Neuland Laboratories Limited (524558) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

August 3, 2021

BSE Limited IN Health Care Pharmaceuticals earnings 77 min

Earnings Call Speaker Segments

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#1

Good evening, friends. Good morning, depending on the geography you're from. We welcome you to the Q1 FY '22 Earnings Call of Neuland Laboratories Limited. To take us through the results and to answer your questions, we have with us the top management of Neuland, represented by Sucheth Davuluri, Vice Chairman and CEO; Saharsh Davuluri, Vice Chairman and Managing Director; Deepak Gupta, CFO; and Sajeev Medikonda, Head of Corporate Planning and Strategy. We have sent out the press release as well as the detailed presentation, and the same has been uploaded on the website as well as exchanges. You could take a look at that, or in case anyone wants, we could e-mail the same to you. Before we start, I would like to remind you that everything that is being said on this call, which reflects any outlook for the future or which can be construed as a forward-looking statement must be viewed in conjunction with the risk and uncertainties that we face. These uncertainties and risks are included but not limited to what we mentioned in the prospectus and the subsequent reports, which you will find on the website. With that said, I'll now hand over the floor to Deepak Gupta, the CFO, who will give the financial highlights of the quarter. And after that, Saharsh will talk a little bit about the business drivers and the outlook. And then we'll open to the Q&A. Deepak, over to you.

Deepak Gupta

executive
#2

Got it. Good evening, and very warm welcome to FY '22 earnings call. I hope all of you are staying safe. I'm sure that you have seen the presentation we have uploaded. It was up on [indiscernible] and has also been filed at both exchanges. As always, comment on the [indiscernible] would be greatly appreciated, and we will [indiscernible] to include any additional data point in the future. I will briefly update you on the financials. The total income for this quarter was INR 202.9 crores as against INR 206.1 crores in Q1 FY '21. We had an unusual business complexity...

Unknown Executive

executive
#3

Deepak, message is saying that your voice is not clear. So take a few seconds to address that, and then get into [indiscernible] speak louder.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#4

Try to speak as loudly as you can.

Deepak Gupta

executive
#5

All right. So we had an unusual business complexity, combined with client customer inventory restocking, which led to [indiscernible] turnover. Our EBITDA for the quarter was INR 27.7 crores with EBITDA margins of 13.6%, which is a decrease of 310 basis points on a yearly basis, and 180 basis points on a sequential quarter basis. I would like to give some context on the EBITDA margins. There was an impact on rising raw material prices. We also incurred certain upfront costs on account of certain projects, which we have been working on. The execution has been slightly delayed on account of the complex nature of these projects, and delivery is also expected to happen in the subsequent quarters. Profit after tax was INR 8.6 crores as compared to INR 15.1 crores last year and INR 17.2 crores in the immediate preceding quarter due to the reason stated as above. This quarter's EPS is at INR 6.7, and cash and cash equivalent as on the date of the balance stood at INR 24.5 crores. Our gearing ratio continues to be stable, and it is low at 0.22 on a year-to-year basis. We have also undertaken CapEx investments of around INR 29.8 crores for Q1 FY '22. We have a strong business plan in place for which we do expect to make significant CapEx investments based on the commercialization and build up of CMS initiatives going forward. With that, I would now like to hand over the call to Saharsh for his remarks.

Davuluri Saharsh Rao

executive
#6

Thanks, Deepak. Good evening, friends. Apologies about the voice quality. I will speak as loudly and as slowly as possible. But other than that, at this point, I don't know what else we can do to fix it. First of all, thank you for joining this call. On top of what Deepak had just said, I'll add a few thoughts on the current performance, and then we'll open up the floor for Q&A. Just take a few minutes to just help you understand that the numbers itself in the first quarter are disappointing, but I would like to reiterate that our confidence in the business, both from a medium and a long-term perspective, is still very strong. Deepak has touched upon the factors that contributed to the drop in the top line. One of those key factors was the delayed execution of certain CMS projects. You may recall that we have quite a few exciting CMS projects in our pipeline. We've talked about it over the previous quarters. Many of these projects are 1 or 2 steps away from commercialization, which is where we really start seeing a continuous commercial revenue. These projects typically be involve complex chemistry and again scale up for the first time in our plants. They -- one of the things that we had to endure is that to ensure that first-time right happens, our ability to make sure that these processes work right in the plant, we are being extra careful. And in that process, we are seeing some extension of time lines, which is modest, causing some of these projects to get spilled over into the subsequent quarters. During this process, we've been very closely collaborating with our customers and anticipate scaling up these projects in the coming quarters. Therefore, we expect overall performance for the current financial year to be still on track. More importantly, we are also excited about the prospects of these molecules once they become commercial. On the financial front, we recorded sales of INR 203 crores. As Deepak had stated in his comments, the sales were almost constant on a yearly basis. Also on the basis of a few customers doing inventory destocking amidst the pandemic. However, we expect this to be a temporary phenomenon as we received continued interest across the board from other customers. The Prime segment witnessed growth, largely led by Labetalol and levofloxacin. The Specialty saw volatility on a high base. However, both Ezetimibe and Entacapone have done significantly well. On the Unit III front, I'm sure you'd like to know, I'm happy to say that we have started commercial supply of APIs from this unit. All incremental revenues for Neuland will accrue from this unit going forward, as both Unit I and Unit II are already running at optimum capacity. And we are looking at significant ramp-up in terms of capacity utilization of Unit III in the medium-term as well, and this should drive our future growth. Before I close my remarks, I would just like to reiterate that the nature of the CMS projects means that our revenues does get lumpy and -- which is consequently affecting our EBITDA margins. However, this quarter, we've seen that, although there was a strong raw material price increase, the business mix, especially in terms of our CMS project expense, meant that we saw better gross margins. So this is maybe one kind of silver lining to the cloud. The overall outlook for this year as well as the medium-term of 2 to 3 years plus [indiscernible] and we are focusing our efforts on delivering value to the shareholders. Having said that, I request Diwakar now to open the call for Q&A.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#7

[Operator Instructions] So the first question, may I request Mr. Sunil Kothari to go ahead.

