Himadri Speciality Chemical: Battery Materials Bet

Himadri Speciality Chemica (NSE : HSCL)l makes coal-tar pitch, specialty carbon black, refined naphthalene, anthraquinone, SNF/PCE superplasticizers and advanced materials. Its customers include battery makers, EV manufacturers, tyre companies, aluminium smelters and graphite electrode producers across 61 countries. What happened: In Q1FY27, revenue grew 28% year on year to Rs 1,432 crore. Operating profit rose 17.5% to Rs 288 crore; operating margin contracted 1.8 percentage points to 20.1%. Net profit grew 27.4% to Rs 228 crore; net profit margin was 15.9%, barely changed from 16.0%. Revenue growth outpaced operating profit growth as expansion costs weighed on margins. Why it matters: Himadri is building a battery-materials business alongside its core chemicals base. Its Mahistikry facility produces anode material at 200 MTPA. An LFP cathode active-material plant at 40,000 MTPA is targeted for Q3 FY27. Himadri has a silicon-carbon anode technology licence from Sicona and has invested in International Battery Company. On the core side, specialty-carbon-black capacity reached 130,000 MTPA after a 70,000 MTPA expansion in FY26; coal-tar-pitch distillation was debottlenecked to 600,000 MTPA. What I am watching: LFP cathode commissioning in Q3 FY27 is the near-term milestone. Commercial orders from the anode facility will determine how fast battery-material revenue scales. Operating margin is already under mild pressure as new capacity is built out. My stance: Himadri’s core chemicals business is profitable and cash generative. The battery pivot is early stage but credibly resourced. The risk is timeline slippage on commissioning and customer qualification. I do not hold a position in Himadri Speciality Chemical at the time of writing. This is not investment advice.