Pharmaceutical company Lupin Ltd on Wednesday reported a net loss of Rs 152.36 crore in the quarter ended December 2018 on account of a one-time litigation charge related to a blood pressure drug.
It reported a net profit of Rs 222.23 crore in the year-ago period. Total income during the quarter under review increased to Rs 4548.29 crore from Rs 4,004.04 crore a year ago. Total expenses also increased Rs 4,111.86 crore in the December quarter from Rs 3,621.63 crore a year ago. Profit before exceptional item and tax increased to Rs 437.66 crore in the quarter under review compared to Rs 383 crore in the year-ago period. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) increased 11% to Rs 796 crore in Q3FY19 compared to Rs 716.8 crore in the year-ago period.
There is an exceptional item of Rs 342.22 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal as a one-time litigation charge.
Nilesh Gupta, managing director, Lupin said, “After a tough first half, we are now starting to see growth in the US. The growth momentum in the US will continue into the next quarter as we are on track with important launches like Levothyroxine and Ranolazine.”
However, the stock market was expecting the pharma major to post a profit. Analysts were expecting that the company would report a net profit of Rs 240-280 crore, primarily on the back of healthy domestic business.
Vinita Gupta, CEO, Lupin during a media conference call said the company is having an ongoing extensive exercise on cost and margin optimisation. She also said the pricing pressure in the US is back to single-digit level. With stabilisation from pricing standpoint, Lupin is hopeful of leveraging and growing its share in a number of older products, Gupta further said during an earnings call with analysts.
Lupin’s overall formulations business grew 4.2% to Rs 380.52 crore in Q3FY19 compared to Rs 363.24 crore in Q3FY18. While its domestic business grew 11.4% year on year to Rs 119.02 crore, its sales in North America declined 1% to 141.74 crore.
Latin America reported a year-on-year growth of 5.2%, while Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle-East and Africa grew 2.9% during the quarter under review. The rest of the world, however, reported a year-on-year growth of 84.1% to Rs 68.3 crore.
In a disclosure note to exchanges, Lupin said on December 12, 2018, the General Court of the European Union delivered its judgment concerning Lupin’s appeal against the decision in the Perindopril litigation.
BITTER DOSE
- The company reported a net profit of Rs 222 crore in Q3FY17.
- The one-time litigation charge was related to a blood pressure drug
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