Yeah, AR has numbers but almost zero explanation of what is going on!
Some updates:
Lovastatin is not new to the company, it was added back in 2011.
Even then company had claimed 100% capacity utilization, so they are not publicizing with their capacity increase in timely fashion, bit strange.
About your points:
-
Yes, screener shows the latest OPM is 50%, ROCE is almost same and amongst the top 4 in Pharma industry!
-
I read in the AR environmental/power savings section that the fermentation cooling systems have been downgraded by half to save power. Maybe fermentation reactors are power intensive, will need to check on this!
So they saved 110 HP, one HP is = 750 W, so they saved 82.5 KW !! About 2000 units of electricity per day (1 unit = 1 KWHr, considering 24 hr operations). 7.3 Lakh units per year (365 days). So numbers look ok! -
Thanks for pointing out, this is a huge portion of sales, another red flag!
Biocon started out as a fermentation company, this is the expertise of KM Shaw (and her father). No (direct) comparison here of course, but possibly promising technology. Maybe (pharma) fermentation is like this, power intensive, low RM demand, and high value-addition after time-consuming process if done right!
https://www.biocon.com/biocon_manufacture_solid.asp
Solid State Fermentation
Biocon’s foray into manufacture of food and speciality enzymes began with the commissioning of our first solid state fermentation plant in 1990. This plant was based on the conventional tray fermentation technology, also called “koji” fermentation.
https://www.biocon.com/biocon_manufacture_micro.asp
Microbial Fermentation
In 1999, we commissioned our first large scale submerged (or stirred-tank) fermenters capable of handling bacteria, yeast, fungal and actinomycete cultures. This capacity was further expanded in 2006 on our second site, Biocon Park, to cater to the anticipated additional demand for several small molecule generics such as the statins, anti-obesity products and pharmaceutical enzymes.