Apollo Pipes Ltd (NSE: APOLLOPIPE) Q3 2026 Earnings Call dated Jan. 30, 2026
Corporate Participants:
Sameer Gupta — Chairman & Managing Director
Anubhav Gupta — Group Chief Strategy Officer
Ajay Kumar Jain — Chief Financial Officer
Analysts:
Manish Mahawar — Analyst
Nikhil Agarwal — Analyst
Fenil Brahmbhatt — Analyst
Priyanshu Poyam — Analyst
Utkarsh Nopany — Analyst
Kaustav Bubna — Analyst
Roshan Nair — Analyst
Sneha Talreja — Analyst
Saikrishna — Individual Investor
Presentation:
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Apollo Pipes Q3 and nine months FY ’26 Post-Results Earnings Conference Call hosted by Antique Stock Broking Limited. [Operator Instructions]
I now hand over the conference to Mr. Manish Mahawar. Thank you and over to you, sir.
Manish Mahawar — Analyst
Thank you, moderator. On behalf of Antique Stock Broking, a warm welcome to all the participants on the 3Q FY ’26 Earnings Call of Apollo Pipes. We have the leadership team represented by Mr. Sameer Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director; Mr. Arun Agarwal, Joint Managing Director; Mr. Ajay Kumar Jain, CFO; and Mr. Anubhav Gupta, Group Chief Strategy Officer on the call. Without any delay, I would like to hand over the call to Mr. Gupta for opening remarks, post which we will open the floor for Q&A. Thank you and over to you, Sameerji.
Sameer Gupta — Chairman & Managing Director
Thank you. Good morning, everyone. This is Sameer Gupta, CMD of Apollo Pipes. I am joined today by Mr. Arun Agarwal, JMD; Mr. Ajay Kumar Jain, CFO; and Mr. Anubhav Gupta, Group CSO. I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you to our Q3 FY ’26 earnings call. The first nine months of FY ’26 have been the most challenging period for the Indian PVC pipe industry. The multiple issues pertain to headwinds such as weak end-user demand, heightened volatility in raw material prices, oversupply in the market, and price war among PVC players. Demand was impacted due to the slowdown in both the private real estate sector and government infrastructure spending. On top of this, the frequent and sharp fluctuations in PVC resin prices triggered cautious behavior and continuous de-stocking by our channel partners.
Apollo Pipes’ sale volume was flat in these nine months versus our expectation of double-digit growth. We have adjusted our strategy accordingly to the market behavior. Although we wish to have performed better, the good news is that our strategy of going aggressive for market share expansion has started showing results from December onwards. The momentum continues in January, and we are confident of a very strong Q4 sales performance. The adjustment will suppress our EBITDA margins in the short-term to medium-term in line with the industry peers. However, the same shall recover with operating leverage benefits and better pricing once market share is improved.
Our focus area is the addition of new products such as PLB ducts, DWC pipes, PE gas pipes, and PVC-O pipes in the piping segment. We have forayed into the UPVC doors and windows category, further strengthening our presence in the building material space. Each of these products is engineered to offer enhanced performance and durability, replacing conventional materials and opening up new market opportunities for Apollo Pipes.
We are increasing our focus on CPVC pipe, which is currently contributing to around 15% of our volume. We have tied up with Lubrizol, which is a leading raw material supplier, to create a joint pitch and strengthen our presence in this high-margin category. This will improve our sales mix for the company in coming months.
With almost two years of integration, our West India facility is now ready to take off.
We have done a lot of changes to ensure that the plant is utilized to the optimum level. Our new plant in Varanasi is on track and is expected to commence next month. This will significantly strengthen our presence in the Eastern India market.
We incurred a capex of INR125 crores in nine months FY ’26, following a spend of INR166 crores in FY ’25. We remain committed to expanding our total installed capacity to 2,86,000 tons over the next two years without adding any debt to our book. Our working capital cycle is slightly elevated as of 31st December 2025 due to high inventory levels. However, it shall be settled back with higher sales in Q4. That concludes our opening remarks. Now, we are glad to take questions. Thank you.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] The first question is from the line of Nikhil from Money Stories. Please go ahead.
