Birla Opus, the Aditya Birla group paint company, has invested about all of its Rs 10,000 capex in the last 1.5 years. The company has set up five manufacturing plants, a 50,000-strong dealer network, and 45,000 tinting machines and massive marketing campaigns, leaving no stone unturned; however, the company’s market growth has slowed down in the past couple of quarters.
Birla Opus posted a revenue of Rs 1,107 crore in the first quarter of FY26. The company recorded a 20.5 per cent quarter-over-quarter revenue growth in Q1 FY26.
A Nomura report shows that, despite the revenue growth, the company’s sales and market share growth remain a key worry. Additionally, there is a sector-wide margin pressure in the paint industry. While Birla Opus is focused on market gain at the moment, it remains to be seen how the current low margins would shape the company in the long run.
Birla Opus: Sales and market share
While the revenue growth rate of Birla Opus is higher than that of larger market players, such as Asian Paints (6.9 per cent QoQ growth) and Berger Paints (18 per cent QoQ growth), Nomura says that the sales of the company have stagnated in the past couple of months.
Birla Opus made a big entry in the Indian paint market in February 2024 and aggressively gained 5.7 per cent market share by the end of the year. However, in the last 2 quarters, the company’s market share growth has slowed down.
By the end of Q4FY25, Birla Opus’s market share was 6 per cent, which increased to 6.6 per cent by the end of the next quarter, Q1FY26.
Birla Opus is doing better in the premium paint segment as the company’s 65 per cent sales come from the segment. However, in the economy paint segments, which have the highest competition and discount wars, the company still struggles.
In the investor conference call, the company management also stressed that while it is looking at all segments, the main focus of the company might be the luxury and premium segments.
The road ahead
Birla Opus had announced Rs 10,000 crore capital expenditure at the time of the launch. According to Nomura, the company has invested about 9,5550 crore till now. The company announced that it will set up six manufacturing plants, and as per the management, five plants have already been commissioned, and the sixth is expected to commence operations soon.
While Birla Opus’s five manufacturing facilities are operational, the utilisation levels are still ramping up. The company currently has a 1096 million litres capacity and is projected to reach 1,332 million litres as the sixth plant becomes operational.
Birla Opus has an ambitious target of achieving Rs 10,000 crore in sales in the next three fiscal years (including FY26). Nomura says that given the 50,000-dealer network, the company’s plans look sound at the moment.