 "Dr Lal PathLabs: Street worried over rising pressures")
Dr. Lal PathLabs, India's biggest diagnostics firm by revenue, posted a bigger profit for the fourth straight quarter on Thursday, led by the addition of more labs and increased demand for medical tests.
The company's consolidated net profit jumped 49% year-on-year to Rs 84.5 crore ($10.1 million) in the fourth quarter.
Its shares climbed as much as 7.8% after the results before trimming some gains to trade up about 6%. Rival Metropolis Healthcare was up about 2% and Thyrocare Technologies gained about 1%.
Analysts expect Indian diagnostic firms to benefit from geographic expansions and price hikes.
"We're expanding our reach in core markets by strengthening our presence in Tier 3 and Tier 4 towns," Dr. Lal PathLabs Chief Executive Officer-designate Shankha Banerjee said.
The number of samples tested grew 8.5% during the quarter, and was up roughly 10% for the fiscal year.
The company, which operates more than 280 labs in India, said total revenue climbed by 11% to Rs 545 crore.
Thyrocare is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter results next week.
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