Aurobindo Pharma’s Q3 Profit Misses Estimates On One-Time Tax Charge

Revenue rose 11 percent to Rs 4,336 crore year-on-year, higher than the estimate of Rs 4,255 crore.

Arundhati Sarkar @arundhati_05

07 Feb 2018, 07:22 PM IST

An employee holds pills at a pharmaceutical lab. (Photographer: Sara Hylton/Bloomberg)

Aurobindo Pharma Ltd.’s profit rose marginally in the quarter ended December but fell short of analyst estimates due to a deferred tax liability.

Net profit rose nearly 3 percent to Rs 595 crore as compared to the same quarter last year, the drugmaker said in an exchange filing today. The bottom line missed the Bloomberg consensus estimate of Rs 660 crore as it incurred a deferred tax liability of Rs. 66.4 crore after the new tax regime in the U.S.

“Considering the one-off U.S. tax charge, the profitability is in-line with our expectations,” N Govindarajan, managing director at Aurobindo Pharma said in the press statement.

We continue to invest in enhancing our specialty and complex generics pipeline, for a sustainable growth...We continue to invest in enhancing our specialty and complex generics pipeline, for sustainable growth.

N Govindarajan, MD, Aurobindo Pharma

Revenue rose 11 percent to Rs 4,336 crore year-on-year, higher than the estimate of Rs 4,255 crore. Earnings before interest and tax rose 13.4 percent to Rs 1,032.8 crore quarter-on-quarter, but operating margin narrowed 50 basis points to 23.8 percent.

Other Highlights

U.S. formulation sales grew 9.4 percent to Rs 1,909.6 crore on an yearly basis.
Europe formulation sales jumped 37 percent to 1,171.6 crore year-on-year.
Anti-retroviral sales stood at Rs 238.9 crore.
The active pharmaceuticals ingredients business contributed 18 percent to the total revenue and posted a sales of Rs 765.7 crore.
Received final approval for 20 ANDAs (Abbreviated New Drug Application) and tentative approval for 2 ANDAs from the US drug regulator.

Return from the stock has declined 0.53 percent during the October-December period, compared to a 4.88 percent advance in the country’s benchmark index Nifty. Ahead of the earnings announcement, the company’s stock gained as much as 3.44 percent to Rs 616.75 on the BSE.