Burroughs Wellcome, on the other hand, registered a 22.6 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 21.85 crore for the nine months ended September 30, 1999, as against Rs 17.82 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Sales, however, fell to Rs 145.63 crore as against Rs 150.04 crore in the previous year.

Glaxo India said that net sales have grown 15.2 per cent during the quarter ended September 30, 1999 compared with the corresponding period last year and cumulatively by 10.8 per cent during the first nine months of the year. However, profits for the quarter are lower than the previous year due to the imposition of customs duties and the increase in selling expenses and lower margins in a more competitive market.

Other income, for the nine-month period, was higher at Rs 32.01 crore, while provision for taxation was lower at Rs 22.92 crore.

In the case of Burroughs Wellcome, net sales in the domestic pharmaceuticals market have grown by 10.3 per cent during the quarter ended September 30, 1999 compared with the corresponding period last year and cumulatively by 4.5 per cent during the first nine months of the year. For the nine months ended September 30, 1999, exceptional income stood at Rs 4.22 crore, while the corresponding period in the previous year saw an exceptional outflow of Rs 2.04 crore.

INSIGHT
Dip in retail sales takes toll

In case of Glaxo, slowdown in growth rate was expected as its growth in the retails segment, as per the August ORG figures was only around one per cent. Further, during the third quarter bottomline owuld have been further affected but for a sharp increase in other income component.

As for Burroughs Wellcome, though the company has posted positive growth rate in the third quarter, its growth rate is much slower as compared to that in the first two half's.

Shishir Asthana