India's Gland Pharma posts Q3 profit fall on soaring employee costs

Gland Pharma

14/02/2024 11:34

BENGALURU, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Indian generic injectables
maker Gland Pharma  GLAD.NS  reported a 17% fall in
third-quarter profit on Wednesday, as higher employee expenses
eclipsed strong sales in its core markets.
    The company, majority owned by China's Shanghai Fosun
Pharmaceutical Group  600196.SS , said its consolidated net
profit fell to 1.92 billion rupees ($23 million) in the quarter,
from 2.32 billion rupees a year earlier.
    Gland Pharma's total expenses jumped nearly 89% to 12.99
billion rupees, dragged by a more than three-fold climb in its
employee benefits costs.
    This more than offset a 65% rise in its revenue from
operations to 15.45 billion rupees, which was driven by higher
sales after the acquisition of the French pharmaceutical group
Cenexi in January 2023. Excluding Cenexi, revenue rose 17% to
11.01 billion rupees.
    India's generic drugmakers continue to benefit from new
product launches and easing price competition in the United
States, from where they generate a majority of their revenue.
    Cipla  CIPL.NS , Dr Reddy's  REDY.NS  and Sun Pharma
 SUN.NS  also beat their third-quarter profit estimates on
strong U.S. sales.
    Gland Pharma's U.S. sales climbed 41% to 8.22 billion rupees
in the quarter, while sales in Europe shot up 435% to 3.25
billion rupees. The two regions contributed 74% of total
revenue.
    Sales in the Hyderabad-based company's other core markets,
such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, also more than
doubled to 382 million rupees.
 
 ($1 = 83.0234 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio
D'Souza)
 ((Kashish.Tandon@thomsonreuters.com;))