UPL Q1FY24 results: Net profit drops 81% YoY to Rs 166 cr, revenue down 17%

UPL reported Rs 8,963 crore in revenue with India accounting for Rs 2,054 crore of the total revenue

UPL Ltd reported a 81 per cent plunge in consolidated profit year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 166 crore for the first quarter of financial year 2024 (Q1FY24), down from Rs 877 crore last year during the same period. Quarter-on-Quarter (QoQ), the net profit fell 79 per cent from Rs 792 crore reported at the end of March 2023.

Consolidated revenue dropped 17 per cent YoY to Rs 8,963 crore in Q1FY24 from Rs 10,821 crore in Q1FY23. Compared to the last quarter of FY23, the revenue fell 46 per cent from Rs 16,560 crore.

Domestic contribution to the total revenue was around Rs 2,054 crore, the highest after Latin America at Rs 2,965 crore in Q1FY24. This was a marginal one per cent decrease from the same period last year at Rs 2,067 crore.

The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) decreased 32 per cent to Rs 1,593 crore in Q1FY24 from Rs 2,342 crore in Q1FY23.  According to the release by the company, this drop of 387 bps in Ebitda margin was due to industry-wide slow-down.

The company also reported that its seed businesses had delivered a robust performance with 26 per cent YoY growth in revenue and 54 per cent YoY Ebitda increase.

The firm’s net debt has also dropped by $160 million to $3.19 billion as of June 2023.

The CEO of UPL Corporation Ltd, stated, “The global agrochemical industry has been going through a challenging phase over the last two quarters as distributors prioritized destocking and focused on tactical purchases amid high channel inventories. Additionally, the market is witnessing pricing pressure given the high base of previous year and aggressive price competition we have seen from the Chinese post patent exporters.”