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Our Bureau

Hyderabad , Jan. 22

MATRIX Laboratories Ltd has suffered a fall of 23.51 per cent in net profit for the third quarter of the current fiscal ended December 2004, despite a growth of over 21 per cent in net sales.

As per the unaudited financial results approved by the board here on Saturday, Matrix Labs has posted a net profit of Rs 25.55 crore on net sales of Rs 166.07 crore, against a net profit of Rs 33.41 crore on net sales of Rs 137.12 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.

Talking to presspersons after the board meeting, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Matrix Laboratories, Mr N. Prasad, attributed the fall in net profit during the quarter under review primarily to the delay in the launch of some products in the regulated markets and a more-than-anticipated fall in the prices of the anti-depressant drug Citalopram, besides higher provision for depreciation, tax and higher expenditure on R&D.

While the company anticipated a fall of around 30 per cent in generic Citalopram prices, in reality, the price fall was nearly 50 per cent, Mr Prasad said.

The company is confident of reaching Rs 1,000-crore mark by 2007-end as envisaged earlier, from Rs 557-crore during last fiscal, he said.

According to Mr Prasad, the recent acquisition of the finished dosage forms facility of Sigma Labs near Nashik will provide the company a fast-track entry into contract manufacturing of formulations for regulated markets. The acquisition also expedites the company's entry into the regulated markets at least by 12 months.

Having already given effect to the sub-division of shares to a face value of Rs 2 each from Rs 10 earlier, the Matrix Labs board on Friday allotted bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1 as approved by shareholders earlier.

Mr Arun Duggal, currently the international advisor to General Atlantic Partners, a leading American private equity firm with a $5-billion investment portfolio, has joined the company's board as an independent director.

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