Sun Pharma Q3 net profit declines 27 pc to Rs 914 cr

Drug major Sun Pharmaceutical Industries on Thursday reported a 26.43 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit to Rs 913.52 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2019 mainly due to rise in expenses.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 1,241.85 crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, Sun Pharma said in a BSE filing.

Consolidated income from operations of the company stood at Rs 8,038.65 crore for the quarter under consideration. It was Rs 7,656.71 crore for the same period a year ago.

The total expenses of the company for the third quarter stood at Rs 6,923.40 crore as against Rs 6,203.14 crore in the year go period.

"Our branded business in India is doing well and has recorded double-digit growth for Q3 as well as for the nine month period," Sun Pharma MD Dilip Shanghvi said.

For the international business, he said, "We continued our efforts to enhance our portfolio in new markets by entering into a licensing agreement with AstraZeneca in China for some of our novel oncology products," he added.

Simultaneously, the company continues to enhance its global specialty business which is gradually becoming a meaningful growth engine, Shanghvi said.

Sale of branded formulations in India for Q3 2019-20 was Rs 2,517 crore, up by 13 per cent over the third quarter last year and accounted for 31 per cent of the total consolidated sales, Sun Pharma said.

The company is ranked number one and holds approximately 8.2 per cent market share in over the Rs 140,000 crore Indian pharmaceutical market as per AIOCD AWACS Dec-2019 report, it added.

"Sales in the US were USD 350 million for the quarter, a decline of 3 per cent over same period last year and accounted for 31 per cent of total consolidated sales," Sun Pharma said.

The company's sales in emerging markets were at USD 195 million for the third quarter, a decline of 4 per cent over same quarter last year. The decline was primarily led by lower tender business revenues in South Africa, it added.

Overall sales in emerging markets accounted for 17 per cent of total consolidated sales for the quarter, Sun Pharma said.

"Formulation sales in Rest of World (ROW) markets excluding the US and emerging markets were USD 155 million in Q3 2019-20, a growth of 24 per cent over Q3 last year and accounting for approximately 14 per cent of total consolidated sales," the company said.

The main growth driver was the consolidation of Pola Pharma (Japan) business, it added.

Regarding the company's API business, Sun Pharma says it imparts benefits of vertical integration for our formulations business.

"We continue to increase the API supply for captive consumption for key products. For Q3 2019-20, external sales of API were at Rs 503 crore, up by 18 per cent over Q3 last year," it added.

Consolidated R&D investment for Q3 2019-20 was Rs 527 crore or 6.6 per cent of sales as compared to Rs 465 crore or 6 per cent of sales for Q3 last year, Sun Pharma said.

The company's board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 3 per equity share of Re 1 each, Sun Pharma said.

Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries closed at Rs 430.95 per scrip on the BSE, up 1.13 per cent from its previous close.