Note: This is a preliminary transcript and may contain inaccuracies. It will be updated with a final, fully-reviewed version soon.
AUTOMOTIVE AXLES LIMITED (NSE: AUTOAXLES) Q4 2026 Earnings Call dated May. 20, 2026
Corporate Participants:
Nagaraja Gargeshwari — President and Whole Time Director
Kishan Kumar — Whole Time Director Meritor HVS
Raman K. — Interim Chief Financial Officer
Analysts:
Sailesh Raja — Analyst
Unidentified Participant
Saket Kapoor — Analyst
Shikha Mehta — Analyst
Presentation:
Operator
Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Automotive AXLES Limited Q4FY26 earnings conference call hosted by 361 Capital Market Private Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen only mode. And there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on a Touchstone 4. Please note that this conference has been recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr.
Sailesh Raja from 361 Capital Market Private Limited. Thank you. And over to you sir.
Sailesh Raja — Analyst
Yeah. Thanks Supnali. Good morning and thanks to everyone who have logged in to Automotive Axis 4 QSI 26 earnings conference call. From the management side we have with us Mr. Nagaraja who is president and the whole time Director Automotive Access Limited. Mr. Raman K. His interim CFO Automotive Axles Limited and Mr. Kishan Kumar, Whole Team Director Meritor, HCS India. So now I’ll ask Mr. Nagaraja for an opening remark post which will open for Q and A. Over to you sir.
Nagaraja Gargeshwari — President and Whole Time Director
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I am Nagara Jageshwari, President and who time Director of Automotive Axles Limited. As Shailesh mentioned, along with me are Kishan Kumarudupi and Mr. Raman K. First of all, thanks to the strong market, as you’re all aware we were able to close FY26 on a very high note. We were able to convert the demand and improve both the top and bottom lines. So what we will do is first Kishan will take us through the market and how we are looking at it. And followed by Raman sharing the results of Q4 and also the full year FY26.
And then we’ll open up for the question and answer. Over to you Kishan.
Kishan Kumar — Whole Time Director Meritor HVS
Yeah, thanks Nagaraja. Good morning to everyone. Like all of us know and I think I have been repeating this in the previous calls as well. The industry especially in the commercial vehicle, about seven and a half ton. It’s been on a tremendous ride for the last 34 years. We have been seeing consistently 400 plus market since FY23. And that continued and ended in even a better place. Now for the FY26 full year with the market closing at around 480,000 vehicles which is 16% above FY25. And the special note here is the Q4 which is a phenomenal number for the industry.
Each OEM crossing their own individual records. And so did we with our delivery and production during this quarter. And what we can probably make out of the last year was probably the GST cuts that happened later part of the year and then the fleets, the large and small fleets, trying to get the benefit out of it. The replacement cycle also kicked in little bit earlier than the earlier predictions. So the fleets actually went ahead replacing the vehicles. So very positive sentiment overall and that showed up all the way to the last date of March in terms of production and sales.
And one more positive note here is which probably there will be questions later. We also converted a good amount of the new products that we launched during the year and the ramp up was pretty good done and we were able to convert that as well at a very high success rate, I would say. So with that probably I will hand this over to Raman for a financial summary. Thank you.
Raman K. — Interim Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, Kishan. Good morning to all the participants in the call. So kindly take this opportunity to present the results for Q4 as well as full financial year FY26. So from a top line perspective, we ended the quarter four with revenue of 6,643 million, which is comparing to sequential quarter we were up by about 18%. And year over year also I think we had a similar growth of about 18 and a half, 18.7%. The other income is about 55 million. That is kind of lower when compared to last quarter given the geopolitical situations and the interest rate cuts that happened in the market.
So our investment income was slightly lower in the quarter. But nonetheless I think most of the investment income are in the recovery stage at this point as we speak and moving down. So when compared to the material cost, I think we had a total metal cost of about 4518 crores, sorry million, which is at about 68% which is slightly improved year over year. And this is in line with the new business model as well. The employee benefit expenses stood at 473 million at 7% on revenue, which is kind of mostly flat when compared to sequential quarter.
The finance cost and depreciation are more or less in line. The depreciation is slightly up because we had some of the investments that kind of got capitalized in the last quarter. So there is a slight increase in the depreciation. When you compare to the sequential quarter. The other expenses stood at 880 million. So I think that is again slightly up. Obviously there is a variable portion in that other expenses as well. So that is the reason it has moved up. Otherwise in all other fixed expenses remain quite stable.
So that leaves us with A total EBITDA of 825 million which is about 12.4% on the revenue for the quarter ended Q4 and there were no exceptional item. We had reported some exception item in the last quarter. For this quarter we don’t have any exceptional item. And that leaves us with a PBT of about 700. PBT is at 723 million at about 10.8%. And our PAT stood at 539 million at 8% PAT. So at 8%. PAT at 8%. So when you compare this over the last Q4 like Q4 of last financial year, I think we ended up with a similar path of about 8%.
