Strides Pharma Science Limited (STAR.NS) Q3 FY2026 Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Strides Pharma Science Limited Q3 FY '26 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Abhishek. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Thank you, Palak. Very good evening, and thank you for joining us today for Strides earnings call for the third quarter and 9 months ended financial year 2026. Today, we have with us Badree, Managing Director and Group CEO; Aditya, Executive Director; and Vikesh Kumar, Group CFO, to share the highlights of the business and financials for the quarter. I hope you've gone through our results release and the quarterly investor presentation that have been uploaded on our website as well as stock exchange website. The transcript for this call will be available in a week's time on the company's website. Please note that today's discussion may be forward-looking in nature and must be viewed in relation to the risks pertaining to our business. After the end of this call, in case you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to the Investor Relations team. I now hand over the call to Mr. Badree for his opening comments.

Thank you, Abhishek. Good morning, good afternoon and good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Strides Q3 FY '26 earnings call. Like the previous quarters, I'll talk about the growth and the growth levers of each of those businesses we run. And I'll hand it over to Vikesh to cover all the financial highlights, including the balance sheet metrics, cash flows and other metrics, which are relevant for overall hygiene of the business. So talking in retrospect, there are 3 strategic priorities which we took in the last 6 to 7 quarters. The 3 key priorities were profitability, geographical diversification and balance sheet strength are the key themes on which we have this business. Let me go one by one and talk to you on what we have done so far, and then I'll talk through each and every business. From a profitability perspective, the major focus has been to rebuild and structurally enhance profitability. We are very, very happy with the result. Our gross margins have touched 60% plus in this quarter. Overall gross margins have reached about 59.8%. And overall, you can see from a profitability standpoint, post the OneSource, the company has really bounce back on all metrics relating to the gross margins, EBITDA, PAT and as well as the EPS. EPS is very strong for us. It's currently at about 41.4 and expected to do well in the near term. As far as the geographical diversification is concerned, while the U.S. they have given a long-term outlook, the ex-U.S. markets is an important highlight of this quarter. We have been reiterating in the last call that the ex-U.S. markets, which consist of 2 important elements, the other regulated markets and the growth markets, our endeavor was to mirror those markets in the long term in 2 years from [indiscernible] now. And we find that this is happening much faster than what we thought. And in the current quarter, we have -- the ex-U.S. markets contributed 47% of the FY '26 -- Q3 FY '26 revenues and 20% year-on-year growth in Q3. And the gap between the U.S. and the ex-U.S. market has reduced significantly. And if you really see on a quarterly basis, the gap is about INR 500 million. So this marks a structural shift in the geographical engine. And we are very happy that we are starting to see the results in terms of the global diversification of the entire business. The third priority was to improve the balance sheet strength. As we speak, our debt by EBITDA is about 1.59. We are on track to get to the targeted ratios. And the overall debt, if you really see it has reduced by about INR 170 crores, INR 1,696 million on a constant currency basis. And return on capital employed improved to 15.8%, aided by consistent results, improved profit show as well as the better balance sheet management, cash-to-cash cycles. So if you see the last -- the 3 priorities in terms of profitability, geographical expansion as well as the balance sheet strength, we are very, very pleased with the results. We will continue to focus on those as we build the company in the long run. So coming to the U.S. performance. So let me cover the important aspects of the U.S. business as well as the overall business. So let me start with the overall business. The quarter -- this quarter, which went by at a 3.6% revenue growth. This is mainly because of the institutional business where the growth was muted. But for that, the revenue growth has been upwards of 8.6% and almost 9% year-on-year. So this shows that other ex-U.S. markets have contributed significantly to the overall growth of Strides. And what excites us more is the growth of ex-U.S. markets because we believe that there are multiple geographies and which have -- which are in different stages of evaluation. And if you have seen the last few transcripts, we have been reiterating that this has been in the range of about $40 million to $43 million in the last 6 quarters. Now it has broken the trend and has gone upwards of $48 million to $50 million in the current quarter. The gross margin crossed about 60%, aided by the better profit mix -- better business mix because of the institutional business being scaled down. And we believe that it's a very good result from a Q3 perspective. And as far as the EBITDA is concerned, the increase is about 12% plus year-on-year. Operational PAT grew by 38%. So I want to sum by saying that 3.6% increase in revenue resulted in 8-plus percentage increase in gross margins plus the 12% increase in EBITDA and almost 38% increase in PAT. The multiple -- multiplier effect is very, very visible in the financials. And we believe that if we maintain the same trend, we will be able to surpass the goals what we have kept for ourselves. As far as the U.S. market is concerned, it is the U.S. revenue of $70 million, largely flat compared to the same quarter previous year. The core portfolio continues to remain strong, but there are a few developments which we want to keep you informed. The seasonal sales on account of the flu, unlike the last year, did not pick up in Q3. Usually, the Q3 and Q4, the seasonal sales will be very good. We saw some new players coming in a couple of key products, which also had a strong market -- which has also -- which we had a strong market share and a good run for the last few years. We believe that the -- we believe that the overall business is very intact. We also discontinued 8 products that did not meet our profitability threshold for last 9 months -- threshold for 9 months. And this shows our discipline towards profitability and also other key metrics with respect to the service levels and the overall hygiene. Also, we had a slower-than-expected quota allocations, which also contributed to the overall muted growth of U.S. business. As we continue to build on this controlled substances business, we are creating a steady and strong track record that will help us to gain momentum over the next few quarters. Despite this, our medium-term outlook for U.S. business remains unchanged. We continue to focus on our revenue aspirations for FY '28, supported by relaunch of several products from our government portfolio. Also, as we consolidate and strengthen the core, we are also accelerating investments, which we call a beyond $400 million target, which represents our next stage of growth. The investment includes IP purchases, partnered R&D programs and targeted investment into complex generics such as controlled substances, nasal sprays and 505(b)(2) programs. And all this represent differentiated high-value opportunities and are essential for evolving beyond pure generics and also a need a different skill set and expertise. In this connection, we are also excited to have Peter Hardwick joining us as the CEO of North American business. Peter brings in about 30 years of global pharmaceutical experience, including a leading Apotex corporation, one of the fastest-growing generic companies in the U.S. He was also serving as the Chief Commercial Officer for the Global Generics of Apotex. He has extensive experience in commercial turnarounds, portfolio shaping, pricing discipline and building high-performance teams. His skill sets will complement our long-term strategy. At Strides, Peter will focus on driving sustainable growth, strengthening execution excellence and building a resilient customer-focused organization across the North American region, which is one of the most strategic important market. When I say North America, it includes U.S. and Canada. And as you know, that we are also concentrating on Canadian market, and we have identified that as one of the key growth markets beyond FY '28. As far as the ex-U.S. market is concerned, we are combining the -- we are calling the ex-U.S. market as the other regulated markets as well as the growth markets. And in this quarter, we delivered a $64 million of revenue, representing almost 20% year-on-year growth. And we really see the gap between the U.S. market and the other ex-U.S. market, it's about $500 million per quarter. And we believe that this will be the trend going forward. And in the next 2 years' time, we should be able to grow those markets completely. And as far as the ORM is concerned, the other regulated markets, which is a subsection of the ex-U.S. markets, they grew very handsomely. They broke the trend of $42 million to $43 million. We recorded almost about $48 million year-on-year, 21% growth. And what makes us ORM a very important market is it has got a very high-quality revenue, high entry barrier, predictable pricing and the strong B2B partnerships, which will drive this market. And overall, if you really see the gross margins are also very stable in this other regulated markets, and it creates enough stickiness and sustainability going forward. And our growth markets revenue has been about $16.6 million, delivering almost about 19% year-on-year growth. We are seeing green shoots and early momentum in few markets, supported by a rising cadence of regulatory filings. The regulatory filings and execution will be the focus to grow this market. To reiterate, the ex-U.S. market continues to be an important management focus in addition to the U.S. market. And we believe that we have got enough levers in place to take this business going forward. And in addition to Peter, we also have one management change. We have appointed Nandini Matiyani as the Executive VP of HR. She brings over 2 decades of experience in driving people strategy, leadership development and cultural transformation and workforce capability building across global enterprise. At Strides, she will lead the global people agenda across operations around the world, reinforcing culture and strengthening capabilities and supporting the company's mission of making high-quality accessible healthcare in reality worldwide. And as you know, the people capability is very important as we grow the company in the long run. And Nandini's addition will be a great value add to Strides. I'm also pleased to inform the ESG score. We improved the ESG score from 76 -- 75 to almost 80, a 5-point increase over the last year. This reflects our continued focus on responsible growth, compliance and strong governance practices. So overall, it's a great quarter for us. And as we speak, we continue to focus on execution, and we have a lot of work to do, and we'll be as busy as ever. And with this, I'll hand it over to Vikesh to cover some key highlights on finance.

