Natco Pharma Q1 net drops 16%

Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical major Natco Pharma posted a 15.6% drop in net profit to Rs 28.23 crore for the first quarter ending June 30 this fiscal, as against a net of Rs 33.46 crore for the corresponding period last fiscal.

Total income, however, saw a marginal 6.5% rise to Rs 223.71 crore during the quarter under review, as against Rs 209.96 crore for the same period last financial year.

Profitability took a hit owing to the poor performance of the bulk chemicals segment, whose revenues during the quarter fell around 35% to Rs 55.80 crore, when compared with Rs 85.27 crore last year. The segment registered around 72% decline in profit to Rs 11.34 crore during the quarter, as against Rs 39.57 crore last year.

However, formulations business stood the ground registering a 57.7% jump in revenues to Rs 141.46 crore, as against Rs 89.66 crore last year, and profit from the segment almost doubled to Rs 57.12 crore, from Rs 30.68 crore in the same period last fiscal.

The company expects strong sales growth in high margin products in the remaining quarters of the current fiscal, it stated in a release today.

Meanwhile, the board of directors recommended sub-division of face value of its equity shares from the earlier Rs 10 each to Rs 2.

Shares of Natco Pharma dropped 2.38% to close at Rs 2,410.65 on the BSE on Wednesday, as against the previous day's closing of Rs 2,469.45.