Ceigall India Limited ($CEIGALL)

Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Ceigall India Limited's Q4 and Financial Year 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Arun Prakash from Adfactors PR. Thank you, and over to you.

Thank You. Good evening everyone. Today, we have with us Mr. Ramneek Sehgal, Chairperson and Managing Director of Ceigall India; Mr. A. Saravanan, CEO; Mr. Kapil Aggarwal, the CFO; and Mr. Akshay Jain, VP, Strategy and Planning. I must remind you that this conference may include forward-looking statements about the company, which are based on the beliefs, opinions and expectations of the company as on the date of this call. The statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. We will begin the call with the opening remarks from the management, after which we will have the forum open for the interactive Q&A session. I now hand over the conference to Mr. Ramneek Sehgal for the opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Good evening, everyone. I'm pleased to welcome you all to the Q4 financial year '26 Earnings call for the Ceigall India Limited. Our financial results, investor presentation and press release are being uploaded on the stock exchanges. and the company's website. We trust you had an opportunity to review them. The global macroeconomic environment continues to be challenging, geopolitical ambiguity, inflationary pressure and supply chain uncertainties persist. Yet India needs for modern infrastructure keeps solidifying and the growth story in the sector remains compelling. The tightening of the technical and the financial eligibility norms in the bidding process, higher net worth requirement, additional performance securities and the greater emphasis on the PPP projects continue to favour established players with a proven execution capabilities and credentials. These developments bode well for the company like Ceigall, and we believe that we are well positioned to capture a meaningful share for the upcoming wave of the projects. At the macro level, India remains one of the fastest-growing major economies and the Government-Sustained Infrastructure push, combined with the nation's energy agenda provides a promising backdrop for kind of diversified EPC and developer platform we are building at Ceigall. Financial year '26 has been a strong year for the growth of Ceigall, driven by the consistent execution across our core EPC business, robust order inflows across highways and urban mobility. The fourth quarter has been a strong execution quarter. We are pleased with the way our projects have progressed throughout the year. Our total order book stood at INR 18,554 crores as on March 31, 2026. Total order inflow for the year stood at INR 11,332 crores, significantly surpassing our annual guidance of INR 5,000 crores for financial year '26. And the order inflow composition includes approximately 35.02% from renewable sector. During the year, we entered five new verticals, expanded our footprint in new three states. This provides strong multiyear revenue visibility. Q4 financial year '26 witnessed high healthy order inflow of INR 6,014 crores across Renewable Sector and Road Sector. We remain confident about the inflow pipeline going into financial year '27 as well. The book-to-bill ratio remains comfortably at 4.8x. We see no shortage of bidding opportunities across our verticals. One of the key highlights for the year was the LOA of Sahebganj-Areraj-Bettiah Corridor, which remains the biggest project, single biggest project Ceigall has received till date. The total project cost is INR 21,150 crores. Q4 financial year '26 was a strong quarter for order awards, meaningful inflow across our Renewable and Power Transmission segment. We secured multiple Solar & Battery Energy Storage Projects, further strengthening our presence in the Energy Transition space. I would like to highlight this strategic milestone as it reflects our successful diversification into high-growth Energy Wind sector. These wins position us well to participate in India's increasing focus on clean energy, providing long-term revenue visibility. I would also like to touch upon our strategic diversification, which has been a key highlight of '26 financial year. We have made a meaningful progress in renewable energy, power transition, wind and turbine generator and industrial infrastructure. During the year, we secured various awards of solar BESS and transmission projects. These placed the company in the position to benefit from India's energy transition and growing opportunity in the energy-based infrastructure assets. Additionally, the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway project has successfully achieved COD during the year, marking an important milestone in our project lifestyle. On the HAM monetization front, I'm pleased to share that financial year '26 has been a defining year for our Capital Recycling Strategy. We have entered into a non-binding document for Malout-Abohar-Sadhuwali assets with Neo Asset Management. This is the first transaction of its kind for Ceigall. It validates our Execute-Monetized-Recycle framework. For Bathinda-Dabwali, Jalbehra Shahbad project, we have signed non-binding offer and these are currently under due diligence. Having stated this, we have a clear pipeline of HAM assets monetization ahead of us. On renewable energy and power transition, we have received LOA for the solar parks projects in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, Morena Solar Park BESS project in Madhya Pradesh and is now part of our order book. PPA has been signed for Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh solar projects and execution has commenced. Velgaon 400 kV Substation in Maharashtra is progressing as well. On the balance sheet, the company continued to maintain a disciplined deleveraging posture. Our stand-alone debt to equity stood at 0.2x as on March 31, 2026. On a consolidated basis, it stood at 0.6x. We remain committed to optimizing our capital structure using stand-alone debt and deploying HAM proceeds towards both growth and the deleveraging. For financial year '27, we are guiding 15% revenue growth with the renewable sector contributing close to 20%, 25% of the total revenue, further building up our diversification. EBITDA margin is expected to sustain between 11% to 12.5% and order inflow guidance of minimum INR 5,500 crores. Going forward, we remain focused on strengthening execution, expanding our order book, building a diversified asset portfolio with long-term revenue visibility while maintaining financial discipline and creating sustainable value for our stakeholders. We are confident about the momentum going to financial year '27. We believe that the combination of the strong order book, improving execution environment, our expanding sectoral presence give us a positive outlook for the year ahead. I'll hand over the call to our CFO, Mr. Kapil Aggarwal, who will take through the financial performance in detail. Thank you so much, everyone.

