Carborundum Universal Limited (NSE: CARBORUNIV) Q3 2026 Earnings Call dated Jan. 30, 2026
Corporate Participants:
Kunal Shah — Analyst
Sridharan Rangarajan — Managing Director
Chandra Mouli — HR & IR
Analysts:
Amit Anwani — Analyst
Harshit Patel — Analyst
Jonas Bhutta — Analyst
Presentation:
operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Carborundum Universal Q3FY26 Earnings Conference Call Hosted by DAM Capital Advisors Limited. As a reminder, all participants line will be in 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 your touch tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Kunal Shah from Dam Capital Advisors. Thank you. And over to you sir.
Kunal Shah — Analyst
Yeah. Welcome to the 3Qs 26 earnings con call of Carborundum Universal Ltd. From the management side today we have Mr. Sridharan Rangarajan, the Managing Director and Mr. G. Chandramouli, the advisor. At this point I would like to hand over the call to the management for their opening remarks post which we can take up the Q and A. Thanks and over to you sir.
Chandra Mouli — HR & IR
Good morning, I am Chandra Mohli. Let us start the proceeding with a disclaimer class. During the call we may make certain statements which reflect our outlook for the future or which could be considered as forward looking statement.
These statements are based on management current expectations and are associated with uncertainties and risks are more fully detailed in our annual report which may cause the actual result to differ. Hence, these statements must be reviewed in conjunction with the risk that the company faces. Thank you.
Sridharan Rangarajan — Managing Director
Good morning to all of you and. Happy New Year to all of you. A warm welcome to our third quarter. Earnings call for the financial year FY26. Thank you for joining us today. We’ll begin this call by providing an. Overview and then followed up by Q. And A on a standalone basis. The Standalone sales in Q3FY26 was 769. Crores compared to 712 crores in Q2FY26. This is a growth of 7.9%. Ceramic grew by 11.9% from 228 crores in Q2FY26 to 255 crores in Q3FY26. Electro Minerals grew by 7.9% from 213. Crores in Q2 FY26 to 229 crores in Q3FY26 Braces grew by 4.9% from 308 crores in Q2FY26, to 323 crores in Q3FY22. Standalone sales in Q3FY26 was769 crores compared. To 728 crores in Q3FY25. This is a growth of 5.6%. Abrasive grew by 9.8%. Electro Minerals grew by 8.9%. Ceramics dropped by 3.8% on OETD 9 months basis. Stand alone sales was 2179 crores compared to 2097 crores for the same period last year. This is growth of 3.9%. Electro minerals grew by 7.3%, ceramic grew. By 1.7% and abrasive grew by 1.3%. At the standalone level, PBIET of Q3FY26. Grew by 32% compared to Q4.87 crores in Q2FY26. The PBIT for Q3FY26 was 115 crores compared to 110 crores in Q3FY25. This is a growth of 5.3%. Standard on PBIT margin increased sequentially from. 12.2% in Q2 to 15% in Q3. This was compared to Q3FY25 is almost. Flat at YTD 9 months level. Standard on PB80 was 369 crores compared to 344 crores. This is a growth of 7.1%. PB80 margin increased from 16.4% in FY25 to 16.9% in FY26. Standalone profit after tax for Q3FY26 was. 85 crores compared to 64 crores in Q2 of I26 There is an increase of 31% on a sequential basis compared to 81 crores in Q3 of I25 this is an increase of 4.9%. Profit margins in Q3FY26 was 6% compared to 2.8% in Q3.25 and 5.8% in Q2FY26. At the 9 month level, stand alone. Profit of tax was 294 crores compared to 260 crores in the same period last year. This marks an increase of 12.9% at. The YTD nine months level. PAT margin in FY26 was 13.5% compared to 12.4% in the same period last year. Moving to the consolidated Results On a YTD 9 months basis, consolidated sales was 3764 compared to 3635 crores in the 9 months of FY25. This marks a 3.6% growth. Ceramic grew by 6.1% Bracic grew by 2.4% and Electro Minerals was almost flat. Consolidated sales in Q3FY26 was 1273 crores. Compared to 1241 crores in