Sterlite Technologies Limited (532374) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good day, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Sterlite Technologies Quarter One FY '26 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Kunal from EY Investor Relations. We are joined by Ankit Agarwal, Managing Director, Sterlite Technologies; and Ajay Jhanjhari, CFO, Sterlite Technologies, to walk us through the Q1 FY '25 (sic) [ Q1 FY '26] results and to answer any questions that you may have. [Operator Instructions] You can download a copy of the presentation from the company website that is www.stl.tech. Please note that this call is being recorded. Before we proceed with this call, I would like to add that some element of the today's presentation may be forward-looking in nature and must be viewed in relation to the risks pertaining to the business. The safe harbor clause indicated in the presentation also applies to this conference call. I now hand over the call to Ankit Agarwal for opening remarks. Over to you, sir.

Thank you, Kunal. Good day, everyone. Thank you for joining us for our Q1 FY '26 earnings conference call. As we complete our first quarter of FY '26, directionally, our strategic priorities remain the same in the optical networking business. Some of the key strategic priorities for FY '26 are shown to you in this slide. Our focus remains on driving growth by increasing market share in optical fiber cables and improving our connectivity attach rates. We're also rapidly expanding our product portfolio for data centers, recognizing the rising demand for high-speed, scalable connectivity driven by the rise of AI-enabled data centers. Additionally, we will sustain our efforts to drive technology and cost leadership in the optical domain. On the other hand, ambition is not just to grow, but also to build the future through STL Digital. We are consciously investing in strengthening our technology and domain capabilities, laying a strong foundation for long-term differentiation. And most importantly, we're ensuring that all of this translate into profitable, sustainable growth. Together, these priorities will guide our journey in FY '26, helping us not just to respond to today's market needs, but actively shape tomorrow's digital future. At STL, we lead with purpose. We are committed to building a more connected, inclusive and sustainable world. Since FY '19, our efforts in education, women empowerment, health care and sustainability have touched millions of lives across India. Through our RoboEdge program, we reached over 8,000 students across 11 schools with 13 students representing India at the International Robotics Championship in Estonia, a moment of immense pride. Our Jeevan Jyoti program founded by Ms. Jyoti Agarwal has empowered more than 6,000 women artisans with vocational skills. Many of them now showcase their work under the Akai brand, building livelihoods and confidence. On the sustainability front, we have installed 4,500 kilowatts of solar capacity, reducing emissions and promoting clean energy across our facilities. We are also partnering with 53 villages to support afforestation and water conservation, planting thousands of trees and rejuvenating local ecosystems. And through our Swashthya Suraksha, we have provided health care access to over 2.6 million underserved individuals in rural Maharashtra. Here, you can visibly see that at STL, sustainability is at the core to our purpose. We are proud to be MSCI ESG rated A and committed to achieving net zero emission by 2030. Our strategy rests on 3 pillars: environmental sustainability. Since FY '19, we have diverted 2.7 lakh metric ton of waste, recycled 10 million metric cubes of water and cut 39,000 tons of CO2 emissions through carbon to energy efficiency. 36% of procurement is local, and we have recently partnered with Hygenco for green hydrogen as well. Social responsibility. Aligned with the 16 United Nations self-development goals, we impacted 19 lakh plus lives via education, empowerment, women empowerment and health care. We have also installed 4,500 kilowatts hour of solar capacity. Strong governance with 2 of the big 4 as auditors and robust governance committees in place, we have earned 100-plus ESG awards in FY '19. It is notable that we are the world's first optical fiber manufacturer certified for liquid -- zero liquid discharge and zero waste to landfill, a true industry benchmark. In the following slides, we will showcase our performance in the optical networking business and our focused journey towards gaining market share. We are in the midst of 3 major investment cycles. FTTx, data centers and 5G are all converging, creating unprecedented demand for digital infrastructure. Starting with FTTx, as you can see, over 100 million U.S. homes are still awaiting fiber to the home with North America expected to see a 10% CAGR in fiber deployments. Globally as well, the FTTx opportunity remains strong, backed by $11 billion to $15 billion annual revenue potential. Next, the data centers are fueling robust demand for optical fiber with 21% global CAGR in optical cable demand projected through 2029. In India alone, data center capacity is expected to grow 4x by 2028, supported by over INR 65,000 crores in planned investments. On the 5G front, the momentum continues with 6.3 billion global 5G subscriptions expected by 2030, accounting for almost 70% of all mobile users. Crucially, 80% of global mobile traffic will be run on 5G, accelerating the demand for fiberized mobile sites going from 38% today to over 65% by 2029. The surge is supported by massive CapEx from big tech to hyperscalers expected to exceed $100 billion by 2030, large-scale government projects like India's BharatNet $2.5 billion BharatNet Phase 3 and almost $100 billion in the U.S. with BEAD and other programs. All of this signals a multi-year network build cycle and STL is well positioned to lead and enable this digital transformation globally. This slide highlights how global telecom and technology leaders are unanimously betting on optical fiber as a foundation layer for the digital future, be it 5G, broadband data centers or AI infrastructure. The message is very clear. Optical fiber is not optional. It is simply essential. It is the key to taking the broadband forward. As you can see, the AI revolution and rapid data center expansion is not just industry developments, they are transformative forces redefining global infrastructure. By 2030, global data center capacity is expected to grow close to 4x with AI workloads accounting for more than 70% of this demand. This explosive growth is driving a sharp need in fiber requirements. AI-enabled data centers require up to 36x more fiber than traditional CPU-based facilities. As GPU servers increase in data centers, the number of connections between GPUs goes up and the count of fiber cable increases. At STL, we're uniquely positioned to enable this shift. Our AI-optimized scalable solution is tailored for GPU dense, high-bandwidth, low-latency environments aligned perfectly with next-gen data center requirements. Our commitments to build Make in India for the World portfolio is delivering tangible outcomes. 