UPL stock gains as Q3 net profit rises 18%

UPL Ltd today reported a net profit of ₹937 crore for the December quarter, up 18% from a year ago. It was ₹793 crore in the same quarter last year.

The company's revenue witnessed a growth of 24% to ₹11,297 crore, led by healthy growth in volumes and better product realizations.

Commenting on the performance, Jai Shroff, CEO of UPL said, “UPL delivered another quarter of strong business performance in a challenging environment with growth across all regions except India. We are confident of continuing this business momentum and ending the fiscal year 2022 on a strong note."

On Monday, UPL shares were up 1.74% in early trade at ₹801 on NSE. In the last one year, the scrip has gained 50.24%.

UPL EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) grew by 21% year-on-year to ₹2,666 crore as against ₹2,209 crore in the same quarter last year.

Inhouse manufacturing with backward integration linkages supported by effective raw material sourcing and overall cost management helped in keeping the EBITDA margins largely intact, despite the higher input costs and a sharp rise in freight charges, UPL said in a filing.

"During the quarter, we announced a new strategic partnership in Brazil with ‘Bunge’, a world leader in sourcing, processing, and supplying oilseed and grain products and ingredients. We also undertook multiple initiatives to re-imagine sustainability and in Q3, we successfully raised a sustainability loan of $700 million. At the same time, furthering our commitment to the Gigaton challenge, our digital platform ‘nurture.farm’ successfully completed its Crop Residue Management Program, thereby preventing release of over 1 million tons of carbon emissions," Jai Shroff said.

UPL has seen healthy volume growth along with improved realisations across all regions except India. The high sales return in Kharif and erratic monsoon adversely impacted sales volume in India.

In Latin America, the growth is propelled by higher herbicide demand and a significant uptick in realizations.