Ikio Lighting Ltd (NSE: IKIO) Q1 2026 Earnings Call dated Aug. 04, 2025
Corporate Participants:
Unidentified Speaker
Suyash Samant — Stellar Investor Relations Advisors
Hardeep Singh — Chairman and Managing Director
Sanjeet Singh — Whole-time Director
Analysts:
Unidentified Participant
Nilesh Sharma — Analyst
Presentation:
operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to The IKO Technologies Limited Q1FY26 earnings conference call. 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 presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing Del0 on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Suyash Samanth from Stellar Investor Relation Advisors. Thank you. And over to you sir.
Suyash Samant — Stellar Investor Relations Advisors
Thank you. Good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining us today. We have with us today the senior management team of ISO Technologies Ltd. Mr. Hardeep Singh, Chairman and Managing Director. Mr. Sandeep Singh, Full Time Director and CFO who will represent ISO Technology Ltd. On the call. Commandments will be sharing the key updating and financial highlights for the quarter ended 2025 followed by a fortune and answer question please. This call makes a few forward looking statements which are completely based upon the company’s beliefs, opinion and expectations. These statements are not a guarantee of the company’s future performance and involve a hump of changes and possibilities.
The company undertakes no obligation to update forward looking statements to reflect development.
operator
Your voice is breaking a lot. Okay.
Suyash Samant — Stellar Investor Relations Advisors
Is it better now?
operator
Yeah, now it’s better. So.
Suyash Samant — Stellar Investor Relations Advisors
Okay, yeah. So I’ll just say the last part again. So. These statements are not a guarantee of the company’s future performance and involve unforeseen risk and uncertainty. The company also undertakes no obligation to update any forward looking statement to reflect developments that occur after a statement is made. I now hand over the conference to Mr. Hardeep. Thank you. And over to you sir.
Hardeep Singh — Chairman and Managing Director
Thank you all. For you for joining the Q1 FY26 earnings call presentation has been uploaded on Stock exchange. I hope you have had a chance to look at it at once in Q1 FY26 void. Continue to diversify our business without impacting overall revenue. Achieving a healthy 7% quarter on quarter growth to 120 crore. This growth was primarily driven by strong performance in the product display, energy solutions and other segments which collectively offset soften up burn in the ODM homewriting business. Our strategic transition from single customer ODM home lighting model to a broader diversified customer base across emerging verticals has been started yielding results.
Revenues from other businesses segments grew 35% year on year and 10% on quarter to quarter on quarter to 81, now contributing 68% of the overall top line. As a result, our reliance on a single customer OEM home lighting segment has been significantly reduced from 52% in Q1FY25 to 32% in Q1FY26. This shift not only strengthens our revenue mix but also position the company for long term sustainable growth. Additionally, I would like to highlight that we are expanding our customer base in the lighting segment by onboarding leading Indian and international brands as ODM suppliers. We are also flowing into high end lighting categories including indoor, industrial, office and outdoor applications.
Now I will request Professor Jeep Singh to provide his thoughts on the quarter and discuss the financials. Thank you.
Sanjeet Singh — Whole-time Director
Thank you. Allow me to take you through the key strategic initiatives undertaken during the quarter to drive growth along with additional insights into the progress we have made. As previously mentioned, we have successfully entered the Gulf market through exports under our product display segment. The region has shown encouraging traction with strong growth momentum and profitability achieved within the first year of operations. The RV business in the USA is gaining traction with other expansion initiatives in the region also progressing well. Overall revenue from outside India rose to rupees 30 crores marking a growth of 3% year on year and 84% quarter on quarter.
Revenue from international markets contributed 25% in quarter one FY26, underscoring steady progress in our global expansion strategy. Now coming to our financial performance and the utilization of our IPO proceeds. As highlighted earlier by Hardeep Ji, our growth trajectory continued in Quarter 1 FY26 with revenue increasing by 7% quarter on quarter to Rupees 120 crores. EBITDA for the quarter stood at Rupees 11 crores reflecting a robust quarter on quarter growth of 83%. Profit after tax improved to Rs. 2 crores in Quarter 1 FY26 compared to a loss of Rupees 1 crore in Quarter 4 FY20. Additionally, cash pad grew by 74% quarter on quarter to Rupees 9 crores, further reinforcing the operational and financial momentum we are building on the IPO proceeds.
