Sarda Energy & Minerals Limited (NSE: SARDAEN) Q3 2026 Earnings Call dated Feb. 09, 2026
Corporate Participants:
Unidentified Speaker
Pankaj Sarda — Managing Directo
Manish Sarda — Deputy Managing Director
Padam Kumar Jain — Director and CFO
Analysts:
Unidentified Participant
Manasi Bodas — Analyst
Manav Gogia — Analyst
Rajesh Bhandari — Analyst
Rajesh Verma — Analyst
Pooja Rathore — Analyst
Nupur Gandhi — Analyst
Dewang Sanghavi — Analyst
Presentation:
operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the SATA Energy and Minerals Limited Q3 and 9 months FY26 earnings conference call hosted by AD Factors PR. 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. If you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing Star then zero on your touchstone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Ms. Mansi Bodas from AdPactors PR. Thank you. And over to you,
Manasi Bodas — Analyst
Good evening everyone and thank you for joining us today to discuss Q3 and 19 with FY26 business performance of SEML. We have with us Mr. Pankat Salda, Managing Director, Mr. Manish Sarda, Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Padram Kumar Jain, Director and Chief Financial Officer and Mr. Nilay Joshi, Executive Director. Before we proceed with this call, I would like to mention that some of the statements made in this call may be forward looking in nature and may involve risks and uncertainty. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward looking statement to reflect developments that occur after the statement is made.
Documents related to the company’s financial performance including the investor presentation have been uploaded on the Stock Exchange and company’s website. I now hand over the conference call to Mr. Pankat Sarda. Thank you. And over to you Sir.
Pankaj Sarda — Managing Directo
Thank you, Mansi. Good evening everyone. For the nine month period ended December 2025, the company has delivered a robust operating performance reflecting steady execution across our integrated Energy plus Minerals platform. Our focus on scaling the energy business, strengthening integration across mining and maintaining discipline in metals has continued to support stability and predictability across cycles. In line with this long term strategy, the third quarter posted steady performance barring certain planned and timing related factors. The quarter was impacted by the annual maintenance shutdown of the ipp, the shutdown of one captive power unit for equipment replacement and a period of subdued metal and energy prices.
These were largely anticipated operational events and our integrated model helped absorb the impact while maintaining stability across businesses. Operationally, production across key assets remained broadly stable. Thermal power generation at IPP and Rigar benefited from improved plant reliability and fuel availability. Although planned maintenance affected output during the quarter, hydropower generation followed normal seasonal patterns. For the nine months period, hydropower generation increased by 28% year on year to 621 million units supported by above average monsoon conditions and the commissioning of the 24.9 MW Rahar Hydropower Project. For the REHAR project we have signed a 40 year power purchase agreement with Chhatturgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited.
The tariff has been fixed at 7.42 per unit providing long term revenue visibility and further strengthening the quality of our energy portfolio. Approval to enhance the capacity of The Gare Palma 4×7 coal mine from 1.68 million tonnes to 1.8 million tons is at the final stage and is expected shortly. We remain confident of achieving the enhanced output within the current financial year. Development of the Shahpur west high grade coal mine is progressing as scheduled with commissioning targeted before the end of the next financial year. Approval processes for the Gare Palma 4×5, Bartunga and Sindhuri coal mines are ongoing within our power portfolio.
Captive solar power 50 megawatt Commissioning of the 50 megawatt captive solar power project is expected in the first quarter of the next financial year. Work is progressing on schedule. This is regarding 30 megawatt TG set replacement work is progressing on schedule with commissioning expected by mid FY27 shutdown. December temporarily affected steel production at Raipur. We are also pursuing approvals for expansion of our existing 600 megawatt IPP thermal power project as an update on the ongoing litigation matters regarding SKS power acquisition, the appeals filed by the unsuccessful resolution applicants have been heard by the Honorable Supreme Court and the matter has been reserved for order coming to the Financial Performance Consolidated revenue for Q3FY26 stood at Rupees 1,360 crores reflecting the impact of planned shutdowns and weaker price realizations.
EBITDA increased to rupees 395 crores compared to rupees 368 crores year on year driven largely by the energy segment consolidated, PAT stood at rupees 190 crores for the nine month period. PAT increased by 59% to rupees 954 crores. Our balance sheet remains strong with negligible net gearing and net debt to EBITDA well below 1x. Consolidated net debt as of 31st December 2025 was below Rupees 500 crores, significantly reduced from approximately Rupees 1500 crores as of 31st March 2025 and liquidity remains robust on a standalone level. The company remains cash positive. With that overview I now hand over to Mr.