Sunil Kothari

analyst
#8

Boss -- I'm sorry, sir, basically, my question is you've been a listed company. We normally, as an investor, what we do, we compare yourself with other listed companies in similar type of groups and business. And our understanding is always limited to outcome of your effort, which is always numbers. So it is becoming a little difficult to understand and digest that we are not able to do some -- in terms of revenue growth, in terms of margin, in terms of ramping up, in terms of Unit III not yet able to be ramp up. All these things are giving little question mark on our understanding and your explanation. So if you would like to talk a little bit more in detail why things are not happening. Fine, it takes time, sometimes. But unfortunately, if we compare this quarter to last year's same quarter, we are almost spending INR 9 crore on higher employee cost, INR 10 crore on manufacturing costs higher. So I understand that because of Unit III or higher manpower and all these things, the margin is under pressure. But we have some listed other entity in your field, which is growing, investing more, spending more, generating more revenue and increasing margin. So a little bit explanation on our understanding and your business profile will be really, really helpful.

Davuluri Saharsh Rao

executive
#9

So thanks for the questions, Sunil. We'll try to answer it to the best as we can. I'll try to give it the first stab and then maybe request to Deepak also to respond. As you would know, we are a purely API company, we have a focus in the CMS space, which is broadly known as the CRAM space. And we also are in the generic API space. What makes our business both exciting, as well as difficult to predict is the fact that we have a lot of products in the pipeline, which are yet to be seen. And as we are going through that journey of scaling up these products, we also have the added complexity of using new infrastructure, which is the Unit III on manufacturing side and integrating it and using it for scaling up these new products. As we are going through this journey, we have seen in the past that as the products get scaled up and they start contributing, we will see better operating leverage contributing to increase in EBITDA margins and profitability. However, given the fact that some of these products have not fully been commercialized, and there is still some uncertainty involved in their scale ups, et cetera, as we have seen in this quarter, the absence of revenue coming from some of these molecules can also create a negative ratio on the EBITDA margins and [indiscernible]. And therefore, my -- what gives us a lot of optimism is that these molecules are really exciting, both on the GDS side and on the CMS side. We see good prospects going forward in these molecules. But there is also a certain level of lumpiness that comes with these molecules because their progression towards commercialization is not going to be a very straight line. Having said that, we find it very difficult, and we have not. We extensively benchmarked our compared assets to other API players because we believe that our model is unique that way. We have mentioned in the past that on ongoing basis, we expect our EBITDA margins, we have said this in the past, to be at 20%. But that's something that we've not shared as guidance. We've given it more as in terms of what it will be as our business gets commercial. This is something that we feel is an intrinsic part of our business. But as we go forward, as I did mention in the opening remarks, we see very strong prospects for all our molecules, both on the CMS side and the GDS side. This was a quarter where we just had challenges in execution. And therefore, the performance of this partner should be seen more as outlier rather than expectation going forward. So that's kind of what I would say. Did You want to add something to that?

Deepak Gupta

executive
#10

No. I think it's fine [indiscernible].

Sunil Kothari

analyst
#11

Sir, so basically, what I would like to understand is there any specific reason for this Unit III is taking too much longer time, or it is as per your plan and expectations? And second last point is, if we look at other than CMS, that segment is also this Prime and recent Specialty segment, that is also not growing. So any thoughts on this 2 other segments, which is contributing almost 75%, 78% over revenue. So on these 2 points, if you can clarify more.

Deepak Gupta

executive
#12

So Sunil, I think as far as Unit III is concerned, currently, there's 2 things that are happening in Unit III. One is that we are moving our existing commercial products to Unit III, where they're growing and the volumes are increasing, or we're actually creating a backup plan for existing commercial products so that once we move that product, it creates more volume and more capacity for products going in the [indiscernible]. That's one particular strategy for Unit III. Apart from that, all our new projects are also going into Unit III. So Unit III, as Harsh mentioned earlier, and now on these calls, is where a lot of the growth is going to come from. Coming back to something that I said, if you get the trend of a number over the last 3 years, all the segments have been growing, whether it is Prime, whether it's Specialty as well as the contract manufacturing. Even in the previous calls, and we've mentioned that given the nature of our business, given the size of our projects, we do expect that there will be a quarter-to-quarter lumpiness. And that doesn't necessarily reflect the overall business or overall expected performance. We continue to maintain this thing that given the kind of business we are in and that [indiscernible] manufacturing is a huge opportunity, and we're still in the process of consolidating that business. We will see this quarter-to-quarter lumpiness. But as Saharsh said in his previous comments, this quarter was a little bit of a stretch. Unfortunately, the time lines of our customers and the projects don't always coincide with the time lines of our financial quarter. So there could be variation and that does not determined or take away with you our overall expectation of performance.

Sunil Kothari

analyst
#13

And just if you can clarify this Unit III, by when you expect giving us some reasonable contribution, sizable contribution? This is my last point.

Deepak Gupta

executive
#14

This current financial year, we will see reasonable contribution because we're already shipping commercially from Unit III. We expect our volumes to go up in the current quarter as well as the next 2 quarters.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#15

The next question comes from the line of [ Srinivas Rao ].

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#16

Sir, just now, you said in the interaction that year as a whole, you are still on track. Could you please explain in more detail what is on track, whether top line and the bottom line? What could be the -- whether it is 20% year-on-year or 30% year-on-year. Hello?

Davuluri Saharsh Rao

executive
#17

Yes. I think the question was clear. Well, basically, what we meant is that whatever shortfalls we faced in the first quarter, that shortfall happened because of certain projects getting delayed. And those projects have actually shifted or spilled over into the second quarter and maybe a little bit into the third quarter. So our overall plans for the financial year remain intact, which is what we implied in the overall remark.

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#18

Yes, that's what -- sir, I understand your point. Overall, for the full year, it remains intact. Can you please explain what is impact, right, whether it is 20% growth or 30% growth, what could be the target revenues for this year? Because if you see last year also, there were some aberrations -- sorry, last -- this quarter also, there are some aberrations, and we are not getting a clearer picture from the management as to what is a near and foreseeable future as far as financial performance of the company would be?

