India's UPL posts wider Q2 loss on lower agrochemical prices
Agrochemicals maker UPL posted a wider quarterly loss on Monday hurt by pricing pressures.
The company reported a consolidated net loss of 4.43 billion rupees ($52.5 million) for the three months ended Sept. 30 from a loss of 1.89 billion rupees a year earlier.
Revenue from operations rose 9.1% to 110.90 billion rupees, while total expenses were 10.9% higher at 115.1 billion rupees.
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KEY CONTEXT
While international agrochemical demand is recovering, with higher sales volume across geographies, ample supplies from China have curbed price increases and hurt domestic companies' margins, analysts said.
Firms have also been grappling with higher fertiliser and agricultural chemicals inventory and destocking for the past few quarters, weighing on prices, analysts said.
UPL, which reported a second straight quarter of revenue growth after declining for four, expects 4%-8% growth in revenue in fiscal 2025.
PEER COMPARISON
Valuation (next 12 Estimates (next 12 Analysts' sentiment
months) months)
RIC PE EV/EBITDA Revenue Profit Mean No. of Stock to Div
growth growth rating* analyst price yield
s target** (%)
UPL 15.93 7.26 8.76 450.38 Buy 21 0.95 0.18
Dhanuka Agritech 22.70 16.32 15.75 18.60 Buy 10 0.87 0.87
PI Industries 36.91 25.24 15.43 10.72 Buy 24 0.96 0.33
Rallis India 30.93 15.30 12.89 34.77 Sell 13 1.12 0.76
* 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
JULY-SEPTEMBER STOCK PERFORMANCE
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**
-- All data from LSEG
-- $1 = 84.3520 Indian rupees
