Wockhardt: Attained German biz turnaround in Q4

Excerpts from Bazaar on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show » Wockhardt BSE | NSE 10/02/12 Are Mutual Funds betting on Wockhardt?

Wockhardt has announced its Q4CY06 numbers. The company posted net profit of Rs 87.1 crore in the fourth quarter versus Rs 72.9 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Its total income is reported at Rs 534.2 crore as against Rs 368.9 crore.

Discussing the same, Habil F Khorakiwala, Chairman of Wockhardt says the company's margins were maintained on material cost consumption reduction.

He further said that the company's CY06 topline grew 24%, without the Pinewood contribution. The fourth quarter also saw the company's German business turnaround.

Excerpts from CNBC-TV18's interview with Habil Khorakiwala:

 

Q: Run us through your financials.

 

A: I think the fourth quarter was a very good one for Wockhardt. Our sales is up by 44%, more than Rs 500 crore and our operating profit is also up by 44% to Rs 132 crore and our net profit compared to the previous quarter, was Rs 87 crore, which is roughly about 32% higher than that.

 

For the year also, I think we had a very healthy year. Our sale is up again by 20%, 22%, 23% and the profit is up, before exceptional items, at Rs 300 crore.

 

Q: Does this include Pinewood acquisitions?

 

A: Yes, I think that this includes the numbers from Pinewood for the fourth quarter.

 

Q: How much has it come from Pinewood?

 

A: Without Pinewood, the growth will still be 24% on the topline basis.

 

Q: How is the consolidation of acquired brands like Protinex and Farex coming along?

 

A: We have shown growth of about 22% in last six months on the brands, Protinex and Farex.

 

Q: Run us through margins, you have maintained 23%, despite your investments, despite these acquisitions. So what has led to this maintenance of margin?

 

A: Our material cost consumption; because the product improvement and product mix have improved by more than 200 bps, even though our expenses in some of these areas have gone up, therefore we have been able to maintain the margins.

 

Q: Geographies like Germany have seen a little bit of hitch in the previous quarters? Have those stabilized now and across the other geographies?

 

A: I think that the fourth quarter was an important turnaround as far as Germany is concerned.