Thank you, Badree. A very good morning, good afternoon and good evening to all of you. As Badree mentioned in his opening remarks, we've had a very strong strategic focus on profitability and balance sheet strength over the last few quarters, and we are very delighted to report that we continue to progress quarter-on-quarter on these metrics. The growth in our ex-U.S. business and our profitability orientation has helped us to continue improving our gross margin and EBITDA numbers. Year-on-year, we've added INR 58 crores of gross margins, which has translated into a very healthy EBITDA and an equally strong PAT performance. For the quarter, our EBITDA grew 12% year-on-year to INR 236 crores, which is also our highest ever quarterly EBITDA. Our EBITDA margins are at 19.8% for the quarter, which is an expansion of 160 basis points year-on-year. For the 9-month period, our EBITDA is at INR 686 crores, which is a healthy growth of 17% with an EBITDA margin of 19.4%. We've improved our EBITDA margins by 180 basis points from FY '25. We had ended FY '25 at 17.6%, which reinforces our focus on driving profitability and sustainability across both our U.S. and ex-U.S. markets. Our balance sheet strength is also reflected in our EBITDA to PAT conversion. It is now at 54%. We are reporting an operational PAT of INR 128 crores with an operational PAT margin of 10.7%. It's a 39% growth year-on-year. With this growth, our operational EPS is at INR 13.9 per share for the quarter. For the 9-month period, our operational PAT has grown even more healthily. It has grown 65% to INR 382 crores with an operational EPS of INR 41.5 per share. It's very pleasing to report that we have already exceeded our full year FY '25 operational PAT of INR 345 crores. So last year, we reported an operational PAT of INR 345 crores, and we have exceeded that in the first 9 months of this year, and we've got a quarter to go. During this quarter, we also executed the sale of an investment property, which resulted in an INR 83 crore gain for the quarter. Consequently, our reported PAT for the quarter is at INR 208 crores. It's the first time we are crossing the INR 200 crore mark, and our reported EPS for the quarter is at INR 21.9. Our reported PAT for the 9-month period is at INR 445 crores, which is a 39% growth year-on-year with a reported EPS of INR 46.6. Our cash-to-cash cycle is stable at 124 days. And we -- as Badree mentioned earlier, we've improved our ROCE to 15.8%. This is on a trailing 12-month basis. We've seen an increase in the cash-to-cash cycle on a Q-on-Q basis. This is largely due to the business mix and reflects the significant growth we've had in our ex-U.S. business, which traditionally has a longer working capital cycle as compared to institutional business, which is extremely lean on working capital, though it is a low-margin business. So that led to a slight increase in our inventory and receivable days. So after funding for this increase in working capital, we've delivered an operational cash of INR 484 crores for the 9-month period, which is approximately 70% EBITDA to operating cash. Our net debt has got impacted on account of our restatement to the borrowings due to the current exchange rates, the depreciation in the exchange rates. On a constant currency basis, we have reduced our net debt by INR 169 crores in this 9 months. We've also invested INR 284 crores in CapEx in both tangible and intangible assets. In addition to the maintenance CapEx, we have also made investments for growth, and we've acquired certain targeted global product rights, which will drive our growth in the near future in both the U.S. and the ex-U.S. markets. Taking into account the negative impact of currency on our net debt, which was of about INR 83 crores. Our net debt stands at INR 1,436 crores. And despite this impact, we have improved our trailing 12 months EBITDA to net debt ratio to 1.59x. We had ended at 1.9x in FY '25. Overall, operating expenses for the quarter are at 41.5% of sales. In absolute terms, there is a slight increase in cost, but that is largely on account of exchange rates. The cost structure has remained well within range, and it continues to support our margin expansion. As you are all aware, there was a new labor code that got implemented during this quarter, and we have evaluated the impact of this code on our financials. And we are very pleased to report that we've not had a financial impact on our financial statements on account of the new labor code. We've historically followed a very simplified compensation structure and that philosophy, we are now seeing it aligning to the requisite of the new labor code. Our net finance costs for the quarter are in line at INR 39.7 crores. And for the 9-month period, the net finance cost is at INR 101 crores. Effective tax rate for the quarter is at 15%, and we expect it to be in the range of 15% to 18% for the year. Overall, it's been yet another exceptional quarter with a very comprehensive operational performance, structurally resilient business and with improving profitability, and we continue to focus on balance sheet discipline. Our focus remains on building sustainable growth. Thank you, and we are happy to take any questions that you have.

Palak can we open the Q&A...

[Operator Instructions] The first question is from the line of [ Anand from SOAR Wealth. ]

Sir, what is the contribution of the 8 products that are discontinued?

Yes. So it will be -- from an overall perspective, it's not very a material number from a yearly standpoint, but it will be -- it's not a very material number from that.

So sir, given this backdrop, just wanted to check what is the reason for lower or degrowth in U.S. business on a quarter-on-quarter basis or year-on-year basis?

