Shares of Nectar Life-sciences surged in late trade

Nectar Lifesciences Ltd., a mid-sized pharma company, surged in late trade on Friday after the drugs major reported a sharp jump in quarterly earnings.

Nectar said its first quarter net profit rose 7 percent to 17.4 crore rupees compared with 16.2 crore rupees in the year ago period. Sales during April-June were up 6.8 percent to 407.7 crore rupees versus 381.7 crore rupees.

Nectar rose 1.3 rupees, or 3.5 percent, to 38 rupees on the National Stock Exchange. The stock's market capitalisation has surged 44 percent to 859 crore rupees in the past one year as investors bought into the expanding midcap pharma industry, Nectar trades at 0.9 times its book value of 42.7 rupees.

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