Q3FY25. This marks a growth of 2.5%. Braces grew by 8.1% and ceramic was almost flat. Electro Minerals dropped by 3.6%. On a sequential basis. Consolidated sales in Q3fy26 was 1273 crores compared To 1287 crores in Q2FY26. Test marks a drop of 1.1%. Ceramic grew by 4.7%, Electro Minerals grew by 0.6%, Abrasives dropped by 2.5%. Coming to the bottom line, Performance consolidated. PVIT for Q3FY26 was 109 crores compared to 141 cores in Q3FY26. Consolidated PB80 in Q2FY26 was 111 crores. Which is almost flat compared to Q3FY26. At the 9 months level, consolidated PBIT. Was 301 crores compared to 444 crores in FY25. Consolidated profit after tax for Q3FY26 was 76 crores compared to 35 crores in the same period last time. The profit after tax of Q3FY25 includes an exceptional item related to VAW. At the Q3FY26 level the PAT margin. Was 6% compared to 2.8% in Q3FY25. On a sequential basis. Consolidated profit after tax for Q3FY26 was 76 crores compared to 75 crores in Q2 26. At the YTD 9 months level, consolidated. Profit after tax was 212 crores. Compared. To 264 crores in the same period last year. Profit after tax for the first nine months of FY25 includes the exceptional item related to VAW. At the OETD nine months level, the. PAT margins were 5.6% compared to 7.63% in the same period last year. I’ll move now to abrasives. Standalone abrasives. Standalone abrasives recorded a sales of 323 crores in Q3FY26 compared to 294 crores in Q3FY25. This is a growth of 9.8%. The growth was broad based driven by retail, industrial and precision on a sequential basis compared to the sales of 308 crores in Q2FY26 this is a growth of 4.9%. And on an OETD basis. The FY26,917 crores is the total sales in FY26 which is a growth of 1.3% compared to. 905 crores in the. Same period last year. Consolidated Abrasives Q3FY26 consolidated sales was 569 crores with a growth of 8.1% compared to 526 crores in Q3FY25. This growth was contributed by standalone business which grew by 9.8% compared to Q2 of 526. Consolidated were lower by 2.5% compared to moving from 584 crores in Q2 FY26 to 569 crores in Q3 FY26. Stand alone business grew by 4.9%. Rhode is abrasives had a small drop which is in line with the seasonality. Consolidated sales for OTD 9 months in FY26 was 1660 crores with a growth of 2.4% when compared to 1621 crores the same period last year.
At the OETD level standalone abrasives grew by 1.3%. Now I will move to Rhodius. In Q3FY26 Rhodius achieved net sales of 14.8 million Euro which is a 3.5% drop over 15.3 million. In Q3FY25 on a sequential basis sales declined from 17.4 million to 14.8 million. Normally Q3 is a lower quarter two and a half months quarter because of the Christmas vacations etc. At the nine months level FY26 Rhodius. Recorded sales of 45 million Euro compared to 49 million Euros. You might remember that we lost close. To 5 million sales in Q1 due to the shifting of warehouses In Q1. Q3FY26 the loss after tax was 0.84. Million Euro compared to the loss after tax of 0.78 million. On a sequential basis loss after tax. Increased from 0.57 to. At nine months level FY26. Rhode is incurred a loss after tax of 3 million. This is after PPA rate of 2.1 million. The loss of business due to shifting of warehouse is the predominant reason for the higher losses. The nine month loss after tax in. FY26 was 0.89 million. So on a full year basis we said in the last call that Rhodes will do same as last year in. Q2 Q3 and Q4 so this means an annual sales of 62.6 million. We now expect the full year sales. To be about 60 million. We expect the full year last to. Be in range of 4.5 million Euro after write off of PPA about 2.8 million. AVUCO at the YTD 9 months level. Avoco recorded a sales of 7.9 million Euro compared to 7.6 million Euro in the same period last year. This represents a growth of 4.6% for the quarter. Avoco recorded sales of 2.4 million which is a 3% growth over sales of 2.3 million in Q3FY25. On a sequential basis sales dropped by 