Strides Arcolab, the publicly held pharmaceutical company, has posted a 13% growth in net profit to Rs 53 crore for its third quarter ended September 30, 2012 as compared to Rs 47 crore to the corresponding previous quarter riding on strong inflow from its specialties arm Agila. Revenues were down 23% to Rs 596 crore as the company during early this year sold a substantial part of its generic pharma business in Australia.
The specialties business has been growing aggresively and it contributes 61% to the topline and a chunky 81% to the bottom line. In effect, the specialties business during the next quarter will be able to compensate fully for the exit of the generic pharma business in Australia.
The specialties business has been in the recent past speculated to have had discussions with global pharma majors for a sell-off with a valuation of a impressive $800 million. The company has been however maintaining that they are focussing on execution and would not like to comment on the market speculation. Agila has strong relationship with Pfizer to supply close to 50 specialty injectables and this partnership has been gaining in momentum for Strides Arcolab.
“Our performance this quarter reflects the momentum we have carried through the year in both Agila and Pharma divisions. Both divisions continue to deliver on all key operating indicators including regulatory filings, approvals and product launches. We are particularly pleased with our operating leverage that has been consistently achieved” said Arun Kumar, Vice Chairman & Group CEO, Strides Arcolab Limited.
Strides stock gained a decent 1.2% on NSE to close at Rs 907.85 a share on Friday.
