Cadila Healthcare Q3 lags f'cats, shares fall

Drugmaker Cadila Healthcare Ltd's quarterly net profit fell 8 percent despite substantial sales growth as interest and finance costs tripled due to the rupee's sharp losses.

The drugmaker, which makes generic molecules and manufactures drugs in partnership with global companies, said consolidated net profit fell to 1.49 billion rupees in October-December from 1.62 billion rupees a year earlier.

Interest and finance charges tripled to 593.5 million rupees as the rupee fell 7.7 percent versus the U.S. dollar in the fiscal third quarter ended December 31., it said.

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Analysts estimated a profit of 1.61 billion rupees on sales of 13.31 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales rose 19 percent from a year earlier to 13.52 billion rupees buoyed by strong growth in the North American market.

"The sales numbers are slightly ahead of estimates," Siddhant Khandekar, analyst at ICICI Direct, said.

"...with the kind of product launches lined up, especially in the U.S., we see better sales growth for the company in future," he said.

ICICI Direct maintains a 'buy' rating for the stock, Khandekar said.

The company's North America sales, a key parameter for growth, rose 45 percent in December quarter from a year earlier.

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Cadila's peer Lupin Ltd's branded formulations sales in North America grew 32.4 percent in December quarter, while Glenmark Pharmaceuticals reported a 56.3 percent growth in the region.

Cadila's India sales grew 18 percent, which lagged Lupin's business growth of 29.8 percent but ahead of Glenmark's performance of 11.3 percent in the same quarter.

Valued at $2.84 billion, shares in Cadila Healthcare fell 2.84 percent to 655.20 rupees by 0853 GMT.