Novartis India has achieved a net profit growth of 6.6 per cent during the third quarter ended December 2007 despite its net sales declined by 8.4 per cent. The net profit amounted to Rs 22.47 crore as against Rs 21.07 crore in the corresponding period of last year and its net sales declined to Rs 136.18 crore from Rs 148.72 crore. The company's other income improved by 67.7 per cent to Rs 16.41 crore from Rs 9.79 crore. There was marginal improvement in earning per share to Rs 7.03 from Rs 6.69.

The company's core business Pharmaceuticals, recorded sales of Rs 290.3 crore, which were nominally higher than sales of last period mainly due to the current pharmaceutical policy on price control. Generics business recorded sales of Rs 38.2 crore showing a growth of 12 per cent over sales of the previous comparable period. Animal health business sales increased by 13. 6 per cent to Rs 33.8 crore. Sales in the OTC business, however, declined by 9.5 per cent to Rs 60.7 crore due to competitive pressure in the market.

For the nine months period ended December 2007, the company's sales improved slightly by 1.1 per cent to Rs 422.89 crore from RS 418.38 crore in the similar period of last year. However, its other income moved up by 48.4 per cent to Rs 44.61 crore from Rs 30.06 crore. The net profit went up by 17 per cent to Rs 75.70 crore from Rs 64.68 crore.