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On a consolidated basis, net sales declined 53.32% year-on-year to Rs 126.97 crore in Q4 March 2023. Topline as well as profitability was adversely impacted by subdued demand for key enterprise products with further drop in realisations.
The EBITDA also fell by 89% YoY to Rs 8 crore, resulting in a margin of 6.2%, compared to 25.9% in the previous year. Lower realisations coupled with elevated input costs impacted margin profile.
Additionally, the company experienced a pre-tax loss of Rs 6.2 crore, in contrast to a pre-tax profit of Rs 58.3 crore previously.
The company's net profit for the year ending March 2023 decreased by 71.54% to Rs 25.57 crore compared to the previous year, while sales declined by 7.15% to Rs 628.17 crore during the same period. Gross margin was lower at 36.1% in FY23 as compared to 42.8% in FY22. EBITDA margin declined to 13.9% in FY23 from 23.9% in the previous year.
N B Godrej, the chairman of Astec Lifesciences, stated that the high level of channel inventories in India and key export markets resulted in a demand-supply imbalance and correction in prices of key Active Ingredients, leading to challenges for the Indian Agrochemical sector in the second half of the year. The company also experienced a decline in revenue and profitability in FY23 due to a sharp drop in volumes and realisations. However, the Contract Manufacturing (CMO) segment performed well, with robust topline growth and improved profitability. The Enterprise business revenues and margins were lower due to volume and pricing headwinds.
"In April'23, the company inaugurated a new state-of-the-art Research & Development centre, named 'Adi Godrej Centre for Chemical Research and Development', which will enable accelerated growth of the CMO business. Despite short-term challenges, the company remains focused on long-term growth and value creation," he added.
Meanwhile, the company's board has appointed K. Suryanarayan as its new chief financial officer starting from 3rd May 2023, following the resignation of Madhur Gundecha from the same position on 2nd May 2023.
Astec Lifesciences is engaged in the manufacturing of agrochemical active ingredients (technical), bulk, formulations and intermediate products. Astec has a healthy sales mix of both exports and domestic sales. It exports to over 25 countries including the United States and countries across Europe, West Asia, South East Asia and Latin America and Africa.
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