IFGL Refractories Limited (NSE: IFGLEXPOR) Q3 2025 Earnings Call dated Feb. 10, 2025
Corporate Participants:
James McIntosh — Managing Director
Arasu Shanmugam — Director and Chief Executive Officer-India
Amit Agarwal — Chief Financial Officer
Analysts:
Mayank Bhandari — Analyst
Rohan Mehta — Analyst
Payal Shah — Analyst
Sahil Rohit Sanghvi — Analyst
Saket Kapoor — Analyst
Suraj Sonulkar — Analyst
Presentation:
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for patiently holding. The conference will begin shortly. Please stay connected. Please do not disconnect. Thank you hello. Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Q3 FY ’25 Earnings Conference Call of IFGL Refractories Limited hosted by Asian Market Securities. 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-date of this call. These statements do not guarantee the future performance of the company and it may involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the management briefly concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on a touchstone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr Mayang from Asian Market Securities. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Mayank Bhandari — Analyst
Thank you, Jaco. Good evening, everyone. On behalf of Asian Market Securities, I welcome you all to the Q3 FY ’25 earnings conference call of IFGL Refactories Limited. We are pleased to have with us management being presented by Mr James McIntosh, Managing Director; Mr Arsu, Director and CEO of India; Mr Amit Agarwal, CFO. We’ll have the opening remarks from Mr and that will be followed by questions-and-answers. Thank you and over to the management.
James McIntosh — Managing Director
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining us on the IFGL Refactories Limited Q3 FY ’25 earnings conference call. I hope you and your family and friends are in good health. Along with me on the call, we have Director and CEO, India. Also, we have Mr Agarwal, CFO and SGA, our Investor Relations advisors. We have uploaded the results and presentation on the stock exchanges and I hope everyone has had a chance to go through the same. As we navigate the evolving global economic landscape, I’m excited to highlight the significant opportunities unfolding in the Indian market despite the high-interest rate environment, the Indian economy has demonstrated remarkable resilience, reinforcing its strength and adaptability. While IFGL initially focused on exports, our strategic shift towards the domestic market said demonstrates our deliberate effort to enhance our presence and capabilities in India. This realignment is driven by the country’s favorable growth conditions and immense long-term potential. I have emphasized this before, but it remains a game-changing opportunity. Our Indian business reported over 25% growth this quarter and achieved an impressive 18% growth for the first-nine months of the fiscal year. Reaffirming our commitment to strengthening our market-share, this reinforces our confidence in India as a key driver of IFGL’s future growth. Also to support the strategic shift, we’ve already completed several of our planned capital expenditure initiatives over the past few months. Additionally, we are excited to announce our newly forum joint-venture with Street, IFGL Marvels Refractories Limited, which was officially incorporated in December. This joint-venture marks a significant milestone in our journey, enabling us to expand beyond our core business and enter high-potential sectors such as cement, glass, non-ferrous and gasification industries. By leveraging the combined expertise and synergies of both partners, this collaboration reinforces our commitment to diversification, strengthens our product portfolio and positions us for sustained long-term growth in these evolving markets. As you all know, IFGL’s markets are primarily centered around the global steel industry and according to the World Steel Association, global steel demand is expected to decline by 0.9% in 2024. However, after three consecutive years of contraction, a broad-based recovery excluding China is projected in 2025 with global steel demand anticipated to rebound by 1.2%. The year 2024 has been particularly challenging for the steel sector as the manufacturing industry continues to face significant headwinds. Factors such as declining household purchasing power, aggressive monetary tightening and escalating geopolitical uncertainties have collectively weighed on-demand. Additionally, the housing construction sector remains weak due to tight financial conditions and high costs further dampening steel consumption. Amid these global challenges, India has announced as the strongest driver of steel demand growth since 2021 and momentum expected to persist. As the World Steel Association, India steel demand is forecasted to expand by 8% over 2024 and 2025, fueled by robust performance across all steel consuming sectors, particularly sustained infrastructure investment. India’s continued focus on infrastructure development underscores its pivotal role in shaping the global steel market. With its strong economic fundamentals and ambitious growth agenda, the country is well-positioned to remain a key engine of demand for the foreseeable future, offering significant opportunities for IFGL and the broader industry. The global refractories industry continues to exhibit a mixed outlook. While certain Asian