VST Tillers Tractors Ltd Q3 FY22 Earnings Conference Call Insights

Key highlights from VST Tillers Tractors Ltd (VSTT) Q3 FY22 Earnings Concall

Q&A Highlights:

• Krupashankar NJ from Spark Capital asked about the medium term demand outlook for power tillers and tractors and for FY ’22 and ’23. Antony Cherukara CEO replied that the short-term outlook looks positive for power tillers. The medium term is difficult to predict. However, the monsoon prediction is good which augurs well for the industry.

• Krupashankar NJ from Spark Capital also asked about the subsidy allocation in major power tiller states.  Antony Cherukara CEO said that in 4Q22, the company is seeing some subsidy allocation happening from the Northeast, in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

• Krupashankar NJ from Spark Capital enquired about the revenue breakdown between power tillers and tractors. Antony Cherukara CEO answered that for 3Q22, power tillers was INR105 crores and tractors were INR80 crores.

• Marshall asked about the increase in raw material costs and how the company is placed.  Antony Cherukara CEO replied that commodity inflation continues to be an issue and there is pressure in terms of cost. However, the company has been able to manage the cost efficiently. The company added that it should be able to manage its margins in the range of 12-14%.

• Marshall also asked about the 3Q and projected number of sales for tillers and tractors. Antony Cherukara CEO replied that the company has sold 7,139 tillers in 3Q22 and 2,043 tractors in 3Q22. In 4Q22, the company feels it should be better and positive.

• Marshall asked if the company took some price increase as steel prices were high and power tools were also high. Antony Cherukara CEO answered that the company is looking at a price increase and have taken that in 4Q22.

• Anand Srinivasan asked about the expansion in higher HP tractor going forward. Antony Cherukara CEO said that the company’s higher horsepower tractor expansion is going as per plan. VSTT shifted to Hosur in the beginning of this year and the entire production capacity is setup for these tractors. VSTT added that it should be able to do 1,000 plus numbers in FY22 in this segment and grow further in the coming years.

• Anand Srinivasan asked about any update on the expansion of precision implement side. Antony Cherukara CEO replied that this division is something the company has started manufacturing of rotavator in Mysore. The business team is also being put in place. VSTT has seen early beginnings of the revenue flowing in and in the coming years, VSTT expects to scale up further.

• Anand Srinivasan asked about the current inventory status. Antony Cherukara CEO said that in 3Q22, the company had a slightly higher inventory of about INR133 crores, but it’s in line with the plan to build inventory for the season.

• Sonal Gupta of L&T Mutal Fund asked about the revenue numbers for tiller, tractor and parts for 3Q22. Antony Cherukara CEO answered that for 3Q22, the tiller revenues was about INR105 crores, tractor revenues at INR80 crores, and parts revenues INR22 crores.

• Sonal Gupta of L&T Mutal Fund asked about share of financing for the company. Antony Cherukara CEO answered that currently the company is at a financing of about 3.5% for tillers. The immediate target is to take it to at least 10% and next year to 20%.

• Sonal Gupta of L&T Mutal Fund also enquired about the share of B2B volume for tillers. Antony Cherukara CEO said that tiller volume for B2B is about 1,500 so far for FY22.