Note: This is a preliminary transcript and may contain inaccuracies. It will be updated with a final, fully-reviewed version soon.
Ester Industries Limited (NSE: ESTER) Q4 2026 Earnings Call dated May. 15, 2026
Corporate Participants:
Vaibhav Jha — Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Sourabh Agarwal — Chief Financial Officer
Analysts:
Amit Sharma — Analyst
Unidentified Participant
Saket Kapoor — Analyst
Saransh Gupta` — Analyst
Presentation:
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, Good day and welcome to the Easter Industries Limited Q4 and FY26 earning conference call hosted by Actors PR. As a reminder, all participant 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 the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star on your touchtone phone. I now hand the conference to Mr. Amit Sharma from AD Factors PR. Thank you. And over to you sir.
Amit Sharma — Analyst
Thank you Rhea and good afternoon everybody and a very warm welcome to you all. Thank you everyone for participating in the earnings call of SR Industries Limited for the fourth quarter and full year ended 31st March 2026. On the call today with us we have Mr. Vaibhav Jha CEO Mr. Praveen Rastagi, Executive Director Corporate affairs and Mr. Sourabh Agrawal, CFO of the company. The management will take us through the operational and financial performance for the quarter and full year gone by following which we will open the forum for the qa.
Before we begin, please note that this conference call may contain forward looking statements about the company which are based on the beliefs, opinions and expectations of the company as on the date of this call. The statements are not a guarantee for future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. I now request Mr. Vaibhav Jha to take us through the company’s performance. Thank you. And over to you sir.
Vaibhav Jha — Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Thank you Arun. Thank you everyone for joining us. I will briefly talk about the key business developments for Q4 and full year. FY26 first with Saurabh will walk you through our financial performance. The quarter ended March 31, 2026 marked a meaningful inflection point for the company. The major headwinds that weighed on business segments through much of FY26 were aggressive price competition in Bopit films from Chinese dumping and disruption caused by imposition of U.S. Trade tariffs. Both of these factors adversely affecting performance of Bopit films.
Both these factors have now undergone a significant degree of moderation on the trade tariff front. The reciprocal and punitive trade tariff imposed by USA government has been rejected by Supreme Court of USA. However the USA government has now imposed a global tariff of 10%. Even global tariff of 10% has been challenged in the courts and the matter is subjugate. This development has meaningfully stabilized export dynamics for Indian manufacturers including us. On the domestic front, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies DGTR has imposed anti dumping duties on BOFET film imports from China and certain other countries.
Formal imposition by the Ministry of Finance is expected in due course for this to take effect. This measure is set to establish a more balanced competitive landscape and deliver sustained relief to Indian producers, domestic and export. Bopit film industry witnessed margin expansion during the last quarter which is Q4FY26. This was due to increase in global prices on account of higher prices being charged by Chinese producers. Also because of the inflationary geopolitical situation since last two to three months and also the depreciation of rupee.
This development has significantly enhanced the competitiveness of Indian BOPET film players including ourselves and we intend to leverage this opportunity proactively. The ongoing conflict in West Asia has kept crude oil prices elevated and volatile contributing to a former raw material cost environment during the quarter. We continue to monitor this closely and manage our procurement accordingly. On the regulatory front, the implementation of Plastic Waste Management Rules PWMR with FDA effect from 1st April 2025 continues to drive structural demand growth for sustainable BOPED film solution.
The mandate requires 10% PCR content in flexible packaging in FY26 and 27 and this increases further to 20% in the subsequent years of FY28 and FY29. The company is actively collaborating with leading players of the ecosystem and partnering with them to capture this opportunity. Now coming to the Polysif film segment performance on a consolidated basis, the film Segment revenue for Q4FY26 stood at 321 crore, reflecting year on year growth of 14.9%. With film volumes at 19,656 metric tonnes, the volume is an increase of 2.3% on YoY basis.
For the full year, FY26 film volumes increased 5.1% year on year to 80,517 metric tons. Consolidated capacity utilization for Q4FY26 stood at approximately 78% with Aster Filmtech operating at 85% and Esther Industries at 72%. The company continues to focus on value added and specialty products to reduce the cyclicity in the film business. The volume of VAS products stood at 25% of total sales volume in FY26. In volumetric terms, the growth in VAS products was 14.5% despite adverse effect of USA volume loss partially due to the trade tariffs.
Chips revenue during the year grew approximately 2.2x year on year to Rupees 65.7 crores driven by higher third party sales volume. Segment EBIT for Q4FY26 stood at 42 crore representing a robust 73% year on year improvement with EBIT margins expanding by 440 basis points to 13%, a clear demonstration of recovery as the impact of prior headwinds progressively moderate. The specialty polymer segment continues to serve as a mitigation against cyclicity in film segment. In Q4FY26 sales volume stood at 658 metric ton for the full year.
