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Informist, Saturday, May 16, 2026

By Adhithya Aji

MUMBAI – Astral Ltd. is expected to report a double-digit on-year growth in both revenue and net profit in March quarter supported by higher volumes and inventory gains. The on-year growth in the bottom line is likely to be the highest in 10 quarters and the top-line growth is seen the highest in 15 quarters.

The company is expected to report a consolidated net profit of INR 2.49 billion for the March quarter, according to the average of estimates from 10 brokerages. This implies an on-year growth of 39% and around two times the INR 1.24 billion reported in the trailing quarter. The highest estimate for the bottom line is INR 2.88 billion from Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. The lowest view is INR 2.24 billion from JM Financial Institutional Securities Pvt. Ltd.

The revenue of the company is expected to grow nearly 29% on year to INR 21.63 billion, according to the average of estimates. Sequentially, the sales is estimated to grow over 40%. The highest estimate for the metric is INR 23.85 billion given by Motilal Oswal while the lowest is INR 20.20 billion from Elara Securities (India) Pvt. Ltd.  

The net profit of the company is expected to be supported by large inventory gains, according to brokerages, The growth in volume during Jan-Mar was supported by a 65% surge in polyvinyl chloride prices, JM Financial said. "Accordingly, the low-cost inventory carried over from prior periods is expected to drive meaningful inventory gains and support margin expansion across players," the brokerage said.

Higher share of value added products, such as chlorinated polyvinyl chloride pipes, is likely to support margin and the double-digit growth in bottom line, Motilal Oswal said. 

The ongoing war in West Asia between the US and Iran benefitted the company. The war helped Astral record a "substantial" jump in sales volume and add nearly INR 3 billion in cash in the March quarter, Informist reported citing a source. As on Dec. 31, the cash and equivalent of the company was at INR 5 billion.

The rise in crude oil prices due to the West Asia crisis has pushed up PVC prices, touching a high of INR 114 per kilogram in March against INR 70 per kg in January. The jump is significant given that the price had declined by INR 11 per kg in the December quarter after Chinese manufacturers dumped the raw material in the Indian market. The Indian government imposed an anti-dumping duty to curb this and stabilise the price.  

Retailers of Astral products generally desist from buying new inventory when the price of PVC falls, waiting for prices to fall further, thereby leading to an inventory loss. Normally, distributors and dealers both keep a trade channel inventory of four weeks, together covering eight weeks of demand. They buy products from the company when they see raw material prices move up, with the expectation of making more profits through inventory gain. Inventory levels that were at a low till mid-February due to depressed raw material prices jumped as PVC prices began rising.

The company's pipes ops earnings before, interest, and tax per kilogram are expected to improve nearly 14% on year to INR 33.6 per kilogram due to operating leverage and some inventory gains, ICICI Securities said. In the year-ago quarter, the company reported an EBIT per kg of INR 29.5 per kilogram.

The company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation are estimated at INR 4.12 billion, up over 32% on year, as per the average of estimates from eight brokerages. The estimates for EBITDA range from a high of INR 4.59 billion to a low of INR 3.80 billion. The highest estimate for the metric is from Motilal Oswal while the lowest view is from Elara Securities.

The EBITDA margin of the company is seen improving 11 basis points on year and 268 bps sequentially to 18.1%. This growth is driven by large inventory gains, JM Financial said. In the December quarter, the company reported an EBITDA margin of 16%.

For the year ended 2025-26 (Apr-Mar), the company is estimated to report a consolidated net profit of INR 5.95 billion, up nearly 14% on year, as per the average of estimates from four brokerages. The top line for the period is expected to grow nearly 15% on year to INR 66.80 billion.  

Astral will detail its March quarter earnings on Monday. On Friday, shares of the company ended nearly 1% lower at INR 1,550.80 on the National Stock Exchange. The stock gained over 5% since the announcement of its December quarter earnings on Feb. 5.

Of the 13 brokerage reports on the company available with Informist, 10 have a ‘buy' or equivalent recommendation on the stock with an average target price of INR 1,825 and two have a ‘hold' call. While the remaining one has a ‘sell' recommendation on the stock. The average target price for the ‘buy' call is nearly 14% higher than the current market price. 

The following are the March quarter earnings estimates for Astral from 10 brokerages, in INR billion, in descending order of the net profit estimate:

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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