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Cohance Lifesciences Limited — Call Transcript 2026
May 15, 2026
59202_rns_2026-05-15_e19c09c8-66c5-4ce4-b174-41ec2a1c3edb.pdf
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Cohance
May 15, 2026
To
BSE Limited
25th Floor, P. J. Towers,
Dalal Street, Mumbai - 400 001
Code: 543064
To
National Stock Exchange of India Limited
Exchange Plaza, Bandra Kurla Complex
Bandra (E), Mumbai – 400 051
Symbol: COHANCE
Dear Sir/Madam,
Sub: Transcript of the earnings conference call held on May 12, 2026
Pursuant to Regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, please find enclosed the transcript of the earnings conference call for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2026 held on May 12, 2026.
You are requested to take the above on record.
Thanking you.
Yours faithfully,
For Cohance Lifesciences Limited
(formerly, Suven Pharmaceuticals Limited)
SISIRA
KUMAR
MISHRA
Digitally signed
by SISIRA
KUMAR.MISHRA
Date:2026.05.15
19:25:21 +05'00'
Sisir K. Mishra
Company Secretary & Compliance Officer
Encl: as above
Cohance Lifesciences Limited
(Formerly, Suven Pharmaceuticals Limited)
Corporate Office: 202, A-Wing, Galaxy Towers, Plot No.1, Hyderabad
Knowledge City, TSIIC, Raidurg, Hyderabad - 500081, Telangana.
Tel: +91 40 2354 9414 / 3311
Regd. Office: 215 Atrium, C-Wing, 8th Floor, 819-821, Andheri Kurla Road,
Chakala MIDC, Andheri East, Mumbai, Maharashtra - 400093.
Tel: 022 6513999
CIN: L24299MH2018PLC422236 | Website: www.cohance.com | Company Email: [email protected]
Cohance
Cohance Lifesciences Limited
Q4 & FY26 Earnings Conference Call
May 12, 2026
Moderator:
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Q4 and FY26 Earnings Conference Call of Cohance Lifesciences Limited. I now hand the conference over to Ms. Cyndrella Carvalho. Thank you and over to you, ma'am.
Cyndrella Carvalho:
Good evening and good morning, everyone. And thank you for joining Cohance Lifesciences Quarter 4 and FY26 earnings call. Today we welcome our Executive Chairman and Group CEO, Mr. Umang Vohra, on his first earnings call with Cohance. Joining me today are Mr. Yann, our CEO Pharma CDMO; Mr. Gunjan, our CEO API+; Mr. Amrit, our Head Specialty Chemical; and Mr. Himanshu Agarwal, Whole-Time Director and Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that today's discussion may include forward-looking statements.
With that, I will hand it over to Umang for his opening remarks.
Umang Vohra:
Thanks Cyndrella and good evening to everyone on the call. I am very happy to be here. Having spent over three decades in this industry, I am excited to be part of a platform that is anchored in science with capabilities such as ADCs and oligonucleotides, which are well-differentiated and hard to replicate in terms of a value offering. Cohance is well-positioned to be such a platform.
It is also important to acknowledge the team behind the platform. The colleagues on this call along with the broader leadership group and our 640 scientists who bring this science to life every day represent a strong foundation.
My immediate priority over the next few months will be to spend time with our teams, customers, and sites. By the end of this fiscal year, the intent is to create a strategic blueprint for growth and sustainable value creation. Over the next few years, we intend to focus Cohance's capabilities and science on the predictability of delivery, backed by our strong quality and systems, a deep talent pool, and a pipeline that matters to our partners and our patients.
With that, I will hand it over to Yann.
Yann D'Herve:
Thank you, Umang, and good evening, everyone. The Pharma CDMO business reported revenue of INR8.89 billion for FY26. Adjusting for the destocking impact in the two large commercial molecules, the business delivered an underlying growth of early single digit. Commercial products contributed more than 70% of standalone Pharma CDMO revenues in FY26. Overall, we have more than 140 active projects across the Pharma CDMO standalone portfolio, covering both development and commercial programs.
On small molecule, while FY26 was impacted by customer inventory adjustments, order phasing, and slower reloads, engagement with customers for both the large commercial products currently under
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destocking continues to remain steady. We added one new Phase 3 lateral program in small molecules with a large innovator, along with one program each in ADC and oligonucleotide advancing into Phase 3. With two programs progressing towards commercialization, the total Phase 3 pipeline now stands at 10 programs.
