The Hindu Business Line : Dr Reddy's posts Rs 51.9-cr net loss in fourth quarter

DR Reddy's Laboratories Ltd has reported a net loss of Rs 51.9 crore for the quarter ended March 2005 and a steep fall of 91 per cent in net profit at Rs 21.1 crore for the fiscal ended March 2005 as against a net profit of Rs 247.4 crore posted in the previous fiscal.

The net profit margin turned negative by 12 per cent during the fourth quarter as against three per cent enjoyed in the corresponding quarter. For the full year, the net profit margin has plunged to one per cent from 12 per cent in the previous fiscal.

In terms of the US GAAP consolidated results for the fourth quarter ended March, the company suffered an operating loss of Rs 78.9 crore and a net loss of Rs 51.9 crore on a turnover of Rs 425.2 crore.

In the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal, Dr Reddy's reported an operating loss of Rs 29.9 crore and a net profit of Rs 16.2 crore on a turnover of Rs 475.5 crore.

For the fiscal ended March 2005, the company suffered an operating loss of Rs 16.4 crore (operating profit of Rs 221.1 crore) and posted a net profit of Rs 21.1 crore (Rs 247.4 crore) on a turnover of Rs 1,947.2 crore (Rs 2,008.1 crore).

The diluted EPS for the fiscal has suffered a steep fall at Rs 2.76 as against Rs 32.32 in the previous fiscal.

Commenting on the results, the Chief Executive Officer, Mr G.V. Prasad, said, "We had a very challenging year with a significant decline in our net profits. This was due to a combination of factors. Our key products of fluoxetine and tizanidine in the US as well as ramipril in Europe witnessed significant competition resulting in a steep decline in the revenues with no offsetting new product launches. We also had to take $6.4-million in non-cash charge towards our acquisition of Trigenesis."

However, expressing a future of profitable growth, he said, "We are working on initiatives to mitigate our R&D investments as we continue to invest in expanding our generic as well as innovation-led pipeline, which we believe is essential to drive long-term sustainable growth."

Further, Dr Reddy's has also decided to focus on measures to control costs and drive productivity, he said.

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