markets are experiencing growth, others are facing challenges due to economic conditions and shifting market dynamics with the global steel demand expected to decline a moderate recovery in-demand for the steel sector is anticipated in the second-half of the fiscal year. For us at IFGL, our Q3 FY ’25 consolidated total income stood at INR382 crores, reflecting a 3% year-on-year growth. This achievement despite persistent global headwinds, underscoring our resilience and strategic execution. Our global subsidiaries have been navigating a challenging environment, particularly in the USA, Germany and the UK where subdued demand has been driven by major steel plant shutdowns, economic and geopolitical uncertainties, along with elevated raw-material costs. However, we are optimistic about our US subsidiary, especially with the strong policy support for Made in America and the steel — in the steel industry, initiatives under Mr Trump’s leadership. While our international operations have faced a bumpy route over the past year, we have proactively focused on restructuring and optimizing operations across our overseas subsidiaries. These efforts are transitioning us to capture demand efficiently as the market recovers, ensuring that we are well-prepared for the next growth cycle. Looking ahead, while the global refractory industry faces near-term pressures, we remain optimistic about the long-term demand for high-performance refractory solutions. Our focus will be on innovation, cost optimization and strategic expansion to ensure that we are well-positioned to capitalize on the recovery and future growth opportunities in both domestic and international markets. Now, I would like to hand over to Arasu for his comments.
Arasu Shanmugam — Director and Chief Executive Officer-India
Thank you, Jim. Good evening, everyone. As Jim mentioned, the year ending December 2024 was a challenging tech transformative one for us at IFGA. It was a year marked by significant strategic decisions, capacity expansions and organizational advancements that have set the stage for our future growth. On the manufacturing front, we made significant progress with the inauguration of production line at our Gujarat toll manufacturing facility, which received 7,000 metric ton of alumina product entering all major cement manufacturers in India. Commissioning our continuous casting flux plant in Patnam with fully automated facility is also completed. We also invested in capacity expansion projects across our Kangla, Vadisha and the Patnam facilities, ensuring scalability and efficiency to meet growing demand. To enhance productivity and cost efficiencies, we have actively integrated automation and robotics into our operations. Moreover, our refractories, advanced technologies and product innovation are coming into our Indian operations for providing solution to cement and steel customers. As part of our Phase-3 expansion, we also launched a new Magnesia cotton production plant, further strengthening our product portfolio. Our new JV with Marvel will also play a role in our industry diversification. Despite these challenges, we have laid a strong foundation for sustainable growth through operational excellence, digital transformation and strategic expansion. Moving to the results highlights. This quarter presented significant challenges, primarily due to economic pressure, as such slowdown and geopolitical uncertainties impacting our overseas operations. Despite the headwind, we remain optimistic about a gradual improvement in the second-half of the year. Our financial performance was impacted by demand and a weak global economic outlook with our subsidiaries and export businesses wearing the of challenges, our operations in years generally and UK to be in pressure due to-market conditions and ongoing restructuring efforts at our working subsidiaries, which further affected our margins. However, we remain confident in our ability to navigate these challenges and drive with our strategic initiatives, operational improvement and a gradual recovery in-demand, we expect to return to normal performance levels in the coming period. Our focus remains on enhancing efficiency, optimizing costs and strengthening market positioning to ensure long-term resilience and growth. Looking ahead, we remain highly confident in the strong growth with of the Indian office. Over the past three years, we have consistently achieved 25% growth year-on-year alongstating the and potential of domestic market. This quarter, we sustained this momentum, recording an impressive to revenue growth in our domestic made and domestic sold business. Additionally, we are proud to have for first time, growth revenues in nine months ’25, FY ’25 for standalone domestic revenue, are down into our strategic execution, expanding market and operational experience. With a strong foundation in-place, we are committed to further scaling our Indian operation through capacity expansion, product innovation and efficiency improvement and showing continued growth in the years ahead. All of these initiatives, along with our efforts to diversify into developing products for the non-steel industry, we hold an optimistic outlook on the abandoned opportunities in Indian market. Looking ahead, we are committed to leveraging these initiatives to drive long-term value for our stakeholders. With this, now I hand over to Mr Amit Agarwal, CFO for financial performance.
