Rallis India soars 15%, hits 52-wk high on robust December quarter results

Shares of Rallis India soared 15 per cent to Rs 222, also its 52-week high, on the BSE on Friday, after company’s profit before tax, before exceptional items, more-than-doubled at Rs 48 crore in December quarter (Q3FY20). The Tata Group agrochemicals company had PBT of Rs 20 crore in same quarter last fiscal.

The company recorded consolidated revenues of Rs 534 crore for Q3FY20, a growth of 28 per cent over previous year's quarter of Rs 417 crore. Net profit jumped 177 per cent to Rs 38 crore from Rs 14 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) margin expanded by 380 basis points to 10.4 per cent. The correction in raw material prices have supported EBITDA margin primarily in domestic business.

In Q3, the company’s domestic business grew by 35 per cent and international sales by 24 per cent over the previous year quarter. It introduced two new formulations Sarthak {9(3) registration} and Impeder {Co-marketing}.

The management said that during the current crop season its business was supported by positive farmer sentiment, new product launches and refreshed trade policies. The metribuzin Phase II expansion of 500MTPA is expected to be commercialized by Feb 1, 2020, it said.

Analysts at Antique Stock Broking are positive on the stock because of focus on domestic business driven by new product launches and improved distribution and planned capex of Rs 800 crore over 5-6 years as against Rs 670 billion over the past 10 years.

At 09:52 am, Rallis India was up 14 per cent at Rs 219 on the BSE, as compared to 0.05 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. The trading volumes on the counter surged 5-fold with a combined 2.6 million equity shares changing hands on the NSE and BSE so far.