Pharmaceuticals major Dr Reddy's Laboratories, buoyed by a four-fold increase in its net profit for the quarter ended September 2001, has gifted a special interim dividend of 100 per cent to the shareholders.
The company posted a net profit of Rs 143.4 crore on a total income of Rs 514.7 crore for the second quarter ended September 2001, against a net profit of Rs 29.47 crore on a total income of Rs 167 crore during the corresponding period of last year.
With a robust sales of its Fluoxetine 40 mg capsules in US generics market, the company's sales for the second quarter ended September 2001 increased by 103 per cent to touch Rs 493.3 crore. Of this, Fluoxetine 40 mg capsules accounted for Rs 163.9 crore ($ 35 million). This along with an upfront payment of $5 million from Novartis for DRF 4158 insulin sensitizer compound contributed to the hefty growth in the net profit in the second quarter.
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Earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter works to be Rs 18.98, considering the recent stock split with a facevalue of Rs 5 per share.
The company has made a provision of Rs 93.1 crore as one-time write-off of deferred revenue expenditure in basic research and generics. This was to align the Indian Gaap financials with US Gaap accounts. Prior to this write-off, the net profit was Rs 251.75 crore.
Fluoxetine 40 mg capsules contributed 35 per cent of the total turnover in the second quarter. Without this, the overall sales grew by 25 per cent.
The company launched Fluoxetine 40 mg capsules in the US on August 3, 2001 under an 180-day marketing exclusivity. This exclusivity will continue up to February 2002.
Of the total turnover, international sales contributed to the extent of Rs 298 crore, thus forming the two-thirds of the total turnover. The US emerged as the single-largest market for the company, accounting for 43 per cent of its total turnover.
After consolidating the second-quarter results with those in the first quarter, the company's net profit for the first-half of the current financial year adds up to Rs 197 crore on a total income of Rs 807 crore against a net profit of Rs 49 crore on a total income of Rs 307 crore. For the last financial year, the company had a net profit of Rs 144.46 crore on a total income of Rs 1,000 crore.