Galaxy Surfactants Limited Q3 FY23 Earnings Conference Call Insights

Key highlights from Galaxy Surfactants Limited (GALAXYSURF) Q3 FY23 Earnings Concall

Management Update:

• [00:02:16] GALAXYSURF recorded its best quarter and calendar year till date in terms of operational profitability.

• [00:04:53] GALAXYSURF said its performance in India was strong, but Africa, Middle East, and Turkey have seen significant macroeconomic volatility that caused a decline in volumes. On an aggregate level, the volumes have remained flat, recouped by the Indian market.

• [00:06:38] GALAXYSURF is optimistic about its FY ’24 performance, with consumption making a comeback in Europe and China.

Q&A Highlights:

• [00:14:47] Sanjesh Jain from ICICI Securities enquired that on volume growth, if the company believes, next year could be exceptional for normalizing the last 2-3 year decline in the AMET. K Natarajan COO said that the worst is behind with regards to AMET volumes in Egypt. Inflationary pressures are decreasing, commodity and food prices are dropping. All this points to volume growth happening well.

• [00:15:07] Sanjesh Jain from ICICI Securities also asked if Turkey would become a challenge for the company. K Natarajan COO said that Turkey’s earthquake has thrown off its economy and caused inflation to rise to almost 70%. GALAXYSURF in Turkey is currently assessing the impacts of this event on its business, and it is too early to tell what the long-term impacts may be.

• [00:17:27] Sanjesh Jain from ICICI Securities queried about competitive intensity out of India base. Unnathan Shekhar MD replied that competition has been around for the last 40 years and GALAXYSURF knows how to handle it. GALAXYSURF hopes that the market allows everyone to grow, but the company is prepared to compete.

• [00:23:53] Rohan Gupta from Nuvama asked that when the market picks up, if GALAXYSURF may offer price discounts to gain additional volume growth. Unnathan Shekhar MD said the decision to reduce press volumes depends on the specific case. Typically, if reducing press volumes results in increased volume growth, then the company will do so, which is a standard business practice.

• [00:26:18] Rohan Gupta from Nuvama asked what kind of volume or market growth the company anticipates over the next couple of years. K Natarajan COO answered that the company’s target is to deliver 6-8%, in line with how the market grows.

• [00:27:30] Rohit Nagraj from Centrum Broking queried about the inventory situation across the company’s operating geographies.  Unnathan Shekhar MD replied that inventory reductions are expected in the US, but not in other markets. The pipeline inventory still needs to be corrected in the US.

• [00:36:23] Bobby Jayaraman with Falcon enquired how did the company achieve revenue growth given the falling RM environment. K Natarajan COO answered that raw material prices will start to correct in the next 3-5 months, which could lead to a decrease in revenue growth in Jan., Feb., and March compared to the current quarter.

• [00:39:58] Bhargav Buddhadev from Kotak Funds asked about the contribution of Turkey in terms of overall revenue. Unnathan Shekhar MD answered that Turkey will be approx. 9-10% of the overall revenue.

• [00:50:23] Divyata Dalal from Trident Capital Investment enquired about the geographies where the company is able to get a better product mix and if the trend is sustainable.  Unnathan Shekhar MD said that geographies cannot be revealed. On sustainability, the company wants the environment to enable it to sustain that.