IOL Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited Q2 FY23 Earnings Conference Call Insights

Key highlights from IOL Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited (IOLCP) Q2 FY23 Earnings Concall

Q&A Highlights:

• [00:12:26] Venkat of 3Sigma Financials asked about the growth numbers for 3Q23 and FY24. Sanjay Chaturvedi CEO said that in FY23, IOLCP is going to show some muted growth in the single-digits, but in FY24, the company is very confident of double-digit growth in terms of value and volume.

• [00:16:06] Avinash Kumar asked about the expansion plan in West India and when the capacity will be upstream and how much revenue will be generated from the expansion. Sanjay Chaturvedi CEO replied that that exercise is still ongoing. IOLCP has contracted some credible partners to identify the site for the company. And it would take maybe Q4 before IOLCP is able to conclude what and at what scale it’s going to do it.

• [00:17:28] Shaikh Mohammed Ayaz asked about the EBITDA margin expectation for the next two quarters. Sanjay Chaturvedi CEO clarified that the company expects to be back to the double digit margins in the next two quarters.

• [00:21:43] Bezad Deboo from Systematix enquired about the utilization for ibuprofen. Sanjay Chaturvedi CEO replied that for ibuprofen the current asset utilization is between 75-80%. In next few quarter IOLCP expects it to take it to about 85%.

• [00:22:08] Bezad Deboo from Systematix also asked that when are the capacities expected to come online on the chemical front. Sanjay Chaturvedi CEO answered that the chemical capacity is expected to come online by end of FY23. And accruals from the business will be seen from 1Q24.

• [00:26:09] Mahesh Vyas from UTI Mutual asked what percentage of total consumption is from import, China and ex-DCDA. Sanjay Chaturvedi CEO said that on the chemical side, about 70% is imports. In pharmaceutical side, ex-DCDA, it’s about 15-20%. And for every product imported there are multiple suppliers, no dependency.

• [00:27:17] Niharika from Aequitas enquired about the price of ethyl acetate and acetic acid in 2Q23 and currently. Sanjay Chaturvedi CEO answered that prices of ethyl acetate in Q2 vs. Q3 have been fairly flat. And the prices of acetic acid have shown a marginal dip, but the real change happened between Q1 and Q2, and not between Q2 and Q3.

• [00:28:31] Niharika from Aequitas also asked about the demand scenario as China is supplying more to Europe. Sanjay Chaturvedi CEO said that in the domestic demand there is not much disruption as import is marginal from China. But internationally, China has been gaining market share, but it’s of least impact as IOL historically has only exported about 20% ethyl acetate to Europe.

• [00:32:27] Anupam Agarwal from Lucky Investment asked about the metformin capacity utilization and any pricing change is seen. Sanjay Chaturvedi CEO said historically, the prices domestically used to be below INR300 a kg. And it will continue to be in the INR320, INR330 levels even now. The asset utilization is above 90%.

• [00:33:20] Anupam Agarwal from Lucky Investment enquired what percentage of metformin is sold domestically vs. exports and any price differences. Sanjay Chaturvedi CEO said most of it is domestic and about 10% into the export market currently. The price difference is at least 20% depending on customer and volume.

• [00:35:04] Anupam Agarwal from Lucky Investment asked about the topline guidance on the non-ibuprofen for next two years. Sanjay Chaturvedi CEO answered that in the next two years, the company expects the revenue from the non-ibuprofen portfolio to exceed revenue from ibuprofen portfolio.

• [00:37:02] Gautam Gosar with Perpetuity asked about the monthly run rate for ibuprofen currently. Sanjay Chaturvedi CEO said the monthly run rate IOLCP is running at is about 75%, 80% of capacity. So about 800 tons a month. IOLCP is looking to improve run rate but not add capacity.

• [00:48:38] Bezad Deboo of Systematix asked about the reason for volatility in prices of ethyl acetate. Sanjay Chaturvedi CEO replied that the volatility is related directly to the volatility in RM prices, where the key one is actually acetic acid. So, ethanol has also seen volatility, but perhaps not to the same extent as acetic acid.