Cipla posts 45% growth in Q1

livemint.com:

NEW DELHI : Cipla Ltd on Wednesday reported a net profit of ₹996 crore in Q1, up 45.1% year-on-year (y-o-y), backed by strong US sales performance. The pharma company’s profit beat the Bloomberg consensus estimate of ₹860.4 crore in the three months to June. The company’s income from operations at ₹6,329 crore was up 17.7% year-on-year.

The reported Ebitda at ₹1,494 crore also grew 30.7% year-on-year. Its North American sales in constant currency terms at $222 million were up 43% y-o-y and came better than $204 million in the previous quarter. Analysts had been expecting some weakness in the US business sequentially on the back of higher competition in a key respiratory product.

However, support is likely to have been provided by other product contributions. In rupee terms at ₹1,822 crore and contributing 29% to the overall revenue, the North America revenue was up 52% y-o-y. The company said its pipeline and execution have been a substantial driver of growth.

Key asset of Lanreotide has improved its market share to 18% and the company’s focus continues on limited competition launches. Analysts feel that contributions from multiple myeloma treatment drug Revlimid generics also contributed to US sales growth. Umang Vohra, managing director and global chief executive of Cipla, told reporters that there has been some decline in market share in the respiratory inhaler Albuterol generics during the last four months.

But on a year-on-year basis, the market share may be at similar levels and is likely to remain stable. The base business in the US has been growing well despite continued pricing pressure, said Vohra. Meanwhile, the company’s performance in the domestic market also remained strong despite the season not remaining