Amit Agarwal — Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, sir. Let me just give you a brief on the financials. Starting with the standalone financial highlights. Total income soon saw a growth of 18% year-on-year to INR235 crores in-quarter three FY ’23. For nine months FY ’25, total income stood at INR740 crores, which saw an increase of 7% year-on-year. EBITDA stood at INR22.2 crore for Q3 FY ’25 and for nine months, it was at INR100 crore. EBITDA margin stood at 9.4% in Q3 FY ’25 and for Nine-Month FY ’25, it was 13.5%. PAT was at INR5 crore in-quarter three FY ’25 and for Nine-Month FY ’25, it was at INR14.7 crore. In Q3 FY ’24 and Nine-Month FY ’24, we recorded an exceptional item of INR38.5 crore as a provision of outfit. However, those domestic business has — have witnessed 18% growth on a year-on-year basis, that is INR518 crore, having its share of 71% from overall standalone revenue, which was 64% in Nine-Month FY ’22. Given the global landscape, India stand-out as only growing market in the steel. We believe this presents opportunities for us to expand and strengthen our presence in domestic market. Our export business declined by 15% year-on-year to INR209 crore, contributing 29% to overall standalone revenue, down from 36% in nine months FY ’20. This decline was primarily due to the economic slowdown in key export markets. Let me now move forward to consolidated financial highlights. Our consolidated financial highlights also include our international subsidiary. Total income grew by 3% year-on-year to INR381 crores in-quarter three FY ’25. For Nine-Month FY ’25, total income stood at INR418 crores, which was down by 3% year-on-year. EBITDA stood at INR19 crore for quarter three FY ’25 and for nine months FY ’25, it was at INR109 crore. EBITDA margin stood at 5.1% in-quarter three FY ’25 and for nine months FY ’25, it was at 9%. There was a loss in this INR2 crore in-quarter three FY ’25 and for nine months FY ’25, we did a profit of INR34 crores. With respect to the liquidity position, we had a debt of INR11.6 crores with a strong balance sheet. Cash-and-cash equivalents stood at INR18 crore on a consolidated basis as on December ’22. Our annualized ROC stood at 6.5% and annualized ROE stood at 4.2%. With this, I now pleased you for questions. Thank you very much.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from the line of Rohan Mehta from NEXA Capital. Please go ahead.
Rohan Mehta
Yeah. Thanks for the opportunity. Hope I’m audible. Yes, yes, you are. Yes. Thanks. So sir, first question was, you know, any progress now on the technology transfer from Sheffield refractories?
Arasu Shanmugam
Yes. We see the technology transfer impact the entire team jointly IFJL and Sheffield technical experts. We met the largest cement producer in the country on November 26, ’27, visited two of their plant and most they have, you know, given the opportunity for bringing and the technology and I think from our side also, Person has gone and studied and this technology is going to be with end-to-end, meaning material technology and application technology. The critical difference is made by the way it is applied through the latest equipment with automatic control, right? And that setup is already under manufacturing and almost, I would say roughly 60% is complete. We are expecting that the whole setup to land in India sometime in end April. So from May onwards, we will take-up this and then implement in customers in both cement as well as steel.
