Dabur Pharma reports profit of 18.5 cr for 06

New Delhi, May 16: Dabur Pharma Ltd today reported a 15 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 18.5 crore for the year ending March 31, 2006, as against Rs 16 crore for the same period last year, besides recommending a 20 per cent dividend for its shareholders.

The Board recommended a dividend of 20 per cent for its shareholders and has set the book closure date as July 3-14, 2006, for paying this dividend.

The total outgo on account of this dividend would be Rs 3.12 crore.

The company's annual sales were up 14.5 per cent to Rs 268.9 crore, from 234.8 crore last year, while its sales for the fourth quarted ended March 31, 2006 were up 8.7 per cent to Rs 52.53 crore.

During the quarter, the company posted a 8.7 per cent increase in its turnover from Rs 48.3 crore to Rs 52.53 crore.

''The international formulations business, which accounts for 55 per cent of the overall international business, recorded a growth of 62 per cent during the year, while our domestic business, which accounts for 56 per cent of total sales, registered a growth of 18 per cent during the year. The new products launched by the company in the areas of Cardiovascular, Diabetology and Gynaecology have done extremely well during the year, and have grown in line with our overall expansion strategy,'' Dabur Pharma COO Ajay K Vij said on the performance of the company.

On expansion plans, Dabur Pharma Chairman Anand Burman said, ''The project work on our new manufacturing facility in Baddi is on track and we expect to commence commercial production in this facility by March 07. Phase II clinical trials of the NDDS have been completed and the other R&D initiatives are progressing as per schedule.''

UNI