Davuluri Saharsh Rao

executive
#19

Thanks for the question, and I'll try to clarify it to the best that I can. We obviously won't be able to give you a very specific answer on margin to the growth rate for the year. What we've said in the past and is that as an organization, we are targeting anywhere around 15% year-on-year growth over a long-term perspective. We also said that our EBITDA margin should be at about 20% on an ongoing basis. I think those are 2 comments that we've made in the past. And I think that's the extent to which we would provide any kind of visibility. However, we've also mentioned and qualified saying that given the nature of our business, we expect to see volatility, not just at a quarter-to-quarter level, but even sometimes on a year-to-year level, where you may not see a uniform growth on a year-to-year basis. Having said these 2 things, what we've also mentioned is that a lot of our business growth is coming from the scaling up of new products. And those new products are actually going through scale ups right now, and Unit III plays a very important role over there. What we expect in FY '22 and -- is that whatever challenges we have seen within the quarter are things that we expect to surmount over the next several months or the next few quarters, and therefore, we expect our FY '22 performance to be intact. That performance is kind of in line with our earlier comments, which is, on an annualized basis, we should see a 15% growth. But at the same time, I would like to caution you that what we are saying is not a year-on-year guidance. So we are not indicating to you that we may grow 15% every year. But you should expect that on a 5-year horizon, you should see the company growing at a 15% to 20% on an average basis. So I think that's the kind of clarity we would be able to provide, not because we do not wish to share more details, but it's just the uncertainty that -- of the business that we are in. We would be finding it very difficult to provide more granularity beyond this point.

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#20

Sir, I appreciate you being cautious on your guidance. But sir, how your pharma company is different from other pharma companies? Because you feel there are so more uncertainties than other pharma companies, at least in the foreseeable future. And my next question will be [indiscernible] timeframe -- which timeframe you could -- we could expect 20% EBITDA?

Davuluri Saharsh Rao

executive
#21

So let me give quick answer to that in the interest of time. Obviously, we understand our business really well, and we are happy to talk about the drivers for our business, but we cannot talk or compare ourselves extensively with other pharmaceutical companies and what they are doing. Then, right, the growth factors for our business is really what's happening on the CMS business. I think for a GDS, our growth in Prime, which is something that we have been seeing, we talked about the growth in levofloxacin as well as Labetalol. We've also talked about Entacapone as well as another product on the speciality sector, and these are what are driving our growth. With regards to the EBITDA margins, we have seen our EBITDA margins consistently improve. I think even in the last financial year, we've seen an EBITDA margin at about 18%. This has been a substantial improvement over the past. We expect our EBITDA margins going forward also to grow. And that's largely going to happen because of the improvement in the operating leverage of the business. The -- this particular quarter was an aberration because we could not see the operating leverage because there was a dip in revenues. And therefore, consequently, there was a dip in EBITDA. I think over the subsequent quarters, as we see our business resuming to normal levels, we should see an EBITDA margin getting back to a higher level, although we would not comment on when specifically we would get to 20% EBITDA. So I think that's as much clarity we can provide at this point of time.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#22

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from the line of [ Rahul Bhardwaj ].

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#23

So I have 2 quick questions. One, I'd like to know, what is the opportunity that Neuland as a company is most excited about in the next 5 years that they can share with us? And secondly, since due to the client requirements, the [indiscernible] revenue could not come in this quarter as they've been delayed. Can you provide us some guidance into -- if we can expect a 20-plus percent growth for Q2 in terms of the deferred revenue. So those are the 2 questions from my side.

Davuluri Saharsh Rao

executive
#24

Maybe from a long-term perspective, 5-year perspective, Rahul, there are several molecules in our CMS pipeline. I think every quarter, we've been sharing a table that shows how many molecules we have across Phase I, Phase II, Phase III and commercialization. And there is a column that we will call development, and there is a column called commercialization. If you actually see the molecules that are transitioning from development to commercialization, I think that is where there is the maximum excitement because many of these drugs -- many of these APIs are going into novel drugs that have been recently launched or are going to be launched in markets like Europe and U.S., and depending on how successful these launches could be, they could be a very big revenue drivers for Neuland. So that's clearly something that excites us a lot. Because of the confidential nature of these molecules, we cannot disclose the identity or the nature of these particular APIs, but we have at least about 4 to 5 molecules which are in this category. And we hope that at least maybe a few of them will be really successful. So that's something that really excites us. In terms of other product drivers, I think on the GDS side, we have very exciting basket of products. We have products which we had in our portfolio quite some time, but are continuing to grow now products like levetiracetam. We have products which are also niche in nature from our specialty category, products in Paliperidone, which are all going for scale out and commercialization in the years to come, and those are things that we -- could be exciting revenue drivers for us. With regards to the guidance of the spillover, I think that's something that we had -- we would not be able to share. Like I had mentioned in the comment earlier, I think we are on an ongoing basis target of 15% kind of revenue growth. It's not necessarily that it's going to happen every year. It's also because there is going to be certain unknowns in what's going to happen in the next 3 financial quarters. So we would expect to have a good financial year. We don't expect Q1 to have an impact on the rest of the financial year. But in terms of what we do and how much we would grow, that's something that we won't be able to comment on. So did you want to add anything in terms of what's exciting in the next 5 years?

Deepak Gupta

executive
#25

Not much. I think the risk -- Rahul, going back to your question, it is exactly what I said. See, at the end of the day, how successful a molecule is going to be on the contract [indiscernible] especially is something we cannot control. The NDA can get approved and it may still not mean anything. So we're not in the business of making molecules successful, that's entirely to the merit of existing molecule. However, what's in our control is the number of projects that we acquire from our customers and the number of projects that we are able to execute. And if you look at the trend of the molecules over the quarters, that has been constantly increasing. That means that the number of projects we execute, the number of molecules that we need to develop, which are in Phase I, Phase II or Phase III clinical trials, have been constantly increasing, which means that a probability of success with these molecules is increasingly going up every quarter. And for us, that's what's exciting because that is something we can control. And the more projects we get, the higher probability of success for a higher number of molecules. And single-mindedly, that's what we are excited about from a contract manufacturing point. From a generic point of view, our strategy, as we've mentioned on this call earlier, is very clear. We don't like to do or develop every molecule under the sun. We're very clear about the kind of molecules we want to go after. This includes novel oral anticoagulants, such as [indiscernible]. These are exciting opportunities. Our goal is once we launch them, we stay in the whole molecule, we invest in life cycle management, we invest in capacity. And eventually, over a period of time, we do end up becoming the market leader in our generic molecules, and we're able to protect the margins. And the name of the game on the generic side is obviously persistence, stay in the molecule and investing in that molecule to protect the margin. So that's kind of Neuland's business model as well as our excitement [indiscernible] and action as much [indiscernible] as well.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#26

The next question is from the line of [ Sahil Sharma ].