Rohan Mehta
Sure, sure. Thanks for the clarification, sir. And sir, secondly, so I think James briefly touched upon it in his opening remarks, but just wanted to have some more color on how do you see the exports business evolving now and what strategies or plans are we implementing and what initiatives are there in-place to kind of drive the exports business for IFGL?
James McIntosh
Yeah, I mean the subsidiary companies, as I said earlier on, and I mean we do face some challenges in the market and our main focus, as I’ve said in past conference calls, has been to ready ourselves for when the market comes around. So it’s largely been evolving our own individual manufacturing facilities and businesses. And in America, we have a large project, which is to combine both. We are currently have two locations there for our continuous of factories and we’re going to combine that into one building. We’ve already that building and we’re currently outsetting the interior of the building and coupled with the changes as I mentioned earlier in the focus of the new president, President Trump and he has a longstanding assistance with the steel industry in America by introducing tariffs to stop low-cost producers supplying into the American market and thus we see this as a positive and we think this will give both of our American companies a leg-up. Monocon International offered a very massive change in the organization and we’re really structuring the company for the future by introducing new products for the company and thus we hope over the next couple of years will result in some fairly hefty growth in that market for the company. And unfortunately, Hoffmann, our foundry company based in Germany, the foundry market has been indicated by all of the refractory producers who are involved in that area and has struggled really badly over the last year and we are affected by that. But you know, more recently, we’ve seen a very promising uptick in the incoming orders and interest from our customers. And so we think that you know next year, you know we’ll start to see some positive trends.
Rohan Mehta
Sure, sure, sir. That was very helpful. And sir, just lastly, if I may. Can you just throw some more color on our new JV with Marvel is Marvel International Group and how — what kind of synergies do we expect and how will it benefit IFGL in the overall scheme of things?
James McIntosh
Yeah. I’ll ask just to give a bit more detail on that. He is obviously heavily involved in that as an Indian project.
Arasu Shanmugam
Yes. So let me comment. See, these ILGL JV that I would say it is going to be a really movement for IFGL. Why do I say so because you know our diversification into non-steel market, you know so-far historically IAGL heavily dependent on steel. And that too, that was a small section of steel-making because IRM and steel is going to — I mean it generally consumes 70% of the refractory, both iron and steel put together. But whereas we are in the small portion of steel-making which is at the end value addition, you know, on tonbage and then casting area and then the bottom of the level with Slide gate. But now this JV is going to give us first-ever kind fired basic bricks, which is going to be highly consumable in cement plant. We know in India we are producing now right now around the 450 million, 460 million tonnes of cement. And in coming four years, when we touch 2029, India is going to produce 900 million ton and that will make a basic brick consumption, the JV which is going to produce, the consumption will be almost 150,000 to 160,000 ton a year. So this plan is going to give us absolutely spreading the risk of on steel cycle to cement steady requirement. In addition to that, this will also serve us to enter into another non-ferrous area called glass making. All their — if you look at regenerators, they’re all made of basic bricks and there we will go and then gas coal gasification and you must be hearing about big projects coming into India for coal in gasification. So all these areas where we are not present, it’s going to be helping us. In fact, we already started selling this as our primary — the technology partner, who is also the JV partner. This year we are already selling almost close to 7,000 tons in Indian market that the prospect of this JV is going to be so bright because in a way, it’s going to be backward integration, meaning market is ready instead of production base from our partners in China, that’s going to be shifted to our own plant in Gujarat. So the ramp-up is going to be faster and that’s going to put IHGL as one of the top countable two or three full range refractory player. We all know that once when you have a basket of full range, then it helps us in managing internally the risks even if one area of and other area keeps up. So it helps in delivering a consistent performance as a company. Have I answered your question?
Rohan Mehta
Yes, yes, sir. That was very helpful. Sir, just to confirm, you said the facility is being proposed to come up — proposed to come up in Gujarat, right?
