Mumbai: Despite higher sales, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd’s consolidated net profit fell 4.7% year-on-year in the quarter ended December due to a sharp increase in tax expense.

India’s largest pharmaceutical company reported a net profit of Rs1,471.82 crore for the quarter against Rs1,544.85 crore a year ago, missing analysts’ estimates. Sales were up 8.4% at Rs7,683.24 crore, as against Rs7,087.07 crore in the year-ago period.

A Bloomberg poll of 24 brokerages had estimated the company’s net profit at Rs1,782 crore.

Tax expense for the December quarter jumped four-fold to Rs372.92 crore from Rs88.82 crore in the same period last year.

Sun Pharma’s sales in the US, which accounted for 45% of the total sales, rose 4% on year to $507 million, benefitting from authorized generic sales of olmesartan and its combinations, the company said in its earnings statement.

The drug maker’s sales in India were up 5% at Rs1,969 crore, while sales in emerging markets grew 14% to $172 million in the quarter under review.

The company’s spending on research and development stood at Rs613 crore, which was 8% of sales. During the quarter, 8 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) were filed with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A total of 149 of its applications await US FDA’s approval.

Shares of Sun Pharma ended down 0.7% at Rs650.15 on Tuesday on the BSE, while benchmark Sensex index closed almost flat at 28339.31 points.

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