Astral

By Bharath Rajeswaran

Aug 13 (Reuters) - Global index provider MSCI said on Thursday it will add four Indian companies to its widely tracked Global Standard index and remove three as part of its August review, underscoring the continuing churn in India's representation within global passive portfolios.

The changes will be implemented after the close of trading on August 31, 2026, and take effect on September 1, MSCI said.

Laurus Labs LAUL.NS, an active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturer; Lenskart LENS.NS, an omnichannel eyewear retailer; Adani Energy Solutions ADAI.NS, the Adani Group's power transmission and distribution arm, and Groww BILO.NS, a digital investment and broking platform, will enter the index.

They will replace tyre maker Balkrishna Industries BLKI.NS, credit-card issuer SBI Cards SBIC.NS, and building-materials company Astral ASTL.NS. Following the reshuffle, the number of Indian constituents in the key MSCI index will rise to 166 from 165.

India's weightage in the global standard index will also rise to 11.9% from 11.8%, according to Nuvama Alternative and Quantitative Research.

The inclusion is expected to trigger significant buying by exchange-traded funds and other passive investors that replicate MSCI benchmarks.

Nuvama Alternative and Quantitative Research estimates potential inflows of about $598 million for Laurus Labs, $352 million for Lenskart, $310 million for Adani Energy Solutions and $256 million for Groww.

Conversely, Balkrishna Industries, SBI Cards and Astral could see estimated passive outflows of $169 million, $143 million and $138 million, respectively.

The review also recalibrated weights among existing index members. Eternal ETEA.NS is projected to attract the largest incremental passive inflow, at around $674 million, following an increase in its weight. Adani Enterprises ADEL.NS and Adani Ports APSE.NS could receive about $202 million and $77 million, respectively.

Reliance Industries RELI.NS is estimated to face outflows of roughly $523 million, while Jio Financial Services JIOF.NS may see $61 million in outflows.

Separately, MSCI's Small Cap index review added companies including Amagi Media Labs AMAI.NS, Ather Energy ATHR.NS, Clean Max CLEM.NS, E2E Networks EENE.NS, Embassy Developments EMBS.NS, Patanjali Foods PAFO.NS, Rubicon Research RUBI.NS, Sedemac Mechatronics SEDE.NS, Sky Gold and Diamonds SKYG.NS, United Breweries UBBW.NS, Urban Company URBN.NS and WeWork India WEWO.NS, while removing 19 stocks.

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

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Aug 12 (Reuters) -

• MSCI: BILLIONBRAINS GARAGE, LAURUS LABS ADDED TO MSCI INDIA INDEX

• MSCI: ASTRAL, BALKRISHNA INDUSTRIES, SBI CARDS AND PAYMENT TO BE REMOVED FROM MSCI INDIA INDEX

Source text: https://app2.msci.com/eqb/gimi/stdindex/MSCI_Aug26_STPublicList.pdf

Further company coverage: BILO.NS

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Astral Limited's board withdrew the composite scheme of arrangement that would have demerged its chemical business into a separately listed company, Astral Chemie, and merged Al-Aziz Plastics into the parent. The scheme had been approved by the board on June 25, 2026, and an independent consultant was later appointed to review it. Following the review and feedback from stakeholders, the board concluded that the demerger was not in the best interests of shareholders at the current scale of the chemical business. The chemical division, comprising adhesives, paints, and construction chemicals, reported revenue of about ₹1,000 crore in the year to March 2026. The board indicated it may reconsider a restructuring once the business achieves greater scale and financial strength.

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Astral Limited withdrew the composite scheme of arrangement that would have separated its chemical business from its core plumbing operations into a new listed entity called Astral Chemie. The decision followed an independent review and feedback from shareholders and other stakeholders. The board concluded that the chemicals unit, comprising adhesives, paints, and construction chemicals, lacked sufficient scale to operate as a standalone company. The scheme, first disclosed on 25 June 2026, had also proposed merging Al-Aziz Plastics into Astral. The company said it would reconsider a demerger once the chemical business achieves financial strength to fund its own organic and inorganic growth.

