- 21 Jan 2022
- ICICIdirect Research
PCBL REPORTS MUTED PERFORMANCE IN Q3FY22
News: Net sales for the quarter were at Rs.1156 crore, up 8% QoQ primarily driven by 7% QoQ growth in carbon black realisations at ~Rs.96/kg amid nearly flat carbon black sales volumes QoQ at 117KT. EBITDA in Q3FY22 were at Rs.168 crore (EBITDA margins at 14.5%) with EBITDA/tonne at ~Rs.14,418/tonne vs. ~Rs.16,142/tonne clocked in Q2FY22. PAT for the quarter came in at Rs.111 crore, down 9% QoQ. Speciality grade carbon black sales volume came in at quarterly all-time high of 9,835 tonne i.e. 8.4% of sales volume. PCBL announced an interim dividend of Rs.10/share.
Views: Margin performance came in muted amid substantial increase in raw material costs with EBITDA/tonne at the gross level (sales -RM) coming in at < Rs.25,000 tonne vs. its usual run rate of ~Rs.28,000/tonne. Volume mix for the quarter was titled in favour of exports with domestic sales volume down 6% QoQ. We await the management commentary on margin improvement. However, our long term investment thesis in the form of healthy demand prospects amid carbon black production constraints in China, capital efficient business model (RoCE>15%), strong B/S (Debt: Equity 0.3x) & robust cash generation, stays intact.
Impact: Neutral