Riding on rising sales of home diagnostic equipment such as blood glucose monitors as also a spike in sales of antibiotics, Morepen Laboratories Ltd has reported a 93 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 2.46 crore, on consolidated net sales revenue of Rs 161.81 crore in the first quarter (Q1) of FY 2018-19.
The growing incidence of diabetes cases in India offers a growth opportunity for the blood glucose monitors and blood pressure monitors segment in the coming years, a release by Morepen Labs said. The company has sold 20 crore glucometer strips till date.
Blood Glucose Monitors and Blood Pressure Monitors recorded the highest growth in the current quarter at 78 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. The combined sales revenue of Blood Glucose Monitors and Blood Pressure Monitors in the quarter increased to Rs 31.48 crore as compared to Rs 19.06 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, registering a growth of 65 per cent.
Quarterly sales of antibiotics jumped by 133 per cent, followed by vitamins and gastro drugs by 117 per cent and 64 per cent respectively. Montelukast recorded the highest growth amongst bulk drugs in the quarter at 55 per cent and in the branded OTC category, sales of Lemolate went up by 94 per cent and that of Burnol by 35 per cent.
The entire ‘Dr. Morepen’ brand portfolio did well during Q1 FY 2018-19 and recorded sales revenue of Rs 83.54 crore, as against a revenue of Rs 48.53 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, registering a growth of 72 per cent.
The company’s expanding domestic reach assisted in achieving a higher topline in Q1 FY 2018-19. Domestic sales registered a growth of 71 per cent in Q1 at Rs 108.20 crore. EBIDTA in Q1 FY 2018-19 increased by 10.4 per cent at Rs 12.25 crore, while interest cost fell by 67 per cent at Rs 44 lakh and cash profit increased by 21 per cent at Rs 11.81 crore.
With only one lender remaining to be paid, the company aims to become a zero debt company in the second quarter of FY 2018-19, said Sushil Suri, Chairman and Managing Director, Morepen Labs, after the Q1 (FY18-19) results board meeting here on Monday. “Having serviced its debt obligation successfully, the company now aims to utilise its available resources to invest in R&D infrastructure, capacity enhancement and process improvements to fuel future growth.” Suri said.
Morepen Labs has received US FDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) approvals for both its bulk drugs manufacturing facilities situated in Himachal Pradesh. While the Baddi facility has got US FDA approval for the manufacture of bulk drug Atorvastatin Calcium, a cholesterol reducing drug, the Masulkhana facility recently got the nod for manufacturing an anti-asthma bulk drug Montelukast Sodium for export to the US market. The US market size for these two bulk drugs is close to Rs 7,000 crore.