Asahi Songwon Colors Limited, India’s leading manufacturer of pigments for ink, plastics, paint, textile and the paper industry, has reported Q4 FY22 revenue of Rs. 123.48 crore, a growth of 36.5% and net profit stood at Rs. 3.28 crore, a Q-o-Q increase of 44.5% and 46.7% decline on Y-o-Y basis.    

Commenting on the Q4 FY22 performance, Gokul Jaykrishna, Joint Managing Director and CEO said, “While our top line experienced robust growth, our profitability was negatively impacted by an unprecedented increase in the prices of coal, urea, copper, and phthalic anhydride. Although we have effectively passed on price increases to our customers on a quarterly basis, input price inflation has been relentless throughout the year, with each quarter witnessing higher raw material prices than the previous quarter. I am pleased to say, however, that we have efficiently handled our supply chain during these challenging times. As a result, not only did we never experience an inventory shortage, but we also never failed to deliver on time to our customers. This assisted us in gaining greater market credibility and expanding our market share."

"These difficult circumstances have unquestionably affected our profitability, but I'd like to draw your attention to the underlying shift of our business model. In the past two years, we are transitioning from a single-site company with a single product category to a four-site producer with a complete spectrum of pigments and a range of APIs by FY24. Despite the fact that our financial performance for the year appears to be muted, I can assure you that the underlying business is significantly stronger than it was a year ago,” added Jaykrishna.

Arjun G. Jaykrishna, Executive Director commented, “FY22 has indeed been an eventful year at Asahi. While our core business of phthalocyanine pigments suffered on account of profitability, it continued to support the other growth initiatives of the Company by generating significant free cash flows. All the investments we have made during the year will surely put us on a strong earnings growth trajectory for the year to come. While it is a fact that product approvals at the end of our customers have taken time, we are now witnessing good customer traction and a very healthy response to our initial market feeding."

"We are confident of significantly ramping up our AZO operations in FY23 to cater to the growing market demand. What excites me even further is our latest development on the acquisition of Atlas Life Sciences Private Limited. As against our initial plans to break ground in July 2022, we have started working on the new site at Chhatral from the first week of May. Our team is working towards ensuring that the site is up and running by Q3 FY24. This greenfield investment will help us unleash the full potential of the API business and significantly add to our profitability on a consolidated basis,” added Jaykrishna.