Mumbai, Jan 31 (PTI) Agriculture products and solutions provider UPL on Tuesday reported a 16.13 per cent growth in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,087 crore in the October-December quarter compared to the same period of the previous financial year.
The company's net profit stood at Rs 936 crore during the corresponding period of the last fiscal, UPL said in a regulatory filing.
Revenue from operations of the company grew by 21.08 per cent in the quarter under review at Rs 13,679 crore compared to Rs 11,297 crore in the same period of the previous year.
"We continued to see solid traction in the third quarter of FY23 following strong first half performance. The product prices remained firm leading to a healthy uptick in realisations. Grower margins remain strong due to elevated agriculture commodity prices, providing a good backdrop for the overall market," UPL Global Crop Protection CEO Mike Frank said.
He said UPL also continued to invest in strengthening our customer relationships and farmer connect and towards building capabilities to drive differentiated and sustainable portfolios leading to higher SG&A (selling general and administrative) in the third quarter.
"However, despite higher SG&A expenses, we have delivered a healthy 14 per cent YoY gowth in EBITDA. Having said that, our priority remains on delivering profitable growth. In-line with this strategy, for the first nine months of FY23, we focused on achieving quality growth with better product mix and proactive pricing actions. This has enabled us to improve our margins and deliver robust 24 per cent YoY growth in EBITDA," he stated.
Going forward, in the fourth quarter, the demand for agrochemicals continues to be strong, especially in the Americas, he said.
"While there is some channel de-inventorying taking place, we expect strong volume growth in the fourth quarter. Given the positive backdrop, we are confident of ending FY23 on a strong footing and meeting our revenue and EBITDA growth guidance as well as the stated reduction in net debt to USD 2 billion by March 2023,” Frank added.
Shares of the company on Tuesday closed at Rs 757.25, up 1.64 per cent on BSE. PTI SM MR