Craftsman Automation Ltd
NSE:CRAFTSMAN

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Craftsman Automation Ltd
NSE:CRAFTSMAN
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Earnings Call Analysis

Q2-2024 Analysis
Craftsman Automation Ltd

Craftsman Automation: Strong H1 Growth and Expansion

Craftsman Automation reported a positive first half for 2023 with consolidated sales of INR 2,217 crore, showing segment-wise diversification with powertrain at INR 776 crore, aluminium products at INR 77 crore, and industrial & engineering at INR 364 crore. The overall EBIT increased to INR 325 crore up from INR 223 crore. They sustained solid margins with an EBIT margin of 15%, a profit after tax (PAT) of 8%, and a robust return on capital (ROC) pre-tax annualized at 24%. Debt-to-equity stood at 0.86%, and debt-to-EBITDA at 1.49%. Stand-alone financials were consistent with the prior year. CapEx for H1 was INR 258 crore, including spends on expansion, modernization, and the acquisition of DR Axion. Moving forward, Craftsman is investing in a greenfield project near Coimbatore, signaling potential growth and integration across its business segments.

Mixed Economic Conditions with Consistent Corporate Performance

The company hosted its earnings call to discuss half-yearly financials ending September 30, 2023. Despite varying economic landscapes in its different market segments—Powertrain, Aluminium, and Industrial & Engineering—the company has fared well on a consolidated basis with a total sales of INR 2,217 crore. Revenue by segment was reported with INR 776 crore in Powertrain, INR 77 crore in Aluminium products, and INR 364 crore in Industrial & Engineering, indicating strategic diversification. The company’s EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) stood at INR 325 crore, a significant increase from INR 223 crore in the previous year, showing improved profitability across its segments.

Strategic Operational Leverage and Efficiency Management

The company prides itself on having a complete value chain from design to production, which, while increasing fixed costs, distributes these costs across higher manufacturing capacities, thus leveraging operational scale. Competitive pricing, cost management, and operational efficiency, especially in materials handling and waste reduction, have been highlighted as contributing factors for profitability. Addressing reductions in sequential EBIT for the Powertrain business, expansions in capacity in new business segments and underutilization in others due to current market conditions were cited as contributors. Repair and maintenance for equipment were also undertaken, anticipated to position the company for stronger performance as capacities ramp up.

Optimistic Outlook on Industrial Engineering and Capitalization on CapEx Cycle

The company appears to be well-positioned as a contract manufacturer in the Industrial & Engineering segment. Notably, it has an order book near INR 100 crore for automated storage solutions, signaling a maturing market and acceptance of their manufacturing capabilities. With few peers in India, Craftsman Automation could benefit significantly as the CapEx cycle strengthens in the country.

Market Dynamics and Potential in Commercial Vehicles and Tractors

The executive's insights suggest a growing market for heavy-duty commercial vehicles, with India evolving to accommodate faster transport and more considerable vehicle tonnage. The truck segment is expected to continue growing, although the next year may see a modest pace. Significant growth is projected to return in FY '26. As for tractors, while nearing peak domestic sales, India's role as a global manufacturing hub for diesel engines and tractors paves the way for growth within the customer base.

Earnings Call Transcript

Earnings Call Transcript
2024-Q2

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Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Earnings Conference Call to discuss financial performance of Craftsman Automation Limited for the Quarter and Half Year ended 30th September 2023.

[Operator Instructions]

Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Srinivasan Ravi, Chairman and Managing Director of Craftsman. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Good afternoon, everybody. It gives me immense pleasure in welcoming you all for the earnings call for the half year ended 30th September, 2023. While Q2 has been a mix of bag as far as the economy is concerned and each of the markets are concerned across all the 3 segments. The powertrain, Aluminium and Industrial & Engineering segment. We have done well as a company on the consolidated basis. I just wanted to touch upon the key numbers on the consolidated sales INR 2,217 crore has been consolidated. The breakup for that on the powertrain has been INR 776 crores, Aluminium products down from INR 77 crores and Industrial & Engineering INR 364 crores. This means the company is getting more balanced on the segment-wise diversification, what we have done in the recent past.

EBIT has been INR 325 crores against the last year EBIT of INR 223 crores. The breakup for the EBIT has been INR 161 crores for the powertrain, INR 157 crores for the Aluminium products and for the Industrial & Engineering INR 31 crores. And unallocated is INR 24 crores. The consolidated ratios from the financial performance, I think, has been very strong. Debt equity has been 0.86% on the consolidation balance sheet. Debt-to-EBITDA is 1.49%. EBIT margin is 15% and PAT of 8%, with the ROC pretax annualized has been 24%.

Now going to the stand-alone, the stand-alone turnover has been [ INR 1,180 crores ] for H1 against INR 1,447 crores in the previous year, compromising of automotive powertrain and other INR 76 crores, Aluminium products INR 443 crores and Industrial & Engineering INR 361 crores. EBIT margin has been INR 230 crores. It is along the same line of last year, no much change there. The breakup for that is the automotive powertrain as INR 161 crores, Aluminium is INR 61 crores and Industrial & Engineering is INR 31 crores, respectively. Unallocated is INR 24 crores.

Net CapEx done for H1 is INR 258 crores. It is a mixture of expansion of each of the segments and also technology, liquidation, modernization and also automation. The key financial ratios for a stand-alone debt equity is 0.81%. Debt-to-EBITDA is 1.72%. This is inclusive of the INR 375 crores outflow towards the acquisition of DR Axion. The EBIT margin has been 15%. ROC pretax annualized has been 19%.

The major subsidiary DR Axion, the turnover is INR 635 crores and EBIT has bee INR 95 crores for the first half of this year. The new important information is we are going ahead with the greenfield project, very close to the [ Makar ] plant in Coimbatore, which is 40 kilometers away. We have a land bank of 48 acres there and we are going to create 1 more premises for all the 3 segments of the business going forward for future expansion, which is a mixture of the similar side of business and also possibly back for integration in some of the segments. With this, I will leave the floor open for Q&A.

