The Hindu : Business : Biocon net at Rs. 105 crores

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 21, 2004

Business

Business

Biocon net at Rs. 105 crores

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, OCT. 20. Biocon, the industrial enzymes maker and exporter of anti-cholesterol molecules, statins, today reported a 40 per cent growth in sales at Rs. 360 crores in the first six months of the current financial year. The profit, compared with the same period last year, was up 75 per cent at Rs.105 crores. For the quarter ended September, the company posted a net profit of Rs. 56 crores, a 15 per cent sequential growth.

The company's Chairman and Managing Director, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, told reporters that all the segments of the company's business developed strongly in the first half of the year.

Total income increased by 42 per cent to Rs. 367 crores, for the half year, including Rs. 287 crores from the biopharmaceuticals business, up 38 per cent. This business contributed some 78 per cent of half yearly revenues, a company release said. The biopharmaceuticals business' main component was bulk exports of molecules such as the cholesterol fighting statins, which grew 48 per cent, contributing 65 per cent of total revenues, the release said.

Custom and clinical research grew 71 per cent to Rs. 29 crores during the six months to September. The operating profit at Rs. 122 crores was up 40 per cent over the same period last year, the release said.

Ms. Shaw said Biocon was preparing to launch InsugenR, its recombinant human insulin product to treat diabetes. The firm was also trying to develop an `oral insulin' in collaboration with a U.S. based company, NOBEX Corporation, to exploit Biocon's manufacturing capabilities and Nobex's proprietary oral delivery technology, she said. Syngene, a Biocon subsidiary, would get a new state-of-the art 4,730 sq. metre research facility, the company release said.

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