Strides Arcolab has posted strong performance during the third quarter ended September 2008 and earned a net profit of Rs 105.35 crore as against a net loss of Rs 9.03 crore in the corresponding period of last year. The company's net sales increased by 33.3 per cent to Rs 272.10 crore from Rs 204.29 crore. With better profit level, its EPS worked out to 25.51 as compared to negative 2.83. The company shown other income of Rs 170.60 crore during the quarter under review as against nil in the last period.
Commenting on the performance, Arun Kumar, CEO, said, "We are pleased to have achieved a growth of 32 percent in revenue and 128 percent of Operational EBITDA. This reflects our continued focus on execution excellence. We are delighted to see successful transition of our new organization design which was announced in March-08 and successful integration of Ascent Pharmahealth. We are extremely excited about our future-ready initiatives which we have embarked as part of our Strategy to achieve scalability of our business model."
Net non-operating income for the quarter represents income arising out of transaction pertaining to Ascent Pharmahealth (formerly Genepharm Australasia), Australia and setting off costs related to divestment of non-core fermentation business of Strides Italia.
Exceptional Items for the quarter represent Rs 69.54 crore of unrealised exchange loss on restatement of foreign currency borrowings including FCCB, ECB and Derivative contracts. The loss or gain in this regard is notional.
The company has received 11 approvals and 10 tentative approvals from the USFDA for various products. A strong pipeline of ANDA filings with the agency continues. Currently there are 39 pending applications with the USFDA.
During the quarter the company received approvals for 2 additional sterile injectables giving it a critical mass of approvals to commence its operations in North America.
The company has posted its maiden revenue during this quarter with a net income of USD 0.89 Million.
Akorn-Strides LLC has successfully launched generic injectable products in the US market in this quarter. This sets Strides foray into the US markets through the Joint Venture and the company sees a significant potential in the Generic hospital segment.
This JV with Akorn Inc, USA, instituted in the year 2004, has successfully filed around 18 ANDA's of which 11 ANDA's have already been approved. Akorn-Strides LLC has exclusive rights to FDA approved generic drugs within the United States hospital, medical clinic, physician group and other wholesale drug markets. We expect additional product launches in the coming quarters and are confident that the JV will deliver key results for both the companies going forward, according to the company.
For the first nine months ended September 2009, Strides' nets sales reached at Rs 734.43 crore from Rs 545.72 crore in the similar period of last year. The consolidated net profit went up sharply to Rs 109.10 crore from Rs 8.62 crore.