Piramal Enterprises, a Rs. 3,495 crore plus diversified company in the field of pharmaceuticals, financial services and information management, has received setback during the third quarter ended December 2013 due to heavy interest burden and it has incurred a net loss of Rs. 11.14 crore as against a net profit of Rs. 61.07 crore in the corresponding period of last year. Its interest cost put pressure on overall working which increased to Rs. 230 crore from Rs. 140 crore. However, its EBDITA improved by 10 per cent to Rs. 295.74 crore from Rs. 268.16 crore.

The figures are not strictly comparable on account of acquisition of Decision Resources Group in June 2012. Further, it acquired the OTC brand 'Caladryl' from Valeant Pharma during November 2013 to strengthen presence in topical antipruritics segment.

Its consolidated net sales increased by 29.3 per cent Rs. 1,269 crore from Rs. 982 crore in the similar quarter of last year. Pharmaceutical segment contributed 59.4 per cent to its total sales during the quarter under review and the division sales improved by 23.5 per cent to Rs. 766.68 crore from Rs. 620.80 crore. Similarly, the sales from information management segment improved by 20.2 per cent to Rs. 318.42 crore from Rs. 264.92 crore. The sales of financial services including strategic investments segment went up strongly by 90.1 per cent to Rs. 205.05 crore from Rs. 107.85 crore and contributed around 16 per cent to its total sales. .

For the first nine months period ended December 2013, Piramal's net sales increased by 29.9 per cent to Rs. 3,338 crore from Rs. 2,569 crore in the same period of last year. However, its net loss increased to Rs. 190.06 crore from Rs. 26.87 crore due to significant higher interest cost. Its interest cost went up sharply by 123 per cent to Rs. 780 crore from Rs. 350 crore in the last period. Its EPS worked out to negative Rs. 11 as compared to negative Rs. 1.60.

Its pharmaceutical sales increased by 14.4 per cent to Rs. 2,112 crore from Rs. 1,847 crore, contributing over 62 per cent to its total income. The sales of information management went up by 46.5 per cent to Rs. 725.63 crore from Rs. 495.19 crore. The sales of information management division worked out to 21.4 per cent of total income. The sale of financial services jumped up by 113.2 per cent to Rs. 561.75 crore from Rs. 263.54 crore and contributed 16.5 per cent to total sales.