It has taken 50 years for Garware Technical Fibres (GTFL), a technical textiles maker, to make its first global acquisition. The acquisition of Offshore & Trawl Supply AS in Norway, announced last week is significant for many reasons: First, it establishes a manufacturing presence in Europe with a synthetic cordage plant and provides broader market access and the opportunity to expand the GTFL portfolio in Europe, Vayu Garware, chairman and managing director of GTFL, says.
However, the lack of global acquisitions so far has hardly been a handicap for the company, which exports to 75 countries. Around 60% of its Rs 1,500 crore-plus revenues come from exports, with Europe having a lion’s share.
The success mantra for GFTL, which predominantly manufactures nets and ropes, is fairly simple: a continuous focus on value added products, which now accounts for 80% of total revenue —up from 40% a few years ago. As a result, it has a track record of doubling profits every five years. Garware is confident of continuing that track record.
This is reflected in the stock market performance too. The stock has outperformed the broader market, generating a return of 15.81% over the past year, significantly exceeding the BSE 500’s returns.
Garware says GTFL has transformed from a commodity rope maker into a value-added product company. “We have been on a journey of innovation and application focus over the last 15 years, particularly in the netting segment of our business. Therefore, aquaculture and salmon fishing have become key areas,” Garware adds.
Agriculture and salmon farming contribute 30% to GTFL’s revenues, while the sports and geosynthetics segments each account for 20%. The rope segment also represents 20% of the revenues.
Garware says GTFL enjoys a very high return on capital employed (ROCE) and a 50% return on investment. The company is debt-free, with strong cash generation, and its first acquisition was funded through internal accruals.
In the aquaculture and salmon farming segment, GTFL provides an extensive range of products for salmon farming cages and systems. The company also supplies products to Iceland, the UK, the Faroe Islands, Sweden, and Finland, with links to major salmon farming firms across Europe.
In addition to aquaculture, GTFL offers sports nets, frames, tents, and accessories to the US and European markets for various sports, including tennis, baseball, volleyball, and soccer, catering to levels ranging from college and university to professional clubs and national teams.
GTFL is a leading player in geosynthetics products—polymer-based materials used in infrastructure projects such as roads, ports, airports, railways and defence. The company produces 20,000 SKUs of technical textiles in the country,
ICRA’s latest ratings report says GTFL’s value-added and technologically advanced products continue to enhance its business prospects and profitability. Over the past few years, GTFL has maintained operating profit margins between 16% and 20%.
For FY25, consolidated net sales rose by 16.2% to Rs 1,540.11 crore from Rs 1,325.61 crore in FY24. Net profit after tax increased by 10% to Rs 231.54 crore, and earnings per share improved by 10.7% to Rs 23.32.