Deepak Fertilisers Q3 profit falls on softer chemical demand, high costs

Consolidated net profit fell to 1.41 billion rupees ($15.33 million) for the quarter ended December ‌31, from ‌2.51 billion rupees a year earlier.

The Pune, Maharashtra-based company’s mainstay fertilisers ‌segment grew 26%, while the chemicals segment slipped 7.5%.

Total expenses climbed 17%, driven by an increase in the cost of materials consumed.

Shares closed down about 7%.

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KEY CONTEXTFertiliser ​makers were pressured in the third quarter as ‌rising sulphur ‍and ammonia prices drove up input ‍costs, while government subsidies were inadequate.

Companies have ‌taken to small price hikes to partially offset the impact, but higher raw material costs are expected to hurt profitability, especially for complex fertiliser producers, analysts said.

Even so, fertilisers remain better placed than agrochemicals, supported by steadier demand and ‍stronger long‑term growth prospects, they added.

PEER COMPARISON

Valuat Estimates (next Analysts’

ion 12 months) sentiment

(next

12

months

)

RI PE EV Reve Profit Me No Stock Div

C /E nue growth(%) an . to yiel

BI grow ra of price d

TD th(% ti an targe (%)

A ) ng al t**

* ys

ts

Deepak 12 7. 14.6 26.88 ST 2 0.64 0.85

Fertilisers .5 36 1 RO

and 2 NG

Petrochemical BU

s Corp Ltd Y

Coromandel 24 15 10.5 28.75 BU 10 0.86 0.53

International .0 .9 8 Y

Ltd 4 7

SRF Ltd 35 20 12.8 27.30 HO 25 0.87 0.33

.3 .3 9 LD

9 9

Sumitomo 31 24 10.0 17.16 BU 7 0.69 0.27

Chemical .5 .1 0 Y

India Ltd 1 1

* The mean ‍of analysts’ ⁠ratings standardised ⁠to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell

** The ratio of the stock’s last close to analysts’ mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT

OCTOBER-DECEMBER STOCK PERFORMANCE

— All data from LSEG

— $1 = 91.9510 Indian rupees