Strides Arcolab reported a net profit of Rs 6.32 crores on sales of Rs.275.90 crores for the 18-month period ended September 2003. The Board of Directors at their meeting held on 25th December 2003 took the audited results for the full year on record.

During the year under review, in accordance with the scheme of arrangement approved by the High Court of Mumbai dated October 14, 2003, the company transferred the Contract Research & Manufacturing Division (CRAM) to its wholly owned subsidiary with effect from April 2002. Hence the current year results are not comparable with that of the previous year.

On sequential quarter basis, the company reported sales of Rs.64.35 crores for quarter ended September 2003 as against Rs.45.53 crores for quarter ended June 2003, growth of 41 per cent. The net profit for the same period is Rs.1.53 crores as against a net loss of Rs.3.16 crores.

The year under review has been one of the most challenging for the company due to unfavourable external environment in Latin America where Strides has a significant presence and is also the biggest Indian player in these markets.

On a consolidated basis, the company reported sales of Rs.427.12 crores for the 18-month period ended September 2003. However the bottom line was severely impacted due to sharp devaluation in Brazilian currency during 2002 and developmental expenses in the US subsidiary that is in investment phase. As a result, the company reported a net loss of Rs.27.20 crores. The forex impact also resulted in underutilisation of Latam operations leading to pressure on working capital. For the year ended March 2002, sales were Rs.273.20 crores and net profit was Rs.10.10 crores.

During the period under review, the management of Strides Arcolab has initiated several measures to reduce the impact of currency crisis in Brazilian operations- tight control on inventories and supplies, strong inroads into regulated markets and entry into high potential AIDS-TB-Malaria segment. These measures have started yielding results as evident from results for the sequential analysis of last two quarters ended June 2003 and September 2003.

Strides, listed on the National Stock Exchange, has a global presence in more than 50 countries. The company has factories in India, Brazil, Mexico and USA. It supplies to a number of locations including Latin America, UK, South East Asia, Africa, Australia and Russia. The Indian manufacturing facilities for the regulated markets are approved by all major regulatory bodies like MHRA/EU/TGA and MCC.