Tata Chemicals is having a rough day today. The stock opened 4% lower at Rs.752 and went down 8% to hit an intraday low at Rs.721.85. Its 10% LC for the day is at Rs.704.60.

The company, on a Consolidated basis, posted a sharp 85% (YoY) drop in net profit at Rs.29 crore on a 11% rise in revenue from operations at Rs.2636 crore.

The company said that the profits were muted due to one off of Rs.45 crore in US operations caused by Polar Vortex, leading to sharp rise in gas prices. There was also a one off in UK operations - tax asset write off Rs.16.5 crore and Rs.7.5 crore refinance cost & impact due to floods.

Effective working capital management led to strong cash flow from operations at Rs.2037 crore v/s Rs.1780 crore (YoY).  

Looking ahead, the company says that it is witnessing strengthening of Spot soda ash prices which will ease margin pressures sequentially in the coming quarters. Going forward, time bound commissioning of capacities in Mithapur and Dahej coupled with growth of Specialty products are critical steps towards transformation of the company.