PERFORMANCE REVIEW
PERFORMANCE REVIEW
Standalone
During FY 2020-21 the Company delivered a solid performance in the backdrop of a challenging macro-economic environment, despite losing one month of production during the year due to nationwide lockdown. The Company's diverse product line and operational excellence continues to be stronghold against widespread uncertainties. Amidst the severity of the second wave, the Company continues to function at a high level of efficiency and make progress on various growth initiatives, while adhering to Government directives, local guidelines and safety protocols across all its facilities. The Company has either maintained or increased market share across products. Your Company has demonstrated resilience in its business performance to close the year with y-o-y growth in its Strategic Business Units (‘SBUs’).
Total Revenue, including Other Income, in FY 2020-21 was ₹ 1,822.68 Crores compared to ₹ 2,237.24 Crores in FY 2019-20 and EBITDA in FY 2020-21 was at ₹ 549.61 Crores as against ₹ 804.28 Crores reported in the previous year. Profit Before Tax (‘PBT’) came in at ₹ 478.61 Crores as compared to ₹ 706.03 Crores in FY 2019-20. Profit After Tax (‘PAT’) stood at ₹ 354.72 Crores as compared to ₹ 544.04 Crores in FY 2019-20.
Due to the uncertainties in external environments, the best option for the Company was to become more nimble-footed. The Company paid very close attention to internal processes of people management, supply chain and operations and worked to maximize productivity wherever possible. The Company gained value from these focused efforts in terms of optimizing product mix particularly in the Fine & Speciality Chemicals SBU. As always, the wide range of your Company’s products helped it to overcome some businesses whose demand was affected by COVID / oil crisis such as fuel additives and paper chemicals. The robust performance during the year was an outcome of the diverse product range built up over five decades, guidance of the able and competent leadership, commitment and dedication of all associates and the calibrated expansion plans which support the Company relentless pursuit of growth by constantly strengthening its product portfolio to satisfy the growing demands of global clientele.
During FY 2020-21, Domestic Revenues were ₹ 954.25 Crores compared to ₹ 1292.94 Crores in FY 2019-20 and Export Revenues were ₹ 854.89 Crores as against ₹ 936.72 Crores in the previous year.
India has become an important and a high potential market for the chemical industry, and your Company is well placed to capitalize on this trend, due to its varied product offerings and decades of manufacturing excellence. There has also been a noticeable rise in demand from global consumers across key product categories. Interventions to de-risk supply chain from China have contributed to mitigate the supply chain challenges for Indian chemical majors. The China plus one strategy has meaningfully impacted demand, which is likely to steadily accelerate in the quarters and years ahead. This is expected to benefit the industry including the Company which is well equipped, globally, and domestically, with established infrastructure and proven track record, alongside a high level of forward and backward integration, in an improving demand scenario.
DEEPAK PHENOLICS LIMITED
Your Company’s wholly owned material subsidiary, Deepak Phenolics Limited (‘DPL’), entered FY 2020-21 amidst a nation-wide lock down imposed by the authorities as a precautionary step to contain the spread of COVID-19. Domestic demand dropped to unprecedented low levels. Global markets also witnessed significant correction in terms of demand. Further, global markets suffered by Trade conflicts, political uncertainties, heightened volatility in commodity prices with some never before seen developments with respect to sharp fall in crude oil price at beginning of year and sharp rise in metal prices at the end of financial year.
DPL had its IPA plant ready for start but faced inevitable consequence of lack of licensor support for start-up and stabilisation due to the then COVID related restrictions on travelling of licensors. Despite the restrictions faced, DPL commissioned the IPA plant on its own during April-2020 in the midst of the lockdown and nothing could have been timelier in addressing the pressing need of sanitiser alcohol in India.
Further, as India and the global markets opened up towards middle of the first quarter, both Phenol and Acetone started to regain their rightful positions in the global markets. With the judicious mix of domestic sales and exports, DPL achieved 115% capacity utilization in FY 2020-21 despite remaining offline for the entire month of April-2020. Higher production reflected ability to work on operating leverage to report above 100% of capacity utilisation in the second complete year of operations from a plant of this magnitude indicates the level of preparedness of the organisation supported by reliable management of complex material logistics.
Despite the country wide lockdown and slowdown in the economic activity in India, the domestic market for Phenol exhibited a modest growth of 5-6% compared to the previous year indicating the intrinsic resilience of the market DPL operates in. Acetone market in India however declined around 6% compared to the previous year largely due to slowdown in derivatives and other surface coating segments comprising paints, inks and other coatings.
DPL has created new benchmark in revenues and profitability marking this as a milestone year for Deepak Group. DPL managed to achieve its targets in the backdrop of volatility in prices of raw materials and finished goods thereby demonstrating resilience. DPL reported elevated growth in revenues and profitability combined with opening up of new avenues of growth prospects. DPL reported Revenues of ₹ 2,563 Crores in FY 2020-21 as against ₹ 2,010 Crores in FY 2019-20 with Profit After Tax of ₹ 421 Crores in FY 2020-21 as against ₹ 67 Crores in FY 2019-20, registering growth of 28% and 528% respectively.
DPL continued to remain the largest producer of Phenol and Acetone in India with a market share of much above 50%. During the year under review, DPL was successfully placing its products in the highly competitive global market across multiple continents (Far East Asia, South America, Europe). Your Company is glad to report that DPL’s products were well received in the international market.
Phenol is a versatile industrial organic chemical and is used for manufacture of various chemical intermediates. This is consumed in a broad spectrum of end-user segments, including ply, laminates, foundry, paints, rubber, surfactants, pharmaceuticals, and agro- chemicals. Acetone and IPA are mainly used in pharmaceutical manufacturing aside from its significant applications in paints, adhesives, and thinners amongst many others. Acetone is a co- product of the production process for Phenol and IPA is on-purpose produced from Acetone
Consolidated
During FY 2020-21, the Company surpassed a remarkable milestone of ₹ 1,000 Crores in PBT as it clocked ₹ 1,041.72 Crores. Total Revenue including Other Income during FY 2020-21 was ₹ 4,381.27 Crores, growing 3% as compared to ₹ 4,264.91 Crores last year. The accretive performance of the Phenolics business and that of the Fine & Speciality Chemicals segment has driven the performance. The current year’s performance is even more resilient given the fact that, there was one month of production loss due to nationwide lockdown. This was achieved due to the exemplary dedication of the teams in the backdrop of the pandemic related curbs and localised lockdowns imposed by relevant authorities.
EBITDA came in at ₹ 1,268.55 Crores in FY 2020-21, higher by 20% as compared to ₹ 1,061.00 Crores in FY 2019-20. Raw material costs stood at ₹ 2,264.26 Crores as against ₹ 2,373.50 Crores in FY 2019-20, lower by 5%. The Company’s integrated manufacturing model which encompasses basic building blocks to complex, speciality chemical intermediates has enabled it to capitalize on the opportunities from the global disruption in a remunerative manner.
Profit Before Tax (PBT) stood at ₹ 1,041.72 Crores as compared to ₹ 806.40 Crores in FY 2019-20. The Profit After Tax (PAT) came in at ₹ 775.81 Crores as compared to ₹ 611.03 Crores in FY 2019- 20, representing a strong growth of 27%. Better profitability was achieved by operational improvements in the Phenolics market and incremental contribution from IPA products, that was supported by efficient logistics management. The Company’s performance has been highly influenced by the breadth and depth of its products and process competency. This resilience has been instrumental in delivering consistent returns regardless of the myriad challenges faced during the period.
Domestic Revenues stood at ₹ 3,088.06 Crores from ₹ 3,157.88 Crores in FY 2019-20, lower by 2%, while Revenue from Exports improved by 19% to ₹ 1,271.69 Crores as compared to ₹ 1,071.83 Crores last year. Consistent performance during the fiscal year reflects the Company's deeply rooted resilience, and attributed to exemplary teamwork, enhanced operations and better marketing and logistics capabilities. Overall, your Company remains optimistic about the numerous opportunities that have emerged because of increased focus on India's potential.