Nikhil Agarwal
I wanted to understand about the demand scenario in the industry. How do you see the demand flowing in the coming quarters, given it has not been that robust over the last few quarters? And how are we placed to compete with the larger players in the market in this situation?
Anubhav Gupta
Hi Nikhil, this is Anubhav here. So, if you look at the demand scenario for the plumbing industry, it has been a bit challenging because of multiple reasons. Obviously, there is a bit of overcapacity from the industry players and the demand has been weak because of slowdown in the overall construction activity in the first nine months. Also, the government capex has been kind of slow for the water infrastructure and that is continuing for the last 24 months straight. So, there is a pressure on the trading side of the business where all the players are trying to take market share with the distributors and the trade channels.
But of course, that being said, the organized players — the players with a stronger brand — have always an edge. But what happens is that the smaller players come and they try to disrupt the market with the pricing. So, that makes all the organized players and larger players also to go after a price war and take market share. So, this is what has been happening for the last 15, 20 months and things have not improved too much on the ground. Although there are a lot of expectations and hope that there will be spending from the consumer side — retail discretionary spending will improve after GST cuts and maybe some revival in the government capex — we haven’t seen much yet. But at some point, it shall start.
If you look at APL Apollo’s performance this year so far, now we have two businesses: Housing and Agri. For the Housing business, the first nine months’ performance — although on a consol basis, my sales volume looked flat Y-o-Y in nine months FY ’26 versus nine months FY ’25 — the Housing segment, which is 60% of my total business, has grown above 10% on a Y-o-Y basis.
The Fitting business has grown at 10% on a Y-o-Y basis. The water tank business is high double-digit growth on a Y-o-Y basis. The CPVC volume has grown at 10% on a Y-o-Y basis.
It is just that the HDPE business and the Agri business have not performed and have been in decline mode. So, that is why my overall volume looks flattish. And of course, Kisan, which was a struggling business we took over — it is taking a bit longer than what we expected to ramp that business up. But now the foundation is set. We have spent almost 20, 22 months in full integration of that plant, which is over now. And now from Q4 onwards, we will see traction in Kisan also.
So, what has gone good for us is that the Housing Plumbing business has performed in double-digit growth Y-o-Y in the first nine months. Our distribution, our brand pool, our product SKU, everything is set. If there is a slight improvement in demand at the macro level, which we are seeing some green shoots of, we will come back very stronger in Q4 with very solid volume growth. This will lift our overall FY ’26 volumes. Like the start of the year, we said that we shall be growing in the mid-double-digits. But of course, nine months are flat. But because of a stronger Q4, we still expect that we should be closing the year with high single-digit volume growth.
Nikhil Agarwal
Got it. Thank you. Look forward to having a great quarter ahead. Thanks.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Fenil from Choice Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Fenil Brahmbhatt
Hi. Thanks for the presentation. I want to understand what the management view is on the PVC prices, like PVC price down by 9% Y-o-Y, whereas realization is down by 15% if I am not wrong. So, what is the management view on this and what are we expecting in the coming period?
Anubhav Gupta
So, see, PVC resin prices are so unpredictable that it is very tough to take a guess. No one thought at the start of the quarter that PVC prices would fall to INR61 a kg from INR72, which was almost an INR11 fall from October to December. And then suddenly, within January, we saw an improvement by INR7, INR8 per kg already. Now, PVC prices are at INR68, INR69 a kg. So, it is a very sharp fluctuation which is taking place. The swings are very high and very frequent.
So, it is very tough to make a guess as to how prices are going to behave.
What we try to do is that we try to keep very low inventory levels, although as of December 2025, our inventory levels are a bit high because the sales volume was not on the expected line. But yes, in Jan, Feb, the sales momentum is strong. So, we shall be able to bring back the inventory levels down to 60 days from 80 days, which were at December 2025. So, that being said, it is tough to take a call on PVC prices. But yes, INR60 were at kind of all-time low levels in recent times. And some recovery was expected, which took place. Now from current levels, should they go further or will they go down? Difficult to take a call as of date.
Fenil Brahmbhatt
Got it. My second question is on the volume target; after considering the nine months FY ’26 performance, what are we targeting for FY ’26 and FY ’27, if we have any data on this?
