Hind Latex FY06 net Rs 23cr; to foray vaccines

Public sector major Hindustan Latex has firmed up plans to foray into the vaccines segment and is all set to launch the marketing of Hepatitis B and typhoid vaccines in the country. 

The company's plans to venture into the vaccines segment came following "the need to have affordable high quality vaccines to prevent communicable diseases".  It is a public health priority in India, taking into account the fact that communicable diseases contribute a significant share of the global burden of disease, particularly in developing nations, M Ayyappan, CMD of Hind Latex, said here today.

The Thiruvananthapuram-headquartered company is all set to don the mini-ratna status any time now, as all the criteria required for the status has been fulfilled, according to Ayyappan. The company, which holds its position among the premier condom manufacturers in the country, is also into manufacture of healthcare products. 

Adding to its healthcare product range, it has unveiled its new reuse prevention syringe, brand named Bsure. "Bsure has been introduced in partnership with Becton and Dickinson (BD), one of the world's leading healthcare players. The reuse prevention syringe is for use in the curative segment and employs a unique plunger-breaking mechanism to eliminate any possible reuse," M Ayyappan, CMD of Hind Latex, said.

Hind Latex has also, in association with BD, launched an innovative public-private partnership programme for injection safety called ISAFE (Injection Safety Awareness for Everyone), he said. 

Besides, the company has teamed up with Swedish firm Gambro BCT, which is a global leader in automated blood collection technologies, therapeutic aphaeresis, and leukaphaeresis for cell therapy applications, for the marketing of  Blood Component Therapy Aphaeresis Systems in India.

Hindustan Latex's blood bags have been registered in Brazil and were launched there in June this year.

In the condom segment, Hind Latex has lined up condoms with vibrating rings, expected to hit the market soon. The company's unique Confidom female condoms are currently available. 

The company has posted a net profit of Rs 22.65 crore and a turnover of Rs 213 crore during FY06. 

Announcing the financial results of the company here,  M Ayyappan, CMD, said the company aimed at a turnover of Rs 320 crore for the current fiscal, which would mean a growth of 50% over the past year. 

Adding the company was one of the few condom makers at the global level, which posted a record production of 1 billion condoms at its plants in Thiruvananthapuram and Kanagala, near Belgaum, he said Hind Latex's share in the condom market had grown over 25%. The company currently boasts of a condom market share of 17%. It has also paid an interim dividend of Rs 232.50 lakh to the government.

Ayyappan said the company had set a target of Rs 1,000 crore turnover by 2010, and drew up a road map to be the world leader for its core products.