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#27

So the first question I wanted to ask is, if you look at the past few presentations. Consistently, we see that you have filed 898-plus DMFs. You have 300 process patents. What I'm wondering is that these numbers have not really moved in the presentation. So basically, what's happening on the R&D side for generic molecules? And like why don't we see more DMF filings or process patents? That's my first question.

Davuluri Saharsh Rao

executive
#28

Thanks, Sahil. I think it's a good question. I think with regards to DMF filings, your observation is absolutely right. I think there hasn't been a movement in the last quarter or 2. But that's also because of the timing of how the projects have been going through. And I think given what we've seen recently, we expect to have a significant number of filings in the next 2 to 3 quarters. Our target internally is, I think, about 6 to 8 DMF filings in the next 3 quarters, whether we need them happen or not is something we have to see. But there was a period of lull. I think the results with process patents, we have to get back to you on that. I think process patents is something that we continuously file, but those are also something that happens based on our ability to generate novel IP. As an organization, we don't have targets. We don't say targets for scientists to file patents. I think whenever they come up or something novel, that's when they file it. But I think DMFs is something that we actively back. But again, going back to the comments I was making to the earlier question, the focus is becoming more in terms of the quality of the products and the number of DMFs filed. But having said that, we still expect to buy 6 to 8 DMFs in this financial year.

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#29

Just a small clarifying question. When you say 6 to 8 DMFs, you mean U.S. DMFs or all across the world?

Davuluri Saharsh Rao

executive
#30

Yes, U.S. DMFs and they could possibly also translate, and you see these other DMFs on [indiscernible] as well.

Operator

operator
#31

The next question is from the line of [ Karan Surana ].

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#32

So I have a couple of questions. So as you mentioned that there was a steep increase in raw material prices. So would just like some color from the management? What led to this? Or from what geography did the price increase come from? Because in the previous conf calls, we've kind of speculated that you're going to derisk supply chain from China. That's number one. And number 2, sir, I would like to ask you as well that the CMS revenue from the last 3 quarters have been dropping sequentially. It did around INR 90 crores and INR 60 crores and now INR 44 crores. And even though you talk about like the projects, that's what we are kind of focusing on. We did not lose any projects in the development or the commercial side. So are we essentially getting lower value per project? Or what's exactly in that particular shares the company kind of overlooks per project and for the business. Any color on that?

Deepak Gupta

executive
#33

Thanks, Karan, for asking that question. So in terms of raw material prices, we have seen that in this quarter, due to falling solvent prices have -- like -- so raw material prices this quarter has tried -- not only for Neuland, but for all the industry. So that has some marginal impact on our bottom line as such. And we do see that slowly, solvent prices are coming back to the normal prices. So we have seen a couple of solvents, which have really EBITDA margins in this quarter. And we are seeing that the trend is declining and going forward, that [indiscernible] solvent prices that we have seen. So that's where we stand as of now.

Davuluri Saharsh Rao

executive
#34

Maybe I think for the other question, which is about the sequential data and revenues and on the CMS revenue as well, I think your observation is absolutely right, Karan. From our perspective, the CMS order book as well as the potential value of the business as well as the overall value of the business, I think everything is looking fairly strong there. It's more about our execution and deliveries, which has really kind of created that optics, and there is a sequential decline. If we had not had those execution delays in Q1, and you would have seen a significant growth in both Q1 revenues as well as CMS revenues, although we are not really able to quantify them. So I think the observation boils down to the same underlying issue, which as you know, the delay in executing some of these CMS projects is what's really kind of creating better optics of situation, different revenue. But we're also fairly confident that, that will be overcome in the subsequent quarters because we have a clear hand on handling these challenges. So that's kind of what I would add.

Operator

operator
#35

The next question comes from the line of Jyotivardhan Jaipuria from Valentis Advisors.

Jyotivardhan Jaipuria

analyst
#36

So just going back to this dip in EBITDA margin, which we saw. I guess there's like a 350 basis point dip from the last quarter, sequential quarter. So we've said it's because of 2 factors. One is higher raw material prices and the other is upfront expenses on some projects. Now like the way I calculate it, our gross margin has not really changed. So it's all below gross margin. So that way, the raw materials have not had a main impact. The impact is something else. So what are these other expenses incurred for some projects, and where are they reflected?

Deepak Gupta

executive
#37

So in terms of EBITDA margins, so as we said, raw material prices have marginal impact on the EBITDA margins. Apart from that, you would think, earlier, it was not operational in the year last quarter. So now since we have commercialized Unit III, so ramping up of Unit III is also happening in this quarter. So we have seen that we have added enough people for Unit III this quarter as compared in the last year's quarter. So that's also kind of having a short-term impact on our EBITDA margin. But once we see revenues coming out of the industry, that will be very positive for our EBITDA margins going forward.

Davuluri Rao

executive
#38

And I think, Jyoti, the reason why the gross margins have improved is because of a better product mix. While it could have been higher if it wasn't for the raw material prices, I think the fact that we had CMS products with a healthy margins in Q1, the overall gross margins still look very good, but the fact is that they were still challenged because of these solid prices that Deepak [ has addressed ].

Jyotivardhan Jaipuria

analyst
#39

So I guess we knew even earlier that we are going to start, [ you can see ], right? So to that extent, like 2 months ago or 3 months ago when we did the earlier call, we knew this. So what really has changed? Because, I guess, 3 months ago, we didn't expect anything like this, like in this quarter.

