slight drop. Pipawa, it was flat, almost same. We are also reduced by 10%. Exim making a contribution of 30% reduction and domestic 1.5%. And one more development, which is very important for us, is the connectivity of DFC to JNPA, which was achieved on 20th June 2026. And I am happy to announce that double-stack trains are running from JNPA to various terminals, primarily to North India, from 20th June 2026. One more product that we have introduced was bulk cement transportation in tank containers. Now we have a healthy fleet of around 700 tank containers. Apart from that, industry has also purchased on their own. So in the country, we have a fleet of around 1,000 tank containers now. We have given orders for 2,000 more tank containers. So by this financial year end, we will have a very good fleet of tank containers, which will positively contribute to both top line as well as bottom line. Infrastructure additions have been quite good in Q1. We have commissioned 19 high-speed rigs, and we are on path to achieving 500 rigs by 2028. We have procured 560 new containers. Now our fleet is more than 58,000 containers of our own. CapEx, we have achieved around 118 crores. So, as per the budget for this financial year, rupees 9.45 crores, I would like to keep it intact. Maybe after Q2, we will revisit the budget, whether to increase it or not. EBITDA margin also have been very good in this quarter. We have achieved EBITDA margin of 23.6%. Year-on-year, it is increased. Last year in Q1, it was 23.1%. So, again, a growth in EBITDA margin also. PAT, standalone results, PAT has also seen a very good growth of 7.7%. Now I will briefly give the business scenario in both Exim and Domestic. As I told in Exim, double-stack trains have started from JNPT to Dadri to Khatuaaz and Bannama. It's a big boost to trade. We are in talks with senior officers of Indian railways. Once the monsoon completes its cycle, from October, we will announce a shore transit time train between North India and JNPT, which will enable movement of cargo from road to rail. After a short transit train is started from October, then new DPD long lead service from JNPT to Calcutta was started in this quarter. New LCL export service from Dadri to DRT oblique JNPT was started in this quarter, which is a significant milestones for Exim movement. Thank you. Thank you. Gani Bales traffic, which was in between, it was stopped, has again started. We are getting good demand in eastern India for Gani Bales traffic. One more development is the very big order we are going to sign very soon from a leading Maharatna company of Government of India, based in South India. And from South India to Western India, we will be getting very good business of development. Every year, we will add 1 million tons. We're going to sign in another one week or 10 days. Apart from that, several reforms have been announced by Honorable Minister of Railways for containerization of various commodities like salt, fly ash, fertilizer, food grains. This will give further boost to our domestic business. So at this point of time, now I'm going to revise my guidance for this financial year. Revised guidance will be, exam will be 15%, domestic will be 25%, overall guidance will be 18%.

Thank you very much. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and run on the dash to the telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and 2. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Alok from Motilal Oswal. Please proceed.

Yeah, good morning, sir. So, just had a couple of questions. One is, if you can just help with the originating volumes for this quarter.

Yeah. Now, the originating volume for this quarter, for exam, it was 561025 TUs, and domestic 106114 TUs, total is 667139 TUs.

Got it. And sir, I just wanted to understand, I mean, when you are giving this guidance, it's for the handling volume or originating volume when you have revised?

Normally, we are giving guidance only for handling volumes.

Okay, okay. So, if I just look at the handling volume numbers, I mean, if we go by the guidance which you have just upgraded now, so there is a lot of catch-up required, especially in the domestic side. Because, you know, currently, in the first quarter, we have done far below the guided number. So, what gives this confidence, actually, if you can just highlight on that, sir?

As I explained in my opening remarks, there are a lot of things which are happening. Maybe you are not able to see that impact in Q1. So, now all these things are materializing. And we have nine more months in this financial year. So, definitely all these will have a positive impact and we will be able to achieve the, already 6% we have achieved in domestic. And all these developments that I highlighted in my opening remarks, we are confident to achieve 25% growth.

Got it. Just last question. So, if you can just share the real coefficient. And, has there been any significant change at JNPT after the, you know, commissioning of the DFC there? So, just you can highlight on that, please. Thank you.

See, now, JNPT, DFC, as I told you, it is commissioned on 30th of June. So, in the Q1, only 10 days were left. So, 10 days is a too short a period because water consists of around 90 days. So, 90 is a very short period to have an impact. Apart from that, if you have been observing, there have been heavy rains in Mumbai, which disrupted the movement temporarily, and it has been followed by heavy rains in Gujarat now. So, all these, that is why we are not going to start, we are not starting a short transit train in this weather. From October only, we will announce. Impacted with it.

