Cipla surges 7% post March quarter results

The stock surged 7% to Rs 563, bouncing back 8% from its early morning low of Rs 520 on the BSE.

Shares of Cipla have surged 7% to Rs 563 per share, bouncing back 8% from their early morning low of Rs 520 per share on the BSE, after the pharmaceutical company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1.79 billion in March quarter (Q4FY18) against a net loss of Rs 620 million in the same quarter last year.

Total income from operations grew 3.2% at Rs 36.98 billion as compared to Rs 35.82 billion over the previous year quarter. Key markets including India and South Africa continued to deliver strong growth, Cipla said in a statement.

Analysts on an average had expected profit of Rs 3.59 billion and revenue of Rs 38.70 billion for the quarter.

“Despite numbers not meeting expectations the company has met its guidance of one US launch of a limited competition product per quarter. In the near-term gPulmicort, gAloxi and gDacogen, which have started to gain market share, should help pare pricing challenges,” analysts at Antique Stock Broking said in result review.

“Besides that, Cipla possesses a healthy pipeline which should dispel concerns about US growth that may have cropped up after quarterly US sales plateaued at around $100 million. More importantly, the launch momentum should continue - we expect a busy 12-15 months with launches like Sensipar, Nasonex, Letairis, Proventil in FY19. With domestic business (around 40% of sales) expected to be robust, above-average growth in South Africa (around 16%), and growing traction in inhalers in the EU (around 5%), Cipla remains in the best position to navigate the macro challenges,” the brokerage firm said with maintain ‘buy’ rating on the stock and 12 month target price of Rs 640 per share.

At 09:42 am; Cipla was trading 5% higher at Rs 551 on the BSE, against 0.14% decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combined 2.91 million shares changed hands on the counter on the BSE and NSE so far.