Fineotex Chemical Limited (NSE: FCL) Q3 2025 Earnings Call dated Feb. 17, 2025
Corporate Participants:
Aarti Jhunjhunwala — Head, International Marketing
Arindam Choudhuri — Chief Executive Officer
Sanjay Tibrewala — Chief Financial Officer
Analysts:
Karan Kamdar — Analyst
Ganesh Nagarsekar — Analyst
Ankit Bansal — Analyst
Parag Thakkar — Analyst
Mahendra Parmar — Individual Investor
Niraj Rajai — Analyst
Supan Parikh — Individual Investor
Anirudh Daga — Analyst
Bhavin Soni — Analyst
Presentation:
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Q3 and Nine Months FY ’25 Earnings Conference Call of Chemicals Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines 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 zero on your touchstone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. Before we begin, I would like to state that some of the statements made in today’s discussion may be forward-looking in nature. The actual results may vary as we are dependent on several external factors. I now hand the conference over to Ms Ati from Chemical Limited. Thank you, and over to you, ma’am.
Aarti Jhunjhunwala — Head, International Marketing
Thank you. Thank you,, and a very good morning, everyone. It is always a pleasure to connect with our investors, analysts and stakeholders. We deeply appreciate your time and continued trust in Chemical Limited. Let me begin by reiterating our core philosophy. Has been more than just a specialty chemicals company with innovation and sustainability at the heart of everything we do. We are a company driven by innovation, customer-centric solutions and sustainability while remaining cost-effective. We are a single stop solution provider across business verticals, including textile chemicals, FMCG, cleaning and hygiene, oil and gas and water treatment. Our expertise in these areas combined with our deep customer relations allow us to deliver high-quality and tailor-made solutions that meet the evolving needs of industries worldwide. With the strong manufacturing base and a global footprint, we are well-positioned to capitalize on future high-growth opportunities. We are currently witnessing strong growth in our new segments, oil and gas and water treatment. These segments are gaining traction and we have a strong order pipeline that is expanding geographically. In-the-water treatment industry, strong momentum through industrial expansion and affluent treatment, and zero liquid discharge policies drive demand for, and biodegradable polymers. Increasing water pollution and scarcity have accelerated investments in plants boosting the needs for and metal chillating agents. A testament to our innovation and sustainability drive is the launch of our new product, Premium, a next-generation biotechnology-based mosquito control solution. This non-toxic and eco-friendly product not only disrupts the mosquito lifecycle more efficiently than conventional methods, but also contributes to water preservation. Premium presents a strong market opportunity driving impactful innovations in the global chemical industry. Simultaneously, the oil and gas sector is seeing increased upstream activity from industry giants, driving the demand for oil drilling and function chemicals like corrosion inhibitors and paraffin dispersants. The expansion of offshore and deep-water exploration requires high-performance drilling and cementing fluids, while the rise in shale gas and CBM exploration is boosting the market for fracturing and stimulation chemicals. The move towards eco-friendly and water-based drilling fluid is to reduce environmental impact and the expansion of refineries and pipeline networks continue to support growth in cementing and production chemicals. This diversification strengthens our overall business and allows us to capture emerging opportunities in high-demand industries. Driven by launch of innovative products through our cutting-edge R&D capabilities, while maintaining a sharp focus on sustainability, we have developed 30 new products during this quarter, increasing our product offering. Now I hand over the call to Mr, who will take us through some of our key developments you.
Arindam Choudhuri — Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, RTJ. Very good morning to all. I am happy to share that we inaugurated our new office in Andheri, Mumbai on Jan 22, 2025. The facility includes state-of-art training centers and recreation areas, ensuring an inspiring and dynamic environment for our employees. We are also honored to share that our Executive Director, Mr, Mr Sanjay Tibrawala was recognized with the Industry Leader award at the Lifecycle Assessment Summit 2025. This prestigious award presented by Maharashtra Textile Minister and India’s Textile Commissioner highlights not just his personal contribution, but also our company, Phenotec’s unwavering commitment to sustainability and innovation in the specialty chemical sector. Thank you we are also pleased to report that IKRA has upgraded our credit rating outlook from stable to positive, reflecting our strong financial position with higher cash accruals and robust business expansions. The reaffirmation of our rating across long-term and short-term facilities underscore our financial stability and strategic direction. Thank you. Nevertheless, sustainability is a key focus and we have successfully transition — we have successfully transitioned to renewable energy with the installation of 100 kilowatt solar power plant at our Amana facility and our manufacturing processes have been also optimized to achieve zero discharge of hazardous chemicals that is JDSE certification. Another exciting upgrade is in-progress of our new manufacturing client, which remains on-track and is expected to become operational in next six months by quarter two FY ’26. This facility will further strengthen our production capacity and support our growing demand across various segments. Now I hand over the call to Mr Sanjay, who will take us through the financial performance of our company. Thank you.
