SPR Auto Technologies Limited ($SHRIPISTON)

Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the SPR Auto Technologies Limited, formerly known as Shriram Pistons & Rings Limited Q4 and Full Year FY '26 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded. Today from the management, we have Mr. Krishnakumar Srinivasan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer; Mr. Prem Rathi, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer; and Mr. Pankaj Gupta, Deputy Executive Director, Head, Legal and Company Secretary. Before we begin, let me remind you that this discussion may contain forward-looking statements that may involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. It may be viewed in conjunction with the business risk that could cause future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from what is expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Krishnakumar for his opening remarks, post which we will open the floor for an interactive question-and-answer session. Thank you, and over to you, sir. Sir, you can go ahead. Sir, can you hear me? Sir, I would request you to unmute your line and please go ahead. Hello? [Technical Difficulty]

First and foremost, our apologies, the line got disconnect at the time when the transfer was taking place. So, first and foremost, good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us on our first ever earnings call after changing the company's name to SPR Auto Technologies Limited. We sincerely thank all of you who are present here today and for your continued support throughout the year. FY '26 was truly a landmark year for SPR Auto Technologies Limited. Our performance in FY '26 was exceptional with record consolidated total income of INR 4,571 crores, growing by 25% year-over-year and highest ever EBITDA at INR 989 crores, growing by around 18% year-over-year. This strong financial performance was driven by the company's strategic endeavors and reflect the strength of our business model, the resilience of our core operations and the benefits of our continued focus on execution. All the strategic initiatives that the company has taken in the past few years are resulting -- are yielding good results on a sustainable basis. This growth was also well supported by a strong recovery in automotive demand, especially in the second half of the year, reflecting the industry's highest sales across all segments despite the geopolitical tensions in the tail end of the year. This momentum was supported by favorable macroeconomic factors domestically, including the introduction of GST 2.0, income tax reforms and reducing -- reduced financing costs. During the year, we have achieved several key milestones that have significantly strengthened our leadership position in the auto components industry and further aided to the foundation of sustained growth. Our transition to SPR Auto Technologies Limited marks a significant milestone in our journey towards becoming a multiproduct, multi-domain auto component supplier in the industry. This new identity reflects our broader strategic vision to build a future-ready technology-led business franchise. As the mobility ecosystem evolves, we remain focused on strengthening our core businesses, while selectively expanding into adjacent and adjacent and technology-led opportunity that support sustainable long-term growth. A highlight of the year was our strategic expansion into the automotive interiors and lighting segment through the successful acquisition of 3 Indian entities of the Antolin Group. This acquisition not only diversifies our portfolio, but also enhances our capabilities in high-growth technology-driven areas. The acquired businesses have already demonstrated strong performance, validating the strategic rationale behind this acquisition. In addition to this, we acquired Karna Intertech at the beginning of the year to strengthen our tool manufacturing capabilities, thereby supporting the growth programs within the group. We are actively integrating these businesses with our existing processes to unlock synergies and operational efficiencies that will drive further value creation. We remain committed to continuing our investments to grow and diversify into a multiproduct domain. Our strategy is to build a broad-based automotive technology platform that spans various product lines and powertrain technologies. This diversification positions us to capture emerging opportunities across the evolving mobility landscape. During the year, we have invested close to INR 200 crores in capacity expansion across various business lines, reinforcing our commitment to scaling our operations and meeting the growing market demands. Further, to take care of increasing demand from our customers, SPR Takahata is in the process of setting up a new manufacturing facility at Neemrana. And SPR TGPEL is also increasing its capacities at its Noida plant. We have also started the Phase 3 expansion at our SPL Pithampur plant apart from the capacity expansions being done at Ghaziabad and Pathredi. The commissioning of the Sunbeam acquired assets are also progressing well, thereby improving our capacity on systems. All these capacity expansions will only help us in further strengthening our positions with our customers and also meeting their requirements in a seamless manner. All our businesses, the legacy business, interior and lighting solutions, the high-precision injection molded parts and EV motors and controllers are performing well and are steadily improving in terms of profitability. This reflects our focus on operational excellence, cost optimization and value creation across the portfolio. Notably, powertrain agnostic businesses contributed around 35% of our consolidated total income during the quarter, underscoring our diversified and future-ready portfolio. Furthermore, on account of our multi-market and multiproduct presence, nearly 60% of our business is now not directly impacted by powertrain impacts. This is an important development for us because it reflects the success of our diversification strategy and the strength of our multi-technology approach. We are confident that this positive trajectory will continue as we leverage our strengths and scale our operations. There are significant opportunities for synergies across the group, and we are leveraging each other's strength to enhance the efficiency, innovation and market reach. This collaborative approach is a key driver of our integrated growth strategy and will unlock further value for the company and its stakeholders. To further support our growth ambitions, we continue to invest in new technologies and capacity expansion. These investments are critical to maintaining our competitive edge and meeting the increasing demand for advanced automotive components and solutions. Our commitment to innovation and capacity building remains unwavering. We are also focusing on developing new product lines across all our businesses. This proactive approach ensures that we stay ahead of the market trends and customer requirement and thereby enabling us to offer very differentiated and future-ready solutions. At SPR Auto Technologies, sustainability is integral to our long-term growth strategy and to the manner in which we create enduring value for all our stakeholders. The company's ESG journey continues to gain strong external validation. We have invested proactively in renewable energy through solar power, reinforcing our commitment to reducing environmental impact. During the year, our climate and water disclosures were awarded a CDP B rating for 2025 and our greenhouse gas emissions were independently assured in line with ISO 17029, underscoring the credibility of our sustainability data. We also achieved a bronze medal from EcoVadis, reflecting an improvement in our sustainability ranking and positioning us amongst the top 25 globally, 25% globally. We also received the ESG rating of 2, the highest rating in India from Dun & Bradstreet, which also recognized us among the top ESG performing companies. Further strengthening our credentials, we are seemly certified, received the Excellence in ESG Award Gold Award 2025 from ACMA and were recognized by CII for significant achievement in corporate sustainability. Taken together, these milestones clearly demonstrate that the company is taking the right consistent and well-governed steps towards long-term sustainable value creation. We also remain committed to rewarding our shareholders. In addition to the interim dividend of INR 5 per share already paid in February 2026, the Board has recommended a final dividend of INR 5 per share, subject to shareholders' approval in ensuing AGM. This reflects our confidence in the company's strong financial position and our commitment to delivering the shareholder value. Looking ahead, we will continue to pursue a disciplined execution, strategic investments and a sharper operational focus. We are confident that SPR Auto Technologies Limited is now well positioned to capitalize on the next phase of growth in the automotive ecosystem, delivering value to our stakeholders and driving innovation in the industry. Thank you once again for your continued support, and I look forward to answering your questions. I now request the moderator to open the floor for questions. Thank you once again.