FY26 specialty polymer sales volume grew 21% year on year to 3836 metric ton with segment revenue growing 16% year on year to Rupees 179.3 crore from Rupees 155.2 crore in FY25 segment. EBIT for FY26 stood at Rupees 58.7 crores with healthy EBIT margins of 32.7% primarily supported by strong IP protection for certain marquee products. While Q4FY26 saw some volume moderation in our core specialty products, other value added specialty polymer products witnessed strong traction with meaningful higher volumes supported by our R and D pipeline, strong human capital and focused marketing, we remain confident of delivering good growth in this segment.
Concerted efforts are being made in product development and customer acquisition across geographies and this is likely to result in growth in the business in coming times. Recycled pet performance has been one of the most compelling growth stories within our portfolio. We have been able to rapidly scale the recycled pet business with arpit Volume surging to surging 126% year on year in Q4 FY26 to 1677 metric ton for the full year FY26 ARPIT volume grew approximately 258% year on year to 5325 metric tonnes and ARPIT revenue surged 3.7x year on year to Rupees 59.3 crores from Rupees 16.2 crores in FY25.
This reflected both rising demand for sustainable packaging solutions and our rapidly expanding manufacturing capabilities. The implementation of plastic waste management rules with effect from 1st April 2025 which mandated 30% PCR content in rigid packaging continues to drive structural growth. For ARPET demand. We have commissioned a state of art RPD extruder in Hyderabad with a capacity of 20,000 metric ton per annum. This extruder is going to generate value as the demand for usage of ARPIT increases in BOPET films due to implementation of PWMR rules.
It positions us to vertically integrate this important capability to cater to the upcoming ramp up in PCR film demand as well as create revenue generation opportunities through sale of film grade Arpet and textile grade Arpet. Ester Fintech delivered an impressive performance during the Q4FY26. Capacity utilization reached 85% in Q4FY26 compared to 59% in Q4FY25. Total income surged 67.7% year on year to 131.7 crore driven by 53.3% growth in sales volume, EBITDA excluding MTM and reinstatement losses on foreign currency.
Term loan for Q4FY26 stood at rupees 24.6 crore, a significant improvement year on year reflecting the combined impact of higher volumes, larger proportion of VAS products, improved realizations and operating leverage. Turning to our path breaking chemical recycling of polyester textile waste initiative through our 5050 joint venture Ester Loop Infinite Technologies Ltd. All project related activities are being pursued diligently. Land acquisition for the project is under progress following the completion of front end engineering and design study by Tata Consulting Engineers.
We have engaged Toyo Engineering, a globally recognized detailed engineering firm as our engineering consultant. This represents the final engineering phase ahead of commencement of construction. The European Union’s ECO Design for Sustainable Product Regulation or espr stipulating mandatory collection of textile waste, destruction of unsold apparel, shoes and finalizing specified specific recycled content percentages for government with provision for payment of fees for all non compliant fashion brands is expected to trigger growth in demand for T2T recycled PET by end of calendar 2028.
This will provide a significant structural boost to demand for products that Elite will be uniquely positioned to deliver globally. Elite’s facility will enable global brands including our anchor customer like Nike to achieve their sustainability targets while establishing complete circularity in the polyester textile to textile value chain. We are pleased to report that subsequent to balance sheet date the company has successfully secured 165.25 crores against its 175 crore share warrant issue.
This substantial capital infusion underscores the deep confidence our promoters and investors place in the company’s long term value proposition and growth trajectory. In summary, we believe BOPET film segment has now emerged from the bottom of the cycle with anti dumping duties that are soon expected to be notified by Customs we expect meaningful margin improvement in FY27 and beyond. The convergence of growing polyester film demand, IP protected specialty ProLima products, a rapidly scaling arpid business and the transformative Elite project advancing, albeit with some delay, gives us confidence in continued and incremental value creation for our stakeholders.
We remain committed to driving sustainable and profitable growth, advancing our circular economy vision, investing in operational excellence and R and D and delivering long term value to all our stakeholders. We look forward to a significantly stronger FY27. I will now hand over to Sourav to walk you through our financial performance. Over to you Sourav.
Sourabh Agarwal — Chief Financial Officer
Thank you Vaibhav. Good evening everyone. Let me take you through our financial performance after which we will open the floor for question and answer. First I will talk about the standard on financial performance for quarter four FY26 on a standalone basis. The company reported total income of rupees 257.3 crore in Q4FY26 with a marginal decline of 1.6% on year on year basis primarily on account of lower BOPET film volumes. However, domestic margins improved sequentially supported by strong pricing discipline and a healthier product mix.
Standalone EBITDA for the quarter stood at 25.6 crore with an EBITDA margin of 9.9% excluding mark to market and reinstatement loss of 4.22 crores. On foreign currency term loans which are non cash in nature, adjusted EBITDA would have been at rupees 29.8 crore representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 11.6% with adjusted cash profit of rupees 19.3 crore. Profit after tax for quarter four FY26 stood at rupees 4.4 crore with a PAT margin of 1.7% and an earning per share of rupees 0.45 per share. For the full year FY26 standalone total income stood at rupees 1059.6 crore.
