NEW DELHI: Indian biotechnology major Biocon on Thursday posted around 2% increase in its net profit for the fourth quarter of the 2017-18 financial year.
Biocon posted a net profit of Rs 130 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2018. The company had recorded a net profit of Rs 127 crore for the same quarter in the last fiscal year.
Its total revenue for this quarter grew 27% to 1,237 crore as compared to Rs 974 crore for the same quarter in the 2016-2017 financial year.
At the same time, the companys net profit for the entire financial year dropped 39% to Rs 372 crore for FY18 compared to Rs 612 crore in FY17.
Its total revenue for the 2017-18 financial year grew 6% to Rs 4,336 crore compared to Rs 4,079 crore during the previous financial year.
“The muted FY18 performance was on account of continued pricing challenges in the generics business coupled with a planned plant shut down for requalification and lower licencing income in the biologics business,” stated Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocons managing director. “In addition, operational expenses related to our Malaysia facility impacted the bottom line,” she said.
“However, a positive Q4 is indicative of a normalized business trend. Recent approvals of our biosimilars along with the strong performance of Syngene are expected to positively impact overall performance in FY19,” she added.
Biocons board also recommended a final dividend of Rs 1 per equity share, according to its filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Share prices of Biocon on Thursday closed at Rs 663.25 apiece, up 1.45% from the previous close on the Bombay Stock Exchange, where the benchmark Sensex ended 0.62% higher.
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