Within the Phase 3 pipeline, one program is under priority review and another is awaiting clinical data readout expected in calendar year '26. Of the two programs that recently entered commercialization, we have recently received orders for one involving four intermediates, with the other that is also expected to contribute during FY27.
Reload conversion remains quite high above 90% and new business conversion with innovator pharma and biotech customers continue to be healthy.
On ADCs, customer interest continues in payload linker programs. In FY26, we have filed three payload DMFs and many additional payload linker filings are underway. We are also seeing traction in newer payload platforms, including exatecan-linked opportunities. During the year, we initiated work on adjacent payload platforms based on customer inquiries.
At NJ Bio, we continue to expand our integrated ADC capabilities. The platform has successfully completed the first bioconjugation campaign during Q4 '26 cGMP. Expansion work of $10 million capex at the NJ Bio US facility is progressing to support future scale-up, Phase 2 requirements, and validation readiness.
In oligonucleotide segment, through the Sapala platform, we have received a follow-on purchase order. The cGMP oligonucleotide building block facility is under validation. Several customer qualifications and higher complexity RFPs are progressing. During the last few months, we completed more than 20 plus audits and customer visits from large and mid-sized innovator pharma and biotech customers. Several of these included senior customer teams visiting our facilities.
To summarize, FY26 revenues were impacted by destocking, customer inventory adjustment, and delayed reloads. However, RFQ activity, customer audits, late-stage programs, and pipeline building work continues. The focus for FY27 is execution, order conversion, and delivery visibility.
With that, I will hand over to Gunjan.
Gunjan Singh:
Thank you, Yann, and good evening, everyone. The API+ business reported revenues of INR10.88 billion in FY26, reflecting a decline of 8% year-on-year. The softer performance was due to product-specific factors, shipment delays, and temporary disruption at the Nacharam formulation site. However, performance through the second half improved sequentially as the supply execution stabilized, the customer engagement strengthened, and the order conversion improved across key markets.
In APIs, the portfolio continues to remain broad and differentiated. Our top 15 leadership products contribute around half of the API revenues, and eight of our top 10 molecules continue to hold leadership positions. The business remains supported by niche small to mid-volume products, diversified customer relationships, cost competitiveness, and backward integration capabilities.
During the year, the demand across therapies remained largely stable with growth primarily volumelled. While select mature molecules experienced pricing pressure, this was substantially mitigated
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through higher volumes, operating efficiencies, portfolio expansion, and focused cost actions. Importantly, the challenges during FY26 were concentrated around a limited set of products and customer-specific situations, rather than reflecting any structural weakness in the portfolio.
As highlighted over the course of the year, we have continued to strengthen our development pipeline and diversify the revenue base. During FY26, we completed 10 new filings and validated six more new products. We also advanced multiple new customer engagements, including life cycle management opportunities with European customers, which are expected to scale progressively over the medium term.
The breadth of the pipeline today is materially stronger than it was a year ago and provides a broader platform for future growth. On the formulation side, revenues were impacted by approximately INR610 million during FY26 due to the temporary disruptions at our Nacharam site and the associated shipment deference.
Production and US supplies have since resumed, and remediation actions implemented over the past several months are strengthening quality and operating systems at the site. While utilization levels are still normalizing, customer engagement and order visibility have steadily improved.
In parallel, we have continued to actively manage supply chain continuity through alternate site strategies and closer customer coordination. We expect further normalization over the coming quarters as execution stabilizes and the order book progressively converts into shipments.
On the business front, we supported five launches during the year, while additional two launches moved into the next quarter based on customer timelines. Further, there are a few very interesting and differentiated opportunities in our formulation business that are shaping up. Most of these are leveraging our integrated API and FDF play.
Overall, API Plus enters FY27 from a significantly more stable operating base. The focus now is on accelerating volume growth, improving asset utilization, expanding customer engagement across both APIs and formulations, and converting the strengthened pipeline into commercial scale-up opportunity over the medium term.
With that, I hand it over to Amrit.
Amrit:
Okay. So I am starting from specialty chemical. Specialty chemicals reported revenue of INR2.913 billion in FY26, a marginal decline of 2.1% year-on-year. The business was impacted by customer program phasing, regulatory timing, and generic pressure. In agrochemical, we continue to work on active ingredient and advanced intermediates.
