OREANDA-NEWS. Rallis India, a Tata enterprise and a leading player in the Indian crop protection industry announced the financial results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2014.

Consolidated key highlights - Q4

During the quarter ending March 31, 2014 (Q4), Rallis India registered a 16 percent rise in net sales at Rs324 crore (Rs279 crore previous year). Profit after tax (PAT) jumped by 71 percent to Rs19 crore (Rs11 crore previous year) with an improvement of 240 bps in the EBITDA margin.

The quarter performance was driven by both increase in volumes as well as value improvements due to price adjustments necessitated by the cost increases through the year. The margin improvement also reflected the gains from operating efficiencies, better cash management, tighter working capital control and lower interest costs. During the quarter, farmer relationship programmes such as Rallis Kisan Kutumba, Samrudh Krishi, etc gained momentum and investments were made into both field and development activities.

Consolidated key highlights - FY14

For the financial year ended March 31, 2014, the company's net sales grew by 20 percent to reach a new high at Rs1,726 crore (Rs1,440 crore). PAT at an all-time high of Rs152 crore (Rs119 crore) rose by 28 percent to scale a new milestone. EBITDA margin for the year improved by 50 bps to touch around 15.10 percent.

Commenting on the performance, V Shankar, managing director and CEO, Rallis India said, “I am pleased that the company has scaled a new milestone of Rs1,800 crore in gross revenues. While this has been a good monsoon year overall, the rainfall conditions through the agricultural seasons have not been conducive throughout. With intense farmer level activities, our key brands have continued to serve well the needs of the farming community and driving our relationships forward. The year saw good growth in volumes in both domestic and international businesses, and we also saw value firm-up as the year progressed.”

Commenting further on the non-pesticides portfolio (NPP), Mr Shankar added that, “Our focus on the new initiatives continued and brought in good progress during the year with the NPP portfolio contributing to over 30 percent of our revenues. Our customer relationship building activities Rallis Kisan Kutumba (RKK),Grow More Pulses (MoPU), Samrudh Krishi (SK), etc moved to the next orbit with significant increases in farmer contact and field level productivity improvement programmes. Geogreen, the new organic manure introduced during the year, has been accepted well by the farmers, who are able to see crop productivity improvement through its usage.”

The company continued its investments in strengthening its key brands and development of new solutions. The innovation turnover index for the year stood at 15 percent.

The Dahej plant operated at full capacity and contributed well to the company's growth. Some products have been added and there have been new beginnings in the contract manufacturing space. International business grew both by volume and value contributing to 33 percent of the company revenues.

The board has recommended a final dividend of Rs1.40 per share, taking the total dividend for the year to Rs2.40 per share (240 percent).