Windlas Biotech Ltd - Pure play CDMO currently at ~1.1x sales

Q1FY26 Concall highlights

  1. Business Vertical Performance
  • Generic Formulation CDMO:
    o Performance driven by customer additions, expansion in product portfolio, and consistent
    delivery of quality manufacturing products.
    o Growth is mostly volume-driven, with a very small portion from prices
    o Company aims to avoid over-dependence on any one customer; growth is coming from a
    distributed set of clients
    o Achieved a growth of 17.8% YoY, contributing ₹160 crores in revenue
  • Trade Generics:
    o Growth driven by enhanced distribution reach, stronger market presence in previously
    underserved regions, and increased product range
    o Supported by government healthcare schemes such as Ayushman Bharat and Janoshidi
    o Portfolio: Active portfolio of around 200+ products, with significant room for growth
    compared to larger companies (600-800 products).
    o Distribution Network: Working with over 1,000 stockists (as of Q4 FY25), with a longterm
    aspiration to reach 5,000-6,000 stockists to cover India effectively.
    o Competitive Intensity: Increasing attention from other companies, but large branded
    generic companies face challenges like building new verticals and potential
    cannibalization of their existing brands. The perception of trade generics as poor quality
    products is diminishing, increasing acceptance at the patient level.
    o Market Size (India): Estimates suggest the Indian trade generics market is around 30,000-
    35,000 crores, though this is not officially validated.
  • Exports:
    o Registered 45.4% YoY growth to 6 crores.
    o Actively pursuing strategic initiatives to meet increasing global demand for high-quality,
    affordable generic medicines.
    o Focus on unlocking more markets and products in geographies like Rest of Asia, CIS,
    and Africa
    o In-licensing of certain Marketing Authorizations (MAs) for Europe is in process,
    awaiting transfer approvals from regulatory authorities.
    o No one-off elements in this quarter’s export growth, but the company advises viewing
    export growth in a long-term scenario rather than quarterly.
  1. Strategic Initiatives
  • Manufacturing Infrastructure:
    o Plant 6: Recently acquired plant undergoing refurbishment for capacity expansion, on
    schedule.
    :black_small_square: Expected refurbishment timeline: 2-3 more quarters before entering the
    validation period.
    :black_small_square: Capex planned: ₹40-50 crores.
    :black_small_square: Commercialization: While full commercialization for all areas is expected next
    year (FY27), some portions of the facility might be able to cater to requirements
    this year (FY26).
    Windlas Biotech Ltd
    :black_small_square: Depreciation impact from Plant 6 will begin when capitalization happens,
    likely towards the end of FY26.
    • Injectable Facility (Plant 4/5): Enhancing ability to serve diverse customer needs and
    deliver a wider range of products efficiently.
    :black_small_square: Depreciation from the injectable plant was a factor in increased depreciation
    last year, and its lower impact this year is contributing to depreciation
    reduction.
    :black_small_square: The company does not provide exact ramp-up details or dosage-form-wise
    revenue/cost breakups for injectables or other forms, preferring to emphasize
    overall company performance.
    :black_small_square: Last year (FY25) was the first year of commercialization for the injectable
    facility.
    :black_small_square: Expansion Plans: No current plans for Phase 3 expansion of injectables.
    Expansion will be triggered when the facility approaches peak utilization
    (close to ₹100 crores revenue from this segment). Such an expansion would
    be a smaller timeframe (1-2 quarters) as utilities are already built in.
  • API Prices:
    o While prices may fluctuate (sometimes down, sometimes up), growth ultimately comes
    from volume when prices are low.
    o The company primarily deals with general category products (not antibiotics), which
    are less affected by high fluctuations seen in antibiotic API prices. They deal with close
    to 400 different APIs.
    o Lower API prices on a blended basis would mean volumes grew even more than the
    reported CDMO growth (18%).
  • Capacity & Revenue Potential:
    o With existing plants and Plant 6 capitalized, the company expects to deliver ₹1,000
    crores in revenue, excluding injectables
    o Including injectables, the peak revenue potential is about ₹1,100 crores.
    o Current blended utilization levels are similar to Q4 FY25, and revenue and utilization
    move hand-in-hand as most growth is volume-driven.
  1. Injectable Margins:
  • On a fully developed business, the gross margins for injectables are higher compared to oral
    solid drugs
  • Pure injectable CDMO players typically have EBITDA margins in the 18% to 21% range
  • Potentially, 10-20% of the company’s revenue could eventually come from injectables at higher
    margins.
10 Likes

Major Highlights from Q1FY26:

  • Volume growth appears stronger since the overall growth percentage is blended. Although API prices declined, the volume-driven growth balances it out effectively
  • There is significant room for growth, and if inorganic opportunities do not materialize, the company is likely to invest in injectable capacity, which offers higher EBITDA margins. Either way more asset turns can happen
  • Well insulated for domestic play

A plain vanilla consistent co.