The first question is from the line of Ram Seshan from Avendus Spark.

Congrats on a great set of numbers. Two questions. First on the subsidiary side of things. Just on Antolin, would be keen to understand the details on the current product mix between headliners and other ambient lighting products. And also, would you like to call out revenue and margins for the 3 major subsidiaries, Antolin, TGPEL and Takahata for the quarter?

No, basically, Antolin as you are aware, we have got -- we acquired them on 8th of Jan and then post that for 1 quarter, we have already seen the results. Results have been quite encouraging. The demand -- I have personally visited to all the customers along with their teams, and we have got excellent contacts with all the customers, and we have been working on various programs for the customers. Basically, as you know that we are into headliners, we are into plastic trims, we are into door packs. We are into sun visors and also we also supply all the lighting solutions, the interior lighting as well as touch panels and fairly -- we don't normally give the mix amongst these product portfolios that we have in Antolin. But we can say that we are well represented in almost all the companies that you can think of in the country, and we are representing them for all the product lines. And I'm happy to state that the new programs that they are presently working on for all the new models that the customers are looking at looks also very exciting and healthy.

Any update on -- or probably would you want to call out what would be the revenue and margin for the 3 subsidiaries in the fourth quarter? Antolin, TGPEL Takahata just broad numbers.

Margins of the individual entities?

Yes, if that would be possible.

Yes. But normally, we don't give that breakup, but I can tell you that it is in the high 20s. And certainly, amongst all the companies, we have -- we are having similar kind of benchmarks in terms of the targets for our overall profitability targets. And I'm happy to state that post our takeover, even Antolin has started showing some good improvements, and we are confident that we will improve the margins. And this will all come from various synergies that we are planning within the group. And we expect that with all the actions that we are taking, the group profitability will be maintained at more or less the kind of levels that the stand-alone company is maintaining.

That's very helpful. The second question was on the stand-alone operations. Could you give us probably a broad mix between the PVs, CVs, 2-wheelers and non-autos? And what would you like to call out any special areas of growth in the next couple of years in the stand-alone business? Where do you see traction from here on?

Yes. Our legacy business also has done exceedingly well last year. And as you know, there was a fantastic growth post the GST 2.0 that was announced sometime in October. And post that, we have actually had a very healthy domestic requirement coming from almost all our customers. Has been -- overall growth has been in the region of around 10%, 11%. And if you really see the growth has come across all segments, whether it is 2-wheelers, 3-wheelers, tractors, even stand-alone gensets and also all the commercial vehicles. So, frankly, it has been a very healthy growth story. Normally, otherwise, we do have a mix of one industry going down and the other one segment going down and the other segment doing well. But luckily, this time, all the segments have actually fired on all guns. So it has really helped us to improve our sales on the OE side.

And with respect to outlook over the next 2 years, sir, any special areas of growth you would want to call out?

Yes. So basically, we observed that almost all our customers are working on multiple hybrid platforms. And we are present with them in multiple programs where we are supporting them for completely redesigning the engine because for a hybrid, the engine is redesigned completely. And in many cases, it is with turbocharger and some without turbocharger applications and all that requires a different kind of solution. And we are happy to state that we are working on programs which are going to see the light of the day maybe in 2029, 2030. So as I see it, we have a very healthy pipeline.

The next question is from the line of Chirag Jain from Emkay Global.

Congratulations for the new identity. Sir, a couple of questions. One, in terms of the outlook, you mentioned that it is quite healthy. Can we discuss about any potential impact of commodity or FX or maybe energy costs going up and probably even labor shortages that has been happening in the industry? Would that have an impact in terms of our performance over the next few quarters?

