Dr Reddy's Laboratories register 77 per cent growth in profit

"Looking ahead, our priority will be to resolve pending regulatory issues, and continue to work on execution and cost structures that will enable affordable medicines for more patients," Prasad said.

Backed by better business mix and foreign exchange gains among others, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd registered 77 per cent growth in profit after tax for the quarter ended September 30 to nearly Rs 504 crore against Rs 285 crore in the second quarter of FY18, a senior company official said Friday. President, CFO and Global Head of HR of Dr Reddy's, Saumen Chakraborty told reporters that consolidated revenue of the company was up by seven per cent to Rs 3,798 crore in the May-September quarter this year against Rs 3,546 crore for the same period year ago.

"There are multiple reasons for the growth in the profit. One is a better business mix. And then the product mix has also played a big role.. Year-on-year improvement (of gross margins) primarily aided by a contribution from new launches, improved leverage, better product mix coupled with the favourable foreign exchange. This was partially offset by higher price erosions due to increased competitive intensity in some of our key molecules in the US," Chakraborty said.

According to him, there was a gain of Rs 46.4 crore on account of sale of rights relating to Cloderm brand (including its authorized generic) and profit on the sale of an antibiotic manufacturing facility in Bristol, USA. Commenting on the results, Co-chairman and CEO, G V Prasad in a statement said continuous focus on execution, operational efficiency and cost optimization are showing results.

"Looking ahead, our priority will be to resolve pending regulatory issues, and continue to work on execution and cost structures that will enable affordable medicines for more patients," Prasad said. Revenues from Global Generics segment in the Q2 was reported at Rs 3050 crore a year-on-year growth of 7 per cent over the same quarter last year, primarily driven by contributions from Emerging Markets, India and favourable forex. Revenues from Pharmaceutical Services and Active Ingredients was at Rs 600 crore in the second quarter with seven per cent growth over the Q2 of FY18. To a query, Chakraborty said the US Food and Drug Administration audit is currently going on in their facility at Duvvada in Andhra Pradesh. Revenues from Emerging Markets stood at Rs 750 crore with 36 per cent year-on-year growth primarily on account of improved volume off-take in the existing markets and scale up in new markets, he noted.

Revenues from India has shown eight per cent growth to Rs 690 crore while Europe sales declined by 21 per cent to Rs 190 crore in the Q2, primarily on account of higher price erosion in some of the key molecules, he added. As of September 30, cumulatively 113 generic filings are pending for approval with the USFDA including three New Drug Applications. Of the total Abbreviated New Drug Applications ( ANDA), 63 are Para IV filings and out of which the company believes 32 have 'First to File' status. The company spent Rs 371 crore on capex so far and is expected to invest Rs 800 to Rs 1000 crore for the full year.