RPG Life Sciences surges on forays into cosmetic industry; credit rating upgrade

The stock surged 17% to Rs 273 on the BSE on back of heavy volumes.

RPG Life Sciences surged 17% to Rs 273 on the BSE after the company announced its foray into cosmetology, one of India's fastest growing markets.

RPG Life Sciences has entered into a technical collaboration with Italian cosmetic leader Labo Cospropher. The company is in-licensing two research-based products to be launched in the Indian cosmetic market this July.

A separate division has been created to market these unique products titled Crescina and Fillerina, specializing in hair-fall and anti-aging, respectively, RPG Life Sciences said in a release.

Crescina is a research-based global product designed for hair-regrowth with nine patents worldwide. Fillerina is another breakthrough product designed for anti-aging treatment with Swiss patent.

Meanwhile, rating agency ICRA has upgraded the rating assigned to the term loans, and the long-term, fund-based bank facilities of RPG Life Sciences to [ICRA]A- (pronounced ICRA A minus) from [ICRA]BBB+ (pronounced ICRA triple B plus).

The ratings upgrade takes into account an improvement in the credit profile of the company on the back of a ramp up in both domestic and exports formulations businesses through new product launches and diversification of client base, which has resulted in an improvement in profitability in FY2016. Further, the cash flows from the sale of the biotech API unit in the current year will infuse significant liquidity into the company and thus help invest in product development while maintaining very low debt levels, ICRA said in a release. LINK

At 02:52 PM, the stock was up 15% at Rs 268 on the BSE. The trading volumes on the counter jump an over 20-fold with a combined 874,371 shares changed hands on the BSE and NSE.