Sun Pharma to discontinue non-strategic business units

Sun Pharma has also officially reported to the press that it expects its revenues and net profit to be adversely hit in the short term due to supply constraints at Halol facility in Gujarat and high expenses arising out of Ranbaxy integration as well as remedial actions.

Addressing the company's shareholders during the annual general meeting (AGM) on the weekend, Dilip Shanghvi said that in the near term and especially for 2015-16 fiscal, the company's overall growth in revenues and net profit will be adversely impacted due to temporary supply constraints at Halol plant.

The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) had pointed out certain current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) deviations at the company's Halol facility.

The company's profitability is also expected to be hit by certain expenses and charges arising out of Ranbaxy integration as well as remedial actions, he added.

"Post the consolidation in this fiscal, the company will be better placed to pursue higher than industry growth in subsequent years," Shanghvi said.

Shanghvi said the "remediation process at the erstwhile Ranbaxy facilities, which were found to be non-compliant in the past, also continues as per the plan".

While significant efforts to make these facilities compliant are on, this will be a time-consuming process, he added.

Currently, all the four manufacturing facilities of Ranbaxy - Mohali and Toansa in Punjab, Dewas in Madhya Pradesh and Paonta Sahib in Himachal Pradesh - have been banned by the USFDA from export of drugs to the US market.

While Paonta Sahib and Dewas facilities have been under US import alert since 2008, the US health regulator has since banned the other two as well.

The company is also in the process of implementig corrective steps at Halol facility.