Turnover rose by 17.7 per cent to Rs 276.66 crore from Rs 235.04 crore for the same period, a company release said. The turnover growth is, however, marginally lower than the projected growth of 20 per cent, as stated by the company chairman Ajay Piramal at the company's annual general meeting in August.

The company registered a consistent performance in the second quarter recording a 30.7 per cent growth in net profit and 17.2 per cent growth in turnover over the corresponding quarter.

During the six month period under review, the sales of new products like Rejoint, Haemaccel and Omnatax have contributed significantly to the company's growth, the release added.

The company improved its operating, gross and net margin to 17.7 per cent, 16.1 per cent and 12.2 per cent respectively from 17.4 per cent, 14.4 per cent and 10.9 per cent last year.

According to analysts, improved margins are on account of a decline in material consumption as a percentage of turnover to 40.8 per cent from 47.0 per cent. The increase in staff cost by Rs 3.51 crore over the corresponding period was nullified by improved turnover which did not impact the margins, said analysts.

Interest cost declined by 39 per cent to Rs 4.35 crore while depreciation increased by 33 per cent to Rs 6.66 crore over last year. The provision for taxation has gone up from Rs 3.35 crore to Rs 4.38 crore.

The company, which had recently launched a new generation anti-malarial, Aablaquin, is progressing on its NCE (New chemical entity) research projects as per schedule during the second quarter, the release said.

On a consolidated basis, (as per the US GAAP Accounting principles), the net profit increased by 40 per cent to Rs 46.13 crore while turnover rose by 25 per cent to Rs 427.74 crore over the corresponding half last year, the release said.