SRF profit falls 33% to Rs 201.42 crore in September quarter; to invest Rs 1,100 crore on new refrigerant plants

SRF Ltd reports Q2 earnings

Chemical firm SRF Ltd on October 22 reported a 33 percent decline in its consolidated net profit to Rs 201.42 crore for the second quarter of this fiscal on higher expenses and announced plans to invest Rs 1,100 crore on new plants to manufacture fourth-generation refrigerants.

Its net profit stood at Rs 300.78 crore in the year-ago period.

The total income rose to Rs 3,457.63 crore during the July-September period of this fiscal from Rs 3,206.48 crore in the year-ago period, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The company's total expenses increased to Rs 3,173.97 crore in the second quarter from Rs 2,791.67 crore a year ago.

SRF Chairman and Managing Director Ashish Bharat Ram said, “While the performance this quarter has been expectedly subdued, I believe the worst is now behind us. We will start seeing an improvement from this quarter onwards with a likelihood of a strong finish to the year".

SRF also informed that its Board of Directors approved "a project for setting up new facilities to manufacture fourth generation refrigerants at Dahej, Gujarat or any other location found suitable by the Company at an expected cost of around Rs 1,100 crore".

The mode of financing will be internal accruals and borrowings, it added.

These facilities aim to meet the future requirements of refrigerants with a significantly lower global warming potential (GWP) and help in lowering carbon footprint.

The plant is expected to be capitalised and commissioned in about 30 months.

Delhi-NCR-based SRF Ltd is into technical textiles, chemicals, and packaging film businesses.

The company has 13 manufacturing plants in India and one each in Thailand, South Africa, and Hungary. It exports to more than 100 countries.