Profit Rises, But Misses Estimates

Lupin Ltd.’s net profit rose in the quarter ended March, but missed analyst estimates.

The company reported a net profit of Rs 236 crore in the fourth quarter as against a net loss of Rs 518 crore in the year-ago period, according to an exchange filing. That compares with the Rs 307-crore consensus estimate of profit by analysts.

Sequentially, the profit rose 54%.

The board has recommended a dividend of Rs 4 per share.

“We were able to drive continued improvement in operating margins on account of improved growth in India, improvement of margins in the U.S. as well as growth in other areas like our API business, EMEA and APAC regions,” said Nilesh Gupta, managing director at Lupin.

The India business recorded a growth of over 15% per IQVIA, excluding diabetes, he said. In the U.S., they improved their margin for the third quarter in a row through maximising portfolio, optimising expenses and more-focused R&D investment into complex products.

“We are committed to sustaining this positive momentum into the new year and drive strong growth across our regions, in particular India and the U.S., aided by our recent sales force expansion and material new product launches, respectively,” Gupta said.

The company filed 10 abbreviated new drug applications in the U.S. this quarter, received seven approvals from the Food and Drug Administration and launched one new product.

Lupin continues to be the third largest pharmaceutical player in both the U.S. generic market and the U.S. total market by prescriptions, according to the IQVIA MAT March 2023, the company said. It is also the sixth largest in India.

Shares of Lupin closed 1.85% higher on Tuesday before the results were announced, as compared with a flat benchmark BSE Sensex.