Standalone EBITDA stood at 85.9 crore at a margin of 8.1%. Adjusted for mark to market losses on foreign currency term loan EBITDA would have been 93.97 crore at a margin of 8.9%. Full year PAT stood at rupees 4.4 crore with a PAT margin of 0.4%. The board of directors have proposed a dividend of rupees 0.25 per share for FY26 to the shareholders of Aster Industries Limited. Now I will talk about Aster Film Tech stand on performance during quarter four FY26 ASTER FilmTech witnessed a turnaround in operating and financial performance.
Sales volume reached 909,886 metric tonnes a year on year growth of 53.3% while the total income rose 67.7% to 131.7 crore. Reported EBITDA stood at rupees 18.6 crore while representing a 10 times improvement over quarter for FY25 with an EBITDA margin of 14.1% excluding mark to market and reinstatement losses on foreign currency term loan of rupees 6.02 crore. Adjusted EBITDA would have been rupees 24.6 crore with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 18.7% and adjusted cash profit of rupees 17.3 crore.
Profit after tax for quarter for FY26 recovered to rupees 4.3 crore compared to a loss of rupees 11.5 crore in quarter for FY25, a significant positive inflection for the full year FY26. Asta Fintech recorded a total income of rupees four hundred and fifty five point four crore growing at 29.3% year on year basis. Reported EBITDA for FY26 was rupees 27 crore adjusted for total mark to market and reinstatement loss on foreign currency term loan of rupees 29.3 crore across the full year. Adjusted EBITDA would have been 56 crore 30 lakhs at a margin of 12.4%.
Ester Fintech is entitled to some state level subsidies. These subsidies will be accounted for as other income as and when it is received. Till March 2025 subsidy amounting to rupees 9.57 crore has been approved by the Government. We are waiting for the final receipt of the amount. When received it will boost the financial performance and liquidity position of Aster Film Tech for the period beyond 31st March 2025. An application has already been submitted to the relevant industry department. Now I will talk about the consolidated financial performance for the quarter as well as the full year at consolidated level.
The total income for quarter four FY26 was rupees 345.1 crore a year on year growth of 7.2%. Reported EBITDA was rupees 43.3 crore which is 10.7% up on a year on year basis with an EBITDA margin of 12.6% an improvement of approximately 40 basis point over quarter for FY25 excluding mark to market and reinstatement losses of rupees 10.24 crore on foreign currency term loan adjusted EBITDA would have been 53.6 crore implying an adjusted EBITDA margin of 15.5% with adjusted cash profit of rupees 35.8 crore.
Consolidated profit after tax for quarter for FY26 recovered strongly to rupees 7.9 crore from rupees from rupees 2 crore in quarter for FY25 earning per share for quarter for FY26 stood at 81 paise. The board of directors has proposed a dividend of 25 paise per share for FY26 to the equity shareholders of Este Industries. Reflecting the company’s improved financial position for the full year, FY26 consolidated total income grew 7.2% to rupees 1392.7 crore from rupees 1299 crore in FY25. Reported EBITDA for the full year was rupees 110.6 crore at a margin of 7.9%.
If we exclude the mark to market and reinstatement losses of rupees 37.4 crore on foreign currency term loans, adjusted EBITDA would have been rupees 147.9 crores at a margin of 10.6% with adjusted cash profit of rupees 79.8 crore. At the full year consolidated level the company reported a Net loss of rupees 27.5 crores impacted primarily by cumulative non cash mark to market losses on foreign currency liabilities and one time increase in gratitude and lien catchment liability of rupees 2.7 crores due to the implementation of new labor codes which came in effect from 21st November 2025.
Now I will talk about the balance sheet and the liquidity. So as on 31st March 2026, consolidated equity stood at rupees 782.7 crore bolstered by proceeds from share warrant issue. Total consolidated assets stood at Rupees 16.73.9 crore. Closing cash in bank balance including other bank balance stood at rupees 104.9 crore providing adequate liquidity coverage. Funds amounting to rupees 79.5 crore has been received against share volume subsequent to the balance sheet date. Both Istra Industries Limited and Ester FinTech Limited have remained current on all term loan repayment as per the agreed schedule based on the expected improvement in the profitability as outlined by Weber combined with our available cash and bank balance and adequate working capital limit to Support the budgeted FY27 operations, we remain confident of continued adherence to our repayment schedule going forward.
So as we close, overall quarter for FY26 represents a clear inflection point for Estra Industries. The moderation in key external headwinds, combined with our operational progress across all business segments, positions the company well for a strong FY27. The investments we have made in operational excellence, including RPET and the elite Chemical Recycling for Polyster Waste project, are expected to translate into meaningful improvements in profitability in the year ahead. That concludes our opening remarks.
We can now commence the Q and A session. Thank you so much.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
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 handset while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. First question is from the line of Harshit Khadka from Robo Capital. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Am I audible?
Sourabh Agarwal
Yes. Yes.
Operator
Yes sir.
Unidentified Participant
Yes sir. Thank you for the opportunity. I can see in the PPT that the core operational ebitda is around 15% when we adjust for the MTM losses. So is it sustainable or you know, what can be the steady bit of margins going forward?
