Biocon, a Rs.1800 crore Indian biotechnology major with headcount at 5,400 employees, has suffered minor setback during the first quarter ended June 2011 on account of profit from discontinued operations of AxiCorp GmbH, Germany in the last period. Its consolidated net profit declined by 8.7 per cent to Rs.70.05 crore from Rs.76.74 crore in the corresponding period of last year. The net profit, before discontinued operations, improved by 7.4 per cent to Rs.70.05 crore from Rs.65.22 crore. The company has shown Rs.11.52 crore profit from discontinued operations in the previous period. The earnings before depreciation, interest, tax and adjustment for discontinued operations worked out to Rs.132.68 crore as against Rs.118.08 crore, a growth of 12.4 per cent.
Its consolidated net sales increased by 10.1 per cent to Rs.441.68 crore from Rs.401.06 crore in the similar period of last year. Its sales from pharmaceutical segment moved up by 7.7 per cent to Rs.354.28 crore from Rs.329.02 crore on the back of growth in the sales of immunosuppressant and the branded formulations segments. Statins continue to remain buoyant with Atorvastatin and Fluvastatin leading the sales in this segment. Biocon began the sales of fidaxomicin API to Optimer in June 2011 and Optimer launched this product in US and planing to launch in Europe by the end of this year.
The six verticals in branded formulation, viz., diabetology, oncotherapeutics, nephrology, cardiology, dermatology and comprehensive care, have posted a combined YoY growth of 28 per cent during the first quarter ended June 2011.
Its sales from contract research & manufacturing services (CRAMS) went up by 19.7 per cent to Rs.93.98 crore from Rs.78.52 crore.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman and managing director, said, “Biocon's consolidated financial for Q1 FY12 has delivered a PAT of Rs.70 crore with a robust increase in profits derived from its core manufacturing and services business. There has been lower licensing income recognition this quarter. This is as per plan and is expected to ramp up in the quarters ahead. Inherent variability in licensing income linked to development and regulatory timelines requires this to be viewed on an annualized basis.”
“Our service business led by Syngene and Clinigene had a particularly strong quarter signalling the success of our integrated business model that offers end-to-end services. On the licensing front, we have initiated several partnering discussions for Oral insulin and Itolizumba (anti CD6 Mab) which we well endeavour to realize during this fiscal. We are making steady progress on the biosimilar insulins front with a number of registration processes initiated in emerging markets. We expect to commence supplies of insulin and glargine to Pfizer for their India market launch in this quarter. We also plan to launch our insulin pen, Insupen shortly. We expect to end the year on a note of strong performance,” she added.
Murali Krishnan, president, group finance, said, “Licensing income from our partnered programs will see a high degree of variability given the inherent nature of licensing recognition that is linked to development and regulatory timelines. In FY11, licensing income varied from Rs.21 crore to Rs.77 crore across quarters. Therefore, it is prudent to view licensing on an annualized basis.”
The company's biopharmaceuticals project in Malaysia is making good progress and it plans for ground breaking in the coming quarter. Syngene has delivered a sales growth of 21 per cent with number of drivers like expansion by existing clients, the addition of new clients, an evolution of its business mix towards higher value and more integrated services and an accelerating contribution from the biologics platform Clinigene has made significant strides in evolving its business model from a generic operational service provider to an integrated service partner over the last 12 months.
The company's standalone net sales during the first quarter ended June 2011increased by 5.1 per cent to Rs.338.90 crore from Rs.322.40 crore in the similar period of last year. However, its standalone net profit declined sharply by 16.5 per cent to Rs.60.40 crore from Rs.72.30 crore.