1. At a Glance – Blink and You’ll Miss the Volatility
Insecticides India Limited is currently trading at ₹593, nursing a –17.9% return over 3 months and a painful –42.7% over 6 months, like a farmer who sprayed pesticide after the pest already left. Market cap stands at ₹1,731 Cr, while the stock is quoting at a P/E of ~12.2x, roughly half of the industry average of 28x.
Q3 FY26 numbers were… let’s say emotionally unstable. Revenue came in at ₹385 Cr (+8% YoY) but PAT collapsed to ₹10.5 Cr (–40% YoY). OPM slipped to 7%, down from double-digit dreams. Yet, the balance sheet is not screaming for help: Debt-to-equity at 0.20, interest coverage at 14x, and ROCE of ~17% suggest the company is not structurally broken—just operationally annoyed.
Premium product mix is now 64%, B2C contributes 77%, and promoters still hold a chunky 72.3% with zero pledge. The question is simple: Is this a temporary crop failure… or a structural soil problem?
2. Introduction – When Agrochemicals Catch a Cold
Insecticides India Ltd (IIL) has been around long enough to have seen multiple agri cycles, government mood swings, monsoons behaving like crypto, and raw material prices doing bhangra. Historically, this has been a steady, boring, cash-generating agrochemical player—the kind fund managers keep for stability, not excitement.
But FY25–FY26 decided to test investor patience. While revenues kept growing (31% growth between FY22–FY24), margins collapsed into single digits due to inventory liquidation, higher input costs, and channel destocking. Q3 FY26 was the cherry on top—sales grew, profits vanished.
Management says margins will recover in 1–2 years. Investors say, “Bhai, we’ve heard this before.”
So today, IIL sits at
an awkward junction:
- Business model intact
- Distribution unmatched
- Product pipeline active
- Valuation cheap
- Profitability… missing in action
Let’s dig deeper before declaring it either a turnaround or a value trap.
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
At its core, IIL is a full-stack agrochemical company. They don’t just slap labels on Chinese imports. Nearly 95% of revenue comes from in-house manufacturing, which is rare and valuable in this sector.
They operate across:
- Insecticides (48% of H1 FY25 revenue)
- Herbicides (39%)
- Fungicides (10%)
- Biologicals (3%, but growing from zero in FY22)
The real flex? B2C dominance. Around 77% of revenue comes directly from farmers, not institutional buyers. That means branding, dealer relationships, and farmer trust actually matter here—not just chemistry.
Premiumisation is the big strategy buzzword. Their Maharatna and Focused Maharatna portfolio (sounds like a PSU scheme, but okay) now contributes 64% of sales, up from 55% in FY22.
If agrochemicals were Bollywood, IIL is moving from background dancer to supporting actor—not yet a hero, but no longer invisible.
4. Financials Overview – Numbers Don’t Lie, But They Do Smirk
Quarterly Performance
(Figures in ₹ Cr)
| Metric | Latest Qtr (Dec FY26) | YoY Qtr | Prev Qtr | YoY % | QoQ % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 385 | 358 | 638 | +7.6% | –39.6% |
| EBITDA | 27 | 31 | 89 | –13% | –69% |
| PAT | 10.5 | 17 | 59 | –39.6% | –82% |
| EPS (₹) | 3.61 | 5.97 | 20.31 | –39.5% | –82% |