Vaibhav Jha
Yeah. So let me answer this. So 15.5% EBITDA without Mark to market is because of the structural industry improvement that we have seen. Now whether it will be 15 or lower than 15 will depend on the prevailing market condition. But I think what we can be assured is of is that the EBITDA margins are going to be far better than what we had seen say on an average over the last 12 months or 15 months.
Unidentified Participant
In FY28 as well.
Vaibhav Jha
Our take is that when we look at the global supply demand dynamics and the domestic supply demand dynamics, we see that the sustenance of BOPIT margins is going to continue for around 18 to 24 months at least.
Unidentified Participant
Right, Understood. The second question is regarding our elite JV. So what kind of numbers are we expecting in FY27?
Saket Kapoor
So Elite is going to be operational by end of calendar 28. So in the FY27 there is not going to be any impact in the profit and loss count of the company due to Elite operations. It will be still a company where the project is under implementation.
Unidentified Participant
Right, I understood. So sir, what can Be the peak revenue and that’s it. Three to four years going forward once it is operational after FY28.
Saket Kapoor
So in the. When the first phase is completed, which is about 70,000 tons of recycled material, we are looking at close to $150 million revenue from operations at hundred percent capacity utilization.
Unidentified Participant
Right. And margins on that would be.
Saket Kapoor
It is already covered in the presentation. It will be in the range of 40 to 45%.
Unidentified Participant
Understood this. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Saranj Gupta from Swan Investments. Please go ahead.
Saransh Gupta`
Hello sir. Thank you for the opportunity. I’m audible?
Saket Kapoor
Yeah, you’re audible.
Saransh Gupta`
Thank you sir. And congratulations on the great set of numbers. Sir, I had a few questions. So first I wanted to understand how.
Saket Kapoor
If you can speak from the handset.
Saransh Gupta`
Hello.
Sourabh Agarwal
No, it is not very audible.
Saransh Gupta`
Is it better now?
Sourabh Agarwal
Yeah,
Saransh Gupta`
Yeah. Hi. Basically I wanted to understand like how was the spread movement pre war and post war. Like how did the demand and the spreads move in the industry for bulk?
Vaibhav Jha
Sorry. Yeah. So see it’s a very precise information. You are asking, you know, pre war, post war. So indeed there was an improvement in spread after the war because. Because, you know the global supply chain got disrupted and imports into India or anywhere else in the world became more expensive. So there was an improvement in spread post war. But it will be difficult at this point of time to give you a precise number on pre war and post war spread because war started on some date in midst of a month.
Right. So to give you a precise number we’ll have to do a lot of number crunching to give come to that.
Unidentified Participant
So if not a precise number, but can you help us? What was the average spread that we got in Q4 and what are the average spreads currently?
Vaibhav Jha
Right. So when it comes to spread, I think what we are talking about is what the way we look at the market is plain 12 micron VA. And what we have seen is that the average spread in Q4 was around 32 to 33 rupees for 12 micron va. Right. And as we go into this quarter, we are expecting that the average for this quarter should be somewhere between 30 to 35 rupees as well.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. So if you look on the quarter, on quarter basis there is not a significant. There is not an improvement. If you look at the current quarter.
Vaibhav Jha
Yeah, we are expecting that similar VAs or I mean the range I gave you, the VA, you know, be there somewhere within that range.
Unidentified Participant
So now if you look on the overall number basis we have seen an improvement in the polyester film business substantially on a quarter on quarter basis. But at that same time the specialty polymer business has seen a decline in the overall EBIT margin. So was it pertaining to the default when in the shipment or a lower realization how someone look at it?
Vaibhav Jha
Yeah, so there are two factors involved in specialty part specialty polymers margins. One is the cyclicity. These the last quarter is generally, you know, lower
Sourabh Agarwal
The
Vaibhav Jha
Dynamics of the product that we sell. However, having said that, what we have been doing over last one year is we have been developing and aggressively approaching the market with value added products to build the operating leverage in this business.
Unidentified Participant
As
Vaibhav Jha
A result of that, we are now selling and scaling up many products which do not have as high a margin as the high specialty products, but have good margins compared to the normal PET or other such product in the market. So as a result of which you would see that the EBIT percentage structurally may look little lower than what we have been historically reporting. Having said that, in last quarter there was also an issue related to demand of one of our key specialty products. And we are trying to assess the situation and trying to figure out how this trend will look like going forward.
Unidentified Participant
So now when you said that you are focusing more on the value added product and which will give you a better operating leverage, but the new product will have a lower margin as compared to our existing product mix. So with the current 13% overall contribution from a specialty polymer to the revenue, what sorts of contribution one can assume over the next two to three years and what will be a steady state margins once the new product comes in place?
Vaibhav Jha
I will just rephrase what I said. So we didn’t mean to say we are not going to focus on high speed shard products. Of course those products remain in focus. But in order to improve the operating leverage, we are also going to focus now on WAP products. Because we have a large capacity, we are running a part of that capacity and the rest of the capacity is not being utilized. So why not utilize that capacity as well to add to our cash flows. So that’s the idea. The idea is not to reduce the focus on night specialty.
