NAVA LIMITED (NAVA) February 5, 2026 Conference Transcript

Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the NAVA Limited Q3 F526 earnings conference call hosted by ICICI Securities. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Ms. Nidisha from ICICI Securities. Thank you, and over to you, ma'am.

We will begin with opening remarks from the management, which will be followed by Q&A. Over to you, Samson.

Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I would like to begin with a key milestone that underscores our commitment to the successful completion of Nava Global's $50 million buyback, supported by strong dividend flows from Nava Mamba Energy. This transaction reflects the quality of our underlying assets, disciplined capital allocation, and our continued focus on strengthening results to shareholders. Operationally, Q3FI26 was a strong quarter for NAVA. We delivered healthy revenue growth and a sharp improvement in profitability, with consolidated net profits rising 83.5% quarter-on-quarter. Our energy business remained resilient. MEL continued to reduce areas while maintaining high plant availability, and mining posted improved volumes and margins. Equally important, our growth projects are progressing steadily from the 300-megawatt MEL expansion and the 100-megawatt solar project in Zambia to experiencing early success in our avocado plantations and steady execution of the Kawamba Sugar Project. These investments are designed to diversify earnings, enhance cash flows, and build long-term resilience. We will take any questions now. Thank you.

Thank you very much. We will now begin with the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and 1 on your touchstone 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. In order to ensure that the management is able to address questions from all the participants in the conference, please restrict your questions to 2 per participant. For more questions, please rejoin the queue. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The next question. The first question comes from the line of Korshik Doshi from ICSA Securities. Please go ahead.

Hello. Am I audible, sir?

Yes, sir.

Thank you for the opportunity, sir, and congratulations for the great achievement. My first question is, other income jumped sharply to 70.4 crore in quarter 3 compared to 26 crore in quarter 2. Can you break this down between dividend, interest, and indicate what portion is sustainable? So, you are referring to the consolidation level or a standalone level? Sir, it's consolidation level.

Consolidation level, it is mainly on account of like foreign currency fluctuations.

Okay, sir. And what portion is sustainable? Can you indicate that?

I'm sorry, I can't speak properly about it. Can you repeat this?

The portion of that is sustainable. Can you indicate on that?

Again, there is a lot of disturbance from the background, your voice is not stuck.

We are unable, there is no disturbance from the background.

Is it clear now?

Yes, it is clear.

What portion of this is sustainable?

Sustainable other income under control per quarter is around 40 crore.

Okay, sir. And so my second question is EBITDA margin expanded sharply to 48.3% from 34.5% quarter-on-quarter. How much of this expansion is driven by NMEL PLF, normalization versus cost-reversal?

The major contribution is from M.E.L. power plant. This quarter of M.E.L. power plant operated with 97% PLF. The Indian energy business, the PLFs were good, but at the same time, few power plants

had planned shutdown activities.

Okay, I got it. Sir, my next question is, mining revenue grew 16.6% quarter and quarter due to higher volume. Is this volume run rate sustainable, or was Q3 usually strong?

In terms of the mining division, I think the average, in terms of sales, is about 35,000 to 40,000 to 42,000 tons on a monthly basis. That's what we've been averaging, and that's sustainable.

Okay, sir. Thank you. I will come back in queue.

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Vaishnavi Guru from Craving Alpha Wealth Fund. Please go ahead.

Thank you for taking my question for my end. The first one is with respect to Zambia. So, in terms of hydro perspective, with respect to power, what are the plans of the government to diversify away from hydro power, and do you see any or expect any projects that will generate revenue for us?

Yes, I think the answer to that is Mamba, right? They're already diversifying from Hydropower by signing PTAs and absorbing power from us, from phase one, from phase two. Aside from that, you know, they're increasing a lot of solar projects. We are undertaking 100 megawatt solar project, while there are other solar projects also in the country coming up, some commissioned and some yet to be commissioned. So, I think they are eagerly diversifying away from hydro power.

So, apart from the upcoming 300 megawatt project, do you see any other projects for us?

For us? Yes, we are setting up another 100 megawatt solar, right?

And we are also exploring other opportunities in terms of renewables.

And, sir, one question is on the cash that you are receiving from NABA Global. How do we plan to deploy that?

So, I presume, are you talking about the buyback amount?

Yes, the buyback and dividends.

Yeah, so, you know, like you always stated, our primary objective is to ensure that we have enough cash to fund future projects, maybe green fields or the expansion. And then, apart from that, you know, we always look at corporate actions, and we've been very generous in this past year with regards to corporate actions, which always, you know, boosts shareholders' confidence.

Okay, so noted, sir. One question is on the avocado and agriculture front. How do we plan to scale this segment, and how much further do we plan to invest here?

I think on the avocados, see, we have four divisions split into 275 hectares each. Right now, as we speak, two divisions have already been planted, and the first division has given us the first pilot crop of about 140 metric tons. I think going forward, we're looking at about a time horizon of eight years until the full production from all four divisions hits the markets.

So, what does this expect to grow significantly and contribute to the revenue? How much time frame would we expect?

Down the range 4 to 5 years to be significant segment.

Operator request has been initiated. If you'd like to cancel this request, please press star zero again.

I'm going back to keep up other questions.

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Sri Gopal Kankani from SG, Kankani and Associates. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon, sir. I have seen the presentation where you have mentioned this H1 of next financial aid completion target for solar power plant and H2 for thermal power plant. But I wanted to know what is the expected completion time for sugar complex.

The sugar complex or the processing unit will be complete by April, around April 2028. So, I'd say mid-2028. Okay.

And my second question is that what is the area of that Nataram land, sir, and what is the present market value, approximately?

What is the total area? Can you ask me to say? Approximately, approximately what is the 20 crores per acre market value? What is the total? 65 acres. 65 acres. 65 acres is the total area of the land.

Okay.

Yes.

And what is the present market value approximately?

What we know is the fact that the area is garnering a lot of interest and the market value, say, from 10 years ago is definitely being on the upswing. So, to give you a precise number as a juncture, we will not be able to, but we know from the inclining trend.

Okay. Okay. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Jatin Damania from Swain Investments. Please go ahead.

Good evening, sir, and thank you for the opportunity. Sir, I just wanted to understand the total capacity we will be spending in the Rambia for the thermal and solar. Can you help us on the supplied amount? How much are you spending on thermal and solar?

Sorry, I can't. Your voice is being muffled. Can you speak a little away from the phone or so? We can't hear you clearly.

Now it's audible.

It's better, better.

Yeah. So just wanted to understand the CapEx that we will be spending for the 300 megawatt and 100 megawatt separately in Zambia.

300 megawatt expansion thermal plant, total capex outlay is 400 million dollars, and for the 100 megawatt solar plant, capex outlay is 90 million dollars.

And after that, how much we have already spent?

Sir, as a 31 December, for the thermal plant, total spent is around close to 190 million dollars. For the solar plant, spent is close to 10 million dollars.

And this includes your debt and equity. This is not just equity, this is debt and equity.

And this debt equity is a ratio of 70 khani, right? And the entire capex is funded by NAWA or even the Samhain government is contributing to the project?

It's 65-35. So we contribute on the equity side, he contributes 65% and ZCMIH, our partner contributes 35%.

Oh, okay. The partner contributes 35%. Sure, sir. And definitely, that gives a good visibility in terms of the path which are coming from Zambia. But when you come to the domestic market, the scenario will look a little bit lower in terms of the pricing as well as demand. So how do you see the domestic power segment growth going ahead?

As you rightly pointed out, the domestic power seems to be on the declining trend. And if you look at the exchange pricing itself, I think there's been a drop of about 12% here on here. So I think the way we are looking at mitigating this downturn is through mainly entering into long-term and rather than, you know, being completely dependent on the exchange where there's a lot of volatility. I think in this regard, we have informed you the last quarter that we have engaged into a long-term, Five-year period bilateral contract with Tamil Nadu for our 60-megawatt IPP plant in Orissa. So, besides that, we're also looking at targeting a similar allocation for the other units that we have.

And at what rate did we have entered into a contract? I mean, any PPA try you can help?

This is at 5.2 kilowatt hour, the long-term Tamil Nadu contract.

