Nava Limited (513023) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Palacia, moderator for the conference call. Welcome to Nava Limited Q2 and H1 FY '25 Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand over the floor to Mr. Mohit Kumar from ICICI Securities. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Thank you, Palacia. On behalf of ICICI Securities, we welcome you all to Q2 FY '25 Earnings Call of Nava Limited. Today, we have with us Mr. Ashwin Devineni, CEO; Mr. GRK Prasad, Executive Director; Mr. Nikhil Devineni, Executive Director; Mr. Sultan Baig, CFO, and Mr. VSN Raju, Company Secretary. Without much delay, I will now hand over the call to the management for opening remarks, which will be followed by Q&A. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I'm pleased to report that Nava Limited has delivered a strong quarter with significant growth in profitability. Our consolidated profit after tax increased by about 72% year-on-year to INR 332 crores, highlighting our commitment to operational excellence and financial resilience. Our Energy & Metals division have shown notable improvements supported by strategic planning and market adaptability. Additionally, the board's approval of a 2:1 stock split aims to improve liquidity and broadened shareholder access, underscoring our confidence in our growth strategy. We are advancing on key projects, particularly in Zambia with the 300-megawatt Phase 2 energy project on track for completion at the end of 2026. And our agricultural expansion into sugar besides avocados. These initiatives align with our strategy to diversify revenue streams and establish now as a leader in sustainable agriculture and green energy. As we continue our journey, Nava remains focused on value creation, operational strength and sustainable growth. Thank you for your ongoing support, and I look forward to discussing our results in further detail. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] First question comes from A.M. Lodha from Somatic Consultants.

Congratulations for fairly set of numbers. Also, I congratulate the Board for considering the liquidity issue in stock for the split. Thank you very much for that. I have got two, three questions, sir. Number one, my question is the receivable from Maamba Collieries -- do the receivable from the Maamba Collieries arbitration money. How much money we still receive -- pending from the -- how much we are receiving per month? And how much is still pending? I suppose the entire money was supposed to be refunded -- returned by them by December '24.

Okay, you can complete your other questions as well Mr. Lodha, then we can answer all of them.

My second question is regarding the money payable by the MCL to the Singapore Holding Company, where -- at the time of the project, the Singapore Holding Company has given some equity participation besides some money has given a loan on which where we have been providing the interest. So just wanted to -- approximate to my mind, it was INR 700 crores, principal amount INR 600 crores plus INR 700 crores, and INR 300 crores or something was the interest amount, total INR 1,000 crores accumulated amount was to be rescued by Singapore subsidiary. Singapore company from the MCL. I wanted to know the status of the repayment on the MCL to Singapore subsidiary. And simultaneously, I also wanted how the Singapore subsidiary is utilizing that money received from the MCL? That is my two questions. And again, I will join the queue side.

Thank you, Mr. Lodha. Thank you for your questions. As regards to your first question regarding the receivable spending from ZESCO, as on date, we are yet to receive $197 million, sir. From what we understand from ZESCO, these money will be paid over the next few months. Then coming to your second question regarding the dues from -- Maamba Energy to Nava Bharat Singapore. As of 31st March, there was overdue interest of $42 million approximately and a loan of $89 million, that was outstanding. You will be happy to note that as on date, the interest amount has been fully repaid by Maamba Energy to Nava Bharat Singapore. And as on that, the outstanding loan -- out of the outstanding loan amount of $89 million, $25 million has been repaid.

Now my further question relating to the -- your answer number one, $197 million is still outstanding. Suppose the Zambian government doesn't say by the December which is the deadline is for the arbitration agreement, then do we have any course to take any suitable action against the government of the Zambia?