Operator

[Operator Instructions]

First question is from the line of Karan Gupta from Varanium Capital.

K
Karan Gupta
analyst

Yes. So my first question is related to the value chain part which you mentioned a couple of times [ DR HP ]. So just try to focus on that, as we are in the entire value chain from designing to production. I just wanted to know what the key differentiating activities we're performing to differentiate our value chain than our peer companies.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Okay. I understand where the question is coming from. What differentiates us from our competitors in the value chain. Have I understood you right?

K
Karan Gupta
analyst

Yes.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

I will touch on each of the segments on the powertrain, while we are doing the machining activity, we don't have a foundry or we are not fully integrated on that side of the business. But we are only the process knowledge of the machining with no captive manufacturing for all the special purpose missions and we talk about special purpose mission is a quite complicated equipment starting from metal cutting, nonmetal cutting mission likely the stream washing, assembly stations and things like that. Then there's also the design of the process, the breakup of the process, however, being from operation 10 to operation 100 or operation 120. How we designed the process for quality as well as productivity, and we are able to adjust and accommodate the increase or decrease in volumes according to the customer requirement, and we are able to break up the small subprocesses for any incremental volume requirement of the customer.

When it comes to the quality front, on the quality front, to be critical processors, we are able to manage the quality processes better because we control the tooling, we control the design, we control the process of fine-tuning at our end, we are not dependent on any outside source from that.

And we are one of the largest mission shops in the country. And because of our vast experience, we're also able to work very well with our foundry partners to improve the raw material or the casting front also for a mutual benefit. Now the next situation is that when the prototyping needs to be done, we have such a large general purpose mission availability at our end, but that we are able to participate in the prototyping for the customer.

The second important point is our vast experience in the cylinder block and head, we are doing around -- say, more than 1 million cylinder blocks now, our capacity is 1.2 million, 1.3 million cylinder blocks. And also, I think close to around 80,000 cylinders heads on the missioning. We have come across various designs and various process related issues. We are able to give inputs to our customers during the design of a new product or point out improvements which can be done. Also improvements which can be done for the castings -- better castability of the castings. So this explains the powertrain.

And the last bit is that whenever the project is at the end of life, we are able to reallocate the missions to new projects, even we are able to convert the special purpose missions, suppose we own the special purpose mission, they're able to convert it. And if the customer owns it, we are able to convince the customer that the next project we may certain likely can be modified to be using.

So we are very effective on the CapEx trend also. The last point will be on general purpose capital equipment and the general purpose totaling. We are one of the largest consumer of these sort of missions in the country. So this gives us a large advantage on the scale and the flexibility to quickly implement the project and move it forward. So on the next segment of the business on the Aluminium segment, our Aluminium industry growth more than 20 years ago, when we started the Aluminium gravity and sand casting foundry for our export requirement.

And now in the last 8, 9 years, we have also been diversified in die -- pressure die casting. Our tool room was making plastic dies, very critical plastic dies as well as Aluminium pressure die, casting dies. Now we have stopped making plastic dies. So this tool -- we are integrated that we are able to make the mold, we are able to do the casting. In the casting process, we are across all the technologies, most of the technologies I would say, on the casting.

And there's a green sand, on the nordic sand, gravity die casting, local die casting and high-pressure die casting. Now we're also getting into counter pressure casting on the Aluminium.

And on the missioning front, we are also similarly integrated on the missioning front on the Aluminium business, which we are able to capture the value stream across there. All the small, small subsegments there. In the Industrial & Engineering, which has been the backbone of the company, which is also supporting the powertrain business and Aluminium business, we are having contract manufacturing, where we are able to customize products for our customers for different end segment use across a wide range of industries within the country and outside the country. So we are highly flexible and highly capable.

So we are manufacturing very precision small parts up to -- also we're missioning parts up to weighting 10 tonnes, 15 tonnes for highly complicated industry applications. And for the Industrial & Engineering, we've got a design facility for our products, which is at this instant of almost 100 people, which is there. I hope this differentiates us

K
Karan Gupta
analyst

Yes, yes. Got it. Fair enough. So being in the entire value chain, it gives us the premium pricing or relating to the related cost as anything or being in the value chain, what the extra cost we are bearing because from designing, prototyping, bearing to the production. So being in the entire value chain, do you have any related costs higher than the peer or we are reducing the related cost as compared to the peers.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

When we want to have these -- all these facilities inside the campus, definitely our fixed cost will be higher, but that is distributed among higher manufacturing capacities. So we are having the operating leverage there. And these capabilities and facilities also are mutually beneficial for the customer. So we get the first preference as far as the production order is concerned, the pricing is not a premium pricing. Pricing, we are competitive in the market and there's a competitive pricing. I think our scale and our efficiency in operations and our knowledge to manage the costs is still only leading to the profitability with the larger operating leverage.

K
Karan Gupta
analyst

Okay. Okay. And for the raw material that we are buying this Aluminium raw material. So making any benefit from the supply side?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

No, there is -- there's a market -- prepricing market strategy and the costing control is only the rejection percentage and our efficiency of operations inside. And we are carefully tracking the material so that we don't have much wastage of the draws and things like that. That is where it is. And our dice maintenance will lead to lower missioning allowances and a lower rejection percentage also means that consumption of material will be lesser and continues running efficiently on the die casting mission or on gravity is also leading to energy efficiency. And the manpower productivity with some automation is also leading to higher -- lower cost and higher efficiency of output.

Operator

Next question is from the line of Senthilkumar from Joindre Capital.

