Zydus Cadila's net profit zooms by 27%

Ahmedabad: Cadila Healthcare Ltd, the flagship company of the Zydus Cadila group, reported a 27 per cent rise in its net profit, which stood at Rs 15.05 crore for the fourth quarter ended 31 March 2003 as against Rs 11.86 crore during the same period last year.

Its operating profit for the quarter is up from Rs 18.38 crore to Rs 29.08 crore, a growth of 58 per cent. The increase in profitability is attributed to a sizeable reduction in expenditure and a better product mix. On an annualised basis, the company registered a net profit of Rs 77.09 crore as compared to Rs 67.18 crore in 2001-02.

The company's net sales for the quarter stood at Rs 151.54 crore as compared to Rs 140.43 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, a growth of 8 per cent. Exports during the period registered a growth of 18 per cent. For the year 2002-03, the company registered sales of Rs 677.63 crore, up by 15 per cent from Rs 588.81 crore in 2001-02.

The company's plans to enter the $5-billion Brazilian market received a boost with the formulation manufacturing plant at Moraiya, Ahmedabad, receiving approvals from the Brazilian Food and Drug Administration agency, Anvisa.

Driving growth through new product launches, the company added 40 new products to the product portfolio during the year. Of this, Narebox (Reboxetine) and Fosolin (Fosphenytoin) in the neuropsychiatry segment were the first to be launched in India.

Some of the other new launches include Vaxirab, the anti-rabies vaccine manufactured in technical collaboration with Berna Biotech, Switzerland, Espra in the gastrointestinal segment, Bigsens XR in the anti-diabetic segment and Salazar and Rumalef in the pain management segment. The API division also introduced new molecules like Fosphenytoin Sodium, Valdecoxib and Rosuvastatin during the year.

During the year, the company filed 13 patent applications in various research disciplines like medicinal chemistry, non-infringing process research, biotechnology and new drug delivery systems.

The company also initiated the move to merge German Remedies and Recon Healthcare with itself during the year. The move is expected to reap tremendous benefits of economies of scale, besides synergies through integration of resources in areas of supply-chain management, cost-management, asset-rationalisation and capacity-utilisation.