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HYDERABAD (Reuters) - Biopharmaceutical company Biocon Ltd reported a more than six-fold rise in first-quarter profit on Thursday, boosted by a one-time gain from the sale of its Indian branded formulations business.
Biocon said in March it would sell the branded formulations business to Eris Lifesciences in a deal worth 12.42 billion rupees.
"Transaction has come into effect on April 1,2024... Gain of 10.57 billion rupees is accounted after taking into account working capital and expenses incurred towards commercial collaboration," Biocon said.
The company, which counts the United States and Europe as key markets, posted a net profit attributable to shareholders of 6.6 billion rupees ($78.62 million) for the quarter ended June 30, compared with 1.01 billion rupees a year earlier.
The company's quarterly profit was also boosted by the increased market share of its biosimilars, which include treatments for cancer, diabetes and immunology-related conditions.
Biocon had invested more than $1 billion rupees in its biosimilars unit and acquired businesses globally to compete in the market expected to triple in value to $74 billion by the end of the decade.
Revenue from its biosimilars segment rose 3.4% to 20.83 billion rupees from a year ago.
However, revenue from its generics segment fell 5.9% to 6.6 billion rupees, hurt by pricing pressure in the U.S. market.
The company's shares closed 2.2% lower on Thursday, ahead of the results.
($1 = 83.9460 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Rishika Sadam; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Shreya Biswas)