Karan Kamdar — Analyst
Thank you,, and good morning, everyone. I would like to start by highlighting to you that our consolidated revenue has grown at a CAGR of 30.5% since 2020, while our profits have grown by 70.5% CAGR over the same-period. Now coming to the performance of the company for the first-nine months of financial year ’25. Our performance remains stable despite a challenging atmosphere environment with muted demand in the FMCG space, one of the key sectors we have been catering to. Our export share has decreased to 19% from 24% in the same-period due to political and social turmoil in Bangladesh and with the development post and new leadership in the US and the recent summit label discussions in the US, we are hopeful that the political uncertainty is likely to fade away soon and the export will pick-up to Bangladesh very soon. Despite these more short-term challenges, we remain confident in achieving our growth targets in the coming times. Our quarterly total income stood at INR131 crores, reflecting a modest decline of 8.5% compared to the same-period last year due to order postponements by few customers and Bangladesh conditions for the issuing of the letter of credit by the banks. However, customer retention remains intact. Demand and fundamentals are strong. While the FMCG segment showed a muted growth, the textile segment continued to expand and more than maybe at a pace more than anticipated. In fact, we have added 32 new customers in the quarter three in the textile business itself. Our EBITDA margins remain healthy, strong at 27.2%, underscoring strong operational efficiencies despite external pressures. Our long-term growth trajectory remains robust, supported by strategic diversification into new segments such as oil and gas and water treatment with a growing order pipeline across geographies. The upcoming plant is set to be operational in-quarter two financial year ’26 and will further bloster our manufacturing capacities capabilities. Innovation continues to drive our business forward and with the new solutions like AquaStrike Premium demonstrating our commitment to sustainability and global market expansion. We have also developed new 15 products during this quarter. With the new — the inorganic strategy initiatives well underway with the backing of a robust earmarked fund of over INR300 crores, we are strongly well-positioned to drive sustainable and profitable growth in the coming times. Our disciplined financial management enables us to siege both organic and inorganic growth opportunities, including strategic investments in new technologies, market expansion and potential acquisition that aligns with our long-term vision. The financial strength empowers to weather market fluctuation, invest in innovation and enhance our operational capabilities. Furthermore, our continued focus on operational excellence and customer-centric solutions will allow us to unlock new revenue streams and expand our footprint across key and emerging markets. With a clear roadmap, a strong order pipeline and ongoing diversification in high-potential sectors, we are confident in delivering value to stakeholders and achieving our ambitious growth targets. The outlook remains highly optimistic as we continue to build momentum for the long-term success of the company. With this, I now open the floor for questions. Thank you. Over to you, Sejal.
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 touchstone 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 Karin from DR Choxy Sensor Private Limited. Please go-ahead.
Karan Kamdar
Good morning, sir. Congrats on launching the new product, Aqua Strike and also 30 other products. Could you throw some color on what could be the market size and the potential impact of these products?
Sanjay Tibrewala
Thank you, Mr Karan. So with reference to the new products, it is mainly connected to the textile industry, which has been launched and there is a lot of new trends picking-up in the textile segment itself. So those are the kind of product lines which we have been launching even regularly actually. Coming to the Aqua strike, we would like to mention that right now there are a lot of conventional methods being used for the mosquito mosquito-controlled breeding by the authorities which includes conventional methods which are based on oil, crude oil-based things like PTI and other MLO kind of oil which have been used to control the mosquito breeding. This is one of the product which was developed in biotech Malaysia and they have been also marketing this product to a few countries around Malaysia. In India we were always trying to you know, convince the authorities and there were a lot of — it took a lot of time to get into these approvals. Right now, we are also going to target certain NGOs, certain authorities who are interested and to control the mosquito breeding and mosquito diseases. So the size right now will be — I mean it’s quite a bigger number and we are starting to expect things to move on from the next financial year from April onwards. And we will be targeting in a substantial way on this businesses going-forward?
Karan Kamdar
Okay. Got it, sir. Sir, my next question is on volumes and how has the quarter been? Do you think the order that was postponed will lead to buoyancy in the March numbers and how do you see the upcoming quarters?
