Shares of Archean Chemical Industries (ACIL) hit a new high of Rs 612.70, up 7% intraday on the BSE on Friday in an already subdued market. Shares of the speciality chemicals company are at their highest since going public on November 21, 2022. In contrast, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.22% at 59,826 at 11:15 am.

With today’s earnings, ACIL’s share price is up 51% from its issue price of Rs 407 per share.

ACIL is India’s leading manufacturer of speciality marine chemicals. Production of bromine, industrial salt, and potassium sulphate are three major categories of products.

ACIL led commercial sales of bromine (market-traded bromine) in India in FY21 and was the largest exporter of bromine in India for the year. It is also India’s largest exporter of industrial salt at 2.7 million tonnes.

ACIL is the only manufacturer in India that extracts Potassium Sulphate from natural seawater. The potassium sulphate market is being driven by the advantages of potassium sulphate over potassium chloride and the growing demand mainly as a fertilizer for fruit and vegetable cultivation as well as for medical applications, as low potassium levels have been linked to cancer and certain cardiovascular diseases. It aims to become a significant potassium sulphate producer and supplier in India.

ACIL plans to ensure aggressive business growth through capital expenditures on product innovation and expanding existing and new manufacturing facilities. During the FY20-22 period, the company’s revenue and EBITDA grew by 36.3%/77.7%, respectively. Benefit from fixed sales contracts with bromine customers with agreed price and quantity terms of approximately 12 months and contracts with industrial salt customers of roughly 24 months.

ACIL’s Rs 1,462 crore initial public offering (IPO) was 32.23 times subscribed. The company intends to use the net proceeds from the new issue for redemption or early redemption of some or all of the non-convertible debentures (NCD) issued by the company totalling Rs 644 crore, and advances for general corporate purposes.