By Ketan SonalkarSomany Home Innovations (SHIL) was carved out as a separate entity in August 2019, after it was demerged from its parent company HSIL (Hindustan Sanitaryware and Industries). HSIL is a leading sanitaryware company commonly identified by the brand Hindware.
HSIL spun off its consumer products distribution and retail division to Somany Home Innovation (SHIL). The marketing and distribution business in the building products division was transferred to Brilloca, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SHIL.
SHIL operates in three verticals that cover different product types. The building products vertical has the Hindware brand for sanitaryware like water closets, faucets, washbasins, showers, etc. Building products also include plastic pipes and fittings under the brand Truflo.
The consumer appliances vertical has products marketed under the brand name Hindware along with another brand name Moonbow for premium products. These include kitchen appliances like hobs, gas stoves, chimneys, geysers, etc. The third vertical deals with furniture retail and uses the brand name Evok.
SHIL listed on Indian stock exchanges on December 26, 2019, and delivered stellar returns to investors with the stock rising more than 2X in that period.
Quick Takes
Total revenues for H1FY22 increased 56% YoY to Rs 959 crore.
Building products revenues stood at Rs 704.1 crore in H1FY22, constituting 78% of the total revenues
The furniture vertical is an area of concern with much lesser revenues than other verticals, and virtually no profitability since inception in 2008
Prices were hiked in Q2FY22 across product categories to mitigate commodity price inflation
New partnerships with Groupe Atlantic to enter geysers segment with production from a new factory in Telangana to commence from FY23
Going beyond sanitaryware to kitchen appliances and furniture
After two consecutive quarters of growth in revenues after Q2FY21, sales declined in Q1FY22. This can be attributed to the second wave of the pandemic and successive lockdowns restricting the movement of people and goods. Net profit in Q1FY22 was boosted by a one-time gain of Rs 66.1 crore on its investment in HPL (Hintastica Private Limited).
The Q2FY22 numbers show signs of optimism with revenues and profits rising on a YoY basis. With renewed demand in the real estate sector, the next few quarters are expected to deliver better numbers.
Hindware is the leader in the sanitaryware space. Parryware, Hindware and Cera, control about 45% of the total sanitaryware market. While a large part consists of unorganised players, this is expected to shrink in the future with organised players expanding their reach even into smaller cities and towns. SHIL is planning to expand its dealer and distributor network to tier-3 and tier-4 cities.
SHIL is diversifying into other associated products in its industry. Until 2012, sanitaryware was the only segment it operated in. In 2014, SHIL added taps and faucets to its product portfolio. It forayed into consumer appliances with kitchen appliances like hobs and chimneys in 2015. It further ventured into plastic pipes and fittings in 2018 and added fans and kitchen fitting hardware under consumer products in 2020.
Even after diversification into other products, the majority of SHIL’s revenue comes from building products. At the end of H1FY22, building products contributed 78% and furniture retail only 3% to total revenues. The contribution of consumer products also declined in H1FY22 to 19%, lower than FY20 and FY21.
The Q2FY22 results indicate a substantial YoY rise in revenues from the consumer appliances vertical to Rs 112 crore from Rs 83.1 crore. Building products revenues also rose YoY to Rs 483.8 crore from Rs 291.7 crore. The furniture retail vertical showed negligible growth YoY and rose to Rs 20.9 crore from Rs 19.7 crore.
The revenues from plastic pipes and fittings grew more than 50% YoY to Rs 158.1 crore. This is a segment with competition from well-entrenched players like Astral, Finolex, and Prince Pipes. SHIL is leveraging its network of dealers and distributors of sanitaryware, including those associated with the company for a few decades, to gain market share in the pipes segment. It is also banking on institutional orders from government projects with products approved by various government authorities. Pipes and fittings are also exported to countries in ASEAN and the Middle East.
The furniture brand Evok offers a range of products across categories like furniture, home decor and furnishing, modular kitchen, wardrobes, and engineered wood furniture. This vertical is not yet profitable even after eight years. It contributes very little to the revenue as compared to other verticals.
The furniture retail vertical saw numerous setbacks through this period. The company began by opening up many large format stores across India but ended up shutting down the majority of them in a couple of years of operations due to losses.
In its latest annual report, the company said that it has changed its strategy from company-owned stores to franchise stores and online-driven businesses. Now the company owns only two stores, while another twenty-nine are franchise stores. Apart from its own e-commerce platform evok.in, it also sells products on platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, and Pepperfry.
More product additions are in the pipeline
SHIL has partnered with Groupe Atlantic, which will invest Rs 68.3 crore for a 50% stake in Hintastica (HPL), the water heater business subsidiary of Somany Home Innovation. HPL is setting up a manufacturing plant in Telangana and all components will be indigenously manufactured. This will come up by Q4FY22, and manufacturing is set to commence from May 2022.
All products under this subsidiary will be marketed and sold under the brand name Hindware Atlantic. This will be a premium brand and will also include value-added products which are connected with IoT (internet of things). These products include geysers and water purifiers that can be controlled by your mobile phone.
The company also sells premium and super-premium tiles under the brand Neom. The portfolio consists of glass vitrified, ceramic, full-bodied vitrified, cladding, and parking tiles.
Even after diversification, SHIL remains a strong player in the building products vertical, maintaining its leadership in sanitaryware, which is also its biggest revenue contributor. The pipes business holds potential for higher revenues, but this would take a few more quarters as there is fierce competition from existing established players.
The company is introducing premium products and technology-enabled consumer appliances to propel future growth. The furniture retail business is still struggling to make profits after many years and the challenge is to ensure profitability for a few consecutive quarters.
HSIL is seeing interest from star investors. Superstar investorsAshish Kacholia and Sunil Singhania added shares of SHIL to their portfolios over the last year. The company is an interesting case study of diversification. After foraying into many different verticals, some have worked well and some have yet to make any difference to the company’s revenue mix. Whether it can transform itself into a fully diversified building products company profitable across verticals is something investors should track in coming quarters.
