Indian agrichem firm Coromandel posts bigger Q3 profit as demand recovers

Coromandel International

30/01/2025 10:35

Jan 30 (Reuters) - Indian agricultural chemicals firm Coromandel International  CORF.NS  posted its first
increase in profit in five quarters on Thursday, helped by a recovery in demand.
    The company's consolidated profit after tax more than doubled to 5.12 billion rupees ($59.1 million) in the third
quarter ended Dec. 31, from 2.31 billion rupees a year earlier.
    Revenue from operations rose about 27% to 69.35 billion rupees.
    The company clocked a 30% growth in its revenue from its fertiliser and nutrients business, which brings in the
lion's share of overall revenue.
    For further results highlights, click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN3OQ01Q.
    
    KEY CONTEXT
    Analysts believe the "worst is over" for India's agrochemical sector, with excess stocks and pricing pressures
easing. They add that the industry is set for growth in 2025, recovering from global agrochemical destocking that
squeezed chemical firms' margins through lower sales, falling prices and inventory losses.
    Indeed, Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals  DPFE.NS  reported a more than four-fold jump in quarterly profit
on Wednesday, helped by strong demand for its crop nutrition products and higher margins. 
        
    PEER COMPARISON    
                                    Valuation (next 12     Estimates (next 12        Analysts' sentiment         
                                          months)               months)                                      
                            RIC        PE      EV/EBITD   Revenue      Profit     Mean    No. of   Stock to    Div
                                                  A      growth (%)  growth (%)  rating*  analyst   price     yield
                                                                                             s     target**    (%)
 Coromandel               CORF.NS     25.47     16.73       4.86       16.27       Buy       9       0.93      0.33
 International                                                                                               
 Deepak Fertilisers and   DPFE.NS     16.81      9.37       9.52       22.86       Buy       1       0.90      0.66
 Petrochemicals                                                                                              
 SRF                      SRFL.NS     48.28     25.26      13.50       33.95      Hold      27       1.20      0.32
 Sumitomo Chemical        SUMH.NS     40.33     30.67      17.28       24.08       Buy       7       0.85      0.18
 India                                                                                                       
    
* The mean of analysts' ratings standardized 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 = 86.5975 Indian rupees
    

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CORF Oct-Dec stock performance    https://tmsnrt.rs/3WDmSIU
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 (Reporting by Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
 ((Yagnoseni.Das@thomsonreuters.com;))