Pidilite Industries Limited, a manufacturer of adhesives, sealants and construction chemicals announced its financial results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2024. For the current quarter, UVG was 15.2 percent with 12.7 percent UVG in C&B businesses and 25.2 percent UVG in B2B businesses. Gross Margin in the quarter was higher by 691 bps compared to last year same quarter. Higher investment in brands and customer facing initiatives continued during the current quarter. As a result, EBITDA Margin for the quarter was 20.5 percent as compared to 18.4 percent last year.
Net sales for the year were Rs 11,118 Cr and grew by 5% over last year. Net sales for the current quarter at Rs 2,576 Cr, grew by 9% over the same quarter last year.
EBITDA, before non-operating income for the year at Rs 2,550 Cr, grew by 37% over last year. EBITDA for the current quarter ended stood at Rs 528 Cr, up by 21% over the same quarter last year.
Profit before Tax and Exceptional Items (PBT) for the year at Rs 2,397 Cr, grew by 44% over last year. PBT for the current quarter ended stood at Rs 463 Cr, higher by 19% over the same quarter last year.
Profit After Tax (PAT) for the year at Rs 1,799 Cr was up by 43% over last year. PAT for the current quarter at Rs 354 Cr, up by 22% over the same quarter last year.
Commenting on the results, Bharat Puri, Managing Director, Pidilite Industries Ltd, said, “At Pidilite, we delivered robust double digit Underlying Volume Growth (UVG) as well as substantial improvement in profitability, both for the quarter as well as FY 24. Continued investment in our brands, growth and capability initiatives as well as moderation in input prices, contributed to this strong performance.
While there may be short term softness in the environment in near term, we continue to remain optimistic about market demand in the medium term, with overall increase in construction activities, government spending and increasing prosperity.”
The current year`s revenue was underpinned by robust UVG across categories and geographies along with mix improvement. This growth was broad based with both the segments – Consumer & Bazar (C&B) and Business to Business (B2B) achieving double digit UVG, enabled by distribution expansion, innovation, supply chain and digital initiatives. Geographically, both Urban and Rural markets grew, with Rural markets outpacing Urban growth.
Input prices eased during the year leading to substantial expansion in Gross Margins (by 955 bps over FY23). We continued to remain committed to nurturing our brands by substantially increasing our investments in brands and other growth-related initiatives. EBITDA Margins improved by 534 bps over FY23, after passing benefits of lower input costs to customers and increased A&SP spends.
In the current financial year, Pidilite has expanded capacity in existing plants and commissioned ten new plants.
Despite the global economic uncertainty, inflation and political instability in some countries, International subsidiaries (excluding Pidilite USA and Pulvitec Brazil) revenues for the year grew by 7.8 percent over FY23 with EBITDA Margins improving from 10.8 percent to 14.8 percent.
Domestic C&B subsidiaries reported industry leading growth with improvement in EBITDA Margins. B2B subsidiaries also achieved double digit sales growth and with 550 bps improvement in EBITDA Margins.
In March 2024, Pidilite divested the business in Brazil and with this, it has now fully exited the businesses in Americas.