Drug maker Lupin Ltd today said its consolidated net profit declined by 29.54 per cent to Rs 161.19 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31,2012,due to higher tax expenses. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 228.80 crore for the same period of previous fiscal,Lupin said in a filing to the BSE. During the quarter,the company's total tax expense rose to Rs 134.77 crore,as compared to Rs 31.15 crore in the corresponding period of previous fiscal. However,net sales of the company during the fourth quarter ended March 31,2012 rose by 24.58 per cent to Rs 1,883.16 crore as against Rs 1,511.54 crore during the same period of previous financial year. For the year ended March 31,2012,the company posted a net profit of Rs 887.51 crore as compared to Rs 879.39 crore during 2010-11. Net sales of the company rose to Rs 6,959.70 crore for the last fiscal,as compared to Rs 5,706.82 crore during 2010-11. The company said the profitability of the company was impacted by increase in effective tax rates and "tax on inventories shipped to overseas subsidiaries for new launches". The company's tax expense increased to Rs 308.56 crore in 2011-12 as compared to 114.98 crore in the previous fiscal. Commenting on the results Lupin Ltd Managing Director Kamal K Sharma said: ". We are in the midst of a very exciting period for Lupin with multiple launches,significant ramp-up in business and judicious investments planned". The company's board,which met today,also recommended a dividend of 160 per cent (Rs 3.20 per share of the face value of Rs 2 each) for 2011-12. For the year ended March 31,2012,the company's advanced markets formulation sales,including US,Europe and Japan,increased by 25 per cent to Rs 3,588.5 crore as compared to Rs 2,881.8 crore in 2010-11. The company said its net sales for India Region Formulations grew by 23 per cent to Rs 1,905.9 crore during FY12 as compared to Rs 1,550.9 crore in FY11. Lupin launched 30 new products in India in 2011-12 fiscal. Lupin's said its US formulation sales grew by 22 per cent to Rs 2530.3 crore during 2011-12 as compared to Rs 2079.8 crore in 2010-11.
