MUMBAI, MAY 17: Dr Reddy's Laboratories has suffered a setback in its performance during 1996-97. The net profit dipped by 33 per cent to Rs 33.53 crore from Rs 50.18 crore last year. The company, however, recorded a higher turnover of Rs 249.94 crore during the year against Rs 220.33 crore in the previous with domestic formulations sales touching a new high.

The company also posted a higher operating profit of Rs 51.74 crore against Rs 45.16 crore last year. The gross profit has dropped to Rs 40.82 crore from Rs 54.02 crore. The provision for depreciation is Rs 5.80 crore (Rs 3.84 crore) and taxation Rs 1.50 crore (nil).

The company maintained its pre-interest profit at the level of the previous year. However, the growth in the company's net profit was affected by a steep fall in non-operational income to the tune of Rs 12.08 crore, a one-time write-off of Rs 4.82 crore on account of investment losses, bad debts ofthe previous year and other provisions and a decline in the end price of bulk drugs. The provision of MAT also affected the bottomline.

Dr Reddy's Research Foundation (DRF), the basic research arm of the company and its associate company Cheminor Drugs, filed 16 patents in the US in the anit-cancer and anti-diabetic fields.