Thank you, Ramneek sir, and a warm welcome to everyone joining us today. It is a pleasure to discuss our performance as we close the fourth quarter and FY '26. The fourth quarter has been a period of significant execution momentum, capitalizing on the strong contribution window, enabling us to deliver our best quarterly performance of the year. In Q4 FY '26, our stand-alone revenue from operations reached INR 1,294 crores as against revenue from operations of INR 992 crores in Q4 FY '25, registering a 30.5% Y-o-Y growth, showing our ability to scale operations effectively during the peak construction season. This brings our total stand-alone revenue for the year to INR 3,869 crores, representing a healthy growth of 14.3% year-on-year. On the profitability front, stand-alone EBITDA for Q4 FY '26 stood at INR 183 crores as against INR 109 crores for the same quarter previous year, registering a margin of 14.1% in Q4 FY '26. Our PAT for Q4 FY '26 was INR 119 crores with a margin of 9.2%. For the full year FY '26, stand-alone EBITDA stood at INR 487 crores as against INR 432 crores in FY '25, building a margin of 12.6% in FY '26 versus 12.8% in FY '25. Our stand-alone PAT for FY '26 stood at INR 305 crores with a PAT margin of 7.9%. Moving to our consolidated results, which provide a more holistic view of the growing portfolio and SPV performance. For Q4 FY '26, our consolidated revenue from operations stood at INR 1,386 crores as against INR 1,012 crores in Q4 FY '25, growing by 37.1% quarter-on-quarter. For FY '26, our consolidated revenue grew by 17.1% to reach INR 4,022 crores as against INR 3,437 crores revenue in FY '25. For FY '26, our consolidated EBITDA was at INR 585 crores, resulting in EBITDA margin of 14.6%. Consolidated PAT for FY '26 stood at INR 309 crores, resulting in a PAT margin of 7.7%. On the operations side, our execution engine remained robust with 37 ongoing projects currently in various stages of completion. Our order book has now scaled to INR 18,554 crores, providing us a multiyear revenue visibility, which makes this order book particularly strong, its diversified nature. It is no longer just about routes and highways. We now manage a broad mix of projects comprising of 19 EPC projects, 10 HAM projects, 1 DBFOT projects and 7 Tariff-Based projects. Our reach now spans across critical segments, including tunnel, railways, metros, transmission and distribution and renewables, effectively delinking our business from dependence on single segments with renewable contributing 19% of the total order book. With that, I conclude my opening remarks and would request the moderator to open the floor for Q&A session.

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from the line of Vaibhav Shah from JM Financial.

On the international foray, what pipeline are we looking at in both domestic and international markets? And what is your target for the international business, say, in the next one to three years?

So, good question. Vaibhav, we've already opened an office in Singapore and Dubai. We've already appointed one CEO international. And only because of this war situation, we were a little slow, and we are waiting for the things to settle down. And see, since we have entered into a renewable vertical, so I think there is no dearth of the work. We already have about 11 verticals in Ceigall now. So what matters is our EBITDA margins and IRR at a concessional level. So, if we get that, we'll definitely be there outside India also.