The repayment of debt was completed immediately after the IPO. Block 1 is now operational. For Block 2, civil construction is nearing completion. We have now deployed around 75% of the IPO fund and are on course to complete the deploying of to complete deploying the rest within the timeline. We set for ourselves. In summary, our expansion into new markets play a vital role in diversifying our revenue streams across both products and geographies. We remain optimistic about the long term value and impact of our strategic initiatives. With this, we conclude the company’s presentation. I now request the moderator to kindly open the floor for questions.
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 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 Nilesh Sharma from Anandnath Skykin Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Good afternoon sir.
Sanjeet Singh
Good afternoon.
Unidentified Participant
Good afternoon sir. I want to ask regarding the margin, OPM margin which are very significantly reducing quarter on quarter as we are. We were the player of debit margin, 17%, 20%. Now we are struggling to maintain 10% margin. Can you please give the guidance when we can achieve the good margin and guidance for the next year in terms of top line and bottom line?
Sanjeet Singh
Thank you Mr. Nilesh for putting up the question. So basically when it comes to margins, you know, if you look at this quarter or even the preceding quarter, most of the current factors in part impacting the margins are temporary in nature in the sense that as you are aware that we are in the process of diversifying into new product categories beyond our ODM home lighting business. And as is typical during the initial phase, lower volumes in these new verticals have resulted in higher input costs due to smaller procurement quantities. However, as volumes ramp up and we achieve scales in these segments, we expect gross margins to gradually return to their historical levels.
But this is taking time because as you know all the new product lines and categories, you have to achieve a certain level of quantities in order to gain efficiencies in terms of your buying and in terms of your manufacturing. And on top of that a lot of. So basically a lot of onboarding of expenses are also happening. So all these new verticals we are adding teams like we’ve been talking about this and a lot of the new initiatives are actually now showing the results and it is pretty evident if you had the chance to look at the presentation that we have uploaded today, as you can see that our reliance on a single customer has been going down drastically.
So within a year from 52% revenue share, now it has come down to 32% and with steady top lines. So all those, this new revenue is coming from all these new initiatives that we have taken. And profit margins or EBITDA margins, gross margins will definitely follow once we achieve certain volumes and quantities because we are.
Hardeep Singh
Already starting delivering the new products now. So for all in this category. So on quarter, on quarter basis you will see the improvement. Improvement.
Unidentified Participant
Okay sir, what about guidance in terms of top lines?
Sanjeet Singh
I think Nileshi guidance we will be able to provide probably some idea in the next quarter. We are just going through the process because a lot of initiatives are new as of now. So we are also trying to understand where, you know, this year we will be landing. But I think last year we did give an idea so we’ll stick to that as of now. But I think by the middle of the year, probably next quarter or the third quarter, next quarter we’ll give you some idea regarding the guidance and the margins.
Unidentified Participant
Okay sir, my last question is regarding.
Hardeep Singh
All the new verticals we entered into are securing now have been started because the development time, R and D time, everything is passed. Now the results will start coming.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, so my last question. Are one customer businesses for Philips Lighting? Can we get the idea regarding other vendors or other customer in terms of our other business, is there any customer concentration over there other than Phillips.
Sanjeet Singh
In that sense? There is no such concentration because then the list of customers is pretty, pretty wide when it comes to, you know, we have multiple verticals and within those verticals we have a huge list of customers. So I mean it’s not even possible to, you know, pinpoint the percentage in that sense because the percentage I think of the second top most customer, I don’t have the exact number right now with me, but I don’t think it’s even more than maybe 2% or 2 and a half percent. So just to give you a reference, you know, it’s not the exact number that I’m pinpointing, but just to give you a reference.
So that is not a concerning part going forward. And that is how we’ve also planned, you know, going ahead in terms of the product and verticals and in fact even geographies that we want to diversify in such a way that, you know, because this was the most questioned question during our investor meeting and I think we are working in that direction like we discussed during our early times of the IPO.
Hardeep Singh
When we went to IPO, we were almost 75% the content on a single customer. Now it comes to 32%.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. And these contact are recurring in nature.
Sanjeet Singh
Absolutely, absolutely.
Hardeep Singh
And these are the new startup and These will grow like anything that we are working. Our whole team is working on that.