Davuluri Rao

executive
#40

So I think if you look at the dip in EBITDA first quarter, I think it's a culmination of multiple issues, right? I think the capitalization of Unit III, which was foreseeable, is something that [ is true ]. But what was not foreseeable is the dip in revenue that came because of the delayed execution of projects. Hypothetically speaking, if we were able to execute our plans for few months, which is even if we were able to deliver the projects we were supposed to deliver in Q1, then despite the increase of operating expenses due to the capitalization of inventory, despite the increase in raw materials, we should have still been posting good quarter optically from a year-on-year basis to a quarter-on-quarter basis. So I think it's a problem that has manifested because of the 2, 3 factors rather than 1 factor. So it's something that, hindsight, whether it could have been predicted or not is something that we are not very sure about.

Jyotivardhan Jaipuria

analyst
#41

Okay. So probably, I guess, a lot of the earlier participants have asked this. So when we are saying now for the full year we think all of this will even out and we'll end up with a good FY '22, can you spell out what is a good FY '22? [ Though over FY '21, would there FY '22 or we our over ]FY '22 and over FY '21 in EBITDA and sales, and even that could qualify as a good FY '22. Yes, can we get some -- like I don't want to know whether we go at 15% or 18%. But if we, let's say, have a flat FY '22, or say, '21, would that be good? Or would that be not so good?

Davuluri Rao

executive
#42

I think our FY '22 should be better than what we did in FY '21. But yes, I think we'll not quantify it, but it should be a better year in terms of revenue as well as EBITDA. And I think the only limited point I did want to emphasize is that whatever hit we've had in Q1 would be delivered in the subsequent quarter. So on a net-net, we don't see any impact for FY.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#43

[Operator Instructions] I'll now allow [ Keval Ashar ] to go ahead and ask his question.

Unknown Attendee

attendee
#44

Yes, so I have only 1 question. So we've seen in our product pipeline, Semaglutide is there. So wanted to know what is the size or proportion that we see in Semaglutide, seeing that glucagon-like peptides have shown a good growth over the past few years.

Davuluri Rao

executive
#45

So yes, so GLP-1s are actually very exciting. The Semaglutide and Liraglutide both [indiscernible] are working on. Semaglutide is the more advanced project for us only because there is opportunity to be the first source for the generic markets. Currently, we are still in the early stages of the development. We expect validation to complete mainly in end of FY '22 -- sorry, FY '23. Having said that, we are looking at markets worldwide. There is a solid oral as well as an injectable formulation. And currently, they're exploring both exclusive as well as nonexclusive partnerships. But it is a complex project, but we do have very capable teams working on it right now.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#46

Next question comes from the line of [ Manish Jain ].

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#47

My first question is, what is the current capacity utilization in Unit III?

Unknown Executive

executive
#48

Deepak?

Deepak Gupta

executive
#49

So we have about, [ Manish ], we have about 6 production blocks in Unit III. About 4 of those production blocks, currently, we have products running, where validation batches are complete. We're making small commercial supplies where even with these whole production blocks, these products are made on a campaign basis. So the capacity utilization is still fairly low. So we don't expect to get to a reasonable, very close to 40% capacity utilization, 50% until the end of the current financial.

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#50

Okay. And a second question is, sir, so has there been any market share gain or loss for any of our top 10 products under GDS segment?

Deepak Gupta

executive
#51

We haven't seen any signs of long-term market share gain or loss, [ Manish ]. What we've seen is that there's some products, because of either additional inventory, lower offtake because of the impact of the pandemic, we've seen those indications, but the overall products continue to grow. And any temporary lost market share will pick up through the rest of the year. But we haven't seen any significant loss in market share.

Operator

operator
#52

The next question comes from the line of [ Abhishek Kapadia ].

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#53

I have got one question on this. Based on the CMS projects we have [indiscernible] and your expectation, what is that likely CapEx requirement 2 to 3 years down the line? Whether Unit III wouldn't be able to suffice, or we will require CapEx? And how are we going to fund it?

Davuluri Rao

executive
#54

So I think for the next 2 to 3 years, we look at Unit III as adequate for scaling up not just the CMS molecules, but also the GDS molecules. But we also are being careful to look at various scenarios of certain scenarios where there is a higher-than-expected projected forecast, and we will probably have to look at capacities beyond Unit III as well. But in terms of capital expenditures, Deepak, will you answer the question in terms of what's our CapEx plan?

Deepak Gupta

executive
#55

So our CapEx plan for the -- all the [indiscernible] put together are similar to the last year. So maybe based on the project viability that we'll be evaluating over the next couple of years. So I hope that we'll be -- with similar kind of CapEx that we have done in the past on year-to-year basis for the next couple of years now.

Davuluri Rao

executive
#56

So given the specific number, Deepak?

Deepak Gupta

executive
#57

Yes. So we will be doing roughly around INR 100 crores of CapEx for the year -- for next 2 to 3 years.

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#58

Will this be on an existing unit like maintenance CapEx? Or you will be adding up some things in the existing units?

Deepak Gupta

executive
#59

So this includes all the CapEx put together [ Abhishek ]. It includes capacity enhancement, replacement CapEx, operation. All of that will be range of about INR 100 crores to INR 110 crores. As we see things stand today, but as Harsh was mentioning, when we see a specific project that requires a project-specific CapEx and has a project-specific payback, then we will not hesitate to invest in additional CapEx to make the products itself.

Davuluri Rao

executive
#60

I think the only other thing I would add here is that when it comes to CapEx for CMS projects, we also ensure that there is a very high level of visibility and certainty and assurance from the customer before we deploy the CapEx. So having the right contracts, perhaps in some cases, even getting advances from the customers to fund some of these CapEx are all part of our negotiations with the customers. So whatever CapEx we would deploy for the CMS molecules, we will make sure that there is a clear business capability before we deploy.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#61

We'll take the next question from the line of Abdulkader Puranwala.

Abdulkader Puranwala

analyst
#62

Sir, first question is on what was the inventory amount for the quarter on the balance sheet, if you could provide that? Am I audible? Deepak? My second question was on the CMS segment. So CMS, as I understand, is quite a lumpy business. But what I would like to understand is within the CMS, would it be possible that some molecules for the supplies which you have been done and which are still in the development stage, from an absolute revenue run rate perspective, would it be fair to assume that even a development molecule might have a slightly higher sales than the ones which have got commercialized in maybe in this quarter or last year?