23% of our revenue came from our growing enterprise and data center business in the past quarter. According to CRU, global optical fiber demand is poised for a turnaround in 2025 with a projected close to 2% year-on-year growth after 2 years of continuous decline. This marks the beginning of a positive long-term trajectory in the industry. Demand fundamentals remain robust, fueled by FTTx rollouts, AI-driven data center growth and the rising connectivity across the rural regions of the world. North America and Europe are set to lead this resurgence with North America projected to grow at almost 11.6% CAGR through 2029. And globally as well, demand in our focused markets like U.S. and Europe is expected to grow at about 8.9% CAGR, reflecting encouraging mid-term potential. We're also seeing encouraging signs from markets like India, Vietnam and Southeast Asia and parts of Europe, which all align well with our strategic priorities. With this recovery underway, STL is well positioned to lead and enable the next phase of global digital infrastructure expansion. The latest China mobile tender also highlights a robust fiber demand in China, surpassing expectations with close to 98.8 million fiber kilometers announced, well above the CRU estimate -- the CRU research estimate of 80 million to 85 million. This is in addition to Unicom's recent 68.5 million fiber kilometers tender. All of this is clearly pointing that China is pushing ahead with an aggressive network expansion, both as a result of linking to 5G as well as rural fiber broadband connectivity. While STL is not directly exposed to China's pricing battle, there are important global signals here. All the price corrections are largely baked in, which will limit the downside risk from here. With expect short-term pricing stability aided with our planning and our margins in place. Most importantly, STL's geographic diversification keeps us insulated even as we remain tuned into global pricing dynamics. Overall, these developments reinforce our confidence that the market is truly making a recovery. As the market demand recovers, STL is well poised to make the most of the opportunity and our order book intake numbers give a good indication of that. In quarter 1 FY '26, we clocked INR 1,529 crores in order intake, nearly 3x from INR 566 crores in quarter 1 FY '25 and INR 588 crores in quarter 4 FY '25. A few key wins include a 3 year long-term contract with a leading European telecom player, strong inflows from top-tier North American telecom operators, expanding our global reach. With this momentum, STL is firmly on the path of accelerated growth. Being at the forefront of technology leadership, STL delivered key innovations like launching our next-generation data center portfolio and India's first multi-core fiber supporting high-capacity AI-ready networks. Our innovation engine remains strong with 76 new patents filed last year, taking our total to 740. Our pipeline includes building future-ready capabilities like hollow core fiber and AI-powered fiber sensing, which is also leading in sustainability, while we are also leading in sustainability with green hydrogen pilots and the world's slimmest optical fiber at 160 micron. We are proud to introduce STL's newly launched data center portfolio designed to meet the performance, speed and scalability of demands of the AI era. The portfolio brings together a comprehensive range of fiber and cabling solutions, pre-terminated multi-fiber systems and a high density Celesta IBR technology, ensuring low latency, high-capacity deployments for data centers, campuses and smart infrastructure. Built to support modern AI workloads, our solutions are fully compliant with global standards and deliver the reliability required for hyperscale environments. With over 3 decades of optical innovation, our products are manufactured and tested in-house, offering future-ready designs and backed by 25 year warranty. Our go-to-market partnership with Tech Data expands our reach to over 70 Indian cities, enabling efficient market access through a robust distribution and financing network. As our CEO, Rahul Puri put it, in today's AI-driven era, data centers are about enabling intelligence at a scale. With this launch, STL is leading that transformation. Another exciting launch showcasing STL's leadership is next-gen optical multi-core fiber, which offers 4x to 7x capacity of the same fiber footprint with lower deployment cost. Multi-core fiber is ideally suited for AI data centers and 5G networks. Its performance has been validated through successful collaborations with C-DOT and IIT Madras, demonstrating high-speed transmission deployment across both aerial and underground environments in a secure way. STL is the first globally to deploy MCF across both variants, setting new benchmarks in fiber innovation. As for CRU data, our market share has improved year-on-year in the global OFC market outside China from -- to 7% from 6% in Q1 FY '25, while our optical connectivity attach remained stable at 23% with recent product launches and market recovery signs in a focused markets. We expect to improve these metrics further. Now turning to the financial performance of Optical Network business. In line with our guidance, Q1 FY '26 revenue stood at INR 961 crores, making a healthy year-on-year growth. EBITDA for the quarter was INR 137 crores with a margin of 14.3%, reflecting a significant improvement from previous year. This margin expansion is a result of our continued focus on cost leadership and operational efficiency. With strong fundamentals in place, STL is well positioned to accelerate growth in Optical segment in the coming quarters. We are well positioned to scale optical networking business through a combination of strategic and operational strengths. With completed capacity expansion, we are now closer to key markets and are already seeing strong traction, particularly in North America. Our ongoing focus on cost optimization across variable and fixed costs are beginning to yield tangible results. On the innovation front, STL continues to lead with over 740 patents and a strong emphasis on developing category-first solutions, especially in our data center portfolio. We're also deepening customer engagement by co-developing end-to-end customized connectivity solutions that support our scaling of our [ connectivity ] optical business. Additionally, evolving global trade dynamics, particularly the U.S.-China tariff environment are opening new opportunities for India-based manufacturing, positioning us quite well to capture incremental global demand. Now let me take you through our continued growth momentum in STL Digital. As you can see, STL Digital continues to gain strong momentum driven by our global presence, domain expertise and focus on customer-centric innovation. In Q1, we added 4 more marquee clients, taking our total to 30 global customers, and we signed multi-million multi-year contracts with 2 leading health care providers in the Middle East. For digital marketing, we also increased our presence in the life sciences vertical. We have also delivered key projects across engineering, enterprise applications and support services, reinforcing customer confidence and execution. Currently, offerings span AI, cloud, cybersecurity, SaaS and product engineering, serving sectors like technology, manufacturing, energy as well as health care. Backed by 1,100-plus strong team, 22% of whom are women and delivery centers across India, the U.S. and the U.K., we are well positioned for the next phase of growth. STL delivered a strong performance quarter 1 FY '26, reported revenue of INR 64 crores in quarter 1 FY '26 with an open order book of INR 313 crores. Our sharp focus on profitable growth is yielding results with EBITDA of INR 1 crore for the quarter. We remain committed to sustaining this positive trajectory and confident of maintaining the momentum in the coming quarters. Now I will hand over to Ajay Jhanjhari, CFO of STL, Optical Networking business, to take you through the financials.