So I think in terms of profitability, you know we have sustained the same level of profitability though we had the. The cost structure from last year to this year significantly varied due to the reasons that we explained the last quarter and coming to full year. The revenue overall for the financial year 26 was 21,777 million. And the total income, including the other income which is the Investment income is 22,099 million. There is a 5% overall growth in the revenue year over year. And when comparing, when coming to the cost structure, I think our metal cost for the current year stood at about 67.5%.
Close to 68%. I think we are, we are fairly stable and we have been improving year over year on the metal cost front. Employee cost 1,592 million at about 7.3%. So we’ve had a lot of expenses this year. We had the workman settlement that happened in the last quarter as we explained in the last investor call. So that had a impact. So that is a 110 settlement for the next four years. So that had an impact. So that. So from last year when compared to previous year it has kind of gone up from 6.7% to 7.3%.
And our total other expenses, which is the next significant Item is about 3106 million at about 14.26% on revenue. So as I said, there is a variable portion in the new business model. So I think fairly, I think it is in line with the revenue that we had over the year. Overall our EBITDA for the full year is at 2,692 million at 12.4%. And then we had the exceptional item, the annualized impact, what we discussed last time of about 120 million. Netting of that our EBITDA stood at 10.6% for the year.
When you compare to previous year we had 10.1% so we are about 40 to 50 basis points above there. And the PBT for the full year stood at 2190, 98 million at 10%. And our PAT for, for the, for the full financial year was. Excuse me was 1643 million at 7%. So and when coming to the cash flow I think the major significant highlight that I want to give an update is on the capex. So when compared to last year, sorry in the last financial year we spent more than 70 crores of capex. So whatever investments that was committed, you know Most of about 60 to 70% was spent in the last last year and instead of all that we were able to generate net of investments 30 crores of cash that we have generated in the last financial year.
So yeah, that’s a financial update. I’m happy to take any questions. I’ll hand it back to Ng and Kishan for any other comments.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you. We will now begin with the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star then one on the Touchstone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue you may press star and two participants you are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue semblance. A reminder to all, you may press star and one to ask a question. A reminder to all the participants you may press star and one to ask a question.
We will take the first question from the line of Samarth from Janak Merchant Securities. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Hello sir, am I available? Yes sir. So we have changed the sales agreement. So as per the new sales agreement we pay technical fees to manage your HVs. So can you share how much percentage of the sales we are paying to them now? Because you had mentioned that you will come out with this number somewhere around Q2 but we are yet to. We are yet to disclose the number.
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
Would you take that? Yeah
Raman K.
Giving that. So see overall. See the technical fee will you know is anywhere in the range between four to four and a half percent and depending on the mix of revenue that we have. So I think that’s the broad percentage in which the technical fee operates. I hope that answers your question.
Unidentified Participant
Okay sir. And last in the last year in Q4FY25 call we had mentioned aspirational target of 4,500 to 5,000 crore top line over next four to next four to five years. And you had mentioned that exports would be a key lever for this strategy. So can you talk more about exports and now considering that US Class 4, Class 8 is also recovering and European markets are also stable. So do you expect that that we see a significant growth in exports going forward?
Kishan Kumar
I can take it. This is Kishan. Thanks for. Thanks for the question. Samit. Yes, in the long run if you ignore the current, the temporary situation that we have seen in the US with the tariff, I think in the long run the visibility is still to accumulate a good export orders. And this is also part of our global supply chain strategy. So the investments that we are doing in alternative, whether it is for the capacity or to bring more robust process, that is all in line with the demand that we have in the export and domestic market.
So overall, as you rightly mentioned, the forecast with the domestic market growth, export and all other initiatives that we are taking up, the top line should grow in the order rough order of 4,000 to 5,000 crore with export being the large better than the current contribution what we have today.
Unidentified Participant
Sir, and will this be limited to subsystems or we will go for completely assembled axles only in exports?
Kishan Kumar
Some of. I think we have answered this in the past. So the product line as such in Europe and North America don’t allow us to supply the fully dressed axle because the products are different. So it is largely going to be limited to the assembly, sub assemblies and probably child parts. And also in all those regions there is a requirement to customize the the end product to meet these regions OEM requirements. Just like how we have a customization. So that also limits the, you know, the export content to our scope of export to the, you know, the extent to the drive head, what we call the sub assembly and maybe some child parts.
Unidentified Participant
Got it sir. Sir, and like earlier we had mentioned in the existing production facility that we have we can do somewhere around 2700 crore in sales. And now we are since we are doing the capex. So is this CAPEX enough to reach your aspirational target or we need to spend more?