The high specialty products and even these VA products are long gestation products. So these will take time to establish in the market. But we expect to see steady growth in this business. In terms of our expectation on the share, I think we are targeting that in next two to three years this should reach somewhere between 20 to 25% or even slightly beyond that.
Unidentified Participant
And so when you indicate that the one of the marquee product had A lower demand in this quarter due to which we had seen a overall bandit realization for specialty polymer coming down. So what sorts of other product are we coming in to offset that or probably is there any chance that we’ll see a revival in the product, in the demand of that particular product?
Vaibhav Jha
To be honest, we are still assessing the situation with respect to this product. So right now is not the right time to comment on what will it be. But apart from this, there are many other products which we are working on. You know, there is a strong demand for specialty pet products originating from pcr. And this is a unique capability that we have within our portfolio which is being sought after across the world. So we are leveraging on this theme. We are also very strong in developing many resins related to bopet film industry which are basically specialty resins.
So there also we are trying to penetrate the market not only in India but across the globe. We have seen very strong response to those products. So these are the two key platforms on which we are playing. Apart from this, there are the established textile products and demand for new textile products which we are seeing in the market and trying to capture those leveraging our existing portfolio as well as some new products which we are developing.
Saket Kapoor
Just to supplement what Vaibhav told you. While there may be the reasons have already been stated by Weber why the volume in this quarter was lower. But if you look at the yearly growth in volume terms in specialty polymer, it’s been significant. We have achieved growth of 20 more than 20%
Amit Sharma
In
Saket Kapoor
Value terms and in volume terms. So quarter to quarter, there may be, you know, sort of variations, but on a yearly basis you see consistent growth.
Unidentified Participant
And is it, is it possible to quantify the impact of the loss in demand of the that particular product?
Vaibhav Jha
Like I said that we are still assessing the situation and right now we are. We don’t want to take a call on that until the situation becomes clear.
Unidentified Participant
And one question on the, one question on the loop on the previous participation. You indicate that once the land is acquired it will take near about two years to complete the entire project. So is it fair to assume that the numbers will come from FY30?
Saket Kapoor
No. So the land acquisition is expected to be completed in the next few months
Unidentified Participant
And therefore
Saket Kapoor
We expect the commencement of operations by the last calendar quarter of 28.
Unidentified Participant
Last product
Saket Kapoor
Of 29.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, that means you are talking about the Q4 of FY29 where you commence the production. So in the trials and everything. So major benefit one should assume from FY30 onwards only.
Saket Kapoor
Yes, you Are right.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. So that’s all from my child as of now. If there’s any further question, I’ll come back in the queue.
Saket Kapoor
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Saket Kapoor from Kapoor and Company. Please go ahead.
Amit Sharma
Yes, fpg.
Operator
Mr. Kapoor, your line has been unmuted. Please go ahead.
Amit Sharma
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry, I was on mute. Namaskar sir. Hope I’m audible now.
Saransh Gupta`
Yeah, yeah, you are audible.
Amit Sharma
Yes. Thank you for the opportunity and congratulations to the entire team for posting strong set of operational and financial number. The opening remark and also the comments on the result speak about we are looking I’m just quoting the management remains highly optimistic regarding our medium to long term performance prospects and as you were answering to the other participant that the spreads are in the vicinity to 32 to 35 rupees per kilogram and we moving to the premium segment. Also going ahead are these factors that have enabled us to comment on being highly optimistic in a segment where things changes very widely.
The swings are very wide. Highly optimistic number.
Vaibhav Jha
Sake, thank you for the question. See industry structure the way it is positioned right now the Indian manufacturers are operating at an OR operating rate of 80% and the upcoming demand, what we are seeing is going to see a surge. So we expect the demand to grow in the rate of at the rate of 8 to 10% instead of 6 to 8% that we had seen in previous years. This is happening because of the growth expected in the FMCG market in the, you know, due to the usual economic growth that we see in India. Plus there is a big pull in the Bopit film industry due to the PWMR rules.
The BOPET film is the only substrate used in most of the food packaging where you can implement these PCR rules. So there is going to be a shift. Not only going to be let me say that there has been a shift from other substrates like Bopp and BOP to bopet as many brands have taken a view that they should shift in order to comply with the PWMR rule. So with the industry operating at a I would say higher than usual operating rate with the strong growth that we are seeing, we feel that the industry is going to see sustained period of strong operating rate going forward for at least next six to eight quarters.
Other than that there has been an improvement in global BOPED margins because of the Chinese producers charging more than usual because they also have taken a position that they don’t want to sell at sustained losses which they were doing so far. So that might there is A chance that there is going to be lesser exports and dumping from them, aided by the add that we are seeing in India that we are expecting in India. So overall I think, I think the demand is going to be very good in India and we are going to see strong operating rate.
This will give us some price stability. Also. Our whole thesis, so to say, is to become a specialty producer. So right now we are selling 25% of films as specialty films. And almost all of our specialty polyester polymer business is specialty. Our target is to grow this 25% share of wax films to 60% plus in next two to three years. So in summary, we are trying to get out of the cyclicity of the commodity volumes in the packaging film business. And this is going to give us better margins than what we have seen in the past.