Thank you, Ankit, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. Let me walk you through our key financial highlights for the first quarter of FY '26. We have had a strong start of the year with Q1 FY '26 revenue coming in at INR 1,019 crores, a robust 17% year-on-year growth, reflecting healthy demand and strong execution across our businesses. Our profitability has also improved meaningfully as EBITDA for the quarter stood at INR 140 crores with margins expanding to 13.7%. This marks a significant year-on-year improvement and underscores the progress we have made on operational efficiency and cost optimization. On the bottom line, we recorded a PAT of INR 10 crores from the continued operation. This is a turnaround from the loss of INR 48 crores we had in Q1 of last year. And importantly, it reflects sustained profitability into this fiscal year. Overall, the results signal continued momentum and improved financial discipline as we head further into FY '26. In Q1 FY '26, we continue to deepen our global presence with significant order wins across key markets. Notably, we signed a 3 year long-term supply agreement for IBR cables with a leading European telecom operator. In North America, we saw strong order inflows from top-tier operators, reaffirming our relevance in this competitive landscape. We also secured high-value digital contracts in Middle East for marquee services with leading health care providers, highlighting our growing traction in the digital segment. On the right, you will see our revenue remains well diversified. Europe led our performance with a 49% contribution in Q1, while the Americas strengthened to 31%, reflecting robust growth. Although the revenue base is lower due to seasonality, our geographic mix remains healthy and balanced, positioning us well for the coming quarters. Moving to the order book, we have seen continued momentum this quarter. Our open order book rose to INR 4,888 crores in Q1 FY '26, up from INR 4,378 crores in Q4 of FY '25, reflecting strong order inflow and market confidence. Of this, INR 722 crores of order book is slated for execution in Q2 with balance INR 4,166 crores scheduled for FY '26 and beyond. This provides solid revenue visibility and supports our growth trajectory for the year. Here, we have shared an arid snapshot of our reported numbers for your reference. In line to our expectations, net debt stands at INR 1,300 crores with debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64x and net debt to EBITDA at 2.3x. We are focused on bringing this below 2x going forward. On the demerger front, shareholders and creditors approved the scheme on July 10, 2024. The petition was filed and admitted by NCLT in October with final approval received in Feb '25. As of March 31, 2025, STL Networks Limited is now a separate legal entity. We are currently progressing towards listing its shares with necessary regulatory approvals. We expect this listing by end of August. Over to you, Ankit.

