Tega Industries Limited (TEGA) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Q1 FY '27 Earnings Conference Call of Tega Industries Limited hosted by MUFG Intime. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Ms. [ Sakshi Mehta ] from MUFG Intime. Thank you. And over to you, ma'am.

Good evening everyone and welcome to the Q1 FY '27 earnings conference call of Tega Industries Limited. Today we are joined by the senior management teams of Tega Industries and Molycop. Representing Tega Industries are Mr. Mehul Mohanka, Managing Director and Group CEO; Mr. Ravi Joshi, Chief Financial Officer and Mr. Pratik Basu Roy, President, Product Management, Global Sales and Marketing. Representing Molycop are Mr. Lance Dawber, Chief Operating Officer and Mr. Patrick Koley, Chief Financial Officer. I would now like to hand over the call to Mr. Mehul Mohanka for his opening remarks. Thank you. And over to you, sir.

Thank you, Sakshi. Good evening and a warm welcome to all the participants on the call. It's always a pleasure to connect with our valued investors, analysts and stakeholders. This evening I'm joined by Sourav Sen, CEO Tega McNelly, Pratik Basaroy, President, Product Management Group Ravi Joshi, CFO and from the Molycop team I have Lance Dauber, Chief Operating Officer and Patrick Cole, CFO. I'm pleased to share that Tega Group delivered a strong quarterly performance reflecting the resilience of our business model, the strength of our market position and the successful integration of Molycop into the group. On a consolidated basis, the group reported revenue from operations of INR 17.2 billion to significantly higher than the prior year reflecting the scale and diversification benefits of the combined platform. Consolidated EBITDA before one-time expenses stood at INR 2.6 billion delivering an adjusted EBITDA margin of 15%. During the quarter, we incurred one-time expenses of INR 1.9 billion primarily related to acquisition and integration expenses. Looking at our legacy Tega businesses, performance remained robust across key segments. On a consolidated basis, Tega delivered another strong quarter. Revenue increased by 21% year on year to INR 4.3 billion while EBITDA grew by 42% to INR 1 billion. EBITDA margins improved to 22.1% from 19.1% in the prior year, highlighting our focus on profitable growth, operating leverage and disciplined execution. Importantly, the business continues to be supported by a healthy order book of INR 12.3 billion, providing strong visibility for future revenue and reinforcing confidence in the underlying demand environment. In the Tega consumables business, revenue grew by 36% year on year to INR 4 billion while EBITDA before one-time expenses increased by 58% to INR1 billion. EBITDA margins expanded to 24.1% compared with 20.9% in the prior year representing a significant improvement of 320 basis points. This performance reflects sustained customer demand, operational efficiencies and continued focus on value added solutions. The equipment business experienced a softer quarter with revenue of INR 358 million compared to INR 643 million in the prior year. EBITDA was broadly breakeven during the period. The revenue shortfall was primarily attributable to delays in customer clearances while profitability was impacted by operating leverage arising from lower volumes. Despite the near term challenges, we remain confident in the long term prospects of this business and continue to focus on strengthening our project pipeline and order conversion. In Molycop, we are encouraged by the progress achieved since the acquisition. Molycop contributed INR 12.9 billion in revenue during the quarter and generated EBITDA before one-time expenses of INR 1.6 billion representing an EBITDA margin of approximately 13%. We incurred INR 1.95 billion of one time acquisition and integration related costs during the period. The integration process continues to progress well and we remain focused on unlocking both commercial and operational synergies across the combined businesses. Overall, the quarter demonstrates the strength and resilience of our combined businesses. We are seeing encouraging momentum across our business lines, continued margin expansion and healthy customer demand across key markets. As we move forward, our priorities remain focused on delivering integration synergies, enhancing operational excellence and expanding customer relationships while leveraging cross selling opportunities across both Tega and Molycop. We remain confident in our strategy and the long term value creation potential of the combined Tega and Molycop platform and we are committed to delivering sustainable, profitable growth for all our stakeholders. Based on industry expert forecasts, the global gold market is expected to grow at approximately 2.2% CAGR through FY '30 while copper demand is projected to grow at around 4.8% CAGR resulting in a blended market growth rate of nearly 3%. Given Tega Group's platform strong presence across key mining regions and its exposure to both gold and copper end markets, the company is well positioned to benefit from these favorable industry fundamentals. The outlook for both the branding media and mill line industries remain robust, supported by continued investment across the global mining sector. According to UNCTAD, global copper demand is expected to increase by more than 40% by the year 2040. This demand will require approximately US$250 billion of investment and the development of nearly 18 new mines. These investments are expected to drive higher mining activity, ore processing volumes and demand for critical consumables such as grinding media and mill liners. The combined platform is well positioned to capitalize on attractive growth opportunities across the mining value chain, supported by strong underlying demand from existing operations and new project developments. Both Tega's legacy business and Molycop's core businesses are expected to deliver growth ahead of the broader market over time. For us, growth in mill liners as well as grinding media will be supported by increasing adoption of high performance hybrid liner solutions and a continued focus by mining operators on improving throughput productivity efficiencies as well as expanding mine production, declining ore grades and increasing ore processing requirements across key commodities. In Molycop, we have adopted a phased and disciplined integration approach. We expect to realize approximately $20 million of synergies in the next two to two and a half years. The principal value creation initiatives include optimization of expenses, SG&A costs, operational efficiency improvements, procurement synergies and leveraging the combined scale of the Tega Molycop platform. Our focus remains on sustainable value creation while ensuring business continuity and customer service excellence. I want to thank our employees for their unwavering commitment, our customers for their trust, and you, our investors, for your continued support. We are committed to delivering sustainable value and transparent communication. I would now like to hand over to Ravi who will walk you through the group's performance. Thereafter, Lance and Patrick will take you through an update on Molycop's performance. Thank you.