Sanjay Tibrewala
See, I would like to refrain from giving any much forward-looking statements. What I could share is the — as we all are aware about the political situations in Bangladesh due to which a lot of orders and banking systems has been affected in Bangladesh in the last quarter. So there has been a drop-in our businesses out there. However, speaking about textile, textile has grown by — it has grown substantially, I can say by second, it’s gone — the volumes has gone up by 20% for us in this quarter itself and the textile revenue has also gone up by 12% broadly. This could have been enhanced more if the Bangladesh business was intact and we could have seen much better performances in the quarter three. However, the situation now looks to be controlled also with the recent visit of our Prime Minister to US. It looks like Bangladesh will be much in favor with India and lot of things are getting sorted-out from the financial banking perspective in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is one of the biggest textile processing and garment processing countries in the world. So that is a very important area of business, not only for us, but all our co-producers as well. So going-forward, we are quite optimistic that already we are seeing better performances now as we speak during this quarter. I think it should be getting much better in the coming times.
Karan Kamdar
Got it, sir. Got it. And one last question if I can squeeze in, sir. What — any update on the M&A that was announced? Where are we on that and when can we expect something concrete on that end?
Sanjay Tibrewala
Well, yes, absolutely. We are on-top of it. And as soon as we have certain further advancements on that, we will be updating all the shareholders and stakeholders via the stock exchange as we always do. Right now, there is — as you have seen us in the last 13 years of being listed. This — already we had done an international first inorganic acquisition in 2011 by acquiring stake in biotechs in 2011 post the IPO, within three months of the fundraising, we had acquired the stake in Biotechs in 2011. So we are very confident on the management ability to handle international and domestic acquisitions. However, at the same time, we are very cash disciplined. We are looking for great synergies. We are very sure about the kind of valuations we are focusing upon. One thing we can only mention here that any acquisition will be EPS accredited and that goes without saying and we will not be looking at any kind of acquisitions, which are expensive for sure. Right now with the so-called slackness or muted demand in the chemical industry for the last two, 3/4, there are lot of further opportunities which are coming to us. And I would like to say, thanks to the right timing of our fundraising activity, which we had done last — I mean, this calendar — this financial year itself, I think that is going to help us to call — capture such kind of opportunities. Just because in the past, we have seen many times that the opportunities come at a time where there are — the funds are not being raised and this is the time where we have sufficient fund. We have already allocated, as we mentioned now almost INR300 crores for the inorganic acquisition. And so we are looking at a lot of many for the options as well as we speak. So as soon as we have something concrete, we will be updating the stock exchange.
Karan Kamdar
Got it, sir. Got it. Thank you.
Sanjay Tibrewala
Thank you so much, Mr Karma.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ganesh from Bharat Bet Research. Please go-ahead.
Ganesh Nagarsekar
All right. Hello, sir. Sir, my first question is regarding the FMCG business. So over here, you said that our volumes and value were of — overall sales were a bit affected because of nutrid volumes. But in terms of broader wallet share that we have with customers, is that broadly intact or growing or are we losing share with the customers as well? And in terms of new SMCG customers, are we gaining anyone or any major SMCG clients in the pipeline?
Sanjay Tibrewala
Thanks. I would like to mention everyone in the last nine months or especially the last three months also, the company has not lost a single customer and not a single-product. So yes, there has been a degrowth in the demand due to various factors, which keeps happening due to the, let’s say, the rural demands were not intact as we all experienced even for the most of the FMCG companies. I’m talking about up till December. So yes, the nine months or maybe the last quarter three was not great for the rural demand and also for the urban demand. However, as in the recent budget, we understand that the taxations policies by the — by the ministry, the White Life Finance Ministry will help us to pushed up the demand in urban and the rural market itself. And so basically, we have not lost any customer and none of the product at all. Whereas we have added sufficient number of customers, this is the ongoing process because our focus is on sustainable solutions. Sustainability will be the key for any manufacturing specialty chemical companies going-forward. Everything is beginning and ending with sustainability because we have to make sure that the consumers are getting the more sustainable product and this is not — it’s almost a pledge by most of the biggest FMCG companies like Leivers and PNG as we read in many of the articles, global articles and things, they have been deciding to go totally sustainable within 2027 or ’28. So there is a lot of action being done on the backfront, backside. And we are one of the early mowers in sustainability and providing sustainable solutions not only for textiles, but also for the FMCG, also for the oil drilling and other ideas verticals. So I think we are in the best situation and we will be the one of the takers of this kind of growth once it gets more-and-more you know in the market. So with this, I would like to mention that we have been doing quite well from the point-of-view of adding more products, adding more customers in all the segments where we are.
Ganesh Nagarsekar
Understood. Got it, sir. And sir, in terms of the new segments that we are venturing in, which includes the drilling and water treatment segment. So for the water treatment segment, if my understanding is correct, a bulk of our clients will be government sort of entities. So do you see a receivable risk kind of element appearing there? And how are we broadly planning to deal with that sort of risk as and when it appears?
