Biocon's net increases by 78%

Company's revenue up by 15% to Rs 854 cr

Biocon has reported a net profit of Rs 201 crore for the quarter ended March this year, a 78 per cent rise compared to the year-ago period. Earnings for the quarter were aided by an exceptional gain of Rs 105 crore from the sale of stake in Syngene, its research services subsidiary.

In January this year, the company concluded the sale of 10 per cent stake in Syngene for Rs 380 crore.

The company’s revenue rose 15 per cent to Rs 854 crore, due to a strong performance by Syngene and an improved show by its biopharma business. During the March quarter, Syngene reported a revenue of Rs 238 crore, growth of 27 per cent year-on-year, while the biopharma vertical grew 11 per cent to Rs 592 crore.

“Biocon closed the year with a stronger performance on the back of a record quarterly performance by our research services subsidiary, Syngene, and an improved performance by our biopharma business,” said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman and managing director.

She said as the company moved to FY16, it was seeing its biosimilar strategy playing out with greater clarity, credibility and traction, visible across the biologics portfolio.

“We continue to make investments in research and development (R&D) as a strong value driver. The Malaysia insulin facility has been commissioned. Once qualified, it should provide us the scale to increase our presence and penetration in emerging markets and, subsequently, in developed markets.”

For FY15, the company’s net profit rose 20 per cent to Rs 497 crore, while revenue stood at Rs 3,143 crore, growth of seven per cent. Operating margin for FY15, as well as for the March quarter, stood at 24 per cent.

In the March quarter, the gross expenditure on R&D rose 20 per cent to Rs 56 crore.

For FY15, it stood at Rs 329 crore, growth of 95 per cent.

During the March quarter, Biocon strengthened its presence in Mexico and received an approval for its insulin Glargine, through partner PiSA Farmaceutica. The company’s research services subsidiary, Syngene, filed a draft red herring prospectus for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

Though the biopharma business improved in the March quarter, growth in this segment continues to be hit by conflict in markets such as West Asia and North Africa, reduced off-take of specialty active pharmaceutical ingredients and capacity constraints in the insulins vertical.