Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, a Rs.8,900 crore pharma major from Mumbai, has posted consolidated net profit growth of 23.5 per cent during the fourth quarter ended March 2017 to Rs.183.76 crore from Rs.148.80 crore in the corresponding period of last year. Its profit before tax provision declined sharply by 17.3 per cent to Rs.173 crore from Rs.209 crore as its interest cost went up sharply by almost 47 per cent to Rs.70 crore from Rs.47 crore. The company provided Rs.80.95 crore the for loss relating to investment and trade receivables from the its subsidiary in Venezuela. EPS worked out to Rs.6.51 as against Rs.5.27 in the last period.

Its net sales improved by 10.3 per cent to Rs.2,424 crore from Rs.2,199 crore. The company's sales of formulations in India improved by 6.9 per cent to Rs.576.93 crore from Rs.539.77 crore and its US sales moved up by 53.5 per cent to Rs.1,000 crore from Rs.652 crore in the similar quarter of last year. The US sales improved strongly mainly due to launch of Ezetimibe, the first and only generic version of Zetia (Merck) for the treatment of high cholesterol. The availability of Ezetimibe is the result of a licensing partnership with Par Pharmaceutical, an Endo International plc operating company. Glenmark and its partner, Endo will be entitled to 180 days of generic drug exclusivity for Ezetimibe.

Its revenue from Africa, Asia and CIS region, however, declined by 3.1 per cent to Rs.288.94 crore from Rs.298 crore. Similarly, its revenue in Europe also declined by 15.1 per cent to Rs.230 crore from Rs.271 crore in the same quarter of last year. The sales in Latin America and Caribbean also declined by 44.6 per cent to Rs.134 crore from Rs.242 crore. The sales of APIs declined by 10.4 per cent to Rs.200 crore from Rs.223 crore. The consolidated figures included working of 39 subsidiaries.

The board of directors has recommended equity dividend of 200 per cent for the year 2016-17. Glenmark scrip opened at Rs.813.95 as against its previous day's close of Rs.904.35 and further declined sharply by Rs.123.85 to Rs.780.50 in the morning session.

Glenn Saldanha, chairman & MD, said, “Our quarter performance was mainly driven by our US formulations business. In addition, our India business also managed to record growth despite various challenging factors in the market. During the quarter, we made significant progress on our R&D pipeline especially the respiratory assets. We reported positive results from a phase 3 trial of our molecule GSP 301 for seasonal allergic rhinitis; we received FDA clearance for an IND (Investigational New Drug) application to initiate a phase I study of our candidate GBR 1302 in patients with HER2+ cancers; and further, FDA also cleared our IND application to begin phase 2 study of GSP 304 for COPD.”

For the full year ended March 2017, Glenmark's consolidated net sales increased by 20.3 per cent to Rs.8,970 crore from Rs.7,458 crore in the previous year. Its net profit moved up by 49.2 per cent to Rs.1,109 crore from Rs.743 crore. As against the equity capital of Rs.28.22 crore, its reserves and surplus amounted to Rs.9,408 crore as against Rs.7,338 crore in the previous year.

Glennmark has a pipeline of 7 new molecular entities (NMEs), which includes 2 new chemical entities and 5 new biological entities, in various stages of clinical development focused in the therapeutic areas of oncology, respiratory and dermatology. It has also 3 specialty products in clinical development targeting key indications in the respiratory therapy area.