Got it. So, even in the second quarter, we might not really see any impact coming through.

See, second quarter has just started. So, it will not be proper to comment on that. So, we are quite positive, and let us see, because our services are there, and a lot of tendencies are also there at ports. So, things are shaping up in a positive manner only.

Sure, sure. That's all from my side, sir. Thank you, and all the way, sir.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mukesh from Aventus Park. Please proceed.

Yes, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. My question is, again, regarding the DFT. And how road to rail can happen. So if I just go back to the last few years, you would have seen this road to rail happen in the Gujarat ports. But, I mean, absolute volume did not see that much of an improvement for us because of this road to rail. So just trying to understand how different will GNPT be for us vis-a-vis Gujarat when it comes to the DFC and the road to rail.

There is a slight difference because in Mudra-Pipava, DSC was not entirely going up to the ports. There was a feeder route also involved. But in JNPT, it will be pure DSC going up to ports. So feeder route means other trains are also running on that route. But now on this circuit, now NTR and JNPT, there will be only freight trains running on that track. Movement will be faster and efficiency will be more.

Any sense you can give us currently how much of JNPT cargo, which is moving to the hinterland, is moving on road right now, the containers, and what's your expectations, say, after one year of DFC being operational, how much of that could have shifted to rail?

15% is the real coefficient. Once DFC now has been commissioned, so in another two to three years' time, we should have double rail coefficient. Actually, it should be 30-35%. That is as per national rail plan also. We should have 30-35% rail coefficient at JNPT.

Sir, this 15-16% rail coefficient, the remainder of 85%, I mean, everything obviously doesn't go to the hinterland. There will be a lot of short distances which anyway has to move by road only. So, the addressable market is probably lesser than that because we are looking to take the containers to northern Italy. So, that is what can probably move from road to rail, isn't it, sir?

See, it includes transshipment volume also, and rightly you have pointed out some short distance movement also. We have all the details with us, but at this forum, I don't think I have that much time to share that detail.

Right, right. Got that. And the second question is, could you give us your market shares, the market shares in the northern hinterland market? I think you used to provide that earlier. And you had mentioned earlier on that some short distance, short distances you had exited. So it will be helpful to understand where we are on that now.

So, I don't have market share for Northern Interland only. I have Pan India market share with me, rail transportation share. I can give you a report. Now the market share, as I told you in my opening remarks, has increased, both in Exim as well as domestic. In Q1 year-on-year, last year in Exim it was 53.1%, now it is 54%. So there is an increase of 90 basis points. In domestic, it has increased from 55% to 58.7%. That is an increase of 370 basis points. Overall market share has increased from 53.6% to 55.2%. That is a growth of 160 basis points. So that is in Q1, we have seen a good increase in market share and good increase in margin at the same time.

All right, sir. Thank you. I'll be back in the queue.

Thank you. A request to all participants, please restrict your questions to two questions for participants. For more questions, please rejoin the queue. The next question is from the line of Archer Lohade from Nuwama. Please proceed.

Good morning, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, first, if you could talk a little bit about this Nepal cargo, you know, what is the opportunity there? How much are we doing now on an annual basis? And what was it in FY26, the contribution from this particular sector?

Now, Nepal cargo, we have seen an increase of 61% in Q1 on year-on-year basis. In FY26, in Q1, we ran 69 trains to Nepal. Whereas in this FY, in Q1, we have run 111 trains. So, the growth is 61% in Nepal traffic. So, this is a very good growth, I should say, in Nepal business. Basically, from Visakhapatnam to Nepal, which is a very long lead traffic, 1,400 kilometers, we are able to run these many trains. One more development has taken place for Nepal. That is, till now, we have been running up to only Birganj. which is a drive-boat in Nepal, bordering Raksal. Raksal is India and Birgandh is Nepal. Only four kilometers apart. Now one more place, the customs has granted us permission, and we have already started running trains. One train already we have handled. That is at Biratnagar. Biratnagar is in Nepal, sorry, and Jokwani is in India. So Jokwani, Biratnagar also we have started trains. So, we propose to run around 8 to 10 trains every month for Biratnagar Jogbani also. So, Nepal, we will be serving two places by train, Biratnagar Jogbani and Akshwal Birganj. So, in the coming months, you will see very good growth in Nepal movement.

Sir, if you could call out what was the contribution in FI 26 as a full year and what would be that for FI 27? Just wanting to understand. If the AFP is delta in terms of upward revision, how much of that is on account of Nepal?