S
Senthilkumar Natarajan
analyst

For powertrain business, I could see a decline in EBIT on sequential basis over the last 4 quarters from INR 101 crore to INR 77 crores in the Q2 FY '24. So what is the reason for this?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

The main reason for is we have expanded capacity on the powertrain to a large extent. The new capacities are kicking in production on certain new segments of the business, which is still under the start-up production or in the pickup stage. There are some things. Some businesses has started to mature. While this has happened, the existing capacities, mainly in the farm segment as well as to certain extent also in the commercial vehicle segment has been underutilized because of the present market condition, I think that is the reason the fixed cost has increased. And the fixed cost has a higher impact there. But our margins will come back to normal once the operating leverage improves. Our percentage of usage of the capacity is much lower as of now because we have increased capacities.

The second point is on the other most important factor is that we have also used this period of time to refurbish some of the equipment which are 8 years and 10 years old. So we are also seeing some impact on the repair and maintenance for the last 2 quarters, which is a good thing for the future, where we'll be ready for full level of usage of this new shipment when the market requires.

S
Senthilkumar Natarajan
analyst

And my second question is, can you give a breakup for the domestic and export revenues for this quarter?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Yes, please. Export for Q2 FY '24 has been totally INR 57 crores, in the automotive powertrain INR 9 crore, Aluminium products around INR 13 crore. Industrial & Engineering has been INR 35 crores is the breakup. This is a direct export portion where we are earning in foreign currency, but our deemed exports are much higher than this.

S
Senthilkumar Natarajan
analyst

And lastly, sir, what is the status of the Brazil business. Even the last con call, you said like, no, we don't have a visibility on that. So what is the status of that?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Status of?

S
Senthilkumar Natarajan
analyst

Brazil business.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Yes, Brazil business, I think FY '28 to FY '29 we are well protected. Of course, there are headwinds in the market there, the economy is not doing well. I think that is also reflected in the Q1 and Q2 sales. Actually, H1 sales were around 30% lesser for our deemed exports for Brazil, for Daimler. I think that should pick up from Q4 of this year that is their calendar year Q1, which is we have got additional requirements, but it's going to be depressed in Q3 also as far as over Q3 is concerned. But the business, I think, is quite well set for FY -- until FY '28.

Operator

Next question is from the line of Mahesh Bendre from LIC Mutual Fund.

M
Mahesh Bendre
analyst

Sir, is it possible to share the details...

Operator

Mahesh, can you please speak a little louder.

M
Mahesh Bendre
analyst

Yes. So I just wanted to know the breakup of our sales in terms of MHCV tractor, 2-wheeler, 4-wheeler.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Yes, I will just give it to you. I will talk about H1 and not talk about quarter-on-quarter because it may be misleading. I think it is on the powertrain, the break up is 57% on the commercial vehicle, off-highway 18%, the tractor 14% and the SUV segment is 11% for the powertrain.

M
Mahesh Bendre
analyst

Okay and Aluminium casting and...

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Aluminium casting for commercial vehicle is 7%. It is a stand-alone because DR Axion is 100% on the passenger vehicle segment. So the commercial vehicle is 7% and 2-wheeler is 66%, passenger vehicle is 7%. And we have other Aluminium.

M
Mahesh Bendre
analyst

Sure. And sir, in terms of business outlook, both on domestic and export, I mean, if I had to look for next maybe 18 months, what kind of growth trajectory we see both on domestic and export.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

I will go segment by segment on this to answer your question, please. On the powertrain segment, we'll be growing at double digit -- low double digit or high single digit because the base is high, number one. Number two, we are revamping our facilities to attack one new segment of the market, which is off-highway, which has -- a lot of potential is there for export requirement. As you know, our off-highway business is very small overall while we continue to increase our exposure to the commercial vehicle business for overseas markets, directly or indirectly, this is a segment which has got a lot of potential in view of the geopolitical situation and also the reduction of dependence on China. This is 1 major point.

The last point is on the powertrain. There has been a lot of support from the government also for localizing the products which are getting imported. So this is throwing new opportunities, new inquiries, we are getting it very fast and rapid pace now. All this will translate into business within 2 years' time because the gestation period for approvals and the testing and the validation is a little long. And we are close to getting some very important businesses, which I cannot disclose now until we get the businesses, but that will be coming into production in FY '26 is what we look at in a big way.

So this powertrain business will continue to grow at a rapid pace from FY '26 onwards. Until then, it will be lowest in double digit or high single digit. On the Aluminium business, I had committed, I think, 2 years ago on this matter. We are now on the ramp up stage. You'll see quarter-on-quarter increase in top line and the -- still the base is small and the Aluminium usage across the country is increasing. And whatever order wins we had 2 years ago, all that is translating into now currently into businesses -- actually in sales revenue.

In the Industrial & Engineering segment, there has been a pause on the Storage Solutions business, especially on this H1. The H1 has been lower than last year H1, but I think H2 is looking very strong. And I think there's a lot of consolidation happening in the marketplace. So we are also bullish on that. And 1 good thing about the storage relationships, we are more and more getting bigger value orders on the automated Storage Solutions overall. And today, our order book is very close to INR 100 crores on the automated storage solution itself -- pending order book and this is quite a complicated businesses, and we got even a single order, which is more than INR 20 crores, where we got 2 orders and one is close to INR 50 crores. So this means that the market is maturing and we, as a manufacturer, also are well accepted, and we are able to bid and get further projects.

In the rest of the Industrial & Engineering segment, I think we are highly favorable as the contract manufacturers across all 3 segments of the business. I think the CapEx cycle has and when it sets in India, Craftsman will be able to capitalize because we are not having many peers in this sort of business in India, where we are flexible in manufacturing of parts or subassemblies or products which are for many end-use segments of the market.

Operator

Next question is from the line of Mukesh Saraf from Avendus Spark.

M
Mukesh Saraf
analyst

First question is, if you could provide us the outlook on [indiscernible] capital, given that you are working closely in that industry. If you could give us some sense on how MHCV industry is looking, let's say in 1 year and especially in tractors.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Sorry we cannot hear you well. Can I repeat the question myself so that I understood properly. You're asking about the potential business in commercial vehicle segment and in the farm segment going forward, is that the question?

M
Mukesh Saraf
analyst

Yes. Yes. From the customer point of view, how that industry is looking basically?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Okay. I will give a broad outlook on the commercial vehicle, just like the developed market, whether it's North America, whether it is Europe or even China, I think the bulk of the commercial vehicles are sold are the real heavy-duty commercial vehicles, these are 11-liter and above, even 9 liter, it is a crossover between medium-duty and heavy-duty. 7 liters is medium duty across these markets, mainly what is 7 liter engine with 253-horsepower is actually, we mentioned that heavy duty, which is not the case in the developed markets. And we can works this for 1,300-newton meter, whereas we are operating at much lower level in India. But our -- with the highways improvement and with the GST in place, there is no checkpost. We are evolving as a country that we want to have authorized to be more faster and the tonnage of the vehicles is increasing. The mid-segment all over the world is actually a vanishing grid, I would say. It is either small LCVs or it is big heavy-duty trucks.

So value-added per truck will keep increasing, but the truck segment is cyclical is agreed, but the cycle will not be as vicious as in the past because the replacement is now between 5 years, it's unlike 10 years or 10 years, the amount of average payment -- vehicles run on the per day and total annual 125,000 to 150,000 kilometers that they cover every year. So I think with the 600-kilometer life would be practical overloading, which is happening on the medium-duty vehicles for a heavy-duty truck, I would say. So that will lead to convince buying.

But yes, the segment will continue to grow. But I think next year, it will be a little soft, I would say. It will not be growing at a big pace, but I think that the growth will come back in FY '26.

M
Mukesh Saraf
analyst

Okay. Tractors, how do you think that's going to be sir?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

So tractor, we, as a country, for both agri and nonagri-purpose, the factor which is getting used for transport of material. I think we are very near the peak what we can sell and sustain. But India is becoming a global hub for manufacturing of diesel engines as well as for tractor, multinationals are setting up shop here. That will lead to growth for customers.

M
Mukesh Saraf
analyst

Okay. Okay. Got it. And the other question is on the export businesses within the Aluminium segment, you did mention that in the second half of this year, we'll start seeing some of those lumpy orders ramping up. So how are we placed there? Especially to Europe, the exports to Europe?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

You're talking about Aluminium segment?

M
Mukesh Saraf
analyst

Yeah, within the stand-alone Aluminium business.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Standalone Aluminium business. Our exports -- direct exports are negligible, I would say, as of now. It is only the -- our customers are exporting the products in a big way, totally -- not the end product, but the intermediate products, I would say, that is increasing.

M
Mukesh Saraf
analyst

But we had some direct exports that we were expecting, but some of the orders will start ramping up.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

That is for next year. That's next year.

M
Mukesh Saraf
analyst

Okay, okay. And just lastly, you mentioned about this backward integration. Would that in any way help in the powertrain segment export orders because there was -- even your annual report talking about a lot of opportunity on the powertrain segment exports. So how would the backlog integration helps out as at all?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

The back integration will be only, say, the 5% to 10% of our total requirement because we are very large in the listing segment. We are working with the erstwhile foundry partners in a very big way, whatever they can give, we are absorbing, and we are working together for both domestic as well as exports also, either as Tier 1 exports or Tier 2 exports, both are doing, we are open to working with them. We are augmenting that with backward integration surely. There is some more choice now on this matter because the market is so big in the potential side. And with -- the very big base on the powertrain business, we are still going to have high double-digit growth from FY '26 onwards on the powertrain with the combination of working with our foundry partners as well as some [indiscernible] in mode of backward integration happening there.

M
Mukesh Saraf
analyst

Right. So the question I was largely looking at export opportunity on the Powertrain segment, sir. Is there something there that we can expect?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Yes, you can expect that I don't want to name customers without their approval, but I think one of the biggest customers in all over the world, I think we are working together for that exports for their requirement in the powertrain business, I don't want to again classify.

M
Mukesh Saraf
analyst

No, no. We don't need any name, sir, but any timelines? I mean, are we looking at, say, FY '25 or is it going to be something beyond FY '25?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

No, it will be FY '26 because these are -- these are bigger orders and these higher validation cycles, which has to go. We are on the right path of powertrain business, powertrain business has got the potential to double or even triple in the coming decade.

Operator

[Operator Instructions]

Next question is from the line of Jinesh Gandhi from Motilal Oswal.

J
Jinesh Gandhi
analyst

Can you first share a couple of data points. One is the value add for stand-alone businesses as well as DR Axion for the second quarter?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

You want for Q2 value-add?

J
Jinesh Gandhi
analyst

Yes.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Value add as a percentage has been approximately around 50% sir, totally?

C
C.B. Chandrasekar
executive

Totally 47%.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

On a consolidated basis, it has been 47% value add.

J
Jinesh Gandhi
analyst

Can you shared that data on business rights, primarily [ rupees crores ] value add for powertrain, Aluminium, industrial, which is to share over the year.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Okay. For H1, I think on the powertrain, it is around 62% because it's a mixture of job work with missioning and the Aluminium, we have the industrial Aluminium, and we have the auto Aluminium and all for Aluminium products, which is around 42%. Our Industrial & Engineering is 40%.

J
Jinesh Gandhi
analyst

Industry is 40%. Got it. And for the storage solution, what was the revenue for second quarter and within that how this automated storage to?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

On the Storage Solutions, we have done INR 164 crores for H1.

J
Jinesh Gandhi
analyst

And automated would be?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

The breakup for the automated -- automated has been 27%, if I'm right. Automated has been 27%.