I think firstly, after the arbitration agreement, they were supposed to pay us a long time ago when the arbitration award was granted. We then got into discussions with the government and the state utility and agreed on a certain payment plan. Today, to be very honest, they have been paying on a monthly basis. No, I mean not to the extent that the payment plan stipulated, but to the extent that they can afford. Given the current energy crisis in Zambia, there is a certain cash crunch. Even though there's been a cash crunch, They have been very, very timely in terms of their monthly payments. And over and above that, too, they've been paying us a small amount of $5 million on a monthly basis. So we are in constant discussions with them. And although they are expecting certain difficulty to pay the entire $197 million outstanding by this year end. And they are committed. They are working on certain avenues of financing where they could get certain lump sums that we would be directing to us. And it's an ongoing discussion.

[indiscernible] Even the -- sir, even the $75 million of the September '23 is still outstanding.

No, that's not [indiscernible] Mr. Lodha.

There is lump sum payment of September in last con call, you recall the last con call, $75 million of September '23 is still outstanding. We are paying $5 million a month along with your electricity bills. So just I wanted to know, while $197 million -- suppose they don't pay for 1 year, another 1 year. Do we -- shall we charge the interest on the outstanding amount from this debt?

No. I think from the last time we have this investor call, they have paid us $25 million which was attributed towards arrears payment. So it's not like they've not been paying or not clearing the $75 million. So they have paid us $25 million since the last quarter. In fact, we just received $5 million this week too towards the arrears payment. So there is an ongoing thing. It's not like they have left it alone. Discussions are underway. Can you please allow me to finish first?

Yes. Yes. Yes.

So discussions are underway. There is a certain crises going on there. We are working with them. On a monthly basis, they pay us about $21 million, $22 million, which includes our monthly receivables. And in addition to that, they're paying us $5 million, which is on arrears. So given the current situation, I think they're doing their level best and discussions are continuing in terms of how they would pay the remainder of the arrears. And we are happy with the progress they've made.

Okay, sir. Then the question number two, I want further clarification that out of the USD 131 million, USD 68.7 million have been paid by the -- to your Singapore subsidiary. Interest fully clear and some amount of principle have been paid. Balance amount when we can expect to get by the Singapore subsidiary?

I think when Maamba Energy realizes the finance, it will have funds for distribution to both the sponsors. So it depends on the availability of free cash surplus with Maamba, sir. Maamba is utilizing the money only for its expenditure and operations and surplus is distributing new store sponsors.

How far utilizing that money in your Singapore subsidiary?

You can come back in the queue. We'll take your questions later.

[Operator Instructions] Next question comes from Vignesh Iyer from Saque Investments.

Congratulations on good set of numbers. My first question comes from the fact that I recall something that was a possibility when earlier calls -- in earlier calls, I mean, where we thought that any receivable that is pending, can you convert it into equity for the new 300-megawatt project as in the receivables getting converted. Where any day instead of paying us [indiscernible] converted into equity and they put up the realization of that $200 million which was spending. I mean, is it still on -- in the discussion part of it? Or will wait till the revenues get recognizing like $5 million per month?

Mr. Iyer, your understanding is not correct. Receivables are not getting converted into equity. So as in when Maamba Energy received receivables and it distributes to its sponsors, sponsors will have the opportunity to plow back the surplus funds or equity into Phase 2 project. There is no direct conversion.

Right, right. But we had contemplated something so that -- because in the 300 megawatts, we have to anyways put our money, right? I mean as an equity for the new project, right, if I'm not wrong?

Mr. Iyer, the receivables are [indiscernible]. Whereas the equity deployment from the sponsor is [indiscernible] as well as the number. So there are different parties. So receivables are not -- were never planned to be converted to equity.

Okay. And continuing with the earlier participants, I wanted to understand the money we have received in the Singapore subsidiary. I mean so how are we planning to utilize it as in are we passing it to the standalone or is it getting reinvested in other businesses? And if you could give a breakup of the same?

So in terms of the money that we are getting, essentially, there are the two aspects. One is there is a lot of growth capital that's required. We just talked about the expansion where we need to contribute a portion of the equity. The total equity contribution for the -- based on the project cost is $100 million, out of which $65 million has to come from us. So that is a priority. So a lot of the funds that we are receiving will be plowed back in the form of equity. And we also have other projects that are currently ongoing and gaining a lot of traction, such as the agricultural projects, such as the projects in ivory Coast and so on. And apart from that, we are also looking at corporate actions, like during this quarter, we did declare an interim dividend. And a lot of those funds were funds that we received from MEL to NBS, which further declared a dividend to now. So it's a combination of using the funds towards growth and cost reduction that we're taking to benefit the shareholders.

Understood, sir. Understood. So one more question, if I could squeeze in. So just avocado plantation in Zambia. So I understand it, we have already planted around 90,000 plants, and expecting another 1 lakh plants in the month of November. So if you could help me understand the amount we have already spent and the amount will be spending for this 1 lakh plants? And what is the yield expected out of it as in you have stated in the press release that we might get our first set of crop in the month of December. So just to understand the metrics and the economics behind this Nava Avocado Limited.

Yes, sir. Your understanding is correct. We have already planted 100,000 -- close to 100,000 trees in division A. Generally, the tree takes about 2 to 3 years to mature fully and giving full feed. So initially that they are getting from is a variation yield of very young tree, so it's very small. It can not be called as a commercial yield. And secondly, on division B, our 100,000 trees will get planted from December onwards till March, April. And it will be another 3 or so before these trees will give full maturity, full yield. Generally, once the entire plant reaches a maturity of 3, 4 years, the yield expected is somewhere about 20 to 25 metric tons per hectare. So on an overall capacity of 1,100 hectares, we can expect somewhere about 20,000 to 25,000 tonnes -- 25,000 tonnes per annum.

22,000 to 25,000 mt per hectare, right, if I got it right.

For the entire 1,100 hectares.

For the entire 1,100 hectares. And what is like the unit economics per metric ton, what realization we could get? And what is the cost we spent on planting the first 1 lakh tree and the subsequent 1 lakh?

Mr. Iyer, I think you must give chance to others. It's been almost 4, 5 questions since...

Okay.

Next question comes from Abhinav from ICICI Securities.

Sir, my question is for MEL Phase 2 project to 300-megawatt plant. What is the overall status? What is the total project cost. And I understand the debt has been tied up, so what is the debt-to-equity ratio? And has the equipment supply been secured? So overall understanding on the Phase II project.

Yes, sir. The overall project cost is $400 million, out of which $100 million is equity as per the CEO and $300 million is debt. As of today, we have tied up $260 million and depending upon the project progress and requirements, we will tie up the balance. and [indiscernible] has already been appointed, we issued a notice to project -- to the contractor in the month of August. Currently, they are in the process of placing the orders from equipment supplies from China.

Understood. And one more thing on the balance sheet, I can see that there's about cash up about -- including the investment about -- more than INR 1,500 crores, INR -- INR 1,500 crores, yes, right. I mean, what are the plans for utilization of that cash?

Yes. On the consolidation level, you will see a significant cash balance, and it has to be fit into the cash that we are keeping aside for growth capital and corporate actions, which is sitting in Nava Bharat Singapore and in in-house treasury of Nava India. So both will take a suitable decision at the right time for the corporate actions and the growth capital and the total cash.

Okay. And I must say that the presentation is quite exhaustive, exhausted and it sort of gives us a lot of understanding.

Next question comes from Gargi Agarwal from Value Investments.

Congratulations on the good set of results. Sir, my question was out of the $100 million of equity funding, how much have we deployed till now? Or if we have not then by -- when do we plan to deploy that?

As of date, we have not deployed any. The deployment will commence from December onwards, spend over a period of 2 years during the project construction.

Second question is, sir, the India business -- India power business is very volatile. So do we have any long-term contract with third-party power plants? And also, what kind of PLF are you expecting for the full year on an average for the India business, particularly?

