Biocon slips 4% on weak Q3 nos

Biocon has slipped 4.4% at Rs 263 after reporting 16% year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in consolidated net profit at Rs 84.85 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011 as compared to Rs 100.76 crore in the year ago period.

The net profit of the pharmaceutical company impacted mainly due to higher raw material (up 39%) and employee costs (up 28%), while net sales grew by single digit or 1.5% at Rs 517 crore on y-o-y basis. The profit margins declined by more than 400 basis points during the recently concluded quarter.

Commenting on the results, chairman and managing director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw stated, "Our performance in the first 3 quarters of FY12 has been good on the manufacturing and services fronts where profits were up nearly 29% (excluding licensing income).

Licensing income, however, was sharply down from the exceptional levels recorded last fiscal which resulted in flat earnings overall. As I have frequently stated, licensing income is a timing issue and subject to periodic variability."

A total 581,983 shares have changed hands on the counter so far on the NSE and BSE.