Cipla Q4 Results: Profit Falls 12%; Misses Estimates
Cipla's Q4 profit fell 12% year-on-year to Rs 362 crore.
Cipla Ltd.'s quarterly profit fell, missing estimates.
The Mumbai-based drugmaker’s net profit fell 12% year-on-year to Rs 362 crore in the quarter ended March, according to its exchange filing. That compares with the Rs 591-crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg.
The net profit and operating income were impacted by elevated procurement and freight costs and also higher research and development expenses. There was also a one-time inventory write-off related to Covid products, the drugmaker's management said in a post-earnings call.
Cipla Q4 FY22 Highlights (YoY)
Revenue rose 15% to Rs 5,260 crore, against the estimated Rs 5,088 crore.
Ebitda fell 6% at Rs 750 crore, compared with the Rs 1,013-crore forecast.
Ebitda margin stood at 14.3% against 17.3%. Analysts had pegged the metric at 19.9%.
Its India business grew around 21% year-on-year with growth across branded prescription, trade generics, and consumer health. This figure adjusted for Covid-19 portfolio grew 15%.
The U.S. business grew 17%, led by strong traction in respiratory assets as well as contribution from peptide assets.
Overall, South Africa or SAGA region business, excluding animal health business, expanded 12%.
Business in other international markets, including emerging markets and Europe, rose around 8%. The filing said that the scale was supported by strong direct-to-market growth across geographies, offset by emerging market forex volatility and muted B2B demand in Europe.
Bulk drugs fell 39% year-on-year. This could be attributed to the higher Q4 FY21 base due to stock-up by customers and one-time profit share on an API supply.
Cipla crossed the $1 billion milestone in their domestic branded prescription business driven by the sustained growth across acute and chronic portfolio, Umang Vora, managing director and global chief executive officer at Cipla said in the exchange filing.
"We continue to respond to challenging input cost environment with cost optimization and mix management while maintaining high serviceability. We are excited about the upcoming complex launches in H2FY23 which will further strengthen overall business and profitability trajectory," he said.
Vora guided for a 21-22% Ebidta range (similar to FY22) for FY23 despite new launches, in the post-earnings call. This has been given keeping in mind cost increases of around 200-250 basis points that are likely to happen, he said.
FY22 Highlights (YoY)
Revenue rose 14% to Rs 21,763 crore.
Ebitda rose 7% at Rs 4,553 crore.
Ebitda margin stood at 20.9% against 22.2%.
After-tax profits were up 5% at Rs 2,517 crore.
India sales rose 27% to Rs 9,828 crore, contributing 45% to total sales.
U.S. business grew 8.3% to Rs 4,431 crore, comprising 20% of total revenue.
Overall, South Africa or SAGA region business, excluding animal health business, expanded 6.6%. Business in other international markets, including emerging markets and Europe, rose 1.2%.
SAGA contributed to 17% of the total revenue for the quarter, while international markets made up 13%.
Bulk drugs business, which makes up 3% of the total revenue, fell 5% over the preceding year.
The company continues to be net cash positive as on March 31.
Shares of Cipla closed 1.2% lower before the results were announced against the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex's 0.2% fall.