Century Plyboards Says Rural Slump Hasn't Hurt Demand

Century Plyboards India Ltd. expects a double-digit growth in the future even as margins continue to remain under pressure, Executive Director Keshav Bhajanka said.

Margins should normalise in the next one or one-and-a-half year, Bhajanka told BQ Prime's Niraj Shah in an interview. "...even in the sluggish demand environment, I see a very good potential for growth."

The demand environment has been sluggish due to the interest rates shooting up and burdening consumers with rising EMIs, but the company hasn't witnessed a slowdown, according to Bhajanka.

"Even though there was a hit on the consumption, fortunately for the company, we have been able to sail through that wave with quite a bit of comfort."

While the rural economy has lagged the urban regions in recovery post the pandemic, Bhajanka said the plyboard industry has "not seen any slowdown" in rural spends.