An analysis of the financial performance of six major listed companies in Gujarat viz., Cadila Healthcare, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Dishman Pharmaceutical, Alembic, Themis Medicare and Hester Pharma, shows these firms clocked net sales of Rs 2,790 crore during the first nine months ended December 2006 as against Rs 2295 crore in the corresponding period of last year, representing a growth of 21.5 per cent. Similarly, their net profit has taken a jump of 17 per cent to Rs 378 crore from Rs 323 crore in the last period. Cadila remained as leader in the Gujarat and investing large amounts in R&D for future growth.
Cadila Healthcare, the Ahmedabad based Rs 1875-crore pharma giant, achieved better performance during the year ended March 2007. The company's consolidated net profit increased by 53.4 per cent to Rs 233.8 crore from Rs 152.4 crore in the previous year. Its consolidated net sales went up by 235 per cent to Rs 1785.5 crore from Rs 1445.3 crore in the previous year. The Board of directors recommended equity dividend of Rs 4 per share. The dividend is on the increased capital of Rs 62.8 crore resulted from the bonus issue in the ratio of 1:1 in the last year.
The company's consolidated other income jumped to Rs 26.4 crore from Rs 3.6 crore in 2005-06. Further, it earned Rs 1.10 crore from exchange, largely due to foregin currency fluctuations. In the year 2005-06, the company has an exceptional item of Rs 11.5 crore as against nil in the 2006-07. All these factors assisted the growth in bottom line during 2006-07. The earnings per share worked out to Rs 18.62 as against Rs 12.13 in the previous year.
The top line growth was driven by 91 per cent growth in formulation exports, robust 31 per cent growth in API exports and 54 per cent growth in consumer business. The growth in exports was buoyed by 186 per cent growth in sales in the US markets, 103 per cent growth in the French market and 26 per cent growth in exports to other emerging markets.
The company made a foray in Japan, by setting up Zydus Pharma Inc. The company recently acquired 100 per cent stake in Nippon Universal Pharmaceutical, a company with a ready manufacturing, marketing and distribution base, which will enable it to jumpstart its business.
Torrent Pharmaceuticals, has achieved impressive growth in bottom line as well as top line during the quarter ended December 2006. Its consolidated net profit went up by 333 per cent to Rs 26 crore from Rs 6 crore in the corresponding period of last year. Its net sales increased by 22.3 per cent to Rs 334 crore from Rs 273 crore for the comparable period. All key business segments - India, Brazil, Heumann (Germany) and Russia contributed to top line growth. PBDIT for the third quarter nearly doubled to Rs 40 crore compared to Rs 21 crore mainly due to strong profitability from India and Brazil businesses.
Its consolidated international sales grew by 40 per cent for the period, from Rs 305 crore to Rs 427 crore. Torrent's Brazil business recorded a jump of 43 per cent in sales to clock Rs 133 crore during the period. Improved sales force productivity, while expansion in doctor coverage and increased territorial reach is expected to maintain the growth momentum in Brazil. Russian market including CIS countries delivered a noticeable performance with sales moving up from Rs 26 crore to Rs 39 crore, a growth of 49 per cent during the period.
Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals, a Rs 275-crore plus Ahmedabad based pharma company, has achieved better performance during the third quarter ended December 2006. It's consolidated net profit improved by 25.9 per cent to Rs 24.43 crore from Rs 19.40 crore in the corresponding period of last year. The company's net sales improved significantly by 180 per cent to Rs 173.62 crore from Rs 61.94 crore. The company's earnings per share touched to Rs 3.55 from Rs 2.82 in the last period.
For the nine months period ended December 2006, Dishman recorded consolidated net profit of Rs 59.83 crore as against Rs 42.41 crore in the similar period of last year, representing a growth of 41.1 per cent. Its net sales increased by 94.8 per cent to Rs 372.83 crore as compared to Rs 191.38 crore. The company's staff cost for the first nine months went up to Rs 45.90 crore from Rs 23.81 crore. Similarly, its interest burden increased to Rs 11.80 crore from Rs 4.20 crore and depreciation provision gone up to Rs 23.17 crore from Rs 7.66 crore. The profit before interest, depreciation and taxation worked out to Rs 104.73 crore as against Rs 56.67 crore, a growth of 84.8 per cent. The EPS for the nine months worked out to Rs 8.70 as compared to Rs 6.16.
The company has planned to invest Rs 75 crore in the existing API facility at Bavla in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The new expansion at Bavla will be commissioning in the third quarter of 2007.
"We are expanding our Bavla unit capacity to 180 ton per annum from 70 plus ton. As for the financial matter, we have arranged a loan of around US $12.5 million and the rest will be raised through internal accrual. We are already in long term supply agreement with the Solvay Pharmaceutical and we will continue to supply to them. Our Bavla manufacturing facility has built and operated according to the latest system of cGMP. The plant also satisfies the US FDA requirements ", a senior official in the company told to Pharmabiz.
Recently, the company has entered into a marketing Joint Venture (JV) with Azzurro Corporation, Japan. The company will hold 85 per cent of stake and Azzurro will have 15 per cent in this JV. The new company will be called Dishman Japan Ltd (DJL) and its office will be located in Tokyo.
The Baroda based Alembic Ltd has recorded a net profit of Rs 25.10 crore during the third quarter ended December 2006 as against Rs 23.91 crore in the corresponding period of last year, a marginal growth of 5 per cent only. This Rs 650 crore company's net sales improved by 8.8 per cent to Rs 185.80 crore from Rs 170.81 crore. The earnings per share slightly moved up to Rs 1.81 as compared to Rs 1.73 in the last period.
Its export earnings went up sharply by 34.5 per cent to Rs 37.54 crore from Rs 27.92 crore in the last period. The exports of formulation and bulk products increased by 84.5 per cent and 8 per cent respectively during the quarter under review. The formulation exports touched to Rs 17.79 crore and that of bulk drugs amounted to Rs 19.75 crore. The formulations sales contributed 77.8 per cent in total sales and bulk drugs 22.2 per cent during the quarter. The company reduced the R&D expenditure to Rs 1.37 crore as against Rs 3.16 crore in the last period.
The market capitalisation (m-cap) of six listed pharma companies viz., Cadila, Torrent Pharma, Dishman Pharma, Alembic, Themis Medicare and Hester Pharma from Gujarat declined to Rs 8342 crore on May 11, 2007 as compared to Rs 8976 crore as at the end 2006.