The January-March quarter (fourth quarter, or Q4) results of the largest listed players in the diagnostic space do not portray a healthy picture. Competitive pressures, weak organic growth, integration challenges, and higher costs injured the operational performance of companies in the sector.
In light of the above, brokerages have slashed their earnings estimates for the three large listed players Dr. Lal PathLabs, Metropolis Healthcare, and Thyrocare Technologies 15-20 per cent.
If Q4 results of 2021-22 are any indication, growth is going to be a near-term challenge for the sector.
The country's largest listed player Dr. Lal PathLabs - reported a sequential decline in revenue, excluding Coviddriven business. The base business (like-for-like) was up 4.4 per cent over the year ago quarter, compared to the two-year average annual growth of under 14 per cent.
Rahul Jeevani and Punit Pujara of IIFL Securities have downgraded the company's 2022-23 (FY23)/2023-24 (FY24) earnings per share (EPS) by 15 per cent since non-Covid organic revenue growth of 9 per cent (three-year average growth) has remained below pre-Covid growth rates of 14-15 per cent.
This story is from the May 30, 2022 edition of Business Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 30, 2022 edition of Business Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
T20 WORLD CUP: NETHERLANDS BEAT NEPAL BY 6 WICKETS
The Netherlands beat Nepal by six wickets with eight balls to spare in a tight contest that was delayed by rain at the Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas, Texas, on Tuesday night.
QS Rankings: IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi in top 150
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) Bombay and Delhi are among the top 150 universities in the world, while the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) retained the top rank globally for the 13th time, according to the QS World University Ranking, 2025 announced on Wednesday.
Delhi reports 3rd hospital fire incident in 2 weeks
A major fire incident took place in an eye hospital based in Southeast Delhi's Lajpat Nagar on Wednesday, marking the third instance of hospital fire in the national capital in two weeks.
'Food processing industry should focus on quality'
A mid growing scrutiny of processed food in the country, a senior official at the Ministry of Food Processing Industries on Wednesday asked that industry to take a cue from international standards even if they have to \"compromise a little\" on profit margins.
United Spirits may lose fizz on near-term woes
Long-term prospects promising, but there are no immediate triggers
VOLATILE DURING POLL RESULTS, LUCRATIVE 6 MONTHS LATER
As is the case now, equity markets always tend to be highly volatile around the time of election results.
Kronox Lab IPO subscribed 117.25x on last day
The initial public offering (IPO) of Kronox Lab Sciences garnered 117.25 times subscription on the closing day of bidding on Wednesday.
Policy, valuations could keep rural stocks in play
Most brokerages are betting that the new government will shift to a policy focusing on boosting rural incomes and consumption since that has clearly been a pain point.
Regulator mulls raising limit for basic-service demat account to ₹10 lakh
Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday proposed to enhance the threshold for the basic service demat account (BSDA) to 10 lakh from the current ₹2 lakh in a bid to boost the participation of retail investors in the securities market.
Sebi eases timelines for FPIs to disclose material changes
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has relaxed the timeline for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) for reporting and disclosing material changes.
