UFlex Limited, India’s largest integrated flexible packaging and solutions company, reported first quarter fiscal 2025 unaudited consolidated net revenue of Rs. 3,682.5 crore. Normalized EBITDA for the quarter was Rs. 465.2 crore and EBITDA margin was at 12.6%. Profit before exceptional items and tax for the quarter was Rs. 105.1 crore.

The first quarter of fiscal 2025 unfolded the company’s strong growth momentum from the fourth quarter of last financial year. During Q1 FY25, Packaging Films and Packaging sales volume increased by 10.4% year-over-year (YoY) and 0.1% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ). This includes a 13.0% YoY and 0.9% QoQ growth in the packaging films business, and a 2.5% YoY growth in the packaging business. The YoY growth in the packaging sector was driven by significant increases in holography and aseptic liquid packaging, with holography sales volume rising by 23.3% YoY and Aseptic liquid packaging rising by 3.2% YoY and 6.8% QoQ.

During the quarter, the company incurred a total capital expenditure (Capex) of Rs 280.2croe (Rs. 630.8 crore in Q4 FY24), which undertook two major projects. A sum of Rs. 114.5 crore dedicated for setting up a Virgin PET chips plant in Egypt, while Rs. 119.4 crore allocated for acquiring and installing an SML machine at the Sanand facility. The remaining Rs. 46.3 crore of the Capex attributed to various miscellaneous and maintenance activities.

Commenting on the results, Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman and Managing Director, UFlex Group,said, “We had a strong quarter, especially in the packaging films and solutions segment where we have seen both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter growth in volumes coupled with growth in margins. The PET chips plant in Panipat, India, which was commissioned in March 2024 has achieved 65% capacity in the first quarter of its operations. We have seen a revival in the demand for packaging films across global markets. Our aseptic business continues on the growth path, we continue to see good traction for our holography products and solutions, and we are driving good growth across all our business segments.”

"In FY25, we will be commissioning several key projects, including a 216,000 MTPA virgin PET chips plant in Egypt, an 18,000 MTPA CPP line in Mexico, and capacity debottlenecking at our Sanand plant in India, to increase its annual output to 12 billion packs. These strategic projects are pivotal for creating enduring value for all UFlex stakeholders. These investments shall foster operational excellence and propel substantial growth in our top line and EBITDA while yielding considerable free cash flow”.

“Reinforcing our strategic focus on sustainability, our attention toward PCR flexible packaging is on top of our agenda and we are constantly working toward developing more sustainable solutions. We are the only company that is working within India and globally on innovative solutions in flexible MLP and PCR and its applications”.

“We have entered into a long-term Power Purchase Agreement with Onevolt Energy Private Limited to secure renewable power for our manufacturing facilities in Noida-NCR. This agreement is in addition to a PPA with Amplus Phoenix Private Limited to supply solar power to our packaging films plant in Dharwad, Karnataka, which will help reduce the company’s carbon emissions by 19,000 tCO2e”.

Rajesh Bhatia, Group president and CFO, UFlex Limited, said, “We had a good first quarter, and are on track for a strong recovery in the global packaging films business both in volumes and margins. The aseptic packaging business recorded the highest-ever quarterly production and sales volumes and with the debottlenecking getting completed later in the year, we will witness strong volume growth from Q4 FY25 onward.

“The backward integration strategy with the commissioning of the first PET chips plant in Panipat, India, has been a huge success, and with the planned commissioning of the PET chips plant in Egypt later in FY25, UFlex will become even more self-sufficient in its raw material requirements. We are at the cusp of witnessing stupendous optimisation in recycled content across various segments of the packaging industry and are on the road to becoming a market leader in this segment in the immediate future”.