During the year, we saw progress in qualification campaigns, registration sample work, and new lab scale programs. Engagement continues with large global agrochemical innovators across qualification work, registration sample, and advanced intermediate programs. In the performance chemical business, photochrome coating application remains relatively stable. The OLED business is going through a product cycle transition.
We are also seeing early-stage engagement in electronic materials and semiconductor linked chemistries. These are still at an evaluation stage and will take time to scale. For FY27, the focus is on
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converting customer qualifications, RFQs, and confirm orders into revenue. FY27 will be a qualification and readiness year for parts of the portfolio, with supplies expected to build as customer programs progress, growth to return in FY28.
With that, I will hand it over to Himanshu. Thank you.
Himanshu Agarwal:
Thank you, Amrit, and good evening, everyone. Let me take you through the financial performance. For FY26, revenue stood at INR22.68 billion, a decline of approximately 13% year-on-year. The adjusted EBITDA stood at INR4.77 billion. EBITDA margin stood at 21%, while our standalone adjusted EBITDA margin were at 24.6%.
Q4 and FY26 performance were in line with the guidance we had shared last quarter. Gross margin was at 70.8%. This was supported by product mix, backward integration, cost actions, and benefit of INR depreciation. Operating margins were impacted by lower volumes, continued investment in business, and weak performance by subsidies.
Towards the end of Q4, uncertainties in the Middle East region led to escalation in logistics and freight cost, along with selective inflation in certain raw materials and key starting materials. While Q4 did not witness any material impact from this situation, Q1 will experience impact of nearly 100 to 150 bps on our FY26 gross margin levels, largely on account of API Plus business. We are under discussion with some of our customers to share part of this cost inflation.
Capex during the year was INR2.15 billion. This was focused on ADC, oligonucleotides, manufacturing infrastructure, and our quality systems. We expect capex spend of nearly INR3 billion in FY27. Free cash generated in FY26 stood at INR1.73 billion. In FY27, growth will return from second half of FY27 onwards.
Quarter 1 FY27 is to be low on both revenue and EBITDA, largely on account of revenue schedules skewed towards second half. Escalation and logistics and input cost arising from the Middle East geopolitical situation, as well as higher operating cost. Improvement in EBITDA should become visible in the second half as the volumes recover, order conversion improves, and product mix normalize.
We believe the business is moving towards a bottoming out phase, with Q1 FY27 to be the low point. We expect recovery becoming more visible from second half of FY27, supported by execution on existing programs, customer conversions, reloads, and improving utilization across the platform.
With that, I will hand it back to Cyndrella.
Cyndrella Carvalho:
Thank you, Himanshu. We will now open the floor for question-and-answers.
Moderator:
Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. Our first question is from the line of Karthi from Suyash Advisors. Please go ahead.
Karthi:
Good evening, gentlemen. Mr. Umang, welcome to Cohance. If this stock price is any indication, your presence is greatly appreciated. I had just a couple of clarifications. One is if you could for FY26, that is split the CDMO revenues into ADCs, small molecules, Sapala, and NJ and give an outlook for '27 and beyond? And a detail to that would be what is the contribution expected from the two products which saw a big drawdown last year, and what would be the likely contribution from the two new products which have been commercialized?
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Himanshu Agarwal:
I will answer part of the question and then I will hand it over to Umang. So from the contribution of the two large molecules, commercial molecules that we have seen destocking, as communicated earlier, the impact is around INR260 crore.
Karthi:
Yes, I said how much of that is likely to return in FY27? And the two new products, what could be the likely contribution? That was my question.
Himanshu Agarwal:
Yes, so from a return, we are in active discussion with both the customers and we expect there would be a return in both these molecules. However, you will have to allow us to have meaningful conversations crystallize into orders before which we communicate to you on the actual amount. On the new products...
Karthi:
Yes, Yes, fair. You are saying there is no visibility as on date, that is what I am to take away, right?
Himanshu Agarwal:
No, what I am saying right now to you is there is a visibility because we are in conversations with the customers. What I cannot confirm to you is the value at this stage. But I can confirm to you that we are expecting these material, both these molecules to return back to us in FY27.
Karthi:
Fair. And you were talking about the other two new products added to the commercial portfolio.
Himanshu Agarwal:
I will ask Yann to contribute and answer that.
Yann D’Herve:
With regard to the two new products that have been approved, as indicated in my speech, we have received four commercial orders for four key starting materials with regard to one of the commercial drugs, right? So that is revenue that will appear mostly in Q2 FY27 and in Q3 FY27. With regard to the second product that has been approved, we are in active discussion in order to determine when those will be delivered.
