APAR Industries Limited Q2 FY27 Earnings Conference Call Summary
Financial Performance Highlights
Q2 FY27 Consolidated Performance:
- Revenue: ₹6,931 crores, up 21.3% YoY and 5.2% QoQ
- Domestic revenue growth: 34.3% YoY
- Export revenue: declined 3.3% YoY
- EBITDA: ₹787 crores, up 57.8% YoY
- EBITDA margin: 11.4% (270 bps improvement from 8.7% in Q2 FY26)
- PAT: ₹447 crores, up 77.8% YoY
- PAT margin: 6.5% (200 bps improvement)
H1 FY27 Consolidated Performance:
- Revenue: ₹13,522 crores, up 25% YoY
- Domestic revenue growth: 35.5% YoY
- Export growth: 3.7% YoY (excluding ₹800 crores in-transit inventory)
- Export proportion: 27.6% of total revenue
- EBITDA: ₹1,602 crores, up 60.2% YoY
- EBITDA margin: 11.8% (vs 9.2% in H1 FY26)
- PAT: ₹915 crores, up 77.7% YoY
- PAT margin: 200 bps improvement
Segment-wise Performance
Conductor Division (Q2 FY27):
- Revenue: ₹3,753 crores, up 21.1% YoY
- Volume: declined 9.2% YoY
- Domestic revenue: up 22% YoY and 8% QoQ
- Export revenue: up 18.3% YoY and 29.5% QoQ
- Export mix: 23.6% of division revenue
- U.S. conductor revenue: grew 12.2%
- Premium mix: 39.4% (vs 45.3% in Q2 FY26)
- EBITDA: ₹276 crores, up 11.3% YoY
- EBITDA per metric ton: ₹48,241 (vs ₹39,363 YoY)
Conductor Division (H1 FY27):
- Revenue: ₹7,092 crores, up 20.5% YoY
- Volume: declined 8% YoY
- Domestic revenue: up 20.7% YoY
- Export revenue: up 20% YoY
- U.S. revenue: down 8.4% YoY
- EBITDA per metric ton: ₹50,739 (vs ₹41,421 YoY)
Oil Division (Q2 FY27):
- Revenue: ₹1,819 crores, up 35.6% YoY and 6.7% QoQ
- Volume: 128,590 KL, down 20% YoY
- Export proportion: 37% (vs 43% YoY)
- EBITDA: ₹299 crores, up 185% YoY
- EBITDA per KL: ₹23,262 (vs ₹6,570 YoY)
Oil Division (H1 FY27):
- Revenue: ₹3,525 crores, up 35.3% YoY
- Volume: declined 16.9% YoY
- Export growth: 23.5% YoY
- Export mix: 36.7%
Cable Division (Q2 FY27):
- Revenue: ₹1,875 crores, up 22.1% YoY
- Copper mix: 30% of revenue (vs 20% YoY)
- U.S. sales: declined 50% YoY
- Domestic revenue: up 71.4% YoY and 14.1% QoQ
- Export revenue: down 29.8% QoQ
- Export mix: 19% (vs 42.3% YoY)
- EBITDA margin: 11% (80 bps improvement)
- In-transit cables: ₹440 crores (DDP basis, to be recognized in Q3)
Cable Division (H1 FY27):
- Revenue: up 25.7% YoY
- Domestic revenue: up 65.8% YoY
- Export revenue: down 30.2% YoY
- EBITDA: ₹401 crores, up 34.2% YoY
- EBITDA margin: 10.8% (70 bps improvement)
Order Book Position
Conductor Order Book: ₹12,025 crores (all-time high as of September 30, 2026)
- Q2 order intake: ₹4,725 crores (up 82% YoY)
- Includes prestigious orders from UK and US utilities: ₹3,000 crores
- Includes first Z-shaped conductor order from Scandinavia for offshore wind farm evacuation
- Includes HTLS orders from Africa, South America, and Europe
- Includes single largest OPGW order (48 fiber) from KPCL: ₹960 crores
- Includes first 144 fiber OPGW order from Central America
- 25% to be executed over 2-3 months, remainder within 18 months
Cable Order Book: ₹3,000 crores (vs ₹1,653 crores previously)
- Includes orders from Google data center in US and Amazon's largest data center in India: ~₹1,000 crores
- Bulk expected to be executed before year-end
Industry Updates & Developments
Transmission Sector Developments:
- India added 8,775 circuit km transmission lines in H1 FY27 (up 153% YoY)
- Transformation capacity added: 671,815 MVA (up 52% YoY)
- Center approved intrastate transmission systems for 135 GW renewable energy evacuation by FY33
- Investment expected: ₹1.86 trillion for 51,126 circuit km lines and 228,903 MVA transformation capacity
