Panacea Biotec posts net profit of Rs 83 crore in Q3

Panacea Biotec on Thursday posted a net profit of Rs 82.79 crore for the third quarter that ended on  December 31, 2013.

The company, which had posted a net loss of Rs 62.20 crore during the same period of previous fiscal year (FY13), received an order from UNICEF to supply its pentavalent vaccine.

Net sales of the company declined to Rs 105.80 crore during the third quarter, compared to Rs 166.28 crore in the corresponding period in FY13, Panacea Biotec said in a statement.

In a separate statement, it said it has received an order form UNICEF to supply its pentavalent vaccine 'Easyfive TT', for 2014-16 period.

"This award to Panacea Biotec is the outcome of the recent relisting of the company's pentavalent vaccine by World Health Organisation (WHO) on October 2, 2013, post successful completion of the audit of the company's Lalru and Baddi facilities," it said.

"This award is a great opportunity for Panacea Biotec and would enable the company to be once again on growth trajectory," Panacea Biotec joint managing director Rajesh Jain said.

In August 2011, WHO had delisted three of the company's vaccines - diptheria-pertussis-tetanus based combination vaccines Easyfive, Ecovac4 and EnivacHB - from pre-qualified list of vaccines due to quality concerns.

'Pre-qualification' is a process under which drug companies have to fulfil certain WHO-stipulated conditions to become eligible to supply vaccines to UN procurement agencies globally.

Shares in Panacea Biotec, on Thursday, ended at Rs 95.50 apiece on the BSE, down 1.75 per cent from the previous close.