Arasu Shanmugam
Yeah.
Rohan Mehta
Okay. So there is no — there is no capacity — existing capacity, right? It will be a greenfield facility.
Arasu Shanmugam
Can you come again?
Rohan Mehta
So this — the proposed facility in Gujarat would be a greenfield facility, right? Not a…
Arasu Shanmugam
Absolutely greenfield. Absolutely greenfield state-of-the art plant.
Rohan Mehta
Right, right. Okay, okay. Thank you, sir. Thank you for answering all my questions. I’ll join back-in the queue.
Operator
Thank you. [Operator Instructions] The next question comes from the line of Payal Shah from Billion Securities. Please go ahead.
Payal Shah
Yeah, thank you so much for the opportunity. I have few questions. First, like if you could help us understand the revenue growth of domestic sales between the large steel plants and, like which growth has been better? So just wanted to understand on that.
Arasu Shanmugam
Last portion of your question is not clear. Can you repeat what is that? You said large steel plant?
Payal Shah
So I just wanted to understand the revenue growth of domestic sales between the large steel plants and. So I just wanted to understand which growth has been better.
Arasu Shanmugam
See, our growth in nine months, we said 18 and the last quarter 23% in domestic steel, it is almost the same percentage in both mini and large steel plant because in mini steel plant, we are adding up new customers and in large steel plants we have made and we are enhancing our share of spend. And both coupled together, the rate of thing is almost same on both sides. It’s nothing — there is nothing skew to only in large and so no, it is consistent and both the rate applicable to both mini and large plant?
Payal Shah
Okay, that’s quite helpful. My next question is on is little bookkeeping question. So now the employee costs have been increasing continuously for the last eight quarters. So when can we expect some stabilization on this front?
Arasu Shanmugam
See, you know marginalization needs to be put at least a year in advance for generating. Like for example, you know, we talk about vehicle while the short rating from and then joint-venture already we entered into in my opening move and given the last year, FY ’24 — sorry, 2024 February, our coal manufacturing was planned which was under making. Now in just 12 months, we have already got an order of 7,000 tonnes and sold. That’s the time. So the organization we have put earlier in FY ’24, the cost was different now be shared. So the same day, 1.5 years, two, two years, anything between 16 to 18 months down the line, the season which is now we have put in-place right now will be delivering the numerator in coming 16 to 18 months, which is absolutely normal for our kind of a business and the innovation side.
Payal Shah
Okay. My last question is, can you give some guidance for next year for FY ’26 in terms of revenue, both consolidated and standalone and margins for the same?
Arasu Shanmugam
Do you see because already we are in the end-of-the financial year and as you know, there are lot of budget I know a speech on February beginning by or finance minister, there are something announced for steel but all those things to come on-ground, deliver results, it’s going to be a lag of three, four months by which this year will be over. So as we are almost nearing end of this financial year, we do not want to change any guidance. But yes, definitely the next quarter when we speak to FY ’26 will come out.
Payal Shah
Okay. I’ll join back the queue. Thank you so much.
Operator
Thank you. [Operator Instructions] The next question comes from the line of Sahil Rohit Sanghvi from Monarch Networth Capital. Please go ahead.
Sahil Rohit Sanghvi
Yeah, hi. Am I audible? Yeah. Very much, sir. Yes. So thank you for the opportunity. Sir, my first question is I wanted to understand that our gross margins have also declined this quarter. So if you can throw some light on is that the raw-material cost inflation which raw materials mainly and I mean if that’s the reason. And then how do we work on the pass-ons also for this how many quarters do we take for the pass-ons?
