Kyowa Hakko's fiscal 1st-qtr sales rise 10.8%

Tokyo, Japan-based Kyowa Hakko Kogyo's consolidated net sales for the three months ended June 30, 2007, totaled 94.9 billion yen ($796.6 million), an increase of 10.8% on the like, year-ago period, driven mainly by a strong performance from its pharmaceuticals business.

During the quarter, operating income fell 7.3% to 7.5 billion yen, due to a significant rise in R&D expenses, including a one-time payment for the in-licensing of anticancer drug ARQ197 and despite an increase of 4.3 billion yen in gross profit. The firm's net income sky-rocketed 159.0% to 5.3 billion yen, as the comparable period last year was burdened by extraordinary losses of 3.4 billion yen.

Commenting on the results, Yuzuru Matsuda, president of the company, said: "we are very pleased with the strong performances in our pharmaceuticals and chemicals businesses that have helped us achieve better-than-expected results. As a result, we have revised upwards our interim and full-year forecasts for fiscal 2007 and we remain firmly on track for achieving the growth outlined in our medium-term business plan."