Tata Group’s agrochemicals arm Rallis India reported flat consolidated revenues of Rs. 468 crore, for the first quarter ended 30^th June 2015, on account of delayed monsoon across the country, leading to crop sowing season picked up only in the latter half of June and spilled into July. This lead to 7% YoY lower EBITDA at Rs. 58 crore, shrinking margin by 80 basis point to 12.4%.

Net profit reduced by nearly 11% YoY, to Rs. 33 crore, translating into EPS of Rs.1.70, as against Rs. 1.90 in Q1 of FY15.  Although adverse climatic conditions kept international demand also soft, company’s seeds business under Metahelix Life Sciences did well with sales growth of 26% to Rs. 231 crore. With monsoon playing truant this season, one needs to wait and see the effect of this on the performance of Rallis in Q2. Seasonally, Q2 and to some extent, Q3 are the best.