Sanjeet Singh
And the reason why, you know, it takes time to reflect those in the balance sheet is because we are like, you know, we are ODMs when it comes to all the categories that we are in. So it’s a long process of developing a product, getting the approval, getting the certification. So there is a long list, you know, of developing till the time it hits the manufacturing lines. And that is where the stickiness is also there because, you know, it’s our design, we develop for everyone. So it’s not like we start manufacturing today and tomorrow the same product goes to someone else.
So that is why it takes time initially. But then what the relationship that we make, they stay for, you know, quite a long period of time.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, thank you so much. I’ll again bring you the queue.
Sanjeet Singh
Sure.
operator
Thank you. A reminder to all participants, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the Touchstone telephone. Our next question is from the line of Somnath Paul from Relay Investments. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Thank you for giving me. So sir, I think we have been hearing this commentary from past few quarters that the contribution from the lighting business is going down. But we recently also read that Signify has tied up with one of the leading manufacturer company in Noida. I think that was Dixon and I think so is it like taking away our share and you know, going to that company? So that is one. And secondly, sir, I think in the ODM space, which is a fast growing electronic space, so historically the products which we have done have given us good margin and a good return on capital.
But I think post IPO we have not seen that, although we understand that the new factory has been commissioned. But I think the return on capital employed on the products which we are doing is pretty low. So I mean, what is like the plan for the management? Because I think the return on capital has been significantly low, although there has been a big capex. And thirdly, sir, I would like to ask that, pardon my understanding, but are we not doing significant technical products? Because I think the other ODMs in the electronic space are going at a good CAGR with a good future visibility.
So why is that the case that we are not able to miss the bus? Thank you.
Sanjeet Singh
Thank you Mr. Somnath for the question. So coming back, I think you had two, three questions in one. So I’ll start from the first part of your question regarding Signify. So as you know, everybody knows that they’ve entered into a JV and we being the odm, so definitely we are still continuing to supply the products that we do for them. And we are also looking at this association very closely. But if you look at the silver lining of the entire procedure, whatever has happened, so that has actually opened the doors for us as well because strategically we were, we sort of restricted ourselves to, you know, working with them, looking at the long term association.
And we’ve been working for quite some time now, more than I think 13, 14 years now. But that has sort of opened the gates for us as well. And we are like Mr. Hardeep, you know, mentioned during the opening, we are working with a lot of companies now. In fact some of them, the products have already been approved and initial few orders have also started coming in the trial orders or you can say the first few orders. So that progress is already, we’ve covered that part of the journey till now. And so we are well known, you know, name in the industry.
So a lot of brands are also very happy to work with us and likewise for us as well. So this is a new development that is happening within, you know, the space where we used to, where we, you know, we are working with signifier, so we’ll continue to work with them. We are now working with a lot of other brands as well. So slowly and gradually you will get to hear more names during our earnings call once, you know, the business becomes substantial. So we’ll definitely keep the investors like.
Hardeep Singh
The approval stages and onboarding stages have already passed. So I think within this quarter, end of this quarter or next quarter, all the major brands you will see that we are going to do for them.
Sanjeet Singh
And now coming to the second part of the question where you were asking about where our peers are doing some technical products. So in fact, for that matter, if you look at what we do, more than 90, 95% of the products that we manufacture are all ODM products. So we design, develop and manufacture for our customers. So in that sense, you know, not just lighting. So if you look at our presentation today also that will give you a much better picture of how we are growing and how we are developing. And in fact we are now getting ready for sustainable growth in the future with reliance on a single customer, on a single product type or a single vertical is gradually coming down.
And in fact we are diversifying when it comes to products. So for example, the hairable and wearable category that we launched, that we started just, you know, less than a year back, that has become profitable. And there also we are one of the few, very few industries who’ve started manufacturing the actual products in India instead of just importing and assembling the products which, you know, the rest of the industry is doing. So we are taking a lot of initiatives in these directions. But you know, some of the things we restrict ourselves from talking about just to make sure that, you know, it becomes like a substantial size and where we can talk or give that confidence to our investors.
Likewise, I’m talking about the hairable segment, similarly to that, even if I’ll talk of the export business that we are doing, so again, one more vertical which we started less than a year back, which was the product display segment in the Middle East. So within one year, again that has become profitable and we are doing substantial business now in that vertical as well. So again, all the products that we do in that category, they are all OTM products, designed, developed, manufactured in house. So everything that we do, they are all technical products. And now going forward, in fact, automotive is going to be one more segment.