Yes, no. We do -- as is known in the industry now with the current geopolitical situation existing in the Middle East, there is an impact on commodities. Commodity prices have been rising up right from the last quarter. And we have seen that aluminum prices have gone as high as 40% higher than the base rate that was existing at that point in time. And most of the other areas also, commodities have increased, whether it's elements or whatever is used for alloying on the aluminum side. And then on the energy also, we more or less -- we see a situation where the energy prices have been maintained in the country, and we hope that it will continue to maintain, but we did have some issues with regards to LPG supplies and other things, which has been normalized at this stage now. So we do not see any major issue coming out of the energy side. And as far as labor is concerned, we did have the impacts coming out of the labor issue that started in Noida and in Haryana. And then post that. But however, we are happy to state that our organization was not affected by that, and we were able to maintain because we have always been paying much higher than the minimum basis. So from that standpoint, we did not have any issue with the labor. So overall, I would say that commodity prices did have an impact, but we are back-to-back covered from our commodity standpoint with our customer because 100% of the commodity changes are backed up by the customers, and we go back to our customers and claim. But of course, we do have a gap of quarter's delay that happens because of the formula that we normally use because in the pipeline, we expect all the stocks and other things to remain. And there is always that small gap that is always there.

Understood. Understood. So by and large, energy and labor is not a major issue and commodity, even though it has gone up, but it's a pass-through for us as per the arrangements that we have with the OEMs.

That's right.

Okay. And also in terms of expansion, you mentioned most of your businesses are going through expansion, be it Takahata or TGPEL. Can you elaborate in terms of what could be the extent of expansion that we are doing? Is it like we are adding 30% or 50% of the revenue potential that we have as of now? That would be quite helpful.

Yes. Individual businesses have individual needs. For example for example, you might have heard that in 2-wheeler, the anti-skid braking system has become a necessity. As a result of which there is a renewed demand in terms of technology from the brake manufacturers who are actually providing these kind of systems where a new item has to be injection molded with a very, very specific technology. The new businesses have been won by our plastics division. And similarly, there are many such small component which have to be developed primarily because of the change in technology that is required by our customers. So we have been lucky enough to say that we have got recognized by our customers for the technology footprint that we bring to the table and that we are able to support their requirements very seamlessly. That's point number one. Now from a from our legacy business, I already explained the previous question that we are working on multiple programs for hybrids as well as there are also a lot of requirement with regards to some of the engine change that is happening because of the customers having realized that all this powertrain technology will coexist for some time. And because of that, there is a renewed focus on increased supplies and increased solutions, which we are providing to our customers. And certainly, from our interiors business, I think there are multiple programs on which we are working, including also we are trying to enter into -- we are trying to bring in some new technologies on the table to the customers and a lot of discussions going on, on those fronts. In our business for the plastic injection molding, we are now almost decided that we'll have to go in for an expansion in Taka, [ Telangana ] factory, where we'll be putting up another Phase 3 expansion that we have to plan primarily to meet the increased demands for plastic precision injection products. So these are the number of activities that are going on, and I think it's a very exciting time ahead.

And just lastly, in terms of Antolin, would you like to give any number in terms of the margin aspiration over the next, let's say, 2, 3 years, what kind of margins that we can aspire for?

I think I mentioned it in the previous question that I expect all my businesses to be performing to close to our -- if not same, but if not better, but at least close to our margins that we perform in the stand-alone company. Thought it's not possible to reach that kind of a level overnight, but we are working on a number of synergies and possibilities to see if we are able to come to those levels of this thing. I hope you are able to hear me?

Yes, yes. So this aspiration is obviously individual business is moving towards stand-alone profitability. I thought the overall subsidiary performance moving towards stand-alone.

Yes. All the subsidiaries are more or less our other subsidiaries are already at those [ multi sets ] except motors, controllers and the interiors business. Motors controller is a new start-up, as you already know. But even then that organization stand-alone has been now EBITDA positive and is really growing very well.

[Operator Instructions] The next question is from the line of Gokul Maheshwari from Awriga Capital.

For the Antolin business, can you quantify how much were the 3 entities on a combined basis prior to your acquisition paying royalty or technical fees to their parent? And also what -- are we paying any such fees to get access to the technology post the acquisition?

Yes, Gokul ji, I think I answered this question in the previous call, but we are more or less, as I said, our -- the technology side, on the technology side, we have signed a TLA, TCA as we call it, technology agreement, which is giving us a seamless access to all the technologies that are there within Antolin for a nominal royalty payment that we'll be paying. Otherwise, most of the technologies are available to us from a standpoint of the usage with the customers. And for the -- very clearly for an identified area of India. And we also have -- from a EBITDA standpoint, from a requirement of an EBITDA standpoint, we have -- the company was -- as you already know, they were in the late 10's or let me put it this way, between 9% or 10% EBITDA, which we are expecting it to start improving once we bring in all the synergy activities that we are bringing in. We already see the improvement in the first quarter, and it has started becoming to very healthy levels. So thank you very much.

But is this what we are paying is lower than what the Antolin has in the previous paying to their parent?

Those details we don't give normally, but it is in line with whatever is there in the market requirements, in terms of normal technology fees that we paid for all the others. We have got 5 technology partners, as you know. And with all of them, whatever kind of technology fees we pay is more or less in line with that.

