India’s largest multinational flexible packaging company UFlex has declared its earnings for the quarter ended September 30, 2019 and its consolidated EBITDA for Q2 FY19-20 stood at Rs 278.8 crores, showing an increase of 5.4 per cent YoY basis, while its consolidated net profit fell marginally by 1.8 per cent YoY to Rs 94 crores.
The total production volume of global player in polymer sciences during the quarter was 94218 MT as compared to 102442 MT during Sept 2018 quarter and total sales volume for the quarter was 93951 MT as compared to 101081 MT in Sept 2018 quarter. Lower production and sales volume are attributed to closure of one BOPET line in Dubai as it is being shifted to Russia. The company reported consolidated net revenues of Rs 1875.3 crores for second quarter of fiscal 2019-20, registering a drop of 7.2 per cent on Y-o-Y basis.
Talking about the earnings of the company, Rajesh Bhatia, Group CFO, Uflex, said, “Q2 FY2019-20 was a steady quarter, and despite the closure of one BOPET line in Dubai, which is being shifted to Russia and will be operational in Q4FY20, the EBITDA grew by 5.4 per cent and EBITDA margins improved from 13.1 per cent to 14.9 per cent on Y-o-Y basis.”
Clarifying on the impact of single-use plastic phase out by 2022, Bhatia commented, “The current plan by GoI on Single Use Plastic (SUP) in India will not affect UFlex business in any way since we do not manufacture carry bags and cutlery items which are included in SUPs. UFlex is in the business of manufacturing multi-layer flexible packaging which is all 100 per cent recyclable and all the plants of UFlex already have recycling facilities. UFlex is providing leadership to the industry and the industry association is proposing to set up a pilot plant which will showcase how to segregate municipal waste and recycle plastic waste and will surely address the negative perception around plastic, which is actually a boon material. UFlex USA plant is already certified by SCS Global for its minimum 90 per cent post-consumer recycled (PCR) content PET film and UFlex will gradually set up PCR facilities at some of its plants worldwide.”
Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman and Managing Director, Uflex, said, “Keeping in mind our commitment towards the planet and the changing needs of the consumer packaged goods’ industry towards sustainable packaging, equipping our clientele with a mix of recyclable and biodegradable products, besides setting up of PCR facilities at our plants, shall remain our big focus this year. These efforts will definitely help in reducing the plastic waste in the environment and create a truly circular plastic economy.”
Some key product launches that UFlex feels will change the way the market functions are:
- High output multi lane filling and packing machine for stick packs: Two versions of multi–lane fill and pack machines stick pack 200P and stick pack 200L were launched by the engineering business for efficient packaging of granule content like sugar, salt, coffee creamer, etc, and liquid content like mayonnaise, honey, sauces, tomato ketchup, etc. Stick Pack 200P for packaging of powder and granules is equipped with a five-track system leading to higher production capacity of 175 to 225 packs per minute, whereas for stick pack 200L, the three tracks can easily produce anywhere between 75 to 90 packs per minute. The machines are ideal to pack a weight of three to eight grams and can run various combinations of multi-layer packaging substrates like PET, PE, aluminium and paper, depending on the packaging requirement. The new launch with additional benefits like easy operation of the machine, low maintenance cost and reduced energy consumption, has already found takers in India.
- Solutions for textile and pharmaceutical industry: The holography business of UFlex launched a series of innovations designed for its customers in textile industry and pharmaceutical packaging. With already a majority stake in sequin market in India, UFlex launched its variant of multicolor printed sequin for the textile industry, which will further strengthen its position in this segment. The indigenously built multi-wash stamping foil by the firm makes it the only architect of this product in the country. The foil, which will also be exported, can withstand seven washes, without it being damaged, once the stamping is done on textile. With the foray of transparent holographic PVC into Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical packaging market, UFlex has become the first and only company in the world to develop this innovative product, that transfers holographic image to 250 micron PVC, not only enhancing the aesthetic appeal of pharma packs, but also providing an anti-counterfeit solution.