J
Jinesh Gandhi
analyst

Got it. And now coming to the export orders, particularly in the Aluminium die casting side, where are we in terms of a ramp-up for this talents of order which we have got, how far are we from ramp-up -- will ramp up?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

See, we have seen some numbers in Q2 is still on the ramp-up. I think the ramp-up will be complete. Every quarter, I think, is ramping up until the next 3 quarters. We expect that to peak only in the September quarter of next year. This is now mostly domestic and export has started. As far as started -- indirect export has started, direct export for the parts have not started yet. So that will be in the next financial year, as I answered the earlier question from the earlier participant. So we are on the ramp-up side on the Aluminium.

J
Jinesh Gandhi
analyst

Okay. So this year, we should be able to attain 50% of our peak revenue -- peak revenue potential of this order or it will take a little longer than that or will be a little lower than 50%?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

The number what the customer has indicated is very high, but we have discounted that number, saying that, okay, the market conditions in Europe are not favorable. But what we see is the -- currently, we are at a run rate in H2. The run rate is approximately INR 500 crores on the stand-alone Aluminium business totally.

Operator

[Operator Instructions]

Next question is from the line of Mumuksh Mandlesha from Anand Rathi.

M
Mumuksh Mandlesha
analyst

Happy festivity season to the management. Sir, this quarter, other expense have notably increased Q-on-Q. Any reason for the large increase, sir?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

What expenses?

M
Mumuksh Mandlesha
analyst

Other expenses.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Recurring maintenance. We have taken a conscious action to do recurring maintenance because some things were pending immediately -- something that was not done during COVID and post-COVID, we had a ramp-up. I think we had a little sluggish -- not a sluggish, little slow Q1, Q2. I think that is the time we have done the recurring maintenance.

M
Mumuksh Mandlesha
analyst

And that should normalize in coming quarters?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

These are other expenses.

M
Mumuksh Mandlesha
analyst

And that should normalize, sir, next quarter onwards, other expenses?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Yes, it will normalize.

M
Mumuksh Mandlesha
analyst

Okay. And sir, DR Axion had a very strong growth Q-on-Q by 40%. Can you indicate what led to the strong growth in DR Axion.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

I think the partial middle market in India has done well, and DR Axion has also almost finalize the new order for Hyundai for the new [indiscernible] plant, which is going to be operational in FY '25, the same parts what we are supplying to their Chennai plant. So I think that will add another 10% of the -- or 5% top line growth for DR Axion and 10% of Hyundai Kia business. Yes, Mahindra was also on the ramp up. So all of this has scale up DR Axion further growth.

M
Mumuksh Mandlesha
analyst

Just a last question on the CapEx side, we have done about INR 260 crores in the first half and the full year, we expect about INR 330 crores. So should you see any higher CapEx than what we expected earlier?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

The CapEx, whatever is planned, the INR 330 crores is the similar CapEx what we are we have envisaged for the existing plants. Now we have filed also on the stock exchange that we're going for a new plant. And there, we are going for additionally, I think, INR 150 crores, INR 160 crores CapEx in this year and maybe in FY '26, we'll go for around INR 100 crores. We have disclosed that. So this will be to -- we have filed for INR 102 crores CapEx for the year.

Operator

[Operator Instructions]

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Yes, I will just complete that answer. So with this number, we will be close to INR 480 crores with that a lot of capacity on -- for this greenfield project, which we are looking at housing all the 3 segments of the business, but mainly in the powertrain and Aluminium business.

Operator

Next question is from the line of Abhishek from Dolat Capital.

A
Abhishek Jain
analyst

Congratulations for a strong set of performance in tough time. Sir, first question on the Powertrain. Do you still impact the guidance of 15% to 20% growth in the Powertrain business in FY '24 despite the higher inventory in the tractor segment and muted growth in the first half around 7% only?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

From the time of the IPO, I would -- I always said that we'll have a CAGR growth of 15% to 20% totally. So we may have grown more in certain years. We may grow less for certain years. But I think the next bigger growth will come in FY '26 is what I feel. But if you look at from FY '21 to '26, still we will be in the 15%, 20% CAGR growth on the Powertrain.

A
Abhishek Jain
analyst

So you have won the new business in [ OSP ] segment, in Powertrain segment. So when it will start to reflect in the numbers?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

FY '26.

A
Abhishek Jain
analyst

And my last question on this RM supplies issues as you are facing some issues of the iron casting side. So are we looking for the setup some founders to sort out these issues.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

There are not any issue on the RM side, I think we are working very well with the foundry partners. But I think all of you know that the capacities of India in the casting foundries is hardly 10% of China. China is serving 50% of the global requirements. India is serving only 5% of the global requirements that is very small. And the large foundry segment, wherever relevant capacities are required, we are not even 5% of the global requirement. We have some of the only -- we have only 10 leading foundries in India. I think there is headroom for lots. We don't have enough capacities to capture the global market requirement. This is the fact.

Operator

Next question is from the line of Basudeb Banerjee from ICICI Securities.

B
Basudeb Banerjee
analyst

Most of the questions are answered. A couple of things, sir.

Operator

Basudeb, can you speak a little louder. You are sounding little distant.

B
Basudeb Banerjee
analyst

So what's the current utilization in both Powertrain and Aluminium segment?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Aluminium, I think we are just touching around 80% now. I think we have -- that is a good thing and that is also leading to better profitability. The powertrain business, we are back to in mid-70s or early 70s because of the capacity increase, what is done. The new capacities have come into operation or started production. But I think the existing capacity has not been fully utilized in H1, the way it is. So we have the average operating capacity is only around 70% on the powertrain now.

B
Basudeb Banerjee
analyst

And Aluminium, it is including DRA?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Stand-alone, it is around 80%, but DR is slightly higher. It is very close to 90%, but tweaking some capacity to take it 5%, 10% higher than what it has. So we'll have headroom with marginal CapEx around the 20% growth.