Sanjay Tibrewala
I would like to mention the water — you meant only for the water treatment, right? Okay. So for the water treatment, government is not our End-User customer, it’s the private sector, number-one. And there are lot of important products being demanded by the customers for getting better kind of BOD, COD, better kind of TDAs going-forward. Apart from this, we have been also getting our product approved and started our exports to Middle-East countries who have been using these products as scale — anti-scale ends for desalination of MSF — desalination of water by the MSF plants. So those are the angles and areas where we are focusing a lot.
Ganesh Nagarsekar
Got it. And in terms of receivables, etc., you’re not seeing any major issues there, right? So broadly cash coming back-in time.
Sanjay Tibrewala
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So these — these businesses are quite great enough. In fact, if I could share certain — I would take this question. I also like to mention to all the participants that let’s put it on the point of drilling and the oil and gas specialty chemicals. It’s — we have been tying up with certain biggest customers of the — of the world and they are all $20 billion companies. And as we are aware about the kind of you know, the political — geopolitical situation that China will not be much preferred by the US as such. We are talking to and speaking to all these big US companies, they have a simple mandate that they have to expand, they have purchases and sourcing from India by five times. And so — and that has to be replaced by China, replaced from China and everything has to be purchased from India. So there is going to be quite a big jump-in the quantum purchase in the oil and gas chemicals from India by these big companies. And there are not many companies who are lined-up with their capacities and product lines and things like that. So this is a very exciting thing. We have already got certain excellent orders as we speak in the — from the Eastern Europe countries and the Middle-East countries as African countries as well for the oil and drilling. So we have participated last year in OTC in Adipac in November in Abu Dhabi in Vetex, which is water treatment exhibition in Dubai. This year again, we are going to participate in Russia in the month of April. In fact, from tomorrow, our top management like me and our business head from — for the Oil Gas, who is also from Swaco. They will be also visiting the Middle-East countries to do certain kind of tie-ups in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and various countries. So there is a lot of excitement coming in this. And talking about the receivables, it is definitely better than the other industries.
Ganesh Nagarsekar
Understood. Got it. That’s it from my side, sir. Thank you so much.
Sanjay Tibrewala
Thank you, Mr.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, before we take the next question, a reminder to all the participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Ankit Bansal from India. Please go-ahead.
Ankit Bansal
Hello, sir. Sir, my first question is, sir, your new product premium. Are you going for WHU approval? Like you have said Indian Board have has given you the approval. Are you targeting poor countries like Africa where you will get multi-billion dollar revenues?
Sanjay Tibrewala
Well, thank you so much for that. As such, African countries are also run by a lot many NGOs. And what our targets will be like we’ll be approaching the certain foundations, for example, Bill Gates Foundations and other foundations where they finance such kind of products and then we have to distribute it to the logistic companies for the use in Africa, wherever there is an epidemic or malaria or Denghi or something like this. So there is a lot of such plans of action which we have, which we’ll be taking one-by-one. We’ll be starting from the domestic market first and then we’ll be taking over eventually.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of from Ford Capital. Please go-ahead.
Parag Thakkar
Yeah. Hello.
Operator
Yes, sir, you’re audible.
Parag Thakkar
Yeah. Hi, sir. So I would just like to ask that whether you are seeing a green shoots in textiles because we have been hearing that there is some pickup in textiles at least from accounts of the world and there is some pickup, some pickup in this quarter and as you rightly said that Bangladesh thing as it settles down, do you see a better demand, right?
Sanjay Tibrewala
Yes, absolutely. So yeah.
Parag Thakkar
So thing is it a fair thing to assume that worst is behind for us?
Sanjay Tibrewala
No, definitely. In textiles, the worst is already behind for us. I would rather say not only for textiles, I think even for the FMCG, but with the new the taxation norms, which is helping the demand of urban and also rural demands to go up. So I think the worst should be — has to be behind us for the — as such. In fact, our textile has done much well, although the worst is behind us. And most of the companies have been getting good orders, maybe you must be seeking a looking at and other likes of them and everyone is into a good shape. In fact, we were exhibiting last till yesterday in Bharatex in Delhi and there has been a massive inflow of foreign buyers and it’s — it’s huge. I mean, it’s unbelievable in fact to the level where it has reached and so I think India is going to be definitely shining in textiles going-forward. And these short-term Bangladesh things do come here and go and of course, our company is well strong enough to bear such kind of a fluctuation in the demand and getting postponed, etc., etc. So I think things have to be online. There is no doubt rather, I would like to mention we are going to increase our manpower in our Bangladesh office for the technical marketing. We already have an office in Bangladesh and we are going to increase looking at the kind of the growth of prospects which we are looking at — we can see easily. We are looking to increase the manpower now there.