Anubhav Gupta
So, for Q4, we are targeting a volume of 32,000, 35,000 tons. And if we are able to achieve that, we shall be closing the year at 106,000, 107,000 tons versus 99,000 tons in FY ’25. And for FY ’27, with the Varanasi plant coming in, Kisan ramp-up, and window profiles contributing to our revenue, we should be doing high single-digit double growth sales volume.
Fenil Brahmbhatt
And the last question is on the geographical demand. You mentioned some issue on the Delhi side, some low demand from Delhi?
Anubhav Gupta
Say it again.
Fenil Brahmbhatt
Yes, I am saying geographical demand. I want to understand demand from the Delhi or whatever market we are capturing; what is the management view on demand from those geographical ones?
Anubhav Gupta
So, North India, which contributes 60%, 65% to our total revenue, remains our home ground. Now, the next contribution has to come from West India, from the Tarapur plant. We are confident that FY ’27 will see a good contribution coming from the Tarapur plant, Maharashtra, and the Varanasi plant is starting in March, in the next 1, 2 months. So a lot of expectations from the Varanasi plant also, which will capture Eastern UP and other Eastern Indian markets, which we have not been able to cater to so far. So, yes, West and East India should be contributing much more in FY ’27 versus what they have done so far.
Fenil Brahmbhatt
And what is our view on the government demand? Like demand from the government side, infrastructure?
Anubhav Gupta
So, I guess, this Sunday we have the budget from the government. Let us see what they have on the cards regarding water infrastructure. Plus, apart from the new budget allocation, first, they need to clear payments for the existing projects, which are stuck with the EPC contractors. So, cash flow has to improve for the EPC contractors for demand to revive. Thirdly, now that it has been like 1, 1.5 years of dull demand from the government side, we are also not building too many expectations into our business model for FY ’27 and FY ’28 from government-led demand. We are focusing on housing, plumbing, distribution, branding, SKU addition, and taking the housing portfolio from 60% to 70%, 75% in the next two years.
Fenil Brahmbhatt
Got it. Thanks for the answer and all the best.
Anubhav Gupta
Thank you.
Operator
[Operator Instructions] The next question is from the line of Priyanshu from Omega Portfolio Advisors. Please go ahead.
Priyanshu Poyam
Hi. My larger question is regarding the capacity expansion on the fundraising that we have done through warrants. So as far as I see we’ve only received 25% of the total amount from the warrants, but our capacity will be coming live very soon. Is there any reason that we are not getting any additional amount from the warrants? I understand that there is an 18-month period, but normally, shouldn’t 50% be a number that we should have received by now?
Anubhav Gupta
Hi, Priyanshu. So, see the warrants, the capital raise what we did in April 2025, the total amount was INR110 crores. Out of that, 25% came upfront within April 2025. And the balance 75% has to come within 18 months. So, the timeline for that is October 2026, which is still 7, 8 months from now. So, that money will come. Our recent interaction with the investor, they are fully committed to exercise those warrants at the price of INR550. So, yes, there is no default, etc. Just that the warrant money will come within the specified timeline by October 2026.
Priyanshu Poyam
So, we expected most of the money to come towards the end of the period rather than in a staged manner. Is that understanding correct?
Anubhav Gupta
That will never be the understanding with the investor, right? It was always that 25% upfront and 75% by October 2026.
Priyanshu Poyam
All right. Thank you. My second question is regarding the capacity expansion. Like earlier you had hinted that the market is going through a period of oversupply. Wouldn’t our Varanasi plant add to that?
Anubhav Gupta
So, see, if you look at our capacity which is coming, East India is a virgin market for us; we are not present there. So, all the production which will take place there will give me incremental sales volume in newer markets. From our North India plant, we were not able to feed too much into East India, plus our Raipur plant was very small to be able to cater to East Indian markets. So, we are confident that volume will get consumed from the Varanasi plant for the newer markets, for the virgin markets. There will be no cannibalization.
Of course, yes, competition is high, but we have started working on creating the distribution network and creating the brand pool in those markets. So, we are fairly confident that plant will get ramped up on expected lines. What also gives us confidence, Priyanshu, is our performance in the Housing segment in the nine months so far. In each of the categories which I mentioned, we have been able to grow 10%-plus despite all the competition and all the bad things happening within the sector. So, whatever challenges there are, we have been able to demonstrate good performance in the Housing Plumbing segment, and in the Varanasi plant also, we are fairly confident that should continue.
