Syngene International, a Rs.. 1,400 crore plus company belonging to Biocon Group, has posted strong growth of 40.4 per cent in standalone net sales during the fourth quarter ended March 2018 to Rs.409 crore from Rs.291 crore in the corresponding period of last year. However, net profit increased only by 7.5 per cent to Rs.84.3 crore from Rs.78.4 crore due to higher interest cost and lower other income. EBDITA improved by 17 per cent to Rs.145.4 crore from Rs.124.3 crore. EPS worked out to Rs.4.26 from Rs.4 in the last period.

After the announcement of financial working, Syngene scrip declined by over 3 per cent to Rs.655.90 on BSE from its yesterday's close of Rs.676.25. Promoters are holding 74.4 per cent of equity capital. The board of directors has recommended equity dividend of 10 for the year 2017-18.

For the full year ended March 2018, Syngene's standalone net sales increased by 18.5 per cent to Rs.1,423 crore from Rs.1,201 crore in the previous year. Its net profit improved by 6.2 per cent to Rs.305 crore from Rs.287 crore. Its interest cost went up by 29.3 per cent to Rs.22.7 crore from Rs.17.5 crore and other expenditure went up by 47.3 per cent to Rs.274 crore from Rs.186 crore. Forex gain worked out to Rs.73.9 crore as against Rs.22.9 crore in the previous year.

Jonathan Hunt, CEO, said, “FY18 has been a good year for Syngene and we are happy to have delivered consistently improving revenue growth rates through the year. We closed the year with revenue growth of 17 per cent to Rs.1,485 crore. Q4 growth rates were particularly strong at 35 per cent, due to strong underlying performance. During the quarter, we were delighted to sign a strategic drug discovery partnership with GSK and see this as further major validation of the quality of science we deliver. We are also happy to extent our long standing collaboration with Merck KGaA. Continuing our track record of successful regulatory audits, we received approval from the Japanese PMDA for our manufacturing facility. Overall we are making good progress on our strategic plans and look forward to building on this momentum in FY19.”

Syngene has set up R&D centers for Bristol-Myers Squibb, Baxter, Amgen and Herbalife. The R&D center for Bristol-Myers is supported by 500 scientists to develop novel molecule research in small and large molecules. The R&D center for Baxter is undertaking activities centered on product and analytical development, preclinical evaluation in parenteral nutrition and renal therapy. During 2016, it has setup exclusive R&D center for Amgen in India to discovery & development projects for biotechnology and small molecule medicines.