Piramal Healthcare on Friday informed that its consolidated net profit slipped 13.49% to Rs 114.90 crore in the fourth quarter ended 31 March, 2009, over the corresponding period a year ago.

The pharmaceutical firm had posted a net profit of Rs 132.82 crore in the March quarter of FY'08.

However, company’s net sales surged 9.34 per cent at Rs 850.91 crore in the March quarter, against Rs 778.20 crore in the same period last fiscal.

In addition, the company has informed that during the March quarter, it has incurred a foreign exchange loss of Rs 16.90 crore, against a forex gain of Rs 10.33 crore in the year-ago period.

For the financial year ended 31 March, 2009, Piramal Healthcare posted a net profit of Rs 316.25 crore, registering a growth of 5.25 per cent, compared to Rs 333.78 crore last fiscal.

The net sales during the full fiscal 2008-09 rose to Rs 3,281.10 crore from Rs 2,867.48 crore in FY’08, the company said.

The board of directors of the company has declared a dividend of 210 per cent for FY'09, at the rate of Rs 4.20 a piece, on shares of face value of Rs 2.