Disc: holding, biased, not SEBI registered, not a buy/sell recommendation

9 Likes

Windlas Bio -

Q2 FY 26 results and Concall highlights -

Q2 outcomes -

Revenues - 222 vs 187 cr, up 19 pc
EBITDA - 29 vs 23 cr, up 24 pc ( margins @ 12.8 vs 12.3 pc )
PAT - 18 vs 16 cr, up 14 pc

H1 outcomes -

Revenues - 432 vs 362 cr, up 19 pc
EBITDA - 55 vs 44 cr, up 25 pc ( margins @ 12.7 vs 12.1 pc )
PAT - 35 vs 29 cr, up 22 pc

H1 revenue mix -

CMO - 74 pc, grew by 18 pc
Trade generics - 22 pc, grew by 25 pc
Exports - 4 pc, grew by 23 pc

IPM grew by 7.5 pc in H1. Against this, Windlas was able to grow @ 19 pc

Plant 2 extension ( went live in Q4 LY ) is now contributing meaningfully to their business. Injectable facility ( Plant 5 ) is ramping up well. Confident of commissioning plant 6 by end of this FY ( all 6 plants are located in Dehradun )

Cash on books stands @ 237 cr

ESPOP Schedule for next 4 yrs -

H1 FY 26 - 1.95 cr
H2 FY 26 - 14.8 cr
H1 FY 27 - 14.2 cr
H2 FY 27 - 7.6 cr
H1 FY 28 - 7.3 cr
H2 FY 28 - 4 cr
H1 FY 29 - 3.8 cr
H2 FY 29 - 1.7 cr
H1 FY 30 - 1.6 cr
H2 FY 30 - NIL

These ESOPs shall be charged to P&L. However, it’s a non cash expense. Company believes, it’s an investment and hence have decided to run this generous ESOP program. This program is being run for aprox 100 employees to align their long term interests with that of the company

Company remains open to acquire good quality assets ( even if they have to pay some premium ) - in order to utilise the cash on books. Any good asset that also has prior regulatory approvals in overseas mkt would be a preferred acquisition tgt as it ll help them get mkt access without time delays

Have added customers and have started deliveries of Injectable products wef Q2. As the trust builds ( and repeat orders start flowing in ), company expects to ramp up of their Injectables plant to progress further in H2

Company believes - the anaemic volume growth in IPM is only a short term blip. This should reverse sooner rather than later. This should help company grow at faster rates going forward

Company believes trade generics is a huge opportunity going forward. Even bigger branded players have started entering this space - seeing its future potential

At present, there r literally thousands of CMOs in IPM. As the regulatory pressures mount, consolidation is a natural consequence. Players like Windlas Bio, Akums Drugs, Innova Captab should be the natural beneficiaries

The Pharma biggies in India ( in the branded space ) are doing most of their capex in speciality, complex generics, biologics space for regulated / export mkts. They r happy to outsource their normal generic supplies to CMO operators like Windlas. That’s how the mkt is shaping up at present

As the company’s capacity utilisations improve + Injectables facility ramps up - margins ( Ex - ESOP ) should only inch upwards

Disc: holding, biased, added recently, not SEBI registered, not a buy/sell recommendation, posted only for educational purposes

16 Likes

In the next four quarters the company will incur 28 crs of esop cost although a non cash expense will have a decent effect on ebidta of the company.

1 Like

Just shaing the latest results and the investor presentation.

Invested and Biased with nealry 4% allocation.

Just sharing an interesting blog on Windlas.

I hope you find it interesting.

Invested and Biased.

3 Likes

Pretty serious notice for windlas .the cough syrup contributed 55 crs till Feb 9 in this fy.so more than 55 for total fy.

1 Like

Here Total TTM sales is 868 cr so it is mealy 6.3%…..and it is temporary in nature after clarification it would expect to resume facility very shortly

1 Like

It is less about financial contribution to the overall business but more about what kind of violations were there. If it is largely a product specific (codeine syrup issues) crackdown or actual plant/company level practices which were an issue that matters. If latter then it is a serious concern given it raises tough questions with already a 2020 USFDA import alert track record in the past.

