The Hindu Business Line : Zydus Cadila net doubles in third quarter

ZYDUS Cadila returned a net profit of Rs 30.6 crore during the third quarter of 2003-04, registering a 106 per cent growth over Rs 14.8 crore recorded in the corresponding previous period.

The surge in the bottomline for the Ahmedabad-based pharmaceuticals company came as its net sales during the period went up by 14 per cent to Rs 286 crore (Rs 251 crore).

For the first nine months of the fiscal, the company returned sales of Rs 894 crore, up 16 per cent from Rs 774 crore earlier.

The cumulative net profit for the period stood at Rs 97 crore, which was 57 per cent higher than Rs 62 crore earlier. Domestic sales grew by 11 per cent and export sales went up by 117 per cent.

It was during this period that the company launched Zydus Pharmaceuticals (USA) Inc as part of its strategy to enter the generic formulations market in the US.

The company filed two ANDAs during the period with the US FDA and plans to scale it up to eight by the end of the current fiscal.

It also had 11 DMF filings at the end of the third quarter.

Zydus Altana, the 50 per cent joint venture floated by the Zydus group along with Altana Pharma, Germany completed a successful year in 2003 with a sales turnover of Rs 148 crore, a 32 per cent growth over 2002.

With net profit also jumping by 58 per cent at Rs 122 crore from Rs 77 crore last year, Zydus Cadila received a dividend of Rs 30 crore during the first nine months.