Well, India power sector is kind of dynamic where long-term contracts are not coming through. And whatever the contract that have come in by way of short-term contracts, we have been participating. In our 150-megawatt unit or where possible in our 60-megawatt unit. What we envisage is some kind of a long-term contract could come in, in the early '25 where we would like to participate in both 150-megawatt as well as 60-megawatt IP base. At this point, it's not clear, but some indications are there that such contracts could come in.

All right, sir. Third question is that you mentioned about some...

Sorry to interrupt you. Can you join back the queue, ma'am?

Sure.

[Operator Instructions]. Next question comes from Praveen Desai, an individual investor.

Congratulations for a good set of second -- first half-year reason. So for liquidity portfolio, you people are splitting the stock. Our request is that we have a very huge reserve. So why don't you give a bonus to us and make happy.

Yes, we're always looking at corporate actions that benefit the shareholders. So we'll take the necessary actions when required.

Okay, sir. But I think about that we are expecting some good things from you. The splitting is not beneficial to maybe the shareholders sir. And the number of shares will increase, that's the purpose. Liquidity may increase, but the value will not go up.

It is your perspective. I mean, please don't forget that we just declared an interim dividend during the quarter 2. So we're always looking at the actions that benefit shareholders.

Okay. But in future, think about this also, sir, please.

Next question comes from Viraj Mahadevia from Mani Group.

This is Viraj. Congratulations on stable results. Quick question regarding the different performance this quarter is because of the scheduled maintenance of India and Zambia plants, am I right?

Absolutely, right, Mr. Viraj. Zambia, both units underwent biannual maintenance. And also our Odisha unit -- power units went through a major maintenance.

And this was for a large part of this quarter or was it half the quarter? Or just trying to get a sense of what the normalized earnings will be getting back into Q3?

85% PLF for the power plant is considered as normal. And our Maamba power plant as compared to 100% in the previous quarter, current quarter, it was at 84.5%. Whereas for the Odisha power plants, it was a long overdue major maintenance. So PLF was slightly lower.

And are they fully operational starting this quarter, October 1?

Yes. All the plants are fully operational now.

Okay. My second question is, I'm just trying to understand the math between sources and uses of cash over the next 2 years. As Ashwin mentioned, there are quite a few projects on the annual. What I understand is the business has net cash of about INR 1,000 crores on the books. Annual free cash flow, give or take, looks like about INR 1,500 crores. The arbitration dues, as you highlighted, is roughly about INR 1,500 crores. So there's about INR 4,000 crores of cash coming in within the 12- to 18-month period. Can you articulate the usage of cash, particularly in the equity contributions towards the various projects in the next 12 to 18 months?

Absolutely, Mr. Viraj. As Ashwin pointed out, our immediate requirement is for the Maamba Energy Phase 2 project, which is about $65 million. Then we have ongoing avocado project, which is fully funded by equity. There's no debt on it. Other than the $15 million we already incurred so far, there will be an investment of additional $30 million over the next 2 to 3 years in the project. And integrated sugar project that we are commencing in Zambia, the total project outlay is $125 million. And we envisage about $40 million to $45 million will go into that project. So overall put together...

About $150 million between these two.

Yes. And besides that, we have [ Paloncha ] smelting plant, which we are planning in Ivory Coast besides the mining. So it will have an outlay of somewhere about $150 million.

$150 million in equity, Sorry, sir?

That's the total capital outlay, which includes...

INR 50 million max [ equity ].

Yes.

So about $200 million over the next 2 years, let's say, roughly?

Yes. Yes.

It's about INR 1,500 crores. Okay. And the inflow should be about INR 4,000 crores. So we're hoping to see a shareholders -- it's a good start, I think, with the split, I think the bonus, but I think we are hoping to see further shareholder value-enhancing actions through meaningful dividends, buybacks over the next year or so because it's INR 1,500 crores as we've just gone through as spends and about INR 4,000 crores hopefully coming in over the next 12 to 18 months.

Next question comes from Nidhi Shah from ICICI Securities.