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July 29 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• ASTRAL - BOARD WITHDRAWS COMPOSITE SCHEME OF ARRANGEMENT

• ASTRAL - DEMERGER OF CHEMICAL BUSINESS MAY BE CONSIDERED AFTER ACHIEVING SCALE

Source text: ID:nBSE1GCNl0

Further company coverage: ASTL.NS

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** Astral's shares ASTL.NS rise as much as 3.54% to 1,378 rupees apiece, a two-month high

** Morgan Stanley says ASTL will rise relative benchmark Nifty 50 index .NSEI over next 30 days

** Brokerage has an "overweight" rating and price target of 1,660 rupees, an implied upside of about 25%

** Says ASTL offers exposure to some of the most attractive growth pools within India's building products sector, supported by market share gains, chlorinated polyvinyl chloride backward integration

** Adds valuations appear more reasonable, following a period of weaker growth and share price underperformance

** Combination of stronger growth and margin expansion supports an attractive risk-reward profile at current levels - Morgan Stanley

** ASTL down 1.3% in 2026 vs 7.7% fall in Nifty 50

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

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Astral Limited’s board decided on July 5 to undertake a comprehensive independent review of the composite scheme of arrangement it had approved on June 25, following feedback from unnamed stakeholders. An external adviser from the big-four or equivalent will be appointed to evaluate the plan—which would demerge the adhesives and construction chemicals business into Astral Chemie and merge Al-Aziz Plastics into Astral—and submit recommendations within 30 days. The board said it will consider the findings before deciding whether to continue, modify, defer or pursue any other course of action regarding the scheme.

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** Shares of Astral Ltd ASTL.NS down 8.5% at 1,360.70 rupees, lowest level since January 22, 2025

** ASTL on track for steepest fall since January 2022

** On June 25, board approved demerger of chemical business, transferring related assets to another co, Astral Chemie Ltd

** ASTL's core plumbing business to merge with Al-Aziz Plastics

** Shares fell 3.24% on Thursday

** RSI at 28.8 indicates stock "oversold" after over 10 months

** CLSA says deal will have limited near-term impact on stock

** Investec notes well-intentioned demerger appears somewhat "premature", values chemical business at 20% discount to Pidilite Industries Ltd PIDI.NS, peers

** Deal sharpens operational focus, enhances strategic flexibility - Antique Stock Broking Ltd/p>

** YTD, stock down 1.89%

(Reporting by Saikeerthi in Bengaluru)

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Astral Limited’s board on June 25, 2026 approved a composite scheme to demerge its adhesives, sealants and construction chemicals business into wholly-owned subsidiary Astral Chemie Limited (formerly Astral Coatings) and simultaneously merge another subsidiary, Al-Aziz Plastics, into Astral. The chemicals business recorded ₹1,266 crore in turnover for FY26, representing 21% of Astral’s standalone revenue, while Al-Aziz Plastics generated ₹37 crore. Under the demerger, Astral Chemie will issue one new equity share for every share held in Astral, resulting in an identical shareholding pattern post-listing. Astral Chemie will seek listing on the NSE and BSE upon regulatory approvals, while Al-Aziz Plastics will be dissolved without a separate share issuance. Managing Director Sandeep Engineer said the reorganisation aims to create focused, agile entities with independent capital allocation and specialised management, enhancing long-term value for stakeholders. The scheme remains subject to approvals from the NCLT, SEBI and stock exchanges.

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Astral Limited's board on June 25 approved a composite scheme of arrangement that will separate its chemicals and adhesives business into a new company, Astral Chemie Limited, and merge its wholly-owned subsidiary Al-Aziz Plastics into Astral. The demerged chemicals undertaking generated ₹1,266 crore in revenue in the year to March 2026, about 21% of Astral's standalone turnover, and will be hived off into Astral Chemie, which is currently a paints and coatings subsidiary. Shareholders of Astral will receive one equity share in Astral Chemie for every one share held, replicating Astral's current shareholding pattern. The resulting company's shares will be listed on the NSE and BSE, subject to regulatory and NCLT approvals. Meanwhile, the amalgamation of Al-Aziz Plastics, a maker of electrofusion and compression fittings, is intended to streamline operations and integrate complementary products into Astral's plumbing business. Managing Director Sandeep Engineer described the restructuring as a step to create two more agile businesses with dedicated leadership and sharper strategic focus.

