Aksh Optifibre Limited [BSE: 532351 | NSE: AKSHOPTFBR], the leading Indian manufacturer of Optical Fibre, Optical Fibre Cables, Fibre Reinforced Composites and a major e-Governance & Turnkey service provider reported its Q1 FY18 financial results.
Mr. Satyendra Gupta, Deputy Managing Director at Aksh Optifibre Limited, commented, “The quarter went by featured steady margins growth, where top line remained a little subdued due to constraints faced from the supply of raw material. However, the Company expects revenues to grow going forward, as the Company has taken steps to counter the raw material related issue by doing backward integration and has successfully set up its additional optical fiber capacity, which will get operational in the early third quarter of the financial year. The key accomplishments of this quarter were securing the prestigious Jaipur Smart City Project and healthy order book in OFC & FRP segment. We are moving towards a path to accelerate growth with a focus on three key priorities: growing revenues, expanding our product portfolio, and strengthening Aksh’s presence on the global front.”
Q1 FY18 Financial Summary
- Gross Revenue at Rs. 123 Crores, down by 15% on QoQ basis, highest ever in Q1
- EBIDTA at Rs. 11 Crore, higher by 61% on QoQ basis
- PAT at Rs. 2.18 Crore, against the loss of Rs. 0.58 Crore during last quarter.
Management’s consistent efforts in the past few quarters towards achieving greater operational efficiencies and enhanced business efficacy has resulted in recording stable margins growth during the quarter gone by. The Company also witnessed certain challenges in sourcing the key raw material for its optical fiber cable segment at the economically viable prices, hence the Company remained strategically selective in its order execution to maintain the healthy bottom line. On the back of robust order book of above Rs 300 Crore, the management is confident about the healthy revenue growth in the quarters to come. Also, In order to offset the dependency on the soaring raw material prices and its supply related constraints, the Company has already embarked upon its journey towards backward integration and has successfully set up additional optical fibre towers in its Bhiwadi plant facility, which will become operational during early third quarter of the financial year, whereby doubling its optical fibre capacity.
The Company’s diversification plan to venture into country’s under penetrated ophthalmic lens segment is progressing successfully, and Company’s state of the art ophthalmic lens plant in Kaharani (Rajasthan) is progressing as per schedule and will be operational within the second quarter of the financial year.
In sync with the smart cities mission of The Government of India, Aksh has successfully forayed into Smart City projects with a vision for planned development and progressive growth in various cities of the country. The Company has been awarded the eminent Jaipur Smart City Project. The project envisages the development of Smart City through laying of optical fiber cables, providing smart lighting systems and IP based traffic surveillance solutions.
Outlook
The Company’s management is confident about the unparalleled and robust demand in the optical fiber segment which is growing at a torrid pace and is set to maintain its buoyancy globally as well as domestically. The impetus in the optical fiber cable segment is expected to witness growth due to the installation of broadband data lines, the proliferation of connected devices (IoT) and the rise in adoption of 3G, 4G, and evolution of 5G telephony.
World’s installations of optical cable totaled 229 million fibre-km in H1 2017, which represents an increase of 9% from H1 2016. The corresponding amount of bare fiber shipped to cable manufacturers is expected to close the calendar year 2017 to a record level of 500 million km.
