Cipla Q3 net profit rises 4.68% to Rs 343.20 crore

Pharmaceutical firm Cipla Ltd on Wednesday reported 4.68% increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 343.20 crore in the third quarter ended December 2015. The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 327.85 crore in the same period last fiscal, Cipla Ltd said in a BSE filing.

Net sales during the period under review stood at Rs 3,027.26 crore as against Rs 2,624.71 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal, up 15.33%. Domestic sales declined by 0.4% to Rs 1,194 crore during the third quarter from Rs 1,199 crore in the same period last fiscal, the company said, adding that business was impacted due to distribution policy changes.

Exports of formulations increased by 28.5% to Rs 1,833 crore during the period as against Rs 1,426 crore in the same quarter last fiscal. APIs exports were down 5.3% to Rs 143 crore from Rs 151 crore in the year-ago period.

The export business was driven by strong performance in South Africa and emerging markets. Stating that the outlook for FY 2015-16 remains unchanged, Cipla said focus will be on complexity reduction and enhancing base business profitability through portfolio rationalisation, pricing improvement and cost optimization.

There will also be accelerated investment in R&D, consumer healthcare and biologics, it added. Shares of Cipla ended 3.17% down at Rs 538.85 apiece on BSE.