Indian chemicals maker SRF's quarterly profit halves on subdued global demand

SRF

30/01/2024 10:39

BENGALURU, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Indian chemicals and polymers manufacturer SRF  SRFL.NS  on Tuesday reported its
third-quarter profit more than halved - its fourth straight quarterly profit drop - hurt by sustained weakness in global
demand for its mainstay chemicals business.
    Consolidated net profit after tax fell to 2.53 billion rupees (about $30 million) for the three months ended Dec.31
from 5.11 billion rupees a year ago. 
    Its revenue from operations fell 12% to 30.53 billion rupees. 
    For further highlights, click (Full Story)

    KEY CONTEXT 
Indian chemical makers saw subdued global demand, and prices of refrigerant - a fluid used in the cooling process in air
conditioners - remained muted in a seasonally weak quarter, hurting profitability, analysts said. 
    Peer Coromandel International  CORF.NS  also reported a fall in third-quarter profit earlier in the day, hurt by soft
demand for its fertilizers and nutrient chemicals business. Brokerage Jefferies had earlier picked peer PI Industries
 PIIL.NS  over SRF on strong volume outlook.
    
    PEER COMPARISON
     
    
                                    Valuation (next 12     Estimates (next 12         Analysts' sentiment        
                                          months)               months)                                          
                      RIC          PE     EV/EBITDA       Revenue     Profit    Mean     No. of   Stock to       Div
                                                          growth      growth    rating*  analyst  price          yield
                                                                                         s        target**       (%)
 SRF Ltd               SRFL.NS     32.59  19.09           12.05       19.81     Buy      24       0.88           0.36
 Coromandel            CORF.NS     15.77  10.01           2.21        13.28     Buy      9        0.92           1.05
 International Ltd                                                                                               
 Deepak Fertilisers    DPFE.NS     10.61  6.78            5.05        NULL      Buy      1        0.85           1.59
 and Petrochemicals                                                                                              
 Corp Ltd                                                                                                        
 PI Industries Ltd     PIIL.NS     29.29  20.83           16.85       13.02     Buy      21       0.81           0.30
 
    * Mean of analysts' ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell
    ** 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 Refinitiv
    -- $1 = 83.1400 Indian rupees


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 (Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
 ((Manvi.Pant@thomsonreuters.com; +918447554364;))