That number I don't have with me right now. We can share it later on with you. Specifically Nepal numbers, what contribution on overall volume I don't have right now with me.

No problem, sir. I'll take it offline. Secondly, in terms of the, you know, extreme growth, 15% is what you have called out. What is the underlying industry, as in port volume growth you have built in, sir? Is that 10%, 12%, 15%?

Now this growth primarily will be through double-stack movement to JNPT. This will be a shift from road to rail. Secondly, we have brought Jyotpur also on double-stack. Till now, Jyotpur was not having double-stack movement. So in this month only, 3-4 days, we will be handling first double-stack train at Jyotpur. This will also shift cargo from road to rail. And thirdly, at Ahmedabad, again, we are having another terminal where we will have a double-stack movement. Till now, in Ahmedabad, we don't have double-stack. Concorde doesn't have double-stack facility. That will further increase our business. Then in South India, there is a terminal, Kata Kola, in Mysore, where we have got good cargo for waste paper. And for that also, we have got custom notification. This will also give a boost to our traffic. So, like there are so many places where we expect that traffic will increase in Exim segment.

Got it. And if you could just clarify on the employee cost, sir, it was down 22% YY. What should be the sustainable run rate we should work with? And the LLF cost, it was higher at 113 crore. Is that a new normal quarterly run rate?

See, LLF, already we are having a 7% increase every year, but at the same time we are, in my earlier calls also I told you, it's a continuous exercise that we are surrendering the terminals which are no longer required without sacrificing our business. So that has been the company's policy. Constantly we are doing. So in this quarter also there is not much growth in LLF. As far as employee cost is concerned, I will request my PED finance to clarify.

Yeah, employee cost, I think there's a little fall as compared to last year. In fact, last year, there was a one-off, a few transactions which were one-off. In fact, we paid some award to our employees in the last quarter, in the June 25 quarter. And similarly, we have also contributed some amount to the Provident Fund Trust. There was some provisioning for one of the investments, which didn't do well and which has been reimbursed to the trust. So that's the reason. Otherwise, there is no extraordinary thing which has happened.

Got it. Thank you so much.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sumit Kishore from Access Capital. Please proceed.

Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, my first question is, Q1 performance was quite good in Exim, given that it was in the backdrop of the West Asia crisis. Could you please elaborate on what has been the business impact in Q1 because of the regional geopolitical events, and how is it having a bearing on your ongoing performance in Q2, if at all?

You see, West Asia crisis had an impact on us in Q4 of last FY. As far as Q1 is concerned, rightly you have mentioned, we don't feel much impact, and we have good tendencies at ports. Exports also are showing good growth. As I mentioned, there has been a 9% growth in exports and 5% growth in imports in Q1 year-on-year basis. So in this quarter also, till now, the performance has been quite okay. But because of the good monsoons, the disruptions in train services are there. So we are feeling the impact of that. But as far as West Asia's impact is concerned, there is not much impact. Except on domestic in Morbi, we are feeling an impact because it has not come back to normal. Morbi, where tiles are being produced.

My question is, you know, if you could speak about how double stacking panned out for Concord in Q1 and how does it compare on a year-on-year basis? And given the ramp-up in double stacking that you expect now, directionally, how do you expect the quarterly number to look like, you know, a couple of quarters down the line as you sort of take in the benefits of JNPT connectivity to TFC? You know, some comments there would be helpful.

As a matter of fact, double stack saw a fall in this quarter, a fall of 12%. And because the imports that were there, mostly they were 20-fit imports. And on upper deck, only 40-fit are allowed in double stack. And the JNP actually, DFC was commissioned, only 10 days were remaining in Q1. So not much double stacking we could expect on that subject. But now we are hopeful that this will pick up. With now this JNP DFC going in full form. So in the coming days, in coming weeks, we will have good double stack run.

FY26, which was 6396, you know, it was up barely 1%. How do you see the FY27 number on double stacking pan out? And as per the unit economics that you are seeing on DSC right now, how much more sort of contribution at the EBITDA level or some sense that you could give us on what is the retained, what does the efficiency gain that Concourse is able to retain? You know, from a double-stacked rake on DFC versus pre-DFC economics.

Very good growth once this JNP and all stabilizes. I see at least a growth of some 8 to 10 percent on this circuit as far as EBITDA margins are concerned, which will have a positive impact as a result of double stack. That calculations we have made.

Thank you.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Aditya from Kodak Securities. Please proceed.

