Other income was up by 43% to Rs 3.70 crore. Interest costs was lower by 2% to Rs 1.21 crore and depreciation was higher by 1% to Rs 11.96 crore. After providing total tax of Rs 3.08 crore and loss of MI of Rs 14 lakh, consolidated PAT for the Dec 17 quarter stood at Rs 25.08 crore, down by 1% YoY.

Commenting on the performance, Mr. V Shankar MD and CEO said, "I am happy to report better market performance over last year on the back of an improved water storage levels in major reservoirs. Northeast monsoon which was forecasted to be normal ended at 11% departure though there was good rainfall in key southern states. The cropping acreages has been up in most crops, except Wheat and Oil seeds. Our broad based portfolio of solutions and robust farmer relationship have been instrumental in driving our revenue growth during the quarter. Despite market challenges and pricing pressure our quality of operations stood ground driven by Rallis Samrudh Krishi (RSK) and our digital initiatives.

Our suite of solutions has enabled us to help farmers in multiple crops and notably in Paddy which has grown. The recent set of products have received encouraging response from farmers. Our performance in the International business continues to be better than last year due to improving situation in key markets such as Brazil has seen strong demand for herbicides. I do expect with Rabi sowing picking up, we look forward for a good Rabi season".

Performance for 9 months ended Dec 17

Net sales for 9 months ended Dec 17 stood at Rs 1419.86 crore, up by 8% YoY. OPM was lower by 70 bps to 16.2% resulting in a 3% increase in OP to Rs 229.39 crore. Other income was up by 40% to Rs 11.59 crore. Interest cost was lower by 33% to Rs 3.14 crore and depreciation was higher by 2% to Rs 36 crore which thus resulted in a 6% increase in PBT before EO to Rs 201.84 crore. There was an EO income of Rs 158.39 crore for 9 months ended Dec 16 relating to profit on sale of land entitlement at Taloja as compared to Nil for 9 months ended Dec 17. Thus PBT after EO was down by 42% to Rs 201.84 crore. After paying total tax of Rs 54.40 crore and MI of Rs 40 lakh, consolidated PAT for the 9 months ended Dec 17 stood at Rs 147.84 crore, down by 44% YoY.