Galaxy Surfactants Limited, India based manufacturer of performance surfactants and specialty care products reported rise in profits amid falling revenues during first quarter of the current fiscal tear.

 

The company's profit grew by 7.5% YoY and stood at Rs. 56.5 crore on the back of savings on account of reduction in corporate tax rate.

 

However the revenue declined by 8.7% YoY and stood at Rs. 607.8 crore on account of decline in Specialty Care sales as well as decline in Fatty Alcohol Prices. Total volume de-grew by 5.2% for Q1FY21, on YoY basis. EBITDA stood at Rs. 91.1 Cr, YoY de-growth of 6.4%.

 

Commenting on the performance U. Shekhar, Managing Director, Galaxy Surfactants Limited said, “This has been a challenging, yet satisfying quarter for us. I would firstly like to acknowledge my team for having stood up to this challenge, despite the numerous headwinds and uncertainties that marred the quarter. The relentless determination and vigour demonstrated by the Galaxy family ensured we not only face these uncertainties with confidence but also emerge stronger. 

 

Q1 FY20-21 has been a unique quarter in many ways. The unfortunate incident at our M-3 unit in Tarapur and the sudden imposition of lockdown 1.0 and 2.0, severely impacted the supply side of the business. Be it in terms of people, production or operations, business in India and USA came to a standstill in April and the first half of May. But, things are slowly getting back to normalcy. June saw a good pickup and we believe this momentum should continue going ahead, especially for our performance surfactants which grew 7.8% in volume terms for this quarter driven by healthy 10.2% growth registered by the AMET Market. No shutdown in Egypt meant growth momentum continued from Q4 FY19-20 to Q1 FY20-21.

 

Specialty Care products due to the cutback in discretionary consumption and overall slowdown in the developed (ROW) markets saw a decline of 26.2%. We believe this is a temporary short-term blip and with the revival of the consumption cycle, we do see normalcy returning within the next 6-9 months.

 

India Business while declined 2.3%, a good monsoon followed by pickup in rural consumption along with the growing awareness for hygiene and cleanliness can result in an improved performance going

ahead. Though intermittent lockdowns, variability of restrictions and supply side challenges on account of rising COVID cases can delay the recovery.

 

Given the headwinds, ‘agility’ and ‘adaptability’ will hold the key and given the resilience demonstrated by our business and people over the years, we remain confident of winning together once again. On that optimistic note, we wish you and your families safety and good health”, said Shekhar.