Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals in the pink of health

Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals surged 15.73% to Rs 207.50 at 15:17 IST on BSE after a block deal for 2.85 lakh shares, or 0.4% of equity, was struck at Rs 192 per share on BSE.

On BSE, 90.74 lakh shares of the scrip were traded. The stock had an average daily volume of 17.82 lakh shares on BSE in past one quarter.

The scrip had touched a high of Rs 209 and a low of Rs 173.25 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 328 on 17 January 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 106.50 on 24 March 2008.

The scrip had underperformed the market in the one month to 4 April 2008, falling 24.66% as against the Sensex's 7.25% fall. It had also underperformed the market in the past three months, slipping 42.16% against the Sensex's 25.83% slide.

The small-cap drug maker has an equity capital of Rs 65.85 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

At the current price of Rs 207.50, the scrip trades at a PE multiple of 6.31, based on Q3 December 2007 annualised EPS of Rs 32.88.

Earlier on 17 March 2008, the Orchid Chemicals stock had tanked 39.09% after the Orchid management offloaded nearly 20.20 lakh shares or, 7% in the price range of Rs 131 - Rs 133.86 due to margin calls.

The net profit of Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals rose 91.1% to Rs 54.12 crore on 39.4% rise in sales to Rs 332.69 crore in Q3 December 2007 over Q3 December 2006.

The company is engaged in manufacturing and selling pharmaceuticals ingredients and finished dosage forms. It focuses on the cephalosporin range of antibiotics. The company exports to Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, South and Central America, North America and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Countries