The Hindu Business Line : NPIL sales hit by VAT, retailers' strike

NICHOLAS Piramal India Ltd (NPIL) has said that its sale of medicines in the country for the three-month period ended March 2005 has been affected because of market conditions.

Down stocking by wholesalers and retailers because of value-added tax (VAT), which came into effect from April 1, was one of the reasons outlined by the company in its announcement on the BSE.

The strike by retails chemists regarding psychotropic/narcotic drugs, was the other reason, it said.

The company had clocked revenues of Rs 782 crore on domestic formulations sale for the nine-month period ended December 2004. This was about 77 per cent of the company's total sales for the same period.

NPIL's net sales of domestic formulations were Rs 251 crore for the comparative three-month period or the standalone fourth quarter of fiscal 2004.

Based on provisional analysis, the company has lost approximately six weeks of domestic formulations sales due to the stated reasons in the outlined period, the company said.

However, it adds, the same reasons do not affect the fundamentals of NPIL's domestic formulations business. As the VAT regime settles in, the company will get back on course, the company added.

The NPIL board meets on April 26 to take on record the company results for the year ended March 31, 2005.

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