Moser Baer, PSL net & Torrent Q3 results

CORPORATE SCORECARD

Moser Baer's gross revenues for the third quarter ended December 2005 increased by 10.5 per cent to Rs 439.5 crore compared with Rs 369.3 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The company's earnings before interest, tax and dividend (EBITDA) shot up by 59.1 per cent to Rs 110.74 crore compared with Rs 69.61 crore over the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

EPS stood at Rs 1.2 compared with a negative of Rs 2.8 last year. The company's interest costs grew marginally by 2.9 per cent at Rs 23.11 compared with Rs 19 crore.

PSL net up 6% to Rs 13.4 cr

PSL Ltd reported 6 per cent growth in net profits at Rs 13.4 crore for the third quarter ended December 2005 compared with Rs 12.6 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Net sales, however, dropped to Rs 408 crore from Rs 446 crore, a drop of 8.5 per cent. Gross profit rose 33 per cent to Rs 28.7 crore from Rs 21.4 crore over the corresponding periods. Total income decreased by 9.8 per cent at Rs 412 crore from Rs 457 crore.

The company's board allotted a block of 8.75 lakh shares to International Finance Corporation (IFC) at a pre-agreed rate of Rs 252 per share. This is an integral part of IFC's allocation of $20 million towards the company's expansion program.

Torrent net at Rs 52 cr

The Ahmedabad-based pharma major, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, reported consolidated operating profit (PBIDT) for the nine months to December 2005 at Rs 94 crore, riding mainly on the back of higher sales.

The consolidated net profit stood at Rs 52 crore resulting in EPS of Rs 24.64. Consolidated sales was at Rs 753 crore, a rise of 70 per cent as compared with Rs 444 crore recorded in the corresponding period last year.

This includes Rs 112 crore sales recorded by Heumann Pharma GmbH & Co Generika KG (Heumann), the German company which was acquired in July 2005.

Consolidated sales in international markets registered a robust growth of 234 per cent at Rs 305 crores (including sales of Heumann) during these nine months.

Besides Heumann, organic growth of 112 per cent in worldwide business contributed to this achievement. In the domestic market Torrent's domestic formulations (DF) business recorded a jump of 26 per cent in sales to Rs 355 crore during the nine month period of the financial year.

For the quarter ended December 2005, consolidated sales showed an impressive growth of 82 per cent, reaching Rs 273 crore as against Rs 150 crore for the comparable period. Domestic formulation business showed a healthy rise of 23 per cent to reach Rs 108 crore.