1. At a Glance – Blink and You’ll Miss the Turnaround
Manali Petrochemicals just woke up from a two-year margin hangover and decided to drop a Q3 FY26 PAT of ₹68 Cr on the table. Yes, the same company whose OPM crashed from a glorious 32% in FY22 to a sad 5% in FY24 suddenly reported a quarter that made spreadsheets sit up straight.
Market cap is hovering around ₹1,013 Cr, stock price at ₹58.7, trading below book value (0.89×) like it has done something illegal. ROCE is still a sleepy 4.7%, ROE an even lazier 2.9%, but Q3 profit growth of ~298% YoY is hard to ignore.
Before you pop the champagne—calm down. This quarter includes ₹52.16 Cr from divestment gains and insurance claims doing some heavy lifting. Core operations are improving, but this wasn’t a Bollywood “comeback”—more like an interval scene where the hero finally gets up. Curious? Good. Keep reading.
2. Introduction – From Petrochemical Rockstar to Commodity Casualty
Once upon a time (FY22), Manali Petrochemicals was minting money with 32% operating margins and investors thought they had discovered a chemical unicorn. Then reality arrived—Chinese imports, collapsing realizations, volatile propylene prices, and suddenly Manali was fighting for relevance in its own market.
FY23 and FY24 were brutal.
- Propylene Glycol realizations down ~34%
- Base polyol prices down ~31%
- Margins evaporated faster than ethanol on a hot Chennai afternoon
And yet, the company didn’t fold. Instead, it quietly started pivoting from commodities to specialties, investing in downstream products, acquiring niche businesses, and planning a West India specialty hub.
So now the question isn’t “why did Manali fall?”
The real question is: is this
Q3 just accounting fireworks—or the start of a structural recovery?
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Think of Manali as a chemical middleman with ambition issues.
Core Products
- Propylene Oxide (PO) – the mother chemical
- Propylene Glycol (PG) – pharma, food, cosmetics darling
- Polyols – used in foams, insulation, furniture, automobiles
They are:
- India’s only domestic producer of Propylene Glycol
- First & largest Indian producer of Propylene Oxide
Sounds sexy? It was—until PG became import-flooded and polyols turned into a commodity bloodbath.
The Pivot
Manali figured out something late but important:
👉 Commodities make revenue. Specialties make profits.
Hence:
- Specialty chemicals now ~37% of FY24 revenue
- Subsidiary PennWhite making defoamers, additives, silicone emulsions
- Polyester polyols, system polyols, prepolymers—less volume, more margin
Question for you: Is Manali becoming a specialty company… or just dressing up a commodity business?
4. Financials Overview – The Quarter That Changed the Mood
- Q1 FY26 EPS: ₹0.83
- Q2 FY26 EPS: ₹1.06
- Q3 FY26 EPS: ₹3.98
Average (Q1–Q3) = ₹1.96 → Annualised EPS ≈ ₹7.8
Quarterly Comparison Table (₹ Cr)
| Metric | Latest Qtr (Q3 FY26) | YoY Qtr (Q3 FY25) | Prev Qtr (Q2 FY26) | YoY % | QoQ % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 247 | 196 | 248 | 26% | -0.4% |
| EBITDA | 14 | 13 | 20 | 8% | -30% |
| PAT | 68 | 5 | 18 | 1,260% | 278% |
| EPS (₹) | 3.98 | 0.31 | 1.06 | — | — |
