BWI: Uflex Ltd. to up Global Presence, Chalks Out $250mn Investment Plans

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: UFLEX Limited
Monday, June 14, 2010 03:04 PM IST (09:34 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Economy; Business: Banking & financial services, Business services, Financial Analyst, Media & entertainment, Stock exchanges
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Uflex Ltd. to up Global Presence, Chalks Out $250mn Investment Plans


New Delhi, Delhi, India, Monday, June 14, 2010 -- (Business Wire India) -- In a bid to further up its presence in India and abroad, Uflex Ltd., India's largest flexible packaging company with annual revenues of more than Rs. 30 billion, has chalked out aggressive business and investment plans of more than US $250 million for the next two years, which include the setting up of various green/brown field projects globally.

Uflex has strong manufacturing base in India (Jammu, Noida and Gwalior), Mexico, Dubai and Egypt (on anvil) catering to global markets spanning USA, Canada, South America, UK, Europe, Russia, CIS countries, South Africa and other African countries, the Middle East and the South Asian Countries. The investment is intended to cope with the growing demand for flexible packaging in national and international market.

"The Rs 15,000-crore domestic industry is growing at around 15 -18 per cent annually owing to the increased demand for flexible packaging products, especially in FMCG and Food segments. We want to become a preferred supplier of packaging materials not only in India but across the globe and are also eyeing a $1-billion turnover by the financial year 2013. That is not possible without increasing our presence and capacities in India and abroad," says Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman & Managing Director, Uflex Ltd.

Giving the details of the company's upcoming projects, Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi says that Uflex is setting up second line of PET films -- with capacity of 26400 MT involving additional capital investment of USD 55 million, which would aggregate to total capacity of 52800 MT -- in Mexico, which is a part of NAFTA and gives Uflex access to North American markets.

The first phase of the project with 26400 TPA polyester film capacity has been successfully completed and also commenced production from July 2009. The steps for implementation of the 2nd phase have been initiated and expected to be completed in 1st quarter of FY 2011-12.

Uflex is also setting up a PP and polyester (PET) film project in Egypt. The company plans to set up a 35000 TPA of BOPP film (Bi-axally Oriented Poly Propylene film) project in the 1st phase and a 30000 TPA of PET & 12000 TPA of CPP project in the 2nd phase, involving a total investment of USD 135 million.

The 1st phase of the Egypt project is expected to commence by the 1st week of July 2010 and the 2nd phase to commission by the 3rd quarter of FY 2011-12. This facility has trade pacts with GCC nations, Southern Europe & Africa, the Middle East, West Asia and CIS nations.

Apart from the overseas projects, Uflex is also expanding its Indian capacities for its flexible packaging products involving a total investment of around USD 60 million during the current and next financial year. The expansion is expected to be fully commissioned by 1st quarter of FY 2011-12.

Uflex has reported an impressive 27% CAGR in revenue during the past five years compared to 12.3% and 4.8% reported by Indian and international peers, respectively.

However, with completion of Phase II of the company's Mexico project by June 2011, and the Phase I and II of the Egyptian facility by June 2010 and December 2011, respectively, Uflex is expecting the share of international sales revenue to increase from the current 43% to 60% by 2013.

Earlier this year, Uflex Ltd had achieved the coveted position of emerging as the second highest ranked company among the Mid-Cap 400 listing by 'Dalal Street Journal', India's leading financial journal, and also the company's scrip covered under BSE 500 index by Bombay Stock Exchange.

Uflex is the only integrated unit of its kind in the world with flexible packaging at its core. It has vast capacities for production of Polyester chips, Biaxially Oriented Polyethylene Teraphthalate (BOPET) and Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) films, Printing & Coating Inks, facilities for Holography, Metalization & PVDC coating, making Gravure Printing Cylinders, Gravure Printing, Lamination and Pouch formation.

The company's partial client list includes Unilever, Pepsi, Wrigley, Procter & Gamble, Colgate, Palmolive, Nestle, Gillette, Ranbaxy, Perfetti, Joyco, Monsanto, ITC, Godrej Pillsbury, Tata Tea, Hindustan Petroleum, Indian Oil, Britannia, Dabur, Haldiram, Wockhardt, HUL, Parle Biscuit, and Birla 3M, among others.

About UFLEX Ltd

UFLEX Ltd is the Bombay Stock Exchange (UFLEX: 500148) and NSE listed India's largest flexible packaging company with large manufacturing capacities of plastic film and packaging products providing end-to-end solutions to clients across 100 countries.

Synonymous with flexible packaging industry in the country, UFLEX group has Gross annual revenue of Rs. 30 billion and Gross Capital Investment across the world of about Rs. 26 billion.

UFLEX offers finished packaging of a wide variety of products such as snack foods, candy and confectionery, sugar, rice & other cereals, beverages, tea & coffee, desert mixes, noodles, wheat flour, soaps and detergents, shampoos & conditioners, vegetable oil, spices, marinates & pastes, cheese & dairy products, frozen food, sea food, meat, anti-fog, pet food, pharmaceuticals, contraceptives, garden fertilizers and plant nutrients, motor oil and lubricants, automotive and engineering components etc..


CONTACT DETAILS
T. Anand Mahesh, Mavcomm Consulting, +91 9350266285, anand@mavcommgroup.com
Neeraj Atri, Mavcomm Consulting, +91 9811714871, n.atri@mavcommgroup.com

KEYWORDS
ECONOMY, BANKING, BUSINESS SERVICES, Financial Analyst, MEDIA, STOCK EXCHANGES

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