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Ador Welding Ltd. Call Transcript 2026
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AWL/SEC/SE/2026-27/12
04th May, 2026
BSE LTD.
Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers,
1st Floor, Dalal Street,
Fort, Mumbai – 400 023
Company Scrip Code: 517041
NATIONAL STOCK EXCHANGE OF INDIA LTD.
Exchange Plaza, C-1, Block G,
Bandra-Kurla Complex
Bandra (East), Mumbai - 400 051
Company Symbol: ADOR
Dear Sir/Madam,
Sub: Transcript of the Analysts / Institutional Investors Meet
Pursuant to Regulation 46(2)(oa) of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, this is to inform that the Transcript of the Analysts / Institutional Investors Meet, which was held on Thursday, 30th April, 2026, through the electronic medium of video conferencing (Zoom Platform), is attached herewith.
The Transcript is also available on the website of the Company at: https://adorwelding.com/events-2/
We hereby request you to make a note of it and acknowledge its receipt.
Thanking you,
Yours Sincerely,
For ADOR WELDING LIMITED
VINAYAK M. BHIDE
COMPANY SECRETARY
Encl: As above
ADOR WELDING LIMITED
Regd. & Corporate Office: Ador House, 6, K. Dubash Marg, Fort, Mumbai - 400 001 - 16, Maharashtra, India.
+91 22 6623 9300 | www.adorwelding.com | CIN: L70100MH1951PLC008647
1800 233 1071 | [email protected] | +91 20 40706000
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“Ador Welding Limited
Analyst / Investor Meet”
April 30, 2026
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CHORA S & C ALL
MANAGEMENT: MR. ADITYA MALKANI – MANAGING DIRECTOR – MR. V.M. BHIDE – COMPANY SECRETARY MR. SURYAKANT SETHIA – CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER MR. K. SURYANARAYAN – HEAD CORPORATE STRATEGY MR. RISHABH PATNI – SENIOR MANAGER - FINANCE
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Aditya Malkani:
Good afternoon. I hope you all can hear me. Let's get started. Good afternoon. Thank you for taking the time to attend today's earnings call. Just to give you a quick update, we have a few points to discuss and then we will leave it open for question and answers.
Just to give a quick overview on Ador, like we discussed earlier as well, pretty much in line with that, 800 plus employees, five manufacturing facilities that are located across the country. We deliver across India and now have a global footprint that is increasing to approximately 15 countries around the world. R&D continues to be an area of investment and is recognized by the Government of India, and we closed this year at approximately INR1,135 crores in sales.
We identify ourselves -- we have discussed this in past meetings as well but we continue to identify ourselves as a Tier 1 welding player which is not part of a global MNC, but with roots in India that is stretching out towards other economies and other geographies as well. These are the geographies that we currently operate in, with India comprising approximately 80% plus of our sales, and Middle East markets and select other markets like the US and stuff like that, becoming a lot more relevant for us as we go forward.
Revenue growth was approximately 3% for the year -- for Quarter 4, sorry and EBITDA clocked in at approximately INR38 crores, an increase of 200 bps. Gross margin was approximately 36% and the PBT was at approximately INR39 crores. This excludes -- the numbers we discussed today exclude any recovery of the old Kuwait project and the exceptional items also.
For the year standalone, revenue is up about 2%, gross margins at 38%, up about 250 bps. The EBITDA margin at 12%. The Kuwait project recovery, which was a lot of good work done by the team for the recovery that was pending from 2020-2021, that finally led to INR14 crores of recovery, and PBT of approximately INR130 crores excluding the onerous cost of the Uran project. Return on capital employed is approximately on the operational EBITDA at approximately 12%, and return on capital employed is approximately 23%.
On the new product introduction, like we discussed in the past, there are various initiatives being undertaken depending on the industry or the technology that we are focused on. We have entered into a partnership with Miller, which is a leading welding equipment manufacturer globally for specific products regarding applications in the submerged arc welding space, which basically leads into the industries in power, structural, and shipbuilding.
We have strengthened our portfolio with Made in India products for the robotic line as well. We have added products that have nuclear approvals for consumables, and we are adding more and more consumables for the wind manufacturing industry, for high-end nickels, for all the special critical welding applications. This is a continuous initiative that is undertaken by the team and month-on-month, especially in recent months, we have been seeing a lot faster introduction of products and approvals accordingly.
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New product introduction, another area that is a big focus area for us is the automation space. As we have discussed before, Ador needs to be a lot stronger in the automation space, not only via hard automation but also via robotics, cobots, laser, all of that. And in fact, we have now introduced products accordingly and we have received some orders as well. Year-on-year, there is a lot more push happening on this. We have identified a lot more talent to come into the organization also to drive these, and we are starting to see results of this coming.
Ador, as I said, being, you know, the only Tier 1 player that is not part of a global MNC that operates, we have to be very specific about brand positioning and how we lay that out. So there are several initiatives being done to ensure that the marketing and branding follows suit altogether with that.
We were fortunate this year to have received some interesting recognitions. We developed a welder, that means a welding equipment that uses battery welding as a main power source. We were the first to do so and we were very fortunate by CII to be recognized amongst the top 100 innovative companies in India. Our training division, which undertakes several projects primarily on a non-profit basis but for brand building purposes, has been recognized as well.
Additionally, the Bureau of Indian Standards, which we work with very closely, has recognized our manufacturing plants for their quality and process. Just in conclusion, this is our 75th year, which will happen in October of this year, just to give you a little bit, and we continue to remain focused on creating the best welding experience.
We will now leave it open for question and answers and take it forward accordingly. Thank you. All right, go ahead. Nisha, can you hear us?
