Pfizer India Ltd is planning to appoint consultants for deciding the valuation of to-be-merged entities Pfizer Ltd and Pharmacia Ltd. According to Pfizer officials the legal merger of both the companies are expected to take place by December 2004 after obtaining the necessary clearances.

In the current year, Pfizer India is planning to launch a slew of new products in several critical therapeutic areas, revealed the company chairman R.A. Shah. He was speaking at the Annual General Meeting of Pfizer India shareholders in Mumbai on April 29. Pfizer India managing director Hocine Sidi Said was also present at the meeting.

Pfizer reported improved performance during the first quarter ended February 29, 2004 on account of increase in sales of pharmaceutical division by 31 per cent. The net profit went up by 55.4 per cent to Rs 12.26 crore from Rs 7.89 crore in the corresponding period of last year.

For the year ended November 30, 2003, Pfizer achieved net profit of Rs. 27.51 crore compared to Rs. 76 crore during the previous year. The company achieved net sales of Rs. 474.64 crore for the year ended November 2003 compared to Rs. 542.43 crore for the previous year.

Corex, Becosules, Gelusil, Dolonex, Benadryl and Magnex are the leading brands in Pfizer’s product basket. According to the company’s MD Hocine Said, Pfizer India achieved productivity per brand of Rs. 5.2 crore for the year ended November 2003.

In the outlook, Pfizer India is expecting a growth of 12-15 per cent for the current year as against an industry growth of 10-11 per cent, said Shah.