Cipla net profit up 44 per cent in Q3

Pharmaceutical major Cipla Ltd on Wednesday posted a 44 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 374.83 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2016, as compared to Rs 260.57 crore in the year-ago period.

The company's net sales during the quarter stood at Rs 3,550.02 crore, up by 16 per cent from Rs 3,069.89 crore in the corresponding period.

In the pharmaceuticals segment, the revenue increased to Rs 3622.52 crore as against Rs 3,135.26 crore in the year-ago quarter. Revenue from new ventures grew by 9.45 per cent on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis.

The company's India business delivered strong growth of 19 per cent y-o-y while the North America business (excluding the impact of one-offs and acquisitions) registered growth of 21 per cent compared to last year in dollar terms.

"The trend of improvement in profitability in the last three quarters reflects our determination towards building an operationally efficient and sustainable organization. The approval of Sereflo in UK and Albuterol filing in US are key milestones for us and we will continue to invest in building a strong respiratory franchise in our key markets," said Cipla Managing Director and Global CEO Umang Vohra.

According to a regulatory filing, the company's board on Wednesday deliberated on the proposal relating to fund raising and decided to seek approval of the shareholders in future at an appropriate time depending upon the funding requirements and investment opportunities.

The board, in its meeting on December 19, approved raising funds up to Rs 2,000 crore by issuing equity shares or American depository receipts or global depository receipts or foreign currency convertible bonds or other securities/financial instruments.

It had also approved raising funds up to Rs 2,000 crore by issue of non-convertible debentures or bonds. The fund raising was subject to permissions, sanctions and approvals, the filing said.

--IANS

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