Company’s revenue from operations declined 15.03 per cent YoY to Rs 14,078 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2024, primarily due to lower prices in the post-patent market.
Agrochemical major UPL Ltd has reported 94.95 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 40 crore in Q4 FY24 as against a net profit of Rs 792 crore recorded in Q4 FY23.
Company’s revenue from operations declined 15.03 per cent YoY to Rs 14,078 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2024, primarily due to lower prices in the post-patent market (prices came off against last years [LY] higher base). However, volumes were largely in line with last year.
Company reported that Profit before exceptional items and tax slumped to Rs 135 crore as compared to Rs 1,420 crore reported in the same quarter a year ago. Exceptional items stood at Rs 105 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared to Rs 29 crore recorded in Q4 FY23.
Company’s EBITDA slipped 36 per cent to Rs 1,933 crore in the March 2024 quarter from Rs 3,033 crore reported in Q4 FY23. EBITDA margin dropped by 458 bps YoY to 13.7 per cent during the period under review.
The company’s revenue from crop protection was at Rs 15,080 crore (down 17.75 per cent YoY) and non agro stood at Rs 621 crore (down 9.21 per cent YoY). However, income from seeds business was at Rs 1,130 crore (up 30.33 per cent YoY).
UPL’s revenue from Europe rose by 10 per cent YoY. Income from North America declined 49 per cent YoY followed by India, down 24 per cent YoY and Latin America shed 23 per cent YoY during the period under review. Income from rest of the world increased 21 per cent YoY during the quarter.
During the quarter, net debt increased by $602 million vs previous year to $2.66 billion at the end of FY24 due to reduced factoring, and cash flow impact of decline in profitability.
Mike Frank, CEO, UPL Corporation, said, “We delivered significantly improved financial results in Q4 versus the two preceding quarters, in spite of the prevailing volatile and challenging market conditions. As compared to Q3, volumes recovered well and were in-line with LY, largely led by the strong performance of our high-margin differentiated and sustainable portfolio, which contributed 36 per cent of crop protection revenue vs 29 per cent LY. Our recent launches of Evolution, Feroce and Shenzi did exceedingly well, growing volumes by more than 50 per cent.
Furthermore, Advanta, our global seeds platform continued to see robust traction delivering revenue growth of 34 per cent and 38 per cent respectively for the quarter.
