Speciality Chemicals company Chemplast Sanmar announced Q1FY25 results:
- Revenue from Operations: Rs 1,145 crore in Q1FY25, a 15% increase compared to Rs 996 crore in Q1FY24 and a 9% increase from Rs 1,051 crore in Q4FY24.
- EBITDA: Rs 124 crore in Q1FY25, a significant improvement from a negative EBITDA of Rs 35 crore in Q1FY24 and Rs 21 crore in Q4FY24.
- EBITDA Margin: 11% in Q1FY25, reversing from -3% in Q1FY24 and up by 2 percentage points from the margin in Q4FY24.
- Profit After Tax (PAT): Rs 24 crore in Q1FY25, recovering from a loss of Rs 64 crore in Q1FY24 and a loss of Rs 31 crore in Q4FY24.
- PAT Margin: 2% in Q1FY25, compared to -6% in Q1FY24 and -3% in Q4FY24.
Commenting on the results, Ramkumar Shankar, Managing Director, said, “We are pleased to update that the company has reported the total revenues of Rs 1,145 crore with an EBITDA of Rs 124 crore, an 11% margin during Q1 FY ‘25. The first quarter of the financial year has started on a positive note registering a noteworthy profitability, showing a sign of improvement both on Y-o-Y and on sequential basis.
The revenue contribution from Speciality chemicals grew by 61% on Y-o-Y basis which is supported by higher volumes of Speciality Paste PVC from the newly commissioned facility at Cuddalore and the increased revenue from Custom manufactured Chemicals Division. Value-added chemicals‘ # revenue grew by 20% on Y-o-Y due to higher volumes of Caustic Soda. Suspension PVC revenue has been stable in Q1 FY ‘25 as compared to the corresponding period last year, while it has improved by 8% sequentially. We witnessed a positive swing in profits in the current year on account of improved prices of PVC and lower feedstock prices.
The improvement in PVC prices was largely due to a severe container shortage for cargo originating from China – however, these heightened freight rates have started dropping off post the end of the quarter. This, coupled with continued weakness in the Chinese economy and large volumes of low-priced imports coming in from China, has resulted in PVC prices dropping in July. The decision on the anti-dumping petition on Suspension PVC, filed by the domestic industry, is expected only by Q3 of the current financial year.
On the CMC business, an investment of about Rs 160 crores have been approved by the board of directors towards capacity expansion. This capacity expansion reiterates our commitment to grow the CMC business. Along with our recent commissioning of state-of-the-art R&D, pilot and production blocks, this new investment is a reflection of our strong product pipeline and the pace at which we commercialise new products.
Further, we have recently signed a new Letter of Intent (‘LoI’) with an agrochemical innovator for an advanced intermediate for a new active ingredient. This LoI is for a period of 5 years. Besides broadening the customer base, this LoI also gives us an opportunity to participate in a newly launched molecule. This is the 5 th LoI that we have signed over the past 20 months. This also echoes our customers’ confidence in Chemplast Sanmar’s wide range of chemical processes and R&D capabilities. I am thankful for the hard work and perseverance of our team of chemists and engineers.
Going forward, the demand environment across our speciality product portfolio continues to remain strong. From a Suspension PVC perspective, we see robust demand coming in from the infra-led irrigation projects.”