2 Likes

Windlas Bio -

Q3 FY 26 results and concall highlights -

Q3 outcomes -

Revenues - 233 vs 195 cr, up 20 pc

EBITDA ( excluding ESOPs ) - 32 vs 25 cr, up 26 pc ( margins @ 13.6 vs 12.9 pc )

PAT ( excluding ESOPs ) - 22 vs 16 cr, up 38 pc

Reported PAT - 15 vs 16 cr ( ESOP impact @ 7 vs 1 cr YoY )

ESOP expenses shall remain elevated at aprox Rs 7 cr / Qtr till Q2 FY 27. They ll being to taper off wef H2 FY 27 ( ie @ 3.8 cr / Qtr ). By H2 FY 28, it would be down to 2 cr / Qtr

Segmental revenues -

CMO - 167 vs 136 cr, up 23 pc

Trade generics - 53 vs 50 cr, up 7 pc

Exports - 13 vs 10 cr, up 30 pc

Notes from previous concalls -

Plant 2 extension ( went live in Q4 LY ) is now contributing meaningfully to their business. Injectable facility ( Plant 5 ) is ramping up well. Confident of commissioning plant 6 by end of this FY ( all 6 plants are located in Dehradun )

Company remains open to acquire good quality assets ( even if they have to pay some premium ) - in order to utilise the cash on books. Any good asset that also has prior regulatory approvals in overseas mkt would be a preferred acquisition tgt as it ll help them get mkt access without time delays

The Pharma biggies in India ( in the branded space ) are doing most of their capex in speciality, complex generics, biologics space for regulated / export mkts. They r happy to outsource their normal generic supplies to CMO operators like Windlas. That’s how the mkt is shaping up at present

As the company’s capacity utilisations improve + Injectables facility ramps up - margins ( Ex - ESOP ) should only inch upwards

Notes from Q3 concall -

IPM grew @ 11 pc in Q3. Volume growth was tepid @ 1.6 pc. Against this Windlas grew @ an impressive 20 pc

Plant 6 is expected to go live in H1 FY 27

Trade generics and exports grew @ 18 pc and 29 pc respectively in 9Ms FY 26 - led by jan Aushadhi Centers + greater penetration in RoW mkts

Current focus to complete the capex at plant 6. Once that is done and all plants ramp up to optimum capacity utilisations ( including the Injectable plant -5 ), company may go in for an inorganic acquisition or an organic expansion into a newer dosage form

Did not give specific growth guidance. However, reiterated their positive growth outlook for all three of their business verticals - CMO, exports, trade generics

Most of company’s growth is driven by volumes ( in all 3 verticals - since API prices have not risen ). The Injectables division and Plant 2 extension have helped bump up growth rates

Pant 6 commissioning should happen in H1 FY 27. Capex spends towards this has been 60 cr

Trade generic sales growth should be looked at from an yearly perspective as tender supplies tend to skew the Qtrly outcomes

Govt is now cracking down wrt Schedule M implementation like - no more extensions, frequent inspections and issuance of observations and closure orders etc

The no of CMOs in India are @ aprox 13k entities. This surely has to come down in a drastic fashion once the compliance burden mounts and Industry consolidation starts. This level is fragmentation in the Industry in counter productive

Disc: hold a small position, biased, not SEBI registered, not buy/sell recommendation, posted only for educational purposes

2 Likes

good catch !, Looks like the goal is to increase wealth of top management rather than the shareholders, 30% of the overall profits goes to ESOPS, all the best !

4 Likes

Might be good to understand esop rationale i.e. focus on employee retention and investment in people..

ESOP 2025: rationale, mechanics, and expected P&L implications (material for investors)

Core philosophy: Management framed ESOP as a strategic investment in execution capacity: “just having infrastructure doesn’t really create business… we have to align the growth of the people,” and “investment in people are just as important as investments in a plant or a facility.”

Breadth of coverage: “almost 100 people” across levels “making decisions at the department level… division level… topmost level.”

Two-part structure:

Performance-linked ESOPs tied to “deliverable KPIs, both financial as well as operational.”

Retention-linked ESOPs.

Vesting/forfeiture:

If employee leaves or is let go, “unvested ESOPs… comes back to the pool.”

Annual vesting depends on KPI achievement; underperformance can potentially be offset by next-year overperformance; otherwise “they lapse.”

3 Likes

The details of the BUY-BACK are out.

0423ffda-2e0c-409c-b0f7-e0ca476b2e79.pdf (698.4 KB)

Just sharing.

Not invested as of now.

2 Likes