Pidilite Industries' net profit falls 19.5% to Rs 359.2 cr in December quarter

Pidilite Industries, a leading manufacturer of adhesives, sealants and construction chemicals, on Tuesday reported a 19.5 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit to Rs 359.24 crore for the third quarter ended December 2021.

The company had posted a Rs 446.43-crore profit in the corresponding period a year ago, Pidilite Industries said in a regulatory filing.

Its revenue from operations during the October-December 2021 jumped 24 per cent to Rs 2,850.72 crore, compared with Rs 2,299.02 crore in the year-ago period.

"Robust double-digit revenue growth in this quarter was led by staggered pricing actions and steady demand conditions," Pidilite Industries said in a statement.

Its growth was broad-based across consumer and bazaar (C&B) and business-to-business (B2B) with growth in urban geographies outpacing rural geographies.

However, it also added that "gross margins continue to get impacted on account of an unabated increase in input cost".

Pidilite Industries Managing Director Bharat Puri said, "This quarter registered strong broad-based volume and value growth across categories and businesses. Continued, unprecedented inflation in input costs necessitated calibrated pricing actions as well as the need to manage costs aggressively to maintain margins in a healthy range."

The company's total expenses stood at Rs 2,372.90 crore during the December 2021 quarter, a jump of 37.98 per cent as against Rs 1,719.75 crore.

On the outlook, Puri said that going forward, he expects near-term demand conditions to be a little more challenged, given the disruptions as a result of the pandemic as well as input inflation to continue.

"However, we see demand conditions improving as well as input costs moderating by the end of the current quarter/ beginning of the new financial year.

"We remain confident of the medium- to the long-term potential of the Indian home improvement sector and in our ability to deliver profitable volume growth," he added.

Shares of Pidilite Industries Ltd on Tuesday settled at Rs 2,589 apiece on the BSE, down 1.82 per cent from the previous close.