BackPiramal Glass on capex drive to meet demand
Piramal Glass on capex drive to meet demand
Premium
Mumbai: Piramal Glass plans to set up new furnaces and upgrade existing ones over the next two years to support growing demand in its high-margin cosmetics and perfumery bottles segment, its chairman said on Thursday.
The ₹ 160 crore expansion, spread across its facilities in India and the US, would complement the glass maker’s ongoing ₹ 100 crore capacity addition in Gujarat, Ajay Piramal told Reuters in an interview.
“The right product-mix with a focus on high-margin cosmetics and perfumery segment has improved margins for us. We are also planning to bring in more efficiency in production through upgradation," Piramal, who also controls Piramal Healthcare and Piramal Life Sciences , said.
“We have some of the top international perfume brands as our clients and the worldwide demand for this particular segment is growing significantly."
Earlier in the day, the company said March quarter consolidated net profit soared 194% to ₹ 36 crore on net sales of ₹ 329 crore.
The glass moulder’s Ebitda margins rose 630 basis points to 28% for the quarter, it said in a statement.
Piramal Glass, which runs fully-owned units in the US, Sri Lanka and France, and has operations in 54 countries, counts Hindustan Unilever ,
L’Oreal and LVMH among its clients.
Expansion route
“As the demand surges, we have to upgrade our capacities... We plan to set up new furnaces in India while investments are being made to upgrade equipment in the US unit," he said adding the company saw about 52% of sales this fiscal coming from the cosmetics and perfumery segment.
The Piramal group firm commands almost half of the global nail polish bottles business, besides having a 35% share in the Indian medicine bottles market, he said.
“Since this business requires immense skills and experience, we cannot grow via acquisitions in India as similar players don’t exist," Piramal said, but refused to comment on any overseas acquisition plans.
The company, which draws about 75% of sales from international clients, expects to maintain this in the years to come.
“This trends would be more or less the same even if more and more production of international brands is slowly moving to India," he said.
At 2:35 p.m., shares of Piramal Glass were trading at ₹ 129.80 , down 1.78% in a weak Mumbai market.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