Davuluri Rao

executive
#63

Yes. Absolutely, Abdul. I think we are -- I think there is -- the way, we've said this in the past, that our commercial revenues from CMS molecules are really around INR 100 crores per year range. That's what [ units' current ] commercial molecules deliver. We are seeing development projects, their validation patches could have very significant high value in comparison what would be the commercial value of some of the molecule. I think that way there is a very last standard deviation of all the products in the CMS pipeline. We have molecules wherein the annual revenues could be maybe INR 8 crores or INR 10 crores per year. There are some molecules in our pipeline, which in the future, would be INR 100 crores to INR 200 crores per year. So I think there's a huge range over there. And -- but it all boils down on how those drugs perform once they are commercialized. And I think -- so that's kind of there. There is a certain level of excitement as well as some uncertainty. And Deepak, you can answer the first question.

Deepak Gupta

executive
#64

Yes. So in terms of inventory, so we do have end of this quarter inventory of INR 290 crores. So that's where we stand.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#65

[Operator Instructions] I'm going to ask [ Ashish Jain ] to kind of go ahead with his question.

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#66

My question pertains to the CMS part of the business. I want to understand how it's exactly billed to the client since we are seeing constant dip in the revenue of CMS, and we see that we have not been able to deliver the project. So how exactly are these projects billed to the client? Like is it post-delivery that we receive all the revenue? Just wanted to understand some color on that, yes.

Davuluri Rao

executive
#67

[ Ashish ], for the scale of projects, the examples that we were referring to in our opening remarks, there's usually a milestone-based payment wherein we are starting the campaign, we get maybe 20%, 30% of the project value, which we accrue as advances, and we use it for cash flow for purchasing raw materials. As we start completing the campaign and we start releasing batches, we would raise individual invoices for individual batches, and then we would be able to recognize revenue. And then depending on the credit terms we have, which is, again, project to project, we would get cash into the system. So that's typically how it would work. I think in a situation like this, the fact that the project is taking a little longer in terms of execution, we wouldn't have probably realized upfront billing in the form of advances. But the majority of the billing which comes in upon dispatch of material or delivery of material would be pending because of the delay in the projects. So that's kind of how the mechanics of payments work for scaler projects. In the case of projects which are still in R&D, there is very clearly defined milestones split through the project, and payments get made based on the progress of those milestone.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#68

I'll now let [ Kelash Khem ].

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#69

I see that in the panel on the CMS pipeline, the account for development and commercial is at an all-time high. So can we assume that we will have much higher commercialization and a higher uptick in the times to come?

Davuluri Rao

executive
#70

Yes, the numbers have steadily increased, [ Kelash ]. Today, I think, between development and commercial, we're seeing maybe almost 35 to 38 molecules. What that really indicates is that more molecules are likely to get into commercial. And therefore, there is a likelihood that the commercial revenues will increase. I think 2 comments, I think, may go here. One is, I had mentioned earlier that there are 4 to 5 exciting molecules in the CMS pipeline which are likely to get commercialized and we expect maybe at least a couple of them to be really successful, and that could help us drive the business. So that's something that's very pertinent to share. Other than that, what I'd also like to share as an input is that the time lines for this commercialization is something that we need to be mindful of. And I've also said to investors who are asking questions about the lumpiness of the business and the growth percentages on a year-to-year basis. This is something where we also struggle with in giving guidance as to when will that commercial revenue start reflecting. I think that is something that we should expect. But I would be cautious in saying that these will happen over the next 1 to 2 years and maybe more conservatively over 3 years' time frame. And therefore, you will start seeing the CMS growth happen over that time frame. So this is not something that I would anticipate over a 1- to 2-quarter or a 3-quarter kind of a time frame, but it's something that I expect over 1 year after. So that's kind of what I would share with regards to the commercial prospects of that [indiscernible] .

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#71

The next question is from the line of [ Rishabh ].

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#72

Sir, I have 1 question. Given that Bilastine has gone off-patent in some of the regions, and it would lose its patent on a broader level by next year. So how does it impact the CMS revenue for Neuland? Can you give some color on that?

Deepak Gupta

executive
#73

So if I understood your question correctly, [ Rishabh ], what you're asking is, what was that product the drug impacted and how we view it from a future perspective? Is that your question, [ Rishabh ]?

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#74

Yes. So Bilastine, the main drug in the CMS business, which has lost its patent, which is filed by Faes Farma, so is that impacting the overall revenue for the Neuland?

Deepak Gupta

executive
#75

Well, this -- these kind of questions, [ Rishabh ], which relate to specific products and customers, as mentioned earlier, we can neither deny or confirm because of the confidentiality agreements that we have with our customers. You are free to comment on our generic products, and how they're doing market penetration, volumes and all of that. But unfortunately, specific customers and specific customer and product combinations we cannot comment.

Davuluri Rao

executive
#76

Yes. And on an overall basis, I think the CMS commercial pipeline, without mentioning any specifics, I think we have a mix of products. And I think we are -- on a quarter-to-quarter basis, we do see a certain level of volatility and uncertainty. But as Sucheth said, specific molecules within the CMS, because of the confidential nature of the molecules, we cannot really comment on that.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#77

I'll take the next question of the line of [ Ravindar Kola ]. I think he's off the line. I'll now take [ Sapnajeet Ray ], please.

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#78

So I have a single question on like how are mix going to be? Like currently close to 46%, which is coming from generic or prime API, specialty API close to 25% and the rest, 30%, close to CMS. Suppose like [indiscernible] down the line, how we are seeing the mix supposed to be?

