Archidply plans new units at Karnataka, Uttarakhand

Mumbai, 12th February 2008- Archidply Industries Limited, manufactures and offers comprehensive engineered interior products which include Plywood, Block Board, Plain and Pre Laminated Particle Board, Decorative Laminates and Decorative Veneers. The company had filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to raise funds from the capital market in order to fund its expansion plans.

Archidply expansion plans include setting up new manufacturing capacity for Plain & Particle Board, Pre Laminated Particle Board and Decorative plywood. The company has already acquired 12.50 acres at Katmachanahalli Industrial Estate, Chintamani town in Chikabalapura in close proximity to Bangalore. In addition to expansions in Karnataka the company is setting up a manufacturing facility for Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) at the existing campus located at Rudrapur, Uttarakhand and will have an installed capacity of 60,000 CBM p.a. The overall capital investment for expansion is estimated at Rs. 790 million

Speaking on the companies growth, Mr Deen Dayal Daga, Chairman & Managing Director and CEO, said "Today with the boom in the real estate and infrastructure sector, the demand and application of our products is growing manifold be it Fire Retardant Plywood in public places like Airports, ,Multiplexes,, Malls or Marine plywood for kitchens and boatbuilding activity, densified film faced shuttering plywood for constructions etc or particleboards for modular furniture. Our Financial performance has growing rapidly with Income from operations for the year ended 31st March 2007 at Rs.9,842 Lacs and PAT at Rs.525 Lacs and one takes a look at the half yearly performance as on September 30, 2007 Operational Income at Rs.6,581 Lacs and PAT at Rs. 681 Lacs reflecting a growth of 34% and 159% respectively on an annualized basis this only reflects the growth potential that Archid envisages and is now gearing up to meet this growing market. The company's Rudrapur unit at Uttarakhand is eligible for excise & income tax concessions thus improving the bottomline significantly."

Currently, the company's products are manufactured in an integrated multi-product modern facility strategically located in two different geographical zones namely Mysore, Karnataka and Rudrapur, Uttarakhand. And the products are marketed through the company's distribution network consisting of 16 marketing offices and 61 distributors and 586 dealers across the country. Archidply products comply with quality standards of BIS and International standards

of BS of UK, NEMA of USA and DIN of Germany in addition the Company has been awarded an ISO 9001: 2000 for quality management systems.

Commenting on the company's market expansion plans, Mr. Shyam Daga, Joint Managing Director and CFO said, "As a part of our growth strategy, Archidply proposes to move up the value chain by manufacturing products that are tailor made to the requirements of customers such as ready to assemble furniture components, designer doors through enhanced customer interface. As part of this strategy the company has entered into an agreement with "Home town" promoted by Future Group for display & sale of our products in their malls in Bangalore & Pune. With the introduction of new products we plan to leverage our extensive distribution channels and also increase our market presence in tier 2 and tier 3 cities."

About Archidply Industries Limited

Archidply Industries Limited is the flagship company of the Archidply group which has been associated with plywood manufacturing for more than 30 years. The brand "Archidply", has positioned itself in the premium segment of the wood panel and decorative surfacing products and is well known amongst architects, interior designers and contractors for more than three decades, making it one of the oldest active brands in its product category.

Archidply group has grown significantly in recent periods from a small saw mill in Assam to a modern state of the art manufacturer of wood panel products and decorative surfacing products manufactured in an integrated multi-product facility strategically located in different geographical zones namely Mysore in south India and Rudrapur, Uttarakhand in the north of India and Assam in the east.

The company has eco friendly process and products as it uses renewable plantation timber from agro forestry activities such as silver oak trees grown at regular intervals in coffee estates and farm grown eucalyptus and poplar on short rotation basis.

The company has installed biomass fuel based boilers at Uttarakhand thus reducing carbon emissions and thereby being eligible for carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol.

The company's decorative laminates and water proof plywood are manufactured conforming to low formaldehyde emission standards thus reducing indoor pollution due to low gas emission caused in the environment.

Speaking on the company's new initiatives in the operations area Mr Rajiv Daga Executive Director said "The company's ERP software has been rolled out and is expected to go fully onstream from April 2008 thus integrating all the locations and various functions of the business to manage the high growth company is experiencing and the increasingly wide product range that the company proposes to expand into."