Comments
Even as drugmaker Lupin posted a 59 per cent loss in its consolidated net profit for the three months ended June 30, its management is optimistic that the worst is over.
Lupin Managing Director Nilesh Gupta said the company's performance had “been below our own expectations on account of higher than anticipated price erosion in select products like Glumetza, disruption on account of GST implementation in India and appreciation in the rupee.” The company, however, expects to build on its complex generics and specialty pipeline including catching “the second wave” of opportunities in the biologics segment, he said.
Lupin’s net profit dipped to ₹358 crore in the period under review from ₹882 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous year. Its total revenues also dipped, to ₹3,869 crore (₹4,467 crore).
Commenting on the GST related disruption in the market, Nilesh said July had not made up for the setback of June.
However, he expects that shortfall to be bridged in a couple of months.
Lupin Chief Executive Vinita Gupta said the “more than expected pricing pressure” on Glumetza in the US market apart, companies are looking forward to opportunities being thrown up by the USFDA’s recently stated support for generic products.
The company’s plans to file about 35 products in the US annually include Oseltamivir or Tamiflu, that would be a huge opportunity, said Vinita Oseltamivir is a sought after drug to treat swine flu.
Ramesh Swaminathan, CFO, said the company's performance this quarter was hit by the impact of forex changes and difficulties in Japan, among other things. But these conditions have shown indications of improvement, he said, adding that the management believes the worst is over.
Global sales Lupin’s North America sales for the quarter under review stood at ₹1,601 crore (₹2,188 crore), accounting for 42 per cent of its global sales.
Its India formulations or finished medicine sales stood at ₹932 crore, down 1.8 per cent. This business accounted for 25 per cent of Lupin’s global sales.
The other key market for Lupin is Japan and its sales stood at ¥8,585 million during Q1 FY18, compared to ¥6,868 million in Q1 FY17.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.