Cipla beats Q1 profit view on robust demand
Hyderabad: Drugmaker, Cipla, has exceeded profit expectations for the first quarter of the fiscal year, driven by a significant increase in sales in its North American market. This strong performance has propelled Cipla's shares to an all-time high.
In its latest financial report, Cipla announced an 18.3% increase in consolidated net profit to 11.78 billion rupees ($140.8 million) for the quarter ending June 30. This figure surpasses analysts' predictions of 11.10 billion rupees, according to data from LSEG.
Cipla's shares jumped 6.7 per cent to a record high of 1,600 rupees after the results.
Sales in North America grew 13 per cent during the quarter, primarily driven by Cipla's respiratory drug Albuterol and cancer treatment drug Lanreotide.
"Cipla's rising market share for Lanreotide and Albuterol have led the U.S. revenue to beat our estimates," said Shrikant Akolkar, an analyst at Nuvama Institutional Equities.
Indian generics drugmakers have been benefitting from strong demand for their copycat versions of Bristol-Myers Squibb's blockbuster drug Revlimid since their launch in 2022, boosting sales in the U.S., a key market for domestic pharma companies.
Bristol Myers is now facing pressure from generic competition for Revlimid, once its top-selling drug.
According to PTI, revenue from India, Cipla's second-biggest market, rose 10 per cent to 28.98 billion rupees.
North America and India make up around three-fourths of the company's revenue.
Its overall revenue rose 7 per cent, but fell short of analysts' expectations of a nearly 8 per cent increase, mainly due to changes in the distribution model of its domestic trade generics business.
However, growth in Cipla's India business should return in the near term as the transition of its trade generics business to a new distribution model is now over, the company said.
Read also: IT Department sends Rs 773 crore demand notice to Cipla
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