Sun Pharma Q3 PAT doubles to Rs 1,852 cr, rides on record quarterly revenue

The company has repaid debt of about $490 million in 9MFY21; filings for 90 ANDAs await US FDA approval

Sun Pharmaceuticals posted a 9.2 percent year on year rise in consolidated sales from operations in the December quarter to Rs 8,782 crore, the highest ever quarterly sales posted by the company, while its net profit grew by 102.8 per cent to Rs 1,852 crore. 

The India sales grew by 9.4 per cent to Rs 2,753 crore while the US finished dosage sales came in at $374 mn, up 7 per cent YoY. The Ebitda was up 36.3 per cent over last year same period to Rs 2,351 crore with a resulting Ebitda margin of 26.8 per cent. 

Asserting that the market is gradually recovering from the impact of the global pandemic Dilip Shanghvi, Managing Director, Sun Pharmaceuticals, pointed out, “Most of our businesses have done well over Q3 last year. Our global specialty sales have continued to show an improving trend and have crossed pre-Covid levels. Global Ilumya sales for nine months ended December 2020 have already crossed last full year’s sales.”

He added that for the December quarter the global specialty revenues were at $148 mn across markets. 

Branded formulations business in India, which accounts for 31 per cent of total sales, grew by 9.4 per cent to Rs 2,753 crore. Sun Pharma holds an 8.2 per cent market share in the Rs 1.45 trillion Indian pharma market and the company launched 27 new products in the December quarter. Kirti Ganorkar, head of India business, Sun Pharmaceuticals said that the growth in acute has started. It is still lagging due to lower patient footfall in the doctor clinics. The footfall is not yet normalised and is around 70-72 per cent of pre-Covid levels. 

As for the US business, including Taro, the sales were up 7 per cent YoY. US is a major market for Sun Pharma accounting for about 31 per cent of its consolidated sales. For a nine-month period, the US sales showed a decline of 11 per cent as previous year's numbers included a one-time contribution from special business. 

Taro posted a 5.1 per cent decline in sales in the December quarter to $140 mn while its net profit was down by 51.2 per cent to $33 million. For the nine month period, sales were $401 million, down by 14.7 per cent over nine month last year. Excluding the one-time settlement charge of $478.9 million, adjusted net profit for 9mFY21 was $107 million compared to $190 million in 9mFY20. Taro’s reported net loss for 9MFY21 was $357 million. 

R&D investments at Rs 560 crore was around 6.4 per cent of sales compared to Rs 527 crore or 6.6 per cent of sales for Q3FY20. Specialty R&D accounted for 27 per cent of the total R&D spend during the quarter. 

The company has repaid debt of about $490 million in 9MFY21. There was a forex gain of Rs 72 crore during the quarter as against a forex loss of about Rs 116 crore in Q2. 

Emerging markets clocked a 4.7 per cent growth in December quarter. 

For Q3FY21, external sales of API were at Rs 450 crore, down 10.5 per cent over Q3 last year. "Our API business imparts benefits of vertical integration and continuity of supply chain for our formulations business. We continue to focus on increasing API supply for captive consumption for key products," Sun Pharma said in the statement. 

Consolidated R&D investment for Q3FY21 was Rs 560 crore, or 6.4 per cent of sales as compared to Rs 527 crore (6.6 per cent of sales) for Q3 last year. 

Filings for 90 ANDAs await US FDA approval, including 22 tentative approvals.