Yes. So as far as the U.S. is concerned, we have said very clearly that profitability remains our focus. We don't want to compromise gross margins. And if you really see the entire pipeline, we have got 60-plus products, which we said we will launch over a period of last 3 years. Few products have already been launched. And we are on course to get there in '28. And we are working on a number of things, and we have invested ahead. And we believe the growth will start reflecting in the coming quarters. And this quarter was mainly because of the flu season. From a flu season perspective, it came in the -- maybe the last few days of December. We'll have to watch out. Usually, it will be a good Q3 and Q4. It was delayed this time, and that's the reason you're seeing the muted growth plus the discontinuation of the 6 products. We believe that even after this, we'll be able to have a market-leading positions in 37 out of 68 products. And overall, if you really see from our standpoint, while the growth can be muted at this point of time, but the overall strategy is intact from a long-term perspective.

Okay. Sir, another question. What is the sustainable gross margin? And the increase in gross margin is due to rupee depreciation also. So any thoughts on that?

See, as far as the gross margin is concerned, while this quarter has been 61% with respect to the -- because of the business mix and also the institutional business being lower than the overall revenue, we believe that it can be between a 58% to 60% range. Don't hold us on for each and every quarter. Our endeavor is to reach the higher end of the range always.

Okay. Understood. Sir, with respect to debt, what is our debt in dollar terms and the increase in the debt due to rupee depreciation? Will it not be routed through P&L in the March quarter?

Yes, I will take that question. So as far as the debt restatements are concerned, they are already reflected in the P&L. Some of the long-term loans, they don't get routed through the P&L and they are directly restated on the balance sheet. So as far as the P&L is concerned, it is a fair reflection of the position where we are today and factors in for the currency rates in the -- on the debt as we stand as of 31st of December.

So what is this amount, sir? And on which line item it is added?

It is -- so the loans are restated on every single line item. And the debt number that we are talking about at INR 1,436 crores is restated line by line at the current currency rates because we have loans across different currencies and those get restated, and that is what is reflected in this net debt number. What we are seeing is because the currency depreciated much faster than the average rate for the year, there is an impact on a constant -- there is an impact that has happened to the debt. And therefore, on a constant currency basis, there is a debt reduction that you see.

Understood, sir. Sir, my question is, if there is -- if it is charged to the P&L, whether net finance cost has gone up because of that or where it is getting impacted in the P&L is my question, sir.

So anything that is relating to working capital is already part of the EBITDA, okay? And anything that is pertaining to long-term loans does not flow through the P&L because those loans are in overseas entities and it goes directly to CTA.

Okay. So out of INR 83 crores of currency impact, what is the impact which has been reported in the P&L, sir? So I'm not able to understand it properly, sir. That's the reason I'm reiterating, asking it again.

See, it is going to be difficult to segregate between what is the impact to the P&L versus what is to the -- versus what is not in the P&L. But what I can tell you is that the entire impact, the way it has to be in the P&L is fully reflected in the P&L at the current exchange rates. So while like you said, there is a benefit of rupee depreciation, there is also the impact of the loan book. And on a net basis, we are still on a positive hedge, but because we've been following this philosophy of natural hedging, it has played out well for us.

And sir, what is the debt number in dollar terms? Or it consists of many currencies, so difficult to...

Yes. I mean in -- it's roughly about $160 million.

Okay. And how much is long term out of that because that will not be getting routed through P&L? What would be that number, sir?

We have it in the presentation.

Okay. INR 605 crores. Understood, sir. This is INR 659 crores.

The next question is from the line of , [ Sowmya ] an individual investor.

I have 2 questions. So first one is that over the last few quarters, our overall revenue has been in the range of $135 million to $140 million. So where do you expect the next leg of growth to come from?

See, as far as the overall revenue is concerned, we have given a very 2-year long -- 2-year horizon view. Our endeavor has been to -- use to reach about $400 million in U.S. and we have also said that ex-U.S., we want to mirror the U.S. markets in the 2 years' time. So if we really work out -- on a quarter-on-quarter basis, it will be a fairly consistent growth, which is what we expect. And we are not looking at each and every quarter as it is, but you have to look at us from a 2-year time frame from that perspective. And the growth will be led by many levers, which are all part of this. As far as the U.S. is concerned, we have got a number of dormant products. The controlled substances should pan out quite well for us in the near term. We are also investing on long-term growth. As far as the other regulated markets -- as well as the growth markets are concerned, all the pivots are in place to deliver a consistent growth.

Got it. Sir, next question is that could you please explain the reason for the increase in cash-to-cash cycle? And do we expect it to increase further as we focus on ex-U.S. market?

