Orchid Chemicals FY10 profit at Rs 339 cr

Drug firm Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals today posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 339.25 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010.

The company had a net loss of Rs 48.98 crore in the same period previous fiscal.

Net sales of the company stood at Rs 1,298.72 crore for the year ended March 2010, compared to Rs 1,260.02 crore in the corresponding fiscal, Orchid Chemicals said in a statement.

The company has recommended a dividend of Rs 10 per share on equity share of Rs 10 each for the year ended March.

"The transfer of our injectable business to Hospira completed successfully and we are able to significantly bring down our debt levels with the sale proceeds," Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Managing Director K Raghavendra Rao said.

"We have embarked on a robust strategy of powering our future growth through a combination of organic and inorganic initiatives and we are confident that we would achieve a significant increase in our sales and profitability during the current fiscal," he added.

The company's final Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) approval count remained at 20 for the fourth quarter ended March 2010.

During the quarter, the company completed the transaction for sale and transfer of its generic injectable business to Hospira.

Shares of Orchid Chemicals today closed at Rs 133.80 on the BSE, down 0.41 per cent from its previous close.