Thank you for the opportunity, and congratulations on a good rate of results. Two questions from my side. The first one, I just wanted to clarify, the market share numbers, are they based on handling volumes, or are they based on originating volumes?

Now, this market share is based on tonnage, basically. That is railway tonnage carried by us. So, strictly speaking, it is on originating volumes.

Understood. The second part is that on this question is that on the XM side of things, there appears to be some dip in realization. This is the originating volume numbers being taken into account on a YOY and a Q1Q basis. Would you give us some more color as to what is the driver behind the scenes?

The realization as I explained earlier also, it is a function of two things. First is the tonnage and second is the distance. So, both the things play. So, NTKM is a word used in railways. NTKM or GTKM, across 10 kilometers. So, it's a function of these two things. So, I don't know what is your specific question. So, if we multiply this, then... Sorry?

Sorry to just come with me. So, basically, lead distance would have gone up, right, because Nepal got added and a few long lead distances gotten added.

If you see in detail, the tonnage has fallen in this Q1. Railway tonnage has fallen by 3.3%. Our tonnage in Exim has fallen by 1.8%. The reason is the heavy cargo, which is the metal scrap, iron scrap, aluminum scrap, machinery parts, they have not come. So even number of containers have increased, but the weight carried, that is the heavy weight cargo has not come. So that is the main reason for fall in tonnage as well as fall in not that much commensurate realization. Because we have carried light cargo. Heavy cargo is now coming. Because of disruption in shipping services, some cargo is coming, some is held up, it comes later on. Like that, it is there. Plus, this scrap and all, this cargo is impacted because of the international prices. If international prices increase, then the scrap import also comes down. So, those factors also play an important role. So, if you see the tonnage has fallen down. So, that is the reason of fall in realization.

So, just the second question from my side, sir, these transit assurance rates that are going to become more mainstream, could you give us a sense of when they have happened in the past, has Concord been able to get a combination of both higher volumes and higher margins and if some quantification you can put around those numbers?

See, as of now, we are running a short transit train on domestic circuit between Delhi and Kolkata, with the stopovers at Agra and Kanpur. So this has given us additional business. As far as financials are concerned for this particular movement, I don't have with me right now. But we have got additional business that has been diverted from road to rail. Similarly, another short transit train we are running from our MMLP at Dadri to Mundra Port, which is also giving us very good volumes, and diversion has taken place from road to rail. Similarly, for this also, separate financials for this movement, I don't have with me. Now, another transit, Azure Transit, will start from October between Dadri to JNP, which will further give us more volumes.

But those are my questions, sir. Thank you for the response. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Priyanka Vishwas from JM Financials. Please proceed.

Yeah, hi, sir. So, this is Priyanka from JM. My first question is, sir, recently we have heard in the news that there is a lot of flooding, especially on beyond the Dhanu and also in Gujarat. Next. So, has there been any significant impact, at least, on our cargo volumes because of that, I mean, because of this incident?

Yes. In Q1, we were impacted by heavy rains because there were heavy rains in Mumbai, you must have read in the news, in the month of June. Because of that, there were disruption in train services, and our volumes could have been more. So that was the impact in the month of June. Now in the month of July, very rightly you have pointed out, there is a heavy rain and flooding in Gujarat area, and that has definitely impacted our cargo movement in the month of July, but that is in Q2. So that impact you will see in Q2. But we hope that this rains are there, but the railway is also working. They repair the tracks very quickly, very efficiently. We are quite hopeful that normalcy will come, and we will again resume our services.

So sir, when you are giving the guidance of 15% engine growth, so you would have decks in this flood impact in Gujarat and maybe the impact of rains in Maharashtra in let's say June. So I think this is deck, right?

I have taken this into account. Normally the cargo which has to be sent, it has to be sent. Once there is a flood and all, road movement also is not possible. So, and rail is more reliable movement. So, definitely, it will be impact will be there, but that will be temporary. It will not be permanent impact on the cargo movement.

One more thing, like if I remember in the past few calls, we had provided an incentive for better customer services to improve our first mile and last mile services. So, can you say that how much part of your container today that you are using is covered under first mile, last mile, and what is your target, let's say, by end of FY27 or FY28, some whole part?

Yeah. Now, the thing is that three years back, we were having only 10% cargo that we were able to give first mile, last mile to our customers. Till at the end of FY26, this number has gone up to 46. So, 46% cargo, we are able to give service to our customers for first mile, last mile. For less, 54%, customers are arranging the first mile, last mile movement themselves. Now, for this FY27, we have set up a target of 80%. From 46, we will move to 80. By FY28, 100%. So, that is our target. That's a huge value addition for our customers. We are very happy with our services, and they want that everywhere we should give them a service of first might last night.

