Biocon Q2 net profit jumps five-fold to Rs 355 cr on exceptional gain; income rises 35% to Rs 1,375 cr

New Delhi: Biotechnology major Biocon on Thursday reported an over five-fold jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 354.7 crore for the September 2018 quarter, mainly on account of an exceptional gain. This exceptional gain was on account of change in fair value of its investment in Equillium Inc. The company’s net profit excluding exceptional income grew to Rs 184 crore for the quarter under consideration on account of robust performance across verticals, Biocon said in a filing to the BSE. [caption id=“attachment_2387320” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Kiran Mazumdar Shah, chairperson, MD, Biocon. Reuters[/caption] The company had posted a net profit of Rs 68.8 crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, it added. Its consolidated income stood at Rs 1,375.4 crore for the said quarter. It was Rs 1,019.4 crore for the same period a year ago, Biocon said. “We delivered a strong revenue growth of 35 percent this quarter, driven by robust performance across our Biologics, Small Molecules and Research Services segments,” Biocon Chairperson and MD Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said. Net Profit, excluding net exceptional income of Rs 171 crore, grew by 167 percent on account of strong topline growth, including biosimilar Pegfilgrastim sales in the US, and margin expansion, she added. “We are greatly encouraged by the USFDA’s acceptance of an IND submitted by our partner Equillium Inc for Itolizumab, a novel monoclonal antibody, for an orphan indication,” Mazumdar-Shaw said. The positive opinions from the European CHMP for Biocon and Mylan’s Pegfilgrastim and Trastuzumab augur well for the future growth of company’s biosimilars business, she added. Shares of Biocon Ltd on Thursday closed at Rs 619.85 per scrip on the BSE, down 3.82 percent from their previous close.