Sector Overview
Plywood is used in Real Estate sector be it commercial or residential projects. It can be treated as alternative of wood in laymen terms but have came far from that as well. The increasing demand of modular kitchens, modular furniture and other wooden finish items for interior decoration have propelled new growth engine for the industry. Most of the modular items are created using plywood as it is cost effective with respect to wood and looks more premium compared to plastic alternatives.
If you have recently performed interior at your home then you must have noticed that plywood companies are taking major pie of the expenditure. It means they are making money for every such initiative. There are many unlisted players in the market. So the industry is majorly unorganized with lots of local brands available but with increasing demand of quality have pushed the market for organized players as well.
The sector is very new and under represented. In this article I will discuss about the listed players in the space. None of the companies are part of Nifty50 showing that this sector is new and growth sector with lack of any super big player in the space.SO lets discuss about the listed players.
Listed plywood companies
I have listed the companies in order of market capitalization. Some of the companies have other business as well but that is understandable. So I have listed those companies as well here along with pure play ones as they will compete in same space for market share.
The sector is majorly dominated by unorganized players in sense that market share is more with unorganized players compared to organized ones. The first three companies are small cap companies with established track record. The lower list from fourth onwards are micro cap companies. Microcap industries are termed as more risky compared to small cap companies. But nowadays no company is safe I am looking at you Credit Suisse.
Century Plywood
Century plywood is the largest plywood company in terms of market capitalization. It is considered as one of the most popular plywood brand in India with Sainik 710 as one of the most widely recognized brands from the company. It is also in business of Laminates as well. It has started online delivery or plywoods as well which is good initiative from the company.
It will help it cover entire country. Buyers can easily buy the product which will help company take market share from unorganized sector. Below are some of the quick details about the company to give you an idea about it
- Market Capitalization – 10 thousand crore
- It pays regular dividend as well
- Promoters have more than 70% holding
- Profit making company
- 25% market share in organized plywood sector
Greenply Industries
Greenply Industries is second most prominent brand in plywood market. It is also widely recognized brand with many premier segment brands. It is closely regarded as second most popular brand and has considerable market share in organized plywood market. With Century and Greenply having close to half the organized plywood market.
It demerged into separate entities in business of Laminates and plywood but Century is having all under one roof. So as of now it has three listed players on the stock exchanges. The other two players like Greenlam Laminates is dedicated laminates players and Greenpanel is having other business except plywood and laminates with it. Earlier it had all the business in one unit like Century and was easily comparable with them.
- Market Capitalization – 2 thousand crore
- It pays regular dividend as well
- Promoters have more than 52% holding
- Profit making company
- Close to 25% market share in organized plywood sector
- DII have good holding in the company
Kajaria Ceramics
Kajaria Ceramics as the name suggests is in Tiles and Ceramics sector. Tiles are the main business of the company but recently it has ventured into plywood sector as well with Kajaria ply brand. The company has been a multi baggar company in its own rights riding into tile demand and giving handsome returns to investors over the years. It has emerged as the largest tiles sector company of India. Now eyeing the Plywood sector as both will cater the same housing sector and it wants to be one stop shop for housing materials like tiles, bathware and plywood. It has also started Laminates as well.
The experience of the company from becoming top tiles company in India will help it gain market share from unorganized players and become prominent brand in plywood sector as well. But as of this writing the first two are main brands recognizable to local carpenters and interior decorators whereas people get surprised hearing name of Kajaria in plywood sector. So it requires some sort of marketing and awareness campaign regarding the new product segment.
- Market Capitalization – 17 thousand crore
- It pays regular dividend as well
- Promoters have more than 48% holding
- Profit making company
- Recently entered the plywood sector which will get benefit from its reach in tiles segment
- DII and FII both have good holding in the company
Archidply Industries
Archidply has unique distinction of having launched Low Formaldehyde emission plywood in India for the first time.
- Market Capitalization – 100 crore
- It does not pay dividend
- Promoters have close to 70% holding
- Profit making company
- DII and FII does not have holding in the company
Duroply Industries
Duroply is yet another microcap company in plywood sector.
- Market Capitalization – 100 crore
- It does not pay dividend
- Promoters have close to 55% holding
- Loss making company
- DII and FII does not have holding in the company
Western India plywood
Western India plywood is smallest plywood sector company in above list based on market capitalization.
- Market Capitalization – 70 crore
- It irregularly pays dividend
- Irregular profit and loss making company
Conclusion
Plywood can be seen as housing sector play as the demand will rise with increasing demand of premier custom furniture and cost effective alternative to wooden beds and furniture. Most of the demand will be domestic with export will help the companies further increasing their revenue. The industry is dominated by unorganized players. They have around 70% of market share. So if there is gradual shift from unorganized to organized then also the listed players will get benefited. There may be consolidation as well with smaller players getting acquired by bigger ones. So it is new rising sector which one should keep an eye on.