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** India's Astral ASTL.NS drops 6.5% to 1,445 rupees

** Plumbing firm reports higher quarterly profit and revenue, however, analysts flagged a sharp decline in margins

** Jefferies says sales growth remained strong in Q4 but EBIT margins in adhesives business contracted 55 bps, calling it a "sharp decline"

** Citi says co's strong volume growth was offset by the margins decline in the adhesives segment

** Motilal Oswal analysts flagged rising prices of polymers may further hit margins, even though price hikes have been passed to customers

** Avg rating of 29 analysts on ASTL at "buy"; median PT is 1,721.50 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, stock up 4.2%

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

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BENGALURU, May 18 (Reuters) - Diary of India economic, corporate events on May 18

ECONOMIC, CORPORATE .BSE500 EVENTS:

=

NTS - 'No time scheduled'

(Compiled by Bengaluru Newsroom)

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March 23 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• AL-AZIZ PLASTICS GRANTED PATENT FOR 'MULTIPORT WATER OUTLET' BY GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

Source text: ID:nBSE1yfppZ

Further company coverage: ASTL.NS

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March 19 (Reuters) - OpenAI said on Thursday it will acquire Python toolmaker Astral, as the ChatGPT owner looks to strengthen its portfolio against rival Anthropic and gain more share in the artificial intelligence coding tools market.

The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, but said the acquisition will bring Astral's suite of developer tools into the Microsoft-backed MSFT.O startup's AI coding system, Codex.

Sam Altman-led OpenAI, which launched its Codex platform last year, is stepping up competition, as Anthropic has gained traction with its Claude Code tool among software developers.

OpenAI launched a desktop app for its coding tools earlier this year.

The company said on Thursday that Codex has more than 2 million weekly active users, marking a three-fold increase in users and a five-fold jump in usage since the beginning of the year.

Astral has become a major player in the Python community. Its tools are designed to improve speed and reliability in Python development.

"OpenAI will continue supporting our open-source tools after the deal closes," Astral founder and CEO Charlie Marsh said in a statement.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

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March 16 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• ASTRAL LTD - ENTERS SHARE SUBSCRIPTION AGREEMENT WITH VENA ENERGY SUSTAINABLE POWER

Source text: ID:nBSEbmYVCS

Further company coverage: ASTL.NS

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Feb 5 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• ASTRAL LTD DEC-QUARTER CONSOL NET PROFIT 1.08 BILLION RUPEES

• ASTRAL LTD DEC-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 15.42 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSEbQZYdd

Further company coverage: ASTL.NS

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** Pipes and fittings manufacturer Astral India ASTL.NS falls 2.8% to 1,399.8 rupees

** Investec initiates a "fast sell" on ASTL, citing pressure on earnings growth and fully valued stock price

** Says, co faces weak domestic building materials demand, a potential decline in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pricing and no major uptick in earnings trajectory

** Adds, even if anti-dumping duty notification against cheap PVC imports comes through, brokerage sees limited benefits for meaningful PVC price increases

** YTD, ASTL down ~15%

(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru)

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** JP Morgan initiates coverage on Indian pipe makers Astral ASTL.NS and Supreme Industries SUPI.NS with "overweight," price targets at 1,700 rupees and 4,930 rupees, respectively

** Shares of ASTL up 2.1% to 1,470.1 rupees, SUPI climbs 2.2% to 4,448.1 rupees

** PTs at ~18%, ~13% premium on last close of ASTL and SUPI, respectively

** JP Morgan sees India pipe majors nearing demand recovery, on the back of strong real-estate construction activity, higher water infrastructure spends and favorable channel inventories

** Expects double-digit volume growth for ASTL, SUPI in FY25-28 vs an 8% rise in the broader industry

** Upbeat on ASTL's leadership position in the chlorinated polyvinyl chloride pipes - a type of thermoplastic pipes - segment; see SUPI's scale and distribution edge as a key positive

** Both stocks rated "buy" on avg, median PTs at 1,494.5 rupees, 4,490 rupees, respectively - data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, ASTL, SUPI down ~11%, ~5%

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru)

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Sept 4 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• ASTRAL LTD - APPROVES ACQUISITION OF REMAINING 5% IN SEAL IT

Source text: ID:nBSE35QK3n

Further company coverage: ASTL.NS

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** Astral ASTL.NS falls 5.2% to 1,312 rupees; marks biggest one-day pct fall since January 13

** Pipe maker's Q1 consol profit drops 33% y/y; rev down 8.9%

** Co says polymer prices volatile in Q1, with avg prices for polyvinyl chloride, a key raw material for co, falling ~14% y/y

** This resulted in inventory losses, affected realisations, co adds

** Stock rated "buy" on avg; median PT is 1,609 rupees, per data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, ASTL loses ~16%

(Reporting by Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru)

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** Motilal Oswal initiates coverage on plastic pipe makers Supreme Industries SUPI.NS, Astral ASTL.NS, Prince Pipes PRCE.NS with "buy" rating