19% from 2.9 million in Q2FY26 to 2.4 million in Q3FY26. In Q3FY26 Saupo recorded loss before tax. Of Euro 2.7 million compared to the. Loss before tax of Euro 1.4 million. In Q3FY25 and the loss before tax of Euro 1.5 million in Q2 of i26. The higher loss is primarily due to no production during this period to optimize. The inventory and hence ability to recover. The fixed cost was lower. Decisively there was also a small one. Time expenditure that they incurred at the. YTD nine months level. FY26 Auco incurred a loss before tax of 5.1 million compared to the loss before tax of 3.7 million in the same period last year. Now I will cover the bottom line performance of the abrasive segment. Consolidated abrasive PB80 was in Q3FY26 was 20 crores with a drop of 28% compared to PVIT of 28 crores in Q3FY25. This was an account of PVID drop in our core. On a sequential basis. PVET of consolidated declined from 33 crores to 20 crores. This drop is again mainly on account. Of Avoco at the YTD 9 months level. Consolidated PB80 in FY26 was 65 crores. Compared to PB80 of 118 crores for. The same period last year. The drop is contributed by Rhodius, AUCO and the standalone. Electro Minerals. Standalone Electro Minerals Standalone Electro Minerals recorded. A sales of 229 crores in Q3FY26 compared to 211 crores in Q3FY25. This marks a growth of 8.9%. The growth was driven by export segment which is very substantial progress that we have made on a sequential basis. Sales of 229 crores in Q3FY26 represents a growth of 7.9% compared to sales of 213 crores. In Q2FY26. Sales for the YTD 9. Months period was at 654 crores which is a growth of 7.3% compared to 609 crores. Consolidated EMG sales for YTD 9 months. FY26 was 1204 crores with a growth of 0.5% and compared to 1,119 crores the same period last year. At OITD level stand alone Electron Minerals. Grew by 7.3%, Fastql grew by 16.6%, VAW dropped by 25%. Drop in VAW reflects due to the US sanctions which was imposed in January 2025. Compared to Q2FY26 sales was almost flat moving from 399 crores to 401 crores. Standalone business grew by 7.9% and I think there was a decline in FOSCA as well as in VAW. Q3 FY26 sales was at 401 crores with a drop of 3.6%. Crores stand alone business grew by 8.9% and V8 lift dropped by 28%. Fast curve grew by 6.5%. Now going to VAW at the OITD. Nine months level VAW recorded sales of. Ruble 4.8 billion compared to ruble 7.6 billion in the same period last year. This represents 36% drop over the last year. PAW came under sanctions since January 2025. For the quarter we revised sales of. 1.4 billion which is drop of 46%. Compared to the last year. Same period at 2.6 billion. On the sequential basis sales declined from. 1.5 billion to 1.4 billion almost flat. At the OITD nine months level BAW. Recorded profit after tax of 414 million compared to profit after tax of 35 million in the same period last year. Move to the fast curve. At the nine month level POSCA recorded a sales of Rand 336 million compared. To 308 million Rand in the same period last year. This represents a growth of 9% over the last year. Sales volume went up substantially 28% growth. At the same time the realization fell. By 13% because of the price pressure from Chinese competition. In addition to this rand appreciated by 6%. Very strong appreciation because of the RAND. Appreciation coupled with the price drop and the volume increase. The net result is a sales value increase of 9%. In Q3FY26, Fosker achieved the sales of. ZAP101 million which is a 4.5% decrease over 106 million. In Q3FY25 again volume went up, however. The realization dropped by 13%. Volume went up by 22%. Rand appreciated by 8% and so that’s the basic reason for the again impact. On a sequential basis, sales declined from. Around 114 million in Q2 of I26 to 101 million. The volume remained flat. The sales drop is due to the brand appreciation. In the same period. At the nine months level, FOSCO recorded loss after tax of 66 million