Then Kisan, yes, like I said, the foundation is ready now. We have 30,000, 40,000 tons of ready capacity. It took us a bit longer time to complete the integration, which is done now. And Jan, Feb, we are already seeing good traction for Kisan; it is a solid brand already. We took full charge of procurement, IT, and finance. Now, we are taking charge of sales also. So, you will start seeing the results. And again, the Western market is virgin for Apollo Pipes. Kisan also sells like 5,000, 6,000 tons a month, whereas the potential is 10,000, 15,000 tons which can be sold. So, we are fairly confident on the Western market also.
Apart from that, then there are new products like UPVC window and door frames, which is a completely new market and new product for us. OPVC, yes, demand in those projects right now is low, but whenever it picks up, it will be all new revenue contribution coming from that product. Water Tanks is still small for us, growing at a high double digit. Right now, the contribution is slightly less than 5%, but it will grow to 10% in the next two years. CPVC within the Housing Plumbing segment, with the tie-up with Lubrizol — so that is also going to add or contribute good volumes going forward.
Priyanshu Poyam
Are there any plans to do a full takeover of Kisan Mouldings anytime soon?
Anubhav Gupta
See, when we had acquired the company, it was always on the cards that ultimately we will merge it into Apollo Pipes. Timelines were like once we take full charge of the plant, which we have achieved now. So let us see when it happens. But yes, ultimately it has to be merged within Apollo Pipes.
Priyanshu Poyam
Thank you. Those are the questions from my side.
Operator
Thank you. A request to all participants. Please restrict your question to two per participants. And for more questions please rejoin the queue. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Utkarsh from Anand Rathi. Please go ahead.
Utkarsh Nopany
Good morning, sir. Sir, first thing I just wanted to know, like you have given a very strong guidance of volume growth of 23% to 35% for the March quarter, which we are targeting. So, just wanted to know what has changed on a quarter-on-quarter basis; like in the December quarter, we posted negative volume growth. And now we are targeting growing our volume at a 23% to 35% rate. So, what has changed so that we are so confident of delivering such high volume growth in the March quarter? And are we seeing any signs of reduction of a pricing war in the sector with improvement in the demand condition? So, this is my first question.
Anubhav Gupta
So, Utkarsh, when we gave the guidance of a strong Q4, we gave it with all the caution, based on what we saw in the last two weeks of December and what we have seen in January so far. So, the growth — the sales growth volume — has been 25% on a Y-o-Y basis for these six weeks. So, this gives us confidence that the March quarter should be pretty strong. And obviously, a lot of real estate projects and construction projects try to get completed within the March quarter. So, seasonality also plays a big role here, plus the strategy what we adopted of kind of more aggressive pricing in quarter 3. That will also start showing results within quarter 4. So, that being said, we are fairly confident of achieving this guidance.
Utkarsh Nopany
Okay. And sir, any signs of reduction of the pricing war in the sector or does it continue to remain the same the way it was in the December quarter?
Anubhav Gupta
Unless there is a revival in the macro demand, the pricing war will continue.
Utkarsh Nopany
Okay. Sir, my second question is, like, we have booked a provision of INR12.75 crores related to the changes in labor law in the December quarter. So, I wanted to know in which P&L line item we have booked this amount and what would be our margin guidance for standalone operation and for the Kisan operation for FY ’27 and FY ’28 going forward?
Anubhav Gupta
So just to correct you, it is INR1.2 crores not INR12 crores. It is 12 million. And that provisioning is in employee cost.
Utkarsh Nopany
Fine, sir. And sir, what would be our margin guidance for standalone and for the Kisan operation for ’27 and ’28?
Anubhav Gupta
So, see, Apollo has been operating at INR9,000, INR10,000 per ton. It is just in Q3, which was hit because of inventory losses, etc., and this provisioning because of high employee cost, we were down to INR6,500 per ton. So, I guess in FY ’27, we should go back to INR9,000, INR10,000 per ton in Apollo Pipes. And Kisan also has seen a peak of INR4,000, INR4,500 per ton. And of course, Q3 was bad. So, for FY ’27, we will take Kisan to INR4,000, INR5,000 per ton with the sales volume revival.
