Bangalore, Apr 25 (PTI) Biotechnology major Biocon today
reported a 54.51 per cent decline in its consolidated net
profit at Rs 113.08 crore for the fourth quarter of the last
financial year.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 248.61 crore
in the same period of 2012-13, which the company attributed to
one-time exceptional income.
"The 55 per cent down is only when we look at it in terms
of exceptional income; exceptional income is the one-time
exceptional income that we booked last year....," Biocon
Chairman and Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said
"There was Rs 202 crore of exceptional one-time income
booked last year....we had actually booked before expenditure
from a deal which we made with Pfizer a long time ago, and
when we actually licensed the same asset with Mylan we then
took some of that into profit. So, it should not be viewed in
that way that's an exceptional income and has nothing to do
with operating income."
The company said that its PAT (adjusted for the
exceptional income) for the period under review is up by 75
per cent.
Net sales rose to Rs 722.59 crore for the fourth
quarter as against Rs 630.12 crore for the same period a year
ago.
For the year ended March 31, 2014, the company's net
profit declined by 18.69 per cent to Rs 413.72 crore from Rs
508.82 crore in the 2012-13 fiscal.
However, PAT (adjusted for the exceptional income) for the
year ended on March 31 is up by 28 per cent.
The company's net sales for the just-concluded fiscal
rose to Rs 2,852.72 crore, as against Rs 2,427.60 crore in the
previous year.
The company's board also recommended a 100 per cent
dividend of Rs 5 per share.
Announcing the appointment of Arun Chandavarkar as the
Chief Executive Officer and Joint Managing Director and his
induction on board, Mazumdar-Shaw said: "I continue to remain
as the Chairman and Managing Director."
"Given that we have now restructured Biocon into strategic
business verticals or units, with every head now having P&L
responsibilities, the board felt that it was important for us
to share the responsibilities as the business expands and as
the scope of our global foray expands."
Stating that this appointment addresses new company law
requirement of separating CEO and Chairman's role, she said
"it is also in a way succession plan in process".
Biocon today also announced the appointment of Ravi
Limaye, as President, Marketing.
On the outlook, she said: "We expect FY 2015 to reflect
continued business momentum with biosimilars, branded
formulations and research services driving growth. The
progress in our development pipeline (across biosimilars and
novel molecules) will see some of our molecules enter the
clinic."
"We continue to make investments in infrastructure and
people to support our growth," she added.
Responding to a question on R&D spending, Mazumdar-Shaw
said: "What affected our spends this fiscal was that if you
remember India banned clinical trial, India declared a
moratorium on clinical trial. Clinical trials that were
planned in India could not take place...."
"Clinical trials done out of the country are being
reflected, there is lots of what could not be done in the
country is what reduced the R&D spend. Now, we have shifted a
lot of the clinical trials, including the oral insulin- which
we have shifted to the US," she added.
Stating that the company was on track to get research
services arm Syngene listed: Muzumdar-Shaw said: "We are
waiting for general elections to be over; we will make sure
that the market conditions are favorable and start initiating
the blue print for this."
"We are on track and if all goes well obviously we would
like to see to list Syngene in this fiscal," she added.
On IN 105 she said "....trials are ongoing in the US to
basically address certain key questions that regulators will
ask about this molecule....we also want to make sure that
certain other questions are also answered therefore the number
of clinical trials are ongoing."
"We had planned originally to do clinical trials in
India, but because of the moratorium on clinical trials we had
to shift it to the US and that has caused some delay but now
we are back on track," she added. PTI KSU
