Aurobindo net up over two-fold

Posts Rs 431 cr profit, sales jump 36% to Rs 1,979 cr

Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma posted over two-fold rise in net profit in the quarter ended March 31, 2014, at Rs 430.60 crore, as against a net of Rs 163.54 crore in the corresponding period previous fiscal, driven by growth in formulations business.

Sales during the period rose 36 per cent to Rs 1,979.26 crore, from Rs 1,455.24 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2013.

The pharma major's formulations sales during the period were up 75.8 per cent at Rs 1,613.50 crore as against Rs 918 crore in the corresponding quarter previous fiscal. Also, the active pharmaceutical ingredients business was up 13.2 per cent at Rs 754.8 crore, when compared with Rs 666.8 crore.

For the full year 2013-14, net profit rose 136.31 per cent to Rs 1,172.09 crore, as against Rs 495.99 crore during the previous year ended March 2013. Sales grew 36.60 per cent to Rs 8,099.80 crore during the period as against Rs 5,855.30 crore.

"We continue to invest in building a quality organisation as we focus on optimising the mix of products and markets in line with capacities to drive operating efficiencies. We are also making steady progress on our differentiated product offerings especially with the parenterals gaining traction in advanced geographies," said N Govindarajan, its managing director.

The company's board has approved a second interim dividend of 175 per cent which translates into Rs 1.75 per equity share. This in addition to an interim dividend of Rs 1.25 per share in November 2013, the company said in a release.

Following approvals in the USA (191 cumulative), Australia and South Africa (70 cumulative) and Canada (48) were received during the quarter ended March 2014.