Century Plyboards expecting 20-25% revenue growth this fiscal year

Century Plyboards is expecting a 20-25 per cent growth in revenue this fiscal and is setting up a new Rs 700-crore manufacturing plant in Andhra Pradesh, its ED Keshav Bhajanka said.

Kolkata-based Century Plyboards -- one of the leading players in the wood panel sector -- currently has nine manufacturing plants in West Bengal, Haryana, Punjab, Uttrakhand, Assam, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu for plywood, MDF, laminate and particle boards.

It has six plants for plywood and one each for laminate, MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) and particle board.

In an interview with PTI, Century Plyboards (India) Ltd Executive Director Keshav Bhajanka said the demand for all of its products is strong, primarily from retail consumers, driven by a revival in the housing segment.

"We are expecting 20-25 per cent growth this fiscal in our annual turnover," he said.

Its main demand comes from retail consumers, with a small percentage of sales from institutional buyers.

Asked about the expansion plan, Bhajanka said a greenfield unit for the MDF board is being set up in Andhra Pradesh with an annual capacity of 3.2 lakh cubic meter per annum and an investment of around Rs 700 crore.

"This new plant in Andhra Pradesh is expected to be operational by December next year," Bhajanka said.

As per the company's latest annual report for FY'22, Century Plyboards aims to develop this project as the largest integrated wood panel manufacturing unit, covering laminates, MDF, plywood and particle board with investments of more than Rs 1,500 crore in a phased manner.

The total market size of wood panel industry comprising plywood, MDF, particle boards, laminate is estimated at Rs 40,000 crore. Century Plyboard has a 25 per cent share of the organised plywood market.

On the financial operation front, Century Plyboards consolidated net profit increased to Rs 92.62 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal from Rs 31.07 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income rose to Rs 894.78 crore in the April-June quarter from Rs 462.77 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

In the 2021-22 fiscal, the company posted a net profit of Rs 313.15 crore over a turnover of Rs 3,050.09 crore.

"The company took 36 years to reach a topline of Rs 3,000 crore in FY 2021-22; the company expects to reach a revenue size of Rs 5,000 crore within just four years," the annual report said.