Sir, if I can just give one more in. Traditionally, you used to give us the rail coefficient by course, and also the market share at the course. So can you give us for JNPT, Mundra, and Kipaha?

Yes, I can give you. In JNPT for Q1, rail coefficient was 14.13 percent. And our market share was 62.6%. Last year, it was real coefficient 15.5%. Our market share was 58%. So there is a big growth in market share in JNPT. At Munra, last year, the real coefficient was 24.7%. This year, it is 24.5%, almost same. But our market share has slightly dipped from 36% to 34%. Entry power, the real coefficient is the same, 55%. Cheers, you're also saying.

Thank you, sir. That's all from my side, and congrats, great for that.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Kaum Dinia from Jefferies. Please proceed.

Yeah, hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, just the first question, just trying to reconcile. If you look at the rail volume growth from FOIS, right, you know, it appears that the volumes for the industry declined by about 4%, while your volumes were at around 2%. I mean, just trying to understand the math behind this. I mean, obviously, it looks good. So, where the difference looks like partly turn rate, which you explained in one of the conversations earlier, if you can elaborate a bit on that. And secondly, within that, you know, July also looks like about 8%, 9% decline when I look at the data. So how should we look at the volumes for you in that context?

First, I would like to clarify that July month is still running. It is still not complete. So it is premature to comment on July. For Q1, I can comment. Q1, as I explained earlier, the container growth is there in percentage terms. But in tonnage terms, the growth is not there. In railway also has experienced 3.3% negative growth as compared to container, ISO containers, and 5.4% negative growth in domestic. The primary reason is that light commodities have moved in the containers. Heavy commodities have not moved. That is the primary reason for decrease in tonnage.

Understood. Given the way the global freight rates are, should we expect a similar trend to continue in the near term, especially given heavy cargo also constitutes a metal scrap, etc.?

I don't think so, because heavy commodities, metal scrap, and then machine parts are also there. So maybe because of the conflicts happening around the world, sometimes some containers come quickly, some containers are stuck up at transshipment points, so they will be coming in due course. So I think overall, if you see on annual basis, it will all balance out.

Got it. My second question is on your market share at JNP. Obviously, you did well this quarter. So what is it that you did differently which helped this market share gain? And then obviously, DFC will benefit outside that. What are the other levers that are at hand which can help you sustain this market share gain?

See, actually, we introduced a lot of new products. One of the products was the Oshadi Express, Pharma Express that we started between Hyderabad to JNP, and it was all refrigerated containers, cargo, along with MERSC we have started. So, that has given us a new line of business. It has been quite well received. Similarly, we started export service from... Whitefield, that is Bangalore, to JNPT. Initially, we started with one train per week. Now, it has moved to three trains per week. Such a good demand is there. And we focused on speedy clearance from JNPT, and our imports are being cleared. We are focusing on a dwell time of 35 hours. Right now, we are not able to achieve that, but in the near future, import dwell time, we want to bring down to 30-35 hours, which is the benchmark given by NITI.io also. So, the speedy clearance of imports and focusing on new products.

Sir, if I may ask a couple of bookkeeping questions, can you help us with the empty running course?

Sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Kondinya, but can you please rejoin the queue?

Sure. Noted. Thank you.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Krishnedu Saha from Quantum AMC. Please proceed.

Thanks for taking the question. I just wanted to understand some economics of JNPT. Sir, how many teams are we doing right now from JNPT?

JNPT, we are doing around 11 to 12 trains every day at Concore.

And after GFC comes in, say, suppose about in next year, so when we are fully sledded on, how many chains would those converge from the GFC double stack time?

See, number of trains will also increase when GFC comes. And many of them will be double-stacked. So, you can say around, we will be doing around 15 to 18 cranes per day from JNP.

Double-stacked?

No, no, not double-stacked. All will not be double-stacked. So, suppose 15 cranes are, we are doing. Sorry?

No, I was just trying to understand the economics. So, if we're doing 11-12 right now per day single stack, come next year, almost December, when the DFC is fully functional and we have no hiccups, how many double stacks will we be doing compared to 11, which is single stack right now?

Okay, right now we are not doing any double stack. And once in next September, you mean from one and a half years from now?

No, no, December means 27th January, say 27th January.

So you are asking a forecast for 27th January.

