The 6-Year Coma of Acrysil Shares

Just out of curiosity, I looked at the chart of Acrysil's stock price for the past 10 years.

I was surprised to see the company's shares were literally in a 6-year coma.

Between August 2014 and February 2020, Acrysil share price went nowhere and was stuck in a tight range.

Just like how ITC shares are behaving since the past few years.

Or how HUL's stock price went nowhere between 2002 to 2010.

This just goes on to prove one thing. Stock returns are almost never linear.

But what happened next will surprise you. After 6 years of no returns, the stock went on to gain as much as 600% in a year!

What led to a 7x rise in Acrysil shares?

In a bull market, most stocks tend to rise. Even the junk stocks turn into multibaggers.

Is this the case for Acrysil? Is it rising because we are in a bull market?

No.

The bull market is a supporting factor but there are other reasons which are driving the stock.

Game-changing partnership with IKEA

After crashing to as low as Rs 50 per share back in March 2020, shares of Acrysil started to gain momentum August 2020 onwards.

This was after the company, which manufactures home improvement products, announced a strategic partnership with Swedish home furnishing company IKEA Group to supply quartz sink.

This order from IKEA group provided additional revenues. Later in April 2021, the company commenced dispatches of quartz kitchen sinks to IKEA. This partnership turned out to be a game-changer as IKEA has 400+ stores in around 52 countries.

Acrysil derives 76% of its total revenues from quartz sink. It's the largest producer of the quartz sink in India and Asia. It has two plants which manufactured as many as 5-lakh quartz sinks per annum at the end of fiscal 2020.

Globally, there are only four manufacturers of the quartz sink with the Schock technology. Acrysil is a sole manufacturer in India and Asia.

Acrysil initially started its quartz sinks manufacturing with technical collaboration from Schock. Schock also had a stake in Acrysil but it sold out that stake.

While many may find this will have impact on company's operations, that is not the case as Acrysil already has the technology and it can continue well without the support of Schock.

Capacity expansion

This year in March, Acrysil expanded its capacity by 1 lakh units at its Bhavnagar plant.

Then, in August, the company announced a further expansion of production capacity by an additional 1,60,000 quartz sinks per annum.

This initiative will take its overall capacity to 1 m sinks per annum.

Acrysil said that the expansion in production capacity is done to meet the growing demand of quartz kitchen sinks in the global market.

Financials

Strong financial performance has also supported the stock.

For the June 2021 quarter, Acrysil's topline was reported at Rs 975.5 m, a steep rise of 112% if compared with June 2020 numbers.

Meanwhile, bottomline rose 194% to Rs 135 m as compared to 45.9 m in June 2020.

In the March 2021 quarter too, it had reported strong numbers.

Helped by ace investor

Market always takes it as a positive sign when prominent investors such as Rakesh Jhunjhunwala or such, hold a stake in the company.

For Acrysil, it was Ashish Kacholia. Ashish Kacholia is well known for his quality picks.

In fiscal 2021, Kacholia made strong returns on Neuland Laboratories (up 650%), Mastek (577%), ADF Foods (449%), and Vaibhav Global (422%), among others.

Back in March 2018, Kacholia bought 2.2 lakh shares of Acrysil, which amounted to 4.3% stake of the company.

As of June 2021, he held 3.75% stake in the company.

Home improvement & building materials

With people spending more hours indoors due to the pandemic, there has been a surge in home renovation projects.

People have higher disposable incomes now and are willing to spend more.

Depreciating rupee

Acrysil is heavily dependent on exports. As a large amount of revenues come from exports, rupee depreciation helps its margin.

Weakening rupee results in higher rupee realisations and margins.

Emerging market

In an interview, the company's Chairman and MD Chirag Parekh had said the industry is emerging and has a lower penetration.

At present, 90-95% of industry makes use of stainless-steel and approximately 5-10 % make use of quartz sink.

The global market for kitchen sinks was valued at US$ 3.1 bn in 2020 and is estimated to witness a CAGR of 4% over 2021-2030.

Demand for quartz sinks is continuously increasing in the UK. Customers are more inclined to natural stone-based products as compared to other products.

In its annual report, Acrysil said it expects double-digit growth in the UK market.

Equitymaster on the home improvement space...

Financial writer at Equitymaster, Aditya Vora closely tracks this space.

As per him, the home improvement space is just starting to gain traction as it gets a chunk of its sales from the replacement demand in case of a slowdown in the real estate sector.

Apart from the underlying real estate demand, Aditya believes with world economies focusing on China plus 1 suppliers, Indian companies are poised to benefit immensely.

The government's PLI scheme is also likely to fuel strong exports.

Here's what he wrote in one of his editorials.

• There is a clear, direct correlation between real estate sales and the sales of home improvement products as well as building materials.
  
  When you buy your dream house you will also be sold steel, cement, paint, plywood, bathroom fittings, tiles, marbles, electrical wires, switches, pipes and a lot more. They are all needed to build your house.
  
  You will also buy furniture, electronics, and much more after buying your house.
  
  I'm very bullish on real estate. I think the cycle is turning up.
  
  This will create a huge opportunity in stocks of home improvement and building material companies.

You can read his entire piece here: Your Backdoor Entry to India's Real Estate Boom

About Acrysil

Acrysil was incorporated in 1987 by a first-generation promoter, Mr Ashwin Parekh, and manufactures granite-based kitchen sinks, also known as composite quartz sink.

It is engaged in manufacturing and trading of sinks, bath products, tiles, kitchen appliances and accessories.

The group also manufactures stainless steel kitchen sinks mainly for the domestic market, through Acrysil Steel, wherein Acrysil holds more than 85% stake.

To know more, check out Acrysil company fact sheet and quarterly results.

To know who holds the largest chunk of shares, check out Acrysil's latest shareholding pattern.

You can also compare Acrysil with its peers.

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Acrysil vs Astral Poly Technick

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To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

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