- CEA mandated 10-15% thermal margin limit for transmission lines and N-1 reliability architecture
US Department of Energy PAT Program:
- Announced in September 2026 with $1.9 billion federal funding
- 31 projects across 26 states
- Expected to unlock 23 GW transmission capacity
- Includes reconductoring/rebuilding of 1,500 miles transmission lines
- Grid enhancing technology for 21,000 miles
Capital Raising & Financial Position
QIP Completion:
- Raised ₹2,500 crores through QIP
- Proceeds to be deployed for working capital and strengthening balance sheet
- Credit rating improved from AA negative to AA
- Enhanced financial flexibility and borrowing cost rationalization
Capex Plans:
- Planned capex: ₹1,500 crores over 12-15 months
- H1 FY27 capex: ₹500 crores already spent
- Future annual capex expected: ₹300-400 crores
- Overseas expansion under consideration
PSPL Investment:
- Enabling resolution for up to $100 million investment in Singapore subsidiary
- For overseas expansion initiatives
Operational Challenges & Strategies
Commodity Price Volatility:
- Significant inflation in copper (up 50%), aluminum (up 35%), and base oils (up 100%)
- Steel prices increased sharply for tower manufacturing
- Aluminum premium (MGP) at 4-year high
- Freight rates increased sharply in Q2, particularly to Europe and LatAm
Volume Impact:
- Conductor volume decline due to delayed manufacturing clearances and TBCB order awards
- Oil volume decline due to strategic focus on quality customers and risk management
- Cable US sales impacted by shipping delays and container availability
Inventory in Transit:
- Conductors: ₹800 crores in transit (DDP basis, primarily for US market)
- Cables: ₹440 crores in transit (DDP basis)
- Expected to be recognized in Q3 FY27
Management Outlook & Guidance
Volume Recovery Expected:
- Conductor volumes expected to improve in H2 FY27
- Strong order execution anticipated in Q3 and Q4
- TBCB projects have strict 36-month execution timelines with severe penalties
Margin Outlook:
- Conductor: Targeting ₹35,000-36,000 EBITDA per ton plus tailwinds
- Cable: Targeting 11-12% EBITDA margins
- Oil: Focus on margin and ROCE over volume
Growth Guidance:
- Conductor: Medium-term industry growth expected at 10% (excluding metal price effects)
- Cable: 25% value growth guidance maintained
- Oil: 5-7% volume growth guidance (though currently prioritizing quality over volume)
Capacity Utilization:
- Cable: >90% utilization,某些 sections at 100-105%
- Conductor: ~80% utilization
- Oil: No capacity constraints
Technology & Innovation
New Product Developments:
- Z-shaped conductor for high wind conditions (Scandinavian offshore wind farm)
- 48 fiber OPGW with IP MPLS technology (tie-up with Nokia)
- 144 fiber OPGW capability
- CTC conductor expansion for export markets
- Elastomeric cable growth for data centers
- Power cable capability expansion to 132kV and eventually 220kV
Conference Call Participants
Management:
- Mr. Kushal Desai - Chairman and Managing Director
- Mr. Chaitanya Desai - Managing Director
- Mr. Ramesh Iyer - Chief Financial Officer
Moderator: Mr. Ambesh Tiwari - S-Ancial Technologies
Analysts Participating:
- Nitin Arora - Axis Mutual Fund
- Mohit Kumar - ICICI Securities
- Umesh Raut - Nomura
- Vidit Trivedi - Asian Market Securities
- Achal Lohade - Nuvama Institutional Equities
- Amit Anwani - PL Capital
- Natasha Jain - PhillipCapital
- Sanjeev Zarbade - Antique Institutional Equity
- Mahesh Patil - ICICI Securities