Lupin Q4 results: Consolidated net profit rises 35% to Rs 390 cr; income from operations marginally down

New Delhi: Drug firm Lupin has reported a 34.55 percent rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 389.63 crore for the quarter ended March 2020 mainly on account of robust sales in the domestic market and lower tax expenses.The company had posted a net profit of Rs 289.56 crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, Lupin said in a late-night filing on Thursday.Consolidated income from operations of the company stood at Rs 3,791 crore for the quarter under consideration as against Rs 3,807.02 crore for the same period year ago.For the fiscal year ended March 2020, the company posted a net loss of Rs 269.39 crore. It had posted a net profit of Rs 606.55 crore for the previous fiscal year, Lupin said. The company's income from operations for the fiscal year ended March this year stood at Rs 15,142.80 crore. It was Rs 14,318.05 crore for the year-ago fiscal.Click here to follow LIVE news and updates on stock marketsThe net debt as on 31 March, 2020, stood at Rs 1,511.8 crore. The net debt-equity ratio for the company was at 0.12:1 as on 31 March, 2020, Lupin said."We closed the year with strong growth across all our key markets and significant strengthening of our profitability and balance sheet. We have had strong momentum in our two major markets, the US and India, and on compliance across our facilities," Lupin MD Nilesh Gupta said.Importantly, in the current times, Lupin has been able to ensure business continuity while safeguarding the health and safety of its employees, he added.During the quarter under consideration, India region formulation sales grew by 15 percent compared to the same quarter in the year-ago fiscal year.The total tax expense of the company for the fourth quarter of FY 2020 was at Rs 105.07 crore as against Rs 294.27 crore for the same period year ago, it added.Investment in research and development for continued operations amounted to Rs 1,553.8 crore (10.3 percent of sales) for FY2020 and Rs 344.2 crore (9.1 percent of sales) for Q4 FY2020, the filing said.The board of directors of the company has recommended a dividend of Rs 6 per equity share of the face value of Rs 2 each aggregating to Rs 271.84 crore, Lupin said.Shares of Lupin were trading at Rs 859.60 per scrip on BSE, down 2.48 percent from its previous close.