As far as the cash-to-cash cycle is concerned that we have said that while it follows the range, we expect it to be in the range of 120 to 125 days, depending upon how the market conditions are. And if you really see from an institutional perspective, institutional markets have got one of the lowest cash-to-cash cycles. Today, that market is very lower compared to the overall mix. And that's the reason you see an increase in the cash-to-cash cycles. And plus because of the holidays and a few other factors, the cash-to-cash cycle is slightly 1 or 2 days high. But I think overall, it will be within that 120 to 125 range.

The next question is from the line of [ Krisha ] an individual investor.

I have a couple of questions. So firstly, regarding the U.S. business. U.S. revenue has been range bound around the low $70 million mark for the last 3 quarters after achieving $77 million in Q4 FY '25. What have been the developments in the U.S. business that could explain this? Secondly...

Yes, let me complete this question for you. As far as the U.S. business is concerned, I clearly articulated that the season which used to play traditionally did not play through this year. Usually, we get a very good Q3 and Q4. We saw the playing out in the last 2, 3 days. And again, it is back to normal. That's also because of the buying pattern of all the buyers. Most of the people are ready for -- with the adequate stocks in their warehouse. So from that perspective, the seasonal thing which we used to play out in Q3 and Q4 did not play out the way it used to be in the past. As far as the second thing is we also had the -- in terms of the controlled substances, in terms of the quota approvals, you need a fast track record to get more quota. There has been a slight delay there. And -- but overall, we believe that the growth trajectory is intact and you should look at the entire U.S. business from a long-term perspective.

Okay. Secondly, despite the recent $70 million quarterly run rate, you have -- you already mentioned that you are reiterating the $400 million guideline by -- in U.S. by FY '28. Could you outline the key growth drivers for the same?

Yes. As I said that it's there in the presentation itself, but I'll -- for your purpose, I'll reiterate for you. There are a number of dormant products, which will contribute to that growth. Plus the -- I also talked about the controlled substances coming to a normalcy in the next few quarters from now. Plus we also have -- we also invested in R&D programs, which will start delivering revenue in the next 12 to 18 months.

Okay. And lastly, we discontinued more products than we launched in 9 months. Can you share some color on the product pipeline that helps us drive growth in the future?

See, as far as our focus has been that we are focused on the profitability. Anything which is not meeting our threshold, we just discontinue it. And we have got a strong portfolio. We've got a number of dormant products, and we have identified a number of products, which will drive the revenue in the long run. And there is no very specific therapeutic focus. It is more into generic space.

The next question is from the line of [ Rupesh from Long Equity Partners. ]

Badree, congratulations on good set of numbers and gross margin improvement. First question, Badree, on ORM, there is a comment on the presentation, Slide #10, that it is driven by B2B partnership in Australia. So some color around how Europe is doing? You seem very confident about ORM growth. So finally, European approvals are -- do you have visibility now? Can we see Europe growing every quarter for the next 4, 5 quarters now?

Yes, absolutely.

Which will meet our desired run rate?

Yes. As far as the -- [ Rupesh, ] I just want to confirm to you that our long-term objective has been to mirror the U.S. markets, right? And Europe is a very high entry barrier market, and we have been investing in it for the last many years. And we are starting -- we have onboarded many partners. And the lead time to onboard a partner is also quite high in that business. Plus once you onboard the stickiness is going to be there in that market for a long time to come. It's very difficult for the partner to switch from us to somebody else. And if you really see the last 6 quarters, 7 quarter trajectory, this has been in the range between $40 million to $43 million. And this is the first quarter, we have crossed that $48 million -- almost $48 million at this point of time. And if you really see the growth is going to be seen across the markets in the ORM. And we believe that we have got enough pivots in place to grow in the long run.

That's good to know, Badree. I mean I think a lot has been asked on U.S. Badree, but 2 questions there. Controlled substances, when do we see -- when do you expect to get our allocations, whatever you are expecting? And the second question now is to get to $400 million in FY '28. We pretty much did $100 million a quarter. We are at $70 million, and there are 5 quarters from now till there. So I don't know, I mean, controlled substances is [indiscernible] million.

I think just to get you this, controlled substances. We said that -- we have been reiterating in the last 2, 3 quarters also it depends on the quota. I think it will get sorted out because we need first full -- one full year of operation to demonstrate our ability to manufacture and also get more quota. I think that one cycle will -- has to be finished. We are going to finish that cycle in next 3 months, 1 full year of controlled substances. I think the next year should be fairly better. As far as the $400 million is concerned, we talked about FY '28. There are 9 quarters which are left. And as I said, that we have also invested in some R&D programs, also have global rights for certain IPs, which is going to lead us to get to that revenue beyond 12 to 18 months.

Yes. So Badree FY '28 starts 5 quarters from now, right? At least you -- I mean, you need to start at 95 and maybe end at 115. I don't know how the phasing is. But...

