Revised: Biocon Q3 net rises 9%; input costs shrink margins

Biocon 's third quarter (October-December) quarter grew 9 percent year-on-year to Rs 93 crore, as higher expenses compressed margins and offset a good chunk of the 23 percent growth in total sales.

Consolidated quarterly sales stood at Rs 660 crore, which included Rs 25 crore of other income. Sales from its biopharmaceuticals business grew 22 percent to Rs 495 core, and those from contract research rose 27 percent to Rs 140 crore. The biopharmaceutical income includes licensing development fees and licensing income.

Total expenses grew 25 percent to Rs 493 crore, driven by a 32 percent increase in material and power costs to Rs 307 crore. Operating margin for the quarter was 25 percent, down from 26.49 percent same period last year.

"Going forward we aim to have higher contribution from Biosimilars, research services and branded formulations to the overall revenue," the company said in its release.

"Our increasing R&D investments are reflective of the progress being made in this direction with all our research assets of novel molecules and biosimilars progressing well on the development pathway. We continue discussions with potential partners for taking our insulins & novel portfolio to the global markets," the release said.

Corrigendum: We have rectified Biocon's earnings report and apologise for erroneously putting out wrong figures. The earlier report was taken from agencies.