Utkarsh Nopany
Okay. Thanks a lot, sir. That’s it from my side.
Operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Kaustav from BMSPL. Please go ahead.
Kaustav Bubna
Yeah, hi. So just wanted to understand what finally happened with this anti-dumping case on PVC. What finally happened on that?
Sameer Gupta
The anti-dumping case was not concluded by the government. And as per the rules and regulations of the government, the case has to be dropped within that period after final findings. They cannot give too much time after the final findings. When the final findings were there, they have to conclude it or withdraw it. They cannot leave it like that. So, once the timeline was over, it was automatically withdrawn from the government side that there will not be any anti-dumping on PVC resin. And for new PVC resin, it has to be started all over again. There will be new initial findings, then all the investigations will have to be done, then the final findings will have to be done. It is a minimum process of, you can say, 6, 9 months for that anti-dumping to restart.
Kaustav Bubna
And how do you look at pricing now that this is off the table versus what you were expecting earlier? Because I remember in the last quarter, you were way more confident about quarter 3, and quarter 3 was a big upset versus your estimation of quarter 3. So do you think you are hopeful for quarter 4? I am just trying to understand how quarter 4 will turn out the way you’re expecting it to.
Sameer Gupta
In the last quarter, actually, the major impact was because of the antidumping. Majority of the players — whether it is the resin manufacturers, PVC pipe manufacturers, or the traders or dealers — they had stocked a lot in anticipation of price hikes. So, once that hike was not there, everybody tried to liquidate their inventory. That resulted in too heavy, you can say, and sharp falls in PVC resin prices, which resulted in low demand and destocking by the channel partners. That impacted our demand a lot, which was actually something for which we were anticipating a very high — you can say, low season, you can say — that second season, or mini-season, as we call it in Q3. It was totally impacted because of that price fall and no anti-dumping coming into the picture.
Everything was, you can say, settled. And right now, if you see that the prices — the resin prices — have again increased. But what we feel is that the resin prices should be at a similar level to what is current, plus or minus INR2, INR3. So, it should not be a very sharp hike or increase in the near future, or decrease also. But again, the market is not in our control and it is behaving in a very erratic manner. So, we are not able to predict or say anything regarding this. But as per our study, it should remain at the current levels only.
Kaustav Bubna
And just one last question on Kisan Mouldings. When you took over this, at what capacity utilization were the plants and where is it today? How would you judge your initial workings around that acquisition? And also, could you give some sort of a plan towards how you plan to grow this acquisition, end users of products, new cases, etc.?
Anubhav Gupta
So see, Kisan, if you look at the capacity, the plant can produce around 50,000 to 60,000 tons of plumbing products with the mix it has right now. And we are doing around a 21,000, 22,000 tons annual run rate. So, you can say that is 40% utilization. Our target is to take this capacity to 70% utilization, which is like 35,000, 38,000 tons in the next two years. It should have started happening much earlier. But of course, because of the overall low demand and aggressive pricing from Kisan’s peers in the Western market, there has been a bit of a delay.
But meanwhile, what we did is integrate the plant into Apollo Pipes with complete system integration, whether at the finance level, IT level, or procurement level. Now at the sales level also, it is attached to our national sales head. Various strategies are being formulated so that we ramp this volume from 22,000 tons per year to 35,000, 40,000 tons per year in the next two years. And given the brand strength and the distribution strength which the company has, we should be able to achieve these numbers in the next two years.
At the same time, we are also planning to invest, say, INR30, INR40 crores in the next two years to modernize that plant, which can increase its capacity by 15%, 20% with such a small spend. So, we are working on that blueprint. Although the amount is small, we need to be very cautious in spending every dollar there. So, yes, a lot of things are happening on many fronts, whether it is to add new capacity within the existing plant or to ramp up the existing capacity, formulation of sales strategies, and integration within Apollo Pipes. So, we are working on all fronts. And within 1, 2 quarters, you will start seeing the results out there.
Kaustav Bubna
Can I squeeze in one more question if you don’t mind?
Anubhav Gupta
Sure, go ahead.