Manish Sarda to discuss the industry overview and outlook. Over to you Mr. Manish.
Manish Sarda — Deputy Managing Director
Thank you Pankaj and a good evening to everyone on the call. I will briefly touch upon the broader industry environment and the demand outlook across Steel, power and related commodities. During calendar year 2025, India stood out positively among global steel markets. Crude steel production in India grew by over 10% even as China and several global markets recorded contraction. While China steel production fell to a six year low, exports increased by 7.5% to around 119 million tonnes. Continuing to influence global trade flows and pricing dynamics. India’s steel consumption reached approximately 160 million tonnes, supported by sustained infrastructure spending and steady manufacturing activity.
The imposition of safeguard duties has meaningfully altered trade dynamics, turning India back into a net exporter after six consecutive quarters of net imports. Steel prices which had touched the multi year lows earlier in the year, recovered sharply towards the end of December and have Strengthened by around 10 to 15% reflecting improving sentiment and tighter domestic supply conditions. From a policy perspective, the Union budget’s allocation of rupees 20,000 crore toward carbon capture, utilization and storage is a significant development. They expected to support the adoption of greener technologies across energy intensive sectors such as steel and cement and reinforces the long term policy commitment towards sustainability and green transition.
Turning to the power sector, demand during the quarter was largely flat on a year on year basis. Thermal plant utilization which had softened since April showed signs of improvement towards December. Power prices on the Exchange moderated with IEX average prices at around 3 rupees 33 paisa per unit compared to 3.79 per unit last year.
Pankaj Sarda — Managing Directo
I’ll continue with that. There might be some line issue in the Manish Sadaji’s line. Can you hear?
Padam Kumar Jain — Director and CFO
Yeah. Yeah. Are you audible?
Manasi Bodas — Analyst
Hello? Am I audible?
Padam Kumar Jain — Director and CFO
Yes. Yes, you are audible.
Manasi Bodas — Analyst
Yeah. Coal index prices also declined modestly during the period, contributing to a relatively benign fuel cost environment. Am I audible?
Padam Kumar Jain — Director and CFO
Yeah, I can hear you clearly.
Manish Sarda — Deputy Managing Director
Okay. Looking ahead, infrastructure spending, Federalized export in Q3 went up from 23,256 metric tons to 33,272 metric tons year on year, registering a growth of 43%. For nine month period it remained near flat. Looking ahead, infrastructure spending, policy continuity and the ongoing expansion of India’s manufacturing bases are expected to support economic activity and steel demand. Recent firmness in commodity and ferrous metal prices points to improving. Recent firmness in commodity and ferrous metal prices points to improving fundamentals while power prices have also shown signs of recovery since December. To add on the power side, we have secured 200 megawatt of medium term and 100 megawatt of long term offtake to our IPP providing stability to cash flows.
In addition, the signing of free trade Agreements with regions such as the eu, the US and other markets is expected to support exports and enhance overall economic activity over the medium term. That concludes our overview the industry environment and outlook. Thank you.
Questions and Answers:
operator
Yes, sir. Should we open the floor for Q and A?
Manish Sarda
Yes, please go ahead.
operator
Okay, 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 your touchstone telephone. If you wish to withdraw yourself from the question queue, you may press star and 2. Participants are requested to use handset while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question comes from the line of Manavogya with Yes, securities limited. Please go ahead.
Manav Gogia
Yeah, hi, good evening and thank you so much for the opportunity. So first, first of all I wanted to ask a bookkeeping question that was. Could you give me what was the captive, you know, the CPP production and sales units for this particular quarter. The captive power plant that we have. What was.
Manish Sarda
You can refer to the investor presentation that has been uploaded on the website. You will find the data.
Manav Gogia
Yes, we. We have the IPP data over there, but not the CPP one.
Manish Sarda
Cpp. I mean nothing very meaningful
Manav Gogia
On the production side as well because there was a plant Shutdown, I believe.
Padam Kumar Jain
327, 328 million units and sales was 12 million units.
Manav Gogia
Okay, that is quite helpful. And for an IPP, what was the average tariff that we got for this particular quarter?
Padam Kumar Jain
Average tariff? Yes, that was the. Somewhere in the range of 5 rupees.
Manav Gogia
5 rupees. And I mean in the opening reports you mentioned, we are seeing some improvements. So how. How is Q1 shaping up? Q4 shaping up?