Thank you, Ajay. To summarize the key focus areas in the optical business, we are sharpening our edge in technology and cost leadership to break into the global top 3. Our focus is on expanding our share in priority markets, boosting optical connectivity adoption and scaling attach rates for the connectivity business. We are also rapidly growing a strong data center business, reinforcing our position as a key connectivity enabler in global digital infrastructure. In the digital business, we continue to drive revenue growth with a clear focus on profitability. Together, these priorities set a strong foundation for scalable and sustainable growth. With this, I now hand the call back to Kunal. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] We'll take our first question from Saket Kapoor.

Firstly, Ankit ji, a good set of numbers from us. Sir, firstly, if you could just give us some understanding how the realizations have shaped up for OF and OFC? What are the price trends currently? And how are we seeing them looking into the China Mobile contract part, which you just mentioned in the investor presentation, how are the spot prices moved up, if you could just give some color on the same. And then comes our question on the finance cost part to our CFO. The quarterly finance cost is down quarter-on-quarter, definitely from INR 65 crores to INR 50 crores. So what should we expect this number going annually? And what steps, sir, are you taking in terms of reducing the impact of the finance cost going ahead?

Yes. So to begin with on the finance cost first. So as you rightly said, we have shown consistent decrease in finance cost mainly attributed by also the reduction in debt, which we are showcasing continuously. Going forward, see, we will generate cash consistently and that will help us in reduction in interest cost. Along with that, the global reduction in interest cost will also help us. So if I talk about the range, we will reduce it by maybe 5%, 6% more going forward. But that will take time and that will depend on the cash generation, which we are committed for.

Okay. So this run rate will continue, sir.

Yes. This run rate will definitely continue. It is going to improve further with more interest rate impacts, which will come to us because still there is a lag. The rates are down, but market takes time to pass it on. You have seen some amount of improvement in Q1. You will gradually start seeing it for next quarters as well.

And Saket, your question on the market, I won't comment on specific pricing for competitive reasons. But I think it's fair to say that broadly, the market prices have stabilized. They've bottomed out. As we showed that there is strong volume demand that come through with China Mobile and Unicom tenders. That's also led to both stabilization of prices in China and some level of consolidation as well. As we said, our focus markets for growth are particularly in Europe as well as in the U.S. And so to that extent, we continue to see the prices to be stable. As the market improves, particularly in the U.S., we may see some small improvement in realization in that market in the coming quarters.

I was just coming to the U.S. part only, sir, if you could just comment on how have the utilization levels moved, especially for our new U.S. facility? And also as an overall STL as an entity, where are we in terms of setting our assets in terms of utilization levels? Since sir, you have mentioned in your presentation that going ahead, there will be further rationalization of the cost parameters when the fixed cost absorption is there. So what can we expect in terms of the incremental utilization levels going ahead depending on the order book execution as per the closing order book just alluded by you?

Look, I think for -- again, for competitive reasons, I won't specifically comment on our utilizations overall. But to your point on the U.S. factory, it's really a state-of-the-art factory we've built to serve the North America market. There are requirements that come up, which require Made in America products, and we are really well set up to serve that. And also with any potential tariff impacts that may happen between U.S. and India, again, we are very well set up with our factory in the U.S. In terms of utilization of that factory, that is improving quarter-on-quarter and certainly will continue to improve through the course of this year.

Any number you can share, sir, sub 25%, 30% or above that?

It's above that. I won't be able to share a specific number, but it's certainly improving and moving in the right direction.

And last point on the passive connectivity, sir. This time, you have not mentioned in your presentation how much our passive connectivity has contributed and what are our targets for the current year? And also lastly, on the digital part, what are we expecting in terms of execution for the current year? And how should the bottom line be shaping up since this will be a more predictable business and not subject to vagaries of the market?

I think just to clarify on the connectivity, we have shared our attach rate, which we typically share. I'm happy to share that it continues to be about 23%. And that clearly continues to be a focus for us to grow again, both in Europe as well as the U.S. And in terms of the digital business as well, nothing new out there in the sense of our strategy. We've talked about profitable growth, and we have demonstrated about INR 1 crore EBITDA, so that continues to be the focus to ensure that we can have the right kinds of customers at the right margins and also build the right kind of capabilities around AI, cybersecurity, et cetera. It's a small portion of our business today, maybe 5% or something. So disproportionately, I think the growth for the company in STL will come from the optical business.

