Specialty chemicals and pharmaceuticals supplier Vivimed Labs Ltd has appointed a veteran of the fast-moving consumer goods sector as its new chief executive officer.
The Hyderabad-based company said in a stock-exchange filing it has appointed Ramesh Krishnamurthy, a former Unilever and Marico Ltd executive, as its new CEO with effect from June.
Krishnamurthy is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad. He has previously overseen general management functions, supply chain operations, procurement, sales and marketing and corporate strategy.
“He believes in building strong alignment to business goals, driving and delivering operational rigour, excellence and transformation,” Vivimed said.
According to its website, Vivimed originally began operations in 1989 as a contract manufacturer for bulk drugs. It later expanded into producing specialty chemicals.
Its investors include the public markets-focused private equity firm Kitara Capital. The PE firm had first invested in Vivimed Labs in 2011 and raised its stake in 2014 by investing Rs 15.7 crore. In 2017, VCCircle reported that it had raised its stake in the company to 12.79% from 11.29% by investing Rs 11 crore.
Vivimed Labs went public in 2005. According to VCCEdge, the data research arm of Mosaic Digital, the company reported consolidated net sales of Rs 1,315.17 crore and Rs 1,185.66 crore for the 2018-19 and 2017-18 financial years. It posted profit after tax of Rs 57.36 crore and Rs 76.09 crore for the two years, respectively.
For the nine months through December 2019, the company’s consolidated net sales fell to Rs 823 crore from Rs 967 crore a year earlier and it swung to a net loss of Rs 48.3 crore from a net profit of Rs 57.6 crore.