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
I’ll take that. Nagaraja here. So again it all depends on type of product mix that we are looking at. Currently what we are looking at, you know, trying to understand or forecast the peak market demand and then putting up enough capacity to that. And there will be one more, one more set of investment is going to come in next 6 to 18 months time. With that we will be having enough capacity to, you know, meet our aspirational top line.
Unidentified Participant
Sir, can you like how much will we spend in this new capacity in this new facility or the new capacity creation?
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
Yeah, again I think at this point of time. You know, it will be a little bit challenge for us to you know, forecast what it is because we are like Kishan mentioned, we are looking at the needs of both the domestic customer and export opportunities. Based on that we may have to come out with a overall plan. That is what we are kind of working on in next six to 12 months. And then once we finalize on our next set of Capex, we’ll be sharing with all of you.
Unidentified Participant
So last question from my side. We were having another three products like the slipper suspension, the off highway, the off highway axle which were also the where we also had good growth plans earlier and even the ICV access. So what is the status on this?
Kishan Kumar
Let me take that question to this question again. So coming to off highway we do have sustained the business over the past several years with this customer and apart from that we are closely monitoring the off airway industry and products we have in the global portfolio. They are very unique to those regions. So India is very unique. So for that matter it is still a very close watch and plan your long term strategy. Right now the current product portfolio, what we have is what we are supplying and coming to the sleeper suspension, we are still supplying that to our largest customer with a different arrangement where we have handed over the supply chain under an agreement so that it is easier for them to manage because it has to be closely, you know, associated with their, the chassis or the assembly line.
So both the businesses we continue to pursue. And the last question was icv. ICV is typically not a very stronghold for us globally as well. We do have products which we continue to improve and supply to the same customers. And for us the core is the heavy duty market which is where our largest portfolio and the product, you know, the launch that we have done in the recent past. So that remains our focus.
Unidentified Participant
Got it sir. Sir, is there any situation where we are not able to supply enough demand means because of a capacity constraint in the domestic markets?
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
So I’ll take that. You know, like we have mentioned, we foresaw that, you know the kind of product mix is going to probably limit our ability to sell the market. And that’s the reason we initiated it about 12 months ago. This point of time, unless the market really goes beyond the volumes what we have seen in the last Q4, I don’t think we have any capacity constraints at this point of time.
Unidentified Participant
Got it sir. That’s all from my side.
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Before we take the next question, a reminder to all, you may press star in one to Ask a question. We will take the next question from the line of N. Modi, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Yes, good one. My question is regarding capacity utilization. At what percentage of capacity we are running our plant at the moment.
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
So the last quarter, when I look at it, it was over 90%. The last quarter we almost crossed 90% of our capacity. We were really doing at the, you know, peak of our capacity.
Unidentified Participant
Last quarter. You are talking at the moment in the month of April, May. What we are doing.
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
Pardon me, could you repeat
Unidentified Participant
What we are doing, sir?
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
So April and May, you know, again, you know, the market has softened a little bit. You know, we are still, you know, we generally, you know, operate somewhere between 70 to 80% of the capacity. So that’s what we’ll be looking at. But again it will be very difficult to look at one particular month. We should be looking at, you know, a broader horizon because you know, the capacity on a particular day, week or a month, you know, it is. It will be completely misleading.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. By what time our capacity is expected to be completed with capacity management.
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
So the as we committed enough to you, the phase one and I would say phase one and for one year, that’s what we call is that capacity will be completed by end of December 26th. And then that’s what we were telling to earlier question that in next to six to nine months we’ll be coming under forming up our next phase of capex. Capex investment based on the both the domestic and the export market outlook.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. Okay. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. We will take the next question from the line of Lakshmi Narayan from Tunga Investment. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
My first question is that in terms of the current apply directly to the employees.
Operator
Sorry to interrupt in between. Mr. Lakshmi Narayan, you were not audible. Could you please use your handset mode and speak
Unidentified Participant
My question, sir. Currently after the technical fee agreement now we would directly supply to the OEs or tier ones, right?
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
Yes, your understanding is correct.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah. Both in exports as well as in domestic. Correct? Yeah.
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
Yes.
Unidentified Participant
So yeah, yeah, yeah. The second question is that. Yeah, I’ve been told that I may be wrong. Please correct me. So I have been told that there is a transition towards tractor trailers. And if that happens, that is the axle. That is the. The usage of axles will also come. I mean multi axle trucks would actually come down because of this tractor trailer. If that is the case, does it. How does it possibly or negatively impact us?
Kishan Kumar
So let me take that. This is Kishan here. Thanks for the question. You are right. There is a very clear Trend for the last couple of years where we see the proportion of tractor trailer, specifically four by two, that is on the increase. And in fact we were expecting this, anticipating this even before the trend started happening. Because this is a very typical trend we have seen in the global markets. And we had always the product ready. So the product that we launched, the 185 couple of years ago and which we are now ramping up significantly, that is to cater to this heavy duty tractor trailer market.
