RRico AutoExecutive Cockpit

CFO — Finance, Cash & Capital

Quality of earnings, 13-week cash, covenant runway, working-capital unlock and the value levers behind margin expansion and deleveraging.

Rico Auto Industries Limited · FY26 (Mar'26, actuals)
Leading Indian aluminium high-pressure die-casting auto-components maker
7,500 employees · 8+ plants & units · 12 export markets
Executive read· the answer, then the moves

Net debt of ₹687 Cr sits at 3.08× EBITDA against the 3.5x covenant — deleveraging is the priority, and freeing trapped cash funds it. Normalizing DSO to 50d releases ≈ ₹34 Cr and clears ₹45 Cr of overdue receivables, while liquidity of ₹240 Cr (≈ 5 weeks of cover) carries the aluminium cycle.

8 of 8 headline metrics improving vs prior · still off target: Total Revenue ₹2,477 Cr vs ₹2,700 Cr, EBITDA ₹223 Cr vs ₹280 Cr, EBITDA Margin 9.0% vs 12.0%

Do now — ranked by urgency
  1. 1
    Aluminium (LME) cost on marginAct now
    Why it matters

    Extend metal pass-through clauses; hedge; push scrap/yield & energy savings.

    What's driving it
    • Gross Margin
    • Signal: Alert
    FYI

    Firm LME aluminium + energy pressuring near-term gross margin and EBITDA.

  2. 2
    Leverage near covenantAct now
    Why it matters

    Run-rate FCF sweep + working-capital discipline; protect headroom — paydown is priority.

    What's driving it
    • Leverage
    • Signal: Alert
    FYI

    Net Debt/EBITDA 3.08x vs 3.5x covenant; greenfield (Hosur) capex pushed net debt to ₹686 Cr.

  3. 3
    Covenant headroom 0.2× (lev 3.3× vs 3.5×)Act now
    Why it matters

    Sets capex headroom and refinancing risk on a levered (~3.1×) balance sheet.

    What's driving it
    • Q1 (act)
    • Signal: Threshold
    FYI
    • Net-debt/EBITDA 3.3× against a 3.5× lender ceiling.
    • Owner: CFO · Treasury
  4. 4
    Pull working capital — drive DSO 55→50dWatch
    Why it matters

    Closing the DSO gap releases ≈ ₹34 Cr of one-time cash; ₹45 Cr is already >60 days overdue and at collection risk.

    What's driving it
    • DSO 55d vs 50d target
    • Overdue (>60d) ₹45 Cr of ₹373 Cr AR
    FYI
    • Division-level unlock to a 50d stretch ≈ ₹46 Cr
    • Owner: Treasury
EBITDA
₹223 Cr
+9% YoY · 9.0% margin
Liquidity
₹240 Cr
≈ 5 weeks of disbursements
Capex headroom to covenant
₹94 Cr
≈ 0.2 yrs of capex within the 3.5x ceiling
Working-capital unlock
₹34 Cr
DSO 55→50d target
Quality of earnings

Reported → Adjusted EBITDA

₹30 Cr of add-backs (13% of adj.) — the audit-grade walk.

Driver bridge

EBITDA — prior to current year

Organic volume vs. mix (machining / value-add) vs. price/content gain vs. aluminium/energy cost.

Treasury

13-week direct cash flow forecast

Above minimum

Net weekly cash (bars) and ending cash (line) vs. ₹60 Cr minimum. Forecast trough: ₹92 Cr.

₹110 Cr
Opening cash
₹638 Cr
13-wk collections
₹634 Cr
13-wk disbursements
₹114 Cr
Closing cash
Capital structure

Leverage runway vs. covenant

Net Debt/EBITDA deleveraging path against the 3.5x lender covenant ceiling.

Headroom = capex firepower

Capex capacity

Net-debt headroom to 3.5x
94 Cr
0.2 yrs of ₹450–500 Cr/yr growth capex
Net Debt / EBITDA3.1x
Covenant Headroom0.4x
DSCR1.7x
Free Cash Flow₹96 Cr
Where the cash is trapped

Working-capital cash unlock

46 Cr opportunity

Normalizing laggard divisions to a 50-day DSO releases ~₹46 Cr of one-time cash.

