Drug major Lupin today pulled off a 47.5 per cent growth in consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter ended March at Rs 807.1 crore, its best-ever quarterly show, driven by strong sales in the US, Europe, Japan and India.
Net profit read Rs 547 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal.
Net sales rose 34 per cent to Rs 4,091.3 crore for the quarter under review compared with Rs 3,054 crore a year earlier, the Mumbai-based drugmaker said in a statement. The turnover of above Rs 4,000 crore too is a record for the pharma company.
For 2015-16, the company registered a net profit of Rs 2,270.7 crore, down 5.5 per cent year on year, as the company invested around Rs 500 crore more in R&D activity during the year.
Net sales for the full year rose 8.7 per cent to Rs 13,701.6 crore, from Rs 12,599.7 crore a year ago.
"We have had a stellar quarter driven by robust growth across all key markets, be it the US, India or Japan. Record approvals and significant launches have enabled us to deliver the company's best results yet and we are back on the growth path," Lupin MD Nilesh Gupta said.
The company, which continues to ramp up its investments in research, is focused on building pipelines in niche high-value areas such as inhalation, biosimilars and complex injectables.
"Against the backdrop of our continued delivery on oral solids, this will drive our future growth globally," Gupta maintained.
Lupin Vice-Chairman Kamal K Sharma told PTI that the turnover and net profit during the fourth quarter are the best-ever for the company.
"The US market specifically contributed immensely in the fourth quarter. The launch of generic glumetza tablets with marketing exclusivity was one of the major factors as it is the only product available in that market in the generic space," Sharma said.
Elaborating, he said the company started picking up from the third quarter, the first two quarters being flat.
"During the first two quarters, there was delay in product approvals and there were no product launches. It impacted us. The situation started to improve from the third quarter onwards," Sharma said.
He added that the company invested more than Rs 500 crore more during the fiscal in development of various complex generics and clinical trials, which explains the drop of 5.5 per cent in net profit.
The stock closed at Rs 1,655.80 on BSE, up 1.43 per cent from its previous close.
The company said its US and Europe formulation sales
(including IP) grew by 57.6 per cent to Rs 2,312.5 crore during the fourth quarter compared with Rs 1,467 crore during the same period of 2014-15, contributing 57 per cent of the company's overall sales.
In the US market, the company sales grew by 54.3 per cent to USD 325 million, from USD 211 million during the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal.
The Mumbai-based company launched nine products in the US market during the quarter, taking the number of total launches to 21 products during 2015-16.
Lupin now has 124 products in the US market.
"We are investing for the future by putting in more money in R&D activities. So, we are set for a good growth in the time to come with new launches lined up in the US market and products from Gavis portfolio also making it to the market," Sharma said.
The company's revenue expenditure on R&D for the 2015-16 stood at Rs 1,603.8 crore as against Rs 1,098.8 crore in 2014-15.
Its sales in India rose 14.7 per cent to Rs 761.5 crore for the fourth quarter compared with Rs 663.7 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal.
In Japan, sales went up by 17 per cent to Rs 344.2 crore, from Rs 294.3 crore in January-March of 2014-15.
The company's board, which met today, approved a final dividend of 375 per cent, Rs 7.50 per share with a face value of Rs 2 each for the fiscal ended March 2016.