Karthi:
Sure. And would you be able to call out the contribution of ADC to your CDMO revenue this year, FY26 that is, and what is the likely growth in FY27?
Umang Vohra:
I think we are not providing that color right now. But as we reassess the strategy, maybe a few months later we could consider that. But at this point, we are not providing that color.
Karthi:
Sure. And one last thing before I get back in the queue. Would you be able to provide the breakup of the one-time expenses over the last two years, roughly about INR109 crore? Can you break that down so we have a clear understanding of the nature of these one-offs?
Himanshu Agarwal:
Yes. So I will tell you about this year. I think this year, on a one-time expenses, there are two large elements. One is that we have taken a one-off inventory provision, which is around 195 million. And we have also provided for certain customer adjustments, that is in the range of around 126 million. Onto the point of ADC and oligo, we have called out in the presentation that our niche tech as a percentage of revenue is 16.2% for the full year.
Karthi:
Fair. Sure. Thanks and best wishes.
Moderator:
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Shyam Srinivasan from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
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Shyam Srinivasan:
Yes, thank you for taking my question and good evening team and welcome Umang. My first question is on, from a forward-looking perspective, I have seen the guidance that has been mentioned on the opening remarks and in the investor presentation. Q1 supposed to be weak and a second-half recovery. So just if you could share other than the base effect, is there anything tangible or qualitative that you could add? And if you could also give color across the three segments as well, Spec Chem, API Plus, and CDMO, please?
Himanshu Agarwal:
At this stage, as we have said that the second half would be when we would see the growth returning, right? And the first half is weak with quarter 1 in particular weak with both revenue and EBITDA. It would be API followed by CDMO and followed by Spec Chem. That would be the order. But I would not be able to give you more dimension on it. But that is essentially what we are looking at, so, quarter 1 would be low, the quarter 2 is our understanding where we expect the quarter 2 to be stable and then H2 is where we are calling out growth moving forward.
Shyam Srinivasan:
Thank you, Himanshu. Just second question to Umang, from your own vantage point, you have spent so much time in the pharma industry. What are some of the things that you have, I know it has been a short time since you have been at Cohance, but just want to understand, double-click on your role and what are some of the best practices you think you would like to bring or is it just enhancing already existing systems? Just some philosophical thoughts around the path forward for Cohance?
Umang Vohra:
Yes, look, I am sorry, please do not hold me to it, it has been nine days or 10 days, but it seems to me that Cohance has attentioned significant places or significant portions of the value chain in the ADC, oligonucleotide chemistry. And I think there are some that we will continue to augment and build so as to offer a value offering that is probably unique and maybe more integrated. That is one of the things that we will do.
I think there are some chemistries on the small molecule, on the API and the API Plus side, which are pretty unique to what Cohance does, which are around the areas of colored compounds, around certain types of chemistries which are important for Cohance. And I think the intention is to build these further while improving the product offering here. So basically the capabilities of science, the capabilities of the ability to offer differentiation is what I think Cohance would position itself to do.
And linked to that would be, operating leverage that hopefully will come out from the business as we begin to pull, as we begin to get more revenue and we begin to optimize the type of expenditures that the business has invested in over the past couple of quarters. So I see those as important areas to go. It is really about embedding Cohance into the value chain of new drugs as well as, you know, off-patent and unique drugs that exist in our marketplace.
Shyam Srinivasan:
Thank you, sir, and all the best.
Umang Vohra:
Thank you very much.
Moderator:
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Sajal Kapoor from Antifragile Thinking. Please go ahead.
Sajal Kapoor:
Hi team, now with Umang on board and some reshuffling and some rethinking will invariably happen. As shareholders, we look forward to some growth. Can I just clarify that when we say H2 from current fiscal of H2 we will revert back to growth, will we be measuring ourselves against the previous Y-o-Y
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basis or the FY25, which was the last growth Q3 and Q4 of fiscal 25? Are we benchmarking our growth or expecting that growth to come on the on that base, the higher base?
Himanshu Agarwal:
So first of all, the growth would be on a year-on-year basis. Okay. I think that is important for us to relate to, right? Having said that, I am not saying that there may or may not be a growth versus the previous to previous year. I think what we must understand, and I think I mentioned that to Kartik, that there is a large commercial which got dropped in the FY26.
