Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals announced its quarterly results for the period ending December 31, 2008. It posted 157 per cent increase in net profit for the third quarter of current financial year.

The company has posted a net profit of Rs 208.4 crore for the fourth quarter, as against Rs 80.9 crore during the corresponding period last fiscal.

During the quarter, the company said that its income from operations rose to Rs 374.8 crore in December quarter, where as the same was at Rs 346.7 crore in the previous year.

The company had divested its Fine Chemicals business in 2007, which affected its sales figures. Therefore, the figures during the quarter are not comparable with those of the corresponding period last year.

GSK Pharma has recorded a net profit of Rs 576.57 crore for the fiscal year ended December 2008, as against a net profit of Rs 537.66 crore in the year-ago period.

For the financial year ended December 2008, its income from operations rose to Rs 1,680.68 crore, from Rs 1,596.17 crore during the last fiscal.

For the financial year ended December 2008, the company’s board has announced a dividend of Rs 40 per share, which also includes an added dividend of Rs 18 per share.

Moreover, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (GSK) is eyeing acquisitions in order to swell its business in the Indian market.

Presently, the company’s cash balance stood at Rs 15 billion. The big portion of this can be utilized for acquirements as annual working capital requirement is only Rs 250-300 million.

It is learnt that GlaxoSmithKline Plc is also making discussions to get hold of leading Indian drug major Piramal healthcare, in an agreement valued more than $1.5 billion.

At 1:55 p.m., shares of the company gained 0.1% at Rs 1,197.45 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).