Nov 3 (Reuters) - India's Gland Pharma GLAD.NS reported a 12% rise in second-quarter profit on Monday, as recovery at its European unit Cenexi bolstered margins.
The consolidated net profit rose to 1.84 billion rupees (nearly $21 million) for the quarter ended September 30 from 1.64 billion rupees a year earlier.
Revenue from operations rose 5.8% to 14.87 billion rupees.
U.S. sales, which make up more than half of the total, climbed 10%, while European business posted a 16% rise.
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KEY CONTEXT
Indian generic drug makers, including Gland, derive a significant share of revenue from the United States, and have faced pricing pressure in the market following the imposition of hefty U.S. tariffs on goods from India.
Rivals Cipla CIPL.NS and Dr Reddy's REDY.NS reported subdued sales in the region during the quarter.
However, a revival at Gland Pharma's Cenexi unit in France drove margins higher, the company said. The drugmaker had been grappling with production setbacks at Cenexi's Paris and Belgium units throughout last year.
The company's margins on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, adjusted for employee benefits expenses, improved to 23% in the September quarter from 21% a year earlier.
PEER COMPARISON
Estimates (next 12 months)
Analysts' sentiment
RIC
PE
EV/EBITDA
Revenue growth (%)
Profit growth (%)
Mean rating*
No. of analysts
Stock to price target**
Div yield (%)
Gland Pharma
GLAD.NS
28.27
16.12
10.26
30.16
Hold
13
0.95
0.93
Cipla
CIPL.NS
24.04
15.50
7.48
-0.13
Buy
37
0.89
0.87
Dr Reddy's Laboratories
REDY.NS
20.36
12.44
2.87
-9.82
Hold
39
0.91
0.67
Zydus Lifesciences
ZYDU.NS
22.72
14.68
6.04
-6.91
Hold
26
0.94
1.13
* The mean of analyst ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell
** The ratio of the stock's last close to analysts' mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT
JULY TO SEPTEMBER STOCK PERFORMANCE
-- All data from LSEG
-- $1 = 87.8950 Indian rupees
Gland Pharma Q2 stock performance vs peers https://reut.rs/47lS311
(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng)
((Kashish.Tandon@thomsonreuters.com; 8800437922;))