Indian drugmaker Mankind posts strong quarterly profit on demand for chronic therapies

May 19 (Reuters) – India’s Mankind Pharma reported a 30% rise in fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, driven by demand for chronic therapies and consumer healthcare products.

• The drugmaker’s consolidated net profit from continued operations climbed to 5.54 billion rupees ($57.39 million) for the quarter ended March 31, from 4.25 billion rupees a year earlier.

• Revenue from operations rose about 12% to 34.43 billion rupees.

• Motilal Oswal said Mankind Pharma’s domestic formulations business is in “revival mode”, with growth of 11.5% in March outpacing the Indian pharmaceutical market’s 10.6% growth, led by strength in chronic therapies such as cardiac and anti-diabetes treatments.

• The brokerage added that Mankind’s recovery was helped by better sales execution after a reorganisation of its on-ground sales team, while its Bharat Serums and Vaccines acquisition has moved past initial integration challenges and is now delivering stronger growth.

• Peer Cipla last week posted a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit on a sharp decline in its U.S. business, while Dr Reddy’s reported an 86% profit slump, hit by pricing pressure and rising competition in the U.S. market.

 ($1 = 96.5325 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar and Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)