Insecticides India A stock with good Opportunity size

Insecticides India –

Q1 FY 25 results and concall highlights –

Revenues – 657 vs 640 cr, up 3 pc ( volume growth was 15 pc, lower topline growth is due to fall in RM and end product prices )

Gross Margins @ 27 vs 21 pc YoY ( pure generic products have a GM of around 15 pc )

EBITDA – 72 vs 46 cr, up 57 pc ( margins @ 11 vs 7 pc – massive improvement YoY )

PAT – 49 vs 29 cr, up 68 pc

Product wise sales breakup –

Insecticides – 33 pc
Herbicides – 61 pc ( doing very well vs LY )
Fungicides – 4 pc
PGRs – 2 pc

Channel wise sales breakup –

B2C – 71 pc ( vs 66 pc LY – good improvement )
B2B – 26 pc
Exports – 3 pc

In B2C category, 60 pc of sales in Q1 FY 25 came from premium products vs 57 pc LY vs 51 pc in FY 23 ( company calls them Maharatna and Focus Maharatna products ). These r higher margin products vs pure generics. At the company level, they contributed to 42 pc of sales. Gross margins in these products are > 40 pc vs around 15 pc for pure vanilla generics

The monsoon distribution has been good this season + the reservoir levels are healthy. This makes the Industry outlook positive

Company is working with Nissan Chemicals on half a dozen products ( these tech – transferred products obviously have higher margins )

Products launched after 2020 are already contributing to > 500 cr on the topline ( this is a very encouraging sign )

Q2 looks promising across India. Should exit the FY25 with double digit EBITDA margins

For most of the new products that the company is launching, AIs ( or technicals ) for them are made In-House

At present, company has 11 Focus Maharana products. These r high growth, high margin products ( mostly with Pan India presence ). Aim is to keep graduating more products from Maharatna to Focus Maharatna category. Maharatna products are currently smaller with regional presence

Pricing pressures continue to remain in B2B and Exports mkt. Reversal of this scenario may take some more time

Will be launching 04-05 new products this FY. All these will be differentiated products in the Maharatna category

Company is guiding for volume growth of > 15 pc with a value growth of around 10 pc for FY 25 ( due price corrections in finished products ). Should be able to do an EBITDA of around 220 cr for FY 25

Company’s new Technicals facility at Dahej is expected to start production in 1-2 months time ( awaiting Govt approval ). Company has spent around 150 cr on this plant. This plant has a revenue potential of around 250 cr ( realisable from next FY ). However, if the company chooses to use this plant for captive consumption to lower the costs of its formulations, this revenue potential may come down but the company level margins may increase

Company intends to keep improving the contribution of Maharatna + Focus Maharatna products in its overall revenue pie for the foreseeable future. Hence, there should be continuous margin improvement going fwd – in the medium term

Disc: holding from lower levels, biased, not SEBI registered, not a buy / sell recommendation