India`s Tata Chemicals posts Q1 profit drop on lower soda ash prices
Indian chemicals maker Tata Chemicals reported a 71.8% fall in its first-quarter profit on Monday, hurt by lower soda ash prices and subdued demand.
Consolidated net profit fell to 1.5 billion rupees ($17.9 million) for the quarter ended June 30 from 5.32 billion rupees a year earlier.
Revenue from operations fell more than 10% to 37.89 billion rupees for the quarter.
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KEY CONTEXT
China's economic slump and decreased EU demand for glass products are causing an oversupply in Asia and the EU, lowering soda ash prices. Recovery may take 12-18 months, according to analysts.
Tata Chemicals slashed prices last November amid rising competition, and combined with weaker demand, this has hurt its bottom line.
Soda ash constitutes the company's primary business segment.
PEER COMPARISON
Valuation Estimates (next 12 Analysts' sentiment
(next 12 months)
months)
RIC PE EV/EBI Revenue Profit Mean # of Stock to Div
TDA growth growth rating* analysts price yield
target** (%)
Tata Chemicals 28.36 11.83 3.49 -5.94 Sell 7 1.24 1.38
Deepak Nitrite 39.75 25.70 13.43 30.14 Hold 15 1.23 0.24
SRF 42.05 22.85 14.88 23.13 Hold 25 1.08 0.29
GHCL 8.62 4.96 5.81 NULL Hold 1 1.16 1.91
* 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 APRIL- JUNE STOCK PERFORMANCE
($1 = 84.0390 Indian rupees)