Matrix Labs downbeat on sour quarterly

DALAL STREET SPIKES

Matrix Laboratories slipped 7.74 per cent to Rs 182.90 after the company's first quarter results turned sour. The stock has been on a downhill since mid-July. The scrip took a plunge further after a planned merger with Strides Arcolab was cancelled.

The company reported a net profit of Rs 25.29 crore in this quarter (Rs 40.7 crore). Its R&D expenditure went up 132 per cent at Rs 16.65 crore (Rs 7.16 crore).

The merger with Strides, which was cancelled on valuation disagreement, would have resulted in the merged entity becoming the seventh largest drug firm in the country.