Okay. Secondly, just on the capital allocation, KK, sir, if you could just elaborate the reason for doing a QIP because I understand that your net debt is around INR 750-odd crores or so, but that is around 0.25 net equity, which is not much. So, what is the reason for raising INR 1,000 crores or plans to raise INR 1,000 crores for QIP more?

Yes. The QIP has not been raised for repaying the loan. That's not our the thing. As you know that it is -- we are already operating on a low debt equity ratio. But we are continuing -- we are still hungry to grow our business, and we are still hungry to look at other options. And there are some interesting options available that we are working on. Nothing has been formalized. So for growth, both in both the areas of our internal growth as well as all the other growth through acquisition, we will continue to be hungry and looking out for options. So that is why we are -- it is necessary for us to look at options of raising funds.

The next question is from the line of Radha from Motilal Oswal.

Congratulations on strong performance and the sharp turnaround in Antolin business in the first quarter of acquisition.

Radha, I'm not able to hear you. Can you speak a little loudly, please?

Is it better now?

Yes, it is better now.

So my first question is, sir, headliners contribute the largest portion of revenue for Antolin India, where the company, along with Krishna Maruti is already holding a very large 75% market share. So given the high market share and limited aftermarket and export opportunity in the segment, what do you see as the key growth drivers for the industry outperformance going forward? Would the focus be more on scaling up other product categories within Antolin? Or is there a play on premiumization or any other growth plans if you can highlight, sir?

Yes. So rather, actually, what happens is in Antolin, headliners classically have been the leading product, as you rightly said. But over a period of time now, we have a good mix of headliners, plastic trims, plastic components, door trims and also interior lighting along with sun visors. So we have a fairly good mix amongst all the product line. And I must say that the growth is coming across all segments with our customers. And luckily for this, this is an animal where or rather I should say that headliner also is an animal which actually continuously undergoes change as the vehicle changes. So any new model, it has to have a different headliner. And for any kind of different applications with sunroof, without sunroof, et cetera, also the headliner keeps changing. As a result, the number of variants and number of requirements also goes up with every new model. So we are working on a number of new platforms, and it's a very busy time as far as Antolin is concerned in terms of the newer growth into multiple models across the country. So there is going to be continuous growth, and we expect that we will continue to grow on all the product lines that we have within Antolin.

All right. That's good to hear. And second question is, sir, in previous calls, you had highlighted that the total addressable market for the automotive segment of TGPEL and Takahata business is somewhere about INR 3,500 where you had highlighted that the company's aim is to reach 20% to 30% market share. So what are the levers for gaining market share in this competitive business? And secondly, by expanding your presence in industrial and medical components, how will this INR 3,500 crores TAM increase? And how much market share are you expecting in this nonautomotive segment?

Yes. So basically, what happens is this precision auto component industry is also undergoing a lot of change. And people realize that there's a huge amount of technology that is required for some of the newer areas like I just said in the previous question that for the 2-wheeler, just for the anti-skid braking system, we have specific component which goes into the anti-skid braking system, which requires a very, very different kind of molding technology and very high precision technology. So -- this again is a new business that we have won and it has really helped us to put in our new investment that we are planning to put in Takahata. Similarly, even in TGPEL, we are working on new areas as far as precision injection molding is concerned. So the market is continuing to evolve. It's not that the market is going to remain static at INR 3,500. My own impression is that this market will continue to evolve as newer technologies are demanded by the customers. And precision injection molding components are the ones which get immediately affected in terms of the requirements. So as a result, I think with the various programs that we are working on, we already see that we are either improving market share or improving the volumes. And as a result, we have to continue to put in investments to grow that. So we'll continue in our Plastics division that way. And going forward, coming to the newer areas of business that we have within the plastics portfolio also, we see a lot of possibilities for us to supply within the group. For example, there's a lot of plastics requirement by Antolin, which can be supplied from our Plastics division, other plastics division. So there will be a lot of synergy that we see between the various companies, and this will really help us to grow the business equally across all the segments within the plastics.

Understood, sir. And sir, last question is, sir, Antolin already operates as a Tier 1 system integrator. Now along with TGPEL and Takahata, is there a scope to further deepen this integration by combining complementary product capabilities into larger interior solutions for OEM? Can this become a key differentiator or a USP for the company and hence, margin drivers going forward?

No, within Antolin itself, this capability exists today, even within Antolin India. And so we call it more as SPR Auto Interior Solutions now. And within this SPR Auto Interior Solutions, we are finding that there are multiple possibilities for us to combine not only headliners, but along with headliners, a lot of other ancillary components that needs to be delivered to the customer. In fact, for many of the customers, we give a very integrated solution with all the assemblies done. So there is a lot of possibilities for us to do it for our many, many other customers, and we are working on it continuously.

The next question is from the line of Preet Pitani from InCred AMC.

Congratulation for good set of numbers. Sir, just wanted to ask on QIP upfront. What, will promoter would be participating in the QIP? And what is the minimum stake which promoter would like to continue in the company?

Well, in QIPs, promoters cannot participate. So very clearly, they will not be participating. But that is fine. We -- whatever we want to raise, I think, should be possible for us to raise for them. And they go by the business needs and they are completely supportive of growing the business.

Sir, is there any minimum stake that promoter would like to have at least in the company or something like that?

Not that I know of, nothing that has been specified.

The next question is from the line of Punit Gupta from Girik Capital.

