Earnings per share for the quarter stood at Rs 5.48 per share as against Rs 2.73 per share. Staff cost during the reporting quarter increased to Rs 11.11 crore as compared to Rs 9.04 crore for the same period the previous year.
For the nine month period ended December 31, 2001, the company reported a 49.77 per cent increase in the net profit at Rs 46.1 crore as against Rs 30.78 crore for the same period the previous year. Net sales for the nine month period increased by 5.1 per cent at Rs 360.94 crore as compared to Rs 343.34 crore for the same period the previous year.
The company, in a press statement added that pharma sales during the reporting quarter at Rs 298.7 crore grew by 3.4 per cent over sales of Rs 288.8 crore as against the same period the previous year. Consumer health products registered a growth of 18.5 per cent with sales of Rs 34.3 crore as against sales of Rs 29 crore during the previous comparable period.
Animal health products recorded sales of Rs 27.9 crore as compared to Rs 23.7 crore during the same period the previous year, recording a growth of 17.5 per cent. The company said that overall profits improved primarily due to better price realisations, lower input costs, lower borrowing costs, as well as the positive impact from the closure of Ciba Vision’s loss-making operations.