UPL net profit rises 25% in December quarter on surge in sales volume

Agro-chemical firm UPL Ltd on Monday reported 25 per cent growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,179 crore for the December quarter of this fiscal. The company's net profit stood at Rs 944 crore in the year-ago period.

Revenue from operations was 23.79 per cent higher in the quarter at Rs 11,297 crore, compared to Rs 9,126 crore in the same period of 2020-21. The robust revenue was helped by healthy growth in volumes (+11 percent) across all regions except India  and better product realisations (+13 percent). EBITDA grew 21 percent on-year to Rs2,666 crore as against Rs 2,209 crore in Q3 FY21.

"In-house manufacturing with backward integration linkages supported by effective raw material sourcing and overall cost management helped in keeping the EBITDA margins largely intact, despite the higher input costs and a sharp rise in freight charges," the company said in a notice to exchanges.

UPL reported 22 percent revenue growth in Latin America, while Europe and North America showed 26 percent and 57 percent surge in revenue. High sales return in kharif and erratic monsoon adversely impacted sales volume in India, it said.

Robust growth in Latin America was due to higher herbicide demand and a significant uptick in realisations, while  robust volume and pricing growth helped post strong growth in North America.

"This (North America) outperformance was driven by a combination of factors - buoyant commodity prices, constrained supply for key products, favourable channel stock and improved herbicide demand," UPL said.

"Strong performance in North Europe drove major growth in Europe. Improved demand for bio-solutions also supported the regional performance," UPL said.

Shares of UPL were trading at Rs 800 a share at 11.35am on BSE, up 1.25 percent from its previous close, while India's benchmark Sensex rose 1.24 percent to 57,909 points.