01 — At a Glance
The Miner Who Decided to Make Steel (Like a Boss)
- 52-Week High / Low₹273 / ₹126
- FY25 Revenue₹4,898 Cr
- FY25 PAT₹601 Cr
- Full-Year FY25 EPS₹11.87
- Annualised EPS (Q3×4)₹9.52
- Book Value (Sep 2025)₹59.7
- Price to Book3.21x
- Debt / Equity0.64x
- CRISIL RatingA+/Stable
- NCD Redemption₹423 Cr (March 2026)
The Auditor’s Opening Act: Q3FY26 revenue hit ₹1,209 Cr (+27% YoY). But here’s the twist — consolidated PAT was ₹140 Cr but came with a ₹27 Cr exceptional labour code charge. Strip that out: real profit grew 61% YoY. Meanwhile, the company redeemed ₹423 crore in Non-Convertible Debentures. These are the actions of a board that genuinely hates leverage and loves shareholder returns. Wild for a mining stock.
02 — Introduction
A Mining Dynasty That Decided to Play Vertically Integrated
Let’s set the scene. Sandur Manganese is a 70-year-old mining family from Karnataka. For five decades, they did one thing exceptionally well: dig up the ground, extract manganese and iron ore, and sell it to whoever needed it. Margins were decent. Cash flow was steady. Life was good. Then, in April 2024, they yolo’d and bought Arjas Steel for ₹3,000 crore. Not a 10% stake. Not a minority investment. The whole company. 99% of it. Debt-funded, baby.
That acquisition closed in November 2024. Within three months, Sandur Manganese transformed itself from “profitable miner” to “integrated miner-cum-steelmaker.” The Q3 results show exactly what that looks like — Q3 consolidated revenue jumped 27% YoY to ₹1,209 Cr. Mining division generated ₹300+ crore in operating profit. Steel division (Arjas) joined the party and immediately contributed. Ferroalloys stayed operational. The board approved early redemption of ₹423 crore in NCDs. CRISIL upgraded the rating to A+/Stable. Very normal Tuesday energy.
The question now is simple: did they buy the cow or a lemon? Because Arjas Steel was going through shutdowns and capacity utilization headaches before SMIORE acquired it. The integration has just started. The real numbers — volumes, margins, cash generation — are still proving themselves. And with 70%+ promoter holding and a long-term vision, this isn’t a quarterly flip story. This is a decade-long thesis.
Management Concall Takeaway (Feb 2026): “Integrated player… deleveraging… improved outlook across metals.” Translation: they’re confident. Arjas is stabilising. Steel prices have tailwinds. Mining capacities are ramping. This is a year of watching execution, not trying to catch the exit.
03 — Business Model: WTF Do They Even Do Now?
Mining → Ferroalloys → Coke → Steel. It’s Like a Vertical Inception.
SMIORE started as a pure mining play. Dig. Extract. Sell. Repeat. Annual manganese ore production: ~0.5 MTPA. Iron ore: ~4 MTPA. Ferroalloys: byproduct-ish (supporting internal consumption). That was the legacy business.
Then Arjas Steel arrived in November 2024. Suddenly, the group became: (1) Miner of iron ore and manganese ore. (2) Producer of ferroalloys. (3) Operator of coke plant. (4) Steelmaker producing 0.585 MTPA of special bar quality (SBQ) steel for auto OEMs. The steel division serves marquee clients like Maruti, Hyundai, Tata Motors (via tiers). It’s empanelled, it’s had a 10+ year track record, and it commands 10–12% premium pricing over commodity steel.
The vertical integration logic: iron ore from mine → ferroalloy plant → coke oven → steel mill. At each stage, margin expansion. Cost control. De-risking. The mining division has become the cost-advantaged feeder. As long as Arjas can sell SBQ steel at premium realizations (₹70,000+/tonne), and internal iron ore costs stay competitive (~₹2,500/tonne), the spread is real.
Mines4.45 MTPAIron Ore Capacity
Ferroalloys95k-125k TPASiMn / FeMn
Steel (Arjas)0.585 MTPASBQ & Specialty
Renewables42.9 MWSMIORE Hybrid
The Arjas Backstory: Arjas Steel was owned by ADV Partners (PE firm). Production lines in Tadipatri (Andhra Pradesh) and Mandi Gobindgarh (Punjab). BOF route (blast furnace) + EAF route (induction furnace). The company had gone through plant upgradations, meaning multiple quarters of utilization dips. SMIORE bought the bottom of a cycle and now benefits from the recovery. Classic PE playbook. SMIORE executed it with borrowed money. If it works, returns are leverage-amplified. If it doesn’t, they’ve got mining cash to absorb the pain.
💬 Real talk: Would you rather own a miner with 25% margins or an integrated steel player with 12% margins but 3x the revenue? Drop your thesis in the comments.
04 — Financials Overview
Q3 FY26: The Consolidated Math
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