Strides Shasun, a Rs. 2,750 crore pharma major which de-merged API business and divested Indian branded generics business, has suffered a setback during the third quarter ended December 2017 and its consolidated net profit declined by 24.9 per cent to Rs. 40.30 crore from Rs. 53.67 crore in the corresponding period of last year. Its net sales improved marginally by 2.6 per cent to Rs. 749 crore from Rs. 730 crore. With lower net profit, EPS declined to Rs. 9.23 from Rs. 20.96 in the last period.

Its sales in regulated market increased by 16 per cent to Rs. 585 crore due to launch of new products in the US and solid growth in Australia. Regulated market now constitute 78 per cent of total revenues, compared to 62 per cent in the last period. It received approvals for 12 products including key products like Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate tablets, Acetazolamide tablets, Potassium Citrate Extended release tablets, Omega-3 Acid Ethyl Esters. softgel capsules, Cetriizine softgel capsules and Ibuprofen tablets among others. Around 30 ANDA filings are in the approval pipeline. In addition to the acquired portfolio from the Amneal acquisition, 23 new products have been launched in Australia. It received 13 approvals from TGA.

However, its revenues in emerging and institutional market declined sharply by 38 per cent to Rs. 168.8 crore from Rs. 271 crore due to timing of orders. in the institutional business, where tender awards have been won and orders. are expected to follow in the coming quarters. Emerging & institutional markets now constitute 22 per cent of total revenues compared to 38 per cent in the last year. Its API sales reached at Rs. 191 crore. It launched new products in Japan during third quarter.

Strides divested the Indian branded generics business for a total consideration of Rs. 500 crore of which Rs. 400 crore were used to pare debt. The demerged commodity API business has a net asset base of Rs. 220 crore and a net debt of Rs. 456 crore. The company, through its Singapore based subsidiary, acquired 55 per cent stake in Trinity Pharma Proprietary Ltd, South Africa for ZAR 55 million.

Shashank Sinha, managing director, said “Topline in the US and Australia is growing ahead of industry and peers, driven by the strength of our base portfolio and new product momentum. Our strategy to focus on regulated markets is delivering margin expansion and sustained earnings growth despite pricing challenges and drop in the institutional business.”

Its R&D expenditure increased by 11 per cent to Rs. 42 crore during the December quarter. It filed 12 ANDAs and the company is on track to ramp up its filing momentum to 15-20 applications for the fiscal year.  Total it filed 74 ANDA with US FDA of which 44 have been approved and 30 are pending.

For the nine months ended December 2017, Strides' consolidated revenue improved by 4.7 per cent to Rs. 2,176 crore from Rs. 2,079 crore in the same period of last year. However, its net profit declined sharply by 67 per cent to Rs. 56.39 crore from Rs. 170.92 crore.