So let me refit the question. So right now we're not doing any double stacking. We're doing single stacking, say 11 chains right now. And say come December 26th or January 27th, of this 11, how many can be converted to double stacking on the DFC?

See, in 11 trains that we are doing right now, we are doing double stack also, because double stack has started from 20th of June. So, 11 trains, at least 3 to 4 double stack daily we are doing.

Okay, and this can increase too?

This will further increase when the traffic starts shifting from road to rail. Then this will further increase. Let us see. We are hopeful that 6 months time, actually increase will be gradual. Six month time, maybe just four will increase to six or seven trains per day, double stack.

Okay. And sir, how do you see our, do you see on the distance on the exam side being stable after one year or it could increase slightly or it'll be stable, stable after the full schedule DFC? How do you see the lead distance coming for us?

Lead distance in this Q1 in Exim has increased from 688 km to 714 km. So it is seeing an increase because of the increase in Nepal movement, which is taking place. Already there is an increase in lead.

So you expect this lead distance to be stable? Yes.

Yes, it will be more than 700 km in Exim.

Okay. And on the domestic side, do we still have to procure any more cement tankers, or is it done for us?

So we have already, we are having a fleet of 700 tank containers, and 2,000 more we have given order.

2,000 more we have given order. And last question, any pricing increase you would be taking, or this is what it is going to be for the, what is the inaugural price increase?

We have already increased, some price increase, we have already affected in exit.

How much will that be, sir?

Yes, I don't have any right now.

Thank you, sir. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vineet Thakur from Plus91AMC. Please proceed.

Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Most of my questions have been answered, sir. But sir, could you give me what was the quarterly overview led to increase in our margins and what was the actual factors to it?

What exactly is your question? I'm not able to understand. Can you repeat it, sir?

So there is an increase in the margin, sir, right? There is an increase in margin in operating profit as well. Could you just help understand what is the leading factors to it? I joined late, so my question may be repeated, sir.

The increase in margin you are asking?

Yes, sir.

Increase in margin, the basic reason is the operational excellence. If you see the empty running has come down by 10 percent, and plus we are making domestic movement, we are now making circuits for that, so both side loaded movements are there, and plus double stack also. All these things are contributing to increase in margins.

Could you help me understand the economics of double stacking?

Economics means what?

What would be the potential revenue and how would be different in terms of from the single stacking, how much revenue increase will it lead and cost saving?

In double stack, actually, on upper deck, we pay 50% to railways. If you are asking the number, how much we have paid, how much margins are there, that I don't have with me right now.

Okay, sir. That's it, sir. Thank you so much.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vignesh Iyer from Sequent Investments. Please proceed.

Hello, sir, thank you for the opportunity. Sir, if you could, you know, give some insight on our bulk cement business, how has traction been for us, you know, in quarter one? I don't want in terms of volume number, but just overall, how the traction has been, and could you guide what is the target, you know, TUs that are targeting for this year, people share?

The bulk cement is a very promising product that we have started. So there is a lot of demand from the industry. We have signed an agreement with Ultratec Cement, Maha Cement, Ambuja Cement, and all of them and several other companies also. But right now, because of shortage of tank containers, we are not able to meet the demand, as I explained in my opening remarks also. So, but it has got a very good potential. Some of our big customers are themselves procuring tank containers for transportation of bulk cement and using our rakes for transportation. So, once by the end of this initial year, we will have a very good fleet, strong fleet of tank containers. Then there will be very good growth. And once the full fleet of tank containers is available with us, we are targeting at least 1 million tons. Thank you.

Okay. And on the Morbi side, sir, is the business still, I mean, entirely, I mean, is there some business coming from Morbi now, or is it like what it was in May, in the month of April, May, when it was very tough time?

Your voice is not clear. I'm not able to understand what you are asking.

Hello. Is it clear now? Hello.

Just now it is better, yes.

Yeah, so I just wanted to understand, how is the business from Morbi? Because in Qatrban, the first two months, if I am not wrong, the entire business was shut down due to the West Asia war. So if you could comment on how it has been for the month of, you know, June and July.

Morbi business is now picking up, but it has not become normal because of the gas supply, as you are aware. So still it is. Still, it is much less than what it used to be. So, we are expecting that it may resume, but still all the industries are not working to their full capacity.

Okay, sir. That's all from my side.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Archal Lohade from Nuwama. Please proceed.

Yeah, thank you for the follow-up opportunity, sir. If you could help us with the empty cost.

Empty for Exim, it was 19.2 crores. Last year it was 27.7 crores. Domestic was 64.7 crores. Last year it was 65.6 crores. Total 83.9 crores. Last year it was 93.3 crores.

