Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, a Rs 1,300 crore pharma giant from Chennai, has suffered setback during the fourth quarter ended March 2008. Its net profit declined by 34.7 per cent to Rs 15.85 crore from Rs 24.27 crore in the corresponding period of last year. The company's net sales, however, increased by 55.9 per cent to Rs 379.19 crore from Rs 243.20 crore. With fall in profitability, its earning per share for the quarter nosedived to Rs 2.41 from Rs 3.69 in the last period.

The board of directors has recommended equity dividend of 30 per cent for the year ended March 2008.

For the full year ended March 2008, Orchid's consolidated net profit surged by 123.2 per cent to Rs 175.34 crore from Rs 78.55 crore in the previous year mainly due to lower interest burden and impact of the exceptional item related to the foreign exchange gain on the FCCBs. The company crossed the important milestone of Rs 1000 crore sales for the first time and its consolidated net sales moved up by 35 per cent to Rs 1301 crore from Rs 963.82 crore. Its earning per share went up to Rs 26.63 crore from Rs 11.95 crore in the previous year.

K Raghavendra Rao, managing director, said, "We are happy about the growth that has been achieved in the business. FY08 has been marked by positive developments and milestone achievements in various spheres of our operations. We could introduce high-value, niche antibiotic formulations Cefepime and Cefdinir in the US market reinforcing our position in that market. We have commenced our foray into the non-antibiotic (NPNC) segment. During the last quarter of FY08, we have taken steps to enter Japan, the second-largest pharmaceutical market in the world".

"We have also recently forged a significant business alliance with Ranbaxy to leverage each other's strengths. Our regulatory journey has also moved well with our key formulation facilities receiving the nod from the South African MCC and product filings increasing in both the US and EU markets. Another salient feature of fiscal 2007-08 was that we crossed the US$ 100 million revenue mark in the US generics market, a milestone achieved in just 3 years of our entry into the US market. Overall, we are happy about the performance that has been delivered and are hopeful of a stronger and more robust performance in the current fiscal," he added.

Orchid filed 47 ANDAs with 28 ANDAs filed in the cephalosporin space, 16 in the non-penicillin, non-cephalosporin product space and 3 in the betalactam space. In the EU market, Orchid's cumulative marketing authorizations filing count increased to 19, comprising 15 in the cephalosporin segment, 3 in the NPNC segment and 1 in the betalactam space.

The company received approval from the South African MCC for its cephalosporin and Penicillin injectable formulations facilities. Its sterile cephalosporin formulations facility located in Irungattukottai, near Chennai underwent a successful inspection by the US FDA.