So I think by the next quarter, this quarter two or quarter three will definitely give you some very promising news when it comes to the automotive segment, which I think you will really appreciate. So there are a lot of initiatives that we have taken which are now slowly and gradually giving results. And I’m sure before the end of this year you will not have any such doubts when it comes to the kind of products that we do. And in fact, one major silver lining that you can take from the association that you just referred to in the first part of your question.
So that was also part of our plan all along, since we started our journey, because that was one of the. Most. You know, picked out questions, our dependence on a single customer. So in fact, with that that is automatically now coming down and we have opened our gates to all the, you know, the major players in the industry so that we look at it as a positive side. And we are working with Signify. We will continue to work with Signify, but now as a plan of our overall diversification, we continue to do that going forward. So I hope I have answered your query, Mr. Somnath.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah. So I will get back in the queue. Thank you.
Sanjeet Singh
Sure, sure.
operator
Thank you. A general reminder to all participants, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press Star and one on their touchstone telephone. The next question is from the line of Pushkar Botra from AJ Investments. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Hello. Yes, thank you for the opportunity, sir. So I wanted to talk about like ask question about the other business segment which has grown pretty well in the last five quarters from 48 to 68%. So if you can break down the growth, how it has been and what will be the strategy going forward, how much percentage of the number it will look like going forward.
Sanjeet Singh
So as you can see from the presentation, close to around, you know, our share of the business outside of India has been growing constantly. And that is, that is one strategy of diversifying geographically. That is, that is, you know, that is playing out really well now. So we are focused on outside of India and as well as the new setup that we have created because of which, you know, the numbers temporarily seem low in terms of the margins, the EBITDA margins because of depreciation as fat margins because of depreciations and everything kicking in. So right now the new growth, you know, that is going to come is going to come from the markets outside of India as well as the new verticals and which we will, we are, you know, at a juncture where we are now starting some sample ordering, prototyping.
In fact, small shipments have also started from the new plant. So I think it’s just a matter of another couple of quarters where the new plant revenue from the new plant will also start kicking in and will substantially improve the top and the bottom line going forward.
Unidentified Participant
Understood. And so as you mentioned as your growth strategy would be expanding into the new countries, but in presentation I saw two names, one is USA and another one is Middle East. So recently what Paris has come on. So what impact are we expecting because of that? Because in the same presentation you have also mentioned good traction we are getting in US as well.
Sanjeet Singh
Yes, actually it’s too early to talk about that as I mean, I’m sure you must be following how things are panning out. So today it is something and tomorrow it is something else. So last few months have been a little too crazy, I would say. So I think we are just waiting for things to settle down so that we can make sense of what is happening around us. And for that part, also because we are competing primarily with China when it comes to the US market. So the belief is that our tariffs are always going to be lower as compared to the tariffs on Chinese products.
So that is one comforting factor. But at the same time, to truly answer your question, I think we’ll have to wait a bit more to understand how this entire thing is going to fan out.
Hardeep Singh
This is one of the segments, but here we are entering into the already developed products and the sample for automobile lighting, automobile electronics, then netting safety systems which we have achieved brand like Honeywell. So these are all are like all the certification, samples, approvals, everything done and we have already started getting orders for those. So it is not only we are dependent on USA or say.
Unidentified Participant
And also how much was the revenue bifurcation between US and Middle east if you can number something.
Sanjeet Singh
So just to give you an idea, it was close to around in percentage terms I can say USA was around maybe 60 to 60 to 65% 6, 60 to 70, 60, 65% and remaining was from the Middle East. But the Middle east because if USA is you know I can say around six, six year old market. Although the subsidiary, the subsidiary that we opened up in the US was just last year. But UAE is a pretty new market which we just you know started the business and everything last year. So it’s progressing really well for that matter to have a contribution of let’s say around even 30, 35% but this contribution will also continue to grow from the Middle east as well.
Unidentified Participant
So the number at roughly 18 to 20 crores was from USA. Right. As per what numbers have given approximately.
Sanjeet Singh
I don’t have the exact numbers right now. I just back calculated as you mentioned. Yeah, yeah I know. So I was doing the same in my mind. So roughly, roughly around that figure.