Moderator: Good evening, everyone. Sir, nobody has raised any question as of now.
Aditya Malkani: All right. Is there any questions if anyone would like to ask any specific questions at all? We will wait five minutes, it is fine. I think someone has raised their hand.
Moderator: The first speaker is Mr. Rajat Joshi. Mr. Joshi, you are now being placed in the meeting. Please proceed to ask your questions.
Rajat Joshi: Yes, am I audible?
Aditya Malkani: Yes, please go ahead.
Rajat Joshi: Yes, thank you for the opportunity. So my first question would be on FY26 performance. So if you could just break down our performance into volume and value so that just to get a sense of how we have done with regards to mix, price, and volume growth?
Aditya Malkani: No, just to give you an overview, the volume growth is pretty much in line with the revenue growth, a little bit up or down within that same thing, within a reasonable level. There is
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obviously, as you know, in the last three or four months been a massive inflationary effect that has happened due to the global circumstances and macro circumstances. We are seeing certain product lines outperforming on market growth. We are seeing some product lines have a little bit quieter last four or five months especially, but we are seeing it pretty much in line with steel consumption as well as in line with the figures that we are showing over here.
Rajat Joshi:
Understood, understood. Secondly, on client addition, right? If you could just share some progress and traction on that front, both in terms of new industries that we are now catering to, which you partly alluded to in opening remarks, as well as then new clients as well, similar to NPCIL or anything else. Some comments on that please would be helpful?
Aditya Malkani:
No, that is actually a big focus area for us. We talked about that in the past. So we are seeing -- so let us do it in two-three bases. The first is the low-hanging fruit of customers where we have product, but we are not aggressive enough to be in the door. I think there is a lot of work being done in select pockets, especially on structural, on automotive, on oil and gas, to be a lot more aggressive.
We have got a strong key customer account team, we have got a stronger CRM process that we are following at the moment that we have implemented in the last few months that is enabling us to be a little more aggressive there. I think we will keep seeing the benefit of that as we go forward.
The second is segments where we are not product-wise strong and now entering the door, like a little bit of wind and stuff like that, where we are now getting the approvals in place, getting the testing procedures done, entering, it will take a little bit longer, but I think the benefit will be quite large from that perspective over the next one or two years.
Rajat Joshi:
Understood. My next question would be on the outlook for the next few years. So if you could just spell out how one should look at revenue growth and margins for the next few years, both on a volume basis and then from a portfolio completion if that helps with regards to mix or pricing, and then on cost efficiencies when it comes to margins as well?
Aditya Malkani:
Yes, so I will take the margin answer because I feel that is a little bit easier for me to answer right now. Like I have been talking and you have hopefully seen in the last two or three quarters, slight improvements on those margins. I have been talking about how Ador within itself has the ability to improve its own margins, and we have been working towards that. And there is still a little bit of room left.
So I think on a similar trajectory, you can see that happen, for another 100, 200 basis points going forward over the coming periods. I wouldn't say it is immediate, it takes a little bit of time. As far as forecasts go, look, it is very tough to forecast at the moment. And I keep saying that and neither do we give guidance and stuff like that because it is very, very hard to do so. But we are very clear that we need to keep looking at outperforming on volume and value.
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As of now, we remain -- if you take IIP numbers, GDP numbers, 6%, 7%, 8% in that region and you hope that those numbers consistently perform. I think we are in a position to do better than that. But supply chain shocks are just the way things are at the moment, you know, lack of clarity for many planning purposes. So I don't have anything beyond that. All I can tell you is that, look, we are planning that those numbers should be in that line of what I mentioned at the very minimum.
Rajat Joshi:
Understood. My next question would be on the Flares business, right? So ex of one-time gains, the segment has, I mean, probably again optically made losses even in Q4. And so just wanted to understand our plans for this segment going forward?
Aditya Malkani:
We made an announcement at the end of March, early part of April, that we were combining, realigning the entire division. So we no longer have a division called Flares and Process Equipment. We have, as I have mentioned in many calls, we were waiting for Uran to come towards closure.
We do not see ourselves being successful in large-scale projects, which means the kind of business we want to go after is basically a product line type of business where we have orders and we can see profitability in those orders. That basically would be anywhere in the region of, like we discussed, a INR20 crores -INR30 crores product line. A INR20-INR30 crores product line for a INR1,200 crore company does not need to be a separate division anymore.
It needs to be product management driven and just driven within the smaller part of it, and that is exactly what we have done. Restructured a lot of stuff, a lot of changes over the last five, six weeks, and we should see that play out better this year. And as I said, we are very clear we don't want to lose any money in that and we can make a little bit of money if we do this correctly.
Rajat Joshi:
Understood. And so, I mean, accordingly, are we seeing any kind of orders or pipeline in this business for next year?
Aditya Malkani:
Yes, I think we should be all right for the process equipment flare from approximately a INR20 crores kind of number that I am talking to you about. I think we should be kind of okay on that front. Whatever little traction I have been noticing, we should be okay for that, yes.
Rajat Joshi:
And then we should be able to break even basis that number that you just mentioned?
Aditya Malkani:
Yes, hopefully, yes.
Rajat Joshi:
All right, perfect. I think I will just stop and get back in the queue later if there are more questions. Thank you.
Moderator:
Thank you, Mr. Joshi. We will now move to our next speaker, Mr. Pritesh. Mr. Pritesh, you are now being placed in the meeting. Please proceed to ask your questions.
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Pritesh:
Yes, hi. I just wanted to check for last year, this FY26, amongst all the industries that we were catering to, any broader observations that you have in terms of the industry clientele performance, any hits and misses there? And then I wanted to check on the export side of the business because we do a lot of business in Middle East. So how will that business shape up?
