OREANDA-NEWS. January 23, 2012. Rallis India, a Tata enterprise and a leading player in the Indian crop protection industry, today announced its consolidated financial results for nine months ended December 31, 2011. Nine months' results include that of its subsidiary Metahelix Life Sciences and is therefore not comparable to the results of the previous year.

Consolidated Q3 performance

Net sales registered a growth of 18.6 per cent at Rs317.86 crore as compared to Rs268.05 crore during the same period in 2010-11.

Profit from operations (before exceptional items, other income and forex loss) for the period was Rs48 crore and was ahead of last year's profit of Rs47 crore

Net profit (after minority interest) for the period was Rs7.66 crore (Rs33.69 crore last year). Current quarter net profit includes non-recurring charge of Rs24.24 crore on account of costs (including provision for impairment of assets) relating to cessation of Turbhe Manufacturing Operations and a net forex loss of Rs8.21 crore.

EBITDA margins normalised for the above non-recurring charges are healthy at 19.30 per cent (20.11 per cent Q3 PY) on Rallis standalone basis.

Consolidated nine months' (April-December) performance

Net sales rose 25.7 per cent at Rs1,039.51 crore as compared to Rs827.21 crore during the same period in 2010-11.

Profit from operations (before exceptional items, other income and forex loss) for the period was Rs183.51 crore as compared to Rs151.26 crore last year, a growth of 21.3 per cent.

Net profit (after minority interest) for the period was Rs89.30 crore (Rs107.23 crore last year). Nine months' net profit includes non-recurring charge of Rs24.24 crore on account of costs (including provision for impairment of assets) relating to cessation of Turbhe Manufacturing Operations and a net forex loss of Rs15.42 crore.

EBITDA margins normalised for the above non-recurring charges are healthy at 20.61 per cent (nine months PY 20.29 per cent) on Rallis standalone basis.

The above results also includes that of the subsidiary company Metahliex Life Sciences (including its wholly-owned subsidiary Dhaanya Seeds), which was acquired (majority stake) in December 2010. Previous year’s figures do not include this and therefore are not comparable.

Commenting on the company’s performance for the first half, V Shankar, managing director and CEO of Rallis India, said, “I am happy that during the third quarter, inspite of erratic NE monsoons, we have been able to post a growth of 18.6 per cent in net sales and maintained our profitability. Our new launch “Tata Bahaar” is organic-based and a green product in the plant growth nutrient segment. This product improves the health of crops and increases yield.”

Commenting on the business aspects V Shankar added, “While acreages during rabi increased for paddy and wheat, productivity was impacted on account of the erratic NE monsoon. Timing and spatial distribution caused disruptions and affected farming activity or business conditions.”

Rallis is known for its manufacturing capabilities in crop protection chemicals and various types of chemistries, with the ability to develop new processes and formulations and supported by the capability to register new products. It has contract manufacturing alliances with several multinational agrochemical companies. Rallis also strengthened its seeds business by acquiring a majority stake in Metahelix Life Sciences in December 2010.

Rallis is one of India’s leading agrochemicals companies with a century-old tradition of servicing rural markets and a comprehensive portfolio of pesticides for Indian farmers. The company is known for its deep understanding of Indian agriculture, sustained relationships with farmers, quality agrochemicals, branding and marketing expertise and its strong product portfolio.

During the financial year 2010-11, the company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs126 crore and revenues of Rs1,066 crore.