Congratulations on a good set of numbers. Just wanted to ask when do we plan to repay the debt we've taken for the Antolin acquisition? And if you could also answer what specific segments are looking to break into for M&A? If you could detail that would be helpful.

See, what is the second part of the question? I didn't hear it properly.

Basically like, what other segments of auto components we plan to break into for M&A, if we want to acquire companies, which segments of auto are we planning, sir, yes?

Acquisition, okay? So as far as the entities are concerned, we have 2 time frames. One is for 18 months and one INR 500 crores is for 18 months and INR 500 crores is for 24 months. We plan to repay it on time. So there is no such ideas of prepaying it. And whatever we are -- QIPs we are raising, it's all for growth reasons, including our internal growth as well as growth by acquisition.

Yes, sir. I just wanted to understand which segments do we want to acquire if we want to do more auto components, which ones are?

We are looking at various option. Now it will be difficult for me to give that at this stage. But we are -- most of the options that we are looking at, and you have seen in the past 5, 6 years that we have done acquisitions over the last 6 years, it has always been with technology and in technology areas and fairly with a good headroom to grow. So, it's primarily with that clear option that wherever we see a good possibility for us to continue our growth aspect, we want to ensure that it is earning accretive for us overall. And we'll -- based on that, we continue to look at options.

The next question is from the line of Hrushikesh Desai from Motilal Oswal AMC.

This is Ali from Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund. Just following up on the question the previous participant asked you regarding this growth. You mentioned that this QIP that you are doing is for growth. If you could just share some more color in terms of -- you mentioned this is for both expansion as well as inorganic. So if you can just outline some more details regarding how much you plan to use out of this for organic, how much for inorganic? Is this something in more advanced stage and you think possibility that this could probably get fructified maybe in the next 1 year? And any more details you can share related to that?

Yes. So normally, we don't give these details, Hrushikesh, because obviously, because you know that plenty of -- we also have huge competitors and everybody is tracking us. So at this stage, it will be very difficult for me to give these kind of details. But rest assured, it is -- there are very strong plans. And based on that, only we have decided to go in for this QIP. Otherwise, the kind of generation the company has, we don't -- we didn't and with the kind of that equity we are planning, it is not required for us to really raise that.

Got, sir. So this will be entirely for inorganic, right? Or also this could be used for any organic large expansion?

No, we are looking at both because overall, we have to see as far as the company still has a good amount of funds available in this thing. So the net debt is going to be a much lower figure than the INR 1,000 crores that we have taken from NCDs. So even after using that for both organic and inorganic, we need future -- for our future growth the QIP.

Sure. Second question, sir, is on margin. You mentioned that while your acquisition targets that you have recently taken are at much lower margin, close to about 10%, 11% versus your stand-alone margin at 20% plus and your aim is to get the subsidiaries also closer to your stand-alone margin. So any road map you can give how much time it should take to achieve those targets? Is it probably next 2, 3 years, it could be much longer? And what are the levers that you have to improve margins in your subsidiary business?

Hrushikesh, it is primarily -- it's not that I can give you a clear road map on this because we are working on a number of competition combination. But one thing I can tell you that with introduction of newer technologies with some of the synergies that we are looking at with a lot of in-sourcing that we can do for components, there are a lot of possibilities to improve our margins, and we are working on that. And I think the road map is quite clear for us in terms of how we want to achieve it. And -- but it's going to take some time to clearly lay it out. It requires -- a lot of them require customer approvals. We have to get it validated from customers. So all this takes a lot of time. So we can't exactly give you the time line, but the direction is quite clear.

Okay. Would this be like a 3-year plan, sir, or it will be longer?

Well, I expect it to be even lower than 3 years. My demands are lower than 3 years, but then we can't say how it will go, but we'll have to look at it how it comes.

Sorry to interrupt, Hrushikesh sir, sir, please rejoin the queue for more questions. The next question is from the line of Anubhav Mukherjee from Prescient Capital.

Sir, my first question is that now that it has been a few months that we have acquired the Antolin entity, can you provide a qualitative assessment of, what are the areas in which we can help experience the range from, will it be like better sourcing to improve gross margin, customer acquisition and/or.

Really finding it difficult to understand your question because your voice is having an echo and I'm not able to understand the question well.

Is it better? Hello?

No, it's still has echo.

No, sir, I request you to use the handset, sir.

Okay. Is it better now?

Yes, it's slightly better now, yes.

Okay, sir. Sir, I was asking that now that it has been like few months that we have acquired the Antolin business. So can you provide a qualitative assessment of what are the areas in which as a parent company, we can help them? Will it be like better sourcing to improve gross margin or cost control or new customer addition? Some qualitative like perspective will be very helpful.

In various areas in almost all the areas. For example, SPR has been -- is well known in the industry for the last 5 decades. And it's well recognized, well respected amongst all the customers. We have excellent relationships at with all the OEMs and also with many of the aftermarket customers. So, we can help in various activities with regards to growing their sales. And at the same time, looking at helping them on various synergy activities across the group with regards to almost since we are in the same line of business as a auto component supplier, a lot of things that we can do together. And we can also leverage a lot of things from their side because we have an excellent team in Antolin India. And I think that they only add a lot of value to the overall group, and we can leverage that and we'll be able to really see that we are able to grow together.

