DOMS Industries IPO Review: Doms, formerly known as Writefine Products is a relatively new brand established in 2005. The brand now competes with the likes of Nataraj, Apsara & Camlin, fighting for a place in every student’s hand. So how did this new brand establish itself and even manage to erase the market share market share of its competitors? (pun intended). Let’s find out!
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DOMS Industries IPO Review
Today we will learn the diverse world of DOMS, the product categories that it has, and the sub brand that operates under it. We will also learn about how the brand came to be, then we will look at the financial performance of the Company & learn more about its strengths & weaknesses.
DOMS Industries IPO Review – A Brief History
Although the brand Doms was established only in 2005, its routes go nearly 4 decades back. The parent company of Doms, RR Group was founded by Rasiklal Raveshia and The Rajani Brothers. Rasiklal worked in a Pencil Factory way back in the 1970s.
Back in the day, the government of Gujarat initiated an entrepreneurship Programme that offered Rs. 500 monthly for people starting a new venture. This led to the birth of the first pencil manufacturing factory by the Company in Umbergaon.
Rasiklal was later killed in a road accident, which eventually led to the 2nd generation of promoters taking control of the business. Today, the family now has 15 members in leadership roles.
Although one might assume that having so many family members managing the business might lead to internal conflict, it turns out to be quite the opposite.
As per Santosh Raveshia, the current Managing Director of Doms, the Company follows an ownership culture where each member is treated as the owner of a particular brand under Doms.
In 2011, an Italian company under the name Fabbrica Italiana Lapis ed Affini (FILA) entered into a strategic partnership with RR Group. As of 2015, FILA raised its stake in DOMS to 51%, investing Rs. 740 Cr.
DOMS Industries IPO – About the Company
Today Doms is a leading player in the branded stationary market with a ~12% domestic market share as per Technopark Report. The Company’s core products such as Pencil & Mathematical Instruments boxes have a market share of 29% and 30% respectively.
The Company has an international presence in over 45 countries across the globe. However, the Company’s market share should be greatly credited to its humungous network of 4000 distributors, at over 1.2 Lakh retail touchpoints.
The flagship brand Doms also houses some other brands & sub-brands like C3, Amariz, and Fixyfix. The brand C3 was designed to cater to the rural markets with affordable polymer-based pencils instead of the regular wooden ones.
Fixyfix was launched to sell an exclusive range of glue sticks, glitter glues, and fragrance glues. Amariz was launched to focus exclusively on catering to artistic professionals. It manufactures professional art brushes and kneadable erasers under this brand.
Due to Doms’ association with the FILA group, Doms also sells its parent’s products in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar & Maldives. The partnership also allows Doms to sell International brands like DAS, Tratto, Maimeri, Lyra, and a lot more.
Having learned a bit about the Company’s long history & how it is currently managed let’s take a look at its business segments.
Business Segments
Being a stationery and office supplies brand, the company has a diverse portfolio of products. However, the domestic stationery business which consists of Pencils, erasers, and sharpeners brings in 45%-47% of the revenue.
This is followed by Art Materials like Colour Pencils and crayons that bring in 23%-26% of revenue. Kits & Combos, the combined individual products of the top two segments contribute to 9%-10% of the revenue.
You can find the list of the Company’s product segments as well as individual products sold under specific segments in the list below.
DOMS Industries IPO Review – About The Industry
The stationery and art materials industry deals in a wide range of products from paper products to writing instruments. The global market was valued at approximately USD 192 billion in CY22. It is expected to reach a market size of USD 220 billion by CY 27, registering a CAGR of approximately 2.8%.
Asia Pacific holds the dominant share of the stationery and art materials product market followed by North America. In 2020, Asia and North America combined captured approximately 60% – 62% of the market for stationery products.
In CY22, the Printing and Writing Paper sector dominated the global stationery and art materials market with approximately 33% market share, while the Scholastic Stationery sector followed closely with around 32% share.
The market is at a very developed stage, with extremely slow growth. Along with this, Digitalization and Environmental concerns over the use of wood remain one of the biggest concerns for the industry.
Nevertheless, India’s ever-rising literacy rate which allows more & more people to access India’s education system could fuel the Company’s demand in the coming years.
DOMS Industries IPO Review – Financial Highlights
In FY23, Doms Industries reported revenues of R. 1217 Cr, which increased by 85.38% from Rs. 656 Cr in FY22. We see that the Company has been constantly scaling revenue growing at a CAGR of 72.51% from FY21.