Sir, I'll join the queue for the follow-up and all the best to the team, sir. Hope this financial year would be a more profitable year because of the factors -- underlining factors that we are seeing in the horizon and we've seen in the numbers also.

[Operator Instructions] We will take next question from Nikhil Choudhary.

Congratulations on improving profitability, especially in optical business. Again with Ankit, I want to start with order intake. I think that's the first time you are highlighting that particular number. And we have seen a clear bump up, 3x improvement compared to previous quarter and same period last year. So is it fair to say the phase of inventory correction is behind us, especially in the context that we have also seen an increase in U.S. revenue for Sterlite Tech. So some color in terms of where we are in cycle and what kind of growth trajectory we can expect from here on?

Sure. So thank you, Nikhil, and I appreciate your confidence in the business. I think, yes, as we've been sharing in the last couple of calls that we are seeing improvement quarter-on-quarter in terms of the inventories getting utilized and reduced. I think that's continued to happen. We continue to see that in the last quarter and this quarter as well. I would say that, by and large, a lot of the inventory has been absorbed. There is still some small volumes across distributors. It really depends on the distributor chain. But we do see -- I want to also highlight that even -- and we've been sharing in the last few quarters, the actual deployment has been very, very strong in the U.S. That continues. It was only this inventory digestion, which was required. We continue to see that as we move forward, there are millions and millions of homes in the U.S., particularly that need to be connected. And whether it is through private equity money, whether it's through the telecom operator spending or potentially the government funding in the future, all of these do show positive signs. And on addition of all of this is the growing demand for optic fiber from data centers, particularly in U.S. and Europe, which are the large CapEx geographies. And then, of course, India as well into the future. One additional trigger for demand will also be the BharatNet projects in India, where some of the projects have been awarded in the recent months. Some more will get awarded in the coming months, and that will also lead to demand for cable and fiber for STL.

Ankit, can you highlight the reason for such sharp increase in order intake in particular?

I mean it's a multiple factors. I think, obviously, the demand is strong from a timing perspective, we were able to lock in some long-term contracts with some of our customers. As you can appreciate, certainly with Tier 1 telecom operators and other customers, these are -- these contracts take long to mature. And from our perspective, it's for our long-term benefit of the company, it's important for us to continue to secure such long-term contracts. And our intent is to continue to do this both for cable and connectivity going forward.

Got it, Ankit. Now second question, I mean, more important.

Nikhil, can I request you to join the queue, please? Next question we'll take from Ranjay Popli.

So my question is on the winners of the BharatNet Phase 3. What is our strategy for engaging with the winners? And have you established any collaboration or partnership with them so far?

Yes. Thank you, Ranjay. So as you may be aware that we have another entity, which is demerged from STL. That entity has won this Jammu Kashmir project. So that's certainly for that project, we will be supplying the optic fiber cables at arm's length. In addition to that, there is a mass, which is the -- which is what gets submitted at the time of the bidding. So we have our mass as well with some of the bidders who have won some of the other projects. Some of those have already been awarded, some are still to be awarded. So I think still a little early for us to comment. And ultimately, even as those winners start executing their projects on the BharatNet Phase 3, we will get a better sense of what share of volume we will get from them. So I think probably another quarter or so, we'll be able to give you a better update as the execution for these projects start kicking off.

Okay. Got it. And related to the EBITDA margin of the fiber department, we've seen that the EBITDA has increased compared to the last year. Can we say that it is a function of increase in capacity utilization?

Yes, absolutely. So I think we are working across all levers, I think, as Ajay also pointed out. Definitely, we are looking at improving our volumes, improving our utilizations. We are also looking at in certain markets as we sell more higher technology products or higher technology solutions to improve our realization. At the same time, we've been continuously focused on our cost initiatives across the board. So I think it's a combination of these. But at a macro level, going forward as well as we continue to grow our volumes in our focused markets, that should improve our EBITDA margins going ahead.

We'll take our next question from Balasubramanyam.

My first question regarding this multi-core fiber. I just want to understand what is the commercialization road map? And are there any tangible customer contracts beyond fiber deployments?

Yes. So at a simple level, Bala, thank you for your question. I think at a simple level, the whole thought process is that whether it's data centers or telecom operators within a certain distance and a span length, we're looking at how do you increase your capacity of bandwidth multifold. And one option is to keep adding more and more cables, but this is an incredible innovation that we have where within the same fiber instead of core where the light transmits, you put 4 cores. So you're essentially quadrupling the capacity in the same space. So this is an amazing innovation by STL. We have our own IP on this. As you can imagine, this is -- we are very, very early into the market here. There is strong interest from hyperscalers and other telecom operators. But I think the commercialization will take some time. We are working on this actively, and we have received strong interest from various potential customers.

