Comments
Biocon has reported a 55 per cent dip in its net profit for the fourth quarter of 2013-14, but with new management changes, the pharmaceuticals company is bullish about its outlook for the current fiscal year.
The decrease in profit was because of an exceptional income to the tune of ₹202 crore recorded during the fourth quarter of FY13 resulting from the termination of an agreement with Pfizer for a diabetes drug.
The Bangalore-based company said that consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter was ₹113 crore, down 54.5 per cent from the ₹248.6 crore posted in the corresponding period of the previous year. “Excluding the exceptional item, our performance is still better than the industry,” said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director.
Revenues for the quarter were ₹745.7 crore, up 14.9 per cent compared with ₹648.9 crore in the year-ago quarter. Management changes
Arun Chandavarkar has been elevated as the CEO and Joint MD, as part of a restructuring exercise begun by the company in 2012. Chandavarkar will also get a seat on the board.
Ravi Limaye has been appointed as President of Marketing after the recent departure of Rakesh Bamzai.
“The results are better than our estimates,” said Milind Bhangale, Research Analyst, Dolat Capital Market.
Biocon announced a dividend of ₹5 a share.
The company’s operating margin rose 650 basis points year-on-year to 24.1 per cent, primarily on higher revenue from the contract research segment. Further, the company’s biopharmaceutical segment has recorded growth of 14 per cent over the full fiscal year. Branded formulations grew at 9 per cent with the launch of Biocon’s trastuzumab (breast cancer product) in India.
R&D spend down However, expenditure on research and development, an area that Biocon prided itself in, went down 20 per cent to ₹131 crore. Shaw maintained that this was partly because of the Union Government’s stance on clinical trials, which has forced Biocon and other pharmaceutical companies to conduct trials in expensive locations such as the US.
For the full year, net profit was ₹413.7 crore, 22.9 per cent lower than in fiscal year 2013.
Revenues for the full year stood at ₹2,933.1 crore, an increase of 15.5 per cent over the previous financial year.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.