And last question, other than the power business, what's your take on the Faroe? Because the segment is consistently underperforming. I understand the market is not good. But now, given the recent safeguard duty on the steel, and we have seen some update in the prices on the Faroe front, how do you look this segment growth in the coming quarters of the ABD in 527?

Even if you compare the last quarter with this quarter that we're in, there's been an improvement of pricing by about 8%. I think this has a lot to do with the capital allocation that the government has put upon in terms of infrastructure and so on. So going forward, we're hopeful that prices, if they don't increase to a very large extent, at least they're going to remain So, while we don't look at it as a very high margin vertical, but we are confident that, you know, in terms of the scale, there will always be a good top line.

So, I'm looking from the operating performance, but see, as you indicated that the quarter-on-quarter prices have increased, but when you look at the segmental reserve, there's a sharp drop in the profitability in the ferro segment. So, I'm just unable to digest this, because from two quarters of a bit, we are almost at break, even on the Faroe front.

No, I think what I mentioned was from quarter three to the quarter that we are in, currently quarter four, there's been an increase.

Okay, okay. Thank you. That's all from my side. And all the best.

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Korshik Doshi. From ICIC Securities, please go ahead.

Thank you, sir, for the opportunity. My next question is, what is the amount of debt at the end of 9th month F-26?

Close to 200 million dollars.

Okay, got it. Sir, my next question is, do you have any type of power for this summer for Indian power plant?

Yeah, so I think in terms of quarter four, we are more or less fully committed.

Okay, sir. Thank you. That's it from my side.

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Jainam from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.

Thank you for the opportunity. My first question is, for the 300 megawatt annual phase 2 and 100 megawatt solar project, can you share the expected CAPEX, fundamental mix, and steady state UDUKTA, and RSC?

I think we just answered that with regards to both the plants, just a couple of minutes ago, in terms of the capital. Just go to the time.

Okay, sir. Sir, how much is the outstanding receivables for Mamba?

The area's amount that is yet to be paid is about $30.5 million.

Okay, sir. That answers my question. Thank you so much.

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Sailesh Raja from BNK CBRDs. Please go ahead.

Yes, sir. Could you please update us on the Ivory Coast, and also can you give us the payback period that you are expecting from the solar project, that 90 million USD that we are doing?

So in terms of Ivory Coast, as you're aware, we are currently under exploration for the 360 square kilometer concession that we were awarding. I don't have much to share in terms of the discovery yet. I think that's still underway. So when we do have something, I'll get back.

And what about the solar investment? We are investing 90 million USD. What about the payback period that you are expecting from this solar project?

It's 10 to 12 years.

Yeah. Okay, okay, okay, okay. Sir, currently in Zambia, what is the mix, sir, between thermal and solar? So how the mix is changing? How do you see the trend of thermal and solar in overall Zambia? How is the mix? So right now, we are the only thermal.

Yes, yes. So initially, you know, Zambia was almost 95% hydro. Then we came into the picture with thermal. But now there are quite a few solar plants that are coming up, but they are all without storage. So they are possibly the only other base load apart from the hydrants. But I think there is a fair bit of solar coming up, and there is also talk of some other thermal projects coming up. But I think solar is gaining more traction.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Suthuthi Agarwal from CL. Please go ahead.

Hi. Am I audible?

Yes, ma'am.

Yeah. Could you comment on the increase in employee cost from 191 crores to 268 crores?

Please tell me which period they were referring to.

Nine months comparison.

Good solidated.

Good solidated.

It is on account of commission, like there was a gem, the provision was made in the last quarter. So on like 9 months period, it is more compared to the previous 9 months period in 2024.

Okay, sir. And another question is, we have bought back, like Navaglobal has bought back 50 million of shares. So is there any future plan to like make it a wholly owned subsidiary?

It is a wholly owned subsidiary. It was a buyback, the share capital reduced, but it is still a wholly owned subsidiary of Nava. Nava owns 100% of Nava Global.

Then what is the reason for buyback?

Nava was a single shareholder, and after buyback, still it holds 300%.

So Nava Global bought back the shares, so Nava still remains the 100% owner.

Okay, sir. Thank you.

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Vaishnavi Gurung, from Craving Alpha Wealth Fund. Please go ahead.

Yeah, hi. Thank you for taking my question again. So, first, it is with respect to commissioning of the power plants and thermal power plants in 2026, if I'm not wrong. So, what kind of revenue you are expecting from geese to power plants? If you can give us a broad guidance, like around in FY25 or 29?

Sir, from the 300 megawatt thermal power plant, in case of full year operation, the expected revenue is 180 to 200 million dollars, and from the 100 megawatt solar project, in case of full year operation, the expected revenue is 15 to 16 million dollars.

Sir, can you please repeat again for the solar plant?

It is 15 to 16 million dollars.

So, do we expect, so by event, do we expect the full operation of these two power plants?

It will be financially at 2728.

And sir, this last question is on my end. Do we have any planned shutdown for this FI26 and FI27?

Yeah, definitely. I mean, now all the plans undergo shutdown and maintenance every year. So there are going to be planned shutdowns for all our units during the year.

Anything major?

No, nothing major.

Okay.

A reminder to all participants, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on a touch on telephone. The next question comes from the line of Sri Gopal Kankani from SG Gangwani Associates. Please go ahead.

Thank you, sir, for giving me again opportunity. I just wanted to know that we have recently learned from newspapers that moil has increased the prices of manganese by 5% from 1st February. Do we have sufficient stock of manganese, or this is going to inversely affect our profitability for production of silico manganese?

So, our exposure to moil is extremely limited. We only, in fact, we don't buy any lumps from them. We only buy a very small amount of fines. So, this should not have much of an impact. Okay.

So, then, sir, from where our manganese or requirement is being made out?

Various sources, mostly outside of India.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. A reminder to all participants, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touchtone telephone. Ladies and gentlemen, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touchtone telephone. The next question comes from the line of Nidisha from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.

Yes, thank you so much for taking my question. So, sir, could you give us some broad-based idea on CAPEX for FY27 and FY28? Where are we looking to spend the CAPEX and of the CAPEX that we are doing? What kind of revenues we can expect in the next coming years?

So, I mean, that's a fairly broad question. So, in terms of the current year, with regards to the CAPEX commitments, it's all based on the ongoing projects, namely, I think, the phase two, 300 megawatts thermal. You have phase one of solar, which is 100 megawatts committed, with the potential of another phase that may get committed later, based on market dynamics. Then on the agri side, we broadly spoke about, you know, the avocado, where it's a 55 million commitment, and the sugar project, the Kamamba Sugar Limited, which is 100 million.

So we're expecting all of the scapegs to kind of be undertaken in Europe till FY27 end, right? So do we have anything in mind for FY28? Great.

Can we have anything, I'm sorry, online? Yes, we do have, you know, we do have projects in the pipeline that we are thinking about. But, you know, it's too early for us to commit or discuss those projects. But, you know, as we progress, as we have projects that we are developing, we also, you know, are constantly evaluating new projects that we can take up.

All right. Lastly, on the KPEX front, what was the KPEX that was undertaken in the nine months of this year?

And my last

question would be that for the Indian power plant, do we have a tie-up for power this summer?

Yes. So, I think, like I mentioned earlier, for Q4, we are more or less fully committed. I think for the Q1 of FI 27-2, we are in the process of tying up most of ours.

All right. Thank you so much.

Thank you. A reminder to all participants, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star N1 on a dutch tone telephone. The next question comes from the line of Stuti Agarwal from CIS.

Please go ahead. Mr. Garwag, you may proceed with your question.

Hello, yeah, I wanted to check on what is the status of mines in Africa regarding the, also about the lithium mine phase in mines.

Yeah, so in terms of the lithium mine, you know, we're still in the exploration stage, you know, that's currently underway. You know, these processes take a little while, and they involve various steps. So, that's currently underway.

Thank you.

Thank you. As there are no further questions from the participants, I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Thank you once again for joining us today. I hope you have answered all your questions. So we continue, we appreciate all your continued interest and support, and as we move ahead, we remain focused on delivering sustainable long-term value for all stakeholders. Thank you, and have a nice day.

Thank you. On behalf of ICICI Security, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you will now disconnect your line. Thank you.