India's Dr Lal PathLabs tops Q1 profit estimates on strong testing demand

Metropolis Healthcare

07/08/2024 11:30

BENGALURU, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Dr. Lal PathLabs  DLPA.NS 
reported first-quarter profit above expectations on Wednesday on
strong demand for its medical tests in smaller cities and towns
amidst rising awareness for health and wellness in India. 
    Shares of the diagnostic firm rose as much as 6% to hit the
day's highest, before closing up 3.4%.
    Consolidated net profit rose 28% to 1.06 billion rupees
(around $13 million) for the quarter ended June 30, beating
analysts' estimate of 992.7 million rupees, per LSEG. 
    "Tier 3 and Tier 4 towns continue to show higher compounded
growth within the network," Dr. Lal PathLabs Chief Executive
Officer-designate Shankha Banerjee said.
    The company, which operates about 300 labs in the country
said its number of samples tested climbed 9.3%. 
    This drove its total revenue from operations up 11% to 6.02
billion rupees. 
    Rival Metropolis Healthcare  METP.NS  is set to report its
June quarter results on Saturday.  


($1 = 83.9410 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita
Bhattacharjee)
 ((Kashish.Tandon@thomsonreuters.com; 8800437922;))