Conference Call with UPL Management and Analysts on Q3FY23 Performance and Outlook. Listen to the full earnings transcript.
Agrochemical firm UPL announced Q3FY23 results: Q3FY23: Witnessed continued growth momentum in the crop protection business in Q3FY23 (up +22% YoY) along with robust growth in Advanta Seeds (up +31% YoY) to reach Rs 13,679 crore. The growth in revenues continued to be led by a marginal increase in volumes (up +1%) higher realizations (up +13%) and favourable exchange rate (up +7%). Q3FY23 EBITDA grew by 14% YoY to Rs 3,035 crore mainly driven by robust topline growth. Higher SG&A; investment to strengthen customer relations and build capabilities to drive differentiated & sustainable portfolio led to marginal compression in EBITDA %. For 9MFY23, however, EBITDA margins improved by 37 bps led by strong growth and an improved product mix. Commenting on the performance, Mr. Mike Frank, CEO – UPL Global Crop Protection, said “We continued to see solid traction in Q3FY23 following strong first-half performance. The product prices remained firm leading to a healthy uptick in realizations. Grower margins remain strong due to elevated agriculture commodity prices, providing a good backdrop for the overall market. We also continued to invest in strengthening our customer relationships & farmer connect and towards building capabilities to drive a differentiated and sustainable portfolio leading to higher SG&A; in Q3. However, despite higher SG&A; expenses, we have delivered a healthy 14% YoY growth 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 a better product mix and proactive pricing actions. This has enabled us to improve our margins and deliver robust 24% YoY growth in EBITDA Going forward, as we look ahead to the fourth quarter, the demand for agrochemicals continues to be strong, especially in the Americas. While there is some channel de-inventorying taking place, we expect strong volume growth in Q4. 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 US$ 2 billion by March 2023.” Result PDF