Medplus slips 2% after board defers expansion plan of diagnostics division

The company's board on Wednesday decided to defer the expansion plans for Diagnostics Division beyond Hyderabad, until the profitability of the pilot project was established.

Shares of Medplus Health Services dipped 4 per cent in intra-day deals after the company's board decided against its approved fund-raising plan.

From an intra-day high of Rs 722, Medplus slipped into red and touched a low of Rs 693. At 01:55 PM. the stock quoted at Rs 696, down 2.2 per cent on volumes of around 13,000 shares on the BSE.

According to a release issued by the company to the exchange, the Board of Director in their meeting today decided to defer the expansion plans for Diagnostics Division beyond Hyderabad, until the profitability of the pilot project was established.

Further, the board agreed to expand its Pharmacy business through internal accruals and working capital loan etc.

Thus, considering the above, the board decided not to proceed with the fund-raising approval received from the shareholders on November 30, 2023.

Earlier this month, reports suggested that following increased footfalls MedPlus was set to elevate its 'store generics' (in-house brand) to 50-60 per cent contribution to the firm's revenue in the next two to three years.

The concept of 'store generics' involves a retail chain exclusively selling its own branded medications alongside innovator drugs. MedPlus currently witnesses around 12 per cent of its revenue from store generics, the report stated.

For the quarter ended December 2023, Medplus' Q3 consolidated net grew marginally by 2.5 per cent to Rs 13.71 crore when compared with Rs 13.38 crore in the same period a year ago. Total income increased by 20.8 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,451.27 crore. 

Medplus was listed in April 2024, after a strong debut wherein the stock hit a record high of Rs 1,049 - up over 31 per cent from its issue price of Rs 796 per share. The stock witnessed a steady decline. In spite of some relief rally in mid-2023, the stock once again quoted below the IPO price.