Kilitch Drugs hits new high; stock zooms 51% in January

The stock hit a new high of Rs 242, rallied 51% thus far in the month of January.

Shares of Kilitch Drugs (India) hit a new high of Rs 242 apiece, up 3 per cent on BSE in an otherwise subdued market, on expectations of strong earnings growth.

The stock of pharmaceuticals company has rallied 51 per cent thus in the month of January, 2019. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 1 per cent in past 17 trading days.

In the past six months, Kilitch Drugs zoomed 150 per cent from level of Rs 97, against 1 per cent decline in the benchmark index.

The company has reported a robust four-fold jump in net profit of Rs 8.65 crore for the first six months (April-September) of financial year 2018-19 (FY19), on back of healthy revenue growth. It had posted profit of Rs 2.12 crore during the same period of FY18. 

Operational revenue during the period under review more than doubled at Rs 54.69 crore against Rs 21.71 crore in the corresponding period of previous fiscal. Other income increased from Rs 1.77 crore to Rs 4.25 crore during the period. The company said EBIDTA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) margin were driven by improved demand as well as exchange rate gains.

Kilitch Drugs had posted net profit of Rs 6.19 crore on revenue of Rs 50.45 crore during entire previous financial year 2017-18 (FY18).

The company believes Africa is the pharma market for next decade. It is also scouting opportunities to start manufacturing in 2-3 large African countries through partnerships. The company so far registered 320 products across Africa, plans to scale it up to 500 products in coming quarters.

The company said it continued its focus on its Cephalosporin plant in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — the first such plant in the country for Kilitch Drugs which is set up in partnership with Estro.

With the aim to produce 20-25 million vials capacity in manufacturing multiple products including dry syrup, tablets, capsules, the plant is on-course to commence commercial production by mid FY2019. The plant will significantly boost the company’s presence in the African markets in terms of improved margins and high capacity. The revenue generation from the plant is expected to contribute Rs 100 crore in sales beginning FY2020, the company said while announcing December quarter results.

At 11:21 am, Kilitch Drugs was trading 1.8 per cent higher at Rs 239 on the BSE. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.1 per cent at 36,410 points. A combined 180,413 equity shares changed hands on the counter on the BSE and NSE so far.