Biocon second-quarter profit surges on gains from Equillium stake sale

(Reuters) - Indian biotechnology company Biocon Ltd posted an over five-fold rise in second-quarter profit on Thursday, as the company recorded a one-off gain of 1.89 billion rupees ($25.79 million).

Profit was 3.55 billion rupees for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a profit of 688 million rupees a year earlier, Biocon said.

Analysts on average had expected a profit of 1.33 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv data.

Revenue from operations rose over 36 percent to 13.21 billion rupees.

The one-off item includes gains from Biocon's sale of its stake in Equillium Inc, after the U.S. company debuted on the stock market.

 

($1 = 73.2750 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru)