Indian drugmaker Sun Pharma posts Q1 profit beat on strong local sales

By Rishika Sadam and Kashish Tandon

HYDERABAD/BENGALURU (Reuters) - Sun Pharmaceutical, India's largest drugmaker by revenue, reported first-quarter profit above analysts' estimates on Thursday, helped by strong domestic sales.

The Mumbai-based company's net profit rose 40% to 28.36 billion rupees ($339 million) in the three months ended June 30, beating analysts' average estimate of 24.78 billion rupees, according to LSEG data.

Revenue, however, missed analysts' estimates as generic drugmakers continue to take the hit of lower pricing of drugs in the competitive U.S. market.

"PAT (profit after tax) beat consensus led by higher gross margin and lower R&D spends. Strong India and steady emerging markets partly compensated for weak U.S. and ROW (rest of the world) markets," Shrikant Akolkar, an analyst at Nuvama Institutional Equities said.

Total revenue rose 6% to 126.53 billion rupees but below the estimate of 128.58 billion rupees, as per LSEG data, while sales in the United States rose just 0.5% to 38.85 billion rupees.

Most of India's generic drugmakers derive a significant share of revenue from the United States, where lower drug prices amid stiff competition have been weighing on companies' margins.

Global Specialty sales, which includes the popular medication Ilumya for treating the chronic skin condition Plaque Psoriasis, rose 14.7% to 266 million rupees. The segment contributed to 18% of total sales in fiscal 2024.

Sales in India, their largest segment by region, rose 16.4% to 41.45 billion rupees.

Rivals Cipla and Reddy's first-quarter profit also beat Street view.

Shares of Sun Pharma turned volatile after results and ended flat.

($1 = 83.7040 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Rishika Sadam and Kashish Tandon; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Eileen Soreng)