Century Plyboards Ltd (NSE: CENTURYPLY) is a leading manufacturer of plywood and other allied products in India. The company offers a wide range of plywood, laminates, veneers, and other building materials under the CenturyPly and Starke brands. Century Plyboards has a strong presence in both the domestic and international markets, and is known for its quality products and innovative designs. The company has won several awards and recognitions for its business performance and sustainability initiatives.
Century Plyboards Ltd recently released its Q3FY23 results, despite being a seasonally weaker quarter, the company achieved a quarterly revenue of Rs. 877 crore, showing a de-growth of 2.6% on a QoQ basis. The company’s gross margins were impacted by 90 bps on a sequential basis to 32%, mainly driven by higher timber prices.
The company’s EBIDTA margins were 15.2%, a drop of 210 bps on a sequential basis, mainly due to sustained input cost pressure and operating deleverage in laminate and particle board segments. While plywood and laminate EBITDA margins contracted by 180 bps and 310 bps QoQ, the company saw EBITDA margin contraction of 280 bps and 810 bps on a sequential basis in its MDF and PB segments. The particle board segment EBITDA was impacted the most, mainly driven by operating deleverage.
The company’s profit after tax was at Rs. 81.36 crore, a decrease from Rs. 97.27 crore in Q3FY22. However, the company maintained a high RoCE of 23.12% in Q3FY23, despite high input cost inflation, by virtue of prudent working capital management. The company’s net cash on books as of Q3FY23 is Rs. 208.48 crore, enabling it to maintain its high RoCEs.
In Q3FY23, the company showed improvement in working capital management by three days QoQ, which has augmented its war chest for future capex. The company has reported total income of Rs. 889.0079 crores during the period ended December 31, 2022, an increase of 3.1% from the same period in the previous year. The company has reported EPS of Rs. 3.70 for the period ended December 31, 2022, as compared to Rs. 4.24 for the period ended December 31, 2021.
Overall, despite the challenging business environment, Century Plyboards (India) Ltd has managed to maintain its financial strength and competitiveness in the market. The company’s focus on prudent working capital management and cost optimization will enable it to tide over the current headwinds and emerge stronger in the future.