Pfizer's India arm posts profit jump on lower costs, price hikes

Pfizer

11/11/2022 11:38

BENGALURU, Nov 11 - Pfizer Ltd  PFIZ.NS , the Indian arm
of U.S. pharma giant Pfizer Inc  PFE.N , reported a rise in
second-quarter profit on Friday, boosted by price hikes and
lower input costs.
    Profit before tax and exceptional item rose to 2.26 billion
Indian rupees ($27.97 million) in the three months ended Sept.
30, from 1.75 billion rupees in the year-ago period.
    The company booked a one-time gain of 1.89 billion rupees on
the sale its off-patent and generic medicines business, Upjohn.
    Pfizer's revenue from operations rose 0.3% to 6.38 billion
rupees.
    Its cost of materials consumed fell 2.1% to 944 million
rupees, accounting for about 21% of total expenses in the
quarter.
    Though the volume of drug sales in India took a hit last
quarter, drugmakers benefited from price hikes and product
launch-led growth, BOB Capital Markets said in a recent note.
    The Indian pharma market grew 8.2% year-over-year in value
terms during July-September quarter, supported by higher revenue
from medicines treating chronic illnesses even though volumes
were flat, analysts at ICICI Securities said in a note.
    Pfizer's shares have fallen nearly 13% this year, while the
Nifty Pharma index  .NIPHARM  has shed about 9%.
    Earlier in the day, peer Zydus Lifesciences  ZYDU.NS 
reported an 82.6% slump in second-quarter profit, hit by rising
expenses. 
($1 = 80.7500 Indian rupees)
($1 = 80.7920 Indian rupees)
 (Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru; Editing by
Eileen Soreng)
 ((AshnaTeresa.Britto@thomsonreuters.com ; ( +91 8078332441))