Monday 13 February 2017

Sun Pharma Q3 profit seen up 27%; US & India biz may grow 10%

Drug major Sun Pharma   's third quarter profit is seen rising 27.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,804.6 crore, aided by operational performance.
According to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18, revenue during the quarter may increase 11.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 7,905.3 crore, driven by Sun's authorised generic (AG) launches of Daichi Sankyo drugs in US. Blood pressure drug Benicar, Benicar HCT, Azor and Tribenzor are the AG launches of Daiichi. Market size of these drugs is USD 2.5 billion. Analysts say AG sales will offset price erosion that Sun Pharma will face in cancer drug Gleevec generic. Gleevec generic sales are expected to fall around 30 percent QoQ to USD 45 million. Hence, US is likely to grow 10-11 percent YoY but may decline sequentially. Analysts say India business is likely to grow around 9-10 percent YoY due to favourable base. Slowdown due to demonetisation will be closely watched. Rest of the World markets are likely to grow around 2-3 percent YoY and emerging markets over 20 percent in the quarter gone by. Operating profit is seen rising 21.1 percent to Rs 2,628 crore and margin may expand 260 basis points to 33.2 percent compared with year-ago quarter. Pricing pressure in US may impact margin. Commentary will be closely watched on Halol plant, Mohali plant and US markets.