What it means to us is where there were rigid or the rigid multi axles that proportionately will reduce, but then the tractor trailer will increase. So it will be a cannibalization of some of the products that we have in the rigid axle, multi axle, rigid axle, rigid vehicle platform. Getting into the 4 by 2 tractor trailer. And this product, what we have launched with one customer like three, four years ago now we have launched with all of our major customers and that is probably the highest number of in terms of capacity also that we are creating, expecting that this trend will continue for some time.
But on the other side, there is enough headroom in the industry where even the multi axle rigid vehicle will also grow. So if you have seen any of the forecasts, we are expecting the overall TIV by 29, 2030 to be 500,000 plus. Which means there is enough headroom for each of those platforms also to grow. Which is a positive news for us because we have every segment covered with our portfolio. I hope that answers the question.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah. And so which means that it is not deflationary for you as for example, the last concluded year or the year forward, it has not been deflationary for you in terms of the your component that actually goes into these vehicles. Right? Am I right?
Kishan Kumar
You are right in a way because we have a product available and it’s not a loss of business for us. But if you take a few number of axles that we produce, because the configuration changes from a multi axle to a single axle, that will bring the number of axles down, but not at the cost of loss of business. It’s a continuation of business because we have the products available.
Unidentified Participant
And the other thing which I have heard is that at least for the last one month or the last two months, there has been an increase in steel prices and all the metal prices in general that is actually impacting us.
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
I’ll take that probably. Raman, you can add to that. We always have a, you know, back to back agreement with most of the customers when it comes to commodity changes. And this is a standard industrial Practice, there may be a little bit of lag or lagging in that, you know, adjustment. But definitely, you know, we the business is always protected and it is a standard industrial practice.
Unidentified Participant
Got it?
Raman K.
Sorry, sorry. Just to add to that, our financial results are already proved up to the last increase. So I think we always take the provisions and the settlement may happen later, but the financials are completely protected
Unidentified Participant
For
Raman K.
Any market increase.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, so does it mean that since our fixed costs are there, this starting inflationary thing will be more contributing to our bottom line? Right? Is that how it is? If there is a inflation is peculiar for the next six to nine, six to 12 months
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
Maybe I will just take it. Raman again, probably add to this. See if you really look at our operation efficiency, there is always a focus on improving the productivity and then at the same time also growing our top line and thereby we protect our bottom line. And even in cases, as you can see in the Q4, we also improve it. So while there is always a inflation, if you look at the last several years of our results, we have been able to always bring in the efficiency and then productivity improvements both in internal operation and from our supply chain.
So we always have to work on that and that is one of our strength. We’ve been doing a good job and we are very confident going forward. Also we’ll be able to take care of any potential inflation and then also offset it by our productivity improvements. And one of the reason for the capex improvement is not only to add in additional capacity but also to bring in the latest technology and efficient, you know, equipment so that, you know, we are always improving focus on improving our bottom line.
Unidentified Participant
All right, so just one more question if I can squeeze in. You mentioned that as an industry we are blocking more than 400k per year. And so two questions. So is it right being so cyclical as it was? Because this is something which I heard from one of your OEs also saying that dating industry is not very cyclical in the last three, four years. And second, as we look ahead in current year, the demand continues to be strong. That’s what I would hear from your first few statements. Can you just help me understand or well deeper into these two operations.
Kishan Kumar
Okay, let me take that question. This is Kishan, what you have heard about the cyclicality being more I would say narrowed in terms of the peaks and valleys. That is true. And the numbers are in front of us. So the year we came out of COVID FY23 we had a 37% growth and we crossed 400,000 for the first time after Covid and then from there onwards it’s always the variation is within the 5% until last year. So last year we saw. Last year in this is FY26 we saw a significant growth of 16%. And this is expected to continue because there is consumption, that is rural consumption.
There are very clear indicators whether it is gdp, iap. So it is going to continue. And whoever the OEM partner it is not just one. I think most of the OEMs are expecting this year. FY27 should also be a good year. So when I say good year it is 400 plus. But whether it is 420, 450, 480, that is probably too early to say. Because if you look at FY26, nobody forecasted 480. It was around 450, 460. So there is always a room to cross. I would say the average of last four years.
Unidentified Participant
Thank you sir. I’ll come back.
Kishan Kumar
Thank
Unidentified Participant
You.
Operator
Thank you. We will take the next question from the line of Radha from Motika Loswal Financial Services Ltd. Please proceed.
Unidentified Participant
Thank you for the opportunity.
Operator
Sorry to interrupt. Mr. Radha, I would request you to please use the handset mode and speak.