Thanks Mehul. Good evening everyone and thank you once again for joining the call. Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Board of Directors and management team for the confidence they have placed into me. I remain committed to upholding the ISO standard of corporate governance, compliance and transparency while driving sustainable value creation for all the stakeholders. Before moving to the quarterly performance update, I would like to emphasize that this is the first quarter in which Molycop's performance for the month of June 2026 has been consolidated into Tega's financial result of Q1 FY ‘27. Overall, Q1 FY ‘27 was a strong quarter for the business. The group's overall income, even excluding Molycop increased by nearly 23% compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year. For better clarity and transparency, we will be reporting Consumable Molycop Business and Equipment separately. Accordingly, if we talk about the segment performance for this quarter, Consumable Business revenue from operations net of intercompany transaction is true that INR 3.96 billion in Q1 FY ‘27 compared to INR 2.91 billion in the corresponding quarter last year, reflecting an increase of Approximately a billion rupees or 36% year on year. Equipment business revenue from the operations was 0.36 billion rupees compared with 0.64 billion rupees in Q1 of FY '26. This translates into growth of almost 44%. This is mainly due to the delay in the customer clearances during the quarter. The consumable business, Molycop and equipment business contributed approximately 23%, 75% and 2% respectively to the group's revenue from the operations. The total order book for the Consumable and Equipment segment stands at INR 12.3 billion, out of which executable within one year is approximately 9.6 million rupees. Excluding Molycop, the group maintained healthy gross margins of approximately 62% compared with 59% in the corresponding period last year. Despite raw material price volatility, global macroeconomic uncertainties, Molycop reported gross margins of approximately 36%. Excluding Molycop, the Group recorded total income of approximately INR 4.5 billion in Q1 FY ‘27 with an adjusted EBITDA of INR 1 billion translating into EBITDA margin of approximately 22%. By comparison, in Q1 FY '26 the Group reported income of INR 3.72 billion and adjusted EBITDA of INR 0.71 billion which was approximately 19%. Including Molycop's one month contribution for the month of June 2026, consolidated Group income for Q1 FY ‘27 stood at INR 17.41 billion with an adjusted EBITDA of ISR 2.64 billion representing an EBITDA margin of approximately 15%. These EBITDA numbers are without taking into consideration of one time exceptional expenses related to the Molycop acquisition of INR 1.9 billion. Additionally, for acquisition of Molycop in accordance with the NDS 103, the Group has recorded the assets and liabilities acquired through this business acquisition currently determined on a provisional basis resulting into recognition of goodwill amounting to approximately INR 50 billion. This remains subject to finalization within a period of one year in accordance with the NDS post violation of this process. The final allocation of purchase consideration to the acquired assets and assumed liabilities will be adjusted as necessary within the measurement period. I would like to emphasize that this quarter includes only one month consolidation of molecule performance. It would be premature to draw conclusions regarding the full year outlook based on this number of Molycop. We expect to provide greater insight into the combined business and annual performance trajectory over the coming quarters. That said, we are pleased to note that the Molycop's June 2026 performance, both in terms of revenue and EBITDA, was directionally ahead of our expectation at the time of the acquisition. Thank you for your time and attention. Now I would like to hand over to the Molycop team.

