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1 — At a Glance
Quarterly revenue of ₹1,045 crore, up 44% year on year. Operating profit of ₹357 crore, up 73%. Net profit of ₹243 crore against ₹117 crore in the same quarter last year — a 108% move. Operating margin of 34%, which is where it also sat in the March quarter and roughly 566 basis points above the June 2025 quarter, per the company’s own presentation.
All three verticals moved together, which does not happen often in chemicals. HPP did ₹540 crore (+33%), Specialty Chemicals ₹325 crore (+48%), CDMO ₹180 crore (+82%). The CDMO number is the smallest and grew the fastest, which is the sort of arithmetic that makes a slide deck look busy.
Management said the company “became net debt free during the quarter.” Net working capital stood at 81 days. Operating cash flow for the quarter was ₹173 crore.
The board also approved ₹90 crore of capex to set up what the filing calls “adoption capacities” for the Advanced Materials portfolio at Surat — funded by internal accruals, targeted for Q2 FY28. Management’s list of end markets for it: data centres, electronics, semiconductors and defence. A 1967-vintage refrigerant company is now writing board resolutions about chip cooling.
Which raises the obvious question of how a company that spent sixty years making gas for air conditioners got into the semiconductor conversation at all.
2 — Introduction
Navin Fluorine International has been in the fluorochemical business since 1967, part of the Padmanabh Mafatlal group, and is described as one of the largest specialty fluorochemical companies in India and a pioneer in refrigerant gas manufacturing. The portfolio runs to over 70 fluorinated compounds per CARE’s September 2025 report, feeding agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, aluminium smelting, refrigeration, metal processing, abrasives, glass and ceramics. Vishad Mafatlal, a second-generation entrepreneur with a Wharton economics degree and 29-plus years in textiles and chemicals, is Chairman. Nitin G. Kulkarni, appointed MD in June 2024, holds a Master’s in Organic Chemistry from the University of Mumbai and three decades in the specialty chemicals value chain.
The last two years have been mostly about spending money. In July 2025 the company allotted 16.03 lakh shares via QIP at ₹4,680 each, raising ₹750 crore; CARE noted around ₹562 crore of that was earmarked for debt repayment. In February 2026 the new 40,000 tonnes-per-annum hydrofluoric acid plant at Dahej commenced commercial production. Phase 1 of the cGMP-4 facility at Dewas — roughly ₹160 crore — began validation batches in September 2025 and was operationalised in Q3 FY26.
October 2025 brought two more capex approvals: ₹236.5 crore for additional HFC capacity equivalent to 15,000 MTPA of R32, and ₹75 crore for debottlenecking the multi-purpose plant at Dahej. Both are targeted for Q3 FY27 commissioning. The same board meeting declared a ₹6.50 interim dividend.
There has also been turnover in senior roles. CEO Rajendra Sahu resigned effective 20 September 2025, with Dr. Vijay Kaiwar appointed CEO (CDMO) from the next day. CHRO Pankaj Lochan resigned effective close of business 27 February 2026, with a search initiated. At the AGM on 6 August 2026, shareholders approved an ₹8.60 dividend and reappointed key directors.
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3 — Business Model: WTF Do They Even Do?
Fluorine is the element that everyone wants attached to their molecule and nobody wants to handle. Navin handles it, and charges accordingly.
Three verticals. HPP — refrigerant gases, inorganic fluorides, and now hydrofluoroolefins, of which the company describes itself as the only Indian manufacturer. This is the Mafron-branded legacy business, the R-22 and R-32 that sit inside air conditioners. Specialty Chemicals — fluorinated intermediates, largely for agrochemical innovators. CDMO — contract development and manufacturing for global pharma, running out of cGMP-compliant facilities at Dewas, with therapeutic areas spanning oncology, respiratory, cardiovascular, neurology and animal health.
The geographic mix per vertical is where it gets interesting. HPP splits 46/54 between domestic and international. Specialty runs 38/62. CDMO is 2/98 — essentially an export business with a rounding error of Indian revenue attached to it.
Manufacturing sits at four units, with Surat housing refrigerant, inorganic and specialty plants plus the DSIR-approved R&D centre; Dewas handling CDMO; and Dahej hosting the newer greenfield capacity. Three R&D centres in total — Surat, Dewas, and Runcorn near Manchester, the latter arriving via the Manchester Organics acquisition. FY26 R&D spend was ₹48.71 crore.
The moat, as management describes it, is the integrated HF value chain: make your own hydrofluoric acid, and the cost of every fluorinated thing downstream improves. It
