Andhra Petrochemicals (APL), a leading manufacturer of oxo-alcohols in India, has reported loss of Rs 2.43 crore in the recent quarter ended 2012, burdened by the pressure of a rise in the cost of raw materials.
Andhra Petrochemicals (APL), a leading manufacturer of oxo-alcohols in India, has reported loss of Rs 2.43 crore in the recent quarter ended 2012, burdened by the pressure of a rise in the cost of raw materials. During the last year’s corresponding period the company had reported net profit of Rs 13.62 crore.
A company source who did not wish to be named revealed that due to a steep rise in the raw material prices during the January-March period, and coupled with the company’s inability to pass on the costs to its customers owing to demand sensitivity, the financial performance was impacted. The source added that the pressure also increased due to a decline in the international prices of its manufactured products.
After reporting a robust financial performance in the first nine months of fiscal ending 2012, the company’s full year performance has got impacted as the annual net profits for FY12 declined by 16 per cent to Rs 30 crore from Rs 35.63 crore last year. This was despite reporting a decent 31 per cent rise in topline to Rs 597.17 crore.
One look at the margins on the operating as well as the net level sums up the entire picture. The EBIDTA margins have declined from 19.42 per cent to 11.92 per cent while the PAT margins have contracted to 4.95 per cent from 7.65 per cent. Amid all these, it’s encouraging to see that APL’s debt levels as well as interest costs have declined sharply. As on March 31, 2012, the company debt on the books stood at Rs 36.56 crore, translating into a D/E ratio of 0.17x. On the valuation front, the counter of APL looks attractively poised at 5.56x its FY12 EPS of Rs 3.53 per cent. The P/BV stands at 0.86x which also looks good.