India's Deepak Fertilisers posts quarterly profit fall on softer chemical demand, high costs

Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals

29/01/2026 10:40

Jan 29 (Reuters) - India's Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals DPFE.NS reported a 43.6% fall in third-quarter profit on Thursday, as softer agrochemicals demand and rising input costs squeezed margins.

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%.

For further earnings highlights, click [Full Story]

KEY CONTEXT

Fertiliser 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

Valuation (next 12 months)
Estimates (next 12 months)
Analysts' sentiment
RIC
PE
EV/EBITDA
Revenue growth(%)
Profit growth(%)
Mean rating*
No. of analysts
Stock to price target**
Div yield (%)
Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corp Ltd
DPFE.NS
12.52
7.36
14.61
26.88
STRONG BUY
2
0.64
0.85
Coromandel International Ltd
CORF.NS
24.04
15.97
10.58
28.75
BUY
10
0.86
0.53
SRF Ltd
SRFL.NS
35.39
20.39
12.89
27.30
HOLD
25
0.87
0.33
Sumitomo Chemical India Ltd
SUMH.NS
31.51
24.11
10.00
17.16
BUY
7
0.69
0.27

* 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

DFPCL OCT-DEC https://tmsnrt.rs/4qCVx6H

 (Reporting by Yagnoseni Das and Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)

 ((Yagnoseni.Das@thomsonreuters.com;))