Dr Reddy's PAT increases nearly 8 fold to Rs 456 cr in Q1

Pharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories today reported nearly eight-fold jump in consolidated profit after tax to Rs 456.1 crore for the first quarter of 2018-19, mainly on account of operational efficiencies, forex gains and launch of gSuboxone in the US market.

The company had posted a PAT of Rs 59.1 crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

President, CFO and Global Head of HR of Dr Reddy's, Saumen Chakraborty told reporters that consolidated revenue of the company stood at Rs 3,720.7 crore in the April-June quarter this year against Rs 3,315.9 crore for the same period year ago.

"Part of the gross margin improvement is attributed to gSuboxone but there has been benefit forex (gains) as well as the operating leverage of our manufacturing facilities.. the forex gain has also contributed 400 to 500 basis points to the profit,"Chakrabortysaid.

Revenues from Global Generics segment was at Rs 3060 crore with year-on-year growth of 12 per cent, primarily driven by contributions from Emerging Markets, India and launch of gSuboxone in the US.

He said the drug maker spent Rs 416 crore on Research and Development during the first quarter and indicated thatthe capexwould be in the range of Rs 800 crore to Rs 1000 crore for the full year.

Just a couple of days after Dr Reddy's launched gSuboxone in the USA market,a US District Courthad issued a temporary restraining order on the sale and commercialisation ofthe drug.

Replying to a query on jobs cutsat the mid-management level,Dr Reddy's co-chairman and CEO GV Prasad said it is an ongoing process and the company had identified about 150 to 200 positions which they feel are "redundant."
However, we continue to improve the productivity. While there is pressure in the US (on pricing), there is also opportunity elsewhere and US."