Shares of Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited declined sharply by 6% after the company reported a weak set of financial results for the third quarter, despite healthy growth in revenue. The stock reaction reflected investor concerns over a steep fall in profitability and operating margins on a year-on-year basis.
For the quarter ended December, the company’s net profit fell sharply by 43.6% to ₹141.5 crore, compared with ₹251 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The significant drop in profit came even as revenue from operations increased by 9.7% to ₹2,830 crore, up from ₹2,579 crore in Q3 of the previous financial year.
Operating performance remained under pressure during the quarter. EBITDA declined by 27.4% year-on-year to ₹353 crore, compared with ₹486 crore reported in the same period last year. The contraction in operating profit led to a sharp erosion in margins, with EBITDA margin falling to 12.5% from 18.9% a year ago.
