Pharmaniaga Bhd's pre-tax profit increased by 63.8 per cent to RM15.4 million in its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2010, from RM9.4 million in the same period last year.

Revenue increased to RM334.3 million from RM329.9 million previously, the group said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia today.
For the nine-month period, Pharmaniaga's pre-tax profit fell to RM48.2 million from RM53.9 million previously while revenue was up by 2.6 per cent at RM1 billion from RM976.8 million.

According to the group, the underlying trends are positive, with the effects of improved production throughput becoming evident in better gross profit margin.

'The group will continue to focus on improving production, controlling cost efficiency and growing its share of an expanding market to ensure continuous profit in the final quarter of the year,' it said. -- Bernama