Chemicals maker BASF India Q3 profit falls on higher input costs

SRF

04/02/2025 14:44

Feb 4 (Reuters) - Chemicals maker BASF India  BASF.NS  reported a 26.1% fall in third-quarter profit on
Tuesday, hurt by higher input costs despite healthy demand.
    The profit fell to 1.04 billion rupees ($11.95 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2024, from 1.4
billion rupees a year earlier.
    The company saw a 15% rise in its total expense, driven by a 7.9% rise in its raw materials cost.
    The Indian arm of Germany's BASF  BASFn.DE  also said it will close its manufacturing unit at Dahej, located
in western India, due to outdated technology, low utilization and high maintenance costs. 
    The closure, expected in the first half of the year, will result in fixed cost savings with minimal earnings
impact, as the unit contributed to 0.3% of total revenue in 2024.
    For further highlights, click (Full Story)
    
KEY CONTEXT
    Analysts believe the "worst is over" for India's agrochemical sector as they expect the industry to grow in
2025, rebounding from global agrochemical destocking that had squeezed margins through lower sales, falling
prices, and inventory losses. However, some firms are still experiencing the lingering effects.
    The materials segment of BASF India, comprising performance materials and monomers for transportation,
appliances and footwear, posted a 13.9% rise in revenue.
    The agriculture solutions segment, including insecticides and herbicides, grew 25.2%.
    
PEER COMPARISON
    
    
                                 Valuation (next 12   Estimates (next 12        Analysts' sentiment           
                                      months)               months)                                       
                         RIC        PE     EV/EBITD   Revenue     Profit     Mean     # of     Stock to     Div
                                              A      growth (%)  growth(%)  rating*  analyst    price      yield
                                                                                        s      target**     (%)
 BASF India            BASF.NS    21.48     13.73       9.79       22.46     Hold       1        0.74       0.35
 Coromandel            CORF.NS    25.40     16.60       8.75       -0.42      Buy       9        0.91       0.41
 International                                                                                            
 Deepak Fertilisers    DPFE.NS    13.99      7.87      11.35       24.17      Buy       1        0.79       0.75
 and Petrochemicals                                                                                       
 SRF                   SRFL.NS    51.67     26.87      14.94       40.59     Hold      27        1.14       0.29
 
        
  
* The mean of analyst 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 IBES
    -- $1 = 87.0630 Indian rupees


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BASF OCT-DEC STOCK PERFORMANCE    https://tmsnrt.rs/4hIlkFq
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 (Reporting by Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Vijay Kishore)
 ((Yagnoseni.Das@thomsonreuters.com;))