Parag Thakkar
And SMCG also we are hearing that rural — rural has already started picking-up and urban will gradually pick-up after one or two quarters because of the tax benefits given in budget plus RBI policy. So from FMCG perspective also, you will get some rural boost, at least at least in near-term. In long-term, of course, urban will also come back, but
Sanjay Tibrewala
Yes. No, absolutely. I mean, this is going to help. There is no doubt about it. And generally during the summer seasons, the business of FMC is higher because companies — the consumers use a lot of cleaning products in the summer season. So I think that also helps going-forward. And yes, there has been already much better than what we have seen in the quarter three. I think going-forward, things are getting better. Yeah.
Parag Thakkar
And sir, this INR300 crore cash which you are holding, which is a great use at this current times, yeah. So whatever inorganic plans we have, will be EPS accretive, as you said, right?
Sanjay Tibrewala
Yes, absolutely. That will be EPS accretive for sure.
Parag Thakkar
Because currently, things are not there — not in great shape globally. So you will be able to find acquisitions at right price.
Sanjay Tibrewala
So yeah, as you know, our company — policy is very clear for synergy and also to make sure that we are not evaluing it at the right price for EPS credation. And we are very disciplined in deployment of our — that’s the reason we are quite disciplined in our fund and cash-flow management. So out of — in fact, the cash — cash on books today is almost INR350 crores, out of which INR300 crore has been earmarked for the acquisition agenda.
Parag Thakkar
Sure, sure, sure. Yeah, sure. Thanks, and all the best.
Sanjay Tibrewala
Thank you so much.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Parmar, who is an Individual Investor. Please go-ahead. Sir, I would request you to unmute your line and speak, please.
Mahendra Parmar
One thing I want to ask you, what is the potential of this chemical over the period of three to four years?
Sanjay Tibrewala
Okay. Thank you so much. The, we would say, you know going-forward, this is a market which has to be — the government has to do a lot of investment. Hello?
Mahendra Parmar
Yes, yes.
Sanjay Tibrewala
Can you note your line, actually there is a disturbance on the back actually. So coming to your question, we are very hopeful that in the coming times, this business will be one of our important divisions for sure. And also the kind of demand and need which we see in the Indian society and the Indian masses for controlling such epidemics of malaria and Denghi. I think these are the solutions which should have been used much before. But right now, what has been used by the authorities is mainly based on crude oil, oil-based things, which is not only affecting the human system, but also the life. Interestingly, this product is not only for the morquito, but it is also for water evaporation preservation process. So once this is used on the rivers and the lakes, it helps also to avoid the water evaporation, which will help to have a broader preservation policy as well. So there are multifunctional things and it is totally safe for drinking, it’s bio-based totally, it’s unlike any insecticide or pesticide as such, it’s totally biops and so this is the chemistry which is based on mean as such. If you can go through our — the press release, which we have recently shared on the stock exchange. And this is something which we were always looking at. Already this — we have certain business of this product. It’s not big enough because the market for these products are mainly the developing countries like India, Bangladesh, Africa, where the pollution is — or the water pollution is still there, where the water quality is not good, where there are certain mosquito issues. Right now, we also do sell to certain closed by countries around Malaysia, let’s say, Singapore, but the mosquito problems are not there as such in those countries. And this business is not run by privates. We are not — we cannot go to the consumers for this. It is all under the authorities, the government authorities, which is the responsibility who are responsible for, you know, supporting such kind of initiatives. So going-forward, we are very excited with this. We have been waiting and working on this topic and products since a very, very long-time to get into Indian market. But due to the COVID effect, there was not much focus on this. At the same time, our company has was very busy in the last five years. As you can see, we have about 70% CAGR growth into the various verticals which we were. So we were not focused also in fact in the last three, four years on this product-line. So right now, we are also adding it up and I think it will be one of the very important divisions of the company. I would like to refrain from sharing numbers that the market size can be above thousands of crores. There is no doubt about it going-forward. And that’s what I would like able to share right now.
Mahendra Parmar
One more question I want to ask you. Anybody — any one player who are making these products compared to use this?
Sanjay Tibrewala
Well, nothing of our knowledge at all. And this is something which is replacing the conventional method. So there are products, like I said, like BTI-based, Abbot-based, crude oil-based, MLO, they Call-IT malarian oil. But these are the products which are coming from oil refinery. So if I’m not wrong, it comes from HPCL or BPCL or some companies like this, which has been sprayed on-the-water by the authorities. And this is not only — this is not also quite good enough for the life, it’s the life of the product and the performance is not as good as our product also. So right now, there is nothing much to our knowledge, which is being offered in this line. But so that’s also — we have a lot of substance. We have a lot of test. We have also discussed with the Hafkin Union Research Institute, which is the best test for all the bone diseases, etc. For the last 125 years, they have been well-rated. They were the institute which had detected solution for plate 100 years back or something like this. So is also working on it and we are aggressively taking it up in the coming times.