So what would be our bid pipeline in both domestic and international markets?

So right now, we have quoted tenders which are under valuation is about INR 13,000 crores. And international, only one tender was there that was Sobha in Dubai and tender in EU. Sobha was about AED 250 million. And in EU, it was close to about INR 13,000 crores, which is again under valuation, which is in Romania.

So these are in which segment?

That's a single highway project, which is comprising of highway tunnel and bridges, single project, 17 kilometers.

So INR 13,000 crores for a single project?

Yes, single project.

So I think that could be a partner, right?

No, no, no, no. We've qualified out of the 12 bidders, we were the only qualifying partner. We were only qualifying single company. Rest everyone is quoted in consortium or something, if I'm not wrong.

Okay. So INR 13,000 crores, it's not, so we were earlier, as mentioned in the last call, we were thinking of growing the business gradually at the international part. So if you win this order, it will be a very big order, a very big expansion in the international market. It will be almost 65% of our current book, 65%, 70%. So how do you look at that or any risk how do you foresee that?

So first of all, it is a very conservative bid, getting L1 is very difficult. Secondly, if it is, it's just a 17-kilometer job for INR 13,000 crores, and whereas in India, if I have to do such kind of job, 17 kilometers, it would be hardly, say, INR 600 crores, INR 700 crores INR 800 crores. And it is just a matter of EU because the cost is high. Otherwise, we have executed projects much, much larger than this in size of land, linear length.

Okay. So when are likely to open?

I think they will take time because what I've heard is it's already been 4, 5 months. And in a month's time, I think the bid will also be finished. So, they take a lot of time, 12 bids.

Okay. Sir, secondly, on the equity investment, so what investment are we targeting? So, what is the pending investment in both the highway and non-highway business? And what is the year-wise time line for the investment?

So next three years, we have to put close to INR 2,000 crores, INR 1,937 crores. After IPO, we have put more than INR 400 crores. And we, as I said, we have already sold three assets to Neo in which first asset, we are expecting it should get executed in this month only. So more than INR 400 crores will come from Neo, which is another cash. We have unencumbered cash lying in our bank on 31st March is close to INR 66 crores and unencumbered FD close to INR 146 crores. So equity is not a problem with Ceigall. We have amazing cash flow available with us. And besides that, we have our cash flows also.

Out of INR 1,937 what would be HAM and renewable portion?

So I think the difference between the, so almost INR 800 crores is renewable, rest is all HAM road.

And both have to be done in next three years?

Next three years, yes.

Okay. Okay. And sir, lastly, the revenue guidance you have given around 15% plus, it looks quite low given the very strong book we have. So internally, what would we be targeting?

So good question. So we are a little conservative with the numbers, and that's the reason you would have seen me every time I remain between 10% to 15%. This time, I said it's 15% minimum. So we are looking forward to good results.

Our next question comes from the line of Tejpal Singh from Manthan Capital.

Sir, my question is that your bidding pipeline is a little bit on the aggressive side. Your order book is also growing very fast. But on the guidance side, you are just saying that 15% to 15% you are growing. So, it doesn't add up. So can you throw a light on this?

So if you see our last investor call also conservative giving a guidance of between 10% to 15%, we have already achieved it. So this time also, we have given a guidance of minimum 15%. So just to be on a conservative side, we say that we will achieve 15% easily. But we have, I mean, this is a conservative side of our revenue.

Okay. And sir, one more question that although we are well diversified across the segments, but our order book is huge. So how do you plan to manage receivables and working capital days so that we can, we didn't stuck in the payment cycle. So that's how that we can execute easily and comfortably?

So good question. When this war happened, our department, which is MoRTH has come up with a notification. They've come up with three different notifications now. And they eased out our billing plan. Earlier, we used to achieve the milestone and get the payment. With this we can get a monthly payment also. And with that, it ease out our cash flow also. And besides this, we have sold three assets. So more than INR 400 crores will come from Neo also after selling those assets. So cash flow will not be a challenge for Ceigall. We have a very clear cash flow with us.

And sir, from the margin perspective, what are the margin accretive segments in our order book?

So we have guided between 11% to 12.5%, double-digit margin. Besides this, we make money from other income also.

In our order book, we have, we have different segments. So what are the margin accretive segment in those if you can bifurcate margins?

