Alkem Q1 net profit falls 22% to Rs 520 crore

Alkem Laboratories is a company that makes medicines.

Companies often count their earnings every three months, which is called a quarter.

In the first quarter of this financial year, Alkem earned less profit than it did one year before: Rs 520 crore instead of Rs 664 crore.

That is a drop of about 22 percent.

It is a bit surprising because Alkem actually sold more medicine than before, and its sales in India and in other countries both grew.

So why did profit go down?

Because the company had to pay a much bigger tax bill this year.

Tax is money that companies give to the government.

Alkem's managers say they are working on improving their business and investing in new areas like research and medical devices, but for now, the company is keeping less profit because of higher taxes.