Unichem Lab eyeing 50% growth in FY09 profit

Unichem Labs has announced its first quarter numbers. It has reported net profit of Rs 33.4 crore for the quarter ended June 2008 as against Rs 22.5 crore in same period of last year and net sales of Rs 181 crore versus Rs 153.5 crore YoY.

Prakash Mody, CMD of Unichem Laboratories estimates 18% revenue growth and close to 50% growth in profits in FY09. "It is quite possible because some of the divisions which were not doing well, particularly our international business; they have all turned around and we do expect that whatever guidance we have given for FY09, we should be able to maintain," Mody said. 

Excerpts from CNBC-TV18’s exclusive interview with Prakash Mody:

Q: It's an 18% growth and actually an improvement in operating margins - do you think this can be extrapolated for the rest of the year, an 18% of revenue growth and a near 50% growth in profit?

A: Yes, it is quite possible because some of the divisions which were not doing well, particularly our international business; they have all turned around and we do expect that whatever guidance we have given for FY09, we should be able to maintain.

Q: How much growth do you see in the export markets this year particularly markets such as Europe and Africa?

A: We had a very strong growth in Europe and America also has opened up for us. So we should be able to give and the percentage wont matter as far as America is concerned; but for Europe, certainly we find that the growth would be above 35%-40% and in rest of the world also, growth will be there. So I think our export play has been doing well and should gain traction over the next year.

Q: What kind of targets have you set for your international growth?

A: Today we have about 18% of our consolidated turnover coming out of the export market. We would think that another 2-3 years we should have at least 22%-25% of our turnover coming from the export market.

Q: Are there any acquisition plans to achieve this end?

A: At the moment we are not looking specifically at acquisitions because most acquisitions are good for the seller and not for the buyer in today’s market. But certainly if there are opportunities, and we feel that it makes sense for us to have an incremental addition in our business, we will certainly look at that.