Zydus Cadila reports highest ever sales, net profits up 87 per cent

Our Corporate Bureau
27 April 2004

Mumbai: Zydus Cadila has reported highest ever sales with a net profit of Rs143 crore (Rs 76.6 crore in 2002-03), registering a growth of 87 per cent — the highest in the last six years — with a turnover of Rs1,172.3 crore, up 14 per cent from Rs 1,028.2 crore in 2002-03.

The company registered a healthy growth in both domestic formulations sales (up by 12 per cent, against the total market growth of 6.5 per cent) and a 62 per cent growth in profits over the previous year.

Profit before interest depreciation and tax (PBIDT) increased to Rs 249 crore up by 29.5 per cent year-on-year. The surge in PBIDT margin by 250 basis points comes in spite of R&D spend tripling itself year-on-year. The various cost optimisation initiatives undertaken by the company, income from the company's joint venture, and higher sales led to the increase in PBIDT.

Taking stock of the company's growth in operations, the board of directors have recommended a dividend of 120 per cent (Rs 6 per share of Rs 5 each).

It was a year of global initiatives as the company moved ahead with its plans for both the US and the European markets. The company launched Zydus Pharmaceuticals USA Inc, to cater to the formulation generic market. The company had earlier set up Zydus Healthcare LLC to market APIs in the US market. Supporting its plans to launch generics in the US from July 2005, the company filed 12 'abbreviated new drug applications' during the year and plans to launch 16-18 more in 2004-5. The company also increased its DMF pipeline to 12 DMFs.

The company has created a base in France for its European operations and will be launching generics in France, early this year. In its first overseas acquisition, the company acquired Alpharma France in 2003-4 and the operations at Zydus France SAS, as the company is now known, have been streamlined.