So I had a couple of questions. Firstly, on Zambia. Now that we have power plant mining avocado integrated sugar coming up in Zambia, what is the reason for this [indiscernible] expansion in Zambia? Is it that the environment is good for business? That is the first question I had on Zambia. Secondly, what other opportunities can we pursue in Zambia that are related to our business? Can we pursue, expansion at the power plant, in and around Zambia, rest of the African neighboring African countries, are there more opportunities in power and mining lined up for us?

Yes. So I think whenever we evaluate projects, we look at the risk profile and the benefit that we're getting. And after we have a very large presence in Zambia already with the Maamba Energy Limited. We found that the investment climate is fairly good. The rewards are fairly good. While there is risk, the margin rewards are good. So therefore, we decided to expand in Zambia. Today, we are doing power generation. In terms of mining, we're getting into lithium and possibly iron ore. And on the agricultural side, we're doing avocados and sugar. But needless to say, it's not just Zambia that we're looking at. We're also looking at the Ivory Coast, where we're looking at manganese in terms of mining and smelting and possibly power generation. And we're looking at other countries too that offer a good investment climate where the risk is lower, but the margins are high.

Do you see any specific countries in specifically the African region where you could possibly have opportunity to set up something? Is there any bids that have opened up?

I think Ivory Coast is one. The other countries that we are possibly looking at Botswana, Namibia, where the rating are high. They are English-speaking countries that make it easier for us to work for there is rule of law. So those are the different aspects that we look at, and we're always looking at opportunities in these regions.

All right. Lastly, I had a kind of a bookkeeping question on the Zambia Energy Limited. I can see in the slide that you've given us separate financials for the energy business and for the mining business. What I would like to understand is that, firstly, in the mining business, when you talk about the revenue there, are you only recognizing revenues where you sold coal to third party? Or are you also recognizing revenues where the mining output has been sold from Nava Energy Limited? That is one. Second is if that is the case, then does the energy business recognize that as a cost? What is the accounting just between the two? I understand that at the consolidated level, those would get nullified. But between these two slides, could you help me understand the breakup of that?

Even in the Maamba Energy, when we present the Maamba Energy numbers, the revenue gets knocked off for the coal supplies from the mining business to the energy business. What we report as mining sales is third-party sales, which is about $14 million for the quarter.

Okay. So when you talk about in the Slide #40 and Slide #37, they are essentially numbers individual and there is no overlap in terms of revenues and costs, right?

Yes, they are independent divisions, yes.

Next question comes from A Reddy from PNR Investments.

Sir, this is regarding the coal business, coal mining there. Do we have any prefixed price purchase agreements from some clients? Or is it that our coal mining business is prone to the global price fluctuations? How does -- can you explain a bit?

We don't have any prefixed agreements, long-term agreements. The reason is we don't want them. One of the advantage of Zambia being landlock and logistics prices being high from the port is that we're not subject to global prices fluctuating. I think there is a price set in Zambia and as we follow that with certain escalations due to increased fuel costs and so on. But we get into shorter-term agreements rather than longer-term agreements there. And they're all U.S. dollar denominated.

Okay. Who fixes that, sir? Can you just explain that?

It depends on the market. I mean, in terms of the supply-demand, today, we -- there are about three to four different suppliers of coal within Zambia apart from us. And there are -- there is demand from the various industries. So that's how it works.

Overall, it is more stable and consistent than the global prices. That's what you mean to say?

It is, [ overall].

[Operator Instructions] Next question comes from Sri Gopal Kankani from SG Kankani and Associates.

I'm SG Kankani calling from Raipur. My question was whether this 150 x 2-megawatt power plant expansion will be executed in two phases or it is single stock expansion?

It is a single stock expansion. We are transacting both the units together.

Okay. And the deadline is December '26, I think?

August '26, Mr. Kankani.

Okay. And what is the expected date of putting of this avocado project, sir?

It's underway, sir. It's a gradual progress year-on-year. Total project will be completed in '27.