We have seen success in this endeavor on the specialty polymers. We have grown by 20% year on year on the wax films business despite, you know, losing some volumes in US market due to tariffs. We saw a growth of 14 to 15% year on year. So we are on the right track and this gives us the confidence that we should be seeing sustained improvement in EBITDA margin in medium to long term. We are working on many, many cost saving initiatives within the organization. We have seen lot of it getting realized.
We are seeing very good cost saving realizations going forward this year and next year. So overall the margins should be better than what we have seen so far.
Amit Sharma
Okay, and then what should we expect in terms of the utilization level shaping up going ahead? I think so there is operating leverage that will kick in from that aspect. Also
Vaibhav Jha
The operating leverage will come in mainly in specialty polymers business where we are working on value added products which will improve the volumes of how on our assets on specialty currency. We can run the plant at 100% anytime, right? It is a conscious call not to do it because the moment we do it, we’ll have to start taking on businesses which are going to be not so remunerative. So we have taken a conscious call to have a balanced operating principle wherein we optimize our production so that we don’t have to take on the loss making opportunities.
So the focus is mainly on, you know, improving the share of VAS films and the volume of VAS films and margins we can increase as and when opportunities come. You know, as long as the additional opportunities give us positive margins.
Amit Sharma
Just to conclude before I join the queue, sir, topic specialty polymer. You did attributed it towards the seasonality factor. But even if we, if we take that into account, from last year the numbers for specialty polymers are have the profitability has halved and also the revenue has declined. So for the current year and with the type of steps I think so which you are just alluded to, how should this segment perform? And then I have closing questions for. For
Saket Kapoor
Saketji. There is not been de growth in the specialty polymer business. The value in terms of sales value, the volume of sales all have shown improvement.
Amit Sharma
So when we look at the category in the segment revenue, correct me here. Specialty polymer posted under the Consolidated number was 2022.62 crore which was comparable. Yeah,
Saket Kapoor
This is. Yeah, that is. Yeah.
Amit Sharma
Yes. What
Saket Kapoor
We told that quarter to quarter there may be variations but if you look at on yearly basis there is a consistent growth both in volume and value of sales.
Amit Sharma
Correct, Correct. But
Vaibhav Jha
I attributed it to two things. If you, if you heard me, I said that there is a definitely a seasonality. Then on top of that there were issues on demand of one of our specialty products. And we are still assessing the impact of that. But that was an issue last quarter. So that is why you are seeing lower revenue. And the margin makeup is also affected by the fact that we sold value added products which have lower margins than the high specialty products that we sell. Right. So these are the factors which I had said led to these specialties affected the specialty segment.
Amit Sharma
Right. So this will get corrected here this year. Or. Or we still have to wait for that to play out in our. In our operational and financial number.
Vaibhav Jha
Yeah, so we are like I said, we are still assessing the situation and we’ll have to let it play out for some time before we can give a clearer picture on this.
Amit Sharma
And since we are expecting a better cash flow also from the operations currently. So what are our targets for reduction of debt and what is our current maturity for this financial year?
Sourabh Agarwal
So Satyaji, the total debt as on the balance sheet as we speak on 31st March 26th is 730 crores roughly. And in terms of maturity our annual repayment is around 85 crore rupees. So as you mentioned about the cash flow. So yes, we are looking at an opportunity of reduction in our debt next year going forward. However, that is also going to depend on our CAPEX plan.
Amit Sharma
Sir, can you give us some number of what have we planned for CapEx and which projects? If you could just give the breakup of the same.
Sourabh Agarwal
Yeah. So the total capex that we are planning for next year is around 70 crore rupees. And that will be funded partially from the cash flow that we are going to generate from the business and a part of it may also be funded through additional debt which we will take. However, on an overall basis you will see a significant reduction in the Debt at the AS on 31st March 2027.
Amit Sharma
Can you allude to the projects where we are we are going to Invest for the 70 crore rupees.
Sourabh Agarwal
So in terms of 70 crore rupees sake there are certain projects which are. Which are a high payback period the projects and the which is roughly on 15 crore rupees and the balance projects are mainly focused on sustenance and maintenance of the plant.
Amit Sharma
Okay, so these are pertaining to both this facility polymer as well as our our. Our slim business. This is where the category. Yes
Sourabh Agarwal
And for both locations I am talking at a consolidated level
Amit Sharma
Right sir. And lastly sir, on the currency part I think so currency the Euro played a spoil spot for our our result I think so significant MTM factor has been factored in. So sir in going ahead how will is it the exports that will take care of the same in terms of our when we when the repayment comes or what is our strategy going ahead with the type of significant depreciation that has happened?
Sourabh Agarwal
Absolutely. So this depreciation which has happened in the currency we should look at into the perspective that this is an unprecedented right? We have in the last 10 years we have not seen this type of depreciation in both dollar as well as euro and because of the events which has happened in 25 as well as 21/26 this currency has depreciated showmat. So strategies twofold number one is yes a part of it is going to be balanced with the exports and for the and the balance portion we are closing watching the situation and as and when we get opportunities we are going to take appropriate hedge to ensure that our our losses on account of this on depreciation of currencies adequately covered.
