Wockhardt shares fall for 2nd day,slump 19 in early trade

Wockhardt Ltd shares plummeted as much as 19.3 on Friday to their lowest since Aug 2012.

Extending losses for the second day in a row,shares of Wockhardt today plummeted by over 19 per cent,after the company said import alert issued by US health regulator on its manufacturing facility near Aurangabad could impact the company8217;s business by 100 million.

After a weak opening,shares of the drug firm further tumbled 18.95 per cent to Rs 1,066 on the BSE in early morning trade.

Similarly at the NSE,the stock nosedived by 19.31 per cent to Rs 1,060.

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8220;USFDA has put an import alert on one of our facilities,at Waluj,near Aurangabad. We estimate that it would impact our business by USD 100 million on an annualised basis,8221; Wockhardt Chairman Habil Khorakiwala had said.

He added till the time USFDA lifts the import alert,the company would not be able to export products to the US market from the facility,which produces injectables as well as solid dosages.

The US health regulator had issued an 8216;import alert8217; on drug firm Wockhardt8217;s facility at Aurangabad in Maharashtra saying it was not meeting the manufacturing norms.

The import alert,8217;detention without physical examination of drugs from firms which have not met drug GMPs8217;,is issued when an FDA inspection reveals that a firm is not operating in conformity with current good manufacturing practises GMP8217;s,United States Food and Drug Administration said on its website.

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Meanwhile,in the broader market,BSE benchmark Sensex was quoting at 19,711.74,up 37.41 points in late morning trade.

Wockhardt shares slump for second day on US FDA import alert

Reuters Wockhardt Ltd shares plummeted as much as 19.3 percent on Friday to their lowest since August 2012,continuing to reel for the second day,after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration imposed an 8220;import alert8221; on a plant operated by the generic drugmaker.

Wockhardt shares had already slumped by their daily limit of 20 percent on Thursday on the U.S. FDA action.

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An 8220;import alert8221;,effectively a ban,results in detention without physical examination of drugs from firms that have not met so-called good manufacturing practices,according to the FDA website.

Wockhardt said the FDA8217;s action potentially affects 100 million in revenue on an annualised basis,but said it should be able to restore most of that within 6 to 9 months by shifting production to other facilities.

Wockhardt shares were down 8.7 percent as of 0422 GMT. Best Performing Mutual Funds