Aditya Malkani:
Sure. So I think in terms of industry, first, I think there are a few industries that -- I mean, you guys will know better than me -- but we are seeing green shoots obviously, shipbuilding, a little bit on some structural, wind, like I said, even though it is not a big thing for us at the moment but we are seeing a lot of activity there to get us approved and stuff like that. Automotive is picking up, doing all right on that front.
Those are the main. I am not seeing, I am not seeing anything else that is really outstanding or anything like that beyond a few of these. Thermal is expected to -- some work comes from there as well. Oil and gas, pipeline kind of work, all of that going on, so that is kind of all right, but nothing exorbitant or nothing shining out from that perspective. We do expect that, like everyone else does, for the reasons that the next 12-18 months it should be a little bit better.
From the exports perspective, last year was a bit soft compared to target, fairly flattish compared to where we wanted to be the year before. We did notice one or two pockets where we are quite reliant on, where the markets were a little bit soft due to their own structural blah blah blah issues internally, for example in Saudi and stuff like that, a little bit softer. But we did see other markets do a little bit better.
So far this year, what we have seen is the order book, inquiry base, and approvals where we are set up, exports should do better -- should do well, should do better for the markets we operate in. We are definitely seeing a lot of the efforts being put in, we are seeing a lot of traction from that.
Pritesh:
So the next business is on the process equipment side. Why is it that we still continue to have adjusted for those one-offs, the losses continuing? Because in the past also we have said across a lot of quarters that this is towards the end. So, you know, where exactly does this all finish and what kind of unexecutable number is still pending?
Aditya Malkani:
There is no further loss, there is a gain.
K. Suryanarayan:
The INR3 crores that you see in PE is basically a gain that has come because there was one of the reorders that came in from ONGC. So that is a gain, and accounting-wise we will have to take it in the same line item where we had taken the expense. So it is a gain. If you look at it in June, it was INR28 crores if I am not mistaken, and now in March quarter we have taken a INR3 crores gain. So full year the hit on that is about INR25 crores. Going forward, if we get any money back from ONGC for any LD and all, again it will come in that same line item.
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Aditya Malkani:
There is no further negative left. We took the biggest hit we did in Q1 and we are working towards recovery on what we can. That was the very clear principle.
Pritesh:
And then there is this another gain, right, which you are reporting, impairment reversal on trade receivables? So that goes and sits where?
K. Suryanarayan:
That is the KOC, the Kuwait project recovery, yes. That was a project we had taken in Kuwait and with a lot of efforts from the finance team, they were able to recover that money. So that has also come in as a separate line item so that people are aware that this money is not from current operations, it is an effort of the past that has come in.
Pritesh:
So then from a segmental point of view, what happens is you report a INR5-odd crores number in the process division which has both these gains sitting, right? So if you adjust for that, then there is a loss. So my question was there, so on an ongoing basis there is a loss, adjusting for gain there is a profit. So, my question was from that direction?
Aditya Malkani:
Are you asking basically that as a Flares and Process Equipment division, if it continues to run the way it does today, it loses money? No, it does not, because effective 31st March, I have taken many decisions that will not allow that to happen coming into this quarter. Because I had to wait until the Uran project was completed for many things to happen. That is it from that perspective.
Okay. Sorry, Pritesh, you okay about that? You are on mute, sorry, we can't hear you.
Pritesh:
Yes, I got muted. So incrementally, the growth division -- so basically, we don't see the losses recurring in the process equipment division, and the welding division moves in line with the steel growth rate plus whatever extra growth rate that we come from the export business because last year was a flat number in exports. Correct, that is how I have to read it?
Aditya Malkani:
Yes, yes, correct.
Pritesh:
Any downside or upside case in the margins of the welding business?
Aditya Malkani:
Right now we don't see any.
Pritesh:
Any other diversification plan out of the business?
Aditya Malkani:
Nothing at the moment, nothing that stretches much beyond anything on that. We are now—we do have the merger behind us, we do have Uran behind us, we have Kuwait behind us. A lot of those things we will explore certain -- what I would not call diversification -- we will look at product adjacency opportunities that arise, but nothing at the moment that is a large ticket investment.
Pritesh:
Okay, okay. Thank you very much and all the best to you. Thanks, bye.
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Moderator:
Thank you, Mr. Pritesh. Our next speaker is Mr. Satish Doshi. Mr. Doshi, you are now being placed in the meeting. Please proceed to ask your questions.
Satish Doshi:
Thank you so much for the opportunity. Am I audible, sir?
Aditya Malkani:
Yes, please go ahead.
Satish Doshi:
Yes, thank you and congratulations on a good set of numbers. Relatively, we have posted a decent growth in terms of revenue from welding business YoY and QoQ. I wanted to understand in the context of the ongoing situation in the Middle East, what would be the outlook going forward for medium term? And how sustainable are the EBITDA margins?
I mean, I have adjusted all the one-offs of reversal of provisions and all of that, so I am looking at an EBITDA margin of approximately 12% in the Q4 and Q3 as well. So what would be a sustainable EBITDA margin and the growth outlook for the welding division?
Aditya Malkani:
So the first was on the exports. Hopefully that situation will calm down, but we have seen demand through the last few weeks even be good. The question is being able to get product out there, which is now also there are opportunities that keep coming and going, so it is happening. But we have seen in terms of demand, no issue, and we expect demand to be fairly good in those markets going forward unless something very, very adverse happens much beyond our control. We don't see anything being very adverse from that perspective. That is the first.
The second is on EBITDA margins, like you said. Yes, that is the number that we look at as a base, and there are efforts on to continually look at how to keep incrementally improving upon that, which we believe is definitely in our scope and has to be done step-by-step.
