<div><strong>By CH Unnikrishnan</strong></div><div> </div><div>Drug maker Lupin Ltd on Tuesday (October 27) posted 35 per cent drop in net profit at Rs 408 crore during the July-September quarter as against Rs 630 crore a year ago. Its sales during the quarter at Rs 3178 crore grew just 2 per cent from the year-ago quarter's Rs 3116 crore. The slow growth was mainly on the back of less number of new launches in the US, the key revenue contributor to the company. </div><div> </div><div>Reacting to the lower than expected growth in quarter results, the share price of Lupin crashed 5.25 per cent to Rs 1,945.65 a unit on BSE on Tuesday. While, the bench mark index --Sensex was down only 0.40 per cent to 27253.44 points. </div><div> </div><div>“Slowdown in approvals in the US and a lack of material launches continued to dampen growth. We continue to invest in research and remain upbeat on the pace of approvals and launches to pick up by the fourth quarter,” said Lupin managing director Nilesh Gupta in Tuesday statement. </div><div> </div><div>Lupin's direct costs on input material, manufacturing, work force and research was also high during the quarter compared to the previous corresponding quarter, the company said.</div><div> </div><div>The D B Gupta promoted drug maker's US and Europe formulation sales stood at Rs 1,270 crore during July-September quarter. These markets together contributed some 40 per cent of its overall sales in the quarter. While, sales from India grew by 9.4 per cent recording sales of Rs 873.8 crore for the quarter. Its another key market Japan also saw lower sales during the quarter at Rs 323.4 crore. </div><div> </div><div> "Lupin’s US revenues have disappointed with a 9 per cent decline due to lack of new product launches and pricing pressure in a few key drugs in the US market. But, we expect new product launches in the US to improve in the second half and beyond on account of approvals in the recent past," said Ravi Shenoy, a sector equity analyst with Motilal Oswal Securtities. </div>