And sir, like from the investor presentation, like, we saw that like the exports have been flat for us since FY '24. So can you share some like growth perspective for the exports in the coming financial year or over the next 2, 3 years?

Yes. So it's no big surprise that exports are really in a tough situation with all the kinds of -- with the Ukraine war continuing, with the kind of situation that exists in the European region, there's hardly any growth. There is, in fact, degrowth. And in terms of the kind of situation that has now started because of the Middle East war, so obviously, all this puts a lot of restrictions with regards to not only the entire supply chain, but also in the sentimentalities of all our customers with regards to procuring goods from various places. So obviously, there is a lot of issues with regards to the overall export market. But the good part is that even though the markets have become tougher, we have been able to more or less retain our export business at the same level as last year, even though the market actually went down badly. So that shows the amount of new areas that we have been able to enter into the new product lines that we have started and been able to service newer customers whom we have been able to develop. This process is continuing. And I think if everything goes well, we should be able to further grow our exports business. It's not that we are going to reduce our exports business. You can be rest assured that we continue to grow that.

Your next question is from the line of Devesh Kayal from Boring AMC.

Sir, you mentioned that we are setting up a new facility at Neemrana and expanding capacity at existing Noida plant. So overall, sir, across facilities, what is our CapEx plan for FY '27?

Last year, as I said, we have invested almost close to INR 200 crores, which will give some kind of increased businesses, which we have already taken some a year in advance. And then all that businesses starts getting mature over the next 1 or 2 years. So all the investments that we have to do in the automotive business is always the maturity comes after maybe 2 to 3 years. So we will continue to invest in those kind of figures with regards to the kind of investments that we have to do over the next 2, 3 years.

Okay. So fair to assume we'll do around INR 200 crores over the next 2 to 3 years, like every year?

More or less. More than more or less.

The next question is from the line of Divyansh Gupta from Latent PMS.

I hope I'm audible?

Yes, we can hear you.

Yes. So a couple of questions. So right now, you mentioned 60% is, let's say, powertrain agnostic. Is there a target number for the next 2, 3 years we want, let's say, the legacy business to reach a certain number?

Well, frankly, now I'm looking at more or less maintaining this kind of a stand because it's a fairly good kind of a mix. And even with this kind of a situation, I think the legacy business is never going to become 0. And neither I have been hinting at that. We are looking at -- in fact, most of our customers, as I said, we'll be the last man standing for the ICE product. And we don't see across all customers, we are seeing continued investments for development of new engines for hybrid requirements. And as a result, we are continuing to, in fact, put more money into the legacy business also as we are putting into the other areas. So more or less, this kind of a trend will continue. And I think it's a very good mix that we have now in terms of -- even if we just look at growing the aftermarket business as well as the exports business, we have a good huge runway that is possible for us to do. It's only that we have to keep on adding capacity. So we have to be very careful in the overall capacity enhancement plan that we have across all the companies so that we don't overcommit on one and under commit on the other. So we are balancing it very well and trying to see how we can continue to have the growth story amongst all our subsidiaries.

But sir, that also means that, let's say, any future acquisitions, even ICE business acquisition is something that is in play? Because otherwise, if we acquire non or other power-agnostic business, then this should ideally come down. So is that a...

Well, we -- at least I don't see any immediate plans to acquire any business on the ICE products because we have just recently done the asset deal with Sunbeam, that has actually improved our capacities as far as systems are concerned. And engine valves and this, we are growing also organically with regards to the further investments, and we continue to invest in those areas.

Got it. And sir, second question is regarding EMFI MP. So, with all of this Middle East tension and let's say, at least in Q3, we said we expect 5 to 7x ramp-up. Are you seeing an accelerated -- even more accelerated approvals from clients because of, let's say, people saying that let's buy EV instead of ICE because of fuel prices or availability. And the second associated is, I was reading that we have some partnership with Lingbo and Greatland. But my understanding, these are more 2-wheeler and lower power capabilities. Do we have anything planned for 4-wheeler EVs or?

Well, for both high-voltage systems, we are operating on low voltage as high voltage, less than 300 volts as well as more than 800 volts up to 800 volts. So we have all the systems that are required on our motor and controller facility. Now with the new setup that we have in Coimbatore is a state-of-the-art plant, one of the best that you'll see in the country. And with all the customers that we are working, we clearly see that most of our customers are now approaching us not only because of the facilities that we have, but also because of the technology that we bring on the table, including some of the newer technologies like hairpin winding and all that. So we have a lot of possibilities being worked out with our customers at this stage.

Got it. And sir, if I may ask last question because of time. If I look at our exports ex of Europe and North America, they have degrown. While I understand Europe, let's say, Europe plus 1 was -- is a wave. But any color that you can give on why South America or Middle East because Middle East only, let's say, March is when, let's say, all the fighting started, but the fall in revenue has been much higher. So any color you want to give on the export market, what happened basically there?

No. As I said, we have -- the market is primarily -- the end markets are badly affected in Europe as well as across the Middle East as well as America. So it is not that the markets are growing there. And as a result, we do have a small dip in those regions. But if you really see our overall performance has been even better than FY '25. So we have more or less been able to retain our export volumes. And yes, we did not have a phenomenal growth. But certainly, with the current market situation that is existing in the Middle East as well as in Europe and with all the tensions that is there on the supply chain, this is a fantastic number in terms of the overall growth in exports.

