Nicholas Piramal India Limited (NPIL), a Rs 2475-crore Mumbai based pharma company, has posted better performance during the third quarter ended December 2007 on account of significant additions from its custom manufacturing revenue and Pathlabs business. The company's consolidated net profit for the Q3 in creased by 31 per cent to Rs 72.76 crore from Rs 55.55 crore in the corresponding period of last year. Its consolidated net sales also moved up by 12.8 per cent to Rs 732.33 crore from Rs 649.49 crore. The earning per share worked out to Rs 3.5 for the quarter ended December 2007 from Rs 2.6 in the last period.

The domestic branded formulations sales grew by 15.6 per cent to Rs 340 crore as compared to market growth of 12.3 per cent. Ajay Piramal, chairman, said, "We achieved strong performance during the quarter and the same trend will continue in the fourth quarter also. NPIL outperformed the market in 6 out of the total 10 therapeutic areas and grew particularly well in dermatology, ophthalmology, and OTC segments of the market. The de-merger process of NCE R&D unit is on the verge of completion and new company is likely to listed shortly with this current quarter"

NPIL's Custom Manufacturing Group's (CMG) sales grew by 7 per cent to Rs 340 crore and CMG revenues from facilities in India increased above 200 per cent to Rs 55.4 crore from Rs 18 crore in the last period. In the Pathlabs business (Wellspring), NPIL continues to expand rapidly. The revenues for the quarter increased by 88.5 per cent to Rs 31.47 crore. Wellspring is one of largest providers of diagnostic services in India and currently has 85 centres spread across 57 locations.

Ajay Piramal added that R&D expenditure for the quarter was Rs 22.87 crore and Rs 65.89 crore for the nine months ended December 2007. Without considering NCE R&D spends and exceptional items, the EPS worked out to was Rs 4.7 for the quarter and Rs 12.8 for the nine months. NPIL secured product patent from US Patent and Trademark Office for its Cyclin-Dependent Kinase inhibitors. The company entered into a collaboration agreement with Merck & Co., Inc to discover and develop new drugs for two selected targets provided by Merck. After de-merger of R&D the company's operating profit margins is likely to reach at 19.4 per cent and EPS of Rs 12.8. The company has reorganised its UK operations and shifted few manufacturing activities to India.

For the nine months ended December 2007, the company's consolidated net profit increased by 23.2 per cent to Rs 200.96 crore from Rs 163.10 crore in the similar period of last year. Its net sales increased by 15.2 per cent to Rs 2104.97 crore from Rs 1826.72 crore. The total R&D expenditure reached at Rs 101 crore from 90.52 crore.