Shares of Atul fell 4% on January 20 after the chemicals company reported weak figures for the December quarter of the 2022-23 financial year. The stock closed at Rs 7,431 on the NSE.

In an afternoon filing with the BSE, Atul said it reported a consolidated profit after tax of Rs 105.1 crore for the quarter that ended December 2023, down 32% year-on-year, hit by lower revenue and weak operating performance. Profit after tax for the December quarter of FY22 was Rs 155 crore.

Consolidated operating income was at Rs 1,268.2 crore, down 8.1% due to lower business in performance and other chemicals segment.

The company said that revenue from the performance and other chemicals segment fell 19.3% year-on-year, while revenue from the life science chemicals segment rose nearly 24% year-on-year to Rs 492 crore.

The operating performance was also disappointing as EBITDA fell 31.5% from a year earlier to Rs 172.2 crore.

Operating margin fell 460 basis points year-over-year to 13.6% in the quarter. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.