Cipla Q3 net profit up nearly 5% to Rs 343.20 crore

Pharmaceutical firm Cipla on Wednesday reported 4.68% increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 343.20 crore in the third quarter (Q3) ended December 2015. The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 327.85 crore in the same period last fiscal, Cipla said in a BSE filing.

Net sales during the period under review were up 15.33% to Rs 3,027.26 crore as against Rs 2,624.71 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal. Domestic sales declined by 0.4% to Rs 1,194 crore during the third quarter (Q3) 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. Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (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 FY16 remains unchanged, Cipla said the focus will be on complexity reduction and enhancing base business profitability through portfolio rationalisation, pricing improvement, and cost optimisation.

There will also be an accelerated investment in Research and Development (R&D), consumer healthcare, and biologics, it added. 

On Wednesday, the stock of Cipla closed down 3.17% or Rs 17.65 at Rs 538.85 on the BSE.