Aurobindo Pharma Ltd, India's fourth-largest drugmaker by sales, said higher sales in the United States and emerging markets helped its fourth-quarter net profit grow 40 per cent, above estimates, sending shares up as much as 4 per cent.
Net profit for the January-March quarter rose to Rs 5.63 billion ($83.9 million) from Rs 4.03 billion a year earlier, Aurobindo said in a statement late on Monday. Analysts had forecast profit of Rs 5.55 billion, according to an average of nine estimates polled by Thomson Reuters.
The company's shares rose as much as 4 per cent to Rs 786.80 in early trade on Tuesday, while the broader market was down 0.15 per cent.
Sales in emerging markets and the United States, Aurobindo's largest market, were up about 25 per cent each, while Europe sales were up about 9 per cent, the company said.
Aurobindo has benefited over the past year from a spate of new drug approvals in the United States at a time when many of its peers are grappling with a slower approvals pace due to regulatory actions. Aurobindo, which gets about 85 percent of its sales from international markets, said it received US approval to sell 17 new products in the fourth quarter.
Separately, larger rival Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd reported fourth-quarter profit below estimates, and forecast lower-than-expected annual sales on Tuesday.
(Reuters)
