Pharmaceutical and biotechnology major Wockhardt Ltd reported a net profit at Rs 66 crore for the first quarter ended-2007. Its consolidated sales, at Rs 523 crore, showed a 49 per cent growth over the corresponding quarter of 2006. Wockhardt has improved its margins by 260 basis points to 22.2 per cent.

"Wockhardt's first quarter result is a demonstration of our significant upsurge and turnaround in sales and profit. Our recent Irish acquisition has also been accretive to Wockhardt's profit," Wockhardt chairman Habil Khorakiwala said. "Besides, our research efforts have shown remarkable success, a classic example of which was our filing of over 40 patents and the five approvals that we received in the past few weeks alone."

Almost half of Wockhardt's sales, which comes from Europe, shot up by 93 per cent. All the three key markets - UK, Germany and Ireland registered healthy growth. The company has launched 10 new products in Europe during the quarter.

Wockhardt's India business recorded a growth of 35 per cent. The company aggressively moved ahead in the in-licensing space in its attempt to introduce newer and better products in India to cater to the unfulfilled needs of Indian patients. It has a total four in-licensing arrangements with companies in US, UK and Italy, two of which were signed in this quarter alone.

Wockhardt USA Inc. now markets 18 products, about one-third of which are injectables. Wockhardt's product portfolio expansion is on a growth trajectory, with 30 more ANDAs in the pipeline.