B
Basudeb Banerjee
analyst

And under this background, you are planning a fresh CapEx which you mentioned, where [ PT port ] utilization is already impacting margin to some extent and where CV -- domestic CVs have done exceedingly well, this will be the third year, FY '25 will be the fourth year of high probability typical mean the worsen has happen after [ 4 ODI ]. So do you see expanding towards CV dedicated powertrain business at current juncture?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

As I mentioned earlier, our segment on the powertrain is not at all having much exposure on the passenger vehicle because is mostly on the EV segments, what we are talking about. So now the exposure is very minimum on the off-highway and [ redesigns ] engines totally. On this segment, which caught huge potential within the country and for export. So that is where we are -- in those 2-wheeler capacities are slightly higher size of equipment, not exactly equal into the medium-duty or heavy-duty commercial vehicle and this, I think, these are heavier equipment overall. I'm talking about large Indians for, say, power generation or for off-highway vehicles, these are different parts.

B
Basudeb Banerjee
analyst

And typically, what will be the fixed asset turn of this project?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

It will be the same for at least where we are looking at value addition portion of it, around 0.6, 0.7 or 60% to 70% of the -- averaging 60%, 70% of the gross block because the turnover will depend on the commodity price, we are doing the presence in 2 ways. We are sometimes buying the casting, sometimes we're doing the job work -- so the -- we cannot put on the turnover on the -- in that segment, only the value addition we can do

B
Basudeb Banerjee
analyst

Sure. And last small question, if I can put in, how much was the value addition for DRA separately this quarter or first half what you were saying?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Value addition has been in the range of 35%.

Operator

Next question is from the line of Pranay Roop Chatterjee from Burman Capital Management.

P
Pranay Roop Chatterjee
analyst

First question is regarding the Aluminium segment, so pretty good growth. The growth on DR Axion was slightly stronger. So first part to the Aluminium segment question is, was there any one-off in the Q-on-Q growth? Like, for example, it's possible that the OEM has more inventory piled up because I was seeing the wholesale number for Hyundai and Kia, it was not as strong as the growth that DR Axion has seen. And is the margin sustainable at 15% EBIT, which would imply, let's say, 18% to 20% EBITDA is that sustainable? The second part is, do you still maintain the 20% CAGR guidance that you have given originally on the Aluminium segment on the FY '24 basis?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

I will answer the 2 parts. It's actually 2 questions you asked me. One is Hyundai and Kia, yes, the growth has been not corresponding to what DR Axion has grown. DR Axion has grown also in Mahindra and DR Axion next year will grow on, again, Hyundai and Kia when FY '25, the new [indiscernible] plant is going to come into operation. This will also lead to growth, which is around 110% increased capacity is what is going to happen.

Coming to the -- your second part of the question on whether the margins are sustainable with the sort of operating higher operating leverage in a single plant operation, yes, we can sustain the margins. The growth at least for -- until FY '26 is very clear. And on Aluminium, it is going to continue even beyond that particular point.

P
Pranay Roop Chatterjee
analyst

I have one more clarification. It's not a question before I'm interrupted. You had mentioned, sir, in answer to one participant's question that regarding the [indiscernible] order, you said INR 500 crore run rate in H2. Can you just clarify that because I thought the order was INR 200 crores.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

I didn't say [indiscernible] is INR 500 crores. I said to the stand-alone Aluminium business of Craftsman is for H2 is at about a run rate of INR 500 crores for H2.

Operator

Next question is from line of Vaishnavi Deshmukh form Yashwi Securities.

V
Vaishnavi Deshmukh
analyst

So I have a question in relation to the debt side. So in the July con call, you have mentioned that debt should be coming down by at least INR 200 crores. Now I see there's an addition, a slight addition in the debt and also with the CapEx that we have already aligned. So what is the outlook for that?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

There are 2 things which have changed, 1 is the INR 375 crore outflow towards the acquisition of DR Axion. And I think that we have shown the results because of that, that debt is sitting on the customer books and we have not raised any equity on this matter whatever I mean that is the reason for the debt increase currently. So we had guided for around INR 320 crores CapEx for this financial year. But now we see huge opportunity for the powertrain as well as Aluminium business going forward because of geopolitical situation and also the Make In India policy. There are various policies that government is bringing up to reduce the amount of imports on -- and they're even bringing up BA standards and other standards, I think for qualification. So there will be no dumping from other countries which are happening. So the capacities will not be sufficient. We started to prepare on that. So debt portion, I think we are -- and I had mentioned in my opening statement, I always maintained that we'll hover around 1.5x debt-to-EBITDA on this matter.

And we are at the current level. I'll just read out the ratios to you. On a consolidated basis, debt-to-EBITDA, we are at 1.49% totally overall. So the absolute debt, yes, when they're going from the greenfield project, which we announced now, there will be some portion debt as in absolute number may slightly increase or come down, but I think the debt-to-EBITDA will continuously come down.

V
Vaishnavi Deshmukh
analyst

On your second question, I have this on EV penetration. In the last quarter call, you have also mentioned that it is very low right now. So are we seeing any improvement. Have you gotten any order in that front in the Aluminium segment?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

I think for the 2-wheeler EV, we are a major supplier, at least for the market is concerned. But you know the size of the EV market itself is very small today. So we, having a major chunk, it doesn't change anything for us, it is not a significant percentage of our Aluminium business currently.

V
Vaishnavi Deshmukh
analyst

Okay. Just with the continuation of the last question one analyst has asked, about the INR 150 crores that you say the CapEx would be done. It would come around in FY '25, right?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

No, it will be done in FY '24.

V
Vaishnavi Deshmukh
analyst

It will be done, but the capacities will come around in commence from FY '25? Or it would be commencing in FY '24 only?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

It will come in start trial production in Q2 -- of Q2, Q3 of next year, trial production. Actually, revenue is, you are right, it will come in FY '26.