See we're all working -- all I want to say is that we are working towards it just because we had 1 or 2 quarters of slightly muted, doesn't mean that the future growth engines are not intact, right? So we are working towards it. And if you really see the company is working on a number of things to get to that. And our endeavor is to reach that in the long run.

So how many product launches maybe you have visibility over, let's say, next 5 quarters? $10 million plus -- maybe $10 million plus, I mean significant product launches...

We don't want to comment on any specific product to product because we have never commented in the past and the market dynamics are changing every day, right? Suddenly, when product goes into some disruption, it can be suddenly a $3 million product can become a $10 million product and $10 million product can become a $3 million product also, right? So from our perspective, the way I look at it is that we have a lot of ANDAs to be launched, and we will have a structured launch. We are not going to compromise profitability. We'll be able to get there. And what is more important for you is the diversification. Don't focus on any specific geography. Ex-U.S. is something -- 20% growth is something nobody saw it till now, right? So from that perspective, I think overall, in a 2 years' time frame, we should have a much better economics across the board.

Okay. And final question to Vikesh...

Sorry to interrupt you, sir. May we request you to come back in the queue...

This is just one quick clarification, this is. So just -- Vikesh this INR 83 crore currency impact this is just an accounting entry, right? Because we earn in whatever U.S. dollar, euro and the debt is in U.S. dollar euro. So this is just an accounting entry or a restatement...

Any difference...

Yes, yes this is a restatement.

It's a restatement.

The next question is from the line of Nirmam Mehta from Unique PMS.

Coming again to the U.S. market. So you mentioned some competition in the newer launches. So do you see some heightened competition? Or is it usual? And are you concerned? And is it across the portfolio also? Or is it only for the new launches?

As far as the competition is concerned, you and me cannot predict anything, honestly. If you ask me, the competition will always be there. We have to respond to the competition at all points of time, right? There can never be a situation there will be no competition, right? It is not specific to launches, specific to anything like it is across the board, right? And if you really see the last 6 quarters, 8 quarters, we have grown quite well in the last 2 years, we have grown extremely well. Just because we have got 1 quarter of $70 million and all of these things doesn't mean that we do not have the focus from a long-term perspective. I think the competition is there, and we are seeing competition. It is not across the board. It can be in select molecules. And we are working towards how to launch many products as we go along. And the U.S. portfolio has to be -- always be balanced by the launches as well as -- which will cover up for all the erosions from the competition. And you have to look at this from a next 2 to 3 years perspective.

Understood, sir. And sir, on the other regulated markets, as you mentioned, we've seen a good growth. We've seen that range -- coming out of that range. So what have we done right? And what is going well for us in those markets?

See, what we have done right is see our investment in the last 2 years. If you really see the market is -- we have spent a lot of time building those markets. We have made it extremely sticky. And our regulatory strategy has played out. Portfolio maximization is playing out in those markets. We have onboarded very good partners and conversion of the partners to the actual revenue has taken quite a bit of time. And now we are in that revenue stage. So hopefully, from now on, things should pick up.

The next question is from the line of Nitin Agarwal from DAM Capital.

Congratulations team for a pretty -- another solid set of numbers. Badree, on the ORM market, the non -- ORM plus growth markets, the targets that we talked about, I mean, U.S., we're talking about a $400 million number by F '28. When does this segment start to hit around that number in your assessment?

From our perspective, see the mirroring has already started, Nitin. From a '28 perspective, my view is that it will be closer to that. I don't know the exact quarter or anything at this point of time. We have to keep working as we go along for the next 2 to 3 quarters. Maybe much clarity will come by the end of FY '27. And please watch us very patiently until about next 3 to 4 quarters. Our intention is to get a very diversified company. And if you see the gap between the non-U.S. and -- ex-U.S. and the U.S., it's come down to almost about INR 50 crores, the difference in the revenue for the quarter. So next -- maybe about next 5 quarters, we'll get a solid clarity. And in the next 9 months, we should be able to do that is my belief at this point of time. And of course, each market has got -- has reached a reasonable size. Of course, the pressure will be there also in terms of once it reaches a good size, the pressure on growth will always be there. I think it will take about 2 years, I think.

And secondly, in these markets, are we entering -- looking to enter any new markets? Or largely, it's going to be about this growth in the current sort of -- I mean, expansion of the portfolio in the current geographies where you're present in?

Yes. So it is more about the expansion of the portfolio. We are not entering any new markets. There are definitely a lot of new partners, new customers there. What I can say is broadly the regulatory pathway is very clear. The products are clear, path is clear. So that's what gives us the confidence to grow in the near future.