Unidentified Participant
Yes. So sir, my first question is. I understand that while our focus has always been in mhcv but since the company had entered into LCV ICV segment a few years back. So can you give us some sense from the next three to five year perspective on your thoughts on expanding the addressable market available for the company by launching products, more products either in lcv, ICV and if possible in SEV also in the future.
Kishan Kumar
Thank you for the question. This is Kishan. So what we have been doing consistently in the past several years in terms of our product strategy that is aligned with how the industry is moving and where our core strength lies and globally it is in the US. If you have to talk about the US market, it is Class 8 and Europe it is heavy duty axle and heavy duty vehicles. And even in India we are in the same four. And this is what differentiates us from the competition. So we will continue to do that. All of our product launches are focusing more on the medium and heavy duty and more so in the recent part on the heavy duty.
Having said that, we already have enough products in the ICV LCB where we strategically want to play. And we necessarily don’t want to go beyond a certain GVW or GAW level because that requires a lot of investment in the plant. And the return on that investment may not be as good as in our core business. So for that purpose product strategy and our supply chain and capex that’s always been focused more towards the heavier side of the industry.
Unidentified Participant
So what percentage of your revenue is coming from LCG LCD currently?
Kishan Kumar
Rama, you want to give an answer to that?
Raman K.
Yes Krishna. So see lcv, ICV there is a very small portion of the revenue that we have maybe I would say somewhere in the in the single digits at this point, maybe low less than 5%.
Unidentified Participant
Secondly, you know, since India is a cost effective production and a lot of auto and 3D companies are keeping India as a production hub to export to their group companies and the margins are in fact better in the exports market. So considering that we have Meritor as a partner so currently what percentage of overall sales is exposed to Meritor Global and do you see this as a big opportunity going forward?
Operator
Sorry to interrupt in between sir, if you’re speaking and not RM.
Unidentified Participant
Kishan.
Kishan Kumar
Yeah, I can take the second part of it. Yeah, I think we answered that partially in the in one of the earlier questions. Export is a growth area for us and it is part of the global supply chain strategy as well to make sure that all the investment that we are doing is utilized to the best of its capacity. And even you know the answer to what extent we can grow in the export is basically the product portfolio that are common today and there are also opportunities depending on how the domestic market behaves in the future.
Right now even though we are talking about 500,000 plus if there is a downside we always have the ability to do the global products so that is already plugged in our manufacturing strategy.
Unidentified Participant
So lastly I understand that you already have E ACCs as a product already ready with you for many years now. So can you give us some sense on how the content per vehicle increases on an average if you compare it with the conventional ICE axles.
Kishan Kumar
Let me answer this question again. There are the technology or the architecture that we have in the EXL that is an add on to the traditional mechanical excellence. That means what we are currently manufacturing in terms of the mechanical parts, gears and other things plus the electric motor and other electronics, power electronics. So it’s always an add on now coming to which again you’re not asked this question but coming to India more specifically for EX already I think the industry is not ready yet.
We are still in the traditional central drive plus mechanical axle world which we have anyway protected with our current products portfolio.
Unidentified Participant
Yes sir, I understand that but I just wanted to understand how the content per vehicle will Improve this and when it happens
Kishan Kumar
That’s you know like I said 100% of what we are doing today plus the power electronics and it all depends on the pricing strategy for India. It is too early to comment on that.
Operator
Okay sir,
Unidentified Participant
Thanks and all the best.
Kishan Kumar
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. We will take the next question from the line of Saket Kapoor. From Kapoor, please go ahead.
Saket Kapoor
Hello.
Operator
Yes sir, you’re on. Yeah,
Saket Kapoor
Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity. If you could just give us some color on the. On the tennis part. I think so you alluded to some number of peak revenue at at. We are prepared for a 5.5lakh toages. So currently for this quarter and for the year as a whole what have been our damages?
Kishan Kumar
Namaste. I am not sure if I understood. If I understood your question. Well the way I’m reading the question is you are talking about the. The gross tonnage of the industry, is that right?
Saket Kapoor
Firstly about you. You talk about that we are prepared when the industry requirement for 5 lakh reaches and since you mentioned about we are operating at 1995%. What was our number for the quarter? And the second question or there’s a continuation to the same was that last quarter you did spoke about some specification changes in the buses segment in in with respect to some state government making some changes which with the floor height and that will lead to the product excellent product that we have developed.
So what is the update on the same and when will that product be introduced?
Kishan Kumar
Okay, I’m still not clear on the first part but let me take a you know hit on that. How I am. I’m going to answer that. So in terms of tonnage there are two things. One is our axle what we supply to what vehicle it goes in terms of tonnage carrying capacity. And today if you see the heavy duty when we talk about it is 50 ton and above and our product portfolio today with the single axle 185 largest axle in the industry and the tandem and HR axle we are already there. We are. We are going up to 70, 80 tonnes range in terms of the industry tonnage for the full year we were at 9.4 million tonnage.