Davuluri Rao

executive
#79

We are trying to answer this earlier, [ Sapnajeet ], just like as Harsh was mentioning earlier, we are not deemphasizing any segment of our business. So whether it's prime, specialty or contract manufacturing. As we've mentioned earlier, we have 300 people working in our R&D. Those 300 people are split between our online manufacturing molecules, our specialty as well as prime development molecules as well as life cycle management of our existing molecules. And our goal also is to find 6 to 8 DMFs on the generic side. And overall, in R&D, we are executing about 17 projects per year. So our thrust is on all the 3 segments, to be able to grow all the 3 segments as well. Now how that mix is going to change, as much as we would like to predict it, it is a difficult question to answer because it depends on how successful some of those molecules on the contract manufacturing and the generic side are. However, what we can say is that we expect all the 3 segments to grow for a period of time because we are putting a lot of resources and focus on all of these 3 segments. I hope that answers your question.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#80

We'll take the next question from the line of [ Rajiv Venkatesh ].

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#81

So my question is like when we look at the business from 2009 -- sorry, until 2014, we did really exceptionally well. After that, we had some sort of lumpiness in the business, is this the same trend what we are seeing currently? From past 2 quarters, the results are not that as per the expectations. So can you just comment on this?

Davuluri Rao

executive
#82

See, I think what we've seen in 2009 to '14, and I don't like to get too much into the past, but I think that was a situation where we were largely a prime product company driven by 2 products. And with a lot of capital expenditure in terms of a lot of data on the balance sheet, a highly leveraged company. And we had a kind of been able to reduce or pay down our debt, and we had started to see our specialty business and CMS business kicking in. And a lot of the growth that happened at that time, I think particularly 1 or 2 years, was as a result of 1 or 2 products doing well. I think, today, our business is in a very different situation, and we think it's completely different situation, with absolutely more value into the past. Because today, our business is highly diversified. We have a very diversified, not just business mix between GDS and CMS, but also within GDS, within CMS, we have a highly diversified product mix. We have a very healthy pipeline of products that are coming up for scale-up. And therefore, that gives us a lot of confidence on the future and what stands for us in the future. Today, our balance sheet is actually in a [ fairly ] strong position. We have created a lot of infrastructure in terms of Unit III, in terms of R&D for what's ahead. And therefore, we have actually a clear runway for the growth. So having said that, I think, today, we still face some challenges that come with the lumpiness of the CMS business only because the business is still relatively small. And as we see the business growing from, say, INR 150 crores to INR 200 crores to INR 300 crores, INR 400 crores revenue scale, that lumpiness and that volatility should start reducing significantly. And as that happens, I think the business will have a lot more stability. So I think that's kind of how I would probably look at the recent times versus the past. I think it's definitely a lot more diversified and involved business at a much larger scale. Maybe we're a INR 400 crores, INR 500 crores company at the time. We are closer to INR 1,000 crores company with the prospect and growth rate. So anything you want to add?

Deepak Gupta

executive
#83

No, no. I think it's -- that's fine.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#84

We'll take the next question from the line of [ Mujer Kumar ]. [ Mujer ], can you hear us? And there's no response from [ Mujer ]. I'll take the next question from the line of [ Shrinath Vi ].

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#85

Am I audible?

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#86

Yes, you're audible.

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#87

I think in the CMS side, I mean, we do have, I think, 6 commercial APIs and 11 intermediates. So -- and the pipeline is improving, the steady increasing. So what I want to know is like, generally, how is that business? Like are we only the first supplier for this? Or we are somehow -- I mean, in some of the molecules, we are a second supplier. So how does this mix going to affect us? I mean what I'm really trying to understand is, suppose if we are a second supplier, I mean, do we have any visibility for those products in the future? Like I mean, we are all getting excited about this kind of, I mean, products in the commercial pipeline. But if we are a second supplier, are we going to get any business? I mean just trying to understand it.

Davuluri Rao

executive
#88

[ Shrinath ], your question is specific to CMS or you're asking general view ?

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#89

It's specific to CMS. I'm only talking about CMS molecules.

Davuluri Rao

executive
#90

Yes. Harsh was saying earlier, Shrinath, our margins when we are a primary supplier are definitely higher. But at the same time, there's always a risk that you lose a big chunk of that business to a secondary supplier that comes in and [ benefits ] majority of the volume. So going back to your question, we have molecules where we are a primary supplier in several cases, but also molecules where we are the secondary supplier. The difference is that in the secondary supplier, we enjoy higher volumes at a slightly lower margin. Being a primary supplier, we get definitely a higher margin with the slightly lower volume. So it's a trade-off, it's not this one's better, that one's better. We have to go on a case-by-case basis. Our goal, however, is to make sure that we are as early as possible, we can be the primary supplier, and we are also investing in that molecule and keep it competitive so that we can get as much volume as possible. That's our ultimate goal that we work first on the CMS side.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#91

We'll take the next question from the line of Rohit Balakrishnan.

Rohit Balakrishnan

analyst
#92

Am I audible?

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#93

Clear, please.

Rohit Balakrishnan

analyst
#94

My question is actually on the GDS side. So you mentioned in your earlier comment that you are very selective on your products. And over time, you sort of try and seek market share gains in those products. So just want to understand from that perspective, it seems that our strategy there is to gain scale and gain market share there. So I mean would you say that your margins in GDS as well would probably increase over time? And has that happened in the past? Because some of the previous [ ones ] that I've gone through, it didn't seem that, that was what you were hinting at. So my question really is that if your strategy is to scale your generic molecules -- and would one also believe that the margins in those products also scale up for the lowest cost producer of that molecule?

Davuluri Rao

executive
#95

No, it's a clear part of our strategy, Rohit. So our goal is that over a period of time, we gain market share, but at the same time, it's also not to get to a point where it's profitless volume. And that's why in my earlier comments, I was referring to a large part of our R&D dedicated to our life cycle management program, where we constantly look at our existing molecules, late in their life cycle where we have a large market share and figure out ways to bring the process more efficient and remove costs out of the system. Therefore, we continue to protect or increase the margins over a period of time. We've seen that from time to time in products such as Mirtazapine, Levetiracetam, Salmeterol, [indiscernible] entered upon where, over a period of time, not only have we gained market share, but we've also seen our margin for those products increase. It doesn't -- it's not consistent. There will be times where we either have competition or they would be temporarily increase in raw material prices or other factors that could lead to a deflation in margin. But over a period of time, what we said is what [indiscernible] as well.