Sir, my second question is regarding Quantum Key Distribution side. I think we have reached a 100 kilometer QKD transmissions. I just want to understand what are the commercialization barriers and how do we scale up in this area? And secondly, we have focused on 100% green hydrogen for optical fiber aside. I just want to understand about the cost implications and how we are going to do that.

So I mean, similar, I would make the same comment again with Quantum Key. It's something that is definitely being promoted at the government level, both from a defense application, security application and also wanting to lead India as a technology forward. So hence, some of these projects are being actively funded and sponsored by the government. In this case, we partnered with C-DOT, which is also a government entity. And it's been a very successful partnership to demonstrate this over multi-core fiber. So again, this is a great step forward by our company. We are looking at how we can partner with the government for more such opportunities, but also equally with the private sector, which is looking at different applications. This could be equally in India, but in other countries as well. So still early stages, just given the nature of where this technology is. But again, we know STL has taken a step forward to demonstrate it, and we look forward to more opportunities coming up. And to your question on green hydrogen, maybe Ajay will comment on the numbers. But again, we feel very strongly that we want to be pioneers in also sustainability. And certainly, as you can imagine, not only in India, but especially in U.S. and Europe, being a leader in sustainability also can be a key competitive edge. So this is something that we are very, very proud of that we moved forward in terms of green hydrogen. We have demonstrated that successfully. And the whole intent is all of this helps us move towards net zero carbon emission by 2030.

Adding on the cost piece of it. So see, as Ankit said, we have to be global and we are competing with the global customers, wherein such sort of things are looked also to attract more business. So we are on it, and there is not a considerable increase of cost because of all of this.

Got it. Sir, my last question regarding data center side. I think more than 20 percentage of revenue into data centers right now. I just want to understand what are the new launches we have. I read it in that industry report the total addressable market size is anywhere more than $1 trillion next 4 to 5 years' time frame. I just want to understand what are the product and new launches we are planning, how we are going to align with customer needs.

Look, at a macro level, it's still early stage. We've just launched our portfolio. And at this stage, I just want to clarify the number that we've shared is a combination of data center plus enterprise, which includes our entire copper and copper connectivity portfolio. We do believe that there is upside for us as a potential in the data center. It also serves as a hedge for us versus the cyclical nature of the telecom spend that we see in the telecom CapEx. And also when we look at some of our global peers, having a good healthy balance between serving telecom sector as well as data center segment makes strategic sense for us. So we are in early stages on the data center part. We are very, very proud of the portfolio we've launched, and we have started conversations with potential customers. Probably give us a quarter or 2, and we'll give you a better update on this.

We'll take next question from [ Akshat Mehta. ]

I just had a couple of questions. One is I wanted to understand how should this quarter for digital business in terms of the profit and the revenue [indiscernible] and how -- what can we end up at the end of the year? That's number one. And the second question.

Akshat, can you repeat? You are not clear. Akshat?

Is this better?

Yes.

So my first question was regarding the digital business, how should we look at this quarter in terms of the revenue and margin debt? And what can we end up at for the rest of the year or at the end of the year, what kind of margins and revenue can we expect for the digital business, number one? And secondly, I would like the management to kind of give more details on the new U.K. FPA that has come in, what impact or what kind of demand that can generate for us in optical fiber business?

Yes. I mean I'll take the second one, of course, it's a good step. Overall, I think the way the agreement has been done is positive from STL perspective, we were already serving the India market -- the U.K. market quite actively from India. We are probably one of the leaders in the U.K. market with our cable and connectivity portfolio. This doesn't change anything for us in that sense. It remains to be products that we can sell into the U.K. market without duty. So to that extent, it's neutral to positive for us. And any duty coming in, instead would have been a negative outcome for us. So this is positive to that sense. From a digital business, I think as I shared, right now, we are focused on taking the digital business quarter-by-quarter, really focusing on right kind of customers, right cost structure and building certain capabilities, specifically on AI as well as cybersecurity. I'm happy with the team that we have in place. We are at EBITDA level marginally profitable, and the intent would be to continue to grow that EBITDA profitability quarter-on-quarter.

We'll take our next question from Sunil Jain.

Yes. Am I audible?

Yes.

Yes, sorry. Sir, I was just talking about the capacity utilization. Last time you said that your utilization is around 45%. So where do we expect this capacity utilization in, say, 1 year from here?

