Informist, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024

By Narayana Krishna

HYDERABAD - Biocon Ltd. today reported a consolidated net loss of INR 160 million for the September quarter against the net profit of INR 1.26 billion a year ago. The net loss for the quarter was on account of higher tax, based on geographical split of profits and minority interest, the company said, quoting Chief Executive Officer Peter Bains. The company had reported a net profit of INR 6.60 billion in the Apr-Jun quarter.

The company’s tax outgo for the quarter increased by 71.4% on year to INR 713 million. Besides the higher tax outgo, the Bengaluru-based company’s Jul-Sept performance was also impacted by the fall in research services and generic segment sales. The company’s revenue for the quarter increased 3.7% on year to INR 35.90 billion. Sequentially, the company's revenue increased by 4.6%.

The company missed the analysts’ estimates for Jul-Sept earnings despite a one-time income of INR 260 million.

Analysts had estimated the company’s net profit at INR 499.8 million and revenue at INR 36.6 billion.

The revenue from the research services division, which contributed about 24% of the total revenue, fell 2% on year to INR 8.91 billion, while the generics segment sales, which accounts for 17% of the overall sales, fell 8% on year to INR 6.24 billion. Biocon’s biosimilar business, which accounts for 59% of the total revenue, reported an 11% on-year growth during the quarter to INR 21.82 billion, the company said.

Biocon’s research services business falls under Syngene International Ltd, which had already reported its Jul-Sept earnings.

Biocon said its biosimilar growth was driven by strong market share gains in the US oncology and insulin franchises. The research services business led by Syngene returned to sequential growth in the latest quarter, giving good visibility of a pickup in momentum in the coming quarters led by its discovery services and contract bio-manufacturing services, the company said.

However, the generics business is likely to face pricing and demand pressure, the company said. The upcoming launches of new formulations are likely to help the company turn around the segment before the end of the year, Biocon said.

Biocon’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation margin fell by 500 basis points on year to 20% for the September quarter. The EBITDA for the quarter was INR 7.18 billion, down 20% on year. Analysts had estimated the Jul-Sept EBITDA at INR 7.55 billion.

The company has been maintaining a single-digit increase in total expenses for the last three quarters. The total expenses in Jul-Sept rose 5.7% on year to INR 35.51 billion. The moderate growth in total expenses was on account of a 13.4% on-year decline in input costs to INR 10.09 billion. Other expenses for the quarter were almost flat at INR 9.77 billion.

The company's research and development expenditure fell to INR 2.00 billion during the quarter from INR 2.64 billion a year ago, representing 7% of the revenue, excluding Syngene.

On Wednesday, shares of Biocon ended at INR 320.70 on the National Stock Exchange, down 1.9% from Tuesday. Biocon announced the earnings after the market closed. End

Edited by Saji George Titus

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