Saturday, April 28, 2012

Biocon Q4 beats forecast, shares rise


An expected licencing income helped Biocon , India's top-listed biotechnology company, post better-than-expected quarterly profit and lift its shares more than 4%, but it said the global business outlook remained uncertain.

The maker of biosimilar medicines has been scouting for a new marketing partner in key markets such as the United States after Pfizer Inc scrapped a deal in March to sell insulin products of Biocon.

The company reported a net profit of 978 million rupees in its fiscal fourth-quarter ended March, sharply above 796 million expected by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The earnings of Biocon, which has marketing partners in many countries, were helped by a licensing income of 463 million rupees.

"The licensing income is a big surprise, we did not anticipate it," said Siddhant Khandekar, analyst at ICICI Direct.

"However, business uncertainty continues for the company after the Pfizer deal got terminated ... it has to find a new global partner."

Shares in Biocon, valued at $867 million, were up 4.6 percent at 237.2 rupees in a slightly firm Mumbai market.

The company had posted a net profit of 1 billion rupees in the year-earlier period, but has since sold off a unit making it not comparable for the latest period.

Still, net sales jumped 30 percent to 6.1 billion rupees, above expectations of 5.15 billion rupees, thanks to robust domestic demand for formulations and bio-pharmaceuticals.

"We have delivered particularly strong growth in our research services and branded formulations business," Biocon's chairwoman, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, said in a statement.

She said the global economic outlook remains uncertain but the company was hopeful.

Source: www.moneycontrol.com

Thanks,
Gaurav Agarwal
Head Dealer 
DENIP Consultants Pvt Ltd

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