Chemicals company SRF Ltd. is eyeing 20 percent growth in the specialty chemicals business for financial year 2024. Some moderation in this segment was anticipated during this quarter.

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However, the management said that margins for the packaging business will continue to remain under pressure. In an earnings call, the management also said that the technical textiles business may see some recovery in the years ahead.

SRF's strong capex intensity will continue this year as well. SRF is focusing on becoming a pharma contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) and is likely to enter this segment via an organic or inorganic route.

It also recently increased the capex for setting up a plant which will manufacture aluminum foils to Rs 530 crore from Rs 425 crore earlier.

In a bid to explore new avenues for businesses, SRF said it was also looking at refrigerant gas exports to the Middle-Eastern markets from the second quarter of the current financial year.

SRF also said that it was eyeing capacity expansion via a land purchase closer to its Dahej plant in Gujarat, without divulging further details.

Kotak Institutional equities has a buy rating on SRF and has also raised its price target to Rs 2,940 from Rs 2,800 earlier. The brokerage has revised SRF's Earnings per Share (EPS) estimates for financial year 2024 and 2025 by -1 percent and 6 percent respectively.

ICICI Securities has also raised its price target on SRF to Rs 2,520 from Rs 2,220 earlier. It has raised SRF's EPS estimates for financial year 2024 by 4 percent.

On Tuesday, SRF reported a 7.1 percent year-on-year (YoY) decline in net profit to Rs 562.4 crore for the March quarter as against Rs 605.6 crore reported in the corresponding quarter last year. The number was in-line with the CNBC-TV18 poll of Rs 560 crore.

Shares of SRF are trading unchanged at Rs 2,570.95.