Pharma major Dr Reddy’s Laboratories’ net profit increased manifold to ₹959 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2023 as against ₹88 crore in the same period last year. 

The total revenue of the Hyderabad-based company grew 16 per cent at ₹6,297 crore as against ₹5,436 crore. For the full year, the company’s net profit increased 18.3 per cent to ₹4,507 crore as against ₹2,356 crore while the revenue increased 15 per cent at ₹24,588 crore (₹21,438 crore).

“This year (FY23) has been a record year for us in terms of sales and profit driven by new product launches and good performance by all business segments,’‘ Parag Agarwal, Chief Financial Officer, Dr Reddy’s told newspersons on Wednesday. 

Global growth

During the year under review, revenue for the global generics segment grew 19 per cent over previous year driven by North America, Europe and India, while emerging markets remained flat.

The North America Generics business recorded YoY growth of 36 per cent. “The growth was contributed by new launches, scale up of existing products and favorable forex rates movement, which was partially offset by price erosion,’‘ the CFO said. Revenue from Europe grew by 6%.

“The sales in the domestic market registered 17 per cent growth primarily attributable to increase in prices of our existing products, along with additional revenues from the launch of new products,’‘ he said. The growth was also aided by divestment of a few non-core brands during the year. The drug maker launched 9 new brands in India.

FY23 revenue from Emerging Markets remained flat over the previous year. Revenue from Russia for the year at ₹21.2 billion, YoY growth of 2 per cent impacted due to higher

Robust product pipeline

During the year, the company filed 12 new Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) with the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). As of March 31, 2023, cumulatively 86 generic filings are pending approval with the USFDA (81 ANDAs and 5 NDAs under 505(b)(2) route). Out of the pending 86 ANDAs, 45 are Para IVs, and 18 are believed to have ‘First to File’ status.

“The R&D expenditure was at 9 per cent of sales during FY23 and we expect it to be in the same range for the current financial year too,’‘ Agarwal said.

According to the  Erez Israel, CEO, the company would continue its focus on building a robust product pipeline of biosimilars and generics besides driving productivity, among others. 

The board recommended a final dividend of ₹40 (800 per cent) per equity share of ₹5 each for the financial year 2022-23. Dr Reddy’s scrip lost 1.27 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Wednesday to end at ₹4,868.