The Hindu Business Line : Novartis net down 35%

Novartis India Ltd has seen a 35-per cent dip in net profit at Rs 17.87 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2006, as compared with Rs 27.53 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2005.

Total income has decreased to Rs 138.25 crore (Rs 156.20 crore).

The company's sales for the half-year ended September 2006 were also down 4.7 per cent at Rs 269.7 crore compared to the corresponding six months in the previous year. Profit after tax stood at Rs 43.6 crore (Rs 64.8 crore).

Performance in the first half (H1) of 2006 is not comparable with H1 2005, since the first quarter of 2005 had exceptionally high sales and profits following the implementation of the value-added tax, a note from the company said.

The previous comparable period also included other income of Rs 17.3 crore towards sale of Goregaon property, it added.

During the half-year, Novartis' core pharmaceuticals business clocked a sales of Rs 190 crore, down 3.7 per cent over the corresponding previous period. "This was partly due to one of our key products Tegrital (for epilepsy) being subjected to significant further price control during the period under review," the company said.

The generics business recorded sales of Rs 22.1 crore showing a decline of 33.2 per cent over sales of the previous comparable period. "This decline was due to our not participating in the low margin tender business," the note added.

The over-the-counter (OTC) business recorded growth of 15.1 per cent with sales of Rs 40 crore. Higher growth of the OTC business is attributable mainly to successful calcium variant launches. Animal Health with sales of Rs 17.4 crore remained flat over sales for the previous comparable period, the company said.

Novartis shares closed marginally higher at Rs 453.15 on the BSE.