Kaustav Bubna
Yeah. So what is your building material division, your PVC pipes that go into residential buildings? What is that contribution from Maharashtra? Because what I am trying to understand is, do you have a strong presence in Maharashtra? And if you do, how do you see this redevelopment demand for your growth over here?
Anubhav Gupta
So, Kaustav, if you look at our Western market, Apollo Pipes hardly sells anything there. That is why we acquired Kisan’s Tarapur plant. Now, Kisan would be like 60%, 70% Agri in that market and 30%, 40% Housing Plumbing. So when I say that we are going to spend some money to add new lines there, that is to increase the capacity in the housing segment. Apollo on a standard level is 60% Housing and 40% Agri. For Kisan, in the next 3, 4 years, our target is also to change the mix towards 60% housing and 40% Agri.
Kaustav Bubna
Thank you so much. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Roshan from Antique Stock Broking. Please go ahead.
Roshan Nair
Yeah. Hi, thanks for the opportunity. Just wanted to understand your capex timeline. And what would be the remaining pending capex amount required for?
Anubhav Gupta
We are not able to hear you properly. Can you please be clear slightly?
Roshan Nair
Is it audible now?
Anubhav Gupta
Better.
Roshan Nair
Yeah. So just wanted to understand what is the timeline for the remaining pending capex. And what amount would be required to be committed for that purpose?
Anubhav Gupta
Are you asking for any specific project or are you asking in general?
Roshan Nair
In general and specifically regarding the organic capex — the brownfield expansion?
Anubhav Gupta
Fair enough. So, in nine months so far, we did INR125 crores in capex and quarter 4 will be another INR25 crores. So, for the full year, we should be closing at INR150 crores. For next year, FY ’27, we want to acquire land for our South India plant, which could be INR25, INR30 crores approximately. And then INR50 crores we will spend on ongoing expansion for new lines and brownfield expansion, which are ongoing. So, for next year, the budget is around INR75 crores. And once the Kisan blueprint is ready, there could be another INR25, INR30 crores addition to Kisan. So, for FY ’27 on a consolidated basis, there could be around INR100 crores of capex.
Roshan Nair
Sure. Yes, that is helpful. The next question is. So, lately, there was a removal of the VAT rebate on exports by China. So, when do you see the Indian players starting to see a benefit from the same? Or in the near term, could there be increased dumping that can happen. So what is your view on that?
Sameer Gupta
Yeah, Roshan, actually that anti-dumping export duty which is being removed by China from April 1st — that effect is yet to come. Yes, of course, plenty of material is right now coming from China on this anticipation that it will increase the PVC resin prices by $50, $60 per ton. That impact, we are hoping, will be there on the resin prices. But right now, because of this anticipation, many players are booking too much material and they are hoping to gain that benefit.
But we are not very much banking on that increase because that is a very nominal increase of $50 or $60, which may come or may not come. And we don’t know what exactly will be the competition level at the end of March or in the beginning of April. Because the resin prices are too much dependent upon the demand scenario also. Because if demand is there, it will automatically go up. And of course, in the absence of demand, it goes down drastically and people work below the considered cost price also. So, we are not too much banking on that resin duty, which will be removed from 1st of April.
Roshan Nair
Sure. And just one last bookkeeping question. What was the inventory loss for this quarter?
Anubhav Gupta
So, Roshan, see, PVC prices crashed by almost INR11 per kg during the quarter. And keeping the minimum inventory levels still, I think it should be near about INR50 million — the write-downs.
Roshan Nair
Yes, sure. Thank you. Thanks a lot.
Operator
[Operator Instructions] The next question is from the line of Sneha from Nuvama Wealth. Please go ahead.
Sneha Talreja
Hi, team. Thanks a lot for the opportunity. Just two questions from my end. Firstly, on the PVC prices trend, like you said, the rebate impact is likely to come from 1st of April. But if you look at it in terms of imported prices, we have already seen a run-up from maybe $580, $590 from the bottom to about $700 now. What could be the reason, in case we still have ample supplies there in the market?
