Nuvoco Vistas Corporation Ltd (NUVOCO) Q2FY27 Concall Transcript - Sep-2026 Qtr
Moderator: Ladies and gentlemen, please stay connected. The conference call will begin in next few minutes. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, you are connected for the Nuvoco Vistas Corporation Limited conference call. Please stay connected, the call will begin shortly. Thank you.
Moderator: Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Q2 FY '27 Earnings Conference Call hosted by Nuvoco Vistas Corporation Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touchtone phone. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Bishnu Sharma, Head of Investor Relations from Nuvoco. Thank you, and over to you.
Bishnu Sharma (Nuvoco Vistas Corporation Ltd): Thank you, Yashashree. So, good afternoon everyone, and a warm welcome to the Nuvoco Vistas earnings conference call for the quarter ended September 30th, 2026. Before we begin, just wanted to state what we have achieved over the past decade. So, this year, we have completed 10 years in the cement business. What began in 2014 with a single manufacturing operation at Nimbol with a 2.3 million tonnes of cement capacity has evolved into a diversified building materials company spanning cement, ready-mix concrete, and modern building materials. October 2016 marked a defining inflection point with the completion of the acquisition of Lafarge. This was followed by the acquisition of Emami Cement in 2020. During the
Bishnu Sharma (Nuvoco Vistas Corporation Ltd): pre-19 period which also opened a new phase of growth. The growth agenda was further strengthened with the acquisition of Vadraj Cement Limited. Today Nuvoco has a diversified manufacturing presence across the East, North, and West and is well positioned to reach 35 million tonnes of cement capacity by FY28, representing nearly 15 times growth over the past decade. This journey reflects the commitment of our teams and continued trust on our customers, channel partners, and shareholders. Looking ahead, the journey continues and we have multiple options for growth including expansion at Gulbarga and in the North. At the same time, we continue to build up strategic limestone resources which will give us the raw material security to support sustained growth over the long term. Before we open the floor for questions, I would like to take you through the key developments of the quarter and how the business performed. Let me begin with the operating environment which was challenging. The Middle East conflict which towards the end of Q1 and the beginning of Q2 appeared to be settling, escalated once again. This led to a sharp jump in input prices, including pet coke, coal, granules, gypsum, etcetera. Pet coke prices particularly surpassed the previous peak we witnessed between March and April. The pressure was not limited to the global front. Domestically, intense and erratic rainfall, especially in the East, brought thermal coal inventories at several power plants across the country to critical levels. As a result, coal supply was prioritized for the power sector. A consequence of this was also reduced rake availability which disrupted the supply chain and also led to a surge in domestic prices of e-auction coal A brief trend of this is also being presented in our investor presentation. On the demand side, all India cement demand grew during the quarter, but regional trends varied. The monsoon disrupted construction activity particularly in the East while regions with relatively lower rainfall saw better demand. On the other hand, prices did not improve in line with expectations. In short, it was a challenging quarter. Despite these macro challenges, the company delivered a resilient performance. Volume grew by 9% YoY. Revenue grew by approximately 14% and EBITDA grew by 11% on a YoY basis. Our strategic levers of premiumization and geomiix supported this performance. Premiumization reached a historic high of 45% whereas trade mix remained at 75%. On the project front, in Vadraj Cement Limited, the 2 million tonnes grinding unit at Limda Cement Plant in Surat was commissioned during the quarter. The addition not only strengthens Nuvoco's manufacturing and distribution presence in western India, but will enable the company to release much-needed capacity at Rajasthan plants for the northern market. At Kutch, project activities are progressing as planned with phased operationalization planned from Q3 FY27. The construction of bulk cement terminal at Viramgam, Sachana, which will be equipped with a dedicated railway siding, is also on track. It will serve as a strategic distribution hub to deepen Nuvoco's presence and expand its reach across the Gujarat market. During the quarter, the company also executed agreement with CleanMax for a 46.4 megawatt of wind solar hybrid renewable energy project in Rajasthan. Once operational, the project is expected to generate approximately 100 million units of renewable electricity annually and deliver long-term cost certainty by reducing dependence on conventional power sources, thereby strengthening the company's energy mix and improving long-term cost efficiency across the Rajasthan operations. As we enter the upcoming quarters, we expect demand to remain healthy as monsoon conditions have receded in most regions. The company remains focused on delivering growth, and we will continue to be watchful of the geopolitical developments. With that, I would like to open the floor for questions. Operator, please go ahead.
Moderator: Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while
Moderator: asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. We'll take our first question from the line of Navin Sahadeo from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Navin Sahadeo (ICICI Securities): Yeah. Good afternoon everyone and thank you for the opportunity. So, I had two questions, but they're more on the cost front. So, I am referring to your slide number 11 wherein we are highlighting pet coke prices going up to almost $187. And more importantly, the premiums in Coal India across all the subsidiaries more than doubling or going much higher in some cases. So, my first question is, what was our average fuel cost in Q2? I believe in Q1 we were given a number of 1.52. So, against that, what was the cost in Q2? And at the current spot rates that we are all worried about, which is 187 and the premiums all along, what will that transpire to on spot basis? I understand inventory carries with a lag, but just to get a impact on our upper end of the spectrum.
Navin Sahadeo (ICICI Securities): Yeah, thank you. Just a clarification that this 1.8 that you are mentioning for Q3, also factors in the surge in premiums for Coal India coal and all of that, right?
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