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April 30 (Reuters) - Dr Lal Path Labs reported a 15.5% drop in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, hurt by higher tax expenses.
Here are some details:
o Consolidated net profit fell to 1.31 billion rupees ($13.8 million) in the quarter ended March, from 1.55 billion rupees a year earlier
o Tax expenses stood at 279 million rupees
o Dr. Lal, which operates 312 clinical labs across India as of March 31, said consolidated revenue rose 16.6% to 7.03 billion rupees, fueled by strong demand for diagnostic tests
o India's largest diagnostics firm by revenue said sample volumes rose 12.9% in the quarter
o Demand for medical tests has been supported by a growing focus on preventive healthcare and expansion by diagnostic chains into smaller cities
o Analysts at Citi said the company continued to report healthy margins, helped by an improved product mix, cost controls, supply-chain efficiencies and greater use of automation
($1 = 94.9100 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Mridula Kumar in Bengaluru)