Operator

[Operator Instructions]

Next question is from the line of Karan Gupta from Varanium Capital.

K
Karan Gupta
analyst

Yes. So my question is related to the pricing terms. You mentioned in the last con call, you also mentioned something related to the dumping of the products in China or Thailand. So is it also continuing as of now in H1 or it will continue in H2 also because the question I've asked because the margin is going down to 28% to 20% because the...

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm not able to understand the question at all. Audio quality is very poor.

Operator

Karan, can you please speak through the handset?

K
Karan Gupta
analyst

So my question is related to the pricing terms. So how we are competing on the pricing terms as you mentioned in the last con call as well that the China and from Thailand, there's a dumping of the products, the Aluminium product.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Not from Thailand, I said mostly from China only because China is the biggest manufacturer in the world. Thailand is negligible.

K
Karan Gupta
analyst

Okay. Okay. So now what's the situation? And how we are competing on pricing. Is there anything related to any working capital side, we are managing potently so we can compete better?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

No, I was just -- across, first of all, technology-wise, there needs to be CapEx investment done to compete with China. We are very, very small when compared to China. If you look at the foundry capacity, they are 10x bigger and relevant capacities, if we look at it, they're 15x bigger totally. So we have no comparison to China. Again, the economies of scale when we are having 10 different manufacturing plants in India, 1 manufacturing plant of China has been able to have more capacity than these 10 manufacturing plants.

So this means in scale of operations advantage we are not having currently. So whenever we build up on the missioning side, Craftsman has got the scale of operations. Now on the Aluminium side, we are building up scale of operations. And whenever we are looking at the global market, we have to be on global size of new manufacturing. Otherwise, we cannot even cater to 1 customer on this matter. So it's not be viable for any customer to source from us. So this is -- whether capacity comes first or whether order comes first, it's a chicken and egg story, which will continue. So we are bent upon trying to capitalize on this new situation. That's our 3 situations, which has developed. One is the old dependence on China.

The second thing is the geopolitical situation. The third thing is, of course, our GDP growth will sustain for a longer period of time, growth will -- because of the inherent economy and the average age of our economy when people hear. The last point is that within Europe and North America, the appetite to -- for industry work is coming down. I think the skilled workforce is coming down, even semiskilled workforce, people are not available because these are developed economies so there will be more outsourcing in India. I think the -- getting an order a year after, if we have the capacity, capability and the competitive pricing, getting an order will not be a challenge at all.

K
Karan Gupta
analyst

Okay. Is it fair to scaled operation which we're providing, the servicing of variety of products?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Sorry, I think, again, you are not audible.

K
Karan Gupta
analyst

So when you scaled operations. So providing various or variety of products to the customers? Is that we can compete with China. Obviously, on the pricing terms, we can compete as the foundries and to scale.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Somebody was telling me that from a consultant in Germany, that all the 10 foundries, stock foundries put together, I think the 1 foundry in China will be bigger than that. And they have 100 such foundries. This is what is the comment coming from there. So you can -- this is on public domain. On the global requirement, we are 5% of the tasting supply, and I think China is 50%. But the 50% is relevant capacity and over 5% is somewhat -- some of the capacities have become obsolete on lower end products. So I think there is a lot of headroom to grow.

K
Karan Gupta
analyst

Okay. Sir, that's not what I'm asking. -- on the skilled side or the pricing side, we can compete, that's okay. But anything we can do with the working capital or credit terms or the payment terms. Now, apart from pricing, what we can do to compete in domestic market and for export as well?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

I think you're right. In payment terms what we get from customers from export is perfect. We are not giving any long credit or we are not giving external credit. That is very, very clear on this matter.

Operator

Next question is from the line of Bharat Sheth from Quest Investment Advisors.

B
Bharat Sheth
analyst

Sir, on taking foundry opportunity, I mean, casting side, the opportunity -- so you said we are working with the partners. So are our partners are also expanding the capacity the way we're projecting demand?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Yes. So they are also spending capacity, and there is complementing capacity required. Some of the product segment and the foundry offering is very big. It is from a tiny product of say, 1 kilo and 2 kilos up to 10,000 kilos as everything is foundry totally. So I think wherever there is a gap in the capacity available, customer is willing to invest and take advantage of the opportunity and grow.

B
Bharat Sheth
analyst

So which sector, I mean a smaller foundry, I mean, casting or a larger casting?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Sir. I think we are working with various foundries within the country. I think there are more than a dozen foundries. And 3 or 4 foundries are really we are working very close with them on their capacities. We are aware of the plants, and we are in close touch with them. Wherever our foundry partners can supply the material for us as a Tier 1 or Tier 2 for exports, we are not really getting to the business. Wherever there is no availability of this material only we are thinking of getting into backward integration.

B
Bharat Sheth
analyst

Talking about backward integration, what kind of size of capacity are we putting and what type of size of the foundry that we would like the casting size will be say like 200 kg, 300 kg or a smaller casting?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Sir, we were not present in the Aluminium business 8 years ago. Today, a stand-alone Aluminium business is close to INR 900 crores in this financial year totally. And what I used to say is we will make in steps only. We will not make 1 big leap. And what we have mentioned now is for foundry and missioning at the stage 1 investment only we have done. We will see how it goes. We'll have our order book full before we make the next step. We have 50 acres of land available and site #2, where missioning, Aluminium and industry segment, all of it can grow. So we will make this capital allocation as and when required only. We will not make 1 plan and just build it. We have got a bigger plan, but we are doing the modular integration or investments.