The third thing you had asked about the welding industry, like I mentioned, you have to look at steel consumption, IIP data, all of that and take it from that perspective, and that is where we are trying to follow that kind of trend.
Satish Doshi:
Thank you. Just a follow-up question regarding the growth outlook. Would you like to quantify any internal target that we are looking at in the medium term?
Aditya Malkani:
Sorry, I don't share -- we have targets of course, but I am sorry, I don't share it publicly. We don't like to give guidance, but that is the way we look at it.
Satish Doshi:
Not a problem. Also, would you like to guide us at what capacity we are operating right now?
Aditya Malkani:
We are anywhere -- welding has a lot of different types of lines in consumables as well as in equipment, but I would say a fair estimate is anywhere in the region of approximately 70%.
Satish Doshi:
70%. So there is a -- and the normal capacity at which we can operate is what, 90% in this industry?
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Aditya Malkani:
Yes, you can operate, yes, approximately 70% to 80% to 90% depending on what types of systems you are, how old your equipment lines are. Accordingly, you can. There are some lines that currently operate at 90%-95% for which we need to undertake capex, some new technologies we need to invest for as well, but yes, pretty much along that.
Satish Doshi:
Lastly, sir, we have been seeing a lot of thrust from government on the shipbuilding sector, Make in India efforts, and we are announcing -- we have seen a very big announcement from Government of India for buying or procuring or making ships in India. So how we are placed in that infrastructure? I mean, are we in the approved category and what kind of growth this sector can give us given the opportunity size is so big?
Aditya Malkani:
It is a big focus area for us. The quantum of welding in shipbuilding is very large. So it is a definitely focus area, we spend a lot of time, effort, and put a lot of resources behind it. We have most of the approvals in place for I would say approximately 75% to 80% of it. There are yards where we are stronger placed than other yards, just like it would be for anyone supplying in.
We are making a lot of effort to continuously grow that, not only from a consumables basis but equipment, automation. We represent some international brands for really high-end automation as well. So a combination of all of that, there is a lot of effort being done to see that. But yes, we are on the same page as you as far as shipbuilding goes.
Satish Doshi:
Generally, what could be the ratio, sir? I mean, let us say if 10,000 tons of steel is being used in making a ship, how much of our welding rods would be required?
Aditya Malkani:
I can't answer you specifically on shipbuilding, but I can tell you that it is approximately 2% is a thumb rule the industry uses in general for most of these applications.
Satish Doshi:
2%, okay. All right, sir. Thank you so much and I will get back to you.
Moderator:
Thank you, Mr. Doshi. Our next speaker is Mr. Dhawan. Mr. Dhawan, you are now being placed in the meeting. Please proceed to ask your questions.
Dhawan:
Hi sir, thanks for the opportunity. So my question is, I think you already mentioned that we are seeing some tailwinds from a few of the sectors. So let us say your welding revenue by this year-end FY26 was roughly INR1,070-odd crores, and based on these tailwinds, by when do you see we can do roughly INR1,500 to INR1,600 crores kind of the revenue from the welding business? Is it like by FY28, is it achievable?
Aditya Malkani:
Look, that would indicate somewhere in the region of approximately an 18% to 20% growth rate year-on-year for two years. I would love to be able to do that and I think it is definitely feasible, but the ground economics and the ground macroeconomy has to support that. So I can't venture a guess much beyond that but to tell you that, look, it is in our radar that we have to get ourselves
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there and we are investing and driving accordingly. But I don't want to put a number out there yet. But you are not very far off as long as the economy is strong.
Dhawan:
Sure, sure. And let us say, the shipbuilding, I think majority of the commercial players are already, getting the orders and maybe the construction would begin maybe after a year kind of the timeframe. So do you foresee, this shipbuilding itself can give you INR1,000-odd crores kind of the revenue visibility maybe in the next five years, in the next five to seven years?
Aditya Malkani:
That is a very large number. I won't give you a number, but I will tell you that that is a very, very large number that you are talking of, very hard for I think most companies of our size to get that much just out of welding from shipbuilding. But it could incrementally add a bit. But that is a very, very large number.
Dhawan:
Okay, okay. And in terms of the incremental orders from the other sectors, how do you see right now? Is there any order inquiries coming in or any finalization which has been done, you know, recently?
Aditya Malkani:
It has been fairly okay. I think from November-December onwards, we have seen it being kind of okay. Even right now it is all right. It is just that you have inflationary impacts that you are dealing with at the moment, so you will see customers be a little bit cautious in that regard. Demand is all right, it is not bad. Given all the macroeconomic circumstances, in fact, I would imagine it could have been worse, it is not. But you have to take it with a very short-term view on it until things stabilize.
Dhawan:
Sure, sure. Okay sir, thank you. That is all from my side.
Moderator:
Thank you, Mr. Dhawan. Our next speaker is Nishita Sankalesha. Ms. Nishita, you are now being placed in the meeting. Please proceed to ask your questions.
Nishita Sankalesha:
Yes, hello. I am looking on this company for the first time, so apologies if some questions are very nuanced. I just wanted to understand, I wanted a clarification. You mentioned that we can expect 100 bps of margin improvement in the coming period. So was that on the gross margin front or the EBITDA margin front?
Aditya Malkani:
That will be more on the EBITDA level, that we still see that there are scopes of improvement over there. Of course, part of it would also come from gross margins.
Nishita Sankalesha:
Okay, understood. And like if you can give a time period by when we can achieve this improvement? Like is this possible in FY27?
Aditya Malkani:
We are working towards it and whatever little we can do as fast as possible, we will do it. But surely over the next few quarters, you will see EBITDA margin improvements happening. As long as you do not have ridiculously difficult supply chain shocks, it is possible. Within us internally, we see it as a feasibility, let us put it that way.
