Lupin Ltd, the largest producer of anti-TB drugs with a market share of 44.6 per cent had shown a smart 17.5 per cent increase in net profit in Q2. The net sales grew by 23.3 per cent to Rs 298.53 crore during the same period. The company earned another income amounting Rs 3.39 crore which increased by 78 per cent over Rs 1.9 crore in the corresponding period of previous year. Though pretax profit of the company had recorded a sharper rise of 35.1 per cent at Rs 35.30 crore, the growth in net profit was lower as the effective tax rate spurted from 9.3 per cent to 18.2 per cent. Though the operating margin was more or less stagnant at 19 per cent, the net margin was down from 9.8 per cent to 9.3 per cent.

In the first half of the current financial year, the company realized a sales income amounting Rs 549.96 crore which showed an increase of 15.7 per cent over Rs 475.26 crore in the corresponding period of previous year. The company earned a profit before tax at Rs 61.93 crore which recorded a sharp rise of 41.3 per cent over Rs 43.83 crore in the previous year. Sustained revenues from exports to both advanced and other developing markets resulted in higher sales and operating profits during the half year. Reflecting a steep increase in effective rate of taxation from 9.2 per cent to 22.3 per cent, the net profit witnessed a lower rate of growth of 20.9 per cent to Rs 48.13 crore. There was an improvement in the operating margin during H1 mainly attributed to the excellent performance during Q1. The net margin also improved to 8.8 per cent from 8.4 per cent. The EPS (not annualized) works out higher at Rs 11.9 as compared to Rs 9.74 in the corresponding period of previous year.

The company is a leading manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients which include rifampicin, ethambutol (anti-TB), cefotaxime, cephalaxin, cefaclor, cefuroxime, axetil, cephalosporin and lisinopril. The company has also established in phytomedicines ie, medicines from plant and herbal resources. The company's popular brands of formulations are AKT-4, CZ3, Odoxil, Aptivate, Cetil and Lipril. Nearly 68 per cent of its income is realized from domestic and the balance from exports spread over 50 countries. API sales to non-regulated markets for the half-year ended September 2002 grew by 26 per cent to Rs. 256.6 crore (Rs 204 crore). Exports sales increased by 40 per cent at Rs. 120.4 crore (Rs 85.9 crore) while in the domestic market, sales improved by 15 per cent to Rs. 136.2crore (Rs. 118.2 crore). For the quarter under review, domestic formulations sales were at Rs. 125.6 crore (Rs. 122.3 crore), a growth of three per cent, despite DPCO imposed price cuts and a relatively flat domestic market growth.

In the second quarter, as part of its continuing effort to introduce its own generic finished products, Lupin has filed an ANDA with the USFDA for Cefuroxime Axetil tablets 250 mg and 500 mg (patent expiry July 2003). Cefuroxime Axetil is a second generation cephalosporin with an estimated US market size of $360 mn (source: IMS Health 2002). This is Lupin's third ANDA filing in the current financial year. Recently, Lupin's alliance partner Apotex has received USFDA approval for Cefuroxime Axetil, (filed using Lupin's API) and also for Lisinopril. To date, Lupin has filed five ANDAs for finished products with a combined estimated US market size of $1.2 billion, which await approval.

New products launched in the last two years contributed 19 per cent to the trade formulations sales for the first half of the current financial year. As per ORG MAT September 2002, Lupin has registered a growth of 10.9 per cent, higher than the market growth of 10.5 per cent. At constant prices, Lupin's growth is at 15.8 per cent. Akurit 4 (Anti-TB Fixed Dose Combination) launched last year was the second most successful launch in the domestic market for the period September 2001 to August 2002. Similarly, Rablet (API - Rabeprazole) an anti-peptic ulcerant, launched in the last quarter of FY2001-02, has received a good response from the medical fraternity and is now placed in the number one position.

in the second quarter under review, Lupin filed an INDA (Investigational New Drug Application) with the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for its therapeutic on the prophylactic treatment of migraine. The lead for this compound, code-named LLL 2011, is of botanical origin. Nearly 20 per cent of the population worldwide is affected by migraine, which translates into a market size of $2 billion.