Wockhardt posts 35% net rise in Q3

Our Corporate Bureau

Mumbai, Oct 30: Wockhardt has posted 35.2 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 29.6 crore for the third quarter ended September 2001, as compared to Rs 21.9 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Sales grew by 14.6 per cent to Rs 172.4 crore from Rs 150.5 crore last year, a Wockhardt release said.

Operating margin improved by 300 basis point to 21.4 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year. The improvement in the margins was attributed to better realisation in biotechnology products, exports and overall operational efficiency, Wockhardt officials said.

Gross profit and net profit improved to 19.2 per cent and 17.2 per cent, respectively, the release said. During the quarter, Wockhardt’s exports business grew by 29 per cent to Rs 39 crore. This follows the doubling in capacity of its bulk actives dextropropoxyphene and vitamain B12 to supplement its global growth, the release said.

Commenting on the results, Wockhardt chairman Habil Khorakiwala said: “Our domestic branded formulation business grew by 14 per cent in the third quarter due to our thrust on chronic and preventive therapeutic segments.

These now account for 42 per cent of our branded pharma sales in the current year, as compared to 34 per cent last year.” During the quarter under review, Wockhardt filed seven patents in the areas of new chemical entities and novel drug delivery systems (NDDS). This brings the total patents filed in the current year to 20 patents and a tally of 50 patents filed so far by Wockhardt, the release said. For the nine month period ended September 2001, the company posted a 37.5 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 69.7 crore, while sales grew by 15.2 per cent to Rs 471.5 crore over the corresponding period last year, the release said.

The company has launched six new products in the lifestyle, oncology and pain management system during the quarter. Wockhardt’s three products Epox, O-powercef and Winofit now rank amongst the ‘top 50 new launches in the industry’ for the last quarter.