IDT Australia forecasts improved FY12 profit

Pharmaceutical services company IDT Australia (ASX:IDT) has revealed it expects its bottom-line result for FY12 to be an improvement on its net loss from the prior year.

But the company, which provides pharmaceutical contract manufacturing, R&D and other technical services, warned that it will probably report a loss for the first half.

The anticipated 1H loss has been blamed on unanticipated delays in two large projects, IDT Australia said in a market statement on Tuesday.

In FY11, IDT Australia incurred a net loss of $200,000. But this had been an improvement on the nearly $1.6 million loss from the year before.

While FY11 operating revenue improved 7% to $13.1 million, margins shrank due to international competition and difficult market conditions in the contract pharmaceutical industry.

Partly to help overcome these issues, the board is currently concentrating on shifting the company's operating model towards product ownership, its annual report states.

In July, IDT Australia announced it had secured an innovation grant from the Victorian government to help fund a planned $3.1 million investment in an anti-cancer drug project.

IDT shares stayed still on Tuesday at $0.345.