Sure. So thank you, Sunil. As we shared, we won't be sharing specific utilization numbers going forward from a competitive purpose. But as you can see from the numbers, our utilization has improved quarter-on-quarter. And certainly, the intent is as we continue to grow in our focus markets to continue to take it forward. One part we have guided in the past is that as we move this back towards around, say, 70% utilization, that's -- we are confident of getting to that 18% to 20% EBITDA margin. And we've demonstrated that in the past about 2, 3 years ago. So that's really where our first focus is to continue to drive that while we keep the cost structure and everything else in the right level. So I think to answer your question, that's the general direction we're driving. I can't give a specific quarter or time frame by which, but I'm confident that we'll move -- we'll move towards that in the coming quarters.

Yes. One small question also about this data center, since you had launched the product portfolio all complete package now. So whether we were supplying these parts earlier to other people or no, this is the first time we will be pursuing this business.

So I think in the past with data center, so we've always had a very strong copper business. That further scaled up through acquisition of Metallurgica Bresciana, and we've been growing that. On the data center part, specifically, this is something that we clearly see is an interesting opportunity given our expertise both on cable as well as connectivity, we've been now working to also grow some of that portfolio and technology towards what the data centers require very specifically. So that's something that we have put in the efforts and we've been able to launch recently. We have been in conversations, as I shared with the customers. We have supplied some products in the past, but I think from a meaningful contribution to the company going forward, this is really the start of it. And as we continue to grow and start making inroads, we will definitely look to see how we scale this up globally.

So that will require approval process from the implement.

Absolutely. I mean there is an approval cycle. There are certifications required. We are building our own IP. So all of that will happen in parallel.

So how much time that can take?

I mean it's just a function of geographies as well, probably our inroads into the Indian data centers will be first. And then as we achieve those successes, then we will look to scale up into other geographies.

Next question we'll take from Aditya.

Great set of numbers, Ankit. So I was checking the previous quarters, we were hitting the run rate of INR 1,000 crores or INR 800 crores to INR 1,000 crores. When do you see the scale up going up? I mean INR 1,200 crores or INR 1,300 crores or INR 1,400 crores of quarterly run rate. When can we expect that? That is my first question.

Yes, Aditya, as I just shared in previous questions, I won't be able to comment on a specific time line. We are driving our capacity utilization, specifically on the cable side upwards. We are positive about the markets improving, particularly North America and Europe. So as that improves, as you're aware, we have the capacities. We have invested in the capacities over the last 3 to 4 years. And that's just on the cable side. In addition to that, we also want to grow our connectivity. So both of these will contribute to this growing. And we're also seeing some interesting signs of potential in growing our copper portfolio, our enterprise portfolio as well. So all of these 3 are what we're looking at to grow the top line, as you shared. But probably you will start seeing that in the coming quarters.

So in this year, can we hit that INR 1,400 crores or INR 1,500 crores quarterly number or it will be next year?

Aditya, I won't be able to comment on a specific number. But I think you will see improvement quarter-on-quarter.

Okay. That's good to hear. And one more thing, Ankit, I've been following this company for a long time, and I saw that recently you have purchased shares from open market. This is the first time you are doing that after a long time. So I wanted to understand any exciting things or it's just a market price opportunity you are feeling that because over the last 3 to 4 years, this is the first time you're doing it.

Honestly, no specific comment or no specific opportunity. Everything is in public domain. We are excited about the business. We're excited about the opportunities. I think we have a great team. All of us are on this together, and we're excited about how we take the business forward from here.

Next question, we'll take from Nikhil.

Ankit, just want some clarity on the margin part a bit. Margin has improved this quarter. So was it driven by, let's say, change in mix, higher realization or maybe some cost decline? And connected with that, I also want to understand the tariff impact. I think that's obviously taken the center stage. We had 10% tariff impact this quarter from U.S. So can you quantify the U.S. impact on margins? And what's the outlook ahead?

So Nikhil, I'll take this. So as you rightly said, margin has improved for the quarter due to change in geographical mix with higher revenue contribution from U.S. region. which obviously has a better margin profile. There has been an impact of tariff definitely, but that has been partly offsetted by customers there. U.S. is a market wherein it's quicker in terms of absorption of any cost, which is going there. So there is a slight impact. We can't tell you the number as of now. But yes, that looks promising. You can see even after having those tariff impacts, margins are improving for better.

Got it. Last one, if I may. Ankit, I just want to understand the tariff scenario, especially in context of there is a tariff -- higher tariff on Vietnam, there is a tariff on China and there is some rate of tariff on India. So just want to understand how it will play out for Sterlite Tech with different tariff rates now out.

