Agri-inputs maker SML Ltd, formerly known as Sulphur India Limited, is evaluating a stock market listing within the next two to three years as it looks to fund the development of new chemical entities (NCEs), Managing Director Bimal Shah said." We have not completely decided - we are also evaluating it," Shah said in an interview to PTI, adding that the debt-free company expects greater clarity on the timeline within the next one to two years.
Mumbai-based SML Ltd said it is among a handful of Indian companies developing NCEs - proprietary new molecules rather than generic formulations - with one new molecule expected to reach the market soon and others in the pipeline." We are working on NCEs, new chemical entity in the last three years.
We have a new molecule coming up very soon. NCE is a very important focus for us.
Of course, this requires a lot of investment," he said. Bringing a single NCE to market can cost USD 70 million-USD 80 million, Shah said, and the company has so far self-financed the research.
These considerations may eventually lead the company toward listing, but no decision has been made yet; it's still evaluating, Shah said, adding that he expects to have a "clearer sense of direction this year or next", since further steps will depend on related groundwork being completed. CASH PILE, ACQUISITION TARGETS SML Ltd holds roughly Rs 450-470 crore in cash on a near debt-free balance sheet; funds, Shah said, could be deployed toward acquisitions, regulatory assets or strategic tie-ups, alongside the NCE program.
The company pointed to its earlier increase in ownership of Rotam India, an active ingredient manufacturing facility, as an example of the kind of backwards-integration deal it could pursue again." We've maintained a stable balance sheet over the years, and this accumulated fund is intended for the right opportunity - potentially an acquisition, strategic tie-up, or backward integration," he said.
The listing deliberations come as SML pushes deeper into three business lines beyond its traditional sulphur fertilizer base: crop nutrition, crop protection and biologicals. Shah said crop nutrition, where the company is promoting balanced, nutrient-efficient formulations rather than single-nutrient products, is likely to be the fastest-growing of the three over the next three years, both in India and globally.
REVENUE OUTLOOK TRIMMED SML has lowered its revenue target for the current fiscal year to about Rs 1,600 crore, from an earlier goal of Rs 1,800 crore, citing weaker monsoon rainfall, US tariffs and shipping disruptions tied to ongoing geopolitical conflict. That would still mark an increase from roughly Rs 1,200-1,300 crore a year earlier, aided by price increases of 15-20 per cent across its product range.
