Pharmaceuticals major Nicholas Piramal has reported a 71 per cent jump in profit after tax for the quarter ending June 30 at Rs 311.5 crore compared with Rs 182.1 in the corresponding previous quarter.
Sales jumped 20 per cent in the quarter to Rs 268.17 crore against Rs 223.47 crore in the first quarter last year. Profits before tax were up 85 per cent to Rs 40.15 crore compared with a PBT of Rs 21.65 crore in the comparable previous quarter.
The company's formulations business grew 20 per cent over the previous corresponding quarter to Rs 203 crore, while diagnostics grew 27 per cent to Rs 19 crore.
Its employee strength is down to 3,453 in the first quarter compared with a staff strength of 3,962 in the first quarter of the previous fiscal, despite field staff numbers going up to 1,637 from 1,572 and R&D staff going up to 137 from 120.
R&D expenditure increased from Rs 2.25 crore to Rs 3.46 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal. The company has also filed its first patent for its own new chemical entity (NCE) which is an anti cancer molecule NP102 in India and the USA and will file a Paris Convention Treaty application soon.
The company launched three new products during the quarter- Monti, an anti-asthma drug, LMVX ( low molecular weight Enoxaparin) and Tenodipin in the cardio vascular segment.
