Aarti Industries tumbles 8% as weak demand remains key risk but brokerages upbeat

Aarti Industries shares fell over 8 percent on May 10, a day after the specialty chemical company’s Q4 earnings concall wherein the management highlighted weak demand scenario in key markets and discretionary segment.

“Discretionary demand is slow, while demand in agro and polymer market is sustaining. Product off take linked to textiles industry such as dyes and pigments remains subdued,” said the management.

At 11:10 am, the stock was quoting at Rs 512.25 on the NSE, lower by 8.07 percent from the previous close. The stock has fallen 16 percent in 2023 so far.

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The company also supplied certain discretionary products to ‘non-regular
markets’, like China, resulting in lower than normal margins. Demand in ‘regular market’, like North America and Europe, remained weak.

For the quarter ended March 2023, Aarti Industries profit grew 2 percent year-on-year to Rs 149 crore, while revenue jumped 15 percent to Rs 1,656 crore. Sequentially, though, revenue was flat.

EBITDA margin declined to 15.2 percent, from 17.3 percent QoQ and 18.2 percent YoY. The company’s net debt increased to Rs 2700 crore versus Rs 25oo crore in September 2022.

That said, brokerages remain positive on the stock. Yes Securities has maintained its Buy rating on the stock with a target of Rs 730. “The management expects demand sentiment to normalize over FY24 and maintains the FY25 Ebitda guidance of ~Rs 1700 crore, with growth in FY26  and beyond fueled by commissioning of Chlorotoluene capacity,” it noted.

Nuvama Institutional Equities also has a Buy rating with a target of Rs 776. “Considering the revival in earnings and return ratios, we argue Aarti Industries offers a favourable risk-reward at 30x FY25E earnings per share,” it said in a recent report.

However, Nuvama’s analysts have flagged off delays in project commissioning and slow pickup in demand as key risks for the company.

Meanwhile, Kotak Institutional Equities has a Neutral rating with a target of Rs 557. It views the resurgence of competition from Chinese producers—as visible in certain segments such as agrochemicals— as an added challenge.

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