Syngene International, a leading CRO belonging to Biocon, has posted slightly lower net profit of Rs.78.4 crore during the fourth quarter ended March 2017 as compared to Rs.79 crore in the corresponding period of last year. The performance was under pressure due to fire at one of its facility. Its net sales also declined by 12.3 per cent to Rs.291 crore from Rs.332 crore. EPS declined to Rs.4 from Rs.4.07 in the last period. The management recommended equity dividend of 10 per cent for the year 2016-17.

Jonathan Hunt, CEO, said, “As expected our 4Q performance was dampened by the impact of the facility fire in December 2016. Q4 revenues dropped by 6 per cent over the prior year, from Rs.334 crore to Rs.315 crore. On a full year basis, we saw revenue growth of 14 per cent across our business, supported by higher interest income. Profitability was up strongly, with EBIDTA and PAT for the full year registering healthy growth of 24 per cent and 19 per cent. We made good progress through the year on our strategic priorities.”

Syngene delivers services to its clients through three business verticals – dedicated R&D centers, discovery services and development & manufacturing services. Most of the ongoing projects that were impacted due to the fire incident in December 2016 have been relocated to other facilities within the campus and are back on track without any significant delays. Its new S2 facility will e operational within the next 12 months. It also commissioned a cGMP manufacturing plant at its new formulation facility.

For the full year ended march 2017, Syngene's net sales increased by 8.5 per cent to Rs.1,201 crore from Rs.1,107 crore in the previous year. Its net profit went up by 19.3 per cent to Rs.287 crore from Rs.241 crore. EPS worked out to Rs.14.71 as compared to Rs.12.39 in the last year.