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Nishita Sankalesha:
Okay, okay, understood. And like you also mentioned that in some lines we are already at the utilization of 99%. So what is the capex that we are expecting in FY '27?
Aditya Malkani:
Our capex is generally in the region of approximately INR30 crores-INR35 crores for the coming year.
Nishita Sankalesha:
And this will be majorly to add the lines only?
Aditya Malkani:
Yes, so we have generally a maintenance capex and it will come anywhere in the region of INR10 crores-INR12 crores type scenario. And this year we will have two-three lines that are coming that are new that are for this year and next year. So we expect INR30 crores- INR35 crores, even it could stretch it out to INR40 maybe at the most over the next two years, each year.
Nishita Sankalesha:
Okay, okay, understood. And this will be in which segment? The process equipment segment or the welding segment?
Aditya Malkani:
No, no, no, no. This is all welding. This is all welding and primarily on the consumables, not on equipment.
Nishita Sankalesha:
Okay, okay, understood. And if you can give some color on the order book size that we currently have?
Aditya Malkani:
We actually, you know, our business operates on a -- 80% to 85% of our sales is on a distribution system. We distribute across the country for our welding business, our maintenance and repair business, as well as in our international we work through distribution. So we don't have long order book periods. We normally have very rotating quick cycle period. I can tell you that so far it is in line with pretty much what we have seen over the last three-four months is what we are noticing right now.
Nishita Sankalesha:
Okay, okay, understood. Thank you so much.
Moderator:
Thank you, Ms. Nishita. Our next speaker is Mr. Ronit Kapoor. Mr. Kapoor, you are now being placed in the meeting. Please proceed to ask your questions.
Ronit Kapoor:
Yes, so I had a couple of questions. So firstly, I think there has been a recent income tax demand of INR14-odd crores and I wanted an update regarding that, what does it pertain to? And particularly, I see that in your notes you have mentioned that your BIS hearings have closed. So any update on that as far as penalty?
Aditya Malkani:
Yes, sure. So I will address the BIS first. So the BIS hearings, most of it is closed, but it still got to go back to magistrate court, which we have been given a date sometime in June-July. So that process is still going on and we are very hopeful that, that will end in a much more logical
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manner than where it is at the moment. So that is progressing at the moment. On the income tax matter, I will ask Suryakant to give you an update on that.
Surya Kant:
So income tax matter, we have filed our appeal last week only and we don't see any merit, means that the department will succeed in that. So we are hopeful it will come in our favor.
Ronit Kapoor:
Okay. And secondly, I want to know, like given the healthy cash balance the company currently has, and I see the smaller players in the industry are growing faster than us, so I want to know are we open to any acquisition?
Aditya Malkani:
Yes, we are, yes, we are open. We are open to acquisitions, but our acquisitions are a little more targeted now. As I said, as I have been telling shareholders for a while, the first is I need to clear up a few things in terms of Uran, merger, a few other heavy baggage things that needed to be cleared up, which we are now. We started spending a little time and effort on it, but it will be more dependent on technology necessarily than only market share related. So we will but we will look at both, we will explore.
Ronit Kapoor:
Okay. And lastly, I want to know like in terms of your welding business, like how the growth levers are in terms of currently the maintenance division and because you don't give the breakup, so I want to know like how much is the equipment division grown compared to the maintenance and repairs and your consumables as such?
Aditya Malkani:
Sorry, just repeat that question. You want to know the...
Ronit Kapoor:
Breakup of your welding equipment business and your consumables business like in your welding?
Aditya Malkani:
In terms of revenue or growth or what would you...
Ronit Kapoor:
Revenue-wise?
Aditya Malkani:
So we don't give the revenue numbers for specific reasons, much like several competitors don't, we don't as well and we feel that is fair. But if you look at our historical data, I can tell you that it is pretty much along a similar ratio than what it was earlier.
Ronit Kapoor:
No, but in terms of the growth, can you just specify in terms of the growth?
Aditya Malkani:
Growth cycles are fairly similar for across the board for all of them. You will see a little bit of a spike in welding equipment in general when you see a capex cycle pick up. Otherwise, you are seeing pretty much similar data for both.
Ronit Kapoor:
And in terms of our exports, like what would be the exposure to Middle East?
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Aditya Malkani:
Our exposure is fairly high for the export division, but very secure where we -- very secure in terms of how we deal in terms of we deal with distributors, our payment terms, all of that, and the demand remains fairly high. I am not at all worried about the Middle East at the moment from that perspective.
Ronit Kapoor:
So were any dispatches affected during the quarter?
Aditya Malkani:
During March quarter, there was a little bit of a dispatch effect, of course, during the first three-four weeks. Towards the end, last few days, we saw traction happen, but yes, what was planned to happen between the 1st and the 20th or 25th of the month was obviously naturally very, very slow. But we have seen that pent-up being cleaned up most of it.
Ronit Kapoor:
So that issue has been resolved, it is not like the dispatches have gone in this quarter?
Aditya Malkani:
Yes, most of it is resolved as on today. Now what happens tonight over there we don't know, but as on today, yes.
Ronit Kapoor:
Okay, thank you. That is all. All the best.
Moderator:
Thank you, Mr. Kapoor. We have our next speaker, Ms. Saloni. Ms. Saloni, you are now being placed in the meeting. Please proceed to ask your questions.
Saloni:
Yes, hi sir. Am I audible?
Aditya Malkani:
Yes, please go ahead.
Saloni:
Yes, sir, I know Mr. Aditya, you generally refrain from giving a revenue growth target, but in I think one of the presentations last year on 29th May, I think after the merger, we mentioned our target of turnover to pass INR2,000 crores by FY '29. So are we still on that?
Aditya Malkani:
By '29?
Saloni:
Yes, FY29. So basically doubling our top line currently in the next three years, giving us a 25% CAGR. So are we still following that?
Aditya Malkani:
We are still following the principle of doing that, but the main principle that drives that is to triple our earnings over that much period of time. And that is what we are working towards and we have seen that as having a lot more success because the base economy is finding it hard to be able to deliver that level of growth. But yes, we are following the principle of we must somehow get there and we are going to look at it like that, yes.
Saloni:
Sir, any specific driver of which particular segment is going to help us achieve that? Because generally if we look at the past, it has generally been 15% to 20% growth, right? So any particular segment which we are focusing on which would, you know, get us there?
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Aditya Malkani:
You mean from a customer segment perspective?
Saloni:
No, from our segment's perspective, like consumables or...
Aditya Malkani:
Across the board. We now, as I said, now we have basically one segment, but across the board the way we manage the business, each one has to be pushing their numbers accordingly like that, across the board.
Saloni:
A lot of questions have been asked about the shipbuilding as a new industry that is opening up. According to you, which industry is still going to be the primary driver for our business? Steel, I am assuming obviously.
Aditya Malkani:
Heavy engineering, structural fabrication will remain the big driver because that is a large part of it. And that will have pockets where it will do well and stuff like that. So I am not too concerned about that at the moment. And you will see hopefully a big uptick as capex picks up at the right time. But in general, I am not worried about that. But yes, on that.
Saloni:
Apart from shipbuilding, sir, any other new industry that is opening up and we would be targeting?
Aditya Malkani:
No, nothing specific. I think there is shipbuilding, there is defense and all that kind of stuff. There is a little bit on the renewable space that we have to work on as far as Ador is concerned. Railways, we are working on railways going on also, that kind of growth.
Saloni:
If you don't mind, sir, what is the current revenue mix of these particular segments as of now and how much do you think we can cater to in the next three to four years, let us say?
Aditya Malkani:
We don't share too much of that data externally. Like I said, they would be anywhere in the top 7-8 key industries that we focus on.
Saloni:
Okay. So just one last question from my side. As you already know that Saudi Arabia as a country has announced a massive basically construction boom that is happening over there, and as a company we are anyways focused more towards UAE and Oman. And so what is our strategy basically in terms of getting more clients from Saudi Arabia given that the construction boom is rampant?
Aditya Malkani:
So let me correct you a little bit there. Last financial year, our second largest market outside India was Saudi. This year, Saudi is our third largest market. So we are quite set up over there. There are a lot of project rejigs that have happened in Saudi, there will be a lot of business coming forward from there. I think we are quite well set in terms of sales and distribution and approvals. These are the three biggest triggers. I think we are quite -- I am quite positively set up there. It is a question of a few things clicking now from that perspective.
Saloni:
Okay. So particular jump in the inquiry or the order pipeline that has come from that market?
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Aditya Malkani:
In the last three-four months, it has been a little healthier than what we saw, I would say from December onwards it has been a little healthier than what we saw during calendar year '25. Definitely.
Saloni:
Okay. All right. Thank you so much. Wish you all the best, sir.
Aditya Malkani:
Thank you, thank you.
Moderator:
Thank you, Ms. Saloni. We have a next speaker, Mr. Jason. Mr. Jason, you are now being placed in the meeting. Please proceed to ask your questions.
Jason:
Yes, thank you for taking my questions. Am I audible?
Aditya Malkani:
Yes, please go ahead.
Jason:
Yes, thank you so much, sir, for taking my questions. Sir, just first I will just have some questions on confirming in the sense. So sir, you said that the FPD segment is now of course merged into the MNR segment, so basically in a nutshell, it has become only one segment, that is the welding segment. Is that right? Going forward, we will have only the welding segment continuing.
Aditya Malkani:
Purely only the welding segment. That is how we believe is the right way that most of the industry is doing it, so we think that is the right way.
Jason:
Right. So there will be no need for any segmental information after that.
Aditya Malkani:
No, we will not do it. Like I said, it is not the size and scale of it as far as Flares and Process Equipment goes, not deserving of being a division anyway. The way we are looking at it is as a product line.
Jason:
Sure, sir. And sir, the Uran project, of course, I know we booked the losses and in Q1, so it is down and dusted, right? Everything pertaining to that is done. Is that right?
Aditya Malkani:
So there are two parts to that. The first part is everything pertaining to the accounting losses and what we foresee as forecasted losses and blah blah blah and all of that is all done. As far as the Uran project, it is at about $96\% - 97\%$ level because of this gas issue and this and that there are a few things that have led to a little bit of a delay to get closed up in terms of final commissioning. But no major exposures.
Jason:
No major exposures. So no major any further losses or anything coming from that, yes, okay. Sure, sure. Okay, thanks, sir. And sir, just from this perspective, I mean, you know, our welding growth year-on-year has been $4\%$ , right? So sir, just wanted to know, I mean, you know, IIP growth is currently hovering around $4\%$ to $5\%$ .
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So what would be needed to basically at least take our revenue growth to 6%-7% or probably let us say 10%, with a lot of things get spoken about, the capex being at a very high level in the economy, especially public capex and stuff like that. So just want your sense of how—I mean, what could be done so that we can grow, you know, in higher single-digit growth, what could we do better on that front?
Aditya Malkani:
I think there is -- if you look at the supply chain shocks and if you just look at steel in general, look, we follow steel, right? So if you just look at those main trackers and those main concerns that they had, it is fairly similar on the ground for us. I think capex is -- I don't know the exact data, you will know much better than me, but whatever we are seeing capex in terms of capital formation that applies to us, slightly weaker than we expected last year. Hopefully going to be a little bit better going forward.
