Laurus Laboratories on October 20 reported an 84.1 percent year-on-year drop in consolidated net profit at Rs 37.12 crore in the July-September quarter of the current financial year, way lower than analysts estimate of Rs 127 crore.
The pharma firm had reported a profit of Rs 232.08 crore in the year-ago period.
Revenue came in at Rs 1,224 crore, down 22.3 percent from the Rs 1,575.89 crore in the year-ago quarter. A CNBC-TV18 poll of brokerages had pegged revenue at Rs 1,372 crore and net profit at Rs 127 crore.
The company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were at Rs 187 crore, down from Rs 448.9 crore in the year-ago period. The EBITDA margin was at 15.3 percent against 28.5 percent in the year-ago period.
The company approved an interim dividend of Rs 0.40 a share.
The company said that core growth rebounded on a healthy demand environment in API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) and FDF (Fixed Dosage Form) business."
The company reported an R&D expenditure of Rs 58 crore, which is 4.7 percent of the revenue. The higher spend was partly due to additional initiatives in the competitive generic therapies space.
“Q2 operating results started to improve and health of our businesses are intact,” founder and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Satyanarayana Chava said in a press statement.
Its API business improved sequentially, driven by the resumption of shipments in the non-anti retro-viral (ARV) segment but was down from the year-ago period.
The company reported a sharp rebound in the formulations business with a 16 percent growth QoQ following ARV offtake by global agencies and stable pricing.
The sales drivers for the year would be revenue expansion of base pipeline projects in CDMO and kick-off of animal health contract supplies in the second half of the year, the company said.
The completion of a large purchase order in FY 2023 is, however, expected to slow the growth in the company.
The pharma company's biologics business reported strong YoY growth in Q2 and H1 at 44 percent and 56 percent, led by traction in CDMO services along with customer addition.
“Our investments into transformative technology platforms are making good progress and future CDMO growth prospects are very encouraging. The recovery we saw in the quarter gives us confidence that we will have a better H2 resulting from both healthy order book and strong commercial execution,” Chava added.
The stock closed at Rs 400.20 on the NSE, up a percent from the previous close.
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