Cosmo Films to foray into FMCG business

Cosmo Films, which makes speciality films for packaging, lamination, labelling and synthetic paper, and services Conagra, Amcor, Nestle and Britannia and among others, is foraying into consumer-facing businesses such as laundry sanitisers, household accessories and pet care products and services.
Cosmo chief executive Pankaj Poddar said: “We are responding to evolving consumer needs by extending our core business to categories where we have synergies.”

For the third quarter ended December 2020, the company reported record-high EBITDA of Rs 112 crore on the back of 13% year-on-year speciality sales, higher operating margins and inventory gain of Rs 7 crore owing to raw material price increase.

Poddar said the pandemic outbreak which led to immediate increase in sale of sanitizers, soaps and other cleansers, created robust demand for flexible packaging and labels as well. “Now demand for packaged foods has surged; it became a source of entertainment for consumers during peak lockdown, which also resulted in increased demand for speciality packaging films,” he said.

Cosmo Films reported consolidated net profit increase of 73.8% to Rs 62.76 crore in the December 2020 quarter. Its profit before tax stood at Rs 88.24 crore, up by 70.1% from Rs 51.89 crore in the corresponding year-ago quarter.

The company said it is also growing its specialty films and textile chemicals businesses.