Jason:
Okay, okay. Sure. And sir, just could I get the total exports value for this year? I believe the last year was around INR154 crores.
Aditya Malkani:
Like I said, the numbers will be out at the right time, but it is fairly flattish this year.
Jason:
Flattish, okay. Flattish. Okay. And sir, just wanted to know this collaboration with Miller seems to be very interesting, okay? And just wanted some sense, whatever you could share, of how it will help us compete in the equipment division. I mean, with the market leader, I mean, I am sure it is in that trajectory only, but yes.
Aditya Malkani:
Yes, from a high-end technology perspective, there are applications in select industries which require that, which we had product gaps on. We have been talking about this for a while that there are product gaps that exist by virtue of us not being an MNC and we are looking to plug those. And this is an opportunity that we have to take forward. And it is interesting and there is a lot of work left to see the benefits to it, but it is an interesting small start, yes.
Jason:
Sure, sure. Okay. And sir, again, when I looked at your new product introduction, those products look very interesting and probably very high-end as well. And you also spoke about like future areas like laser cutting, robotics, automation, etc. So sir, just wanted to know which are the end-user industries for these categories, what could the potential be, and is this equipment -- all this, the CNC bevel, etc., is it locally made, Made in India, or imported? How does that work?
Aditya Malkani:
Most of it is locally made. Most of it is locally made. You might have a few components that are outsourced, that are insourced from abroad, something like that. Most of it is locally made. The application will go anywhere there is automation happening. So heavy structural fabrication, oil and gas, stuff like that, anywhere there is automation happening, which is in many, many industries today.
It is about being able to convince the customer -- be in front of the customer, convince the customer, get all of that done and do some interesting work with laser, cobots, robotics, all of
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that. Like I said, I think the opportunity is good for us. We have to just be -- get the right talent to push hard and then we are seeing that a little bit, we are seeing that benefit coming.
Jason:
So you are seeing that benefit coming. Right, sure.
Aditya Malkani:
Seeing that benefit coming, we are seeing our best order book for us on the welding automation than we have ever seen. But there is still a lot of scope, a lot of scope, so a lot of work left.
Jason:
Okay, sure, sure. And sir, just again, one question in relation to that, as compared to developed markets, India is a different ballgame. So you have a lot of labor which is reasonably cheap, right? Or cost-effective for a better word. Just wanted to understand, sir, from that perspective, you know, these high-end technologies, how do you see it on the ground?
I am asking you because you have a much better idea in welding and all, we don't have much information, you know, publicly available to us. So just wanted in that sense how do you see that transition happening from the manual thing to the more AI-based, to the software-based solutions?
Aditya Malkani:
So I won't go too much into like very, very AI-based welding like that. I can just tell you that what you would call semi-automation, basic automation, hard automation, or cobot robot, which is not some, exceptional end of the spectrum, it is basic automation in the way you look at it in many ways. I think across the world, across India, we are seeing companies, not only A-class companies, you are seeing B, C, SMEs, all of that look at automation a lot more seriously because of availability of skilled manpower. So I think the potential is good for us.
Jason:
Okay, okay. And sir, just my final question, I just wanted to know, I mean, equipment, yes, Miller definitely helps us in improving the product mix, you mentioned that. Now just in terms of consumables, sir, just wanted to understand what are the concrete steps we are taking to basically improve the product mix and the product gaps?
Aditya Malkani:
They are basically related to, like I said, identifying certain segments or identifying certain end-user segments like renewables, stuff like that where we are not present, getting in there, investing in more and more approvals, for example in nuclear and stuff like that, and then adding on capex in certain specific products like fluxes and all of that to be able to take it on.
Jason:
Sure, sir. Thanks for answering my questions. Thank you, thank you.
Moderator:
Thank you, Mr. Jason. We have a next speaker, Mr. Akshay Satija. Mr. Akshay, you are now being placed in the meeting. Please proceed to ask your questions.
Akshay Satija:
Hi, thank you for the opportunity. First, I actually wanted to ask regarding, what would be our market share if we look at the domestic markets and even exports-wise, if you could throw some light on that?
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Aditya Malkani:
So the market because it is a very small industry, people have various different ways of looking at the market: organized, unorganized, and the mixed data that comes from it. We look at it very simply. I think we believe ourselves to have anywhere in the region of approximately 17%-18% plus or minus a few percent in terms of market share.
Akshay Satija:
Okay, okay. Sir, also there has been a lot of talk around the shipbuilding sector. If you could throw some light on what sort of revenues, we are doing right now from the shipbuilding sector and where could we go if the sector picks up in five, seven years kind of a thing?
Aditya Malkani:
So I won't give you a revenue number because that is slightly confidential, but I will tell you that it is still small compared to the pie that is going to be available and that is there. So there are two elements: one is the natural growth, the organic growth that will come from customers that use us. The second is pockets where we have product but we are not in. The third is approvals. So I think the opportunity to grow from the base is quite high.
Akshay Satija:
Okay, okay. And sir, finally, so say five, seven years from now, we look to double our volume. What would be the approximate capex required if we are to double our volume in five, seven, six years kind of a range?
Aditya Malkani:
Good question. I would say in the region of approximately INR120. I am not talking about anything to do with land and all of that, I am just talking in terms of plant, machinery, capability and stuff. I will say anywhere in the region of INR100 crores to INR150 crores.
Akshay Satija:
Got it, got it, sir. Okay, that is it from my side. Thank you.
