Sun Pharma gains on strong Q2 results

The stock rallied 6% to Rs 708 on BSE in early morning trade.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has rallied 6% to Rs 708 on BSE in early morning trade after the pharma major's consolidated net profit more than doubles to Rs 2,235 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 (Q2FY17). The company had posted a profit of Rs 1,028 crore in the same period last year.

Total income from operations grew 20% at Rs 8,265 crore during the quarter under review against Rs 6,873 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.

Analysts on an average had expected profit of Rs 1,606 crore on revenue of Rs 7,747 crore for the quarter.

Strong sales growth in the key US market and product licensing income helped Sun Pharma double its consolidated net profit in the September quarter.

Dilip Shanghvi, Managing Director of the Company said, “The synergies from the Ranbaxy acquisition are gaining momentum and we are on track to achieve the targeted benefits. These synergies will continue to help in funding our emerging specialty businesses.”

“Post the close of the quarter, we further strengthened our branded ophthalmic pipeline through the acquisition of Ocular Technologies. We were also very happy to announce the detailed results for Tildrakizumab Phase-3 trials which validate the potential of this product for psoriasis treatment,” added Shanghvi.

Analyst at Elara Capital upgrades stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Accumulate’.

“Sun has pipeline of strong 144 pending ANDAs for the US market, some of which are niche and complex molecules. We expect resolution at Halol in near term which will aid to faster monetization of such ANDAs. Further company’s bet to transition from being pure generics to a specialty play will add to growth,” the brokerage firm said in a report.

At 09:32 am, the stock was up 5.7% at Rs 705 on BSE, as compared to 1.1% decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combined 5.9 million shares changed hands on the counter on BSE and NSE so ar.