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Kolkata , Oct. 20

THE Matrix Laboratories stock on Monday touched a new 52-week high to close at Rs 993.25, up 0.7 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The scrip scaled an intra-day high of Rs 1,005.75, but could not sustain it till the end. The stock has moved up from Rs 929.25 in the last four trading sessions.

Its 52-week low is Rs 129.

The stock recorded a traded quantity of 55,741 (6,667) on the BSE.

At today's closing price, it has traded at 8.1 times its trailing fourth-quarter earnings per share.

According to brokers and dealers, of late the stock has been a star performer on the BSE. The current rise, according to them, can be traced to withdrawal of a lawsuit related to patent infringement and forgery against the company in the UK for its blockbuster drug, citalopram.

Matrix supplies active pharmaceutical ingredients to Lagap Pharmaceuticals, a unit of Novartis, to market citalopram in the UK.

The company has adopted a de-risking model for its business operations by which it will be able to shed its dependence on citalopram.

In the last fiscal, 50 per cent of the total revenue of Rs 417 crore came from the drug.

Under the ambitious new model pursued by it, no single product would be allowed to contribute more 10 per cent of the total turnover.

Last month, Matrix had announced that it has embarked on a plan to achieve Rs 1,000 crore turnover by 2006.

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