Sameer Gupta
Sneha, right now the resin — because of that sharp drop in the Q3 quarter, people were not ready to import anything. And because of that, there was a shortage in the Indian market. In that anticipation, people are right now booking like anything for the PVC resin. But we are not too bullish about this thing. The general — or the genuine — prices should be within the range of $650, $700 peak. We are not anticipating anything above $700. Of course, the market can behave like anything; it can go further up. But we are not too much banking upon that to run our business. Because above that price, again, it will impact our productivity. Again, China has got two big capacities. And once the demand is there, and above any price over $650, all the resin manufacturers in China are in profit. They earn a good profit above $650. And once it touches $700, then they have got good space to supply enormous quantities. So, that is why we are not too much banking upon the prices above $700. Even from the larger players, like Reliance or other things, we receive the same guidance.
Sneha Talreja
That was pretty helpful, sir. So, probably then you are saying the pricing that we have is kind of the peak at this point of time in PVC, which is about $700 odd?
Sameer Gupta
Yeah, I hope like that.
Sneha Talreja
Understood. Our second question was, while we are doing a lot of capex and we continue to do that and we have ample capacity sitting with us, what are we doing in terms of demand generation? Because we have been seeing our utilization rates lagging a bit and because of which we see pressure on our operating profit as well. What are the steps that we are taking in order to increase this utilization rate significantly from here?
Anubhav Gupta
So, Sneha, there are two parts to this question. Number one is that when you look at the overall utilization rate, it looks low, right? But when you break our business into Housing Plumbing, plus Agri and Government Infra, as I mentioned at the start of the call, all our categories in the Housing Plumbing have grown in double digits — whether it is Fittings, Housing Pipes, Water Tanks, or CPVC pipes. So, we continue to grow our volumes in that segment and the utilization levels are also going up. That is why we continue to invest into building capacities.
Second, Agri and Government Infra — of course, that is not a focus area anymore. If there is demand from the government side, we have the ready capacities. Orders come at good pricing. We shall take orders and do the job. For Agri, in the first nine months, our sales are down 7%. So, the industry is also down by a similar level. Hopefully, this year being the year of base, next year there could be some revival in Agri demand, so capacity utilization will go up.
Now, from here, whatever capacities we are building — whether in Varanasi or Kisan — as I said, we are moving more towards Housing with new lines being put up. That is a blueprint under design. And whenever we go for the Greenfield South plant — say maybe in the 2027 calendar year, although the process has already started with the identification of land, etc. — that also will be more Housing Plumbing heavy. So, we are confident that as a company, we want to take Housing Plumbing to 75% of our sales mix, and the capacities need to be built accordingly.
And to utilize more, we have also gone a bit aggressive on the pricing front, as the industry leaders are doing. So, that is what gives us confidence that we will see a very sharp improvement in the sales volume in quarter 4 of FY ’26. So, maybe when you analyze the Q4 FY ’26 numbers, you may not ask this question again.
Sneha Talreja
Understood. Point noted. Lastly, how is the agriculture demand at this point of time? Because we are already in the middle of the season, has it started to pick up — not just from the restocking perspective, but the actual demand on the ground? And lastly, on Kisan, you mentioned that your EBITDA guidance is about INR4,000, INR5,000 per ton, while the company is currently making losses. At what level of utilization in Kisan do you expect these levels to be reached?
Anubhav Gupta
So, coming to the first question — Agri demand — yes, seasonality has started to play in. There is a pickup in demand. And hopefully, until April, May, this should continue before the monsoon starts. Coming to the second point: if you look at Kisan’s EBITDA per ton, we acquired the company in quarter 1 FY ’25. Last year, it closed at a INR5,000 per ton EBITDA spread. It is just that in quarter 2 and quarter 3, it came into losses because of low utilization levels and inventory write-downs. So, INR5,000 per ton we did achieve in FY ’25. For FY ’26, obviously because of inventory losses and low utilization, the number will be much lower. But for FY ’27 and FY ’28, we are confident of achieving INR4,000, INR5,000 per ton.
Sneha Talreja
That was helpful, Anubhav. Thanks a lot, team, and all the very best.
Anubhav Gupta
Thanks.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Fenil from Choice Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Fenil Brahmbhatt
Hello, I have one another question for the management. I just want to understand what the components of our other income and other gains, which is part of the total revenue or total income?
Anubhav Gupta
Just one second.
Fenil Brahmbhatt
Yeah, sure.
Anubhav Gupta
So, Fenil, your question is what the INR56 lakhs of other income, what does it comprise of, right?