Thank you Ravi and good evening everyone. Lance Dawber, COO here so the copper and gold markets have remained strong after earlier this year with current copper price over $14,000 per metric ton and gold price trading around $4,400 per ounce. Copper prices have been driven by the constrained global mine supply while demand from electrification, renewable energy grid investment and AI related data center infrastructure continues to expand. Gold prices have remained elevated despite periods of volatility supported by ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, inflation concerns, government spending trends and continued demand for safe haven assets. Overall, these market conditions continue to support investment and production across many of our key customers. Freeport Indonesia continued to advance the phased recovery of the Grasberg Block Cave operation following the September 25th mud rush incident. Production blocks 2 and 3 achieved planned operating rates during the quarter. Infrastructure upgrades remain on schedule and Freeport continues to target a full return to planned operating capacity by the end of the calendar year 2027. In Panama, momentum also continued to build toward a potential restart of the Cobra Panama Mine. In April of '26, the Panamanian government approved the processing of stockpiled ore while discussions continue regarding a long term operating structure. First Quantum reported 2.1 million tons of ore processed and approximately 3,200 tons of copper produced by the end of the quarter. I'll hand over to Patrick to provide some brief remarks on our performance for the quarter and highlight the financial impacts from the transaction.

Thanks Lance. We are very excited about the combination with Tega and look forward to the opportunity this partnership will bring. For the one month ended June 30, 2026, we had adjusted EBITDA of INR 1.6 billion which is equivalent to $17.2 million. Our one month adjusted EBITDA for June 2026 increased 3% over the prior year period, driven by increase in ship volumes compared to the prior year and partially offset by product mix and higher operating expenses. These results provide us with good momentum as we further develop our strategy under the Tega ownership. As Mehul mentioned, we closed the transaction on June 1st with our Q1 IFRS results reflecting provisional purchase price accounting. The balance sheet reflects the new equity contributed to Molycop included in member's equity. Our balance sheet shows a goodwill of INR 49.96 billion or $528 million. At June 30, our Q1 results were impacted by transaction related costs of INR 1.85 billion or $19.5 million, which are pro forma adjustments to provide more meaningful run rate numbers. The transaction also involved the restructuring of our senior secured debt through refinancing and the use of new equity. Our debt reduced by approximately INR 22.25 billion or $235 million at closing. Total net debt declined by roughly INR 32.18 billion or $340 million during the quarter ending at INR 63.66 billion or $672.5 million as of June 30, which is compared to INR 95.8 billion or $1.0 billion at March 31. This deleveraging meaningfully strengthens our liquidity position and provides increased financial flexibility to invest in the business while maintaining a disciplined balance sheet. Now I'd like to hand the call back over to Ravi for instructions on how to ask questions.

We can start the Q&A.

[Operator Instructions] Ladies and gentlemen, we'll wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question comes from the line of Ankur Periwal from Axis Capital.

First question on you know the strategy on the combined network bit. While you did mention -20 million of you know, synergy benefits but to if I got it right, it was largely coming from, you know, the cost, efficiency, overhead, etc. From a revenue ramp up perspective. You know, in terms of cross selling our products as well as Molycop, you know, capitalizing on Molycop's network, how do you see the revenue ramp up here in both the businesses?

So this is Mehul, we expect the revenue ramp up to actually happen from Q3 to Q4 onwards of this fiscal year. It's still very early days. We're getting our teams together and strategizing across different markets. And as we mentioned earlier in the strategy rationale for the acquisition, there are markets where Tega is strong and Molycop can leverage off Tega's customer relationships and vice versa. So both products have the same customer across geographies and that process is on in terms of being able to identify those cross sell opportunities. So request a couple of quarters of patience with us and we'll be able to give you a more definitive number around it.

Sure, no worries. Just on you know Molycop, while you appreciate you sharing the details separately and giving the details on the volume side as well, just for our understanding these volume numbers or the revenue realization that the margins part these are steady state number what one should believe it to continue or there is a seasonality angle here which plays out both in terms of quarterly or on an annual run rate basis and secondly any RM inflation or any global macro being very volatile. Is there any one off cost or benefit that would have accrued here?

So this is Patrick from a Molycop seasonality basis, there's not much seasonality on a quarter to quarter basis. Historically our historical fourth quarter which ended in June, which is now our first quarter, was our highest period quarter. But given the results that we provided are for one month it's you need to look at Molycop on a quarter basis because you could have some volatility from one month to another month. So you really need to look at it on a quarter by quarter basis.

Appreciate that Patrick. And from a margin Trend line perspective, 30% margin here, that looks like steady state for you.

So the margin should be relatively flat in the upcoming quarters. One thing that I would recommend is that Molycop typically looks at a per ton number rather than a percentage of sales. And the reason why is that a majority of our customer contracts are tied to a steel indices. So as the price of steel goes up and down you may have some movement in our revenue number, but the way we have structured it, it protects our gross margin. So we look at things both on a percent of sales, but we focus more on a per ton number when we're analyzing our internal results.

