India's MedPlus Health Services reported an over two-fold rise in second-quarter profit on Wednesday as growing share of the pharmacy helped drive retail sales.

The Indian omni-channel retail pharmacy said consolidated net profit jumped to 145.6 million rupees ($1.8 million) for the three months ended Sept. 30 from 65.7 million rupees a year earlier.

The over-the-counter (OTC) drugs market in India is expected to grow at an annual rate of ~19% to 10.80 billion rupees by 2027, according to analysts, driven by a number of factors, including rising population and better affordability among consumers.

The launch of new patented drugs and improving medical infrastructure have further improved access to these medicines, driving sales of retail pharmacies, the analysts added.

A series of price hikes have also boosted revenue.

MedPlus, which delivers medicines online as well as through its nearly 4,000 retail outlets across the country, said revenue from operations rose nearly 26%, outweighing a nearly 25% rise in expenses, mainly due to higher input costs.

Revenue from its retail business, which contributed 99% to the total, jumped nearly 25% to 13.90 billion rupees, while revenue from its diagnostics business more than tripled to 181.5 million rupees.

MedPlus competes with Reliance-owned Netmeds and Apollo Pharmacies among other retail pharmacies in the Indian OTC drugs market.

MedPlus shares ended flat ahead of the results. ($1 = 83.2640 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami)