The volume growth in the plywood business was muted in FY18, because it was a transitional year. Goods and Services Tax (GST) came into play and e-way bill was delayed and there was pressure from the unorganised sector," said Keshav Bhajanka, Executive Director, Century Plyboards.

He said pressure has started easing a bit now and the company will see sharp improvement in volumes for FY19.

The newly commissioned medium-density fibreboard (MDF) plant is already earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) positive.

The plant has done Rs 120 crore revenues in FY18 (commercial production started from October 1), which is expected to be around Rs 300 crore in FY19 with EBITDA margins moving from 18 to 20% plus.

MDF plant capacity utilisation is improving quarter-on-quarter. The utilisation will go up to 80% in FY19 from 50-55%, he said.

Overall, the topline should grow in excess of 20% and margins over 100 basis points in FY19, said Bhajanka.

Plywood manufacturer Century Plyboards saw a weaker than expected revenue growth in the fourth quarter while EBITDA and profit after tax too declined.

The topline was up 11.4% at Rs 544 crore against Rs 488.5 crore for the same quarter last fiscal.

The year-on-year EBITDA for the quarter declined 0.7% and profit after tax was down 36.1%.