Moderator:
Thank you, Mr. Akshay. We have a next speaker, Mr. Vikram. Mr. Vikram, you are now being placed in the meeting. Please proceed to ask your questions.
Vikram:
Yes, good evening and thanks for the opportunity. Can you hear me?
Aditya Malkani:
Yes, please go ahead.
Vikram:
Okay, great. So I think just a question, you mentioned on the internal points that you are focusing on, forget the geopolitical issues, but are you comfortable where you stand now given the merger is off, loss contract is off and things like that? Would you say now you are kind of ready for the future?
Aditya Malkani:
Yes, I think so. I think we have been waiting for this time for the last, I would say almost two, two and a half years at least to be standing back on solid ground with a lot of big-ticket stuff, big-ticket problems behind us. I would definitely feel that way at the moment, yes.
Vikram:
Excellent. And secondly, I just had a point in terms of growth again. I mean, IIP 7%-8%, we spoke about a CAGR of 25% if we have to meet our vision. Any sense of how we can bridge that gap?
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Aditya Malkani:
There is that we do discuss with senior management, there are ways that we are looking at that I can't get into full details over here, but there are ways and I think partnerships and sort of being a little more aggressive in terms of maybe doing an acquisition here or there is definitely something that would be interesting.
Beyond that, there are one or two other things that I would rather not discuss at the moment, but I think if you take the base of automation, if you take the base of international, if you take the base of MNR, not only MNR, I would say certain, I would take the base of certain sectors like renewables, I would say these are definite areas that you can outperform.
Vikram:
Got it. Got it. And just in terms of the fact that the steel cycle has come back from whatever reports I have seen and pricing has gone up and things like that, what does that mean for you incrementally?
Aditya Malkani:
It has been okay. It is a little bit challenging. I think steel is going through a very interesting phase in terms of inflationary impact, demand restrictions, I mean, supply sort of being, you know, managed. It is okay. For us, we are all right on that front. But yes, it is a lot of managing of that as you go through the process of it. But I think steel, yes, I would tend to agree with you that it is a little more on the brighter stage than anything else right now.
Vikram:
And one final question on shareholder value and market cap and things like that. You know, I mean, if I look at the numbers, right, I mean, market cap hasn't moved in spite of all the good work you have done. Is it that we are not putting out the story right or do you think the market hasn't understood it or any sense of that?
Aditya Malkani:
No, I think in all fairness, the market understands us quite well. I think, they do. I think in all fairness, there were things that we discussed that were holding us back a little bit that people have been waiting to see is it reaching its point of closure, which is what we have been patiently trying to do. And now, we leave it to the market to take it forward from that perspective.
Vikram:
Got it. All the best. Thank you.
Moderator:
Thank you, Mr. Vikram. We have follow-up questions from Mr. Rajat. Mr. Rajat, you are now being placed in the meeting. Please proceed to ask your questions.
Rajat:
Yes, thank you for the follow-up. So I was going through your page on LinkedIn and I saw a mention of a tie-up with ITW. So just wanted to get some sense on what this tie-up is and what it entails?
Aditya Malkani:
It is the same one. It is the same one we discussed regarding Miller. Miller is a group company of ITW, it is the same one. So the high-end welding equipments that go into specialized industries like thermal and structural and stuff like that, that.
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Rajat: All right, all right. And I think earlier in the call you spoke about using the cash balance that we have to, probably look at some technology or enter an adjacency. So could you please shed some more light on what this adjacency could possibly be for us?
Aditya Malkani: It is a little too early for me to discuss. We are just exploring opportunities. But it is related to, simply speaking, the fabrication, joining, or cutting of steel, right? At the end of the day, it is going to be along those lines.
Rajat: Understood, understood. And on the exports front, outside of the US and then the Middle East, which you earlier highlighted were our largest two markets, what would the progress on some of the other markets be for us outside of these two?
Aditya Malkani: We have seen -- I mean, obviously you had the tariff things that held back the US, but we have seen in the last two months a lot more traction happening. The Middle East remains core to us. We are seeing a little bit of interest after the Europe FTA, some stuff over there. We have to build it up correctly, we have to get the right distribution model in. That is primarily I would say most of the highlights from that angle, of course.
Rajat: Okay. And with increasing automation and robotics and cobots in your business, how do you see the consumables versus the equipment mix evolving and then what impact does that have on margins if that mix were to change, so to speak?
Aditya Malkani: As you increase automation, you will see that change, but the base is very, very tiny, so you are not going to see a very big impact happen for us. I am not too stressed about the margin impact on that at all. I am not too stressed impact. We just need to be able to grow that side a little bit faster because as far as any top-tier brand is concerned, you need to be well-structured in that space.
Rajat: Okay, okay. And just from a core welding portfolio, product portfolio perspective, any further gaps that you see in a portfolio that need to be plugged for us to go out there and crack clients that probably we are not able to do today? Something that you have done with ITW already.
Aditya Malkani: There are a few. I mean, in the last 12 months, I am saying I would have to say the team has done a lot to plug a few interesting gaps. I am happy with that. But there are some, there are always a few. And this is part of being a non -- not part of being the MNC global, the Tier 1 guys, there are a few gaps there, there are still gaps in terms of certain sectors you want to deal with. So there are a few, but the good news is a lot of the low-hanging fruits are coming into place.
Rajat: All right. Okay. Thank you so much and wishing you all the very best.
Aditya Malkani: Thank you, thank you.
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Moderator:
Thank you, all speakers, for insightful questions. With that, we will now conclude our Q&A session. I would like to hand over to Aditya sir, for the closing remarks.
Aditya Malkani:
Thank you. Thank you all. We appreciate everyone taking their time. Thank you very much. All the best. Thank you.
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