Wockhardt’s Swiss arm to list on Berne exchange today; shares spurt

Shares of Indian pharmaceuticals company Wockhardt Ltd rose 6 per cent today, heading towards their third consecutive day of gains, after the company announced that its Swiss arm Wockhardt Bio AG would be listed on the Berne Stock Exchange in Switzerland today.

Wockhardt raised 11.86 million Swiss francs in the initial public offering by selling 5 per cent in its European unit, as per an announcement to the Bombay Stock Exchange

The mid-cap company has an equity capital of Rs54.88 crore, with a face value per share of Rs5.

Wockhardt Bio AG had offered 23.48 lakh ordinary shares of Swiss franc (CHF) 1 each, representing 5 per cent of the post-diluted capital, for subscription at a price of CHF 5.05 per ordinary share in its initial public offering (IPO).

Wockhardt Bio AG is the holding company for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology firm's international operations. Close to 75 per cent of Wockhardt's business comes from outside India; and some of the major geographies where it is present include the US, the UK, Ireland and France.

On a consolidated basis, Wockhardt's net profit fell 69.5 per cent to Rs138.50 crore on an 11.2 per cent fall in net sales to Rs1,196.97 crore in the quarter ended September 2013 over the same period last year.

Wockhardt is a high-technology intensive global pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with multi-disciplinary and innovative R&D programmes, according to its website. It has three research centres globally and manufacturing facilities across India, the USA, the UK and Ireland. The company has a significant presence in the USA, Europe and India.