But basically, no market share loss?

No, no, absolutely nothing.

The next question is from the line of A Sriram Palaniappan from ithoughtpms.

Sir, in previous calls, you mentioned that the plastic precision is a niche segment where our -- an OEM succeed one supplier for one item. If that is the case, how are we increasing our revenue apart from our existing business? Would new OEMs switch to us or is it increasing orders from the existing customers? What will drive our revenue in this segment, sir?

Yes. I think I answered it in the previous question it was there, Mr. Sriram, that this is coming -- the plastic injection -- precision injection molding facilities require that the growth comes more from new technology addition like for example, it has become mandatory now for the anti-skid braking system 2-wheelers. This requires a completely different product that has to be designed and planned for some of the Indian OEMs or rather most of the Indian OEMs. And it requires a huge amount of investments and capabilities to be built on technology as well as on volumes. So, both the sides, we are investing, and we are seeing that we are able to grow in that area. And precision injection molding will not -- we don't expect -- as I said in the previous calls also, we would expect that we want to retain our margins, and we don't want to become a low-margin, high-volume business. It's going to remain a niche segment and is going to -- that is how it's going to contribute to the overall growth of the overall franchise.

The next question is from the line of Harsh Shah from Seven Rivers.

Sir my question is on the stand-alone, the legacy business. Would it be fair to assume that 11%, 12% growth would kind of be a mature or a maximum growth that we can do in this business given that OEMs are growing at single digits? And also in Q4, have we lost any market share because a lot of OEMs have reported more than 18%, 20% kind of sales volume. So if you can highlight on that?

No. So as far as the legacy business is concerned, we always believe that we should outgrow the market. So if you really see the overall market has grown by around anywhere between 6% to 7% if I do a combined weighted average kind of a growth for all segments of the business, whether it is 2-wheeler, 4-wheeler, tractors, commercial vehicles and everything. So -- but against that backdrop, we have grown at around 11%, and we have outgrown the market. We have outgrown the business. And we continue -- my aim is and my push to the team is always to outgrow the end market. So we'll continue to do that as far as the end markets are concerned as far as the OEM. Coming to quarter 4, as I said, we have -- I don't think there has been a lot of volume play that has happened between the 2 quarters, the quarter of October to December and December to this. So while the end markets might have been better for the OEM, but you have to see it from a overall year perspective because our supply chain actually works on the overall supply chain. So while they have probably done 6% to 7% overall for the year, we have done 11%. That is how you have to see it. In the quarter, basically, what happens is they did have good volumes in the pipeline, in the stocks, which happened at the post end December. And they have continued to sell those volumes. And as a result, they had increased sales for that quarter. For those volumes, we have already supplied in the past quarter.

Okay. Okay. And sir, a lot is happening on the EV side, I mean, especially with the geopolitical issues -- just a follow-up question. Yes, yes. So on the EV side because of all the geopolitical issues and then recently, the government has notified new capacity norms revised ones and even Delhi government has banned registration of new ICE vehicles from April 2028. So a lot of activity is happening on this EV or low emission side. So how do you see the industry panning out after FY 2028? I mean with your discussions with the OEMs, would EV penetration start increasing dramatically after 2028 or hybrid would be a better middle ground for them to grow. So if you have to hazard a guess, I mean, say, 2030, '31, will the penetration of EVs would be higher or hybrid vehicles would be higher?

Well, frankly, many of the people still term hybrid vehicles as EV vehicles. So please do not -- when people say it is EV or it is trending towards EV, they also include the hybrid vehicles in that. And if I look at all the programs that we are working on and all the customer OEMs working on various programs, they continue to work on many of the hybrid programs, and there are newer engines being developed by the customers. I have always been maintaining this, and I again call this off still that we are not -- as a country, we are not fully geared up to service the overall infrastructure requirements that are there for a full EV kind of end play, full EV base EV, whereas it is going to be a combination of all powertrains existing. As I said, it will -- we will have powertrains from coming out of CNG coming out of other biofuels and also coming out of ethanol blending. There is a possibility that the ethanol blending may rise from the 20% to maybe 85%. So there are various possibilities that are being looked into by the government which will also -- which will in some way or the other, also improve the consumption or reduce the consumption of gasoline and diesel in the country. So our personal opinion is that there will be multiple powertrains coexisting, and we have to be present in all the powertrains. Luckily for us, we are in the sweet spot that we supply to both ends of the market, whether it is the legacy business or whether it is the new EV business, and we are well positioned to cater to the demands in both the sides. So from, say, 2030 perspective, we continue to maintain even after all the current situation, if I include hybrid as part EV and part ICE business, we have to look at it from a point of view that the penetration overall from a number of engines being made and number of electric motors being supplied and look at the total business, I still think that the EV business will be anywhere between 15% to 17% penetration by 2030, but this will be at a backdrop on a CAGR growth of around 6%. If I look at 6% growth over the next 4 years, we are looking at a 24%, 25% growth in volumes and a penetration of 15% still I'll be making more ICE engines or ICE-related vehicles, including hybrids by 2030, 2031. So we still don't see any major issue in those kind of things. So we continue to work on all the areas and continue. So I think the most important part would be to see how we can continue to grow the volumes on all fronts.

