Morepen Laboratories, a Rs.430 crore plus pharma-cum-healthcare major, has suffered a setback during the third quarter ended December 2016 and its net profit declined sharply by 41.3 per cent to Rs.4.17 crore from Rs.7.28 crore in the corresponding period of last year. However, its net sales increased by 23.3 per cent to Rs.134.05 crore from Rs.108.72 crore. With lower net profit, EPS declined to Rs.0.09 from Rs.0.16 in the last period.  The company has carried forward losses, therefor no provision for Minimum Alternative Tax is required. Accordingly provision made earlier has been reversed during the current quarter.

Sales from the domestic operations contributed majorly to the company's topline y registering a growth of 43 per cent at Rs.79.52 crore in December 2016 quarter. Export sales, however, remained flat at Rs.54.53 crore, registering a marginal growth of 3 per cent. The API segment continued to excel in the quarter by contributing 61 per cent to the company's total turnover. Total sales from bulk drugs during Q3 stood at Rs.81.83 crore. The two bulk drugs viz. montelukast (an anti-asthmatic drug), and rosuvastatin (a statin drug), outshined other bulk drugs by registering a growth of 74 per cent and 44 per cent respectively.

OTC products and formulations also recorded better performance. Burnol and Lemolate brands registered a growth of 22 per cent and 46 per cent respectively. Total sales from OTC products went up by 46 per cent.

Sushil Suri, chairman and managing director, said, “This quarter, company's focus was to get better penetration in the domestic market, which is quite visible from fabulous growth inAPI segment, particularly montelukast, and Dr Morepen OTC and Home Diagnostic segments. The growth in these segments had been very encouraging despite challenging market conditions.”

For the nine months ended December 2016, Morepen's net sales increased by 22.6 per cent to Rs.388.53 crore from Rs.316.92 crore in the same quarter of last year. Its net profit moved up by 17.7 per cent to Rs.15.31 crore from Rs.13.01 crore.