So obviously, we are watching it very closely. And if you look at, at least the recent announcements, the expectation is -- that's somewhere between 10% to 20% is what we are seeing in the domain, if you look at Indonesia or other countries. Our guess is as good as yours in terms of where this finally lies. But I think we're very proud that we have proactively set up this factory and expanded that factory in the U.S. And so we're very well set up for meeting the requirements with our local manufacturing and then supplying the fiber as required. And certainly, from a tariff of supply from India to the U.S., I continue to believe, as Ajay just shared, up to a certain level, we definitely think should be absorbed by the U.S. customers and possibly some margin we would have to absorb. But I think ultimately, regardless of all this, the biggest element in all of this will be how much the demand continues to grow in the U.S., how does the demand-supply mismatch happen going forward. I think those elements and the lead times as well in the U.S. market for our products, all of those will be much bigger factors.

We'll take next question from Balasubramanyam. Bala? I think there's some problem with the line. We'll go with Saket Kapoor.

Only one question was there with respect to the employee cost. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, sir, although the revenue is lower, but still the employee cost is -- there is an increment of 10% from INR 142 crores, I'm talking on the consol level from INR 140 crores (sic) [ INR142 crores ] to INR 156 crores. So if you could just explain the rationale behind it and what should we work out as a percentage of sales, the employee cost for the year as a whole?

Yes. So you are right, Saket. This increase reflects our investment in building strong leadership across high-growth areas like data center and international markets. With this launch recently, we had to -- have a team fully set up and aligned to demonstrate the revenue growth as well. So going forward, what we see is we'll start seeing results quarter-on-quarter on this increased cost. I would also like to add one more point, the cost, if you compare it from last few quarters, it has remained in our range. And going forward, we'll keep a proper check on this, but we have to invest on our new businesses and new lines, which we are talking about, and that increase will be on a global basis.

So sir, for the year as a whole, as a percentage of sales or revenue, what should be this number likely be, sir? Today -- this quarter, it was abnormally high at 14%. So with the ramp-up in revenue, if you could give some color as that was Ankit ji was mentioning about the lumpiness in the order intake, how will the execution cycle be shaping up? And what should be the contribution of employee cost as a percentage also?

See, our target is, if I can talk about the range, it would be between 10% to 12% on a yearly basis. That is what we are targeting as of now.

And how should the revenue ramp up be, sir?

So that is again a math. So if the cost remains stagnant, then obviously, revenue will look better.

Depending on the closing order book for the quarter, should the revenue -- what should be the revenue we should factor in for this current financial year? Since we have a strong order book, order book -- 3 year [ order ] from the European nation. So what should.

Yes. Saket, we won't be able to comment specifically on the revenue for the year. I think we've shared 3 or 4 types of guidance. One, mainly, I think the order book should give you a strong indication that there will be healthy and continued revenue through the year. Second part is, as we've been sharing, we do expect our utilizations to improve quarter-on-quarter and hence, our revenues and EBITDA margin should improve from here. And then the last part is in terms of positive triggers for growth, one is the connectivity part, which we are working on. And second is the data center part. But the data center part, as I just shared, will take some time in terms of getting the approvals, certifications, et cetera. So you'll see some of that benefit in this year and then going into next year.

Right. So just to conclude, what should be the increased utilization level, sir, from what we exit the first quarter by what percentage should we see the utilization levels improving as an overall entity for the year?

Saket, we can't -- I know you're getting -- trying to get this data from different angles. I can't give you a specific number.

That's my job, sir.

Please appreciate that these are.

Yes. I appreciate. And my best wishes to the entire team sir.

We'll take our last question from [ Santosh Raut. ]

Ankit, congrats for the continued improvement. My question is more about this mix -- slight mix shift towards U.S. region. Was there any tariff-related prebuy? Or do you think it is more normal ordering coming back post inventory digestion?

No, it's a normal -- as we've been sharing that the market, new demand has been improving while execution and fiber deployment continues to be strong, and we continue to see announcements every day from operators and [ TE ] companies. So I think the execution will continue to be strong. And as we've been sharing the digestion, a lot of that's happened and hence, linked to the new demand, both from our U.S. facility as well as from India, we've been able to increase our serve and our sales into the U.S. market.

Okay. And then my second question would be some quarters back, you had mentioned that some of the products were -- data center-specific products were under testing with some of the data center players. So any update on that?

Yes. So as I said, these are long cycles. We continue to both build the product portfolio, continue to have our own IP, which is very important. At the same time, continue to innovate because not only do we want to provide what's in the market, we want to do something better. So all of that's happening in parallel. As I said, give us a couple of quarters, 1 or 2 quarters, we'll keep updating you about the progress we're making. But we're very excited about the potential of this business.

Thank you, everyone. With this, we now come to the end of the question-and-answer session. And now I hand over the call back to Ankit for closing remarks.

Thank you, everyone, for taking your time to hear us out. We continue to remain very excited and motivated to drive this business forward. We also see a tremendous potential through our business to connect the unconnected across the world and particularly here in India. We remain available for answering any of your questions, including myself and Ajay. And once again, thank you for taking the time. Thank you. Jai Hind.

Thank you.