The next question is from the line of Sahil Jain from [ Ashwa ] Management Services.

Just wanted to ask one question [indiscernible] answer, but, sir, according to the new labor laws and the increase in wages, sir, how will there be an increase in FY cost going forward, I joined the queue late, sir, so, that's why I repeat the question. Hello?

[Technical Difficulty] Please stay connected, sir, the management line has got disconnected, please stay connected. We will connect you. Ladies and gentlemen, we have the management line reconnected. Mr. Sahil, can you please repeat your questions, sorry about that.

Yes, sure, sure.

Yes, sorry, Sahil, I really don't know what happened, but the line is getting disconnected. There's some issue. But anyway, sorry about that and please go ahead.

And sorry, sir, it is a repeat question, but I just wanted to ask, according to new labor laws and the increase in wages, what will be the impact on our employee cost and the productivity at our plant? And how will we mitigate these risks going forward?

Yes. I think I answered this question in the last call that we had based on our last quarter results. But I'll repeat again, we have had an impact because of the wage code. And as I said, this is a part of -- this is an impact which has already been considered in the financials. It's to the tune of -- stand-alone is almost to a tune of around INR 23-odd crores and consolidated is around INR 27-odd crores. And all of this has been considered in both our consolidated results as well as the stand-alone results. And even post that, I think we have maintained a good run rate on our margins.

The next question is from the line of Viraj from SiMPL.

Congratulations on a really good set of numbers in a very challenging environment. Sir, just 2 questions I have. One is, if I look at quarter 4, I understand export has been weak for us. But if I look at the stand-alone business, any color you can give in terms of how the -- each segment has done the domestic OEM, the aftermarket, the non-auto business? What kind of a growth trend we have seen in quarter 4 and the year gone by?

Yes. See, the export business has grown only by around 1%, 1.5% primarily, as you can see, it's primarily because of the external environment. We have not lost any business share. And as far as domestic and aftermarket concerned, both have registered a fairly even kind of a growth of almost close to 10%, 11%.

Okay. Got it. Sir, and second question was you did give some color in terms of the margin trajectory for improvement for the Grupo Antolin businesses. But would it be right to think that a large part of the improvement would be driven by factors which are internal to us rather than external, either in terms of new product or price revision for customers?

No, I think it is going to be a combination of everything. No, it's not -- as I said, it's not that we can -- we have to work on a number of areas. We have to work on customer approvals. We have to work on so many things based on which we'll be able to improve the margins. So there are lot of actions being planned. And hopefully, it will all give us positive results.

The next question is from the line of [ Jen Mithresa ] from C9 Family Office.

Just wanted to understand like you said there is new capacity expansion on the Takahata, as well as TGPEL side. What sort of CapEx are we going to do on that side?

I think I already answered this question that we are continuing -- we are putting up a Phase 3 expansion in Takahata on the land that we bought at some point in time, almost, I think, 2 years back, we are building up a new factory there for manufacturing again, very related products, which is precision plastic injection molding. And similarly, we are also expanding our facilities in TGPEL, where we are putting up extra facilities for growth areas.

Okay. But like can you quantify the CapEx amount like we talked about?

Well, individual CapEx, as I said, overall, all put together, we are looking at a CapEx figure, which is similar to the kind of figures that we have already invested last year. And going forward also in the next 2, 3 years, we'll have to continue to do those kind of investments.

Understood. Okay. And on the acquisition side, I wanted to understand, what are the minimum sort of return levels we would be targeting in whatever new acquisitions we do? And what sort of peak valuations are we comfortable when we go about like going for the acquisition of a company?

I think very clearly, more or less, you have to go as per whatever acquisitions we have done in the past. Over the last 5 years, we have done 5 acquisitions, so, it is more or less you can see the kind of multiples we have given and multiples we have worked on. And we looked at -- but at the same time, it is important to note that we don't only go by multiples, we or by the margins they make today. We go by the possibility of how we can work together to use the synergies with the group and be able to improve our businesses overall. So there are multiple things on which we look at. It's a very, very detailed exercise and it's not going to be just one odd valuation or one odd cap numbers that will drive this kind of a decision. We also look at a lot in terms of the technology and we also looked at how that technology play will be there in the future, and we do a very detailed exercise on that.

Due to time constraint, we take -- that was the last question for the day. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Krishnakumar for closing comments.

Yes. So once again, thanks for a great set of questions. I think it has been really invigorating. And I would say that if you have any more questions, please do write to us to our secretarial cell, and we will ensure that we answer you specifically with regards to ensuring that you all get satisfied with the answers that we give. And with that, I again, once again, thank you all for joining us today and for asking such valuable questions. Your engagement has been -- has really enhanced our discussions today. We are confident that the company is very well positioned for the next phase of growth. This confidence comes from the strength of our teams, the trust of our customers, the support of our partners and the progress that we have made over the last years and all the support that we get from all our stakeholders and including many of you who are there in the call today. And we hope all your queries have been answered. In case of any unanswered questions, please do reach us to our Investor Relations partner, E&Y, or to our secretarial cell, we'll be very happy to answer your questions. So thank you once again for joining the call and look forward to continuing the growth story that we have for SPR Auto Technologies Limited. Thank you so much.

Thank you. On behalf of SPR Auto Technologies Limited, formerly known as Shriram Pistons & Rings Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.