Novartis India shares surge 6% after multi-fold jump in Q2 net profit

Shares of Novartis India surged nearly 6 per cent in trade on Thursday after the company reported a multi-fold jump in its standalone net profit at Rs 103.82 crore for the September quarter on back of slump sale of its OTC division to GlaxoSmithKline Plc.

The stock ended flat after hitting an intraday high of Rs 910, up 5.69 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 14 crore a year ago.

"The company has received a sale consideration in relation to the slump sale of the OTC division to GSK CPL amounting to Rs 1,097.3 million and the same has been accounted for in the quarter ended September 30, 2015 results," Novartis said in a note.

The company's board in January had approved a slump sale of OTC business to GSK Consumer Private Limited.

In April, Novartis had agreed to divest its global Animal Health business to Lilly by transferring it to Elanco India or another affiliate of Lilly.

"The sale consideration for the slump sale of the animal health division to Elanco India amounting to Rs 866.8 million has not been accounted for in the quarter ended September 30, 2015 results because this transaction is subject to the receipt of all applicable legal and regulatory approvals," Novartis said in a statement.

Novartis showed the net profit from the sale of the OTC division and costs incurred by the company in relation to these transactions under extraordinary items.
The stand-alone total income from operations of the company declined 4.4 per cent to Rs 224.43 crore during the reported quarter, from Rs 234.79 crore in the year-ago period.