Indian packaging giant Uflex reports steady revenue growth amid ongoing international expansion

14 Aug 2019 --- Uflex, India’s largest multinational flexible packaging company, has declared its earnings for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, reporting that consolidated revenue grew by 3.6 percent to INR 1982 cr in Q1 while EBITDA rose by 8.7 percent to INR 277.3 cr Y-o-Y. The supplier indicates that it will undergo further international expansion with ongoing investment in Hungary, Nigeria and Russia, while it is also innovating in biodegradable plastic films.

On a standalone basis, revenue increased by 2.23 percent to INR 1051 crore and EBITDA jumped by 11.7 percent to INR 132.6 crore. The consolidated net profit dropped by 3.6 percent Y-o-Y to 90.7 crore for Q1 FY2019-20, due to the higher tax provision.

Talking about the earnings, Rajesh Bhatia, Group CFO at Uflex said that while Uflex’s total production volume this quarter was almost constant at 100814 MT Y-o-Y basis, packaging production volume was up by 4.8 percent Y-o-Y to 21018 MT.

“To optimally use our film line capacity, we are shifting one of our BOPET film manufacturing lines from UAE to Russia, since the production from this line was already largely dedicated to markets in Russia and CIS countries. This will enable us to serve customers locally, apart from substantial cost saving of freight, energy and import duties,” Bhatia explains.

“Uflex has progressed exponentially in the last few years with its products, technological and engineering capabilities, keeping in mind the evolving needs of the packaging industry, along with environmental needs,” Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman & Managing Director, Uflex adds.

“To ensure that we are future-ready and have a better outreach of sustainable solutions to our clients located globally, we are scaling up our operations internationally. Our ongoing investment in Hungary, Nigeria and Russia to set up manufacturing facilities for packaging films attests to our commitment to deliver packaging excellence to each of our customers,” he says.

To address the issue of plastic pollution, Uflex is working on a range of “revolutionary” biodegradable plastic films, Chaturvedi highlights.

Uflex highlighted some of its latest key innovations:

• 4D Bag: A brick-shaped all-panel registered bag with handle and reclosable option – A packaging solution for the FMCG industry has been launched in the Middle East, Iraq and Sri Lanka. The product combines the standability feature of a rigid packaging with functional advantages of conventional flexible packaging. The handle and re-closable option provide convenience and ease of use. Priced between both rigid and conventional flexible bags, the 4D bag is finding many takers in the rice, coffee, tea, detergents and pet food industries.
• Water-based inks – Water-based inks for paper printing for flexible packaging, paper & board segments for food wraps and paper cups for beverages was launched by the Chemicals business. This product, which comes with high-quality printability, good scuff and water-repellent properties, is being used by big brands such as Coca Cola, PepsiCo and Subway.
• Flexseal HSL-WBHS 18 heat seal lacquer – A water-based dispersion, designed to give good adhesion and heat-sealing properties on a range of substrates like paper, foil, metal and other polar substrates; it can achieve an appropriate coefficient of friction for high-speed packing lines. Flexseal HSL-WBHS series heat seal coatings are water-based and balance low seal initiation temperature with high seal strength. This latest innovation by Chemicals business is compliant with FDA regulations for direct food contact applications.
• Collar Type Form Fill & Seal Packaging Machine – Fully automatic collar type twin head form fill & seal machine UFLEX SUPER CTSD is a continuous motion machine for the efficient packing of various products like tea, sugar, spices, cookies, snack foods, wafers, detergent, pulses, rice, flour and sweets in center-seal pouches of size 10gm-100gm. The accuracy and speed of the machine allow up to 280 pouches per minute to be packed with less utilization of space, capital and maintenance.
• Improvised Vertical Form Fill & Seal Machine – Uflex says that it is the only manufacturer of the CT150C packaging machine in India that addresses the challenge of packing snacks that are light in weight, yet not freefalling, such as wafers. The machine, that was commercialized this quarter, can pack 75-85 pouches per minute.
• New Pick Fill Seal Machine for packing bigger pouches – PFS 8 is a fully automatic intermittent motion machine with eight-station rotary indexing, filling and sealing mechanism to pack granules snacks in pre-formed pouches like four side seal, center-seal pouch, standup pouch and zipper pouch. Instead of the earlier version of packaging machine with 10 stations that had a limitation with the size of products it can pack, PFS 8 is best to pack bigger pouches required for family packs, such as 1.5 kg packs. It is useful for packing of products such as pesticides, pet food, snacks, detergent, agricultural seeds and has already found purchasers in India.
• Converting machine for big bags – To be commercialized and made available outside India by Q2 of this financial year, BBM-12 will make Uflex the only India-based manufacturer and one of two globally to build this machine. The machine is designed for bags of size 10kgs or less, such as pet food, rice and flour, and can produce up to 25 bags per minute. Currently under trial, the machine can make center-seal bags, side gusseted bags and side gusseted truncated bags.
• UV LED Inks records sizeable spike in sales – The recently launched UV LED Inks for narrow web and sheeted business segments by the Chemicals business generated substantial revenue in this quarter by achieving 70 growth in sales and adding key customers in the African market to its portfolio.
• New wider width AlOx Machine – FlexFilms Mexico plant’s new and second AlOx line with a maximum width of 1615 mm commenced operations. Besides providing good clarity to the film, the line will offer better barrier uniformity across the web width.

Uflex is India’s largest multinational Flexible Packaging Materials & Solution Company and a global player in Polymer Sciences. It has state-of-the-art packaging facilities at multiple locations in India with an installed capacity of around 1,35,000 TPA and packaging film manufacturing facilities in India, UAE, Mexico, Egypt, Poland and the US.

Integrated within its core business profile are allied businesses like Aseptic Liquid Packaging, Engineering, Cylinders, Holography and Chemicals. Uflex caters to markets spanning across the globe in over 140 countries including the US, Canada, South American countries, UK and other European countries, Russia, South Africa, CIS and Asian and African nations.

Some of Uflex’s clients on the global turf include P&G, PepsiCo, Tata Global Beverages, Mondelez, L’Oreal, Britannia, Haldiram’s, Amul, Kimberly Clark, Ferrero Rocher, Perfetti, GSK, Nestle, Agrotech Foods, Coca-Cola, Wrigley and Johnson & Johnson.