Mahendra Parmar
Thank you. Thank you for my answer to my questions.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of from Compounding AI. Please go-ahead.
Niraj Rajai
Yeah. Thanks for taking my question. I just wanted to understand on the product mix side, we have different segments like FMCG and drilling oil and water. So which of these is like from a margin standpoint more accretive? And which of these would be like taking much more part of our product mix going-forward? And on last piece, do we have any plans to like share by — like by these segments, revenue and margins by these segments?
Sanjay Tibrewala
So till now, I would like to mention that we have been — our major focus has always been into specialty chemicals for textiles, now textile itself is a huge subject because let me mention here to the participants that we have to be very sure on the product and the appropriation of it because cotton, polyester, acrylic, wool, nylon all have different kind of chemicals. Again, it has to be bifurcated on the basis of the application, the process being carried out and also on the make of the machine, everything leads to customized tailor solution. So we have the entire range for all the substrates from pre-treatment, which is the cleaning process, then the dying, then the printing and the finishing process, which is giving the final touch to the fabric. So all these four processes, we are present totally, so we have been able to give end-to-end packages to the customers. Along with that, we are the company which has the highest number of product certification. More than 300 products of has been into the DFC level three-layer approvals, which helps a lot for the — the buyers to have the ecological approvals for their customers. And also we have the best technical teams and India, also in Bangladesh, who have been continuously supplying and servicing the companies and also offering the products from our joint-venture tie-ups in Belgium and in the Australian tie-ups which we have. So going-forward, textile has been one of the areas where there is a lot of new neutral trends which have been coming up. And by talking about the future about it, I think still textile is going very well. Like I said, although it’s number-one for us, it still has gone up by 20% in terms of revenue at 20% in terms of volume in the last quarter itself and it is getting more-and-more sustainable. And going-forward, I think all these the EBITDA margins of these — all the divisions are almost similar. So let’s put it like that, maybe in textiles, we have a better gross margins because of — then there is a lot of technical manpower, services, certifications, factory audits, our plants are audited by German certification bodies and there is a certain level of sustainability and systems, which we have to adhere to, which also cost a lot of revenue expenditures as such. So going — if you talk on that level, the EBITDA margins for all are almost the same. The gross margins in textile is more than the other.
Niraj Rajai
Got it. Thanks for detailers. All the best.
Sanjay Tibrewala
Yeah. Thank you so much.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Suppant Parik, who is an Individual Investor. Please go-ahead.
Supan Parikh
Hello. Hello.
Operator
Yes, sir, you’re audible.
Supan Parikh
Yeah. Sir. I just want to have three, four questions. The first one is, what is the reason for the flattish sale on the nine months basis?
Sanjay Tibrewala
Okay. So I just covered this question in the beginning also. So there has been — and also in our opening remarks, which will also be there on the — you know the transcript on-going forward. So as such, what we have already informed the participants about the demand in the nine months and also in the three months that there has been little bit effect on the FMCG businesses due to the slowness in the urban and the ruler demand in the last quarter, which is again on some — getting back on-track already due to the new budget taxation norms and also the stimulus which has come back on that. And also the textiles, the Bangladesh orders and the LC systems were not in-place as we all know about. And that is also getting better with the new US the rules and also the kind of banking facility which Bangladesh is coming up again with. So I think those things are also much better than where it was before.
Supan Parikh
Okay. So do you see any development in Bangladesh going-forward after ourself?
Sanjay Tibrewala
We already have an office there. Our team is there. In fact, we are going to hire more people there, more technical team and service sales team there because of the opportunities, which we are able to easily spot out. And I think going-forward, Bangladesh has to — these are small terms of ups and downs, which does happen sometimes. So this is nothing new for Bangladesh market and things like that.
Supan Parikh
Okay. Okay. Sir, any particular reason for decline in our margins for Q3?
Sanjay Tibrewala
Actually, I would not say it is a decline. If you see our gross margins, our gross margins are still at 41%, so I won’t Call-IT decline at all. In fact, it is slightly higher, if I can put it like that. And so as we have been also — in fact, the EBITDA margins are also better than the quarter-on-quarter basis. EBITDA margins are 27% odd. I won’t Call-IT at all as decline in the margins.
Supan Parikh
Okay. Okay. And one more question is that what is the sales split between our textile business and cleaning and hygiene segment?