B
Bharat Sheth
analyst

So in fact, my understand is on the foundry side, we are expanding on the Aluminium side, correct?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Sir, we are expanding on Aluminium side. We are looking at backward integration on the casting side, which I have been articulating in the last 2 earnings call, totally. So we are looking at wherever we can buy castings from the foundry partners where else we can work with the foundry partners as Tier 2, we are not investing for capacity. Wherever we see there's a gap in capacity available, and there is an opportunity available for end use for customers within the country or for export. We are willing to invest for the foundry capacity.

Operator

Next follow-up question is from the line of Jinesh Gandhi from Motilal Oswal.

J
Jinesh Gandhi
analyst

Just quickly to clarify on the CapEx of political which you mentioned for FY '24. INR 320 crores of existing CapEx which you have announced and INR 150 crores, INR 160 crores or the Phase 1 of new greenfield plant. Is that correct?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Yes, correct.

J
Jinesh Gandhi
analyst

Because in the press release you've mentioned payment to cost about INR 102 crores. So what am I missing over here, INR 102 crores versus INR 106 crores.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

We are looking at this that we are investing at our -- the balance facility to complement that with the existing facility at our existing plant because we don't want to start all the different segments of the business and separate operation. Wherever we can house it in the current plant that INR 50 crores, INR 60 crores, we are also in the current plant. But after that, the plant, we cannot house anything more [ DR Axion ] plant.

Operator

Next question is from the line of Disha Sheth from [ Annual Shares and Stock ]

U
Unknown Analyst

Congratulations on a set of numbers. I wanted to clarify in terms of margins to overall EBITDA margins.

Operator

Disha sorry, but you're not audible at all.

U
Unknown Analyst

Sir, in terms of margin, overall for EBITDA margin for the company...

Operator

Disha, sorry to interrupt you but there is a lot of background noise. Can I request you rejoin the queue.

Next follow-up question is from the line of Vaishnavi Deshmukh from Yashwi Securities.

V
Vaishnavi Deshmukh
analyst

So I have just one question that. As you mentioned this con call only that major growth will be coming in FY '26 from the new orders and the capacities that will be coming on stream. So want to know what would be the guidance for you in top line in both consolidated EBITDA for FY '24 and '25.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

So we never give any guidance on this matter. I think we'll be growing at double digit this year, but it will be lower double digit.

V
Vaishnavi Deshmukh
analyst

For this year, it would be lower double digits. And for FY '25, are you expecting of something slightly flat growth.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

No, no. We'll be growing at high single digit or double digit surely. What I'm saying is the new opportunity, I think, suddenly, we may go beyond the 20% at some particular point of time. We have seen from the past trades like that. We grow at 20%, 25%, 30%, then drop to 10%, again, come back to 15%, 20%. But the CAGR has been between 15%, 20% if you look at it for a longer period of time.

V
Vaishnavi Deshmukh
analyst

Got it. And would we be able to see any improvement in EBITDA?

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

I think there are 2 things. One is the inflation and the second thing is the growth. If you are just growing at 5%, 10%, I think the EBITDA margins to sustain itself is very difficult because of the inflation. The second thing is, again, the EBITDA margin is a mixture of how much value addition we do. So we have to measure the EBITDA on the value addition, not on the top line, which will be misleading totally. So when we are saying that we are having a value addition of around, say, 50-odd percent. And within that, we are having a 40% EBITDA, something like that, we need to take that into -- on the top line, please.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Srinivasan Ravi for closing comments.

S
Srinivasan Ravi
executive

Thank you very much for joining. I think there are many questions I hope I have answered them to your satisfaction. But I thought I'll give a brief summary of whatever the questions have asked for the benefit of everybody on this call. I would say that on the powertrain, as I mentioned in the last 2 earnings calls that we may hit some sort of speed breaker where we cannot grow at 20%, 30%, and that is true. And because of that, we have taken this fraction of strengthening our relationship with our foundry partners as soon as when putting the foundation for backward integration, where and when it's necessary and the scale in modules, not in one big jump where it may affect our return ratios. We will be very cognizant to the fact that we need the ROC, we needed the return of equity, we need a EPS. That is why we have not raised any capital also. We are not -- there is -- our capital allocation will be very, very potent. But what I wish to say is the powertrain business can double or even triple from the current level provided.

We make the right moves at the right time and we will do it in the steps. So we will see the growth trajectory on the powertrain going, there will be a lull -- that means a low double-digit or high single-digit growth for this year and next year. After that, again, it will pick up in a bigger way. Whereas when we're doing for the powertrain business, we are sharing the facilities for the larger powertrain when we talks about 1 time, 2 time and 3 time parts. These are parts which are having a complementary action with the Industrial & Engineering segment. So we are not putting all eggs in one basket.

We are having 2 baskets. The equipment and the foundry capacity as and when needed. When you put it up, we'll be serving the Industrial & Engineering as well as the powertrain business. In the Aluminium segment, as mentioned earlier now, as an overall segment, we have more than 50% on the passenger vehicle. So our dependence on 2-wheeler has come down quite dramatically totally as a company. And now the third aspect, which I wish to say is the EBITDA number or EBIT numbers, all of them are pointing towards 40, 40, 20 sort of mix between powertrain, Aluminium and Industrial & Engineering. I mean roughly, I'll not say exactly, it maybe less than 20. But what I'm trying to say is that the product mix has been now very good on the consolidated basis. We achieved that portion of it.

Now the -- on the powertrain business by itself, our lens on the commercial vehicle business will be coming down, while we continue to grow on the commercial vehicle business. You will see in the next, not quarters, the next few years, it will be a smaller percentage overall. We'll see that.

Coming to the last important segment of the business on the storage solution, we see that the -- on the automotive solutions, our business will be growing much faster than the strategic racking, but both are complementing each other, we don't start racking the automation, did not sustain on its own. So that will lead to a better opportunity going forward. So all the 3 segments we are well poised to continue to grow. Thank you very much and have a nice day.

Operator

Thank you very much. On behalf of Craftsman Automation Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.

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