That is the total tonnage carrying capacity of the industry. And just to give you you know comparison of this versus the previous peak which was FY19 where we also did the similar vehicle production of 476,000 it was 8.7 so 8.7 to 9.4 with the same industry level. That addition is coming from that heavy duty or higher tonnage vehicles which is more and more increasing in the past few few years and it is going to continue. The second part of the question is related to the. The bus code, the low floor.
Yes it is. There is more clarity on that and it looks like the current product portfolio what we have can meet most of the requirements but then there are also some OEMs have a different strategy and that is yet to evolve. So it is still something that is currently evolving. But the products that we have for that space, those are protected for that particular regulation that came in.
Saket Kapoor
Right. And sir, I think so we did capex closer to 70 crore last year sir, 73 crore rather. So what. What are we advertising for the current year in terms of Capex? And as you were answering to my question if you could come up with a investor presentation wherein we speak about our product profile, the industry scenario, where are we placed in and some color so that my questions are more aligned and we people get more aligned to what the industry trends are that would suffice a lot of understanding to the same.
Raman K.
So Raman here so I’ll take the question. So on the CapEx part, first piece of the thing I think last year to now I think last year we spent about 30 crores. This year we spent 70 crores. The coming year also we are expecting because the major spend are we going to complete the phases that we had already spoken about. So we’ll be almost similar range of capex spend will be there in the. In the upcoming year as well. And to your second question on the investor presentation I think yeah we will, you know we will look at that possibility of having a presentation done.
Yeah and at least, at least once a year or something the product portfolio.
Saket Kapoor
Right. And last point is on the employee benefit expenses part is it proportionate to what the utilization levels were for the quarter? And I think so we hit a number of 47,48 crore for the quarter. That is on the. On the higher side itself. So how should that. And just to get more sense you mentioned that we will be doing a similar amount of Capex that we did for the last year. So in terms of the capacity augmentation, what should we end the year in terms of the incremental capacity that we will be operational by the end of this sector.
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
So the second question I will take probably first question Raman is going to come back and talk to you see again like we mentioned the capacity what we are putting in here. You know there is an augmentation like I mentioned with this all these projects going on we should be able to really meet any of the near times demand that is coming in domestic market and also potential opportunity from the export market. So as Kishan mentioned we are expecting a domestic peak. Something should happen at 580 levels.
We don’t know what the product mix is but we are putting enough capacity to meet those peak demands. And again the capex I want everyone to be on the same page that it is not just the capacity but also like I mentioned how do we bring in the new technologies and productivity so that we can always you know offset the inflationary pressure that might be there on the our fixed cost. Raman, would you like to take on the earlier question? Sure,
Raman K.
Yeah. Just on the employee benefit expenses. Yeah, we had about 47 crores for the quarter so that had a bit of one offs this time so we had some leave and cashmere settlement and all that happened. So about 8% of it was a one off. So but on the like to like you know it should be lower by around 8%.
Saket Kapoor
Okay, thank you for all the answer only to just to make a small sense of that since we will be working also on the efficiency part. So what should be the EBITDA margin range going ahead? Where are we currently and with the type of efficiency and the expirational program that we took? I think so for on a five year basis where should our EBITDA margin shipping and does the current set of business environment provides us into a different paradigm altogether with the type of changes and CapEx that we have done.
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
While we don’t want to do forward looking statements at this point of time like we have been always sharing and you can look back at our past records. One is we have been continuously focusing on improving our top line but at the same time protecting the bottom line. All the efficiency what we are bringing in we can assure you that it will not only offset any potential inflationary pressures or potential adverse product mix but at the same time we have been always working towards and we have demonstrated that our bottom line is always going to improve.
Definitely the product mix and top line will kind of help us to get a much better fixed cost absorption but the rest is assured. I would say that you can look forward to the improved our margins.
Operator
Thank you. We will take the next question from the line of Shikha Mehta from time and tide advices. Please go ahead.
Shikha Mehta
Hello sir, am I audible? Yes sir. Taking off from the previous participant. Since our new capacity is expected to come live maybe by December this year and you know where currently as on Q4 already at 90% utilization is it, you know, a fair assumption to make that going forward, whatever improvement we see in our top line for the next two or three quarters will be mainly based on new products which might get us better pricing and better margins.
Saket Kapoor
You want to do take it up?
Kishan Kumar
Yes, I will. I can answer the second part of that more specifically on the new products that we are launching. Yes, these new products are aligned with the change that we are seeing in terms of the OEM strategies. And like I mentioned earlier, some of them will partially cannibalize our current product line. But whenever we launch a new product, we try to capture the value pricing from that in terms of what features and what benefits that gives to the end customer. So yes, marginally it will be better in terms of profitability compared to the legacy products.