No, no. So we always guide on a conservative way. So our guidance towards the investor would be between 11% to 12.5% plus other income, which will come from selling these assets like we sold it to Neo or some bonus or some money earned from FDR or some royalties. So playing vanilla EPC would be minimum between 11% to 12.5%.

Okay. Okay. And sir, how much order book is from the state governments and the central government, so is there any guidance?

Yes, yes. In HAM only we have one project, which is MPRDC, all projects, HAM projects are from NHAI.

[Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of from Ishita Lodha from Swan Investments.

Congratulations for a very good quarter. Just in continuation to the previous question, the money that we are expecting INR 400 crores from in which quarter are we expecting? And would it come in our stand-alone books?

So this, what you call the first project, which is Malout-Abohar-Sadhuwali, we're expecting in this month. So that is, that will come in this quarter. Bathinda-Dabwali, we are expecting in second quarter. And Jalbehra Shahbad, we're expecting in third quarter. So every quarter, we get the inflow coming.

Okay. And this will be directly upstream to stand-alone books?

Yes, yes, yes.

The trade tables have seen a sharp jump from 79 days to 138 days. So why has this happened?

Yes. Kapil will answer this.

Yes. So basically, if you look at the March only, so whatever we have, that payments are released by the department in April. So the payments which are to be made to the creditors, those are linked to the receivables only. So accordingly, the payment has been made in the month of April to the creditors as well.

Okay. So in April month, how much money have we released to these creditors?

It's close to INR 300 crores.

And similarly, the unbilled revenue has also seen a sharp jump from 94 days to 133 days...

This was primarily because of the notification of Atma Nirbhar, which was drawn by the government in April '24. So what happened earlier, we were billing on a monthly basis, starting from 1st April. So it has been linked to milestones. So since most of the projects which are executed by Ceigall are in the range of more than INR 1,000 crores. So every project has a billing cycle of 10%, if you look at more than INR 100 crore billing cycle. So that's why since the number of the projects which are being executed more in, that's why the revenue has increased.

But this will improve because now monthly bills have already started with the new notification, this will improve now. You'll see the improvement in the coming quarter.

Thank you. Our next question come from the line of Dheeraj Kripalani from Avidis Park. Please proceed ahead.

Thanks for the opportunity and congrats for the good set of numbers. So there is one question industry specific from my end. So how is the NHAI evolving in SR26 in kilometer terms and in value terms and how you are looking at going forward.

So, if you talk about NHAI, NHAI if you see from this year we start with, there were a lot of good works which were out but it was getting all the cabinet approval. And this quarter also we are expecting good amount of tender. And besides this you know we are bidding in renewable also with battery solar. So we are not dependent on NHAI orders. If you see last year also our order book which has come from renewable was close to [Technical Difficulty]. And overall the pipeline of NHAI is close to 2 lakh crore.

Okay. So like any number what was the volume?

So you know these are the figures which NHAI has put on their own website. And these.

Sorry to interrupt. But there is a disturbance coming from your line. [Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of Mahesh Patil from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.

First question is on the margins only. So if you see on Q4, the last Q4 there was significant increase. So is there any one off or is just because of the execution that we have. And going forward obviously you have added probably 11 to 10 and a half percent range but are you seeing any impact, you know, RM cost, inflation etc. You can just give some detail.

Last year if you look at, we have started four HAM projects which have majorly contributed in the PAT margins. And obviously the increase in the turnover is also one of the reasons for increasing the overall PAT of the company. So going forward we, we are getting our investor between 11 to 12.5. We are just on the conservative side. So definitely we try and match those numbers in the quarter to come as well.

Okay. And so there is no impact that we can see in the upcoming quarters right now. And with RM cost, inflation etc. No more near term challenges.

So the increase cost is already compensated by the department. They already come up with the circular for compensating the escalation part and earlier it was linked to three months and now it has been linked to monthly basis. So whatever increase in the cost that we can that will be paid by the authority ultimately to the EPC contractor.

Okay sir, thank you. And so my second question is on the order book. If you see the part of the overall order book where the exhibition has not started it for the project out of this how much of the order book can be expected to, you know, fresh project that we can expect to kick start in the next, say couple of quarters. Do you have any number?