Amit Sharma
Okay so only to conclude to it when we took euro loans as they were competitive at that type type point of time or what was the
Saket Kapoor
When we got the loan sanction in 21 and it was a mark of a 75 basis point over Uribor and Uribor was negative so the floor for us was zero. So the rate of interest was only 0.75%. So in the initial let’s say in the fan in the calendaria year 21222324 for 45 years we had very massive savings. Had these loans been taken in rupee terms the interest cost would have been much more higher than what we paid as interest on the euro loan. So it is the last one and a half or two years that we have been hit because of the exchange fluctuation.
The first four years was very, very remunerative due to the fact that we had taken a euro denominated loan.
Sourabh Agarwal
So as we, when we took the loan the euro was at 84 and even on 1st of January 25 the euro was hovering around 88,89. So that is the range in which euro was moving against rupee. But since then euro has appreciated 212 rupees over a period of 15 months.
Saket Kapoor
So in the four years it appreciated only by 4 rupees rupees from 84 to 88. But in the last 12 to 15 months it has appreciated by almost 24 rupees. That’s the main cause of concern. Yeah.
Amit Sharma
So what have been now the effective cost of fund for us if we take it for the entire project.
Saket Kapoor
So even today the uribo is only 2.2% and if you take a markup of about 75. So we are still availing the loan at less than 3%. And because of this fact only our weighted average cost of debt in Astra Fintech is less than 7% even today
Amit Sharma
In rupee term.
Saket Kapoor
1% per annum. Yeah.
Amit Sharma
7% per annum in rupee term.
Saket Kapoor
Yeah, yeah.
Amit Sharma
For I think PTA and mega prices we have also must have moved up significantly. So if you could just give us some color.
Saket Kapoor
So webhav stated in the opening remarks that it has been volatile and there has been increase but it is changing a lot. It changed a lot in the month of March and April but things are stabilizing now and it is in the range of about 100 rupees per kg of chips as we speak now.
Operator
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Ravi Nagra, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Amit Sharma
Good afternoon sir. I have two questions. Sir, my first question is sir, what is the ROE and ROE target of the company? Because mutual fund will only enter the company if Roe and ROC is 15%. Answer my. My second question is we have a 10 patent shown in investment presentation of specialty polymer. But still we are dependent on two or three border and one product. If one product goes down, all revenue will collapse. So answer my question Also that next year revenue target of specialty polymer business.
Thank you sir.
Vaibhav Jha
So I’ll answer on the business side of specialty polymers and then Sourav can give more color to ROE and roc. So see on specialty polymers like I mentioned that we are working on WAP products, value added products as well as new high specialty products. So what we are selling now, the number of products we are selling now and the number of customers that we have now is much more diverse than what it was say a couple of years back. Right. And so the idea is to de risk ourselves from this kind of revenue and profitability fluctuations.
You know, when we are depending on a few products and few customers. So we are working on that direction and we have made good success, we have achieved good success in last 12 to 15 months. And going forward we are seeing that we are going to become more and more diversified. Over to you Saurav.
Saket Kapoor
So if we talk of the return on capital we. If historically, I mean leave aside the last two years when the performance has been down, our return on capital employed had been in the range of. Just hold on, I’ll give you the number was about in the financial year 2021 it was about 32%. In financial year 1920 it was about 28%. So in a normal scenario which we are going to see now in the following, let’s say the, as Weber told in the next eight to ten quarters, we are going to get a return on capital employed of more than 20%.
Amit Sharma
Okay sir. Thank you sir. But answer is specialty polymer. Can we do 200 crore revenue this year?
Saket Kapoor
Yeah, we are confident, we would not like to be specific with the numbers but the plant that we have and the, the detailed annual operating plan that we have prepared, we should be achieving that number.
Amit Sharma
Because I in last control you have said that each year we will do 20% growth in special improvement. That’s why I am asking
Saket Kapoor
We stick to that.
Amit Sharma
Okay, thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, please limit your question to two per participant. Should have a follow up question. We request you to rejoin the question queue. Next question is from the line of Ritvi Gandhi from family office. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Hello. Good evening sir. Thank you for the opportunity. I just want to understand that since the two primary feedstocks for polyester currants. Hi. Am I audible?
Sourabh Agarwal
Yeah, you’re audible.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah, yeah. So since the feedstock for polyester films are crude oil derivatives and Brent crude has been volatile throughout FY26. So how much of our cost base is directly linked to crude and what is the net feedstock cost impact on our margins, EBITDA margins that we are looking at.
Vaibhav Jha
See, the industry operates on va, right? So what it means is that the supply demand dynamics determine the value add that you can get over the raw material. So if the Raw material increases, you know, there will be some price elasticity. But the VAs are dependent mostly on the operating rate, global operating rates as well as domestic operating rates. So Even if the RM increases, unless you know it goes up by 100% or 50%, something like that, we don’t expect price elasticity to come in and therefore the VA’s should remain consistent with the industry structure and the industry supply, demand balance.