And we capture the value in terms of placing the right pricing strategy knowing that there will be a migration to certain extent from the traditional to the new product that we launch. And this has been a policy for a long time. This is not something new and we continue to do the same.
Shikha Mehta
And so I think on a previous con call you had mentioned that from a single, you know, from sorry to a tandem axle, I think your realization goes up almost 2 to 3x. Is that correct? Is that the right way to see it?
Kishan Kumar
It’s not to that extent. It depends again on the product family and specifically the tonnage or the GV that of the vehicle. It is probably not to two to three times extent. It’s, it’s. You know, I don’t know if we can put a number there. It is probably around 10 to 25% as a broad range, not more than that.
Shikha Mehta
Okay. Okay, sir, understood. All right. And so lastly on our market share, I think you know we have around 50% plus market share with Ashok Leland. Is that maintained this quarter? Do we have any comment to make on that?
Kishan Kumar
On an average the whole year we have maintained as per our agreement with Kashap Galaxy. Like Nagaraja mentioned earlier, it is very difficult to pick one particular day or a week or a month because the product mix changes so much. So we always try to keep the healthy average where our top land and the profitability both are well balanced.
Shikha Mehta
Alright, sir. And as on date, are we supplying products other than brakes to Tata?
Kishan Kumar
No, our primary supplies to Tata is only brakes right now. But there are cases when there are products which they need for the export market or for example buses, there are certain business that we do with them time to time, not a regular business.
Shikha Mehta
All right. And is this something that you know, is Part of our strategy to increase as a wallet share or are we happy with where we are currently?
Kishan Kumar
So in terms of brics, I think we are pretty well placed where we want to be. And I think the focus in BRICS is always to have a healthy share so that we also cater to compare. You know, considering the capacity that we have, we always, always have multi OEM strategy. It’s not just single oem.
Shikha Mehta
No. So I was asking on the axle side, is there a strategy to increase our wallet sharing, say Tata Motors or not really, we’re happy with where we are.
Kishan Kumar
There is, there are continuous discussions but right now I don’t. I can. I’m not in a position to confirm there are different discussions at different levels.
Shikha Mehta
All right, sir. All right. Thank you so much and again, congratulations.
Kishan Kumar
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. We will take the next question from the line of Abdul Joshi from Trivantage Capital. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Hi, am I audible?
Operator
Yes sir, you’re audible. Please proceed.
Unidentified Participant
Thank you for the opportunity and congratulations on the good set of numbers. Just on the demand side, Lakshmi sir already asked about it. But looking at the diesel price increase that we have seen and the availability of diesel, do we see anything changes in the schedules as kind of a thing from the OEMs happening in the near future or have we seen already that the schedules are revised? Any kind of sense on that. And the overall demand considering the diesel prices. Sensor, if you can throw some light on that.
Kishan Kumar
Thank you for the question. So let me restate what I mentioned earlier. The industry as such is a in a very stable 400 plus scenario every year and the next year as well, we are expecting it to be 400 plus. Now the other dynamics, external dynamics like the diesel cost, that’s too early to comment right now because that is demand. And Specifically talking about Q1, Q2 of this financial year, that’s a typical softer market. Historically it’s been like that and we think it will continue that. And then how we come out of monsoon and how we end Q4 that will probably define whether it is a 400 plus 20% plus 5%.
So that’s something wait and watch. But on a demand level there is a consistent demand. What we have been seeing for the Q1 and Q2 that is continuing whether it changes significantly or not, it’s it’s time only can say that.
Unidentified Participant
Understood. So as of now there is no change to whatever, whatever we are seeing from the OEM’s demand. That’s what I can tell us, right?
Kishan Kumar
That is true. It is a very typical Q1, Q2 that we see historically and that’s the level of demand we are seeing.
Unidentified Participant
Thank you. That’s it from my side. Thank you.
Kishan Kumar
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. We will take the next follow up question from the line of Lakshmi Narayan from Tunga Investments. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, thank you. A few questions as you step into the coming year. What are the three priorities, important priorities for the company, either qualitative or quantitative? The second question is that there is an operating margin which you actually reported just now. Is this taking into consideration the technology fee or you know, how does it work whenever the technology fee kicks in? And the third question is that as regulatory or safety norms go through changes, how do you benefit or is our business is neutral when it comes to regulatory or safety norms for the commercial vehicle?
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
Okay, so I’ll take the first part of the question. Probably Kishan can talk about the safety norms and what is happening in the industry. So our three focus area we have been always telling that one is, you know, we wanted to make sure that we are completing all this capex investment, you know, on time and then bringing in all the benefits associated with that. And so that is our focus again by December we should have those things in place. And we are also kind of potentially looking at the technology we were talking about, you know, the gears required for buses and coaches, then product associated with that which is under development and testing, which again we’re going to kind of look at it and that’s where we want to kind of look at it, the opportunities and probably realize the additional, you know, the share of business in the segments where we are still present but may not be very strong in that area.
So that is our, the second area of focus. The third area, obviously that is, you know, I would say it has become more like a routine and always be sensitive to the market demand changes and then continuously focus on protecting and growing our bottom line and then, you know, continue to be ready for any potential opportunities available in the export market. So those are all the three areas, you know, we would like to continue to focus and especially, you know, this year.
Unidentified Participant
What are the other about the other two questions, which is margins.
Raman K.
Yeah, this is Raman here on the margins, I’ll take it. So especially on the technical fee. So the operating margin that we have declared now is after considering the technical fee. So it is being accrued on a monthly basis depending on, based on the revenue, as I said, the mix and all that.
Unidentified Participant
So the fourth quarter is completely after taking into that particular number.
Raman K.
Yeah, no, it is all the quarters so all the quarter results are after considering the technical field.
Unidentified Participant
Got it. And this is applicable on both exports and domestic or only domestic.
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
It is based on the agreement, what we are having. I think, you know, we probably will not be able to disclose all those details.
Unidentified Participant
My question is that as an external participant, what is the number one has to assume on a. On a blended basis for entire year. Right. Because the exports and domestic keep changing. Now, you know, there is a margin that is being reported. So I just want to understand that.
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
Yeah. Like Raman mentioned earlier, it is in the range of somewhere between 4 to 4.5%. You know, that’s a thing you can look at product line.
Raman K.
Yeah. On the total revenue. On the total revenue there is a broad range depending on the mix of domestic food. It will keep.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, the
Kishan Kumar
Last question. Sorry. Yeah, the last question was related to the regulations. So there are in the next three to five years, couple of regulations that will come in the safety space. And when we look at our product line, mainly the foundation break in this case, there is not much that’s going to change unless there is a very stringent norm on the stopping distance which we are not seeing in today’s discussions. In the regulation space, it is more on bringing EBs and supporting systems where our conventional foundation breaks are qualified.
It can be used. There is no change that we are expecting now. The big industry move that has happened in the Western world is moving from drum to disc brake. With the current regulation landscape what we have, we think it will continue to be in a very niche market like buses and maybe hazardous goods. And that means our current capacity and the demand. What we see for the drum break that will continue.
Unidentified Participant
And in the
Kishan Kumar
Auction space. Yes, action spec, we are not seeing any major changes in the regulation. There was one where the overload has been to some extent regularized. But that’s a typical overload that we see on Indian roads all the time. So it does not change anything in our product portfolio.
Unidentified Participant
And as electronic braking system or adas, all of things come to mainstream. Whether there are trends such as smart axles or smart braking system, which means that there is some amount of digitalization happening there. Is it a far fetched idea or it will actually get absorbed and you are actually capable of handling either the signals are processed from the braking system of the axle to the electronic braking or adas or whatever. That’s right. I just want to understand your views on this.
Kishan Kumar
Yeah, sure. And you are right. The ADAs and the electronic braking system, that’s going to happen. But that doesn’t have any influence on the mechanical axles or the brakes that we have. You’re talking about smart axle. Yes, we have couple of axles that we qualify as smart axle in the global portfolio but they are not applicable for Indian market as of now. So if it moves in that direction, the products are available, it’s more of licensing them and industrializing them. And there is a wide range of different features that axles can provide.
But that value has to be perceived by the end customer, which is where India has always been different.
Unidentified Participant
And how far are we, Is it like two years behind or three years behind some smart access?
Kishan Kumar
Absolutely. Anybody’s guess. Because Indian market behaves very differently from the western world. It’s, you know, all I can say is, all I can say is when it happens, we will be there.
Unidentified Participant
This smart action penetration is 100 in developed countries or is it even there? It is.
Kishan Kumar
No, it’s even there. It is very limited, very limited. So you know, the definition of smart itself is very unique for each region. So that unless we know that, it’s difficult to say when what will happen.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, thank you,
Kishan Kumar
Thank you,
Operator
Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen. We will take that as a last question. And with that concludes the question and answer session. I now hand the conference back to the management for the closing comments.
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
Thank you once again, really appreciate all of you who have called into this conference and then thanks for all those questions. Like we mentioned, we are in the midst of going through the CapEx cycle, the phase one we have already completed and then we’ll be able to complete the next phase by end of December. We’ve been really focusing on bringing in the new products and as you can see that those results both on top, both in top line and our bottom line rest is assured. We’ll continue to strive hard and you know, make sure that we meet all our customers demands and continue to explore growing opportunities that potentially might be coming in our export market.
And thanks once again and have a great day.
Operator
Thank you all.
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you.
Nagaraja Gargeshwari
Thanks. On
Operator
Behalf of 361 Capital Market Private Limited we conclude this conference. Thank you all for joining us and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.