So you know, except HAM project and these projects where like for Morena, you know, till the time transmission line is done the project will not start or in HAM till the time, you know, 80% land is given clear to us, it does not start. But the visibility what we have given as a minimum number is available with us as a revenue. And of course the more projects will start, the numbers will be better.

Okay, thank you.

[Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of Maitri Shah from Sapphire Capital.

Just one question again on the margins. So the past 3 years, our gross and EBITDA margins have been going down and you've again guided for a much lower margins for FY '27. Any sort of competition pressure are we seeing? Why do you see these margins going down? And is this a bit too conservative? Or is this the way our order book currently stands right now?

So ma'am, if you look at the previous year, so there was a income from bonus and royalty as well. So you must be comparing, considering the bonus and royalty income as well. So our EBITDA from pure operations is in the range of 11%, 12.5%, which we are constantly maintaining since last three years, the other income is always dependent upon the execution and as well as the royalty, which is dependent upon the contract itself to be the subcontract. So these two are not directly related to the operations and uncertain in nature. So if you complete any project during the year and if you get early bonus, that will increase your overall margins. But if you look at the margin from the operations is more or less stable across the last three years.

Actually, I was referring to the Slide 41 on the presentation. So the royalty income probably will be added to the other income, but the EBITDA margins above them are also decreasing year-on-year. So I was just wondering is the royalty income being added to revenue from operations, I was wondering.

No, no. EBITDA margin is stable. That's not decreasing. And if you look at the numbers of the current year as well, our EBITDA margins have grown up as compared to the previous year.

Could you maybe refer to the Slide 41. Maybe I am looking at the wrong way. On the consol side, we do see the margins going down.

Your FY '24 margins includes bonus as well. And FY '25 also includes bonus.

So these bonuses are added to the revenue from operations?

Revenue from operations, yes., so we had INR 20 crores royalty and bonus in FY '25. And even FY '24, there was a bonus for Kalanpava, which was forming part of your EBITDA only.

And just to add, we have certain awards also in place. Whenever we get that, that will also come straight to the bottom line.

[Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of Modi Bandari from IIFL Capital.

Congratulations on a fantastic 4Q performance. Sir, first question on the solar and BESS projects. So, I believe we have already signed PPA and TSA for these projects. So whether they have started execution or any land acquisition or approvals are pending from those projects?

So good question. Solar Maharashtra has already started, where we've already done a lease for more than 50-megawatt project, and we're expecting to get them this month more than 75 megawatts. And projects have already started, land development, fencing, piling has already started. We are expecting to give you good results in the next three months.

This is for solar project and the remaining two solar projects?

So we have two projects. One is solar in Maharashtra, sorry two in Maharashtra and one in Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra, both the solar project have started and in Madhya Pradesh, the land gating is happening. I think that will also be closed in next 10 days. The execution will start there also. And if you talk about TND, it is already, the construction is in progress. We already acquired the land. We bought that land because that land has to be bought by us. In solar, we have to lease the land. And the site development fencing has already started. We've already placed the order for the transmissions and GIS.

Got it, sir. And for BESS Monera project, whether that acquisition has started?

No. That project will take some time because the government, the tender was very clear that government has to provide us the land transmission connectivity and the PPA. Till now only LO is received, PPAs to be signed and even transmission line tender is not received. So once that is done, once the transmission line is completed, then only the project will start.

Understood, sir. And one question on the industry front. I know we are not very much now focused upon NHAI road project. But if you are bidding, how are you seeing the order awarding from NHAI in terms of the time lines or the competition perspective?

So, we are in the higher sector where we are bidding projects more than INR 2,000 crores, majority of them. And we have already got INR 2,160 crore project and INR 600 crores project of Ambala-Zirakpur. So, we have a notch above and we are at a better position because of the higher net worth as a group, we have a very good network. And as a listed company, this is on a better side. And going forward also, we are expecting a lot of good bids from NHAI, and we are looking forward to it.

Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Ramneek Sehgal for closing comments. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Thank you so very much, everyone. I would again thank all the participants for joining the earnings calls today, making this an engaging discussion. We remain committed to pursuing our business strategies and continue to deliver positive results for our stakeholders. We hope that all your queries have been answered. In case you have any further queries, please feel free to connect with the Investor Relations team at Adfactor. Thank you once again. Good evening.

Thank you so much, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Ceigall India Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.