Zydus Cadila Q2 net up four-fold on surge in US sales, strong show at home

Firm prunes net debt by 40% since March 2020; consolidated income up 13%

On the back of an 18 per cent growth in its US sales and 11 per cent growth in its India business, Cadila Healthcare Ltd. (Zydus Cadila) registered a 341.60 per cent jump in its consolidated profit after tax (PAT) for the quarter ended September 30, 2020. The company grew its net profit for Q2 of FY21 to Rs 473.4 crore from Rs 107.2 crore in corresponding Q2 of previous fiscal year 2019-20.

The company's consolidated total income increased by 13.37 per cent to stand at Rs 3,847.5 crore in the July-September quarter this year as compared to Rs 3,393.5 crore in the said quarter last year. 

Strengthening its financial position, the company also reduced its net debt by as much as 40 per cent, or about Rs 2,709 crore in the first six months of FY21, from the figure reported in March 2020. The net debt as on September 30, stood at Rs 4,031 crore against Rs 6,740 crore as on March 31.

A front-runner in Covid-19 vaccine development, Zydus Cadila's adaptive phase-I/II clinical trials are underway for its lead vaccine candidate ZyCoV-D. "The plasmid DNA platform on which our vaccine is based also provides ease of manufacturing with minimal biosafety requirements (BSL-1). The platform is also known to show much improved vaccine stability and lower cold chain requirements making it easy for transportation to the remotest regions of the country," the company stated on Monday.

In terms of geographies and business segments, Cadila Healthcare posted an 11 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in its India business consisting of human health, consumer wellness and animal health, with sales of Rs 1,583 crore in Q2 of the current fiscal. 

The company stated that it had gained market share in gynaecology, pain management, anti-infectives, anti-diabetic and hormone portfolios during the quarter as compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. The animal health business in India saw a significant improvement in the performance during the quarter as the business posted a sales of Rs 161 crore during the quarter, with a growth of 20 per cent on a YoY basis. 

On the other hand, its US business saw a growth of 18 per cent on a YoY basis to stand at Rs 1709 crore during the quarter even as Cadila Healthcare launched six new products in the western market. During the quarter, the company received approval for 10 new products including two tentative approvals and filed five additional abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) with the USFDA. The company’s business in the emerging markets of Asia, Africa and Latin America grew by 12 per cent in constant currency.

Further, Cadila Healthcare received the final approval from the USFDA for its ANDAs for Liposomal Doxorubicin injection during Q2. With this, Zydus Cadila became the first generic company to perform whole array of product development-including the current stringent US FDA requirements, manufacturing, and commercialization through its own capabilities.

Zydus Cadila has launched Remdesivir injection in India and emerging markets at one of the most economical prices in recent times.

The company will also be completing the pre-clinical development on ZYIL 1, a small molecule NCE positioned for management of critically ill COVID 19 patients while the phase II clinical trials of Desidustat in the management of COVID 19 is underway at Mexico. The company has also completed Phase II clinical trials of Pegylated Interferon Alpha-2b in India for management of COVID 19.

Meanwhile, group company Zydus Wellness Ltd. reported a mere 4.54 per cent growth in its consolidated total income at Rs 344.80 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 as against Rs 329.98 crore for the said period last year. However, the company posted a loss after tax of Rs 105.34 crore in Q2 of FY21, up from Rs 12.02 crore in Q2 of FY20.