And as you know that we are ramping up our commercial, our Phase 3 pipeline, as we have called out, has moved up to 10 and from the 9 it moved to 10 with two molecules moving out into commercial. So we have actually added three molecules into the pipeline. So the commercial gets strengthened. However, it does take time for the commercial to improve or for the innovators to make these products commercial. And therefore, we would see a lag effect on the revenue. And that is essentially what we are looking at from our business perspective.
Sajal Kapoor:
Sure, that is helpful. And if I could just conclude with my second question. I mean, what is likely to be the hardest decision for you as the team you will need to make at Cohance in the next 18 to 12 months? Because ours is a regulated business, it is a relationship-based business where trust compounds over many years with our customers. So in that context, what you think is the biggest priority for the team to sort of rebuild that confidence both with regulators and the customers so that when we get back to growth, we stay in growth mode for a very long period. Thank you.
Umang Vohra:
I can think of two things or maybe three. Let me put out three things here. One is the operational rigor. When we have the green light to go, we cannot be short of capacities, we cannot be short of product robustness, and the quality systems have to be strong. The second point is customer relationships have to deepen.
And like Himanshu was mentioning, there are some places where we are beginning to see diversified customer base and diversified customer orders coming in versus our historical reliance on one or two customers. And I think the third is just the science engine. We need to keep progressing our science engine, whether it is in the area of ADCs and oligonucleotides and other amidite chemistries to even beyond into regular solid dose chemistry and solid dose capability.
So I think pushing the science envelope, which means talent, pushing our quality envelope and the robustness of our offering, right, as well as pushing the ability to create and sustain long-term relationships. I think those are the three things around which I think we will be making decisions going forward. I do not know if we are at a point where we will make tough decisions at this stage, but wherever a tough decision is needed on where we allocate capital, it is likely to be in these three areas.
Sajal Kapoor:
Thank you, Umang. Wish you a very long and productive career here at Cohance. Thank you so much.
Umang Vohra:
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Moderator:
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Siddharth Negandhi with CWC. Please go ahead.
Siddharth Negandhi:
Hi, thanks for the opportunity. Umang, you just mentioned about a certain program concentration. If you could share the program and customer concentration in revenue for each of the three segments. The second would be any specific examples of AI implementation that you are seeing which is enabling you
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either to get better quality output or get output faster, especially in the later stages of your programs. And lastly, if you could share any color on the FY27 guidance in terms of what growth can one expect. And I hear you on the H1 H2 base?
Yann D'Herve: So let me clarify. Could you repeat the question on the customer concentration?
Siddharth Negandhi: Could you share your customer concentration for the CDMO segment by program or molecule and by customer? So, what is the revenue salience of top one, top three, and top five molecules?
Yann D'Herve: We do not give this level of details. Nevertheless, I can answer some of the question on customer concentration, right? And you can see that in our results, right? So we have had by the past reliance on a few molecules, right, historically. And that is the reason why we are in the situation we are in today, especially on the small molecule side of the business of the CDMO business.
This concentration is changing positively year-on-year, meaning that there is less concentration in FY26 than there was in FY25 and there will be less concentration in FY27 versus FY26 as we continue to develop our customer project pipeline. And that is essentially the message, that is one way to de-risk long term. I hand over to Gunjan for the same question.
Gunjan Singh: And in the API Plus case, which is a products business, our top 15 products contribute nearly half of the API revenues there. And if I give you a flavor around the kind of customers, so nearly two-thirds of the revenues comes from customers who are innovators or large global generic or regional leaders in the generic space. And only nearly one-third is with smaller customers there.
Sidharth Negandhi: Got it. And any FY27 guidance and any specific AI implementation that is helping you either get through programs faster or get better quality output for any of your programs?
Yann D'Herve: Maybe I can answer as this is Yann here on AI-related topic, right? What is important for us is customer centricity and how we support our clients in their projects. That is how we are successful as an organization. As such, we have implemented some AI tools in order to improve our analysis on essentially our results right, in order to be able to have proper communication with clients and offer as well opportunities for improvement. So that is one example of use of AI tools that we currently have in our platform to support the client.
Gunjan Singh: And I will just add a couple of points there. On the AI use, we are in active discussions and evaluating some tools around which can help improve operational efficiencies and can also support us on the regulatory aspects in terms of reducing our time to file and improve the quality of filings there. That is the limited use that we are doing so far. Additionally, we are also exploring, you know, the creation of data lakes and the databases that can help, take better and faster decisions going forward, both on operational as well as customer side.
