Lupin Q4 profit falls 1% to Rs 547 cr

Drug major Lupin today reported over 1 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 547 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, hit by price erosion in the US and delay in product approvals.
The company, which today re-appointed Desh Bandhu Gupta as Executive Chairman for five years effective January 1, 2016, had posted net profit of Rs 553 crore in the January- March period of the previous fiscal.
Net sales of the company rose to Rs 3,054.04 crore for the fourth quarter of 2014-15, as compared to Rs 3,051.55 crore in the year ago period.
For the entire fiscal ended March 31, Lupin reported 30.86 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,403.24 crore, as compared to Rs 1,836.37 crore in the 2013-14.

Net sales of the company rose to Rs 12,599.71 crore last fiscal, as against Rs 11,086.64 crore in the previous fiscal.
"Higher price erosion in the US as well as a slowdown in product approvals impacted growth in the quarter, but overall the company has done well to improve gross margins and enhance profitability for the year," Lupin Ltd Managing Director Nilesh Gupta said in a statement.

The company continues to ramp up investment in research in segments like inhalation, complex injectables and biosimilars, he added.
Lupin's board, which met today, re-appointed Kamal K Sharma as Vice Chairman for two years effective September 29, 2015. It also approved the re-appointment of M D Gupta as Executive Director for five years effective January 1, 2016.

It also appointed Vijay Kelkar, R A Shah, Richard Zahn, K U Mada and Dileep Choksi as independent directors for a fresh term of five years.
The Mumbai-based company said its US and Europe formulation sales grew by 16 per cent to Rs 5,985.5 crore for the year ended March 31, as against Rs 5,180.5 crore in the previous fiscal, contributing 48 per cent to overall sales.
The company's India formulations business grew by 20 per cent during the fiscal, posting net sales of Rs 2,967.9 crore as compared to Rs 2,479.5 crore in 2013-14.
Lupin's Japanese business recorded net sales of Rs 1,323.9 crore during 2014-15 and contributed 10 per cent to the company's consolidated sales.

The company said its active pharmaceutical ingredients sales grew by 7 per cent to Rs 1,194.1 crore, contributing to 9 per cent consolidated sales.
Its board has recommended a dividend of Rs 7.50 per equity share of the face value of Rs 2 each for 2014-15.
Lupin scrip closed at Rs 1,690.60, down 3.35 per cent, on the BSE.