Rohit Balakrishnan

analyst
#96

Okay. Can I just maybe squeeze one additional follow-up on this? So you mentioned that GDS top 10 is like about 90%. So this top 10 products in GDS, is that like a fairly stable -- fairly stable 10 products or these keep changing as part of your life cycle management? One of two may change, but I'm saying as a broad basket of 10 products, would -- like a majority of them be stable? Like 3 years back, what they were and what they are today would be dissimilar?

Davuluri Rao

executive
#97

They would be similar, unless, of course, a specific product is degrowing or being cannibalized by another generic launch. Notwithstanding that, your observation is right. It would be considerably stable over a long period of time.

Davuluri Rao

executive
#98

And I think a lot of the value that we can create, and we have been creating recently, are out of products that they've been in the market for many years. If you take products like Levetiracetam, Mirtazapine, these products have been on our product list commercially for maybe 10 years plus. But only in the last 1 or 2 years, we've been really scaling up and actually driving margins also, getting better at operating leverage and doing a lot of life cycle management. So absolutely, I think it's -- the list is highly focused.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#99

In the interest of time, we're just taking the last question from the line of [ Samir Dosani ].

Unknown Analyst

analyst
#100

This is [ Manoj ] here from [ Cornelia ]. Just one question I had mainly on your CMS business to one of the question of previous participants who mentioned that it is because of the execution delays. So if you can give us some color what kind of execution delays, [ why it has led ]? And secondly, what kind of impact it will have on our customers? Like where because of the execution delays, we could not supply or deliver the material because we are in the early stage of ramping up CMS business. And for getting repeat business or for getting new customer, I think execution is something which has to be like perfect. I can understand like if it is due to external factors. But if it is due to internal factors, execution delays, so just wanted to get some color on these.

Davuluri Rao

executive
#101

So a lot of the projects that we are dealing with in CMS right now are fairly complex molecules. And when I say complex molecules, we mean extremely long number of steps of synthesis. The reactions are extremely [indiscernible] and level of in-process monitoring controls, et cetera. And these are molecules which are going into new drugs. And a lot of times, our customers are coming to us with the anticipation that we are able to scale them up to a higher level that they are -- that they can actually address their market needs. When we are scaling up the standard molecules, what we could really could see are challenges on process chemistry, process engineering. And a lot of these are involved with the complexity of some of these modern reactions that we handle. And some of these challenges that we come across are challenges that are very difficult to visualize in the lab, and these are challenges that manifest and equal to the plant. These are also challenges that our customers anticipate. So many times, when we have conversations with our customers and project , et cetera, they are fairly understanding of the situation. A lot of times, they help us anticipate these situations. So to answer your question. Number one, a lot of these challenges are challenges that come from scaling a very complex reaction. These are not reactions that are simple or that are handled by chemical companies or maybe commodity API companies. Second of all, the customers also anticipate challenges when it comes to scale-ups because of the complex nature. And what Neuland, we have been very particular about doing is to have a very strong collaborative relationship with our customers. So making sure that they are connected the progress of the project. They are fully updated on what's going on. So it's something that doesn't really come as a disappointment or a surprise to the customer. It's more about project planning and making sure that we don't have a situation where there is a shortage in their supply chain and that they have the visibility to plan for [ emergency ]. So that's kind of how our customers view this. And this is how we kind of view it, not necessarily as a make or break kind of a situation.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#102

Thank you, friends. I think in the paucity of time, we have to kind of stop the call now. I do see that there are 5 or 6 repeat participants, plus 2 or 3 of them who have not asked a question. I kind of noted the names down. Where possible, I'll definitely come back to you. I would request you to kind of write to us in case of any specific queries that you may have, and we'll try to answer them best. At this point, I'd like to hand the call over to Sucheth to give us closing comments. Sucheth?

Davuluri Rao

executive
#103

Once again, good evening, everyone, and thanks a lot for your questions. The fact that we're doing this on Zoom, we can also see a lot of the messages being exchanged in the chat box. And we appreciate your interest in this organization, all the comments, all the questions, we do appreciate it. Of course, there were a couple of questions about the third wave, about the quarter-to-quarter volatility. The responses tend to be diplomatic in the health care picture. I think all valid comments as far as the third wave is concerned, we really don't know how much it is going to be impacted and whether it will be impacting us or not. We just have to wait and see. I think from a quarter-to-quarter volatility point of view, as all of you might know, in FY '19, our quarterly revenue on average was about INR 168 crores. In FY '20, that number went up to approximately INR 190 crores. In FY '21, our average quarterly revenue was about INR 230 plus crores. So having said that, over the last 3 years, we have grown consistently. We have repeatedly said in these calls that we do expect the quarter-to- quarter volatility given the number of projects, the contract manufacturing business. And as an earlier question was, is that when the projects get delayed, does it really impact our relationship with the customers? We believe it doesn't because Neuland takes pride in the fact that we're very transparent with our customers. A lot of times, the projects do get moved on to the next quarter in the best interest of the project. It's not because of inefficiency in the project or because we are not meeting the need for the customer. In fact, because we are trying to meet the need of the customer is that, that the projects actually get extended by 30 days or 60 days or sometimes even longer. Having said that, the overall business of Neuland, as I summarized it earlier on the generic side as well as the contract manufacturing side, continues to be strong. We continue to develop molecules on the generic side, gain market share. You've already seen the numbers of projects that continue to increase on the contract manufacturing side. And given those numbers is where our optimism for the business and the belief of the business is coming from. So yes, we do expect that short- to medium-term volatility. But as we've shown in the last 3 years and even longer that the overall business will continue to grow and perform and meet our margin targets as well as our revenue targets. Once again, thanks a lot for the interest in the company that shouldn't end with this call. Please continue to reach out to us. Reach out us, and we'll be happy to answer your questions. Thank you. Thanks, Diwakar. Thanks, Ravi, for doing this, and everyone else for making this call happen.

Diwakar Pingle

attendee
#104

Thank you, guys. That kind of concludes the Q1 FY '22 call. And as mentioned, any specific queries, please reach out to me or Ravi, and we'll able to answer that to the best of our ability. Bye, and have a good evening.

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