Pharmaceutical company Cipla recorded a consolidated net profit of Rs 525.65 crore for the January-March period, 45.3 percent higher than Rs 362.07 crore in the year-ago period.
With this, the drugmaker's net profit for the period lagged estimate of Rs 723.4 crore, as per a poll of brokerages conducted by Moneycontrol.
The bottomline missed estimates due to an one-time loss of Rs 182.2 crore on account of goodwill impairment for Cipla's Yemen operations.
Revenue also grew 9.1 percent on year to Rs 5,739.30 crore, from Rs 5,260.33 crore seen in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, Cipla said in an exchange filing. Notably, revenue was also largely in-line with the Street's verdict of Rs 5,744.42 crore.
Strong domestic market performance, along with the ramp-up in the sales of generic versions of Trokendi and Revlimid drugs, were the main driving forces behind the company's growth.
In addition, Cipla's operational performance also improved during the quarter as EBIDTA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) margin expanded to 20.5 percent in the fourth quarter 14.3 percent in the corresponding period last year. The improved operating metric is primarily driven by better product mix.
The company anticipates a 23-24 percent EBIDTA margin for the upcoming fiscal year. Additionally, the management expects to obtain classification for its Pithampur unit in Indore by later this month.
For context, the US Food and Drug Administration had issued a Form 483 with eight observations to the drugmaker's Pithampur unit during the fourth quarter. T This unit holds significance as the company plans to manufacture Advair, a key generic for the US market, at this site. Consequently, the regulatory snag will cause a delay in the drug's launch.
On that front, the management also clarified that a reinspection of the facility is likely to occur in the third quarter. If the outcome is negative, the company plans to file Advair from another foreign site, necessitating another round of inspection.
"Also, as an attempt to de-risk getting stuck in regulatory snags, Cipla will be filing major launches, from two different manufacturing sites," the management stated in its earnings call.
For FY23, the drugmaker's revenue was up 4.5 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of Rs 22,753.12 crore, from FY22's Rs 21,763.34 crore.
Consolidated net profit for FY23 registered double-digit growth of 11.2 percent to Rs 2,801.91 crore as against Rs 2,516.75 crore in FY22.
On top of that, Cipla's board also approved a dividend payout of Rs 8.50 per equity share.
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