Biotechnology major Biocon’s consolidated profit dropped 18.97 per cent to Rs 186.6 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 on account of higher expenses. The company had posted a profit of Rs 230.3 crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The revenue from operations rose to Rs 1,851 crore for the quarter under consideration, up 7.81 per cent, as against Rs 1,716.8 crore during the same period a year ago.
Company’s expense rose by 14.52 per cent to Rs 1,642.6 crore during the quarter under review. In the year-ago period it was at Rs 1,434.3 crore.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson, Biocon, said, “2020 has been one of the most challenging years for the world with an unprecedented pandemic impact on the global economy. We continue to face headwinds across operational, regulatory and commercial functions which have been deterrents to our planned market expansion. However, we expect normalisation by next fiscal”.
The low numbers show a moderate demand following a period of advance buying by customers in the first half of the fiscal, company’s chief executive officer and managing director Siddharth Mittal said.
“Growth was also impacted by delays in regulatory approvals of certain products that required physical inspection of our facilities, due to covid related travel restrictions. We achieved an important milestone during the quarter with the launch of Tacrolimus capsules in the US, which reflects our commitment to bring vertically integrated, complex finished dosages to the market. Looking ahead, as we expand our portfolio and enter new geographies, new product approvals will be a crucial determinant of our growth,” Mittal added.
Shares of Biocon Ltd were trading 8.95 per cent lower at Rs 402.35 apiece on the BSE.