Arasu Shanmugam
You see if you are seeing the results of our major larger steel producer in the country, the margins reduction is in the range of 65% to 78 percentage. You would have seen that result, right? And then — so that is how you know the orders which were finalized well in the month of June, July, everything in our contract prices, there was a reduction of 6% to 9% depending upon various contracts, that is on one-side pressure. Another side pressure is the raw-material, particularly aluminium index, if you see LME index from 320 30 went up to 650 660. Now it is unindexed almost like the September time. So — and we are also now discussing with customers on base, I think maybe as I was mentioning to the previous question, B, maybe we are going — we are planning and we are confident to reverse this situation with the first-quarter, end of first-quarter FY ’26 and there onwards and there are plans. So that is also for another quarter also is going to be — the challenges are going to be same, but we have plans to revise it by end of first-quarter FY ’23.
Sahil Rohit Sanghvi
So, sir, which raw materials are these? I mean, is it aluminum, magnesia, alumini…
Arasu Shanmugam
Probably alumina AL23, which is a — which is also having direct factorization with aluminum, which is LME announced and use the reference price.
Sahil Rohit Sanghvi
And how much is this — has this doubled Y-o-Y?
Arasu Shanmugam
How is almost doubled as I was mentioning, 32030 went up to INR650 to 550. And now it has the same range plateau, okay. And also there are lot of capacities of leading alumino producers in Germany and all closed down because of unbearable energy cost, which is an outcome of Russian Ukrainian war. And so they have shut-down their manufacturing facilities in-part of the Western Europe and they are trying to make it up with other countries which are — and which also put pressure on logistics cars. Adding to that, even the containers and the logistic costs also have gone up. So this is how it resulted and now we are expecting that, okay, so to soften a bit on ocean freight costs, but the primary basic kilometer, I mean the alumina cost, we will remind and we are expecting some kind of a reduction maybe three to four months down the line.
Sahil Rohit Sanghvi
Got it, sir. And sir, I had one more question on EI ceramics. So while as Mr James had mentioned about the restructuring that is ongoing, I just wanted to understand when do we get done with this restructuring? Does this restructuring impact our offtake? And when do we actually see coming out with a full-fledged, you know sales and good amount of — good amount of margins? I mean, what would be that you mean.
James McIntosh
You mean back to where we were before? Yeah. I mean just really and the what we’re doing in EI ceramics at the moment and you know, you should let us see and probably not in the — yeah, maybe in the next quarter. In the next quarter, we might start to see some differences there in the margins. And as mentioned and the Indian market, the American market is exactly the same. The same pressures are there on raw materials and from the customers. And I mean, certainly and our guys there are working on working on you know, price adjustments to take care of those and you know, we feel very sure that as I said, with changes in the American government that we will see more help to the steel industry in America, which will directly affect EI Ceramics results. I mean, it’s purely sales-driven. So market comes back, then the margins will definitely be there.
Sahil Rohit Sanghvi
And that is, does this restructuring affect the offtake at the economics?
James McIntosh
And no, no one, that’s why I was saying it’s not really the change in the manufacturing location will not affect the offtake of the products. It’s certainly not for the next two, three years. That will take some time. Once we’re there, we will have much more room to expand, but the — and it’s not going to be taken as to higher margins or anything very quickly.
Sahil Rohit Sanghvi
Right. And my last question would be to understand about the JV with novel. So assuming that we have some capacities commissioned by March ’26, which is our goal. And then we take some four to six months of trial runs, etc, and we commence commercial production. How long do you foresee, will it take two to three years is the right amount of time to ramp it up to optimum utilization? And what is the exact capacity over here in kilotons if you could give us?
Arasu Shanmugam
You see, once when the JV plant commences in operation, we are expecting that the plant is of 25,000 ton a year capacity and our ramp-up will certainly start four months down the line will — will from 40% and there onwards, I would say that within maybe two years, we will reach 90%.
Sahil Rohit Sanghvi
Got it, sir. Got it. Yeah. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. [Operator Instructions] The next question comes from the line of Saket Kapoor from Kapoor & Company. Please go ahead.
Saket Kapoor
Sir, am I audible?
Operator
Yeah.
