Shares of India Pesticides slipped 5 percent in early trade on August 1, a day after the company reported a weak set of earnings for the April-June quarter.
The agrochemicals company posted a 62.3 percent plunge in net profit to Rs 15.5 crore, down from Rs 41 crore in the base quarter. The top line also took a 7.8 percent fall to Rs 201.40 crore from Rs 218.50 crore clocked in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.
Not just that, the company's operational performance also took a hit in the quarter as EBITDA margin eroded sharply to 11.2 percent from 25.5 percent in the year-ago period.
Consequently, at 11.08 am, shares of India Pesticides were trading 2.4 percent lower at Rs 216.45 on the National Stock Exchange. Trading volumes were also higher as three lakh shares changed hands against the one-month daily traded average of 91,000 shares.
The company's management attributed the disappointing quarter to the multiple headwinds faced by the agrochemicals industry. Agrochemicals players faced a highly volatile global business environment in Q1, characterised by challenges such as unfavourable macroeconomic scenarios, subdued volumes, high-cost inventories and steep price drops due to an oversupply of raw materials from China.
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"Moreover, during the quarter, the company saw additional pressures due to a reduction in selling prices of some of its products, leading to an impact of Rs 17.1 crore. This impact comprised Rs 7.3 crore owing to sales made during the current quarter and Rs 9.8 crore due to the revaluation of inventories at hand at net realizable value (NRV)," said Anand S. Agarwal, Chairman, India Pesticides.
A positive news emerging from the April-June quarter for the agrochemicals company was the increase in its technical capacity by 200 MT to a total technical capacity of 24,200 MT.
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