Aluminium HPDC (core)56d
28 Cr
Rico Jinfei Wheels (94.8%)55d
6 Cr
FCC Rico (JV) + EV / New Mobility62d
3 Cr
AAN Engineering (Aero-Defence, 100%)60d
3 Cr
Ferrous Castings54d
3 Cr
Rico Friction Technologies (70%)58d
2 Cr
Rico Fluidtronics (100%)53d
1 Cr

Concentrated in the newer units (Rico Fluidtronics, AAN Aero-Defence, FCC Rico / EV) and the export book where export-LC and milestone billing lag the mature plants — the fastest cash win this fiscal year.

Revenue quality

Value-added engine & margin

Machined & value-added revenue growth and where EBITDA is generated.

Machined & Value-Added Revenue
₹545 Cr
▲ 16.0% vs priorTarget ₹700 Cr
Machined & Value-Added Mix %
22.0%
▲ 3.8% vs priorTarget 30.0%
Program / Repeat-Order Rate
109.0%
▲ 2.8% vs priorTarget 113.0%
OEM Program Retention (Gross)
96.0%
▲ 2.1% vs priorTarget 97.0%
Value-added engine

Value-added revenue bridge

Trend

Value-added revenue growth

By division

EBITDA margin

Collections

AR aging

Total AR ₹373 Cr

Current days200 Cr
1-30 days80 Cr
31-60 days48 Cr
61-90 days28 Cr
90+ days17 Cr

Overdue (>60d) = 45 Cr at collection risk.

By account

Receivables & credit watch

Accounts ranked by DSO and credit/churn risk.

AccountRevenueDSORepeatCredit/Churn
Export OEMs (Europe / NA)₹220 Cr60d109%Medium
BMW Group₹180 Cr58d113%Low
Tata Motors / Mahindra₹95 Cr58d106%Medium
Toyota / TKM₹120 Cr57d115%Low
Hero MotoCorp₹645 Cr56d106%Medium
Renault-Nissan₹150 Cr55d107%Medium
Honda (HMSI / Cars)₹250 Cr54d108%Low
Bajaj / TVS₹110 Cr53d104%Medium
Maruti Suzuki₹330 Cr52d112%Low
Royal Enfield₹210 Cr50d110%Low
Units

Unit & subsidiary economics

EBITDA growth, DSO normalization and savings realization (as-scaled → current).

Unit / subsidiaryScaledRevenueEBITDADSOTransformSavingsStatus
Aluminium HPDC (core)1989₹1700 Cr7% → 162 Cr7056d100%90%Integrated
Ferrous Castings1992₹230 Cr6% → 17 Cr6654d100%84%Integrated
Rico Jinfei Wheels (94.8%)2008₹455 Cr8% → 43 Cr6455d88%78%In progress
AAN Engineering (Aero-Defence, 100%)2017₹95 Cr12% → 14 Cr7260d65%55%In progress
Rico Fluidtronics (100%)2018₹165 Cr9% → 20 Cr6253d82%74%In progress
Rico Friction Technologies (70%)2020₹90 Cr8% → 9 Cr6858d70%60%In progress
FCC Rico (JV) + EV / New Mobility2021₹92 Cr7% → 11 Cr6962d45%40%Early
Supply

Supplier terms & risk

Input & tooling spend, DPO (working-capital lever), delivery and risk.

SupplierCategorySpendDPOOTIFScoreRisk
Hindalco / Vedanta (primary aluminium)Aluminium (primary)₹820 Cr58d93%86Medium
NALCO / secondary alloy & ingotAluminium alloy / ingot₹360 Cr60d91%84Medium
Tata Steel / JSW + scrap (pig iron & steel)Pig iron / steel / scrap₹280 Cr55d92%85Medium
Power utilities & gas (energy)Power & energy₹240 Cr30d96%82High
Tooling & dies (HPDC / GDC)Tooling & dies₹180 Cr72d88%88Low
Machining consumables & insertsMachining consumables₹120 Cr50d90%83Medium