Pharma major Sun Pharma on Tuesday reported a rise in consolidated net profit by 5% in Q3FY23 with specialty portfolio driving the company’s growth. The company’s net profit stood at Rs 2,160 crore in Q3FY23 as compared to Rs 2,059 crore in the year-ago period. At the same time, Sun Pharma’s US formulation sales stood at $422 million, with an increase by 6.3% yoy.
The company clocked global specialty sales at $235 million, including $12.5 million milestone received in Q3. Sun Pharma’s global specialty sales accounted for 16.5% of Q3FY23 overall sales, the company said in a statement.
In order to strengthen its specialty portfolio, Sun Pharma acquired US-based Concert Pharmaceuticals for $576 million earlier this month. The acquisition, the company said, would add a late-stage experimental drug (deuruxolitinib) to its offering in dermatology. Deuruxolitinib is used for treating alopecia areata, a skin disease causing patchy hair loss.
“Specialty is expected to continue as a key growth driver for Sun. We are investing to scale up this business, especially in our core therapy areas. Proposed Concert acquisition is a step forward in this direction,” Dilip Shanghvi, Managing Director of the company said.
“Concert’s lead asset, deuroxolitinib, has a potential best-in-class profile in alopecia areata, an area of dermatology with high unmet need. We are excited to offer this new treatment option to dematologists worldwide. Given our commercial strength, we would be well-positioned to bring this product to market,” he said.
Sun Pharma’s board of directors, at a meeting held on Tuesday, also declared an interim dividend of Rs 7.50 per share for FY23 against interim dividend of Rs 7 per share a year ago.
Consolidated R&D investment for Q3FY23 was at Rs 670.2 crore as compared to Rs 547.1 crore for Q3 last year. For the nine months, R&D expense was at Rs 1,702 crore as compared to Rs 1,676.1 crore for the year-ago period.
“Our R&D efforts span across both specialty and generic businesses and we continue to invest in building the pipeline for various markets including the US, Emerging Markets, rest of the world Markets and India. Our specialty R&D pipeline includes 4 molecules undergoing clinical trials,” Sun Pharma said in a statement.
The company recorded gross sales at Rs 32,553.3 crore, growth of 12.1% on an annual basis. Meanwhile, the company’s India formulation sales were at Rs 10,239 crore, up 6% yoy.
“The company reported strong performance across key markets, aided by 25 new product launches during the quarter in the Indian market. Specialty segment is expected to continue as a key growth driver for Sun Pharma and it is investing to scale up this business, especially in core therapy areas,” said Manish Chowdhury, Head of Research, Stoxbox, a broking firm.
“Further, the company will actively look for other new investment possibilities for growth across all the business segments in the coming years,” said Chowdhury.
Also Read: Stocks in news: Adani Enterprises, Sun Pharma, Vodafone Idea, BPCL, Tech Mahindra and more