1. Opening Hook
While most auto ancillaries are busy debating EV doomsday timelines on Twitter, Craftsman Automation just quietly bet the house on ICE—and then doubled down with ₹1,000 crore capex.
In a quarter where aluminium prices behaved like meme stocks and OEMs played festive-season inventory gymnastics, Craftsman decided margins are just “optics” and scale is the real religion.
Alloy wheels below 50% utilisation. Sunbeam crawling toward double-digit EBITDA. Debt-to-EBITDA at 2.55x and management saying, “Relax, we’ve seen worse.”
If you were expecting cautious commentary, you dialed into the wrong call.
Because this one wasn’t about defending the present—it was about building for 2030.
Read on. It gets more interesting once we decode the aluminium “optical illusion” and the $100 million stationary engine ambition.
2. At a Glance
- Revenue added ~₹1,000 crore YoY run-rate – Growth without permission slips.
- EBITDA margin ~15% – Stable face, volatile undercurrents.
- Standalone aluminium EBIT down ~500 bps – New plant teething + festive lull.
- Alloy wheel utilisation <50% – Capacity built before customers fully show up.
- Debt/EBITDA at 2.55x – Comfortable, but not sleeping-light comfortable.
- Sunbeam EBITDA ~7% (targeting 10%) – Rehab phase nearly complete.
- DR Axion EBITDA ~20% – Premium club, but expansion incoming.
3. Management’s Key Commentary
“The aluminium margins are intact; optically they may come down because of commodity price movements.”
(Translation: Don’t look at percentages, look at feelings. Aluminium went from $2,800 to $3,050—blame London, not Coimbatore. 😏)
“We have not even touched 50% of installed capacity in alloy wheels.”
(Translation: We built the stadium before selling all the tickets. Q3 next year is when the crowd supposedly arrives.)
“We are not in double-digit margin yet in alloy wheels.”
(Translation: It’s still in investment mode. Profitability is on airplane mode for now.)
“Heavy weight lifting of Sunbeam is over.”
(Translation: ICU phase done. Now physiotherapy. EBITDA to exit FY26 above 10%, hopefully without relapse. 💪)
“We bet on ICE rather than EV. Now it is paying off.”
(Translation: Sometimes zigging when the world zags works—especially when EV adoption slows.)
“Debt-to-EBITDA below 2 is comfortable; 1.5 is ideal.”
(Translation: 2.55x is ‘temporary.’ Growth first, balance sheet discipline later.)
“We cannot bid for $50–100 million orders without scale.”
(Translation: Debt is the bridge to global relevance. No bridge, no billion-dollar dreams. 🚀)
4. Numbers Decoded
Segment Growth View Margin View Commentary
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Aluminium High teens Volatile (optical) New Shoolagiri drag; pass-through intact
Powertrain High single digit Stable ICE, CV green shoots
Industrial Engineering High single/low Expanding Operating leverage kicking in
double digit
Sunbeam Turnaround phase 7% → 10%+