** Industry to grow at ~14% CAGR to 805 bln rupees ($9.39 bln) by FY27, driven by housing, irrigation, and sanitation - Brokerage

** Motilal expects SUPI market share to improve on plant addition, growing distribution network; sets PT at 5,400 rupees

** Brokerage says Astral's diversified channel strategy has highest total addressable market among peers; sets PT at 1,800 rupees

** Adds, PRCE's real estate exposure, premium products, 60,000 MTPA plant will enhance reach; sets PT at 500 rupees

** SUPI stock down 1%, ASTL up 0.8% and PRCE gains 3%; Nifty 50 .NSEI up 0.6%

** YTD - SUPI, ASTL, PRCE down ~7%, ~8%, and ~18%, respectively

($1 = 85.7700 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Anuran Sadhu in Bengaluru)

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April 17 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• APPROVES ACQUISITION OF AL-AZIZ PLASTICS

• ACQUISITION VALUED AT 330 MILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSEb8Vv9G

Further company coverage: ASTL.NS

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April 3 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• GRANTED BIS CERTIFICATE FOR OPVC PIPES

Source text: ID:nNSE7J5H1p

Further company coverage: ASTL.NS

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BENGALURU, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Diary of India economic, corporate events on Jan.30

ECONOMIC, CORPORATE .BSE500 EVENTS:

NTS - 'No time scheduled'

(Compiled by Bengaluru Newsroom)

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Jan 20 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• STARTS COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION AT GHILOTH PLANT REGARDING SWR FITTINGS

Source text: ID:nBSE7gY2yL

Further company coverage: ASTL.NS

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** Shares of Astral ASTL.NS fall 2.5% to 1745 rupees, their biggest one-day fall since Oct. 22

** Pipe maker's Q2 consol profit drops 16%, hurt by lower demand for products due to heavy monsoon

** Analysts' average rating on stock is "hold," same as peer Cera Sanitaryware CERA.NS

** Analysts' median PT on ASTL is 2025 rupees - LSEG data

** Stock last fell 1%, down 7% YTD

(Reporting by Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru)

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Nov 7 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• DIVIDEND OF 1.50 RUPEES PER SHARE

• SEPT-QUARTER CONSOL NET PROFIT 1.10 BILLION RUPEES

• SEPT-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 13.7 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE42gWht

Further company coverage: ASTL.NS

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Oct 22 (Reuters) - Indian tile maker Kajaria Ceramics KAJR.NS reported a bigger-than-expected fall in its second-quarter profit on Tuesday amid sluggish domestic demand as monsoon rains slowed construction activity.

Consolidated net profit fell 22% to 842.7 million rupees ($10 million) in the quarter ended Sept. 30 from 1.08 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of 1.07 billion rupees, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.

Revenue from operations increased about 5%, marking the eight straight quarter of single-digit growth, according to LSEG data.

For further earnings highlights, click: (FWN3LX1FR)

KEY CONTEXT

Tiles demand has been sluggish in the world's most populous country, with strong construction activity in western, eastern, and central India countering weakness in northern and southern parts.

Construction, which was hit by an election-linked slowdown in the first quarter, did not pick up as above-average monsoon rains kept infrastructure activity subdued.

PEER COMPARISON

* Mean of analysts' ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell
** Ratio of the stock's last close to analysts' mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT

JULY-SEPTEMBER STOCK PERFORMANCE

**

**

-- All data from LSEG

-- $1 = 84.0530 rupees

(Reporting by Yagnoseni Das and Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

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Aug 8 (Reuters) - Astral Ltd ASTL.NS:

• JUNE-QUARTER CONSOL NET PROFIT 1.2 BILLION RUPEES

• JUNE-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 13.84 BILLION RUPEES

Further company coverage: ASTL.NS

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** Shares of Astral ASTL.NS drop 3% to 1819.05 rupees as analysts flag valuation concerns

** Pipes maker posts sequential decline in Q3 operating profit due to moderation in pipe volume growth, says Kotak Institutional Equities

** Reiterates "sell", citing rich valuation that "leaves no room for disappointment"

** Antique Stock Broking Systematix Institutional Equities also flags rich valuations despite expecting sustained earnings growth

** ASTL's trailing 12-months PE is 91.65, much higher than peers Finolex FINX.NS and Prince Pipes PRCE.NS - LSEG data

** The mean recommendation of 21 analysts tracking ASTL is equivalent of "hold"

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +91 9769003463;))