Jubilant Life Sciences Q3 net profit down 24 pc to Rs 203.38 cr

Drug firm Jubilant Life Sciences on Friday reported a 23.97 per cent fall in consolidated net profit at Rs 203.38 crore for the third quarter ended on December 31, 2019.

It had posted a net profit of Rs 267.52 crore in the October-December quarter a year ago, Jubilant Life Sciences said in a BSE filing.

Net sales during the quarter under review stood at Rs 2,279.89 crore, down 3.11 per cent, as against Rs 2,353.08 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

"We reported stable performance y-o-y and growth in EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) with better margins sequentially and profit-after-tax was lower due to certain exceptional charges. Demand conditions across all pharma businesses, specialty intermediates and nutritional products are strong. Overall we are confident of delivering strong performance going forward," Jubilant Life Sciences Chairman Shyam S Bhartia and Co-Chairman & MD Hari S Bhartia said in a joint statement.

Total expenses of the company for the December quarter stood at Rs 1,993.28 crore as against Rs 2,035.37 crore in third quarter of 2018-19, down 2.06 per cent.

Revenue from pharmaceuticals segment for the third quarter of 2019-20 rose 1.82 per cent to Rs 1,450.15 crore as against Rs 1,424.14 crore in the same period last year.

"Pharmaceutical segment reported steady revenue growth during the quarter. We witnessed healthy growth in Allergy Therapy Products and API businesses with stable performance in Radiopharma, CMO and Generics," they said.

While, revenue from Life Sciences Ingredients segment for the said quarter was down 11.41 per cent to Rs 797.52 crore as against Rs 900.33 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Drug discovery and development solutions segment registered a revenue growth of 26.27 per cent to Rs 68.48 crore over Rs 54.23 crore in the year-ago quarter.

"The drug discovery services business reported robust growth of 26 per cent y-o-y in revenue and a 2.7x increase in EBITDA with a margin of 25 per cent during the quarter. In view of the strong demand, we are making significant investments in this business to double capacities over the next 2-3 years," Bhartia said.

Shares of Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd closed at Rs 581.95 on the BSE, down 3.55 per cent over previous close.