Padam Kumar Jain
Q4 will be better than this level. It was slightly lower than five rupees. Near five rupees, not five rupees. Now it will be slightly above what we Expect is above 5 rupees.
Manav Gogia
Okay. Okay, that is. That is quite helpful. So secondly, just wanted to know about, you know, the captive coal mine expansions that we are doing right now. Moving from 1.8 to 3 million tons and then to 5.2. I think we had to apply for fresh ECS, right. If I’m not wrong. And where are we in the process of that right now?
Pankaj Sarda
Right, we are in the process.
Manav Gogia
Okay, so what timelines are we looking at for the 3 million ton expansion?
Pankaj Sarda
No, we’ll. It will take minimum two years because forest clearance also is there.
Manav Gogia
Okay. So sort of 18 months to 24 months period for the final ACS to arrive in the product. Got it? Got it. Yeah. Thank you. So, one question I also had. You know, I think we have. We usually go for the Shakti coal, right? When it comes to our. So what would be the cost differential between the Shakti pool that we’re using versus the captive coal from our Ghari Palma mines?
Padam Kumar Jain
So it is almost equivalent. I would say. In fact our captive coal prices might be 10 paisa higher.
Pankaj Sarda
But we can use our captive coal for other purposes including commercial sales. Because the market price of the coal for the usage other than the power plant are higher than the Shakti coal. So we have option to sell the captive coal in the market as well.
Padam Kumar Jain
As it totally depends on the auction also that is happening in Shakti coal. So sometimes we get it at cheaper prices. Sometimes the prices are higher.
Manav Gogia
Okay. Okay. Sure. Sir. So one last question. Wanted to know, you know, what’s the company’s take on you know now doubling the capacities at SKS power. How are those talks shaping up?
Pankaj Sarda
So we have already signed an MOU with the state government. And we should get the MOU in hand maybe in another one month. And then we’ll start all the environment clearances process etc.
Manav Gogia
Okay, but it’s going to be sort of a story for three, four years down the line, right? I think all the approvals might take another two and a half to three years. Would that be the right understanding?
Pankaj Sarda
Correct.
Manav Gogia
Sure, sure. Sure. Yeah. That is quite helpful. I’ll join back. You join the queue for more. Thank you so much.
operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen. If you wish to ask a question to the management, please press star and 1. The next question comes from the line of Rajesh Bhandari with Nakoda engineers. Please go ahead.
Rajesh Bhandari
Good afternoon, sir.
Unidentified Speaker
Good afternoon. It is in the range of I think 5 60, say 580k which somewhere.
Unidentified Participant
We have discuss 5 above 550.
Unidentified Participant
550 above 550.
Unidentified Participant
742 per unit. 7.42. Impact of the business overall.
Unidentified Participant
Industrial activity. Improve the power demand. Exports, markets, open hung. Infrastructure.
Padam Kumar Jain
That will create demand for the steel and power both. Government support for carbon capturing technology. That will also improve the efficiency of the steel plants.
Rajesh Bhandari
Capturing exactly what we are supposed to do. Thank you, sir. Thank you.
Padam Kumar Jain
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen. If you wish to ask a question, please press star and 1. The next question comes from the line of Aman Goval, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Namaskar, sir. I’m audible.
Padam Kumar Jain
Yes.
Unidentified Participant
My simple question was that if you allow sequentially decay Y O Y decay. Last 3/4 growth downtrend. What are the reasons?
Unidentified Participant
Those are always better thermal power. Particularly because. So that gives above average realization in case of thermal power. And second quarter May hydro generation. So steel had gone down bottomed out almost because lowest prices. So that is an effect of third quarter. There are three effects. One is the pricing of the steel which has gone down. Second is lower generation of hydropower because of seasonal effect. And third shutdown of the one unit of captive power plant IPP for maintenance. And also one captive power plant unit was also shut down for replacement Volume profitability become third quarter.
Unidentified Participant
So.
Unidentified Participant
So considering this all we assume coming to three quarter also will be in the same line. Is there any or is there any improvement? You see.
Unidentified Participant
Thermal price will also go up average. We are considering price first quarter again will be much higher. Because you get the medium price for the power sales. Things will improve.
Unidentified Participant
Or those are satiscop cases. Okay sir.
Unidentified Participant
The industrial activity improving power prices will also move up from here.
Unidentified Speaker
Okay, sir. Thank you. This is from my side. Thank you.
operator
Thank you. Before we take the next question we would like to remind participants that you may press Star and one to ask a question. The next question comes from the line of Rajesh Verma with Pragya Securities. Please go ahead.
