Higher sales in the US market pushed up the net profit of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, the largest Indian drug maker by market capitalisation, by 59 per cent to Rs 796 crore in the June quarter from Rs 501 crore a year ago.
Overall sales for the quarter grew 64 per cent to Rs 2,683 crore from Rs 1,637 crore in the last corresponding period. The company’s shares, however, fell 0.20 per cent on Friday to close at Rs 675.60 on BSE, while the benchmark Sensex closed flat at 17,557.74.
Meanwhile, Sun Pharma said it would spin off its domestic formulation business to its wholly-owned subsidiary, SunResins and Polymers Pvt Ltd, with effect from March 31, 2012.
In 2007, Sun had created a new entity, Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC), by hiving off its research and development activities. SPARC posted a net loss of Rs 18.32 crore for the April-June quarter against a net loss of Rs 11.26 crore a year earlier.
Sales of Sun Pharma in the US, accounting for 57 per cent of total sales, went up 105 per cent to Rs 1,575 crore in April-June. Sales of the US subsidiary Caraco increased 185 per cent in the quarter.
Branded generic sales in India, at Rs 588 crore, fell eight per cent on year-on-year basis, the company said.
The board has approved an interim dividend of Rs 4.25 per share.
Israel-based Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, in which Sun Pharma holds a controlling stake, posted the first quarter sales of Rs 879 crore, up 43 per cent from the corresponding quarter last year. Net profit stood at Rs 348 crore.
According to AIOCD-AWACS report, Sun Pharma holds 4.6 per cent market share in the Rs 65,300-crore Indian pharma market.
