UPL shares gain 5% as brokers highlight Superform growth

what happened

Shares of UPL Ltd climbed about 5% to ₹514 on Monday after brokerage commentary drew attention to the prospects of Superform, the company’s speciality chemicals subsidiary. Motilal Oswal Financial Services said the unit is aiming for annual revenue growth of 20–23%, with phosphorus and cyanide chemistries identified as major expansion engines.

Superform is moving into battery chemicals to benefit from demand for specialised materials and efforts to diversify global supply chains away from China. The report said speciality chemicals could eventually account for 45–50% of the unit’s total revenue, with revenue expected to compound at about 20% a year and outpace the wider business. Planned annual capital expenditure through FY30 is $100 million to $125 million.

UPL’s network of more than 40 manufacturing and distribution facilities in 11 countries, together with a presence in over 130 countries, gives Superform access to overseas customers without having to build a distribution system from the ground up. Motilal Oswal also cited backward and forward integration as factors that may improve supply resilience, reduce reliance on outside suppliers and support cost competitiveness. The China plus 1 trend is another opportunity. Superform is lifting cyanide output from roughly 17 000 tonnes to 50 000 tonnes, with a longer-range target of around 200 000 tonnes. Commercialisation of battery-material opportunities is planned within the next 18–24 months, including sodium-ion products and cyanide-based Prussian Blue and Prussian White cathode materials for energy storage. Motilal Oswal forecasts compound annual growth through FY28 of 7% for UPL revenue, 9% for EBITDA and 28% for adjusted profit after tax.

why it matters

The report puts Superform at the centre of UPL’s growth story, while its expansion plans link the stock to speciality-chemical demand and efforts to reduce reliance on Chinese suppliers.

instruments