compared to loss after tax tax of 22. Million in the same period last year. Q3FY20 fast made a profit of tax of 10 million. In Q3FY26 became ROS after tax of 24 million. This drop in profit is predominantly due to the drop in price and appreciation. Of RAND and the sequential basis loss. Of tax was almost flat. Now I will cover the bottom performance of the segment on a sequential basis. PVIT of Consolidated EMD increased from 33 crores to 34 crores in Q3FY26. This is 16% increase sequentially. Consolidated Electro Minerals PBIT for Q3FY26 was. At 35 crores with a drop of 48.7% compared to 68 crores in Q3FY20. Mainly on account of the PBEG drop. In VAW and Fastker. At the nine months level, consolidated Electro Minerals PVAD was 72 crores compared to. 168 crores in the same period last year. At the nine months level, margins have. Declined from 14% to 66% on a YTD basis. I’ll move to ceramics now. Consolidated ceramics sales for OITD 9 months. In FY26 was 917 crores with a. Growth of 6.1% when compared to 864. Crores in the same period last year. At the OIT level, standalone ceramics grew. By 1.7% compared to Q2. Sales were higher by 4.7% moving from 301 crores to 316 crores. In Q3FY26 sales was 316 crores with a growth of 0.4% compared to Q3FY25 at 315 crores. Standalone Ceramics standalone ceramics recorded sales of. 253 crores which is a growth of 11.9% compared to 228 crores in Q2FY26. In Q3FY26 sale of 255 crores dropped. By 3.8% compared to 265 crores in Q3FY25. At OIT level sales was 721 crores. Which is a growth of 1.7% compared to 710 crores in the same period last year. Now total debt position There was no debt in our stand alone books. The total consolidated Debt was about 290. Crores compared to 210 crores in the. Same period last year and 108 crores at the same period last year. The debt equity ratio is 0.07 at the consolidated level. Cash and cash increments at the consolidated level was Consolidated level Without VAW was. 385 crores. Capex during the first nine months the capex investment was of 248. Crores compared to 209 crores same period last year. We said we will spend 350 crores for the full year and we feel that we should be completing the 350 crores of capex. I’ll come to the guidance during the last call I said growth in consolidated. Cells could be fined after 6.5%. I maintain the same guidance. Consolidated Ceramics we communicated a sales growth. Of 16% to 18% in the beginning of the year. We marginally bring this down from 13 to 14%. Abrasive sales in our last call we communicated 4% 5% for the year. I maintained the same in consolidated EMD. We gave a guidance of 1 to 2% sales growth. I maintained the same. Margins. In the ceramic segment we communicated PB80 margin of 23.5% to 43.7%. On a full year basis we are. Likely to be 21 to 22% EMD. In the last call we said 4.5 to 5.5%. This is the PB80 margin. We maintain the same guidance. Abrasive. Last time we said PB80 margin could. Be 6% to 6.5% on a full year basis. We now revise that to 4 to 4.5%. We said the last time the overall. Consolidated PBIT margin could be 8.2 to 8.5%. This could be 7% to 8%. On the capex side we said we will spend 350 crores on a full year basis. We spent so far 248 crores on. A nine month basis we maintained a full year guidance of 350 crores of capex. I now open up for your Q. And A and then we will conclude the call.
Questions and Answers:
operator
Thank you, thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Amit Anwani from Prabhudas Leeladar Capital. Please go ahead.
Amit Anwani
Hi sir. Thanks for the opportunity. So first question for the reduced guidance in ceramics and we can see that even standalone businesses kind of 4% down. So could you explain what what went wrong and within that the exports from ceramics which has also been impacted and versus the technical and gear ceramics how the situation in ceramics? Since we’re expecting some recovery after Q&Q2 and we are again revising down the guidance for ceramics.