And lastly on the Chile plant commissioning Any updates over there? If you can share.

Yes, the Chile plant is on track. We're looking at a soft commissioning around January 2027 with commercial production starting March. Of course this is subject to receiving sudden regulatory approvals locally. So we will have to, once the construction is completed, approach the local authorities for certain clearances. We expect that to be received within a two month window. But it's anyone's guess at this point. So keeping that into account, we are saying March should be around the time when we go into commercial production.

Okay, great sir. And just one bookkeeping question if I may. The one-time expenses that we booked in this quarter and there were you know, some INR 70, INR 80 crores or that we booked in the last quarter, this will be it. Or there could be some more recurring such sort of, you know, one-time expenses which one should be aware of.

This is it. We've factored in everything into the Q1 results.

Sure. So. So INR 110 crore this time and around let's say INR 75, INR 80 crores last year. So INR190 crores in all. Yes.

Yes, that's correct.

The next question comes from the line of Vikas Gupta from Wealth Guardian.

I just wanted to ask some question, some information on the total debt at Tega as well as at Molycop level. Can you help me out with that? Hello.

Just give us a second.

Sure, sure.

Yes. So total debt at the group level is INR 112 billion which includes redeemable preference shares of around INR 26 billion. INR 26 billion.

And at Molycop level.

the Molycop level net. Go ahead.

Go ahead Pat.

No, in US dollars the net debt number at June 30 was $672 million.

And how do you look this number coming to by the end of the year.

So our debt primarily our ABL will fluctuate during the year primarily related to the timing of our bar payments, which bar payments are approximately 80% of our cost of goods. So that is a significant payment that you'll see. But we anticipate that that net debt number will go down between now and the end of the year.

Okay, so my next question is on the CapEx. So how much is the sustenance CapEx at Molycop level and what's the next two years plan?

So this period is kind of a unique period because we have a 10 month period. So typically on a 12 month run rate basis you'd See, Molycop have CapEx somewhere in the low 30s. And so for this 10 month period I would anticipate our CapEx somewhere being in the high 20s. So $28 million would probably be a good estimate right now.

And any plan for the next two years?

So the plan for the next two years as I suggested earlier would be somewhere in the low to mid-30s depending upon some opportunities we have for some expansion. But I'd say the ongoing normalized capital for Molycop would be in the low $30 million.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from the line of Varun Jain from Dolat Capital.

Congrats on completing the transaction. I have a couple of questions. So firstly on the Molycop I tried to calculate the realization. So it was coming to close to 118 rupees per kilogram. So can you tell us like how this moves versus the steel price or steel prices? I think right now roughly 60, 65 in that range.

So it's the question around the movement of revenue. So as Patrick said earlier, around 85% of our contracts have a movement based on steel indexes. So when steel goes up, revenue goes up and similar to if it moves downward, our revenue will move downward. As Pat said, internally we focus on a per ton basis of margin is the way we measure internally.

And what is the number per ton which we are aiming for like 15,000 rupees or something like that?

Yes, we don't forecast really an estimated per ton number. When we do our internal forecast, we keep the revenue number per ton on a constant basis because we can't tell what the price of steel will be in the various countries that we operate. So as Lance mentioned earlier, we have the steel formulas and those formulas will vary depending upon the region of the world that you're in. So again we're focused on making sure we maintain our profit per ton. You will see some volatility in our revenue per ton. It'll either go up or go down depending upon the various steel prices around the globe.

Got it. And sir, for the last full operating year, what was the volume of Molycop and what is the volume growth expectation in the next couple of years?

Sure. So for the 12 month numbers that we had for Molycop, let me just grab that right here. It was the volume was slightly down year over year. The revenue followed that as being slightly down but the EBITDA on a 12 month period was up 11% year over year to ended up at USD191 million and that's up from $172 million dollars from the prior year. And that growth is a combination of maintaining strong cost controls as well as better bar procurement and control of our SG&A. So if you look to the future for the 10 month period you'll see that our volume will probably grow approximately 5% and our EBITDA will grow around 4% on a 10 month comparable basis. Just keep in mind we're still early on into this acquisition and we'll provide more formal long term guidance as we move throughout the year.

Sure sir, but what was the absolute number of volume for the last financial year and what percentage of that was from Latin America? Because we've been hearing that in LatAm. In LatAm the competition in Forge Media has increased because of China.

Sure. So the volume for 12 months ending in June 2026 was 1.204 million tons and for June 2025 it was 1.223 million tons.

and LatAm share and any comments on the Chinese competition?