Ecoboard suspends Eco Build manufacturing for one year

Ecoboard Industries Limited will suspend manufacturing at its Eco Build particle-board division for one year from October 28, 2026, after the division recorded Rs 16.60 crore in revenue and a Rs 9.56 crore loss before interest and tax in the half year ended September 30, 2026. The board cited the project’s viability when approving the temporary halt.

Why is Ecoboard suspending Eco Build manufacturing?

Ecoboard is suspending Eco Build manufacturing for one year because its board considered the viability of the particle-board project. The board approved the proposal at its October 28, 2026 meeting, with the suspension effective from the same date. The filing calls the measure a temporary suspension rather than a closure or disposal of the division.

The filing does not provide a detailed operating plan for the suspension period or quantify its expected financial effect. It does not state whether production may resume before October 2027, how fixed costs could change, or how inventory and customer commitments will be handled. Eco Build accounted for Rs 16.60 crore of Ecoboard’s Rs 21.76 crore revenue from operations in the six months ended September 30, 2026.

How did Eco Build perform before Ecoboard halted production?

Eco Build generated Rs 16.60 crore of revenue in the half year ended September 30, 2026, compared with Rs 3.22 crore a year earlier, while its loss before interest and tax widened to Rs 9.56 crore from Rs 5.46 crore. The division therefore remained loss-making despite the increase in reported sales.

Eco Build’s revenue fell sequentially to Rs 7.01 crore in the September 2026 quarter from Rs 9.59 crore in the June 2026 quarter. Its quarterly loss before interest and tax rose to Rs 5.91 crore from Rs 3.65 crore. Eco Energy, the Bio System segment, reported September-quarter revenue of Rs 3.55 crore and profit before interest and tax of Rs 34.04 lakh.

What were Ecoboard’s half-year financial results?

Ecoboard reported a net loss of Rs 9.50 crore for the half year ended September 30, 2026, compared with a Rs 6.32 crore loss in the corresponding 2025 period. Revenue from operations rose to Rs 21.76 crore from Rs 6.54 crore, while total expenses increased to Rs 31.51 crore from Rs 12.95 crore.

Materials consumed increased to Rs 15.82 crore from Rs 4.71 crore, other expenses rose to Rs 11.03 crore from Rs 5.59 crore, and employee-benefit expense increased to Rs 2.51 crore from Rs 1.79 crore. Finance costs were Rs 54.39 lakh, compared with Rs 43.19 lakh. The loss before tax was Rs 9.50 crore, and Ecoboard reported no current or deferred tax expense.

In the September 2026 quarter, total income was Rs 10.79 crore, against Rs 4.93 crore a year earlier, while total expenses were Rs 16.64 crore. That resulted in a Rs 5.85 crore loss before tax, compared with a Rs 2.95 crore loss in the September 2025 quarter. Basic earnings per share were negative Rs 2.22 for the quarter and negative Rs 3.60 for the half year; the filing says interim earnings per share are not annualised.

How does the suspension change Ecoboard’s business mix?

Eco Build supplied about 76% of Ecoboard’s first-half revenue, while Eco Energy supplied Rs 5.16 crore. The suspension removes the segment that produced most reported sales during the six months to September 30, even as Eco Build generated almost all of the combined segment loss before interest and tax.

Eco Energy changed from a Rs 42.56 lakh loss before interest and tax in the prior-year half to a Rs 60.26 lakh profit in the latest half. Its revenue increased by Rs 1.84 crore year on year. The filing does not state that Eco Energy will replace Eco Build revenue, disclose a revised sales target, or set out an expansion plan for the Bio System segment during the one-year pause.

Segment capital employed, defined by Ecoboard as segment assets less segment liabilities, stood at Rs 1.30 crore for Eco Build and Rs 14.02 crore for Eco Energy on September 30, 2026. Total capital employed was Rs 15.32 crore, down from Rs 22.56 crore on March 31, 2026. These reported allocations do not quantify the cost of suspending Eco Build operations.

What is Ecoboard’s financial position and outstanding litigation?

Ecoboard had total assets of Rs 62.46 crore on September 30, 2026, compared with Rs 60.96 crore on March 31, while total equity fell to Rs 15.32 crore from Rs 22.56 crore. Current borrowings increased to Rs 14.36 crore from Rs 7.57 crore, and non-current borrowings were Rs 78.75 lakh compared with nil at March 31.

Cash and cash equivalents rose to Rs 85.70 lakh from Rs 31.40 lakh. For the half year, Ecoboard recorded Rs 9.87 crore of net cash used in operating activities and Rs 10.87 crore of net cash from financing activities, including Rs 5.48 crore of working-capital bank borrowings. On October 8, 2026, it allotted 59,41,500 fully paid equity shares after conversion of an equal number of warrants issued at Rs 30 each on March 26, 2025.

Ecoboard reported excise-duty demands of Rs 11.15 crore confirmed by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, subject to input-tax credit and excluding interest and penalties. Its appeal has been admitted by the Supreme Court of India for hearing. The company also disclosed income-tax demands of Rs 5.10 crore for assessment years 2017-18 and 2018-19 and Rs 1.79 crore for assessment year 2023-24; no provision has been made pending appeal outcomes.

Conclusion

Ecoboard’s decision to suspend Eco Build follows a half year in which the particle-board division supplied most revenue but recorded a Rs 9.56 crore loss before interest and tax. Eco Energy reported a Rs 60.26 lakh segment profit, but its Rs 5.16 crore first-half revenue was substantially below Eco Build’s contribution.

The next disclosed milestone is the one-year suspension period beginning October 28, 2026. Investors can watch for any Ecoboard disclosure on a restart of Eco Build operations and the progress of the Supreme Court hearing and income-tax appeals, for which the company has recorded no provision.