Sanjay Tibrewala
So actually, you mean about the quarter three or you mean about how — what’s the
Supan Parikh
Quarter three, quarter three
Sanjay Tibrewala
Or let me give you a broader analysis about it. Let’s say, the quarter three, I think 78% was textile almost and ’23 was FMCG and others. And yeah, so something like that and the ratio about it. However, if you talk about nine months, the nine months was I think 70% was textile and almost 30% was there or something like that.
Supan Parikh
Okay. It’s a going-forward volume quarter.
Sanjay Tibrewala
So the total volume of the company, the total volume of the company for the quarter has gone down by almost 4% to 5%, almost 5%. So the — so that’s something about it. There was slight pricing pressure that will not say pressure only. It was also because some of the orders has been postponed. So those products orders has not been reflected till now.
Supan Parikh
Okay. And also, sir, like going-forward in like next two, 3/4, like even say a year or so, do we see an improvement in like split wise, like the textile would decline or the cleaning and hygen would go-ahead or something like that?
Sanjay Tibrewala
See, I can tell you the worst is behind us and that I would like to mention for other verticals actually. And so sometimes what happens there are trends in textiles and certain markets, certain product lines, certain times the cotton prices goes up, so there is more demand for polyester chemicals. Certain times the cotton prices goes down, so lot of companies are using more of cotton in the arts in the product mix. So the cotton sales increases, the cotton chemical sales increases. So these fluctuations are always there. I think how I would like you to look at us is not — see, our company’s vision is very clear. We are not working for quarter-on-quarter basis. If you see our growth for the last 13 years of being listed or 14 years of being listed, we have a CAGR of 28%. In any of the quarter, you will not find our EBITDA below 17% over the last 54 quarters of being listed. That is number-one. Number two, in the last four years, five years, our company has done almost a growth of 70% CAGR. And I mean, we are very sure about what is the way we are looking at a directional. Even when it was 2020, the first COVID, the most unbearable quarter, we were on the — on look to buy a new factory land in Umber North, which we did already and where we have started in ’21 and that capacity went up from 20,000 to 61,000 in the next one or two, three years. So I would like that we cannot look at things in a very narrow style of looking at because our company is not those companies which are — we have a great history along with us and we have outpowered always the expectations and the kind of businesses of our co-producers and other chemical companies in the industry. Our focus is on product diversification and technology advancements. And this has been well-received by our customers. We are gaining significant market opportunities. We are gaining lot of interest by most of our customers for new product lines. So there is definitely a great demand coming up. So we are here not for 20 — only the short-term basis, we are here for a very long vision. And that is the — that is what is all about.
Supan Parikh
Okay, sir. My last question would be, sir, we have mentioned like stated in the IP that oil and gas and water treatment vertical will be a growth driver. Can you elaborate on the same a bit?
Sanjay Tibrewala
Well, these are the areas which we were already having certain kind of product lines. As such, we are doing lot of chemistries, which goes for textiles and similar kind of chemistries are used in the drilling and water treatment. And we have already have a great team now for the development of this business. We are in fact quite happy to mention also that in the quarter three, our businesses has gone up by almost 30 times quarter year-on-year basis in the drilling, right? And so this is the kind of growth which we have already seen. Of course, when is the numbers are smaller, the times growth is always higher. But what I am trying to mention is there are a lot of things you know and which we have already mentioned to the participants in this quarter right now. A lot of actions are going on. Things do take time in oil and gas also because these are $1 billion or $20 billion, $18 billion companies and we are trying to develop a lot of businesses through them with them. And once done, these are sustainable businesses and very-high entry exit barrier businesses. It’s not in and out kind of businesses.
Supan Parikh
Yeah. Okay. Thank you so much, sir. All the best.
Sanjay Tibrewala
Thank you very much.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Anirud Dhagka from AV Securities. Please go-ahead.
Anirudh Daga
Hello. Good morning, Sanjay, sir.
Sanjay Tibrewala
Good morning.
Anirudh Daga
Sir, just a couple of questions, sir. Regarding the capacity expansion, sir, you said they’re going to be starting off in the next quarter, is it?
Sanjay Tibrewala
We mentioned quarter two were — I mean, so by June, by July to September, yeah.
Anirudh Daga
Okay. So what is the expansion size as in we are like at 1,400 tonnes as of now, something like that. So where will we get at?
Sanjay Tibrewala
So actually the plan has been on Phase-1, we will have another 15,000 additional capacity there in the new plant and the — which is under commission now.
Anirudh Daga
Okay. And sir, you had also mentioned you’re going to be shifting some of — some of the lines from the plant to the Ambana plant. So is that going to affect the capacity utilization as such?
Sanjay Tibrewala
Well, not exactly. Rather it will help us to have more economies of scale. We can expect the operating cost to go lower because the kind of technology in the new plant, the kind of movement, the kind of — because in the market plants and other things, there are bottlenecks of logistics also. So that will also ease the movement and better higher production batches can be conducted, which will help to reduce the cost also to some extent.
