Pranabh Mody, President, JB Chemicals in an interview with CNBC-TV18 said that the company is now focusing on selling the Russian over-the-counter (OTC) business and this deal with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is likely to close in the next two weeks. He clarified that the company is not looking at any other large sized deal apart from sale of Russian OTC business.
Giving an overview of the company's revenues he added, "Last year we have done about Rs 800 crore revenue; the Russia OTC business was about Rs 300 crore. So we start off with a base of about Rs 500 crores. Domestic market has been growing at 15% plus." Also Read: JB Chemicals to focus on contract manufacturing Below is the verbatim transcript of his interview with Mitali Mukherjee and Udayan Mukherjee of CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video. Q: There have been reports that you might be looking to close some kind of deal and a large size one and this after having sold off your Russ ion OTC business, is JB Chemicals looking to sell any part of their business actively? A: No, at this time we are just focused on selling the Russian over-the-counter (OTC) business. This itself is a big deal and takes a lot of effort to get done and once we are done, we want to focus on getting our operations back on track. Q: But are there any other parts of the business going forward which could potentially lend themselves to some degree of value unlocking or which do not fit the strategic nature of the business according to you? A: No, what we are left with is the domestic business that is the focus area. What we call the rest of the world which is the business other than the Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is intrinsic in terms of the contract manufacturing opportunities generic business. The last piece is the Russia Rx business, the prescription business; we will continue these three because again we need that particular size and they would continue. Q: What is the size of the residual business now post the selling of the Russian OTC business and what kind of growth rate are you seeing in that residual business? A: Last year we have done about Rs 800 crore revenue; the Russia OTC business was about Rs 300 crore. So we start off with a base of about Rs 500 crores. Domestic market has been growing at 15% plus. In this we have started a new division which was just launched at the beginning of this month. So couple of new initiatives that we take will help increase the revenues but Rs 500 crore is what we would start off with. Q: What is the plan in terms of cash utilization from the sale that you did on your Russian OTC business because there have been expectations of some kind of speculation dividend payout because of how large the cash deal wasDiscover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
