Godrej Agrovet net profit rises marginally to Rs 102.6 cr in Sept quarter

Godrej Agrovet Ltd on Monday reported marginal increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 102.65 crore for the quarter ended September.

Its net profit had stood at Rs 99.12 crore in the year-ago period, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The company's total income rose to Rs 1,862.45 crore during the second quarter of the current financial year, compared with Rs 1,622.11 crore a year ago.

"In the first half of the financial year 2019-20, Godrej Agrovet Ltd's consolidated total income registered year-on-year growth of 16.1 per cent," said B S Yadav, managing director, Godrej Agrovet Ltd.

In the animal feed segment, the company continued to witness high growth as volumes have grown 7.9 per cent year-on-year during the first half of the year.

Its crop protection business registered a revenue growth of 9.1 per cent. However, poor realisation, increase in input costs and deferral of export orders in respect of the B2B business (Astec LifeSciences) resulted in a 7.9 per cent decline in profitability for this segment in the first half of 2019.

"The performance of the vegetable oil segment for the first half of the year continued to be adversely impacted by sharp decline in end-product prices and lower oil content in the first half due to extended summer and extreme heat. Consequently, segment revenue and profits were lower by 12.1 per cent and 49.2 per cent, respectively," Yadav said.

In the dairy segment, which registered a strong growth in Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of 89.5 per cent, profitability levels improved in the current quarter and the first half as there was no butter provisioning or losses.

"Currently, the Indian agricultural value chain offers immense business opportunities to enhance productivity as practices are largely unorganised.

"We are well-placed to capitalise on these opportunities given our presence across under-penetrated and unorganised segments of the agri value chain and our strong focus on research and development," Yadav said.