Anirudh Daga
Okay, so just another question. I know you answered this a couple of times already. Sir, there was one particular company that you were looking at for the acquisition, right, about some foreign company. So now is that deal not going to happen and you’re looking at other opportunities or that particular company is still under consideration and it’s not primary as well.
Sanjay Tibrewala
So I mean, as we have already disclosed on the stock exchange, we have already under advanced level of discussion that is well mentioned about it. These things do take a lot of time as such and there is a lot of work being done on that angle, lot of things to check and things to verify, diligences, this and that. So a lot of things are on way. So apart from that, apart from that, we are always open and that’s what is happening in the last two, 3/4 as we have experienced that the chem spec industry and the chemical industry in general has not been the best years for them and that has also in fact helped us to bring a lot many more opportunities to them. Now, like everyone is aware about the kind of fundraising we have and the cash on books we have. So the targets — the potential targets are also very comfortable to open up with us and have a kind of association and explore this kind of M&A opportunities. And this has also been under consideration.
Anirudh Daga
I ask the question because it’s been around three, nine-odd months already since we are getting the due start. Now because the preference shares, the preference shares that allotted, the money is going to come back into the company saying like what now and nine, 10 odd months, the balance 75%?
Sanjay Tibrewala
Actually, out-of-the potential waste, the promoters have contributed INR44 crores and which is a — yeah. So by November, the remaining — by October or November is the — the remaining 25% — 75% of that has to come in. But this is a mix of equity and warrant. So it’s not 100% warrant at all. So there is another expectation, if I’m not wrong of INR10 crores 150 crores, which has to yet come by November. So that is fine that way. Was that your question?
Anirudh Daga
Yeah. So that is what I’m asking, sir. We are going to have, I don’t know, plus north of what INR600 crores on the book by then if we do not acquire something. So that is what I was asking that
Sanjay Tibrewala
How we look at the company, see, I would like to mention in a different way. As you have seen, we have already done the acquisition in 2011 immediately in three months after the fundraise, okay. Now this kind of acquisition, which was done within three months of fundraise, there were a lot of — you could see the results, but the seeds were so sold at least one or two years before that. It is very important to be to make sure that the best-value for the investors and stakeholders and of course, the promoters and everyone who are together in this thing to get it at the best offer, best deal, best kind of synergy and etc. So this money is lying — it’s not a liability, it’s an asset. It has to be used very prudentially. We will not be doing anything for the heck of like other chemical companies, most of us know examples, which a lot of funds have been raised, certain chemical companies have been bought and not faring well. We do not want to have a sorry figure at the end of it. We have to be very sure about the kind of company we are buying. We have patience, we are disciplined. We want to make sure the EPSC accredited. We want to make sure that the synergy in the businesses. We will not be any kind of impatient hurriedly risk or anything like that. And so yeah, this is what I would like to mention not only to you to all the participants for that point.
Anirudh Daga
Right. Thank you so much, and sir. Wishing you all the best and thank you.
Sanjay Tibrewala
Thank you. Thank you so much for that.
Operator
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Bhavin Soni from Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers Limited. Please go-ahead.
Bhavin Soni
Good morning, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. I just needed a volume for nine months and Q3,
Sanjay Tibrewala
So basically the volume in-quarter — let’s say in the nine months, the volumes are almost flat and let’s say it’s 1% down or something like that. And in the quarter three, the volumes are down by 4%. So more or less. 4 points.
Bhavin Soni
Okay, thanks. And the mix would be broadly 70%, 30% or between FMCG and?
Sanjay Tibrewala
But there are other businesses also as such you mean for the quarter — I mean you meet for the value terms or you mean for the
Bhavin Soni
Volume mix.
Sanjay Tibrewala
For the volume mix, yeah. For the volume mix, if you talk about quarter, let’s say, out of this, I think almost 60% 56% is textiles, 57% in the volume terms.
Bhavin Soni
Okay, okay. Yeah. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, you may press star and one to ask a question a reminder to all the participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. As there are no further questions from the participants, I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr Sanjay for closing comments.
Sanjay Tibrewala
Thank you very much. I would like to mention our company is totally focused on product diversification and has a great vision for the coming years. So there are a lot of technological advancement done by all the companies, team members. I would like to thank all the employees, customers, investors, stakeholders for their continued support and trust in. Our journey so-far has been one of the resilience, adaptability and innovation. We remain committed to creating a long-term value for all of you. Thank you so much. Have a great day-ahead.
Operator
On behalf of Chemical Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us and you may now disconnect your lines line.