Got it. Sir, just a clarification. On the basis of originating volume, if I look at the realization for domestic segment went up 10%, but the cost went up 12%. And on a per-TU basis, actually the margin kind of declined. If you could explain what has driven this, because the interest cost is fairly stable on a Y-Y basis, what would have brought down the margin?

Lead is the reason, because domestic lead has come down.

If you could help us with the lead number, sir, for the quarter.

Yes, last year it was 1356 kilometers. This year it is 1323 kilometers.

Understood. And one more question, if I may, with respect to the, you know, of the total JNPT volume, how much is actually going to the North India, in your opinion, sir? Is that 2 million? Is that 3, 4? What number would that be? And how much is that on rail at the moment, according to you?

That number, I don't have with me right now, please.

Got it. And is it fair to say the originating to handling ratio would be fairly stable for the year, or you could see further declining, actually, in the current year?

It would be stable for the year.

Got it. So is it fair to say then in that case the 15% exam growth is also on originating basis for you?

I can't answer this question right now because you should be well aware that exam and handling have a particular formula. 15% growth in handling doesn't mean it will 15% growth in originating

Got it. Those were my questions, sir. Thank you so much.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Comdinya from Jeffries. Please proceed.

Yeah, hi, sir. Thanks for the follow-up opportunity. Sir, just a couple of questions. One, if you can help us with the port-wise volume mix data.

Port-wise, yes. JNPT was 37%. Mundra, 33%. Vipava 7%, Vishakapatnam 6%, Chennai 4.4%, Cochin 5.3%. These are main boards.

Sure, sir. What is the double stack, sir, this quarter vis-a-vis by your wife, if you can share those numbers as well.

Yeah, double stack this quarter was 1322. Last year it was in Q1 was 1508. So there is a drop of 12%.

Got it, sir. Thank you very much, and all the rest. Thank you.

The next question is from the line of Aditya Mongia from Kotex Securities. Please proceed.

Thank you for the following opportunity. The question that I had was more on the differential trends in market share across the three posts that you have. Could you give a sense why the company's offering is looking in JNPT and then, as you answered that question, what needs to be done to make this more broad-based across Mundra and Kipawa as well? Can we think of launching new services over there, or is that scope only limited to JNPT?

No, no, we are of course launching new services. Always we are in touch with our customers. It is not that we are neglecting other ports. So wherever cargo is, we are present there, and we are continuously in touch with our customers. Our marketing activities are going on in full swing. So apart from JNPT, other ports are also very important for us. And it's not that market share has slightly dipped. Pipawa, it is the same. So it doesn't mean that we have not given that much importance to these ports. These ports are also very important, extremely important for us, and we hope to regain our market share very soon now at these ports also.

So, put differently, do we have a competitive advantage that works to our favor in JMPT and thus it is easier to gain market share over there versus other sports? Just trying to, because if I see a three to four year series of this data, you have been continuously gaining market share in JMPT credit to the company, but you've been kind of losing it elsewhere. So, is it that you have some competitive advantage, maybe the ICDs that you have, something that kind of sets you apart to cater to JMPT fiber better than others?

Maybe actually the internet that we are serving, because JNPT caters to Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, Nagpur area, then Bhargaya Pradesh. We have very good presence. We have very big ICDs in these interlands, and Mundra Pekawa cater mostly to North India, where there are a lot of ICDs present, we as well as private operators. So maybe that may be the reason. It's an interesting question that you have asked. We will further analyze it in detail.

Sir, maybe just a clarification of this 37% that is JNPT in your cargo mix. Let's say whatever, 37 volumes. What are the 37 volumes? How much go to NPR for you? And how much go outside NPR?

That number I don't have with me right now. I can get back to you later on.

I know, sir. Those are my questions. Thank you for your response. Thank you.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sumit Kishore from Access Capital. Please proceed.

Thanks for allowing the follow-up. Just one observation and question. Last three financial years, the share of originating volumes as a percentage of handling volumes has been coming off in both exam and domestic. You mentioned a certain formula which is relating the two of them. Could you please elaborate on how we should be thinking about this ratio over the next couple of years?

Thank you. So there is no fixed formula. I was mentioning that approximately orientating volume ranges from 65 to 70% of ending volume. That is an approximate number that it is a no-brainer. You can easily, you know, work on that. So I think more or less it will remain the same. If more hubs are present, then there may be slight change in this number.

On the downside, so it can reduce further.

