3 BEYOND RESEARCH

Murali K. Divi Chairman & MD, Divis Laboratories

` 46.5 crore (2016/17) ` 44.99 crore (2015/16) DESPITE THEIR DIFFERENCES, Kallam Anji Reddy, founder of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, had praised Murali K. Divi’s chemistry skills and entrepreneurial zeal in his memoirs. Some 28 years after Divi broke away from Reddy to found Divis Laboratories, those who know him say he is leveraging both these strengths. He is the guiding force behind the company’s research planning and, evaluation of future products, apart from playing a role in contracting future business and customer engagements. Some of these are hard to quantify. In April 2017, for example, an import alert was imposed on its Visakhapatnam plant by the US Food and Drug Administration, denting profitability. But Divi ensured that remedial steps were taken and the issue was resolved by October. Divis posted total revenue of ` 3,949.71 crore in 2017/18, down 4.6 per cent over the previous fiscal, while net profit fell 17.43 per cent to ` 869.58 crore.

Divi’s remuneration is pegged to company performance. It has two components – a fixed annual income of ` 1 crore while the rest is 3 per cent of gross profit as commission, as per the contract. He got ` 46.5 crore in 2016/17. The Companies Act specifies that 11 per cent of profits can be given to directors as commission. Divi’s package rose 3.27 per cent in fiscal 2017 while median remuneration of employees went up 11 per cent.