Fenil Brahmbhatt
Yeah. So -components of this INR56 lakhs, because it is a volatile number if I look quarter-on-quarter or year-on-year. So, what is the main source of this other income?
Anubhav Gupta
So, see, last quarter, it was INR2.3 crores in September. And it included a profit from the sale of an asset of INR1.8 crores. So, 2.3 less 1.8, it was INR50 lakhs. So, quarterly, on the business front, as a recurring run rate, you should assume INR50, INR60 lakhs per quarter. It was just that last quarter, there was an INR1.83 crore gain on the sale of an asset.
Fenil Brahmbhatt
Got it. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Saikrishna, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Saikrishna
Hello, good morning, sir. Am I audible?
Operator
Yes, you are audible.
Saikrishna
My question is about the warrants which are with the promoter. When are these going to be converted. May I know when this is going to be converted? And after conversion, what is the total shareholding post-conversion?
Anubhav Gupta
So, there are no outstanding warrants with promoters. Promoter warrants were already fully exercised last year itself. There are no outstanding warrants from the promoter entity. The warrants outstanding are from a Middle Eastern fund called Kitara Capital. That money will come in October 2026, as per the timeline.
Saikrishna
Okay, sir, I understood. But I have seen in annual report in April ’25, there are some warrants pending conversion from our CMD?
Anubhav Gupta
So that is the March 2025 Annual Report. During 2025, they were fully exercised. You have all the data on the stock exchanges. You may refer to the stock exchange filings, or you can reach out to us after this call. We will give you all the data.
Saikrishna
Okay, sir. Thank you. One second question, is there any intent to increase the shareholding beyond 50% from the promoter side?
Anubhav Gupta
No activity going on as of now.
Saikrishna
Okay, sir. Thank you.
Operator
The next question is from the line of Manish Mahawar from Antique Stock Broking. Please go ahead.
Manish Mahawar
Yeah, just one question. In terms of demand voids, I think you said in one of the comments that in the last two weeks of December and the January month, we have seen a very healthy growth rate of I think 25%. So in terms of volume, is this one of the reason. I think restocking — more of restocking happening in the market, right? I just wanted to understand how the actual demand at a customer level or retail level you are seeing out of this maybe 25% growth. What is the actual demand in terms of Housing and Agri growth?
Anubhav Gupta
Manish, your voice wasn’t too clear. But as I understand that you’re asking whether this December, January demand belongs to restocking, is it?
Manish Mahawar
Yeah, that’s right. So basically how you are seeing the housing or maybe agri demand because 25% growth you said in the last two weeks of December and Jan also in the last six weeks you said, right? So what is the actual demand in terms of housing.
Anubhav Gupta
There is some element of restocking, but not too much, because PVC prices have been so volatile that channel partners are not too keen to take bets. So, demand — in terms of on-ground demand — the Housing side has done well for us in nine months. And even in two weeks of December and January so far, there is much more demand coming in. And then yes, there is some element of restocking also, but not too much, I would say.
And for Agri also, the season has started. So, from January, the seasonality factor comes into play, both for Agri and also for construction-led demand, as a lot of projects go for full-year closure and full-year execution.
So, I guess, it is more of a seasonality factor which is coming into play. Second, the nine months demand was very suppressed, so some revival was definitely expected. And thirdly, some element of restocking. So, all these three factors give us confidence that we should be able to do a 32,000, 35,000-ton kind of sales volume number for quarter 4.
Manish Mahawar
And is this across the market you are seeing or in some specific market?
Anubhav Gupta
Across. We are seeing a revival in North India, of course. And at the Kisan level also, we are seeing a revival, which is the Western market. For Central and South, so far, the plants are very small to give any flavor, but yes, overall buoyancy across the markets.
Manish Mahawar
Sure. That is from my side and all the best.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I now hand over the conference to management for closing comments. Over to you, sir.
Ajay Kumar Jain
Yes. Hello, everyone. Ajay Jain this side. I thank you all for joining us today for this concall. We appreciate your continued support and interest in our company. We look forward to updating you on our progress in future calls. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to us. Thank you and have a great day.
Operator
Thank you. On behalf of Antique Stock Broking Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us and you may now disconnect your lines.