DCM Shriram Ltd. Q1 FY23 Earnings Conference Call Insights

Key highlights from DCM Shriram Ltd. (DCMSHRIRAM) Q1 FY23 Earnings Concall

Q&A Highlights:

• Ahmed Madha of Unifi Capital asked about the FY23 volume outlook of the sugar business. Vikram Shriram VC replied that in FY23 the weather patterns have been relatively decent. And the company expects the volume to increase significantly.

• Ahmed Madha of Unifi Capital asked about the outlook on the PVC demand dynamics in the country and the increase in the imports of China. Ajay Shriram MD replied that PVC prices are seeing a very sharp decline. The company expects that this reaction of sharp drop in prices as possibly a knee-jerk reaction.

• Ahmed Madha of Unifi Capital enquired what will be the company’s peak net debt by FY23 end or whenever the capex gets completed. Ajay Shriram Chairman said that the expectation is that net debt should be around INR1,500 crores by end of FY23.

• Ahmed Madha of Unifi Capital asked about the chlorine use, what’s the company’s plan for FY25. Ajay Shriram Chairman replied that the current consumption in Bharuch is about 5% captive and in Kota it is about 30% captive. Going forward this 40% broadly, the company should be able to maintain through pipelines and 4% captive will move up to above 10%.

• Pratiksha Daftari from Aequitas Investment enquired about the details of caustic production for the whole season in sugar division. Vikram Shriram VC MD replied that the company’s total crush was about 549 lakh quintals, so the production was close to 54-55 lakh quintals. And inventory valuation was about 3,307.

• Pratiksha Daftari from Aequitas Investment asked about the outlook on Brazil supply in FY23 vs. FY22. Vikram Shriram VC MD replied that the Brazil crop is undergoing stress and because of oil prices, a large part of the crop is being diverted to Ethanol. The company expects that in the next sugar year, the exports will be roughly 7.5-8.5 million tons from India.

• Pratiksha Daftari from Aequitas Investment asked about demand scenario in caustic going ahead. Ajay Shriram Chairman replied that the prices in 1Q23 were about $700 and they are down by about 5-10%. The company doesn’t expect the prices to go down more than 5-7% for the next couple of quarters.

• Pratiksha Daftari from Aequitas Investment enquired if the company is seeing any slowdown in demand, from textile or paper sector. Ajay Shriram Chairman clarified that demand is quite robust and that’s why the India economy is doing quite okay.

• Anurag Patil of Roha Asset enquired about 2Q23 panning out in the Bioseed business. Vikram Shriram VC MD replied that due to delayed monsoon the increase in the paddy and course crops has declined. It’s also a possibility that the company may see a decline in the sowing in paddy.

• Anurag Patil of Roha Asset asked about the acreage situation currently in cotton. Vikram Shriram VC MD replied that cotton has done well in terms of acreage and as of now due to reasonably good range in the cotton growing areas, the acreage is good.

• Vighnesh Iyer from Sequent Investments enquired about the capacity utilization for caustic soda and related chemicals and PVC. Ajay Shriram Chairman said that in 1Q23, the capacity utilization was 91% vs. 84% in 1Q22. For PVC it was 90% and aluminium chloride was almost 100%.