Net Profits have increased from Rs. 17 Cr in FY22 to Rs. 103 Cr in FY23, increasing by 5x in a year. This comes as a result of increasing Operating margins, as a result of Marginal reduction in Employee expenses as against revenue.
At current earnings, the Company returns a handsome sum to its shareholders. Return on Equity was at 33.54% and Return on Capital Employed was at 33.31% as of FY23. Debt remained at 0.28 times Equity.
Key Players in the Market
Given below is the list of competitors to DOMS in the organized market. We see that DOMS has a significantly less dependence on its top-selling product segment. However, the brand is a lot dependent on domestic sales as compared to exports.
Strengths of the Company
- Partnership with FILA: Doms’ partnership with FILA allows the brand to tap into the Asia Pacific and Middle East markets. At the same time, Doms can sell FILA’s products in the Indian Subcontinent.
- Leadership in Key Products: The Company has a wide range of products in the Stationary and art segment, allowing the Company to lead the Indian market, in the pencils & instruments boxes category.
- Strong Brand Value: The Company constantly develops quality products and in a diverse variety. This allows its customers to be trendsetters in the industry.
- Robust infrastructure with backward integration: The Company operates 13 facilities across Gujarat. These facilities house end-to-end operations from conceptualization of design to distribution. This increases efficiency and reduces operating costs.
- Leveraging Technological Infrastructure: Doms uses Salesforce Automation to efficiently track the performance of its vast sales team. At the same time, the Company uses Distribution Management Systems to efficiently track & replenish inventory.
Weaknesses of the Company
- Volatile Raw Material Prices: The Company’s key component in making a pencil is polypropylene. This material is used as a lead in the pencil & any change in prices can significantly impact margins.
- Product Concentration: Although the Company has a diverse product line, the Company’s top 2 products accounted for ~60% of FY23 sales. Any downtrend in these products can have a detrimental impact on the Company’s total sales.
- Intense Competition: Despite having garnered a significant market share, the Company remains at risk of losing this market share over cheaper alternatives by competitors.
- Dependence on Promoter: Despite having a formidable share in the domestic market, the Company’s international presence is majorly dependent on its Corporate Promoter FILA. 59% of the Company’s total exports were due to its relationship with FILA.
- Digitalization: It is probably the biggest threat to the entire industry. The world has been constantly digitalizing and reducing its exposure to paper & such other supplies.
DOMS Industries IPO Review – GMP
The shares of Doms Industries Ltd traded at a 57% premium in the grey market on December 7th, 2023. The shares tarded at Rs 1238. This gives it a premium of Rs 448 per share over the cap price of Rs 790.
Key IPO Information
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
| IPO Size | Rs. 1200 Cr |
| Fresh Issue | Rs. 350 Cr |
| Offer for Sale (OFS) | Rs. 850 Cr |
| Opening date | 13 December 2023 |
| Closing date | 15 December 2023 |
| Face Value | Rs. 10 |
| Price Band | Rs. 750 - 790 |
| Lot Size | 18 Shares |
| Minimum Lot Size | 1 (18 Shares) |
| Maximum Lot Size | 13 (234 Shares) |
| Min. Investment | Rs. 14220 |
| Listing Date | 20 December 2023 |
Promoters: Sanjay Mansukhlal Rajani & Ketan Mansukhlal Rajani as Individual Promoter and Fabbrica Italiana Lapised Affini S.p.A as Corporate Promoter
Book Running Lead Manager: JM Financial Ltd, BNP Paribas, ICICI Securities Ltd, IIFL Securities Lts
Registrar to the Offer: Link Intime India Pvt Ltd.
The Objective of the Issue
- Rs. 850 Cr or 70% of the Net Proceeds would be used to provide a profitable exit to the promoters of the Company.
- Rs. 350 Cr or 30% of the funds will be raised as a fresh issue in the IPO. These funds will be used to finance the establishment of yet another manufacturing facility.
Conclusion
Doms Industries entered an already established market in 2005, one with high volume & low margins and it has built quite a name for itself in these years. However, the business can nearly double its revenue every year along with maximizing profits.
At the same time, the business maintains returns in the strong 30%+ range. This is a commendable feat to achieve. Now would this be enough to convince you to invest in a dull industry at a sky-high valuation of 43x? Let us know in the comments below.
Written by Nasir Hussain
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