Unidentified Participant
Okay, okay. And I had also one more question on the new segments which you are entering into variables and variables category. So how has been the performance there and what are we expecting going forward? Because there’s also a lot of competition from China players are doing here in India.
Hardeep Singh
Yes. For that also what we are doing we are started the relationship with all four, five big companies which are in this segment. We have started with everyone. Everyone is like we are entered what they are doing. So this is the first month where we are going to produce first made in India product for them. We will happy to announce that we are the first one to get the order of say 50,000 pieces of that which we have developed in house. So similarly we have the pipeline to develop those products in our infrastructure. This is like the strategy what we have taken.
So we will not see competition because we are not importing the boxes or the CKDs or SKDs in longer term like we have done in the lighting.
Sanjeet Singh
And just to give you an idea of how that vertical is progressing this the existing quarter I think we should be touching a double digit top line or top number I would say revenue double digit. So without giving out too much, I think this will give you just an idea of how this is what a fair idea.
Unidentified Participant
One last question. As you mentioned that for USA we’ll be competing Against China. But if you can give me a pricing difference, supposingly if you’re manufacturing at 100 rupees, China is doing at 60 rupees. So how is the calculation over there?
Sanjeet Singh
Yeah, answers this question. Just one thing I want to add to this is that we are not competing on a product to product level when it comes to what we are doing in the, in the US it’s more of some part of it is definitely product but it’s more like us, you know, a solution that we work on. So whether it’s the RV industry we are not working on a specific product. It’s a solution, it’s a package that we give which constitutes of a lot of products. Lighting, non lighting, solar charge, controllers, batteries, a lot of things put together.
So it’s more of a solution. And when it comes to pricing, I think Hadeep sir will answer, take that part of the question.
Hardeep Singh
So the costing in China, China is also increasing because the labor cost and other things as it is not easy. So we were competitive before also. So there is, there is no way that we are less competitive than China also. And because we are producing everything here so we are not dependent on the Chinese products, all the designs, everything molds, everything we have done here in house. So it is not affecting us much.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. Okay. Thank you so much for the answer. Pretty helpful. Thank you.
Sanjeet Singh
Thank you. Thank you.
operator
Thank you. May I request and remind to all participants, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the Touchstone telephone. Our next follow up question is from the line of Somnath Paul from Relay Investment. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Thank you for giving me an opportunity again. So sir, I think like we have seen in the historical numbers, I think the general EBITDA was on a higher double digit side. But now as you have mentioned that you are moving into a lot of new products. So generally what is the target return on capital employed for the capex that you have incurred for the last two years or so? And secondly sir, I think mentioning about. The. Hearing electronics and the products which you are making and other than that. So do you think that there would also be a certain level of scalability in the products at certain point of time where we will be able to have the margin because generally this is not a very high EBITDA margin kind of thing. So what is your general thought? Maybe for the next three years starting. Starting 2025. So if you can throw some light there sir.
Sanjeet Singh
So yeah, I’ll answer with the second part of your question. So basically in the hairable, wearable segment, definitely. Like you said, the higher the volumes, you know, the better the margins become. Because you know, in order to run the show, your fixed cost cost will remain the same. But as and when the volumes start kicking in on the volumes become substantially high, your operating expenses come down. And that is what our target is. And in fact, this market is also all about. But the good thing is that we are already working with all top brands, I would say all top companies who are into this segment.
And we have, we have already started working with them. And going forward, the plan is to make everything in house like, you know, we did with the lighting category. So in fact, as a matter of fact, you know, like I said, it’s just an year old vertical. But even just after a year, the space that we had dedicated to this vertical is already, you know, short. So we are adding more space or, you know, allocating more space to this vertical going forward. So in fact, by the next or second or the third quarter, we were just discussing internally also, we’ll start showing the results in slightly different manner so that it becomes easier for the investors also to understand how, you know, the other verticals are also performing.
Because up until, I mean, at the time of the IPO and the beginning of the ipo, we were majorly a lighting company, although we were doing a lot of other electronics also. But at the face of it, we were majorly a lighting company, but things have been changing drastically. And we’ll also present our business in such a way so that it becomes easier for everyone to understand. And I think by another couple of quarters our new vertical will become substantial enough for us to present them in such a way that you will get to understand where exactly the business is moving ahead.