So this is just to let you know that the raw material typically does not eat into the profits. Right. Because the profits are like I said, dependent on many other factors other than just the RM price. Do you want to add on
Saket Kapoor
The RM side? So this is what we have seen in the past. The margins for the polyester film or for the product that we deal in would be determined by the demand supply and other various factors. Raw material is not something that is going to affect the margins because it’s a pass through model that we have. So as you know as in the month of April, the raw metal prices increased by about 40% but our value addition also increased to that extent. So it is not going to eat up into the margins of the product that we sell.
Unidentified Participant
Got it. So our business model gives us a cushion like we pass it on to our customers.
Saket Kapoor
Yes,
Operator
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Saran Gupta from Swan Investments. Please go ahead.
Saransh Gupta`
Hello.
Saket Kapoor
Yeah. Yeah, thank you.
Saransh Gupta`
Thank you for the follow up opportunity. Sir, I just wanted to understand like right now we are trying to understand how our special value added production specialty are will pan out. So with current capacity what can be the peak revenue that one can look at before loop comes in by before like by end of FY29 like all revenue growth if you can help us with.
Vaibhav Jha
Yeah. So see we with the current asset base if we run at 100% we are looking at 2000 to 2200 crores kind of turnover.
Saransh Gupta`
And sir, how much of capex will we have to do to achieve this number?
Vaibhav Jha
So this is with the existing. Sorry, go ahead. Yeah, I was saying that this is with the existing assets. Right. So the question was on existing assets. We might do some. Not might, but yeah, we’ll have to do sustenance capex to keep the plants running. But other than that we expect small capex going forward till the elite project comes up as we want to have a strong capital discipline within our company and only those projects which have very high ROI and which do not drain our cash flow or reserves will be undertaken.
Saransh Gupta`
Sure. So under sir, just one clarification. I guess there was some connectivity issue at my end. You mentioned that the next year capex would be 70 crores. So if you can give me a bifurcation like how much will be maintenance Capex and other capex.
Sourabh Agarwal
So 150015 crore rupees is new project. 15 crore rupees is new project and the balance is sustenance and maintenance. And this is what both the companies together.
Saransh Gupta`
So if you can like give us more details on the 15 crore capex on new project like what kinds of returns we can expect and where are we deploying this.
Sourabh Agarwal
So also this is slightly particular information that you are asking for. Because you know disclosing each and every capex may not be feasible on this call. But this on an overall basis this 15 crore rupees is going to give us a attractive IR of plus 20%.
Saransh Gupta`
Sure sir, thank you so much. I’ll join back.
Operator
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Saket Kapoor from Kapoor and company. Please go ahead.
Amit Sharma
Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity sir. Sauravji, as you mentioned about the Capex to be at 70 crore and still you. You did mention the fact that there will be significant reduction in terms of our borrowing closing balances for 31st March 27th. So if you could just specify the care numbers what are we. What path are we going to trade for the next financial year? Yeah
Sourabh Agarwal
Sure. So. So Sake, as I mentioned to you the total repayment is around 85 crore rupees for the next year. And we are trying to limit our borrowings for the next year to below 40 cr. So that is going to give me a leverage of 45 crores on the debt side.
Amit Sharma
So for this year sir, on a. On a control basis what is our long term borrowing and how will this. And the cost of fund also sir,
Sourabh Agarwal
So the cost of the fund is in the range of between 9 to 10% on a consolidated basis. And our total borrowings as I mentioned you was 730crore rupees which includes you both short term as well as long term.
Saket Kapoor
Long term is about 380 odd crores. Yes, the long term borrowings are. Sakiji, about 380 crores.
Amit Sharma
Correct. Sir, when we look at our performance for. For this quarter and especially the consolidated one we did ebitda margin of 12.6 and the absolute EBITDA number at 43 crore. So taking the scenario into play and the type of effort in the fabric pipeline which you are mentioning especially in terms of this facility polymer and we increasing our percentage in the value added plim segment, then the environment allows us to to extrapolate this number going ahead to be on the even on the conservative side.
The run rate to be maintained both in the terms of margin and the EBITDA number.
Vaibhav Jha
Yeah, absolutely. I mean we have built up over past 12 to 15 months a very strong pipeline on both specialty polymers as well as Vastens. So we are extremely confident that we are going to maintain or even exceed the run rate that we have seen so far.
Operator
Mr. Kapoor, we cannot hear you. That was the last question of the day. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Vaidhav Shah for closing comments. Over to you sir.
Vaibhav Jha
I would like to thank all our stakeholders for their continued trust and support. Q4 FY26 marks a decisive turning point for Ester industries. We enter FY27 with improved visibility, structural tailwinds and a strengthened competitive position across all our business segments. We remain committed to sustainable and profitable growth, the advancement of our circular economy vision and creation of long term value for our stakeholders. We look forward to a significantly stronger FY27 and thank you all for participating in today’s call.
Thank you.
Saket Kapoor
Thank you very much
Operator
On behalf of the Easter Industries Limited that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. And you may now disconnect your lines.