The leading 30 pharmaceutical companies in India achieved satisfactory growth in top line as well as bottom line during the first quarter ended June 2010 despite stiff competition and stringent approval norms in regulated markets. The net sales of these companies during the quarter moved up by 15.2 per cent to Rs 15,801 crore from Rs 13,713 crore in the corresponding period of last year. Their net profit after adjustments went up by 34 per cent to Rs 2,446 crore from Rs 1,826 crore. Based on these figures, the Indian pharmaceutical segment is likely to maintain momentum in the remaining part of the 2010-11 with investment in expansion and aggressive entry in to new markets with new products.

We have selected only those companies having year ended in March and net sales above Rs 125 crore during the first quarter ended June 2010. Thus, we have not included few important companies like Ranbaxy Laboratories, Wockhardt, GlaxoSmithKline Pharma, Strides Arcolab, Plethico Pharmaceutical, Aventis Pharma, Pfizer, Abbott India, etc. as the accounting year of these companies ends during June-December.

Among the 30 companies, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Surya Pharmaceuticals, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Lupin, Cadila Healthcare, Panacea Biotec, Torrent Pharma, Biocon, Opto Circuits, Divi's Laboratories, and Twilight Litaka Pharma achieved impressive growth during the first quarter ended June 2010. However, the net sales of Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Orchid Chemicals, Dishman Pharmaceutical, and Nectar Lifesciences, declined by 7.5 per cent, 0.8 per cent and 11.3 per cent respectively. Dr Reddy's Labs maintained its leadership position with net sales of Rs 1,683 crore as compared to Rs 1,818 crore in the last period. The net sales of few other important companies like Cipla, Jubilant Oroganosys, Aurobindo Pharma, Piramal Healthcare increased only by single digit during the first quarter of FY11.

The net sales of Sun Pharma and Surya Pharmaceutical went up sharply by 77.7 per cent and 72 per cent respectively. Sun Pharma's net sales touched to Rs 1,400 crore during the first quarter of 2010-11 from Rs 788 crore in the corresponding period of last year and that of Surya Pharma's net sales reached at Rs 358 crore as against Rs 208 crore. This was followed by Twilight Litaka Pharma with net sales growth of 46.2 per cent to Rs 151.85 crore from Rs 103.85 crore in the similar period of last year. Panacea Biotec also registered handsome gain of 43.3 per cent in net sales which amounted to Rs 253.90 crore as against Rs 177.21 crore.

While commenting on performance Dilip Shanghvi, chairman and managing director Sun Pharmaceuticals, said “Business has performed reasonably well, with growth coming from all business segments and in line with our expectations and guidance. While the high margin achieved this quarter is resulting from a one-time sale achieved in the US and hence will not repeat, the core strategy of building a consistent and sustainable business remains unchanged. This will enable us in enhancing our presence across markets with rapidly emerging and profitable generic opportunities.

The net profit of Sun Pharma, Glenmark Pharma, Torrent Pharma and Panacea Biotec went up sharply by over 100 per cent during the quarter. Sun Pharma's net profit has taken a jump of 244 per cent to Rs 564.32 crore from Rs 163.84 crore and Torrent Pharma's net jump by over 390 per cent to Rs 74.22 crore from Rs 15.12 crore. Panacea Biotec recorded net profit growth of 150 per cent and its net touched to Rs 32.55 crore as compared to Rs 13.03 crore.

Glenn Saldanha, CEO & MD, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, mentioned “The first quarter has been very encouraging for the organization with India, the US generics and the API business recording good sales growth. The out-licensing deal with sanofi-aventis for GRC 15300 reaffirmed our commitment to cutting-edge work in the area of discovery. On the US generics side we are encouraged by the number of ANDA approvals recently received.

The net profit of Dr Reddy's Labs declined by 14.3 per cent to Rs 209.55 crore from Rs 244.47 crore and that of Ipca Laboratories moved down by 22 per cent to Rs 38.84 crore from Rs 49.77 crore. Similarly, the net profit of Jubilant Organosys and Aurobindo Pharma declined sharply by over 50 per cent to Rs 62.73 crore and Rs 51.50 crore respectively. Similarly, net profit of Piramal Healthcare, Ankur Drugs and Pharma, Dishman Pharma, Nectar Lifesciences, FDC and Novartis declined during the quarter under review. Shasun Chemical incurred a net loss of Rs 5.76 crore as against a small net profit of Rs 0.45 crore. Orchid Chemical turned the corner and recorded net profit of Rs 21.61 crore as against a net loss of Rs 29.76 crore. Alembic also posted profit as compared to loss in the last period. Cipla's total exports went up by 11.4 per cent to Rs 765.88 crore from Rs 687.57 crore.

Cipla's formulations exports improved by 14.4 per cent. However, APIs exports declined marginally to Rs 140.16 crore from Rs 140.41 crore. DRL's revenues from North America sink by 35 per cent to Rs 3900 crore from Rs 6000 crore in the corresponding period of last year. Similarly, its revenues in Europe declined by almost 10 per cent to Rs 1900 crore from Rs 2100 crore. DRL received major setback in Germany as its revenues declined by 18 per cent to Rs 1300 crore. However, its sales in rest of the Europe grew by 29 per cent to Rs 2600 crore. Its sales in Russia and other CIS markets went up by 36.8 per cent to Rs 2600 crore from Rs 1900 crore. IPCA's export sales of formulations increased by 29 per cent to Rs 122.03 crore and exports of APIs increased by 10 per cent to Rs 88.29 crore.

Lupin sales in the international market increased by 23.7 per cent to Rs 861.93 crore from RS 697.04 crore. Its formulations sales in US and Europe grew by 40 per cent to Rs 496.60 crore from Rs 355.10 crore in the similar last period. The brand business in the USA increased by 51 per cent and generics business grew by 45 per cent. Lupin's subsidiary, Kyowa Pharmaceuticals continued to post strong growth in the Japanese Market clocking net sales of Rs 129.9 crore and contributed 10 per cent to Lupin's consolidated revenues. The sales in South Africa went up by 33 per cent to Rs 39.90 crore. APIs sales touched to Rs 187.60 crore as against RS 175.20 crore, a growth of 7 per cent.

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