Q1 FY 27 Earnings Conference Call - Transcript

5th August, 2026 The Manager, The General Manager, Listing Department, Department of Corporate Services, National Stock Exchange of India Ltd, BSE Ltd., Exchange Plaza, 1st Floor, New Trading Ring, Plot No. – C – 1, G Block, Rotunda Building, Bandra – Kurla Complex, P.J. Towers, Bandra (East), Dalal Street, Fort, Mumbai – 400051 Mumbai – 400001 NSE Code – PCBL BSE Code – 506590 Dear Sir, Sub:- Q1 FY 27 Earnings Conference Call – Transcript Further to our letters dated 24th July, 2026 and 29th July, 2026, please find enclosed herewith the transcript of the Q1 FY 27 Earnings Conference Call held on Wednesday, 29th July, 2026 at 17:00 hrs India Time, for the quarter ended 30th June, 2026. This information is hosted on the Company’s website and can be accessed at the link: www.pcblltd.com/investor-relation/financials/investor-presentation . We request you to please take the afore-mentioned information in record and oblige. Yours faithfully, For PCBL CHEMICAL LIMITED K. Mukherjee Company Secretary and Chief Legal Officer Enclo: As above “PCBL Chemical Limited Q1 FY27 Earnings Conference Call” July 29, 2026 MANAGEMENT: MR. NILESH KOUL – MANAGING DIRECTOR – PCBL CHEMICAL LIMITED MR. ROHIT NARANG – CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, AQUAPHARM CHEMICAL MR. RAJ GUPTA – CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER – PCBL CHEMICAL LIMITED MR. PANKAJ KEDIA - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - INVESTOR RELATIONS MODERATOR: MR. SANJESH – ICICI SECURITIES Page 1 of 17 PCBL Chemical Limited July 29, 2026 Moderator: Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the PCBL Chemical Limited's Q1 FY27 Earnings Conference Call hosted by ICICI Securities. 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 the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand over the conference to Mr. Sanjesh from ICICI Securities. Thank you, and over to you, sir. Sanjesh: Thanks, Shruti. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining me on for PCBL Chemicals Limited Q1 FY27 earnings Conference Call. We have PCBL Chemical management on call represented by Nilesh Koul, Managing Director; Mr. Rohit Narang, CEO Aquapharm Chemical; Mr. Raj Gupta, CFO; and Mr. Pankaj Kedia, Executive Director, Investor Relations. I would like to invite Mr. Nilesh to initiate the call with his opening remarks, post which we will have a Q&A session. Over to you, sir. Nilesh Koul: Thanks so much. Good afternoon, everyone. A warm welcome to PCBL Chemicals Q1 FY27 Earnings Conference Call. I'm pleased to report that there has been a strong quarter for us on almost every parameter. Consolidated revenue grew 17% year-on-year. EBITDA grew 23% and profit after tax grew 65%. What makes this performance particularly satisfying is the background against which it was delivered. Cost continues to be volatile with the West Asia situation persisting through the quarter. When we spoke to you last -- at the end of FY26, we have said that the recovery would consolidate progressively. This quarter is evidence of exactly that and of the resilience we have built into the business over the last few quarters. Let me offer some perspective on the composition of this performance. Close to a third of our volumes are on the spot market, and our teams monetize this exposure very effectively as crude ran up sharply through April and May, capturing strong realizations. On the formula linked portion of our business, the pricing mechanism works exactly as designed. Input cost movements are passed on to our customers with a contractual lag. And we remain committed to maintaining this pricing discipline. While a part of the spot-related gains is naturally linked to how crude behaved during the quarter and may moderate as crude effects correct, the more important point is that, the underlying operating environment for our industry is improving structurally. And I'll spend a few minutes on that shortly. First up on cost and margins. Brent crude averaged USD 97 per barrel during the quarter compared to USD 78 per barrel in Q4 FY26, largely on account of the escalation of the West Asia conflict. CBFS costs moved in line with crude and together with higher inward freight, this raised our raw material bill during the quarter. Page 2 of 17 PCBL Chemical Limited July 29, 2026 Despite geopolitical disruptions impacting global trade routes, we ensured uninterrupted customer service and met every customer commitment. This took a lot of effort and a lot of agility, and I'm really proud of the team for having delivered this. A discipline that continues to strengthen our standing as a reliable global supplier. Now let me talk a little bit about the structural tailwinds I talked about. Global landscape turning in India's and PCBL's favor. Before I run to the operating segment, I want to step back and talk about 3 structural developments that we believe are shaping the global carbon black landscape in favor of India and the Indian manufacturers and PCBL, in particular. First, India's trade architecture has strengthened remarkably over the past several quarters. The India-U.S. trade deal discussion in February this year has brought tariffs on Indian exports down sharply from the peak levels seen last year. And subsequent negotiations have secured for India one of the most favorable tariff years among major exporting nations. The India-EU FTA concluded in January 2026 is progressing through ratification and opens up duty-free access to European markets. It's also expected to eliminate 4.5% EU import duty on Indian tires, enhancing the competitiveness of the Indian tire manufacturers in an important export market and in turn supporting domestic carbon black demand. Alongside this, the India-U.K. CETA and India EFTA trade economic partnerships, which is already in force and new agreements with Oman and New Zealand together position India as a preferred trusted partner in global chemical supply chain. Very few carbon black producing geographies enjoy this breadth of preferential market access today. Second, and specifically on the U.S. market, Indian carbon black now attracts a materially lower tariff than from competing Asia and Middle East origins. With China facing significantly higher effective duties, U.S. customers are actively looking to diversify their sourcing away from China and Russia making India a natural beneficiary. We are seeing good traction from U.S. customers. And even after accounting for elevated ocean freights, we are more competitive in the U.S. market today than we were before the conflict. Our upcoming presence in Texas further strengthens our ability to serve this market. Third, the global supply chain is tightening. Ukraine's sustained strikes on Russian energy infrastructure have now hit all of Russia's largest refineries. And Russian refining throughput has fallen to new lows with a meaningful share of capacity offline. This has 2 direct consequences for our industry. Russian exports of carbon black feedstock have shrunk, keeping global CBFS availability relatively tight. And Russia's own carbon black exports, historically a large low-cost supply to Europe, Asia and the Middle East have contracted sharply on top of European sanctions already in place on Russian material. This combination of shrinking Russian supply and India's improving market access creates durable white space for PCBL in Europe, the Americas and other premium markets, a structural, not just a cyclical opportunity. Page 3 of 17 PCBL Chemical Limited July 29, 2026 Let me talk a little bit about domestic and export. Domestic sales were a bright spot this quarter with steady demand across key segments driving strong growth. Domestic volumes were also supported by an element of inventory building by our customers in the last quarter. On export realizations were temp [Showing first 8,000 characters — download PDF for full document]