Sridharan Rangarajan
So I think we are not again revising. This is the first time I am bringing it down. We feel that, I think Ceramics Q4 will be a strong quarter first of all because we feel that ceramic on. A full year basis the projects are getting delayed and that is what is causing us this challenge of Q3. But I think if you look at sequentially they have done well on a standalone basis. We feel that Q4 will be a very strong quarter based on the order. Backlog that what we have. However, we expect that there could be delays in some of the projects. Like for example while we have an order, the ability to ship depends on the inspection by the customers and there could be some delays. Hence we are cautiously bringing this down. We felt that you know, there could. Be some challenge, hence we are bringing it down. So that’s what I would think. So it is not anything at this point in time. We feel otherwise.
Amit Anwani
What’s the kind of exports contribution in ceramics for first nine months.
Sridharan Rangarajan
Overall about if you see a blended rate it could be in the range of around 50 to 55% and industrial. Ceramics it could be as high as 75% because it’s a combination of two businesses.
Amit Anwani
Right. So second question on the recently concluded EU FTA and we have exposure to Europe and in fact when we acquired the subsidiaries we were talking about synergies and cross sell. So any reading you have for your businesses from this FTA and if you could explain more could it be beneficial benefit to you?
Sridharan Rangarajan
So I think right now it’s so early at this stage, so I feel overall FTA will be beneficial to us. You know, right now we are under the MFN category, so hence definitely compared. To that rate, MFN FTA rate will. Be definitely lower, at least to the. Extent of about 4 to 5% lower is what our. Which is definitely increases our competitiveness. Hence it is more beneficial to us.
Amit Anwani
Hello, I’m audible.
Sridharan Rangarajan
Hello now. Now you are audible. Yes. Again you are not audible.
operator
Go ahead with the question.
Sridharan Rangarajan
Next question. And then let him come on the queue.
operator
Okay, thank you. Amit. The next question is from the line of Harshit Patel from Aquarius Securities. Please go ahead.
Harshit Patel
Hi sir, thank you very much for the opportunity. Firstly, on Abu Go and Rhodius, while you have outlined your performance so far in the nine months of FY26, can you broadly highlight how we should think about revenue growth and margin development for both these companies for the next year, that is FY27?
Sridharan Rangarajan
I will share these details more in the next call, Ashid, because we will be doing the roll up at that time. We’ll be able to share at this time and. I strongly feel that the current challenge of Avoco, which is like, you know, a marginal top line growth is our key concern and I think we will reflect on that and when we meet in the next call we. Will share this more.
Harshit Patel
In terms of the next quarter, which is the fourth quarter, will it be broadly on similar lines as to what we have seen in this third quarter or would there be a material improvement sequentially for the January to March quarter?
Sridharan Rangarajan
This is for the. You are talking about.
Harshit Patel
As well as Rhodium.
Sridharan Rangarajan
Yes, yes. So Avocado will be on the similar trend is what our reading. Is. What. And we feel that the current trend would continue and it could be better compared to the profitability because of the expenses getting spread over the production process. Because last quarter we did not manufacture, so hence the fixed cost absorption was practically zero. So that was the cost. But going forward that would be a slight benefit on that. But top line we are expecting to. Be on the similar trend. And as far as Rhodius is concerned, I feel the normally Q4 is better quarter compared to the Q3 because Q3. Is a Christmas quarter. So that benefit I expect that it. Would come in terms of the top line.
Harshit Patel
Understood. Secondly, on domestic abrasives, China has recently removed the export rebate on abrasive products including grinding wheels from 9% to 0% this will be in effect from April onwards. Can this translate into a tangible improvement in the domestic market share for us over time?
Sridharan Rangarajan
So this is the positive news as far as the Indian market is concerned. In across, I mean this is one. Such product but many products the export. Benefit drop would benefit this. So we think that, you know this. Is a positive information and it would definitely help us to strengthen our position.