Rajesh Verma
Good evening, sir. So my question was like. Given that there is healthy cash generation in the company. Are you looking for some more inorganic expansion opportunities or you will focus more on brownfield expansion? Only for now.
Padam Kumar Jain
We are looking for both inorganic as well as the brownfield. Brownfield already whatever we have planned and there are certainly brownfield. We are taking up a few of the greenfield coal mines and greenfield hydropower project. So these are the greenfield opportunities. In addition to that we are looking for definitely the inorganic opportunities also.
Rajesh Verma
All right, sir. Just a follow up question on that. Given that there is. There are so many tailwinds in sectors like nuclear energy critical mineral mining and battery storage. Do you have plans to diversify in any of these sectors? Sir.
Pankaj Sarda
We are open for the opportunities. And whenever all these mine blocks and comes we do study them as well. So if any opportunity comes knocking our door regarding these. We’ll have a. We’ll have a positive outlook towards these.
Rajesh Verma
Sure, sir. Noted. All the best, sir. Thank you. That was my question.
Padam Kumar Jain
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen. If you wish to ask a question, please press star and 1. The next question comes from the line of Pooja Rathorn, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Pooja Rathore
Hi sir. I want to check with you if we are on track to achieve the 2000 crore EBITDA in FY26. What could be the guidance for FY27?
Padam Kumar Jain
We are in the cyclical industry. So generally we don’t give advance guidance. But what we foresee it should be better from 2026 higher than 2026.
Pooja Rathore
Okay, sir. Thank you for taking the question.
operator
Thank you. A reminder to all participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question comes from the line of Nupur Gandhi with Siddhi Technologies. Please go ahead.
Nupur Gandhi
Hello. Am I audible?
Padam Kumar Jain
Yeah.
operator
Yes, ma’. Am.
Nupur Gandhi
So I wanted to ask you a couple of questions. First being on the planned shutdown. So how long was it for? Approximately.
Padam Kumar Jain
So it was around for 40 to 45 days.
Nupur Gandhi
Okay. What the plant?
Pankaj Sarda
No, no, no. The first one unit that is 300 megawatt of our IPP unit was in a shutdown for 45 days for planned shutdown for a yearly overhauling. And another 30 megawatt plant turbine was taken on a shutdown on 1 December. This was a Silkara captive power unit. And it is being replaced with a new turbine. And we’ll start the turbine by mid of June.
Nupur Gandhi
Mid of June.
Pankaj Sarda
Yes.
Nupur Gandhi
Okay, answer. Any update on the Supreme Court hearing?
Manish Sarda
We already covered in our opening address. Hearing is closed and reserved for order.
Nupur Gandhi
Okay, sir. Thank you. Thank you. These are my questions.
Padam Kumar Jain
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. Participants who wish to ask a question may press star and 1. The next question comes from the line of Devang Sanghvi Vitabakis. Please go ahead.
Dewang Sanghavi
Good evening sir. And thank you for the opportunity. My first question is regarding SKS power plant. We had a guidance of 400 crore units of generation. And we have slightly lower in Q3. So are we on track to that particular number for the whole year?
Padam Kumar Jain
Yeah. Yeah, we are on track.
Dewang Sanghavi
We on track. And any guidance for next year for SKS generation.
Padam Kumar Jain
Generations should be slightly ahead from that level. Yeah.
Dewang Sanghavi
Slightly higher.
Padam Kumar Jain
Yeah, it should be slightly ahead. Full depth level.
Dewang Sanghavi
420. 430crore units. Is that a good number to take?
Padam Kumar Jain
Maybe 410, 420 in between somewhere? It should be.
Dewang Sanghavi
Right, sir. Secondly, we said that the steel patches have started moving up. So wanted to know on a quarter on quarter basis. I think point to point we had said 10 to 15 hike. So what are the quarter three average and what could be the quarter four in terms of numbers, how high it should be.
Pankaj Sarda
The quarter three average has been given in our presentation.
Dewang Sanghavi
Right, sir.
Padam Kumar Jain
And we can say the current price realization. So from there you can consider about 12 to 15% depending upon product to product, right.
Dewang Sanghavi
Or 12 to 15%. Could be the blended height from Q3 levels.
Padam Kumar Jain
Yeah, yeah. Blended. Yeah. Moving down. So giving specific percentage. But yes, it should be in somewhere in the range of product to product. There are variations. Say in case of pallet, maybe 10%. In case of billet and wire road it is in there in the 15%.
Dewang Sanghavi
Right, sir. Right, sir. And what is case of Ferro allies in terms of pricing this quarter as compared to last quarter even that has increased.
