Ajanta Pharma has posted strong growth in net profit during the second quarter ended September 2016. Its consolidated net profit increased by 26.3 per cent to Rs. 130.66 crore from Rs. 103.44 crore and its gross sales increased by 14.6 per cent to Rs. 502.38 crore from Rs. 438.50 crore. With strong growth in net profit, EPS moved up to Rs. 14.85 from Rs. 11.76 in the last period.
The Board of Directors has declared interim equity dividend of Rs. 6 per share of Rs. 2 each, which worked out to 300 per cent. Despite strong growth in bottom line and announcement of interim dividend, Ajanta scrip declined by Rs. 47.4 on BSE to Rs. 1946.50 in the afternoon session.
Its Indian branded sales (excluding institution) improved by 21 per cent to Rs. 154 crore and its international sales increased by 13 per cent to Rs. 344 crore. Its sales in Africa remained almost same at Rs. 175 crore, but that in Asia declined by 21 per cent to Rs. 98 crore. The de-growth in Asia was due to currency devaluations and forex scarcity in select geographies, which continue to pose challenges. US sales improved significantly to Rs 71 crore. R&D expenditure increased by 42 per cent to Rs. 37 crore from Rs. 26 crore. It received US FDA approval for 4 ANDAs and it commercialised 3 products during the quarter under review. So far, Ajanta received final approval for 15 ANDAs and tentative approval for 2 ANDAs. Another 12 awaiting approval with US FDA. The company target to file 8-12 ANDAs per year with US FDA.
Yogesh Agrawal, managing director, said, “We are pleased with yet another quarter of healthy growth. Our India business continues to post robust growth across various specialities we operate in displaying above industry growth rates. With the foreign currency volatility and scarcity, emerging markets continue to face head wind which is reflected in this quarter's results. However we are excited with he robust performance in US during the quarter which was backed on successful launches of number of products. With some more launches in pipeline, we are optimistic of the US market performance for rest of the year.”
For the first half ended September 2016, Ajanta's consolidated sales increased by Rs. 961 crore from Rs. 828 crore in the similar period of last year. Its net profit went up by 32.1 per cent to Rs. 250 crore from Rs. 189 crore. EPS worked out to Rs. 28.43 as compared to Rs. 21.53 in the last period.