The Rs 425 crore Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd expects its soon-to-be announced Chinese joint venture to be profitable in the very first year of operations.
Orchid, which has just effected a management and product restructuring, also said that it will look at brand acquisitions in the next fiscal.
K Raghavendra Rao, managing director, said the joint venture would report sales of $40 million and be profitable in the first full year of operations. The joint venture with a listed Chinese drug company is expected to give Orchid a base for expanding sales in China.
Orchid and its partner will both investing $5 million into the company and another $15 million as debt, guaranteed by the partner. The company has also filed the drug master files (DMF) with the US Food and Drug Administration for four cephalosporin drugs. Two of these drugs are under review and the company expects inspection for one of them to be carried out by October.
The Chennai-based company, which has registered unimpressive results during 2001-02 with its net profit dropping to Rs 6.30 crore, is also aiming at a 20 per cent growth next financial year. Orchid is expected to grow over 400 per cent over the previous year, according to analysts.
Rao said the company is confident of achieving the turnaround by moving into the regulated US market and also that its loss making formulations division would achieve a turnover of Rs 50 crore and achieve profitability. The formulations