And I’m sorry, I think I missed the first part of your question. If you could repeat that, I think.
Unidentified Participant
That was again along the same lines. I understand that this is more like a volume game and this has been more or less done to then absorb the fixed cost of the new space which you have commissioned, which is very understandable. My point was on the return on capital, what is your general return on capital? Because you mentioned names that you are targeting in terms of customer, but your competitors were much larger in size, Dixon’s or Amber. So I think they have scaled up pretty well. So I mean, I’m just trying to understand on the return on capital part.
So amount you’ve invested and when do you think will be the payback, including the herable variable plus the other higher margin products?
Sanjeet Singh
Yeah, so if you look at the Roce, you know, maybe one and a half year earlier then we were somewhere close to sitting somewhere from what I remember. I don’t have the numbers right now.
Unidentified Participant
But from numbers of fully sweated assets, right. So those assets were created long back and those were highly depreciated. So obviously that number will be optical. So I’m trying to understand from next 2, 3 years point of view because now we are putting in the money for the last two years and we are still doing so I’m looking forward into future because those numbers look optical in the sense they were very high numbers and the margins were also very good because you had very highly sweated assets and through was also high. But I’m talking about now and you know, way forward.
Sanjeet Singh
So yeah, so at that point in time, from what I remember it was, I think the ROP was anywhere between 30 to 32%. And like you said, everything was, you know, the assets and everything were fully, almost fully utilized. But to reach to that level once again, I mean we believe that the way we are working by the end of next financial year we should be closer to that, comparable to that value I think by the end of the next financial year. But we’ll have to make some calculations. This is just a rough estimate that you know, I am giving out.
Unidentified Participant
Sir, also wanted to ask that in 2020 is your sales for closer to the 200cr kind of number. So do you think in the next forthcoming time that sales number could probably be your ebitda if you have a good run rate. So I mean on a longer term trajectory, can you share some thought about that?
Sanjeet Singh
So basically, I mean what you said is correct. That is what the target is. And moving forward we are just waiting for all these new relationships to, you know, to come out to the that level where the revenues from each one new product category or account becomes substantial. So it’s just a matter of time of how these things progress. But the good part is, you know, whatever initiatives that we have taken in the past one year, we have not gone back on any one of them. So everything that we have started is moving in the right direction.
It is just that like I said earlier also in the call, because we design, develop everything in house so that you know, for each product it’s a time of about anywhere between three to six months to nine months depending upon the complexity of the product. So that time plus the certifications, approval. So that’s a very long journey that we have to travel for one product to, you know, to Begin with. It’s not that we, you know that the relationships that we have, they share the design with us and we start manufacturing the next day. Our way of working is completely different to some of our peers in the industry.
And that is why, hence it’s taking a lot of time for us as well. But at the same time, like I said, once you’ve crossed that bridge which we are in the process as of now, then it’s just a matter of ramping up the volumes and the numbers. So I, what I can say is that by the end of the third quarter this year you will start actually seeing what I am saying right now in the. I mean in my answer.
Unidentified Participant
Okay sir, I think we will wait for that. And I wish you to probably more focus on the return on capital part because that I think will help us get the valuations which we should get. All the best. Absolutely.
Sanjeet Singh
RFA has always been around five times and you know, five, five and a half times historically that is what our target is. It’s just a matter of, you know, that time that it takes for all these things to mature. And in fact the plan is to return to that level as early as.
Unidentified Participant
Possible because this is the time of, this is the time of ODM Electronics and I think you are on the bus.
Hardeep Singh
Like we cannot spend anything from futuristic here. But we are very positive because whosoever visited our plant it is, we have a very good appreciation for the plant system. Whatever infra we have put during this one and a half year. So it is, it is state of art. And I will tell our stellar people to get some, some visit platform, visit that where we are and we can show that what we have done new and we can see through them also.
Sanjeet Singh
So once you visit the plant, you see where we are today, what we have developed. You will automatically get the confidence of where we are headed in the near future.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah. And I think this company will from scratch. So I am all the more positive and I wish all the best and hence I am more concerned that you know, probably we should have a good fruitful journey for everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Sanjeet Singh
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
operator
Thank you. A reminder to all participants. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchstone telephone. Our next follow up question is from the line of Nilesh Sharma from Anand Nath Skykin Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Nilesh Sharma
My question is regarding our corporate decision that we have taken this week. Could we share the rationale behind appointing a family member as a cfo? How the Company ensured the strong governance and independence in the financial decision making and how our financial decisions will impact our company future. By adopting this decision that Sunday. Sorry Sanjeev. Saying he will be our new CFO.
