Neogen Chemicals hits highest level since listing; surges 31% in one month

Shares of newly-listed Neogen Chemicals hit a new high of Rs 337, up 10 per cent on the BSE in an otherwise weak market on Wednesday.

The stock, which got listed on the bourses on May 8, 2019, has rallied 57 per cent against its issue price of Rs 215 per share. In the past one-month, the scrip rallied 31 per cent, as compared to a 7 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Neogen Chemicals is a manufacturer of Bromine and Lithium-based specialty chemical. For the financial year 2018-19 (FY19), the company's net profit nearly doubled to Rs 21 crore, on the back of strong operational performance. It had logged profit of Rs 11 crore in FY18.

The company’s operational revenue during the fiscal grew 46 per cent year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 239 crore led by better capacity utilisation, improvement in productivity at Vadodara and favorable product-mix. Ebitda (earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortization) margin improved 40 basis points (bps) to 18.2 per cent from 17.8 per cent.

The management said the road ahead appears promising and the company is committed to demonstrate solid performance over the next few years led by its planned capacity expansions and improvement in product mix with efficient innovative process.

“The company believes that demand for bromine-based and lithium-based products will grow in India and overseas owing to growth in industries where they are finally utilised (pharma, agrochemicals, refrigeration, polymer syntheses, flavour and fragrances, etc.),” analysts at Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers had said in an IPO note.

Specialty chemicals manufactured in China comprised a significant proportion of the specialty chemicals global market. The decline in China due to environmental concerns regarding manufacturing specialty chemicals, will leave the field open to the company regarding its future growth, it added.

At 01:06 pm, Neogen Chemicals was trading 9 per cent higher at Rs 335 on the BSE, as compared to a 0.51 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. The trading volumes on the counter jumped three-times with a combined 3,85,755 shares changing hands on the NSE and BSE till the time of writing this report.