Sidharth Negandhi: Any FY27 guidance across the three?
Himanshu Agarwal: And yes, we really appreciate the lead to give a guidance, but you would have to allow us some time to come back and give guidance. At this stage, I think we are comfortable to share that the growth will return from second half and quarter 2 would be stable while quarter 1 is a weak quarter both on revenue and EBITDA.
Sidharth Negandhi: Thank you so much.
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Moderator: Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Ashish from UTI. Please go ahead.
Ashish: Yes, thanks for the opportunity. So given that, between the standalone and the console, there is a difference in the margins. So I wanted to have some details on Sapala and NJ Bio. What is the projected timeline for consolidated margins to return to the historical benchmark of 30%? If you could give some color around this would be helpful.
Himanshu Agarwal: At this stage, one, the results will enable you to get a sense and appreciation of how the standalone and subsidiary results are, right? So that would give you a good indication of the 4% to 5% play that we are looking at it. And I think there is a recognition that is there. We have called out that Sapala has a reload on Phase 2, Phase 3, and that would kind of help the Sapala business accelerate from here onwards.
On NJ Bio, there is a work being progressed with NJ Bio team in terms of bringing the business back to profitability. But as I said, we do need some time to kind of come back to all of you on how this would shape up in the coming year. And maybe I will ask Yann to further contribute on this subject.
Yann D’Herve: So, on the NJ Bio situation, we have a very important investment that is currently being implemented to be able to support bioconjugation program to Phase 1, Phase 2. So this is where a lot of the value moving forward is. As such, it takes always some time here because it takes about one year to implement plus some time for validation and then being able to execute all the different programs here. So, give us here a little bit more than two years to get back to this level.
Ashish: Okay, this is helpful. Lastly, since you said recovery, in the order of recovery would be API first, just wanted to understand the second-half recovery that you mentioned, is that dependent a lot on the API segment recovering? And to that extent, what I was trying to understand is the Nacharam formulation facility. So what is the kind of dependency that we have when we say it would be a second-half recovery?
Himanshu Agarwal: I think what I mentioned to Shyam was how we were looking at the H1. When you are looking at recovery from an H2 perspective, we expect the CDMO business to have an accelerated recovery. And in fact, all the three businesses we expect the recovery to be strong in the second half. So it is just that the order book is skewed towards the second half, which is why we are looking at a weak quarter 1 and a stable quarter 2.
Ashish: Yes, this helps. Thanks a lot.
Moderator: Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Shreya Chatterjee with Ageless Capital. Please go ahead.
Shreya Chatterjee: Thank you for taking my question. My first question is just confirming the fact that you had mentioned there would be four commercial molecule launch in FY27. So, I guess two molecules have already launched. So is that in progress, like four total molecules to be launched in FY26 and FY27? Hello?
Yann D’Herve: I confirm, right? Two have launched and we expect the two others to launch, of course, depending on the clinical performance and we expect these to be known within the next 12-18 months.
Shreya Chatterjee: And would it be possible to give any color like in H2 how much are you expecting from these new commercial molecule launch?
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Yann D’Herve: I think Himanshu had provided the response. I mean, we are not yet ready to answer that question. That will come later.
Shreya Chatterjee: Got it. And also on the new Phase 3 molecule that you have added on the small molecule side and the ADC molecule that you had commercialized recently, would it be possible to give some colour to these two molecules?
Yann D’Herve: Phase 3 we normally do not provide too much colour, right? This is early Phase 3, so we need a little bit more time. Even the client might not know himself, right, the kind of volume that is expected here.
Shreya Chatterjee: Got it. And also, if it is possible, like this question is to Himanshu, to provide the breakdown of other expenses for the full year, which is like a big amount, INR671 Crore, if it is possible, like where the major expenses heads going? A rough breakdown of that amount would be helpful.
Himanshu Agarwal: So Shreya, the financials have been declared and they have the necessary split from that perspective. I mean, I am not sure what additional flavour you are seeking. If you can help me out, then what is possible we will certainly want to share.
Shreya Chatterjee: Like what are the major heads of the expenses under other expenses, which is like a big amount INR671 Crore? Because our gross margin seems to be quite high, but when we convert it to adjusted EBITDA margin, we are losing out a lot. One part is employee benefit expenses, but then other expenses is also vacant. So just trying to understand what are the major expenses currently in FY26 under other expenses.
