Kotak cautions further pressure on margins for India's Dr. Lal PathLabs

Dr. Lal PathLabs

12/05/2023 07:46

** Brokerage Kotak Institutional Equities says Indian
medical diagnostics firm Dr. Lal PathLabs  DLPA.NS  could
witness further pressure on margins
    ** Says despite price hikes, margin pressure can arise as
non-metro mix of the health test chain operator increases 
    ** Additional pressure can be from heightened marketing
expenses, tech investments - Kotak
    ** Given high pricing differential, Kotak says it remains
guarded on any meaningful advantage to co
    ** DLPA's net profit fell for sixth consecutive qtr, while
revenue grew a mere 1.1%
    ** Five analysts out of 20 rate stock "buy" or higher, 4
"hold" while 11 rate it "sell" or lower
    ** DLPA rose 3.4% as of 12:00 P.M. IST on Friday, vs
declines of nearly 13% so far this year 

 (Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)
 ((Hritam.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com;))