Glenmark Pharma Q3 net nearly halves

Drugmaker Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd.'s quarterly profit nearly halved on heavy foreign exchange losses from overseas borrowings despite robust sales growth.

The company, which sells generic drugs and develops new molecules, said consolidated net profit fell to 461.18 million rupees in the fiscal third quarter ended December 31 from 865.25 million rupees a year earlier.

Analysts expected the company to post a net profit of 1.17 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data.

Glenmark's sales jumped 37.7 percent in October-December to 10.31 billion rupees from last year, it said.

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The drugmaker reported mark-to-market losses of 1.02 billion rupees incurred on dollar denominated loans, it said.

"Despite a challenging global environment, all our operating regions have registered double digit growth," Glenn Saldanha, chairman and managing director, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, said.

"The performance highlights the strength of our base business while we continue to make progress on our drug discovery pipeline."

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Glenmark said that its U.S. generic drugs business, a key performance indicator for Indian drugmakers, grew 56.3 percent in December quarter to 3.19 billion rupees.

Revenue from Europe jumped 48.35 percent to 664.14 million rupees, while India sales grew 11.3 percent to 2.55 billion rupees.

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Shares in Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, which have lost 8 percent in value in last six months, closed at 311.80 rupees on Monday, down 1 percent in a weak Mumbai market .BSESN.