Torrent of turnaround stories

It was a year in which all companies of the Ahmedabad-based Torrent Group recorded an absolute turnaround.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals (TPL), the flagship company, recorded a 25 per cent growth in total sales at the end of the first half of the current fiscal year, at Rs 233.25 crore, as compared to the same period of the last fiscal year.

For group chairman Sudhir Mehta, 2003 will always remain one of the most important years for all of his group companies. Mehta is in his fifth year as group chairman.

While Torrent Gujarat Biotech (TGBL) and Torrent Cables Ltd (TCL), which have so far been coined as 'sick' in the legal parlance, have reported a 6925 per cent and 547 per cent growth in profit before tax (PBT).

Even the power distribution company, Surat Electricity Company (SEC) witnessed a major turnaround. SEC reported a 92.7 per cent growth in PBT at the end of the first quarter of the current FY at Rs 13.28 crore against Rs 6.89 crore at the end of the first quarter of the last fiscal year.

The group's other company in the power sector, the Ahmedabad Electricity Company (AEC), also reported a high growth in its PBT at Rs 17.22 crore against Rs 9.82 crore at the end of the corresponding period of the last FY.

During the year, the group, decided to go for a mega 1100 MW power plant in Surat and is also looking at set up another power plant at Dahej.

"It was a wonderful year for the entire group as such turnarounds, of five companies from one group, is exceptional. The way TPL is going ahead with its new drug discoveries and investments in research & development, the pharmaceutical company may perform very well in 2005," said an industry expert.

TPL's R&D investments stand at Rs 200 crore and this year the company decided to invest another Rs 20 crore for upgradation of its existing R&D facilities. Apart from the R&D investment, TPL has also decided to recruit 100 scientists.

During the year, Mehta has more reasons to cheer as TPL bagged the Gold trophy for the IDMA Quality Excellence Award 2003 for both formulations and API manufacturing facilities. Torrent Research Centre received ISO-IEC 17025:1999 for its facilities by National Accredition Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). Torrent Pharma received GMP certifications during the year from Latvia (January, 2003), Hungary (January, 2003), MCC (South Africa) in March, 2003 and European Union in October 2003.

Eyeing for the potential in the market of the developed countries, Mehta and his team, set up a new subsidiary in United States of America, named as Torrent Pharmaceuticals Inc. to sell its bulk drugs and formulations.

With the setting up of a US subsidiary, the total number of TPL's overseas subsidiaries also gone up to four, the other three being Zao Torrent Pharma in Russia, Torrent Pharma GmbH in Germany and Torrent Do Brazil Limited in Brazil.