And lastly, Vikesh, also on the -- we've had a pretty decent performance on our overheads over the last few quarters, which has given us a lot of operating leverage. I mean, does the business still have opportunity left for sweating out more on the costs, on the overheads?

Yes. I think -- I mean, we've been -- it has been in this range, and we expect it to continue in this range. We still have under recoveries in our facilities. And as we reduce -- keep reducing those under recoveries, we'll continue to see the operating leverage play out.

Okay. And Vikesh, what sort of tax rate should we look forward to for the next couple of years?

15% to 18%.

If I can squeeze the last one.

Okay, maybe a couple of years is 15% to 20%. When you take it to a couple of years, I think the 15% to 20% range is a fair number.

Okay. And on the CapEx, how should we think about CapEx for the business?

I mean, like we said last quarter as well, from a maintenance CapEx standpoint, we are on track in the INR 100 crores to INR 125 crores kind of a range. The rest of the numbers are more kind of opportunistic, and we saw opportunities there and for -- and these are global rights for both U.S. and ex-U.S. markets. And that is the reason we made some targeted purchases. But those would -- we would not put a number to it. Those we will look at opportunities and then see what works best for us.

The next question is from the line of Sarvesh Gupta from Maximal Capital.

So just one clarification which I needed was -- so if I look at your 9M FY '25 to FY '26, your gross margins in absolute amount has increased by around INR 200-odd crores, but EBITDA has increased by around INR 100 crores. So we were under the impression that the OpEx is more or less not going to increase. So what has caused this INR 200 crores to reduce to INR 100 crores by the time it reaches EBITDA?

Vikesh, do you want take...

Yes, yes. See, from a -- when you look at it quarter-on-quarter, the increase in OpEx is not significant. It is a marginal increase that you see in OpEx. Plus the ex-U.S. markets, we have our own front ends and there are certain costs to it. But at the end, what we look at is from an EBITDA standpoint, it has to be accretive and the gross margin. So if there is a superior gross margin and there are costs attached to it, but from an EBITDA -- overall EBITDA standpoint and from a PAT standpoint, it is accretive, then we go for it. So the idea is that EBITDA margin expansion is the focus. And if that means that we need to take certain products with higher gross margin and therefore, spend some higher costs, across the line items, you see those variability. But at the end, from an EBITDA standpoint, we've been targeting our desired outcomes.

Okay. And on the ORM side, so we have seen like a good quarter this time. But do you think that the growth with respect to ORM is now going to be consistently being there? Are there drivers in place and execution in place now that we can see consistent growth from here on? Or is it going to be start-stop kind of a play, if you can throw some more color.

As far as ORM ex-U.S. market is concerned, I clearly reiterated that -- we have got a regulatory pathway in place. We've got products. We have got strategies. We have got markets. We have got customers, right? So from our perspective, the build phase is already over as far as the ex-U.S. market is concerned. And you know that this is a market which has been trading for almost about between the range of $40 million to $43 million for many quarters, right? So from that perspective, I think we believe that we have got enough engines in place to grow this market. And our long-term vision is to mirror those markets. And you should not look at us on a quarter-on-quarter basis. You look at us over a period of 9 quarters, I think we should be close to the U.S. market.

And any advantages that you see because of this India-EU FTA accruing to you in terms of either margins or in terms of higher revenue opportunities from here on?

Yes. As far as this current thing, while it's early days, our initial view is that generics will not get any benefit from this deal.

The next question is from the line of Chirag Shah from White Pine Investment Management.

Sir, only one question. Can you just comment on the pricing trend for our finished products as well as raw materials? And any specific therapy that you would like to call out?

See, we don't want to give any product-wise details. But overall, if you really see the price erosions are part of the generics business. So some prices will go up, some prices will come down. But overall, it's a portfolio. I think the price erosions will always be compensated by the better COGS improvement, and that's what is getting reflected in the gross margins going forward.

Also, sir, I was referring also from an industry perspective. So can we make a case that pricing pressure is behind and probably there could be some case of beneficial pricing scenario for sometime?

We can't say all of this because it is very difficult to comment on all of these things because it goes by the current trend that is prevailing. There's nothing called that something is over because it all -- it's a function of market and players, right? So we can't say this at this point of time. But this is a part and parcel of the risk of the business, right, that you run.

And on the raw material side, are there any different trends where we have seen more pressure versus the finished products? So ORM prices are going up and finished products are largely stable kind of scenario?

No. See, every company plans its supply chain, has to plan its supply chain. It has to create multiple sources, right, to manage the crops better. And this has been going on in this industry for years. So it's a very time-tested process.

The next question is from the line of [ Omkar ] an individual investor.

