Aarti Pharmalabs Ltd has filed a writ petition before the Hon'ble High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad challenging a stamp duty and penalty order worth ₹59.50 crore levied by the Superintendent of Stamps, Gandhinagar.

The dispute stems from an order dated August 29, 2026, issued by the Office of the Superintendent of Stamps. The authority imposed the liability in respect of the Scheme of Arrangement (Demerger) sanctioned by the Hon'ble National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Ahmedabad Bench, vide order dated September 21, 2022.

Regulatory Disclosure

The company disclosed this development under Regulation 30(7) of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015. This filing serves as a continuation of previous communications regarding the receipt of the initial order. The company has sought relief from the High Court against the assessment made by the stamp authority.

Key Details of the Dispute

The company maintains that the stamp duty and penalties were incorrectly assessed against the demerger scheme which had already received judicial sanction from the NCLT. The matter is now sub judice before the Gujarat High Court.

Aarti Pharmalabs Limited shareholders approved all resolutions at the 7th Annual General Meeting held on September 22, 2026, including key leadership restructuring and the final dividend declaration.

The scrutinizer’s report, filed on September 23, 2026, confirmed that ordinary and special resolutions were passed with requisite majorities. Notably, institutional investors showed significant dissent against the proposed change in designation of Hetal Gogri Gala from Managing Director to Whole-time Director.

Leadership restructuring and voting outcomes

Shareholders approved the appointment of Rashesh C. Gogri as Managing Director, transitioning from Non-Executive Director effective October 1, 2026. Concurrently, Hetal Gogri Gala was re-designated from Managing Director to Whole-time Director. Rajendra Gogri, who was liable to retire by rotation, did not offer himself for re-appointment, and the vacancy was not filled. He ceased to be a Director with effect from the conclusion of the AGM.

The voting results revealed a divergence between promoter and institutional support for the leadership changes:

While promoters voted unanimously in favor, public institutions cast approximately 47-48% of their votes against these special resolutions. Public non-institutional shareholders largely supported the changes, with over 99% voting in favor. Disclosures indicate that Rashesh C. Gogri and Hetal Gogri Gala are related to each other.

Financial performance overview

The company adopted its audited standalone financial statements for FY26 without qualifications. The following table summarizes the key standalone financial metrics:

The consolidated operational revenue declined by 14.0% to ₹18,194 crore, with consolidated PAT falling 35.9% to ₹1,747 crore. The drop in net profit was driven by higher depreciation, finance costs, and foreign exchange losses. The company noted that recognition of fair value movement on a long-dated USD forward contract under FVTPL impacted reported profitability.

Strategic investments and outlook

Aarti Pharmalabs continues to expand its manufacturing capacity. The Atali greenfield project in Gujarat, with an estimated investment of ₹400 crore, has ~80% capacity operationalized by Q4FY26. Additionally, the Tarapur brownfield expansion, involving an investment of ₹210 crore, is expected to be operationalized in Q1FY27.

The company targets a 15-18% Revenue and EBITDA CAGR over the next 3-4 years. Key strategic initiatives include initiating R&D investment in TIDES (Peptides & Oligonucleotides) in FY27 and announcing capex for Atali Block 2 for specific CDMO/CMO projects.

What the numbers show

The divergence between standalone revenue growth (+1.5%) and the significant decline in PAT (-31.5%) highlights pressure on margins. While EBITDA margin contracted by 149 bps to 22.6%, the bottom-line impact was amplified by a 31.9% rise in depreciation and amortisation and an 83.2% surge in finance costs. Furthermore, a swing from a foreign exchange gain of ₹17 crore in FY25 to a loss of ₹332 crore in FY26 contributed significantly to the profit erosion.