Wockhardt slumps on coming under USFDA scanner

Stock crashes 16% after yesterday's 20% fall

Wockhardt has crashed 16% at Rs 1,099 this morning on news that the company could lose $100 million in annualised revenue due to US Food and Drug Administration "import alert" on one of its plants, but said it should be able to restore most of that within 6 - 9 months.

The pharmaceuticals major is under the USFDA scanner, with the US regulator raising an import alert on the company’s export-oriented unit at Waluj, Aurangabad.

This is the first setback to the Mumbai-based company since it exited a corporate debt restructuring programme in 2009, when its debt touched Rs 3,800 crore. In 2009, the company had defaulted on $110 million of foreign currency convertible bond payments.

The stock had slipped 20% to its lower circuit of Rs 1,312 on Thursday.

The stock opened at Rs 1,199 and touched a low of Rs 1,066. Around 1,36,000 shares have already been traded on the BSE so far, as against a two week average of 71,000 shares.