Saket Kapoor
Yeah. So sir, taking into account the marble the capacity facility coming on-stream by March ’26, what are the volume gain or incremental volume that we will be — that we will be having for — for this year, quarter-four and for the next financial year, you mentioned about facility about getting on-stream. So if you if you could give some color on the same.
Arasu Shanmugam
See, as far as volume gain as a percentage from JV, the entire FY ’26, nothing because the project will be there in FY ‘2 — I mean March ’26, April ’27 from then onwards, actually FY ’27 second-half only the volume comes from JV. Okay, is that clear? That is about the clear. I mean on JV volume. Yes, the volume addition from our Patnam plant, so H2 of FY ’26, H2 of FY ’26 will give at least 6,000 tonnes for us, which was not there initially. So this entire 6,000 tonne which will be added in H2 of magnesia carbon from will be a 100% delta.
Saket Kapoor
So will be 100% didn’t get it.
Arasu Shanmugam
That this is addition, volume addition.
Saket Kapoor
Okay. At today’s pricing, what kind of revenue will it garner to?
Arasu Shanmugam
Let’s say it is around roughly if you take INR48 crores.
Saket Kapoor
Okay.
Arasu Shanmugam
Roughly around INR48 crores to INR50 crores. That’s the reason.
Saket Kapoor
Correct, sir. And sir, you did explain about the employee cost being on the higher side because of the setup of the new unit and the cost incurred. Other than that, sir, then this will be the run-rate going ahead now for a quarterly basis at INR70 crores on a consol level?
Arasu Shanmugam
No, I know can you repeat your question?
Saket Kapoor
My question is, sir, our employee benefit cost has moved up to INR70 crore for this quarter. So what would be the run-rate going ahead on a quarterly basis.
Arasu Shanmugam
I would say that the change will not be much because we have almost put I think on our two key hiring may be there, but it will non-percentage terms, it’s not going to make substantial change, but we can take that as this plus-minus 5% will remain same.
Saket Kapoor
Okay. So for that, now the environment needs to improve, otherwise that is not commensurating with our revenue on a top-line of, say, INR370, INR70 crore is a very-high number as of now since the market are depressed and that’s the reason. So the bottom-line will continue to take a hit because of this line item.
Arasu Shanmugam
But that’s temporary. If you look at the future growth and potential what we have explained and this is a normal preparation which any business has to do which we are doing. And we are very, very — we are very, very optimistic about bringing to the percentage of employee costs to the normal once when the ramping-up is taking place.
Amit Agarwal
For example, you have seen the results, we have done a business of around INR72 crores from Vishaga in FY ’24, which is going to be INR160 crore more than that is this year and they are going to be more than INR220 crore coming year. The ramp-up is going to be faster. Yeah.
James McIntosh
Yeah. I know.
Saket Kapoor
So the last point was — last point was sir, for the March quarter for this — this quarter, which is the ensuing quarter, are we seeing any further capacity being introduced on any product profile that was not there for the first-nine months in incrementally product change or volume that we are — we are anticipating increase and how should we take this quarter in terms of the business environment as there was — there were various factors you have alluded, both for domestic and international operations, which has affected. So are those factors have taken a back seat or are the same — are they prevailing for this quarter also?
Arasu Shanmugam
It’s going to be almost a continuation of this quarter to — I mean, 3rd-quarter to the 4th-quarter also as I was mentioning that is the policy level announcement and other things will come on-ground always first the primary reason like seal and all will take three months and from there on another two months time lag for consumption. So in nutshell, Q4 is going to be slightly the expansion of Q3. We can’t expect anything. And internally, our capacity addition is also nothing in Q4.
Saket Kapoor
Right. Okay, sir, I joined the queue, sir. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. [Operator Instructions] The next question comes from the line of Rohan Mehta from NEXA Capital. Please go ahead.
