Pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories, on Tuesday, posted its first profit in six quarters after the company reported strong business in India and West Europe, besides receiving benefits from the launch of the generic version of Novartis AG's blood pressure drug Diovan in the US market.
For the quarter ended September 30, the company posted net profit after tax, minority interest and share in profit of associates of Rs 477.75 crore as compared to net loss of Rs 454.16 crore during the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Total Income increased to Rs 3,277.87 crore for the quarter under review from Rs 2,827.73 crore a year-ago.
Arun Sawhney, CEO & managing director, Ranbaxy, said in a release, "During the quarter, growth in base business was driven by India and Western Europe. In the US, we successfully launched Valsartan with 180 days exclusivity. Our focus continues to be on creating brands and providing differentiated products as future growth drivers." Valsartan is the copycat version of Novartis Diovan for which Ranbaxy has managed to clock 32% market share in the US post its launch in July this year.
Consolidated sales for the quarter were Rs 3,218 crore as compared to Rs 2,750.2 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. In the US, sales for the quarter stood at Rs 1,354.8 crore, largely due to major contribution form the exclusivity sales of Valsartan in the current quarter.
Sawhney during the analyst conference call, however, said, "Novartis has been very aggressive in marketing Diovan. But in the generic space, we have a market share of over 50%."
In the domestic market, sales for the quarter was Rs 643.8 crore, a growth of 12% over the corresponding quarter a year back. India region witnessed growth of its prime segments within the branded business, the company said in a release.
The company expects to continue with the momentum in the months ahead. Branded and OTC category contributed Rs 1,390.8 crore accounting for 43% of total sales during the quarter under review. Generics (including First-To-File) and others category recorded Rs 182.7 crore of sales for the September quarter.
The company also said that it believes it will soon get exclusivity for AstraZeneca's Nexium (used for treating symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease and other conditions involving excessive stomach acid) and will launch the product in the US once it receives approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Talking about the new drug Synrium, used for treating uncomplicated plasmodium falciparum malaria in adults, Sawhney said the drug has received approvals from the African markets. Ranbaxy is likely to export the drug in some of the African markets soon, he added. The drug has so far treated around one million patients in India since its launch in 2012.
In April this year, Ranbaxy had announced its merger with Sun Pharmaceutical Industries in an all-stock deal worth $3.2 billion. Post the announcement, Ranbaxy witnessed an exodus of staff.
Sawhney, commenting on the issue, said, "Every company witness some level of attrition at a normal basis. There is nothing unusual in this. We cannot link this attrition to the announced merger."
Ranjit Kapadia, senior VP – pharma, Centrum Broking said, "The good set of numbers is largely backed by exclusivity advantage received by Valsartan. Even they are expecting the same for Nexium. India business has done relatively well."
Shares of the company, on BSE, closed at Rs 634.10 a piece, up 6.11% over the previous close. Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical also increased 4.31% to Rs 839.25.
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