The company made this announcement after market hours on Monday, 4 January 2010.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 117.10 points, or 0.67%, to 17,675.83.

On BSE, 3.11 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 9.97 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 190 and a low of Rs 186 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 239.40 on 16 December 2009 and a 52-week low of Rs 56.50 on 12 March 2009.

The mid-cap stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 4 January 2010, gaining 23.82% as compared to the Sensex's 2.67% rise. It had also outperformed the market in the past one quarter, surging 42.75% as compared to the Sensex's return of 2.48%.

The company's equity capital is Rs 70.44 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals is in the process of extinguishing the repurchased foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs), it said in filing with BSE. The buyback of FCCBs will help reduce liabilities and interest costs.

Orchid Chemicals, last month, sold its injectables business to US-based Hospira for around $400 million. The sale includes Orchid's beta-lactam antibiotics manufacturing complex and pharmaceutical research and development facility at Irungattukottai in Chennai and its generic injectable product portfolio and pipeline.

Orchids will use the proceeds from the sale of the business for repaying its long-term debt of Rs 1200 crore and working capital loan of Rs 200 crore, reports suggests.

Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals reported net loss of Rs 13.20 crore in Q2 September 2009, lower than a net loss of Rs 40.66 crore in Q2 September 2008. Net sales declined 10.1% to Rs 304.84 crore in Q2 September 2009 over Q2 September 2008.

The company is engaged in manufacturing and selling pharmaceuticals ingredients and finished dosage forms. The company exports to Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, South and Central America, North America and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.

Promoters have pledged 41.58 lakh shares representing 5.90% of the equity capital of the company. The total promoter shareholding in the company is 21.18% (as on 30 September 2009).