Padam Kumar Jain
Slight improvement. Not material. But yes, there is some improvement.
Dewang Sanghavi
Right sir. And the CAPEX guidance for this year and next year. How much you spend in nine months. What is the Q4 we are going to spend and what is the guidance for of 27?
Padam Kumar Jain
We have spent more than 400 crores already in the nine months. And what we had given the guidance of 500 to 600 crores we should be able to comfortably achieve somewhere in the range of 550 to 600. 600 crores approximately. That will be the capacity 600 crores for the FY26 and similar expenditure. Except the inorganic opportunities for the organic opportunities. What we have already committed. Of capex.
Dewang Sanghavi
Thank you, sir. This is pretty helpful and all the best.
Padam Kumar Jain
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. Participants who wish to ask a question may press star and 1. The next question comes from the line of Rajesh Verma with Drug securities. Please go ahead.
Rajesh Verma
I just wanted to ask another question. When do you plan to by when do you plan to double the escape plant capacity?
Pankaj Sarda
So already as in one of the questions I have answered. So we have recently done an MoU with the state government. So this MoU copy will get in a month or a two months time. And then we’ll start the process of environment clearances and which will take another two years. And immediately we’ll then go for placing the orders.
Rajesh Verma
Sure. Thank you so much.
Padam Kumar Jain
All right.
operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen. If you wish to ask a question to the management please press star and 1. The next question comes from the line of Pooja Rathore, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Pooja Rathore
Thank you. Sir. I just had a follow up. You know earlier energy was a big lever for your growth. And now you’re saying that minerals is also going to add value. How will the segment composition and the revenue contribution change? Will power continue to be, you know, 66, 69%. Will it increase? Will it reduce and mineral will take over. How will it pan out?
Padam Kumar Jain
Power will remain in the present category slightly. It may be adding more value. Because ultimately minerals will also get converted into the energy only. So power will remain prominent contributor to our bottom line.
Pooja Rathore
In your opening remark, you talked about how you move the federal oil capacity to domestic right now versus exports. Is that going to be the outlook for the rest of the year? And what’s the differential in the realization export versus domestic?
Manish Sarda
Panishi, can you please repeat again if I’m. If I’m able to hear you correctly, the question that you asked, that whether the domestic pricing or the export pricing was better.
Pooja Rathore
Ferro alloys. Yes.
Manish Sarda
Yeah. In the ferros. Right. So on certain, on certain grades, like the 70 grade silico manganese that we produce, you know, we get a better realization. And on certain grades like 60 14, the domestic market is far better compared to the export markets. And primarily the pricing remains almost the same. It’s only the payment cycles which get impacted in terms of exports because in the export markets you typically have around 21 days of payment cycles.
Pooja Rathore
So is that going to be the trend that you’ll continue focusing on domestic is the demand?
Manish Sarda
We will be continuously focusing on domestic as well as export markets because we have a very dedicated domestic market and we have a very dedicated export market. And you know, we keep a tab on the pricing on a regular basis as to where we get our realizations which are the best for the company. But there are also angles of what you call continuity of supplies because on certain contracts this cannot be, you know, opportunistic. The export markets have to be continuously fed.
Pooja Rathore
No, fair enough. Of course there are some long term relations.
Manish Sarda
Yeah, some long term relationships because it’s very difficult, you know, to pinpoint a certain contract because there are certain contracts which you have to maintain for continuity as well.
Pooja Rathore
Understood. Thank you so much.
Manish Sarda
Thank you.
operator
Thank you. A reminder to all participants that you may press star N1 to ask a question. As there are no further questions from the participants, I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Pankaj Sarda
Thanks to all the participants who have come on. The call to conclude the quarter reflects steady execution against our strategic priorities supported by a constructive pricing environment across both energy and metals. We have continued to make visible progress on our growth initiatives. Garapalma 4×7 mine has received enhanced capacity, is in the final stage of receiving the enhanced capacity approval of 1.8 million tonnes. Our solar power plant is expected to commission operations in the next quarter and the Sahapur mine remains on the track for commissioning next year. In parallel, we continue to evaluate opportunities in the green power to further strengthen our future ready portfolio. Our disciplined approach to deploying surplus cash into diversified long term growth projects provide strong medium term visibility and reinforces our commitment to sustainable value creation. Thank you for joining us today. Should you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us or to our investor relations team. Thank you.
operator
Thank you. On behalf of Sarda Energy and Minerals Ltd. That concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.