Harshit Patel
Lastly on Fosco Zirconia, this particular business has continued to impact our margins and profits negatively. Even in the first half of FY26 we have incurred a PBT loss of around 25 crores in INR terms. On top of that there is further loss in the third quarter as well. So what is the outlook on this business and how do we plan to improve the performance here? I remember few years ago we had also planned to divest this particular business. But I think since then nothing has happened on that front. So if you can provide some outlook on this business that will be very helpful.
Sridharan Rangarajan
Yeah, I think it’s a good question. So Fosker does trouble us a lot. And definitely impacting us. So right now what we are doing is they have two products ZC and Z450 and ZC is having higher losses. So we have closed down that operation and we are only focusing on Z450. So the Q4 will have only Z450 operation and we want to see how that performance is. If it is going to improve that is fine. If not we need to take a firm call. So this is what our current approach is.
Harshit Patel
Underscore. Sir, thank you very much. I will come back in the question.
Sridharan Rangarajan
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. Participants who wish to ask a question may press star and one at this time to ask a question. You may press star and one. Now. The next question is from the line of Harshit Patel from Icarus Securities. Please go ahead.
Harshit Patel
Thank you very much sir. Again for the follow up. Sir, in the domestic electro minerals business what is the mix between domestic revenues and exports within our standalone business? Also is there any material difference in margins between these two?
Sridharan Rangarajan
So yes, the mix is improving more towards the export that is helping us a lot. I think our aim is to have a 30% mix that is 30% export mix on a long term basis. But the current trend shows that even now we are very close to that.
Harshit Patel
Understood sir. Secondly, in our standalone ceramics business which has barely grew by around 1 1/2 to 2% in the first nine months of FY26. So could you highlight the performance and growth rates of different Sub segments, mainly refractories, wear ceramics, industrial ceramics. If you could give us a flavor on which of the segments have grown and which haven’t. And based on your assessment how FY27 will look like for all these sub segments?
Sridharan Rangarajan
Yeah, I think so. We have two broad segments within that. Which is ceramic and refractories. But the way we discussed in the last few calls, the set of businesses where engineered ceramics, some of the fire. Refractories, all that growth we are looking. At north of 20%. Our challenge continues to lie in the wire ceramic and also the project based fire refractory business. Bunching of the product. And that is happening or that’s going to happen in Q4 is one of the reason that we are looking at a muted nine months one. So we expect, you know, the full. Year basis they will be strong. VAS Ceramics continues to have this challenge largely. We feel that, you know, one, the ceramic business in U.S. particularly in the last two quarters were sluggish. The end customers on many projects have delayed and deferred because of the uncertainty in the tariff. Not just because of us. I’m just saying as a project we are only a small supplier in that, but because they are going to face many import costs. So a lot of them have deferred this trying to get clarity in terms of how it is going to happen. So that 2/4 is causing this challenge.
We think the information we are getting is that people more and more now start, you know, firming up their project and start moving ahead. So that should come back. So this is how I read the ceramic business as a whole. And as we greeded, you know, ceramic business in the we’ve given a guidance at the consolidated level. But in the ceramic, obviously India becomes the forming a major portion. We expect that overall growth rate. We know that the current rate is 1.7% but we expect this to be in the range of about 9 to. 11% at the full year level.
Harshit Patel
Understood, sir. Thank you very much for answering my questions and all the webinars.
Sridharan Rangarajan
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and 1. The next question is from the line of Jonas Butta from Birla Mutual Funds. Please go ahead.
Jonas Bhutta
Hi. Thank you for the opportunity. I hope I’m audible.
Sridharan Rangarajan
Yes, yes, please, please go ahead.
Jonas Bhutta
Yeah, so you know, would appreciate your comments. You know, while you said that you’ll give out a separate guidance for both the businesses, the Avoco and Rhodius is probably with the Q4 results. And just like Foscar So do you sort of have a time frame as to when you will keep evaluating these businesses? Whether they remain are, you know, are something that are sort of meeting the targets that you’d set out at the time of their acquisition, as in you bought them for a particular reason. And I know maybe three years or four years is not a good enough time to sort of evaluate these businesses because we buy it for the long term.