Sanjeet Singh
Thank you Mr. Nilesh for asking the question. So I’ll be more than happy to answer it. So as you know, you must be aware that our CFO recently resigned. So we are actively working to identify a suitable replacement, you know, over the next two to three quarters because this is a very important position in the, in the company. While there are no statutory restrictions, you know, if, if the CEO becomes the cfo. But like you said, we are fully committed to maintaining strong corporate governance. And you know, given my involvement in overseeing the finance function over the past two years, I have taken this responsibility to ensure continuity.
However, we remain focused on appointing a dedicated CFO within the stated time frame. It’s like maybe.
Nilesh Sharma
Okay, okay, answer my question. That we were earning 21 crores of pet in 2020 and after the growth of two and a half time in top line, still we are earning 22 crores. Being a, being a shareholder of the company, we have the great belief in management and the product and the setup that you have done in last one one and a half year. How we can see this picture because at various point of time we have requested stellar to schedule a plant visit but we are never get any mail from investor relationship manager. So we didn’t get any idea what is going on there.
Please excuse me if you get offended by this question.
Sanjeet Singh
No, no, not at all. You have all the rights to ask anything that you feel of concern and I’ll again be happy to answer or take up this part as well. So like you mentioned in 2020 the pact was, you said around 20 crores. So if you look at the pact which we made last year, which was 32, but you know, if you look at the cash pad, so in cash pad we are just adding the depreciation of the, you know, the new plant, not anything to do with the old plants. So that was close to around 56 crores.
So basically 2020 can be comparable to 56 of last year. And at the same time this 56 was also under a lot of, I would say a lot of stress from the, you know, the operating expenses and everything that we have that we have sort of incurred which you know, the results will start coming in later. So the employee cost went up and operation, you know, the operational expenses went up. So this is part of, you know, the journey when you try to sort of Break the shackles of where you are. And in order to move from one, you know, level to another, there is always a transition phase.
So we are just going through the transition phase right now. But the, I would say the, you know, the silver lining or the good part with all of this is that we are still operating. We are still, you know, making revenue or pat. And in terms of operations also, I think we are progressing really well. It’s just a matter of this transition that is happening. And I think next year, I’m sure you will not have any such doubt with the way, you know, the company is performing. And you will start to see that from probably quarter three of this year, that transition.
Nilesh Sharma
I wish they said, sir, as you have given the guidance of 30, 30% rock at the end of financial year 27, can you please give some.
Sanjeet Singh
That is not the guidance from my side. It was just, I was referring to where we were earlier and where we want to because honestly, I don’t have any calculations right now in front of me. But just to give you an idea, we were close to around 30. So like I said, by the end of the next financial year, I, I believe we should be somewhere comparable to where we were at that point in time.
Nilesh Sharma
Okay. Any idea where we are closing our financial 26 books in terms of ROC? Any idea?
Sanjeet Singh
I, honestly, I, I’ll come back to you on that. We’ll make some through stellar. Maybe we’ll get back to you on the ROC part because we need to make some calculations. I don’t have it right now in front of me, but we’ll definitely get back to you on that.
Nilesh Sharma
Okay. No issues are. And thank you so much for giving all the answers and I wish you all the very best to company and all management.
Unidentified Participant
Thank you so much, Mr. Nilesh. Thank you. Yeah.
operator
Thank you. A reminder to all participants, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchstone telephone. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Ladies and gentlemen, as there are no further questions, I now hand the conference over to Mr. Harbit Singh for closing comments. Over to you, sir.
Hardeep Singh
Thank you all for making it to our quarterly for Q1FY26. If still there are any further queries, please feel free to reach out to seller IR Advisor. And again, I thank you everyone for joining the earnings forum and have a nice day. Thank you very much.
Sanjeet Singh
Thank you so much.
Hardeep Singh
Thank you.
operator
Thank you on behalf of IQO Technologies limited that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us and you may now disconnect your lines.