Thank you. Definitely, it will be on the downside. But I can't predict right now at this moment.

Thank you.

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mohit Chug from Shublal Research. Please proceed.

Hi, Mr. Saroop. Thank you for the opportunity. Mr. Saroop, I have my first question on this road to rail ship. I think Indian Railways have been trying this for the past decade to win market share over road. Now, I just wanted to get your opinion on haulage charges. Earlier, we have witnessed that Indian Railways used to increase haulage charges, you know, whenever they feel like or they needed, you know, resources. How has been your communication recently with the Indian Railways on haulage charges? Can we see where the holiday charges can go down from Indian deliveries and be passing it on to the customer and invading market share from home?

See, in logistics, you must be aware, you must be well aware that the transportation choice of a customer depends on two factors, basically. First is the transit assurance, and second is the cost. So, you are primarily focusing on cost only. Transit assurance is also very important in logistics. Till now, Indian Railways has not been able to give transit assurance to customers because on the same track, we have passenger trains as well as the mail express trains as well as post trains. So we can't, in Indian Railways, we can't predict that when will the train reach the destination. But now, with the Dedicated Freight Corridor coming up, in which only freight trains will be running on that track, and that too at a very high speed, Indian Railway is in a position to give transit assurance to its customers. When the Dedicated Freight Corridor was, you know, Mundra Port was connected to Dedicated Freight Corridor through a Frida route, then we approach Indian Railways. to run a short transit train from our MMLP at Dadiri to Mundraport. So that product was launched. It was very well received by trade, and we tweaked slightly the tariff also. And there was a very good shift of cargo from road to rail. So that experiment was successful. Second was the... Thank you. We will complete it in 120 hours. That product is there from October 2025. I am happy to announce that the train is reaching within 120 hours. So this product is also very well received by trade, and we are getting very good response on this particular product. That is another good example of transit assurance without tweaking the cost. They are going to launch this transit assurance train from south to north, maybe from Bangalore to Delhi. So, still, they are working on it. So, once they announce that, that will also, I am hoping, it will give a very good response from trade. Lastly, It's open to senior officers from railways. From October, when monsoon is over, we are going to launch a short transit train between JNPT and North India, because now there are frequent disruptions, and it's not the proper time to announce a short transit train. So from October, we are going to announce a short transit train between North India and JNPT. So that will also give another, it will give boost to. So these are the things. Basically, transit assurance also plays a very important role. Only cost is not defective.

Understood. Mr. Surabh, this was very helpful. Just to follow up on this. So you were saying this assured transit is basically helping us gain more market share from God because now there is a certainty when the container will reach the destination.

Yes, sir.

And this pursuit of assured consequence will keep increasing from there. As you said, Bangalore, Delhi, and then more groups will also be explored.

Correct. Exactly.

Got it. Got it. Mr. Surabh, my second question is on our capacity at Northern ICD. So I understand we are quite optimist about Traffic moving from JNPT to northern part of the country. I was just wondering, how is the capacity at our northern ICDs? Will they be able to handle this increased flow of containers which they will be receiving after JNPT getting connected? Or can you create some bottlenecks?

No, absolutely, there will be no bottlenecks. We are having huge multi-model logistic parts. They are in areas of more than 300 acres. And we have four MMLPs on Western DFC, fifth one is coming up near Ahmedabad. So we are fully geared up to handle the increased traffic. Absolutely no worries on that. And we are inducting high capacity rates also, in which double stacking will be more. So we are fully, our infrastructure is ready. Absolutely no issue.

Wonderful. Just one last question, Mr. Saroogh. Thank you for answering the other two. Do you have any rough ballpark number of containers moving on trucks from JNPT to Delhi NCR hinterland? Just ballpark if you have some either from NITI report, NITI report or your internal assessments.

Sorry, I don't have that number with me right now.

No problem. Mr. Suru, I think this is your last month with CONCOR. It was very nice interacting with you all this while. And it was very, I mean, good luck for your future endeavors, Mr. Suru. Thanks a lot.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraints, that was the last question for today. I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Over to you, sir.

Just I wanted to summarize that we have seen a Q1, which was quite good, and as I explained the various sectors and increase in guidance, companies are standing on very strong fundamentals. We have a strong team, very world-class, you know, infrastructure with us. So I am pretty sure that we will... Increase our market share, increase our business, and more and more EBITDA margins also will increase. So, it has got a very bright future, and logistics industry is going to benefit a lot from the services of Concord. Thank you very much.

Thank you. On behalf of Dam Capital Advisors Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your line. Thank you.