Biocon Q1 net down 8.71 per cent at Rs 70.05 crore

Biotech firm Biocon on Thursday said its consolidated net profit declined 8.71 per cent to Rs 70.05 crore for the quarter ended June 30, primarily due to lower licencing income during the first quarter.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 76.74 crore for the April-June period in the previous financial year, Biocon said in a statement. Net sales of the company stood at Rs 441.68 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, compared to Rs 401.06 crore in the same period last financial year.

Commenting on the results, Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said: "There has been lower licencing income recognition this quarter. This is as per plan and is expected to ramp up in the quarters ahead. Inherent variability in licencing income linked to development and regulatory timelines requires this to be viewed on an annualised basis."

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The company said the results for the year-ago quarter included Rs 11.52 crore in profit from operations of its German arm, AxiCorp gmbh, which has since been sold.

Biocon had divested its 70 per cent stake in Axicorp following its global alliance with Pfizer for commercialisation of biosimilar insulin and insulin analogs.

In February 2008, Biocon had picked up a 70 per cent stake in AxiCorp GmbH for a consideration of 30 million euros.

Excluding the discontinued operations, Biocon reported a net profit of Rs 70.05 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, up 7.40 per cent over the same period in the previous financial year.

Shaw said the company's services businesses led by Syngene and Clinigene experienced a particularly strong quarter, signalling the success of its integrated business model that offers end-to-end services.

"On the licencing front, we have initiated several partnering discussions for Oral Insulin and Itolizumab (Anti CD6 MAb) which we will endeavor to realise during this fiscal," Shaw added.

On biosimilar insulins, Shaw said: "We are making steady progress on the biosimilar insulins front with a number of registration processes initiated in emerging markets. We expect to commence supplies of insulin and glargine to Pfizer for their India market launch this quarter. We also plan to launch our Insulin pen, 'Insupen', shortly."