The company's profit before tax stood soared 57.3% to Rs 841.59 crore in Q1 FY23 compared with Rs 534.91 crore recorded in same period a year ago. Earnings before Interest and Tax (EBIT) increased 58% to Rs 938 crore in Q1 FY23 as against Rs 595 crore posted in corresponding period last year (CPLY).

The chemicals business reported an increase of 55% in its segment revenue to Rs 1,722 crore in Q1 FY23 over CPLY. The operating profit of the chemicals business increased 134% to Rs 520 crore in Q1FY23 compared with CPLY.

During the quarter, the fluorochemicals business performed exceedingly well owing to higher sales volumes in the refrigerants, pharma propellants, and the blends segments with better sales realizations, especially from the export markets. In addition, healthy contribution from the chloromethanes segment augmented the overall results. The specialty chemicals business performed well on account of strong demand for flagship products and the downstream derivatives. New products are gaining significant traction, resulting in SRF's capital expenditure plans for the business being robust.

The packaging films business reported an increase of 44% in its segment revenue to Rs 1,496 crore during Q1FY23 when compared with CPLY. The operating profit of the packaging films business increased 25% to Rs 295 crore in Q1FY23 over CPLY.

The technical textiles business reported an increase of 16% in its segment revenue to Rs 571 crore during Q1 FY23 over CPLY. The operating profit of the technical textiles business declined 13% to Rs 116 crore in Q1 FY23 over CPLY.

The other businesses reported an increase of 97% in its segment revenue to Rs 106 crore in Q1 FY23 when compared with CPLY.

SRF said that it witnessed rupee depreciation against the US$ of around 4.5% during the quarter, amid a volatile geopolitical situation. This led to restatement of net US$ denominated liabilities, which created an exchange fluctuation loss of Rs 32 crore, which is likely to be a one-time impact.

Meanwhile, the company's board has approved a project for setting up a new and dedicated facility to produce 1,000 MT per year of an agrochemical intermediate at Dahej at a projected cost of Rs 250 crore to meet the growing demand for the product in the future. Additionally, the board has also approved a project to expand the capacity of an intermediate product that finds application in both agrochemical and pharma intermediates and related feedstock at Dahej at a projected cost of Rs 72 crore.

To cater to the growing requirements of new and upcoming plants at Dahej, the board has approved a project to create two technical structures for new plant buildings for certain agrochemical products at a projected cost of Rs 78 crore.

Furthermore, the board has approved a project for capacity expansion and modernization of belting fabrics operations at TTB-Viralimalai from 1,100 metric tons per month (MTPM) to 1,800 MTPM at a projected cost of Rs 162 crore to be spent over a period of three years.

As of 30 June 2022, the company has applied for a total of three hundred and seventy patents. Till date, the company has been granted one hundred and twenty-four patents globally.

Commenting on the results, Ashish Bharat Ram, chairman and managing director of SRF said, "It has been a stellar quarter for the company. The outlook for our chemicals business remains strong and we believe the investment intensity will increase in this segment. While our packaging films business performed very well, we see strong headwinds for the Business with weak global demand and inventory losses in the short term."

The company's board has declared interim dividend of Rs 3.60 per share on the paid-up equity share capital of the company. The record date for the said dividend is fixed on Friday, 29 July 2022. The date of payment of interim dividend will be Thursday, 18 August 2022.

SRF is a chemical based multi-business entity engaged in the manufacturing of industrial and specialty intermediates. The company's diversified business portfolio covers fluorochemicals, specialty chemicals, packaging films, technical textiles, coated and laminated fabrics.