Revenue for the three months ended March 31 was INR9.9bn (€171.1m), up 17.7 per cent on Q4 fiscal 09 thanks, according to Jubilant, to an increased contribution from its pharma and life sciences products and services (PLSPS) unit.
This expansion was driven by Jubilant’s custom research and manufacturing services (CRAMS) business, revenue from which grew 16.8 per cent to INR572m on rising demand in North America and China.
Jubilant explained that CRAMS growth was based on “strong results in the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and contract manufacturing operations (CMO) businesses.”
These results are in marked contrast with the performance of the CRAMS business in the first quarter of fiscal 2010 when API revenue in particular was hit by industry postponement of deliveries.
The other part of the Noida, Uttar Pradesh-headquartered firm’s PLSPS business, life science chemicals, also performed well in the final quarter of fiscal 2010, with revenue climbing some 33 per cent to RNI172m.
In contrast with the PLSPS unit, Jubilant’s soon to be spun-off agri and performance polymers (APP) unit saw revenues decline 3 per cent due to falling demand for fertilisers.
Upbeat outlook for fiscal 2011
For the next 12 months Jubilant expects its CRAMS business to continue to be a growth driver, citing the $1bn worth of orders already on its books as evidence for this contention.
The firm said that it expects to add new contracts and launch new API products going forward to improve capacity utilisation in its contract manufacturing business.
Beyond this Jubilant also predicted that its drug discovery and development services (DDDS) business will play an increasingly important part in its performance, forecast that operating margins will improve in fiscal 2011.
Jubilant’s discovery services unit has signed a number of new contract in recent months, beginning last November when it partnered with researchers at the University of Alabama.
More recently Jubilant added G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) screening to its contract services offering through a partnership with DiscoveRx and extended its discovery collaboration with Endo Pharmaceuticals.