India's Zydus Life reports higher quarterly profit on new drug launches in US
May 20 (Reuters) - Indian drugmaker Zydus Lifesciences (ZYDU.NS), opens new tab reported a higher adjusted fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, driven by new drug launches in the U.S., its biggest market.
The company reported a 22% rise in its consolidated profit before exceptional items and tax to 18.92 billion rupees ($221.3 million) for the quarter ended March 31.
However, Zydus Life recorded an exceptional item worth 2.20 billion rupees due to an impairment charge tied to its Brazil business and the closure of operations at one of the facilities of its unit Zydus Wellness (ZYDS.NS), opens new tab.
Including the charge, its consolidated net profit fell 1% year-on-year.
Overall revenue climbed 18%, led by a 24% growth in U.S. sales and 13% jump in India sales.
Zydus Life, like most Indian generic drugmakers, derives a large chunk of its revenue from the U.S.
New drug launches, especially in the specialty portfolio, led to strong growth in U.S., Zydus Life said. It launched five new products during the quarter across therapy areas such as diabetes and anti-infectives.
Peer Alembic Pharma (ALEM.NS), opens new tab reported a higher quarterly profit, while larger rival Cipla (CIPL.NS), opens new tab and Dr Reddy's (REDY.NS), opens new tab beat profit estimates as they all benefited from strong domestic demand for their drugs.
PEER COMPARISON
* The mean of analysts' 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
JANUARY TO MARCH STOCK PERFORMANCE
-- All data from LSEG
-- $1 = 85.4960 Indian Rupees
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