Himanshu Agarwal: Yes. So, of the large portion of that is the conversion expenditure, that is almost in the range of INR400 plus Crore. And then the balance INR260 Crore is a function of the marketing expenditure, as you know that we had a merger and therefore we were building the brand. So, the brand building expenditure as well as the entire SG&A actually, the entire SG&A if you look at it, whether it is the office expenditure, travel expenditures, so these are all granular expenditure which is typically there in the business.
Shreya Chatterjee: Got it. Thank you.
Moderator: Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Chirag Shah from White Pine Investment Management Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Chirag Shah: Thanks a lot for the opportunity. I have two questions. Question one on some indication on the vacuum that had got created because of loss of two molecules. So Yann, specifically for you, what is being done right now to ensure this kind of vacuum does not get created in future? So that is question one I have. And second question I will ask once you respond to this. It is for Umang. My second question is for actually Umang.
Yann D’Herve: That is true, we mentioned it several times. I mean, we have a dip because of the high concentration in a few molecules and the fact that some are getting close to becoming generics, right? So what do we do about it, right? In order to bring growth is essentially expansion in term of number of customers and being able to get projects that are later phase in the customer project pipeline to accelerate the recovery. So that is what we are doing at the moment. We see good traction with strong funnel that has been multiplied by two essentially in the last six months with regard to small molecule that give us strong hope that we are going in the right direction here.
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Chirag Shah:
Okay. And second question for Umang, actually a slightly different question. Since you have joined the organization, have you been able to focus on corporate governance and strengthening the processes or it has not been on your agenda as of now? Why I am asking that in your absence when you are not there, it is coincidental that certain information and certain investor category have co-aligned in that sense. At the peak, some information has got out and some investors have exited and re-entered at the bottom of the stock price and since then the again positive announcements have started.
So, it is a request if you look at the strengthening of corporate governance slash information flow which I believe was happening selectively. I could be absolutely wrong and I hope I am wrong. So, if you have not been able to spend time, I would request you to focus on that. That is my second question.
Umang Vohra:
No, certainly. I think as part of this role, the governance requirement is paramount and I will be spending time on that as well in the next few months. But thank you for raising this.
Chirag Shah:
And I hope you would be able to update us whenever you can, maybe two quarters down the line on what changes have you made on this side.
Umang Vohra:
Yes, absolutely.
Chirag Shah:
Yes, thank you very much.
Umang Vohra:
Thank you.
Moderator:
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Sidharth Negandhi with CWC. Please go ahead.
Sidharth Negandhi:
Just a follow-up on the claim that you put in respect of the one-time settlement with the customer. A, if you could give some color on what that was towards and does that have any impact or bearing on that customer relationship and therefore the revenue likely revenue impact going forward? That was one question. And on the brand building expenses that were there, therefore do we expect those also to be more one-time in nature and therefore some cost savings on that in FY27 and going forward?
That is question two. Question three is if you could give us a little bit of a breakup on, the number of programs that you have underway and breakdown by phase into how many of those are Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and commercial.
Himanshu Agarwal:
Sidharth, on your first point, the customer settlement is purely commercial and therefore given the nature of the settlement, we do not see any impact on the revenue or on the relationship with the customer. On the second question, yes, we would see a reduction in the marketing expenses given that a part of the brand building has already been done. So, to that extent, your observation is right...
Sidharth Negandhi:
And could you quantify that?
Himanshu Agarwal:
No, I would not prefer to quantify that at this stage. I mean, we do not give specific categories of expenditure, but yes, there would be a reduction that would happen on that. And on your third question, I am going to request Yann to address that.
Yann D’Herve:
So, I think we communicate on the Phase 3 and commercial programs quite extensively. It is part of the quarterly report as well, right? I think this information is available. What I can tell you as well is the quality of the programs that we are onboarding right now in Phase 1, Phase 2 is also pretty strong with
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some clients also asking us to produce the API or the complex molecule for them. So that is good news. I mean, of course, it is Phase 1, Phase 2, takes some time to develop, but that shows as well the strength of the platform.
Sidharth Negandhi: Thank you.
Moderator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will take that as a last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Cyndrella Carvalho: Thank you, everyone, for your time and joining us today. See you next time on the Quarter 1 call.
Moderator: Thank you. On behalf of Cohance Life Sciences Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you all for joining us.
Please note:
We have edited the language, made minor corrections, without changing much of the content, wherever appropriate, to bring better clarity.
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