Select pharma shares rally; Suven Pharma up 13%, Laurus nears record high

Shares of select pharmaceutical companies were in demand in Thursday's session with Suven Pharmaceuticals rallying 13 per cent to a new high of Rs 493 on the BSE in an otherwise range-bound market. Meanwhile, Laurus Labs climbed 5 per cent to Rs 364 in intra-day trade and was hovering close to its record high level of Rs 365.65, touched on December 21, 2020.

At 01:04 pm, the S&P BSE Healthcare index was up 0.40 per cent at 22,152, as compared to a 0.03 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. The healthcare index hit an intra-day high of 22,194, quoting near its all-time high level of 22,464, hit in December last year.

Among other stocks, Sequent Scientific, Fortis Healthcare, Vimta Labs, Suven Lifesciences, Wockhardt, Unichem Laboratories and Lupin were up in the range of 2 per cent to 6 per cent on the BSE.

With the easing of Covid-19-related restrictions, analysts at Emkay Global Financial Services expect the Indian Pharma Market (IPM) to grow at a high single to low double-digit rate in the coming months, implying FY21 IPM growth of mid-single digits.

“We expect a good October-December quarter (Q3FY21) for the pharma names under our coverage, with year-on-year (YoY) revenue, EBITDA and earnings growth of 9 per cent, 21 per cent and 33 per cent, respectively, the brokerage firm said in pharma Q3FY21 preview. This will be driven by good growth in the US, recovery in branded markets, continued cost savings and low base for companies such as Lupin,” the brokerage firm said in Q3FY21 preview.

Analysts at ICICI Securities expect the healthcare companies to post decent growth in revenues in Q3FY21, led by a significant revival in domestic sales and growth in US formulations led by new launches and specialty ramp-up.

Domestic growth is expected to be led by a partial recovery in the acute segment, reasonable traction in the chronic segment and Covid-related product sales, supported by sequentially higher MR footfalls. US formulations are expected to grow due to ramp-up in specialty products and new launches supported by currency tailwinds, the brokerage firm said in healthcare sector update.