Shares of Hyderabad-based drug firm Aurobindo Pharma tanked over 6.5 per cent to hit a 52-week low of Rs 457.20 on BSE in early trade on Monday.
On Saturday, the company reported a 41 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 409 crore for the second quarter ended September 2022. It had posted a net profit of Rs 697 crore in the year-ago period.
Revenue from operations declined to Rs 5,739 crore in the September quarter as against Rs 5,942 crore in the year-ago period.
The stock crashed over 14 per cent on Friday following the arrest of P Sarath Chandra Reddy, one of the promoters of Aurobindo Pharma.
The Enforcement Directorate arrested Reddy and Pernod Ricard general manager Benoy Babu under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with liquor trade in the money laundering investigation into the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy case.
Read more: Delhi liquor scam: Will disclose details after internal probe, says Aurobindo Pharma after promoter’s arrest
However, the company said that the arrest of P. Sarath Chandra Reddy, Whole Time Director of the Company, is not in any way connected with the operations of Aurobindo Pharma Limited or its subsidiaries, hence not required to report to any authority.
“The company learnt that P. Sarath Chandra Reddy has been arrested by Enforcement Directorate relating to the transactions done in his personal entities and it is not related to the operations of Aurobindo Pharma Limited,” it said.
“Estimated impact on the listed entity; he is overseeing operations of procurement of engineering items, logistics and IT and these departments are headed by senior professionals and also the same is now allocated to other whole-time directors hence, impact on the operations in those areas is very minimal,” the company added.
Commenting on the company’s Q2 performance, K. Nithyananda Reddy, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of the Company said: “Our Q2FY23 performance was subdued, mainly due to the macro-environment factors and higher competitive intensity for some products in the U.S. However, we are confident that our robust pipeline of new products will provide impetus to the future growth trajectory.”
“Our continued focus on Biosimilar, R&D, innovation and increasing manufacturing capacity will enhance our product offerings, in various markets. We are confident that, the right measures and growth-led strategies will help improve our profitability and margins over the medium to long term,” he added.
