India’s Jubilant Pharmova posts surge in profit on demand for radiopharma medicines

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(Reuters) -India’s Jubilant Pharmova reported a surge in its fourth-quarter adjusted profit on Friday, driven by strong demand for its drugs with radioactive ingredients, used to treat cancer and other diseases.

The drugmaker’s consolidated profit before exceptional items and taxes rose 82% year-on-year to 2.09 billion rupees ($24.4 million) in the quarter ended March 31.

Its net profit was 1.54 billion rupees in the quarter, compared with a year-ago loss of 586 million rupees, which included a 1.69-billion-rupee impairment charge for closing a plant in the U.S.

Revenue rose 10% year-over-year to 19.29 billion rupees, lifted by a 9.5% jump in revenue from the radiopharma segment, which accounted for nearly 46% of the total revenue.

The drugmaker, which makes and supplies radiopharmaceuticals used to diagnose and treat cancer and other diseases such as hyperthyroidism and lung diseases, has a network of 52 radio-pharmacies in the United States.

This field is highly regulated and complex, thus limiting competition and benefiting companies such as Jubilant Pharmova, analysts said.

Revenue from contract manufacturing, the company’s second-biggest segment that makes sterile injectables, also jumped 33%. Revenue from its generics business, however, fell 22%. ($1 = 85.5930 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)