Alembic Pharma's Q2 net halves to Rs 169 cr as US biz takes 40% dip

Dragged by the price erosion in the US market, Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited has posted a fall of nearly 50 per cent in its net profit for the second quarter ended September 30, 2021. The company registered a net profit of Rs 169.29 crore for the said quarter, as compared to Rs 333.37 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The company's revenue from operations too fell by 11 per cent to Rs 1,292.32 crore in Q2 of FY22, as against Rs 1,457.10 crore in Q2 of FY21. In terms of business segments, while price erosion due to greater competition saw its US generics business fall by 40 per cent to Rs 348 crore in the quarter, its ex-US sales remained stagnant at Rs 197 crore year-on-year (YoY).

With its active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) business too falling by nine per cent to Rs 239 crore during the quarter, Alembic's domestic formulations business came to the rescue, posting a 23 per cent growth to Rs 509 crore sales in Q2.

"India branded formulation business has posted strong growth for the second consecutive quarter. This is attributed to the consistent efforts to redefine our business strategy and customer relationships, leading to a strong operational performance, along with a market outperforming growth across all our key product segments and therapy areas," said Shaunak Amin, Managing Director, Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited.

The India business was led by healthy growth in its acute and specialty businesses. Despite a high base in its azithromycin sales, its overall acute segment grew by 27 per cent in the quarter, whereas excluding azithromycin the growth was 79 per cent.

Commenting on price erosion in the US market, Amin said that the company had probably seen the worst erosion with things looking up now for the remaining quarter.

During the quarter, the company received five abbreviated new drug applications (ANDA) approvals taking cumulative approvals to 150. Alembic filed three ANDA during the quarter; taking the cumulative ANDA filings to 214. The quarter also saw Alembic Pharma file three drug master files (DMFs).