But you know, just curious to know as to what are the steps that you’re taking to sort of see that whether these fit. Probably just like you’re going to take a call on Foscar. So what is the timeline that you’ve given yourself on this?
Sridharan Rangarajan
Yeah, I think again good question, Fosker, as I communicated, probably 1/4 to 2/4, we will take a call and Auco, we think that, you know, we should take a firm call in a year’s time.
Jonas Bhutta
Understood. And you know, just out of curiosity, sir, again, you know, what is the cap, you know, while we bought it for I think 5 or 6 million euros, what has been the total loss funding that we’ve done in so far or the losses that we would have incurred in the last three, four years ever since we acquired them?
Sridharan Rangarajan
Yeah, I think we have incurred a loss of close to about 30 million Euro and that this is over the last four years, period.
Jonas Bhutta
Sure, sure. My second question sir was on ceramics. You know, we in about two years back, so we seen a phenomenal growth and for the past four, five years up until maybe fiscal 24, you know, and predominantly driven by these new age applications in SOFC cells, etc. The business of the company that was giving us those orders seem to be booming. Is it already reflective in the sales of ceramics for the past two quarters or, you know, that is some think that that’s the upside that’s potentially going to come going forward because you know, again the communication was that the intensity of ceramics in these products is likely to go up and you know, our wallet shares will sort of tend higher.
So I’m just again wanting to know whether that’s already reflective of the upside in the last two, three quarters.
Sridharan Rangarajan
So I think your pointed observation is well noted. I think on the ceramic side, the businesses that we are serving to SOFCs and some of the high end one, they are growing pretty high. You know, as I said, it’s north. Of 20% is the growth that we. Are having and we also have a very sizable good order book. In fact, we bagged the highest ever. Order in the last quarter from them. So we seem to be doing fine there. Our challenge as I explained to you comes largely from the VAS ceramic side which is what is causing and probably once the project starts to kicking in. In America I think this should start. Getting better and then you would start seeing the overall growth would also start looking better. So two broad reasons. One is that side. The other side is the refractory projects benching that is happening in Q4. So these are the two broad reason why we are seeing a muted growth up to nine months still I’m as I gated on standalone 9 to 11%. On a basis ceramic. We will still do that because you will see a strong Q4 on that and then you will start seeing a better growth in FY27 and some of the businesses that you are hinting are really supporting our growth growth there.
Jonas Bhutta
Got it. Fraser. Appreciate your responses and all the best sir. Thank you.
Sridharan Rangarajan
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants, if you wish to ask a question you may press Star and one at this time to ask a question. Please press Star and one now. As there are no further questions from the participants. I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Sridharan Rangarajan
Good. I think thank you all for participating. I would like to summarize, I think. Of course you don’t have the business. Plan but we are tracking to the business plan at nine months level. And we think that we have worked on all the major efforts in terms of our long term strategy for ceramics Electro minerals and abrasives capacities are being. Created and our investment progress is pretty much in line. That’s why we are also maintaining the. Guidance of this 350 crores. All the programs in terms of technology tie ups, working with partners in two broad areas are all progressing well. People addition getting key leaders part of this new and improved programs that we are looking at are all also happening in parallel. So I would say while we focus on the current and future also we are securing well. Abrasive growth in Q3 is encouraging. We think that this trend should Continue. We feel Q4 will be a strong quarter for ceramics because of the based. On the projects that that they have. Tied up Electro Minerals is showing a. Good comeback, very good margin recovery that they have shown. Their ROCs are also looking good. So overall standalone has done an exceptional job. We think that Q4 could be better in standalone. We do have challenges at Poscar, Zirconia, AUCO and I think we would take. Appropriate actions on this. Proteus is doing fine but I think. We need to we can get better at it. We will do work on that. So with that background, I thank you for all your patience and time in attending this course. Thank you.
operator
On behalf of Dam Capital Advisors, Ltd. That concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. And you may now disconnect your lines.