Mumbai: Drug maker Cipla Ltd on Thursday pared consolidated losses in the March quarter to Rs61.79 crore from Rs92.83 crore a year ago. The company attributed the loss to certain one-time costs.
Net sales during the quarter rose 7.2% from a year ago to Rs3,487.04 crore on the back of a sharp rise in sales in South Africa and North America.
According to a Bloomberg poll of 25 analysts, the company was estimated to post a net profit of Rs338.20 crore and sales of Rs3,769.8 crore.
During the quarter, Cipla recorded a one-off non-cash impairment charge of Rs214.42 crore on litigation and regulatory developments for certain products in the US and a provision of Rs56 crore on certain assets of its biotech subsidiary.
“Even if we adjust for one-offs, PAT (profit after tax) was barely around INR 1 bn (Rs100 crore) compared to our expectations of INR 3 bn (Rs300 crore) and street expectations of INR 3.5 bn (Rs350 crore),” Edelweiss Securities said in a report.
Excluding the one-offs, the company fared well on core operations. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) was up 187% from a year ago at Rs506 crore in the March quarter.
“We have achieved significant progress on our identified key priorities and have strengthened our core business through consolidation, complexity reduction and deepening our presence in priority markets (India, US, South Africa). While quarterly results are off the mark due to tough operating environment and certain one-offs, we delivered on our goal of improving base Ebitda percentage year-on-year by more than 200 bps (basis points),” Umang Vohra, managing director and global chief executive officer of Cipla, said.
Geography-wise, Cipla had sales of Rs1,197 crore in India, down 4% from a year ago, Rs646 crore in North America, up 33%, Rs468 crore in South Africa, up 50% and Rs180 crore in Europe, up 8%.
During the quarter, the company’s spend on research and development (R&D) was Rs307 crore, accounting for 8.6% of sales.
In 2017-18, the company expects to “disproportionately” grow in the US on the back of some meaningful product launches. It plans to file more than 20 abbreviated new drug applications with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this year.
Cipla’s management did not give earnings guidance for the current fiscal due to volatile external factors and implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) in India, but Vohra said that internally, the company aims at a double-digit growth.
On Thursday, shares of Cipla ended down 3.1% at Rs504.10 on the BSE, while benchmark Sensex index closed higher by 1.48% at 30,750.03.