We have a follow-up question from A.M. Lodha from Consultants.

I got only one question regarding the Nacharam land. Since I partially stay the Hyderabad also right now I am in Jaipur, actually, in Hyderabad prices have gone up tremendously. In your -- where your corporate office exist, the land where I stayed. The [indiscernible] coming up with a project that initially they started booking at INR 12,000 per square feet. Now they are asking for the INR 16,000 per square feet in this near [indiscernible] Center. So I wanted to suggest that you have land 65 acres around in Nacharam, that is in heart of -- I believe it is in the heart of the city, in between the residential area. So my suggestion is that instead of opting for selling it, better you please 10 acre or 7 acres in equity [indiscernible] good developers who can develop it and the rest you keep it with you. Gradually you monetize the land over the period of 3, 4 years that will get much better returns than instead of selling the land in the market. We will have to find out a buyer for that much value of the land. Please throw some light on it.

Your suggestion is noted, Mr. Lodha. We will consider that.

We have a follow-up question from Gargi Agarwal from Value Investments.

Sir, you mentioned about some corporate action. The money that you'll be using i,t is both for growth capital as well as growth CapEx and corporate actions. So is there any buyback plan?

No. I think right now, we just announced the stock split. So we're always deliberating corporate actions when the time is right. So today, the announcement that we made is about the stock split.

All right. Second question, and this is the last. Sir, I missed your part -- I missed the part where you laid out the CapEx plan for the next 2 years. So if you can just give me the breakup for the CapEx of various businesses that you plan to do for the remaining half of FY '25, FY '26 and '27?

Yes. It's $100 million for the Maamba Phase 2, $125 million for sugarcane integrated project, $45 million for the avocado project and $150 million for the Ivory Coast smelter project integrated with the biomass plant.

Yes, sir, I have the total numbers, but I wanted to know how will you split it between second half of FY '25 and FY '26 and '27?

It will depend upon the requirement of the funds for the project, ma'am.

We have a follow-up question from Nidhi Shah from ICICI Securities.

I wanted to ask about the investment climate in regards to energy. As we can see companies like NTPC and Power Grid are coming up with huge capacities in the next couple of years to power the grid. So in terms of that part environment in India, how is our company looking at setting up more plants and expanding within the nation?

Yes. I think for us as a company, we definitely look at energy as one of the most important verticals in terms of currently and in terms of growth. But coal-fired power plants, I think there's hardly any scope in terms of expansion. One is unless you have fuel security, meaning that you own a coal mine where you have security over the fuel, it doesn't make sense setting up a plant in this day and age. And secondly, we -- I think everyone is moving away from expanding on coal-fired power plants today in terms of lending lenders and so on. So I don't think we'll be expanding on coal-fired power, but we are always open to looking at other energy sources.

On more On that. So as most of these -- most of the power companies are coming up with their renewable subs and putting up significant capacities in renewable energy, does Nava have any plans in terms of solar or wind?

We are looking. We are always exploring. There are opportunities that are coming up with regards to renewable. And as we speak, Ivory Coast is a project which involves renewables because we are looking at a 25-megawatt power plant using [ Cacao ], which is one of the main crops there as a biofuel to run the unit.

That was the last question for the day. Now I hand over the floor to management for closing comments.

In closing, I'd like to extend my sincere gratitude to each of you in your interest and continued support of Nava Limited. As we look to the future, we remain focused on executing our strategic initiatives, particularly in expanding our energy capacity, advancing agricultural ventures and reinforcing our financial position. With a steadfast commitment to sustainable growth and operational excellence, we are confident in our ability to seize the opportunities and continue to create meaningful long-term value for all stakeholders. Thank you all for joining us today. We look forward to keeping you updated on our progress. Please feel free to reach out to our Investor Relations team should you have any further questions. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference for today. Thank you for your participation and for using Door Sabha's conference call service. You may disconnect your lines now. Thank you, and have a good day.