Congratulations to entire Strides team for delivering great set of numbers consistently and best part is ORM market has also started delivering fabulous numbers. As management has put in more efforts in last 2, 3 years for ORM market, I have 2 questions for Strides management. One -- first question is MS Pharmaceuticals (sic) [ SMS Pharmaceuticals ] has recently received USFDA approval for ranitidine tablets. This approval marks reentry for acid reducing drug into U.S. market after 5 years of absence. Whether Strides Pharma will be relaunching ranitidine products in near future as ranitidine was the important and the highest revenue-generating product of Strides Pharma 5 years back, which got discontinued from March 2020 due to potential NDMA impurities.

Omkar, this is Aditya here. As you know, we did manufacture this product, and there was a class action suit issued to several players who were selling the product at that time, which caused the discontinuation. At this point, the SMS Pharmaceuticals company is the only one with an approved ranitidine formulation.

So are we getting any probability whether Strides will launch near future? Or as of now, there's no probability.

You know our history, we don't disclose any product-specific details of any of our products current or pipeline, and we maintain that stance.

Point noted. And last question, whether excess market revenue will improve in next 1 to 2 quarters? And what is the current order book for -- on donor funding for excess market?

Yes. So a good question. This has been subdued for a period of time now. Several organizations have reduced their funding to -- several countries have reduced their funding to large donor institutions like the global fund, which has caused a significant reduction in the amount of orders from these institutions to not only us, but all the other manufacturers. The period for the allocation is rolling over because they haven't fulfilled their obligations as well. However, certain countries are adding more to their contribution to do a fill up for the gaps caused by countries like the U.S., but that gap is very, very big to fill. So while the current outlook looks muted, perhaps in the near future, that should ameliorate a little bit.

The next question is from the line of [ Mehul from 40 Cents. ]

Sir, as you mentioned during one of the answers -- in reply to one of the questions, that there was a season delay because of the flu season in U.S. So can we expect a better Q4 this time? That's my first question.

Yes. So as far as we are concerned, don't go by the quarter-on-quarter thing. Our endeavor is to grow. And nobody can predict any season at this point of time. If definitely like last year, if it plays out, we will grow. That's the way it is.

Right. Sir, another question is you mentioned again, one of the responses that it is difficult to penetrate into the European Union market -- Europe market. So what is the difference? I mean, I'm very ignorant, so I would like to know from you, it will help me.

Aditya, here again. So the easy misconception is to think of Europe as just one market. However, as you know, it's filled with 28 countries. A lot of our times, partners require approvals across various countries to make sure that they can launch with a meaningful launch or MOQs and all of those things. So while you get one centralized approval, DCP approval, you will get country-specific approvals as well. So timing -- and those countries have their own timelines. So it's usually a function of getting the optimized timeline and then having the right critical mass to launch.

Sir, and what can be the negative -- most negative development, which can happen with the Trump administration because it's a very volatile environment right now with the U.S. administration. So what can be the worst which we can expect in terms of pharma -- generic pharma in U.S.?

No specific. These are all very difficult to comment, okay? So all I can say is, is volatility is a -- can be taken as both negative as well as positive.

Sir, can you please highlight how it can be taken as positive?

As far as we are concerned, the 1/3 of the revenue comes from our own in U.S. and for U.S. strategy. And I think we should closely watch the developments. At this point of time, the entire impact is not on generics. I only hope that the things stay as it is, and we go from here.

The next question is from the line of [ Sameer from Sakman Capital. ]

If you can talk a bit about your Nasal Spray portfolio, the one that has been filed and those which are under development?

Yes. As far as the nasal is concerned, one is already filed. So it's going -- undergoing a review with the USFDA. There are 2 more products which you are looking at in the next wave of filing. It is expected to get filed in the next 2 quarters, maybe by May, June. That's the time frame. We have completed all the intermittent milestones on time. In addition, we are also partnering on a few other programs. We have also identified a few other programs, which we are working with partners. And I think by -- in the next 2 quarters, we should have filed for 3.

And when is the first approval going to come?

It depends on the U.S. review. I think it should start -- the revenues will start kicking in from '27, '28, I think.

Okay. So another year or 2 to go for that.

Yes, a year or 2. Yes.

And how substantive can these nasal space be?

It's a very attractive space, but the market dynamics keeps changing all the time. So we have to figure out the go-to-market and it varies between product to product and the channels. Closer to the approval timeline once we cross all the technical milestones, I think we'll have to figure out how it pans out. At this point of time, we don't have any specific number in hand.

Ladies and gentlemen, in the interest of time, that was the last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to management for closing comments.

Thank you, everyone, and I wish you a very happy weekend. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. On behalf of Strides Pharma Science Limited, that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.