More Stories

Informist, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026

By Sunil Raghu and J. Navya Sruthi

MUMBAI – After delivering 13-14% volume growth in the first nine months of 2025-26 (Apr-Mar), Astral Ltd. is likely to exceed the current growth by the end of this financial year, a senior official of the company said in a post-earning conference call with analysts. However, the official said it is too early to quantify the growth.

"It is too early to say but I can say the beginning of the January until February today (Feb. 5) we are better than the Q3 (Oct-Dec)," the official said. "And then going forward also for even for next couple of years that previously also we said that double digit growth that stand remains intact."

The pipes and adhesives maker reported a consolidated revenue of INR 15.42 billion for the December quarter. Net profit for the quarter was INR 1.08 billion. The company's shares Thursday closed at INR 1,503.6 on the National Stock Exchange, up 0.2% from the previous session.  More

The official said the company has spent INR 2.9 billion of INR 3.5 billion it had guided for as capital expenditure in 2025-26 (Apr-Mar). He said the company had spent INR 14 billion to INR 15 billion as capital expenditure in last three to four years and it was time for the company to encash this investment now. "...from here on you will see a good improvement in free cash flow. Also, all our new verticals have started on a positive sign and we are confident that from next quarter onward you will see across-the-board growth and improvement in the margin," he said. The official also pointed to 21.6% growth in paints business during the third quarter of FY26 to drive home the point, stating the margins would be similar in the March quarter.

The other main reason for company's confidence is arrest and reversal of fall in prices of poly vinyl chloride, the key raw material for the pipe maker. The PVC prices had been falling for several quarters but have begun witnessing an upswing since last couple of months. The retailers of Astral products generally desist from buying new inventory when PVC prices fall, waiting for them to fall further, thereby leading to an inventory loss. Normally, the distributors and dealers keep trade channel inventory levels of four weeks each, covering eight weeks of demand. The company believes the prices of PVC have "bottomed out".

The company is also invested in backward integration plant in Gujarat to make chlorinated PVC resin. Currently, the company imports it from Japan and needs to keep a three-month inventory. The company hopes that having in-house capacity of this input material would help it save working capital, provide consistent supply, and shelter it from fluctuating foreign currency. It said the plant would be fully operational in Jan-Mar of 2027.  End

Edited by Ashish Shirke

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.