Rohan Mehta
Yeah. Thanks for the follow-up. So just a clarification, you said nothing incremented in Q4. So I mean, just wanted to get a clarification on contribution from the bricks and casting flux. When do you expect that to start?
Arasu Shanmugam
It will be from FY ’26 first-quarter onwards.
Rohan Mehta
Okay. First-quarter ’26, understood. Understood.
Arasu Shanmugam
Thank you.
Rohan Mehta
Sir, just one more thing. I mean, are we kind of looking at any inorganic opportunities in the near-future, whether domestic or overseas.
Arasu Shanmugam
That is always open of a growth plan both through organic and inorganic. Organic, you all know that what we have done and it’s all going well and it started delivering results. Inorganic is definitely on the car, but yes, I mean it is on the car within the time we find the right one.
Rohan Mehta
Right, right. Sure enough. And sir, just lastly, considering how global markets are kind of currently, especially Germany and even the — even Europe as a whole, are there any discussions at Board level right now to kind of exit that market? I mean, any color on that front?
Arasu Shanmugam
None whatsoever.
Rohan Mehta
Right, right. That clarifies, sir. Thank you so much. Thank you for the answer.
Operator
Thanks. [Operator Instructions] The next question comes from the line of Suraj Sonulkar from AMSEC. Please go ahead.
Suraj Sonulkar
Thank you, sir. Thank you for opportunity. How much capex has this spent so-far in FY ’25 and what is expected in-full year FY ’25 and ’26?
Amit Agarwal
I think ’24, ’25, we spent almost INR160 crore INR70 crore of capex.
Suraj Sonulkar
Okay, and expecting…
Amit Agarwal
And not much to be done in this quarter except for new plant and all that which is done in this…
Suraj Sonulkar
Okay. And could you please provide Sheffield refractory revenue in nine months and what is the growth expectation for FY ’26, ’27?
Amit Agarwal
I think individual company-wise we are not using the revenue thing. You can refer our segment in the consolidated results, whereby you can get the result of Europe as well as other segments.
Suraj Sonulkar
In subsidiary, which we are facing major issues and when we are expecting to recover this. I think as you are now that said that in Europe and UK, we are facing some challenges and you know, as the soon recover. Okay, okay, and we are aiming for the non-business to contribute 15% of the revenue in next five years. So what step are we being taken to accelerate this transition?
Arasu Shanmugam
No, no, one is that the JV plant is coming, which is predominantly for and our entry into non-ferrous already commenced and this year through our alumina product, that is already around modest from zero in the previous year this year INR15 crore. Revenue comes from, which is first entry. And then once when the JV plant comes, then whatever percentage you mentioned, that’s going to be. So we already commenced our entry will through alumina product and for basic product, there is JV work commenced which we are expecting the plant will be commissioned sometime in April — March-April 2026.
Suraj Sonulkar
Okay. Okay. So what is the latest update on land acquisition for DBM bricks in Odisha and when do you accept production to commence?
Arasu Shanmugam
So 28th January, I was there and we do work of making wall has been started. So almost we can say the entire boundary of 2.3 kilometers as a boundary wall already has started. So we have already taken a position and boundary construction already commenced.
Suraj Sonulkar
Okay. Okay. And lastly on JV that we have done. So how will this contribute to our revenue and margin from FY ’26 onwards?
Arasu Shanmugam
No, FY ’26 nothing from FY ’25 second-half.
Suraj Sonulkar
Okay, second-half FY ’26.
Arasu Shanmugam
Yes, 27, FY ’27, second-half.
Suraj Sonulkar
Okay. Thank you, sir.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that brings us to the end-of-the question-and-answer session. As there are no further questions from the participants, I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Arasu Shanmugam
Thank you okay so I hope you know we have been able to answer most of your queries. They look-forward to your participation in the next call. For any queries, you may contact SGA, our Investor Relations Advisor. Thank you.
James McIntosh
Thank you.
Amit Agarwal
Thank you.
Operator
[Operator Closing Remarks]