The Hindu Business Line : Matrix Labs Q3 sales rise 80 pc; to pay 50 pc interim

DESPITE an increase in depreciation, taxation and higher expenditure on research & development, pharma major Matrix Laboratories Ltd (MLL) has registered a significant increase in net profit for the third quarter of the current fiscal ended December 31, 2003.

The MLL board, which met here on Wednesday to take on account the audited financial results, has recommended an interim dividend of 50 per cent (Rs 5) for the current fiscal, and fixed February 3 as the record date.

At an extraordinary general meeting held here, the shareholders approved a resolution to allot 22.5 lakh equity shares at a price of Rs 1,500 per share of Rs 10 each to India Newbridge Investments Ltd and Maxwell (Mauritius) Pte Ltd, an investment vehicle of the Singapore Government-owned Temasek Holdings.

Addressing the shareholders, the MLL Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr N. Prasad, said high-quality international private investors were brought in not just to mobilise funds but also to drive the company through the new growth path. They would network the company with their portfolio of investors, he said.

Further, he informed the shareholders that the company had so far filed 12 drug master files with the US Food and Drugs Administration and would file some more during the last quarter of the current fiscal.

For the quarter under review, the company reported net sales of Rs 138.45 crore, an increase of over 80 per cent over the previous corresponding quarter's Rs 76.83 crore, and a net profit of Rs 33.41 crore (Rs 30.81 crore) on an expanded equity base of Rs 12.3 crore (Rs 7.19 crore).

For the nine months period of the current fiscal, MLL's net sales stood at Rs 395.98 crore (Rs 183.56 crore), while net profit amounted to Rs 96.2 crore (Rs 75.21 crore).

Meanwhile, the company has appointed Deloitte Haskins & Sells as Joint Statutory Auditors, a step towards adopting international accounting standards.