Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Divi's Laboratories Limited on Thursday, November 16, said it has received a Goods and Service Tax (GST) demand notice totalling ₹164 crore, along with interest and penalty. At 11:30 am, the scrip was trading almost flat at ₹3,543 apiece on the NSE.

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The notice was issued by the Office of the Commissioner of Central Tax, Ranga Reddy GST Commissionerate, Hyderabad, the company said.

The drugmaker does not expect the order to have any material financial impact on it. "The company evaluated the merits of the case and decided to file the appeal with the Appellate Authority within time-limit prescribed under the GST Law," Divi's Laboratories said in a regulatory filing.

"The order pertains to recovery of refund of IGST granted under Rule 96 of CGST Rules, 2017 alleged to have been claimed erroneously in terms of the provisions of the GST Act, 2017 (‘GST Law’). Demand raised: IGST of ₹82,04,24,880 along with applicable interest and penalty of ₹82,04,24,880 being 100% of the tax amount (IGST)," it said.

During the July to September quarter, the pharma company reported a net profit of ₹348 crore, which turned out to be lower than the CNBC-TV18 poll of ₹410.8 crore. On a year-on-year basis, the company's net profit declined by 29.5% from the year-ago period.

While Divi's revenue managed to meet expectations, its operating profit or EBITDA, as well as the EBITDA margin missed Street expectations.

The company's revenue for the period came in at ₹1,909 crore, which was in-line with Street expectations of ₹1,886 crore. Its topline rose 3% as against the same period last fiscal.

The range for revenue growth estimates for Divi's were wide, ranging from a decline of 5% to a growth of 7.4% year-on-year.

Operating profit or EBITDA declined by 22.9% from last year to ₹479 crore from ₹621 crore last year. The figure was well below the CNBC-TV18 poll expectation of ₹570.8 crore.

EBITDA margin narrowed by over 800 basis points to 25.1% from 33.5% last year. A CNBC-TV18 poll had projected the figure at 30.3%.

First Published:Nov 16, 2023 11:37 AM IST